Lettuce opened her eyes to an explosion.

BOOM

She screamed, her reflexes throwing her into the water as she dived into the depths of the waves, underneath the destruction that seemed to raze everything above her.

BOOM

Where am I?

BOOM

She screamed again, but no sound came out; bubbles floated up to the surface, seemingly calm despite the storm.

Help me, she thought. Someone, please. I need help.

As if they had heard her, she felt an arm wrap around her hand and drag her back up. She gasped for air as the water parted, revealing the stage behind its curtains.

The sun glared at her accusingly. She coughed, water sputtering from her lungs. They burned... Oh, they burned...

"Are you okay?" a familiar voice said.

She turned her head weakly. A man in a suspiciously familiar uniform sat before her, both worried and confused at the same time. Three other people stood beside him, all vying for a look at the mysterious girl that had just appeared from nowhere.

She sat up. The burning feeling in her lungs subsided, although slight bursts of pain still shot up her chest at sporadic moments. "I-I'm okay," she told him, though her voice cracked.

"We have to go," a blonde boy said, picking up a spare sword that had been swept up from the waves. "They'll be after us. I know a place we can go."

"Right," the man picked her up without so much of an effort. Was she really that light? "Lead the way, Tommy."

Tommy?

They rushed through the dirt tunnel, the dark halls echoing their footsteps.

Tommy.

Explosions.

Uniform.

Oh.

The Battle of L'manburg.

She gasped out loud and the people around her turned to her. She quieted, waiting until they got to the safe place.

The crackle of footsteps came to a stop at an obsidian room. They closed off the opening, panting as everyone slumped down to the floor, leaning against the wall.

"What do we do now?" the brown-haired boy whimpered. Tubbo?

"Uh, I'm not sure about you, but I think we should address the elephant in the room, first." The fox (Fundy?) pointed at Lettuce. "Who the f*** is that and why is she here?"

"I found her in the water."

Fundy began to interrupt, but Wilbur shushed him.

"Well, if you see a drowning girl, wouldn't you save her too?"

"Why did you bring her here?! She could be a spy!"

"Do you think they'd send a girl we barely know to spy on us?" Wilbur snapped back.

"Yes!"

"Oh, for goodness' sake. She's gonna kill us," Fundy sneered. He started to walk towards her. "Let's just get her out of here and-"

"No! Wait!" Lettuce stopped them. "Please. It's hard to believe but... I'm on your side."

Tommy growled, "that's what Eret said before he-"

"I swear! Just give me a chance, please?" Lettuce targeted her words at Tommy, who stopped short. He likes women, right?

"Uh-huh. And what do we get from endangering ourselves with YOU?" Tommy retorted, crossing his arms.

Lettuce thought for a moment, then batted her eyelashes, making her way to Tommy, who backed up against the wall. She leaned against the wall, smiling. "Hm... I think you'd like my company..."

Tommy stopped short.

"It wouldn't hurt to... Y'know, get to know each other a bit..."

She knew it had worked when Tommy's eyes gleamed and he looked up at Wilbur.

"Can we keep her? Pleaaaase?"

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Fine."

The group fell into unsteady laughter, the horrific memory of the explosions still etched in their minds.

-

"We are here to negotiate the terms of surrender."

Lettuce stared at Dream's malicious form and she sighed. If she had the courage, she'd approach him and question him, but... Well, she didn't.

"Terms of surrender? I suppose we can execute some of you, throw the rest in prison-"

Lettuce grimaced as Tommy's voice rang out.

"DOYOUWANTTOFIGHTYOUSONOFAB****-DON'TF***INGTOUCHTHEM-"

He dies in the end.

"YOU BAS****! I WANT A DUEL!"

"A duel?"

I can't watch.

"Yes, a duel. If I win, L'manburg gains independence."

"And if I win, L'manburg falls," Dream spoke, his monotonous voice catching Lettuce's attention as she stared into his mask. "And I get one of your discs."

Y'know, it comforts me to know he gets thrown in prison in a few months. Although everyone else gets manipulated and abused before that.

"Agreed."

"Tommy, no!" Tubbo cried out. He clutched Tommy's shirt, begging him to reconsider.

Lettuce looked at Tubbo's heartbroken gaze, then remembered what was to come.

For the angst?

But it was so much different, now that she was standing here, breathing with them, speaking to them. She was here. They were no longer her 'characters' anymore. They were people, worthy of a chance to live and develop.

"I agree. You shouldn't do this, Tommy," Lettuce told him gently.

Tommy glared at her. "Who asked you?"

She bit back a retort and said, "you've already lost so much. It makes no sense to lose your life for L'manburg. It's a lose-lose situation, Tommy."

"OH, YOU WANT TO-"

"She's right," Wilbur said. "Tommy, you don't have to do this. Maybe they'll have mercy on us."

Lettuce looked at her feet. If Tommy didn't do it... What would happen to the story?

She knew it was wrong. But she couldn't bear to see Tommy die with her own eyes.

Tommy stopped short, Wilbur's words registering in his mind. Then he shook his head. "I have to! We can't just give up now, not after..."

"Tommy..." Tubbo hugged him, sniffling.

"Don't cry, Tubs. I'll win, and L'manburg will be back before you know it."

It's now or never.

Lettuce shook her head and turned to Wilbur. "You can't allow this! He's just going to die!"

Wilbur sighed. "Tommy often throws himself into danger without a second thought. This is our last chance to keep L'manburg, anyway."

"Y-you can't let a child give his life for L'manburg! If he dies... The nation won't be the same..."

Wilbur shook his head again. "We'll just have to see."

"You KNOW the nation won't be the same!" Lettuce recalled everything she knew about Wilbur, the Pogtopian side of him that had been in his veins since day one. She decided to pander to his insecurity. "Wilbur... Tommy's the only one who really cares about you... Are you willing to give him up just for a nation?"

Wilbur's eyes widened.

"Just think about it... Without Tommy, you're nothing. Don't just throw him away like this! Besides, L'manburg isn't even worth saving. Better to... let it burn, hm?"

She smiled as Wilbur's eyes lit up.

She decided to drive it home. "Without Tommy, you're powerless. Don't let that happen."

Wilbur shoved her away immediately, rushing over to Tommy and pulling him away. He gave him a hard glare. "I'm sorry, Dream. We're surrendering. Don't mind Tommy's words; he is not thinking right, as you can see."

Dream gave him a curt nod.

"WHAT?" Tommy struggled under Wilbur's grasp, to no avail. "WILBUR!"

"We'll be leaving. L'manburg is no more. I trust that nothing will happen to us as long as we no longer cause any trouble?"

Dream nodded with perfect regality. "I trust that your... associate will not cause further discord in my server?"

"WILBUR!" Tommy shouted, still kicking and pounding against Wilbur's grasp. "WILBUR, YOU CAN'T DO THIS-"

"It's for the best, Tommy," Lettuce told him gently.

"F*** YOU!"

No, f*** yourself. Lettuce thought. She smiled fondly, staring at the boy she saw so much of herself in.

"I will keep him docile." Wilbur held out a hand to Dream and he took it.

Dream, I will be your vassal

Lettuce sighed.

"DOCILE? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! YOU CAN'T-"

"Tommy, we are leaving."

"WILBUR!"

"WHAT?"

"IF L'MANBURG IS NO MORE, YOU ARE NO LONGER PRESIDENT! YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

"I'm still your older brother!" Wilbur snapped. "We are leaving!"

Tommy screamed and kicked as Wilbur dragged him away. The other L'manburg members left, and then Sapnap, George, and Punz. Soon, it was just her and Dream.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"Lettuce. A pleasure to meet you. I've heard much about you."

"Really?" Dream laughed. "And what do they say about me?"

Lettuce gave him a sweet smile, trying to mask her contempt. "Oh, only that you are one of the most clever men the server has seen."

They stood in silence. Dream sheathed his sword.

"Honestly, I was scared. Tommy might be small, but he is perfectly capable." Dream sighed, taking a step closer to her. "George would be devastated..."

"Oh, trust me," Lettuce said. "I'm fairly sure you would have won."

Dream shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll never know."

Oh, trust me. I know.

They stood in silence once more.

"Well, I need to go," Dream said. "... Good luck."

"Luck?"

Dream gave her a knowing smile before ender-pearling away, purple particles shimmering from where his silhouette once was.

Lettuce turned and ran to L'manburg.

-

"It's quite a pity," Tubbo was saying. "This could've been something great."

Lettuce emerged from behind the untouched wall, staring at the former L'manburgians who walked across the remains of L'manburg.

"F***ing idiots... Why didn't you let me duel Dream?! He f***ing deserves it!"

"Your life is more important, Tommy." Wilbur sat down on the grass. "At least we are still alive; L'manburg lives on in us."

"Wilbur's right, you know." Lettuce walked over to them.

Tommy scoffed. "What do YOU know?"

"I know that you would've died a horrible death if you dueled Dream."

She imagined his body laid on the wooden bridge, hauled from the water, the arrow wound still fresh with blood.

"B-but I'd still have two more! And I'm half sure I'd have won if-"

"No you wouldn't." Lettuce sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I think you knew that."

Tommy went quiet, realization setting in.

"I f***ed up, didn't I?" he whimpered quietly.

No one answered, all wallowing in their own pits of self-pity.

"No. If I hadn't trusted Eret, we wouldn't have lost."

"No, it's my fault! I should've been there to help! I should've-"

"I should've just killed Dream when we were fighting. I'm such an idiot..."

"Well," Lettuce interrupted. They turned to her. "Maybe losing L'manburg was a good thing."

"HOW THE F*** IS THIS A GOOD THING, YOU PIECE OF F***ING S***-"

"TOMMY!" Wilbur restrained him. "Calm!"

"I was just... thinking," Lettuce said. "Without a nation, you're free to do whatever you want. There are no laws, no oppression. No stress, no jealousy... Isn't that paradise?"

"WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU, YOU F***-"

Wilbur pinned Tommy down as Tubbo nodded. "It does sound a lot better, Tommy."

At the sound of Tubbo's voice, Tommy quieted. "But... We worked so hard..."

"Every end is a beginning." Tubbo put his hand in his pocket. Lettuce noticed, again, that it glowed.

"Tubbo," Lettuce started to say. "Why is your pocket glowing?"

"Hm?" Tubbo dug into his pocket and pulled out a glowing purple quill. "Huh. This wasn't here before!"

Lettuce stared at it. It reminded her- it reminded her of-

Lettuce.

Well, not Lettuce, herself. No, Lettuce. The angel.

"Tubbo, can I see that quill?" Lettuce asked him.

Tubbo blinked, confused, but he handed the quill out to her.

Lettuce clasped her hand against the shaft of the feather. It glowed even brighter in her hands.

"What is it?" Fundy wondered.

Lettuce stood up, as if in a trance. "I think I know what to do..."

She held up the pen as if she were to write, and dark purple ink fell from the pen, creating a thin line in the air.

"Hm..."

She continued, pulling the line further and further in the shape of a glowing purple door. As soon as she connected the ends, the door glowed, purple light illuminating her face.

She drew a handle, and a bright purple bulb appeared. She took a deep breath.

"I guess I'll see you guys later," she breathed. The L'manburgians were too shocked to reply.

She opened the door and stepped through.