DragonBonds

Serenity

It was only just a couple weeks after the confession that Cloud was finally discharged from the hospital. His fever broke, the magic that was poisoning him had finally faded from his body, and he was up and moving around in only a few days. He had to be monitored for a little bit of time while he recovered fully, just to see if there were any side effects from the breakdown. But since the night that Cloud and Andi confessed to each other, Cloud seemed to be in higher spirits and managing himself much better than he had been. The calico's hostile emotions began to lay dormant again, his Drake only showing itself with the minimal magic he was using while being monitored. So, finally, Dr. Timtam gave Cloud the okay to go home.

When he got home, his appearance was met with joy, tears, and hugs from his friends and family. His partner was even there too, and he reached his arms out to them. Andi had been staring for a bit, shocked that he was finally back from the hospital, and when Cloud outstretched his arms towards them, they wasted no time getting to him and wrapping him tightly in their arms. The ringtail's tail curled around the two of them as he greeted Andi, and they pressed their noses together with a smile.

"How are you doing, Cloud?" Connor asked, from his left where he had been standing. "You took a pretty heavy dose of magic almost-death; all of us were real worried about 'cha. Especially Andi, but... Well, they seemed okay the last time they saw ya." The hare came closer to the small cat and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer.

"I'm alright now! No worries." Cloud pulled gently away from his tall friend and gave him a little smile. "It was... Pretty scary on my end too. I can't remember much of it, and my memory's pretty hazy from sleeping in the hospital, but my uncle cleared me and I should be good to come back to school soon." Cloud stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts and let his tail gently hover above the ground. He looked around, Andi's arms still firmly placed around him, at all of the people that came to welcome him home.

Connor, who had for some reason started to cry, and Khloe, who handed him a tissue and offered the cat a half-glare, half-smile. Vickie, who was excitedly sketching, trying to keep herself from crying as well.

Merlot, his mom, sitting in a chair with a glass of light wine and watching him and his friends with half-lidded, reddened eyes (she had probably been crying earlier, before he got there), Heathcliff, his dad, who was reading something on his phone, fresh tears rolling down his face, while he also played with Mittens. And Pebbles, his older brother. One of the first to experience his outbursts and what effect they could have on the people around him, and the first to really calm him down from one. He was standing behind Cloud's friend group and looking at him, a mix of sorrow, fear, and of course, relief. It was hard to see his brother so upset about what happened, but he gave Pebbles a small thumbs up.

Everything would be okay now.

And Pebbles did it back with a sigh, Unconvinced but... Proud that his brother was so strong in the face of all of this.

"Hey, so-" Khloe cut in, stepping towards Cloud after consoling the still-kinda-weepy Connor. "I get that you don't remember because of the whatever-it-is. But I... Don't forgive you for making us all panic like that. You took my wings away and turned Connor's vines into snakes. Whether or not that was really you it... It was real messed up of you."

The calico watched and listened to his friend speak, getting ready to apologize and also Not Cry, but Khloe stopped him first.

"Ah ah, don't say anything. Just... Keep trying. No matter what, that-" she gestured with a wing "-is your body, and has been even before this thing invited itself in. Keep fightin' it, and maybe I'll forgive you."

"She doesn't speak for me though, Cloud," Connor said softly, his eyes red but kind. "I do forgive you. It wasn't you, most likely wasn't your intention to hurt us. It still hurt but... But I don't blame you for it. It wasn't your fault."

The sentiment of his friend was nice, but the sting that the bat sent straight at him made him nearly stumble and burst into tears. He maintained his composure though, and leaned against Andi for support, their tail wrapped tightly around his middle. He didn't know what he expected; of course he did terrible things why he was being possessed. He just... didn't understand whether or not Khloe thought it was actually him, or just didn't believe the spirit could be as malicious as he says, despite her having been there the first time. So he just looked away from her, and looked up at his partner with a smile and another nose touch.

"Can we uhm, all go inside? I haven't stood this long in a hot minute and I definitely think I'm gonna fall over if I don't sit soon," He laughed, but he was not joking. Andi looked at him and panicked as they saw his knees start to buckle. So they picked him up and held him close as they looked to the others.

"C'mon. It's time to go inside," they said, sending a subtle wink to the others.

It seems they forgot the present they pitched in for.

--

When the group got back into the house, Cloud still curled tightly to Andi in their arms, Cloud couldn't help but wonder... Why they were all smiling. They were smiling outside when he came home, sure, but like... This was more confusing. He was already home, he said his hellos, so why was everyone so excited?

"Hey Cloudie?" Andi whispered down to him, nudging his cheek with their nose.

"Mmm?"

"Close your eyes for a sec."

"Oh." The calico shut his eyes and put his paws over them, his heart pounding a little harder now that he couldn't see anything. What the heck were they doing?

As he felt them move towards his room, he couldn't help but wonder just what they were doing. If he was just going to his room, why did he have his eyes closed? He heard the rest of his friends and family shuffle in, eyes still closed, and when the noise quieted down, he felt Andi's nose press against his forehead.

"Alright, you can open them now, dear," they hummed.

The cat quickly reopened his eyes and let his eyes readjust to the lighting change. and what he saw was.... shocking.

Right there, next to his T.V. and wrapped up neatly in gift wrapping, was a little box. Cloud had no idea that his family had been planning a present for his return. Andi slowly put him down in front of it, and he shuffled himself so he could sit on the floor comfortably to open the box. His claws were prepared to tear into it, but he quickly slowed himself down and let everyone else sit down to watch. He gently picked the box up and shook it a little bit, curious as to what he may hear.

Nothing. Must be pretty solid packing then. The calico quickly got to work on the present wrapping. tearing into it as delicately as he could so he didn't accidentally scratch the box, and when he took the first strip off, he was dumbfounded.

"No way!" he chirped excitedly. He unwrapped the rest of the box and held it up, staring at it as his tail flicked in curiosity.

"You guys got me a Switch!" He pulled it close to his chest, looking at everyone surrounding him.

"Thank you guys... Really, I mean it," he hummed, a small smile pulling at his lips. "I... I've been so afraid since all of this started happening, and I didn't know if I would ever get out of it. And I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to get rid of the problem but... Y'know, at least I have support, yeah?" He fought the urge to cry, but managed to keep his composure as everyone moved in close to give him a hug.

Andi, then Connor, then Vickie and Khloe. His mom, his dad, Pebbles. Even Mittens pranced in later to give him a little kitten hug.

"Thank you guys..."

When everyone pulled away and let Cloud be, the calico opened the Switch slowly and held it in his paws, looking at it with a sentimental fondness. He looked to his friends and smiled.

"Alright. Who wants to play first?"