Mikel's POV:

Mikel sat there at the roof of a building, watching the closed amusement Park he visited with that crazy Octoling on her birthday.

"Man, it really was such an awesome day. We had so much fun.", his eyes were completely red and his cheeks drenched as he had cried a lot.

He looked at the object he was holding in his large hands: "Why, can't it be me? Why am I always the leftover trash? Just why?"

The tears started to flow again: "Was everything I did meaningless? ................... Just why does she have to already be with someone? And one of those Pro's on top of that!"

Anger and sadness flowed through his body as he thought about all the misadventures, he had with Skarlet while she had been staying with him.

"Haaaaah, but it just always ends like this....... Right?", he asked the sky. "Maybe I am just a piece of salmon-crap all along?"

Skarlet's POV:

After searching all around the Park, Skarlet spotted Mikel on top of a building near Wahoo World. "Can't he be on a more inconvenient position?", she stealthily approached the building so he wouldn't run away and found his Inktrail on the wall.

While swimming up she put her thoughts into place, as she was serious this time: "I won't let you run off, so don't you dare to look around!"

Luckily the Inkling just seemed to stare at something in his hands, so he didn't notice her yet. But as she came closer, he heard her steps.

His head snapped around, but turned around when he noticed it's her: "Oh, it's just you."

"oH iT'S JuSt yOu?!", she gaffed at him. "Since when are you such a depressed moron?"

No answer.

"Gosh, he's a real wreck, now isn't he?", she thought being annoyed at his behavior. Still she kept on going: "Look, I just wanted you to meet them, so you could make your own mind about everyone. That's why I didn't told you much about the squidbeaks and Leon."

He seemed to wince when she mentioned her Hotshots nerve.

"Shit this is sooo hard. C'mon don't loose your nerves!", she calmed herself. "They're really good people, you will like them."

"Pah, so I should like your boyfriend, because then you can drop me off the second you're fed up with me? Go suit yourself......", he snapped back at her.

"What the—", Skarlet's patience finally reached her limit. "MIKEL!", she yelled and a shiver seemed to go through his body.

"YOU STAND UP RIGHT NOW!"

He stood up.

"NOW TURN AROUND AND LOOK INTO MY EYES!"

He turned around and looked at her with his watered eyes.

Skarlet looked at the wreck of an Inkling that was in front of her. The one that took her in for such a long time. The one that kept up with all the mischiefs she did. The one that was there for her when she broke from her memories.

This time it was different. Now she was the only one there for him and from what had happened she is the only one that could put an end to this. "Alright here goes nothing."

The Octoling straightened her body and said with a serious voice: "Mikel, you wanted to tell me something after our Turf war and from what happened before I want to hear it now."

His face went dark the second the sentence left her mouth.

"Because....", she continued: ", there's something I want to tell you too afterwards."

Narrator's POV:

.

..

...

Moments of silence passed as both of them stared at each other.

Mikel was the first one who broke the silence: "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't want to know it if I weren't sure you buckethead!", she told him.

The Inkling that went into an army of Salmons without flinching, who took all of her beating, who seemed so unfaced by hardening up so much in his live was now shaking in front of Skarlet.

With a long and deep breath he started: "Skarlet at first I swore myself to never get involved with women again, after what happened with Lena......... But then..", his voice started cracking: ".... You came around. You turned my life upside down. You made me such a headache with everything you did. From your constant flirting towards your insane endurance in going on my nerves every day."

Skarlet didn't know if she should feel insulted or complimented.

"Still, even with everything that happened you brought so much into life. Before you came my days were just colorless and empty. But with you around everything seemed so much brighter and it was just fun ......... having you around." His voice trembled a lot as he went on: "In the end being with you felt like.... being.... with my family."

He moved his right hand in front of her, which was shaking a lot: "Thus I wanted to ask you..... From the bottom of my heart and by all the love I feel towards you........."

"Will you marry me?", with this he opened his hand and revealed the Ring Skarlet found in the chest, back when she searched his shack.

Skarlet was taken aback from the words Mikel said. She expected a lot but now she was at a loss of words. To make sure she wasn't dreaming, Skarlet opened and closed her eyes a few times and pinched into her side. But no, Mikel was still standing in front of her holding up that one ring.

As she was getting her thoughts together, he already started to close his hand. Like he couldn't hold onto his feelings anymore.

Thus, Skarlet acted quickly and said: "You know you are really mean......."

Mikel's movement stopped.

"....... now I can't even tell you what I wanted to say.", she put a look on her face as if he had insulted her.

But just as Mike wanted to pull his hand away, Skarlet's hand rushed forwards.

"But since you asked so honestly, I will give you an answer.", she snatched the ring out of his palm and put it on her finger.

"My answer is yes."

Mikel's face froze when he heard her reply.

The Octoling bended over and waved in front of his eyes: "Hellooooooo, you're still alive?"

"C....C....Co....Come again?", he stuttered.

*sight* Skarlet sighted deeply: "Jeez you ARE a real Buckethead." She placed a passionate kiss on his lips and said again: "My answer is YES!"

A shock of energy seemed to go through the tall Inkling as he tightly hugged Skarlet, while swinging her in circles as he yelled at the top of his loungs: "YES! SHE SAID YES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SHE SAID YEEEEEEEEEES!"

Mikel cried again, but this time not because of sadness, but because all the feelings that piled up inside him over the years just flowed out.

"Hey, watch out or we're falling off!", Skarlet complained while gasping for air.

The tall Inkling stopped and both of them embraced each other as they stood there on the roof, being there just for each other.

"I still can't believe you said yes.", Mikel whispered.

"Ha, and I still can't believe how I fell for such a handsome brute~.", Skarlet countered.

For the next few minutes, both of them just stood there in each other's arms. Mikel whose heart finally opened again, releasing all the pain he carried inside there. While the hole that resided in Skarlet's heart from her unanswered love finally closed as she found someone that loved her as much as she loved him.

----Small timeskip with the couple standing on the roof at sunset----

Narrator's POV:

"It's time we should head back, or they start searching for us all over the place like I did.", Skarlet said while resting on Mikel's lap.

"But what about the others? I think I insulted them badly and they probably are still pissed off like a Snapper losing his eggs.", Mikel answered.

The Octoling jumped up and turned around, while striking a pose: "Ha, just leave that to Skarlet Rose. There's nothing I can't do and it just so happens I know all to well how I will fix this."

"Uh oh."

"What uh oh? I'm gonna save your ass, so you better be a grateful Husband and do what I say!", she instantly demanded.

"What have I gotten myself into?", Mikel half heartily complained.

Skarlet snickered: "You choose me as your wife." Then she octo-jumped into the back of his hood: "Now get a move on I wanna get to my Hotshot before it get's night. And afterwards you belong to me for the rest of the night!" She slapped at the back of his head with her tentacles as she was in her octo form.

"Hahahahahaha, alright madame. Here we go!"

Thus, both of them headed back towards the middle of Inkopolis, while a certain short squid and a stylish Octoling watched them depart from another roof.

Whatever hurdles might await the new couple in the future, from now on they will face them together. Because on the night both of them met it was truly: "A fateful Salmon Run"

The End