Title: The Idol of Time and Space Status: Complete Characters: Anon, Fang, Amber Rating: SFW Classification: One Shot Author: PumpkinBrain Summary: Anon has always asked Fang if she has regrets. Safe to say, everyone has a few. “Any regrets, sweet tooth?” We had done it. We had successfully made it through high school. It was oddly hard, given Jingo’s English lessons and Carlsewskii’s refusal to actually teach math, but I… I guess Chemistry wasn’t that bad. That made up for the rest of it, surely. I had come out on top either way. Bs and Cs are still passing, in case you were unaware. Haha. I may have been cucked by various teachers at every opportunity, but fuck it. I did it. We did it. And truthfully, it wasn’t so bad. High school was fun. Those first couple years, not so—fuck you rock bottom—but that end half of the senior year was so fucking kino. I made friends, I talked to women, and I even ended up getting a girlfriend. This girlfriend being the one I had asked the prior question to. I called her sweet tooth because of her fang, you see. It was adorable. She pretended she didn’t like it, but I knew she did. “Regrets?” She asked, looking at me with a curious look. So cute. “That’s a weird question, dweeb. We’re at a campfire and having a good time. Why would you wanna consider your regrets?” She wondered. I wondered as well. Why did I ask that? “Well, now that it’s all over, don’t you think it’s good to look back and…” I tried to formulate what to say. “Move on? We’re leaving high school behind, why hold grudges?” I shrugged. “I guess that’s true.” She whispered, and leaned her head on my shoulder. She wrapped her arm around mine, and sighed. “Yeah, I guess I have a couple. Being rude to mom, dad, Naser… pushing all my friends away.. being a general bitch, I guess. I really didn’t make it easy to be friends with me. How did you last so long?” She snorted. I laughed as well. “It was hard at first, but I.. I knew you had a passion inside you. I wanted to see it come out. So I just held my head high and treated you with the respect and affection you deserved.” I answered honestly. I had always known she had a sweet side. I just needed to get her vulnerable enough to show it… She blushed. Whether it was from the embarrassment or the heat of the fire, I didn’t feel like asking and getting punched. “Sh-Shut up, don’t say sweet stuff like that. I thought we were talking about sad shit?” “Regrets don’t have to be sad, Fang.” I kissed her on the forehead. “Remember. It’s about moving on. Anything else?” She looked considerate for a second, before nodding. “Yeah. That non-binary schlock. It was…” She put a finger to her chin. “It wasn’t me. I don’t know why I thought it was. I guess it just… made sense at the time,” she exaggerated her tone, “But it wasn’t me. It wasn’t true. And I regret making people put up with it for so long.” She leaned more into me after that, and I wrapped my arm around her. “Well, it’s all over now, you know? We can move on, and we can look towards a brighter future.” I leaned down, and put her in an actual kiss. Whenever we locked lips, it… always felt like our first kiss. But… in the romantic way. Our actual first kiss was dorky and awkward. But after that, when we started to kinda know what we were doing, everything just felt so much more magical. Kissing Fang was like eating ice cream on a hot day. Kissing Fang was like receiving a signed guitar from the lead singer of Green Day. Kissing Fang was like… kissing Fang was… Kissing Fang was everything good in the world, turned into one thing. I pulled away after a few more moments, and the pink dusting her cheeks told me that she liked it. I then decided to put on the moves. “After all, any future with you in it is as bright as the sun itself.” She quickly pulled away and hid herself in her wings. I just laughed as she wailed. “Shut up!” She yelled, embarrassed beyond comprehension. “Just—shut up!” I continued to laugh. “Oh, come on! You love me!” She continued being huffy and embarrassed, and I continued to laugh. Come on, Fang. It’s just a little bit of fun, I thought, prodding her wings. She wasn’t budging, though, so I just shrugged and made a decision. That decision was… I leaned back on the sand and looked up at the stars. They were honestly gorgeous. Not as gorgeous as Fang, of course, but they were up there. Then, Stella lied next to me, and I had to hold in a bit of a groan. I loved Stella, I really did, but she could be… overbearing. She probably had some form of attention disorder. Adhd, maybe? I didn’t want to make assumptions, but her incessant need to speak about the same three things was kinda setting off some flags. However, Stella didn’t… say anything about anime. She just began to mutter. “The stars are beautiful, aren’t they?” She spoke, and I had a hard time distinguishing whether or not she was talking to me or not. Her voice was just… so faint. So much fainter than her usual upbeat tone. But I figured I’d at least humor her. “They are.” I responded honestly. They really were beautiful. I then turned my head to look at Fang. She still had her body concealed in her wings, but she seemed to be trying to peek out. I made eye-contact, and she shuffled her wings closed again. I just snorted. “You’re more beautiful than the stars, Fang. I promise.” Stella and I giggled as Fang tightened her arms around herself, and muttered a quiet ‘goddamn it’. I then turned my head to face the stars once again. It was… nice. Tonight was nice. My friends were all here, my girlfriend was happy, my future looked bright, and I finally had a good feeling in my chest. Now… did I have regrets? I had asked Fang that question, and she said she had a few. Did I have any? …none at all. <<>> I lied with Fang in our bed, holding her nude form close to my body. We had done it. Haha. Done it. No, I’m kidding. Me and Fang had had sex before. This wasn’t our first time. I… think we did it shortly after graduation? Somewhere around there? Either way, didn’t matter. Sex = cool. But now… it meant new things. Sex meant better things. GREATER THINGS! …Mostly because of the little ring that sat on Fang’s finger. Tightly secured, and perfectly measured. It wasn’t just a symbol of our newly-instated marriage, which had gone down last night—if you couldn’t tell by the wedding dress hanging on the closet door handle. Fang had said she didn’t want to get it dirty, and I don’t blame her. This wedding ring, though, it was.. a symbol of our undying love. A symbol of the affection and care we’ve had for each other since we were eighteen. A symbol of all we had gone through—just to be with each other. In sickness and in health, and goddamn it, if that’s not gonna be true for the rest of time. Fang was my number one. And I didn’t ever plan on changing that. But… of course, I had a question I needed to ask her before she fell asleep. She was super tired, judging by her quiet demeanor. I blame that partially on my perfect ability to… bring her to her destination, if you know what I mean. Ha-ha! Sex jokes! Anyway. I nudged her, and she groaned lightly in response. Good. Still awake. “Hey, Fang.” I whispered. “Y-Yeah, honey?” She whispered back. She then shuffled slightly, probably trying to get more comfortable. Not gonna happen. “Any regrets?” She took a moment to process what I had said, but when she did, she snorted. “That’s a familiar topic, Anon.” She giggled, and nuzzled my chest. “Well, sure, but…” “But you want to know. Yeah, I get it.” She sighed. A happy sigh, of course. One of contemplation. Is that oxymoronic? I don’t know. Fuck you. “Well… yeah. I guess I have a regret.” “What’s that?” I asked, frowning slightly. I would’ve hoped she said none. “Nothing serious, just… wish I didn’t eat as much cake as I did.” She laughed. “I’m definitely going to feel that in the morning, and it probably won’t be great for my figure...” “Pfft, what are you talking about?” I laughed. “Your figure has been perfect since high school. I don’t think a little cake is going to change much.” “You sure?” She asked cheekily. “I’m getting older, you know. My metabolism doesn’t work as fast as it used to…” “You’re twenty-three, and just so you know?” I kissed her on the head. “I consider women to be like wine.” “What?” She asked. “What does that mean?” I kissed her again, and wrapped my arms around her tighter. “They get better with age.” She blushed heavily. I could feel it, even if I couldn’t see her face. Haha. “Oh my God, Anon, shut up.” She choked out, and laughed slightly. She loved what I said. I knew it. “Never.” I whispered, assaulting her with kisses. She began to block them and try to dodge me, but I knew she loved it. She loved all of it. “S-Stop!” She giggled, and pushed on my chest. “We need to go to sleep! I’m tired.” “Alright, alright.” I relented. She nodded thoughtfully, and closed her eyes again. But not before I could steal one last snoot kiss. “I love you, Fang.” I whispered. “Shut up, you menace.” She huffed. But then she sighed. “…I love you too, Anon.” I smiled, and watched as Fang drifted off to sleep. Now… me? Did I have regrets? I looked at the ptero in my arms. …can’t say I did. <<<<<<>>>>>> “ANON YOU PIECE OF SHIT! YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU FUCKING DID THIS TO ME!!” Fang screamed, fighting and thrashing and scratching everything while in the hospital bed. I just continued to hold her hand, despite how much it was bleeding by now. “I’m sorry, hon. But just think about when it’ll be all over.” I muttered, and gave her a wide smile. God, this hurts. “FUCK THAT! GOD, THIS HURTS!” Huh. Guess we could relate. “THIS IS NOTHING LIKE WHAT YOU’RE FEELING, YOU MUTTERING JACKASS!!” Ah. Never-mind. “Come on, Mrs. Mous, one more push!” The doctor said, holding his arms out at the end of the table. Fang gave one last yell, and then, get this: “SKREEEEONNKKK!!” She screamed out, and I had to hold back my laughter. Oh my God. Was she a goose? Holy shit. Just because she had a snoot and wings, I didn’t think she would actually make bird noises! But all was forgotten as soon as we heard the crying of a baby. “It’s a girl!” The doctor said, almost as if it were tradition, before he turned to face me. “Mr. Mous, would you like to cut the cord?” I nodded, gulping. I didn’t want to cut the cord. That sounded gross. But I had to, because I knew that I probably wouldn’t get this chance again. Unless that hormone kicked in for Fang where she forgets the painful feeling of childbirth and is down to have another kid, I don’t think she’d want to have another one. So I knew this was my only shot. I had to man up and do this, lest I make my father disappointed in me. Well, more disappointed than he already is. EITHER WAY! I stepped up to the doctor, and took the weird scissors out of his hand. He directed me to where I should snip, and I shut my eyes as I closed the scissors. It felt weird to snip that thing, lemme tell you. It was like trying to cut through… well, an umbilical cord. God it was gross. But I did it! I successfully did my duty as a father! The nurses then took the baby, cleaned her off, swaddled her up, and handed her to an exhausted Fang. Fang almost INSTANTLY started to cry, and I jogged up to her bedside to get a look. “Oh my God, Anon.” She whispered, tired as ever. “She’s beautiful.” Fang muttered, before showing me the kid. Oh my fucking God. She was so fucking cute. Holy shit. It was like having another Fang. Oh my God. Oh my God. Haha. Oh my GOD!!! AHHH!!! “Do you wanna hold her?” Fang asked. Huh? “R-Really?” I asked, being caught off-guard by the question. I figured she would’ve kept a tight hold on the girl for at least the first 26 hours. I had fully prepared myself to take that pain. But… here she was, asking if I wanted to hold her. Fang just nodded. “Of course. She’s your kid too, dork.” She muttered, but without the usual conviction. She really was tired. I nodded back, and slowly took the baby from her arms. It—she was… so small. So frail. And… I made her. She came from me. She’s my daughter. And she’s… perfect. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I looked down at her. She was perfect. I wiped my eyes. Oh my God. “You’re my little sunshine.” I whispered, and gave her a kiss. I then noticed that she began to open her eyes. She was crying, but I was able to get a good look at them. Her amber eyes… they were gorgeous. Just like her mother’s. “…Amber.” I muttered. It was just a comment, but… “You wanna name her Amber?” Fang whispered, looking up at the ceiling with a dead look in her eyes. “That’s a beautiful name.” She chuckled, and I watched as a tear rolled down her face. It’s… truthfully, as shrimple as that. “Now, would you mind holding her for a bit longer? I’m… I’m tired, Anon. I need a nap.” “O-Of course!” I practically shouted. I then sat my ass down on a nearby cuck chair. “Nothing bad will happen to my daughter. Not on my watch.” I growled. “Our daughter, dweeb. But thank you.” She nodded, and then I watched as she nearly went under. “Wait, Fang!” I exclaimed. Her eyes snapped open, and she sighed. “Yeah, honey?” “…any regrets?” She put a finger to her chin, having definitely expected the question by now. “You know, I’m never exactly sure why you ask that… but yeah. One regret.” I frowned again. One of these days, surely. “What’s that?” “Not taking the pain medication sooner.” I laughed at that, as did she. My laugh was more vocal, hers more muted, but that was a good allegory for our relationship. Just… definitely mirrored. Now, as Fang fell under, I looked back down at my—our daughter. I held out my finger, and Amber’s tiny little hands grabbed it. I could feel my heart melt at the sight. Did I have any regrets? None. None at all. “I love you, Amber.” I muttered, and gave her a kiss on the head. <<<<<>>>>> Many years later, and Amber had done it. I waited behind a closed door, waiting for my daughter to show herself to me, so I could wrap arms with her and… walk her down the aisle. Yeah. The one honor a father gets to have. The greatest honor. Walking his daughter down the aisle, so that her and her perfect fiancée could tie the knot. And when I mean perfect, I do mean perfect. The love shared between her and that Inco kid was something that reminded me so greatly of mine and Fang’s. He was a human, like me, which I didn’t really see any issue with. It’s common knowledge that girls are attracted to men that act like their fathers. I think…? I don’t know. I just know it has something to do with familiarity. Either way, either way, Inco was a nice kid. He and Amber had met in the sixth grade, and became fast friends. It was only in high school did they start dating, and many times, Amber spoke to me about how she regretted not dating him sooner. This family and regrets, huh? Though, I was honestly so… so happy for her. She was moving up in the world, and getting a happiness that I would never feel right without her having. It was just… it was what she deserved. Everything. She deserved everything. “I love you, dad.” She whispered, and gave me a kiss. She then walked away, and began to climb the steps. I watched as she walked up to the podium, and I had to wipe my eyes with my pocket hanky as I sat next to my wife. Don’t judge me, man. Of course I was crying. My daughter was crying, too, and I think Inco was as well. Couldn’t blame him. Anyone who gets to marry my daughter should consider himself the luckiest man in the world… I leaned into Fang, and listened as they began to go over their vows. Fang leaned her head on mine, and I sighed. She sighed as well. She knew what was coming. “Any regrets, Fang?” I asked. The tried and true question. Fang took a moment to respond, as she usually did. But then she opened her mouth and began to whisper. “Just one.” I was able to hold back the frown this time. I had learned to live with her regrets. It was just… life. “What’s that?” I asked. “This top is too tight. It’s crushing my organs.” I had to hold back my laugh, and that didn’t look good to the rest of the venue, lemme tell you. But when I looked back at her, she also had a smile on her face. “That sucks, hon.” I chuckled. “Nah. It doesn’t. For my daughter, I’d do anything.” She said sweetly. “Even wear a tight top.” I kissed her on the head, and continued leaning into her. I watched as Inco leaned in, and gave Amber a very familiar looking kiss. The people in the seats went crazy, throwing flowers and various things up into the air. What is this, a graduation? I just laughed as I watched Inco pick up Amber and run down the center of the aisle. Inco’s buddies and Amber’s besties threw their congratulations out as they continued running. I shook my head at the kids. Damn kids. Damn damn damn kids! Now. Did I have any regrets? …none at all. <<<<<>>>>> …many more years down the line, and… things weren’t looking good for me. It had started with the coughing. I had a cough that just wouldn’t go away—even long after I was sick. Some flus obviously had lingering coughs, so I didn’t think much of it, but then I started to get winded climbing the stairs. Laughing would hurt my chest, and I was occasionally spitting up red bile. When I had done it in front of Fang, she decided she needed to get me to a hospital. I insisted on the way there that I was fine, that the blood was just from my scratchy throat, but she wasn’t having it. She wasn’t going to listen as I slowly killed myself, she said. I couldn’t argue with her, after all. She had always been stronger than me, so either way, I would’ve ended up in a hospital room. …When we finally arrived at the doctor’s office, they performed a shit ton of tests. Sent me into various MRI machines and CAT scans, whatever those are. X-Ray’d the hell out of me. It all sucked and took forever. That one machine was really hot, and the magnetic one? I considered swallowing a bunch of nickels to make the machine explode. Though, that probably would’ve killed me too, so I decided against it. Either way, this shit blew, man. But… when the doctor finally sat me down to give me the news, I could tell by his expression that it wasn’t good. Uh oh. “Mr. Mous, there’s a massive tumor in your left lung,” the doctor explained, pointing at an X-Ray. Shit. Was that my X-Ray? “And I… don’t think you have long for this world. Maybe a few days, at most.” He said, his voice tired. Like he had done this so many times before. But to us..? It was like a glass had shattered in that room. All sounds had stopped, and even the loud air conditioner felt muted. “W-What?” Fang whispered, her voice broken. I hated when she sounded like that. “You’re kidding. That’s—that’s a joke.” “I’m afraid not, Mrs. Mous.” The doctor replied. Still as cold as ever. “Isn’t there anything you can do?!” Fang yelled, standing up out of her seat. “He’s—that’s my husband! And he’s going to die?! Surely you can do something! We can pay for it! An operation—a surgery—anything!” “…There’s unfortunately nothing we can do.” The doctor sighed, and shuffled some papers. “This is the worst part of the job, Mrs. Mous. My advice is to just… spend your last few days with your family. Make the most of things. Bury hatchets, tell your kids you love them.” “N-No, you—“ Fang muttered, and fell to her knees. She slammed her fist into the carpet as a torrent of tears flooded out of her eyes. “NO!!” She screamed, and began to wail. So quickly, our hopes had been completely dashed. There was… There was nothing they could do. And gosh.. her crying was like nails on a chalkboard. Not because of the sound, but because it caused a pure ache in my heart to hear her cry… And… for the first time… I didn’t know how to comfort her. … Many days later, we were nearing the end. The sense of impending doom was something on my conscious for a few days, but it had recently kicked in even harder. Today was my last day. I knew it to be true. But… before I left this world, I had a question for my wife. “Hey, Fang…” She turned to me, and gave me a smile. There she stood, in my hospital room. My daughter was there as well, her kids crying at the fact that their grandpa wasn’t going to last much longer. I couldn’t blame them. Both Fang and Amber were crying, too. Inco apparently couldn’t make it—but I can’t say he needed to be here. He was a nice guy, but I just needed my ptero family. Wait, I should probably- “You still with us, dad?” Amber joked, giving a snort through her tears. Right.. “You zoned out for a bit.” “Ah. Sorry…” I whispered, my lungs straining to allow me to speak. But now was the time to ask my final question. “Fang. Honey.” I muttered, and gave a weak chuckle. “Yes, sweetheart? I’m here.” She replied, walking up closer to me. “…any regrets?” She looked somewhat shocked at the question, before her tears increased tenfold. “No—you can’t ask me that.” She whimpered. “You can’t. That’s not fair.” She fought. “Do you have regrets, sweet tooth?” I asked, more convicted this time. But still calm. Still sweet. I was still her husband, and she was still the love of my life. She stood there, not knowing what to say. Until she finally opened her mouth… and gave me what I had wanted for so many years. “No, Anon. I don’t have any regrets. Not anymore.” She smiled, and walked up closer to me. She grasped my hand, and toyed with my ring. “You’ve been perfect. You made my life perfect. And I cannot thank you—“ she choked. “I can’t thank you enough, my love.” “That’s… that’s good. I’m glad.” I smiled. Finally, after all these years. She… she didn’t have regrets. She was happy. She was content. I… had succeeded. “W-What about you, dad?” Amber asked. “Any regrets?” I turned to face her. Then I… nodded. “I do, Amber.” I turned back to face Fang. “Just one, though.” “What’s that?” Fang frowned. Her eyes were still teary, even after she wiped them. I leaned in, and gave her my best kiss yet. It lasted for probably around five seconds. It was just as magical as all the others. Just as magical as the first, even if I had a hard time breathing during it. But I guess that made it all the more special. The first… and the last, kiss. “Not meeting you sooner, my love.” I explained, and coughed. I let go of her hand, and looked up at the ceiling. Here it is. “I love you all. So much.” I whispered, and felt a tear fall down my face. This was it. ”Wait, honey, I love you too, but..” Fang whispered. “There’s… there’s still so… so much I need to say—!” ”Y-Yeah, no—wait,” Amber started. “Dad, we love you so much—“ Beeeep. “NO!” Fang screamed, quickly rushing to get closer to me. She put her hands on my chest and began to hit it. “NO! YOU CAN’T!! WAKE UP, DWEEB! WAKE THE FUCK UP!!” “N-W-“ Amber whispered, and couldn’t do anything as it finally set in. She just stood there, watching as her mother tried fruitlessly to wake up her father. Her mother’s husband. But then, she rushed up to her father as well, and put a hand on his shoulder. Her tears began to flow faster as she fell onto his chest. “No, you—“ she cried. Fang and Amber, mother and daughter, fell onto the one truly special human in their lives. The one who meant the most to both of them. “Daaahahaaaddy….” Amber, the young girl, cried. “Anon… Anon—“ Fang whispered, feeling her world shatter around her. “ANON!” “DADDY!!” The sounds of crying filled the room, and with that… I guess it’s safe to say, Everyone has a few regrets. [POST-NOTES] fuck.