A/N so UH like everyone is doing Tommy's death so I guess I'll jump in on the bandwagon.

This is an example of my trying to implement metaphors into my writing but failing very badly.

This is platonic. I would never ship Tommy and Tubbo.

Requests are always welcome!!!

TW: Death. Duh.

P.S. I was listening to "You Were My Friend" by Amanda Fagan while writing this, go listen to it, it's so bittersweet and captures Tommy and Tubbo's relationship so well!!!

-

"Let me tell you a story, Tommy. A story of a man called Theseus."

The pig had towered above the frightened boy, his fearsome eyes glaring down.

"His country - well, technically, city-state - was in danger. And he sent himself forward into enemy lines, he slew the Minotaur and saved the city."

The man looked threatening and strong, yet there was still pain and sympathy in his unrelenting eyes.

"Do you know what they did to them, Tommy?

They exiled him. He died in disgrace, despised by his people-"

Tommy had shivered, not listening to the seemingly senseless words of this traitor.

"Tommy, the Greeks knew the score... But if you want to be a hero, Tommy..."

The words were now almost a whisper. A whisper not of threat, but of warning.

"That's fine."

-

"Well it doesn't matter now, because y-you know, Tommy, it's always been you and me!"

Tommy had grinned, staring out at the huge duck in front of their signature bench.

"Yeah," Tommy had said. "It's always been you and me -- you and me against Dream."

"Yeah, and it will always be that way!"

-

Your Tubbo.

The compass felt so heavy in Tommy's hand like it was made of pure Netherite. It weighed him down, forcing Tommy to sit on his bed, staring at the red arrow that pointed towards...

His Tubbo.

Tommy blinked. He wasn't one to cry, but he certainly wanted to right now. 

Tubbo.

It was supposed to be him and Tubbo against Dream! Not him against Tubbo and Dream!

This wasn't right.

This wasn't what was supposed to happen. 

Or maybe it was.

For once Tommy felt guilt, a foreign emotion. He shouldn't have pushed Tubbo. It wasn't even Tubbo's fault. He had made Tubbo make a choice, he had forced Tubbo into following his will.

He would've been surprised if Tubbo had never snapped, at least once.

He was a terrible friend. He had never regarded Tubbo's feelings. He had never once thought of what Tubbo wanted, while Tubbo had given everything to him.

No wonder he was exiled.

Sighing, Tommy rose, putting the compass back safely in his ender chest and walking out of Technoblade's house. The wind was calm today, no more than a lovely breeze, which was quite queer for winter.

"Where are you going?" the pig was nonchalantly crafting random things.

"I'm going to visit Tubbo. I need to talk to him."

"I thought you didn't care about him. Besides, you can't go without me. And I'm busy right now."

"What are you even making?"

"I'm trying to remember how to craft a sword."

"Why do you even need a sword? And you can't forget how to craft a sword, it's a classic tool. I couldn't forget if I tried."

"I didn't forget. It just flew out of my head for a second there."

"That's called forgetting."

"Whatever."

Tommy grinned, opening the wooden door and peering out at the expanse of wilderness.

"So can I go?"

"Sure. I don't really care if you die, you know. That's on you."

"Shut the f*** up."

Tommy slammed the door behind him, checking his inventory one last time before hurrying down the stairs.

Why am I doing this?

What would I even say?

Tommy concluded quite very abruptly that instead maybe he didn't need to speak to Tubbo. He just wanted to get in and out, gather some materials. 

But didn't Technoblade have more than enough?

It didn't matter. He just wanted to go somewhere else, for a change.

But you could die!

Who would mourn him? It wasn't like anyone cared about him anymore; Techno said it himself.

And besides, the great Tommyinnit didn't die. He was the main character. The main characters don't die.

Yes, they do.

It felt like ages, the voices in his head fighting each other on the way. Through rain and fire, through snow and mountain, he found himself constantly at odds, wondering if he really did want to go to L'manberg again.

Again wasn't a big deal. It was the fact that he was alone, without Techno to protect him.

He still needed the discs back.

And he would get them.

-

"I'm just saying that maybe imprisoning me, your own adoptive father, isn't very wise." 

Tubbo leaned against Philza's window, pondering his words.

"This isn't imprisonment. It's a house arrest."

"Same difference!"

"Look, Phil. There are choices that I often don't want to make. But I have to. This isn't personal, okay? You did something bad: I'll have to do something about it. I hope you understand."

"But-"

Tubbo rushed out of the house as soon as he could, slamming the door behind him and taking a deep breath.

Thank god. Being president was hard.

"You doing good?" Ghostbur muttered to him as he stumbled down the wooden steps of L'manberg.

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired."

Talk more. Smile more. Act like you don't miss a fugitive.

Act like you're fine.

That you're happy that you're the president.

That you don't feel like you have a big, huge hole filling your heart.

That you aren't Subbo. 

Tubbo walked through Ghostbur's transparent body, his eyes downcast as he neared the waters underneath him.

"It's quite funny, really," Ghostbur started to say, "that you aren't sad at all. Usually, I see living people crying, shouting, pointing sticks at each other, but you keep up that smile all the time!" he gave him a large grin, "how'd you do it?"

Tubbo laughed, "just like you do. I push the blue away!"

Blue. Like Tommy's eyes. Like the L'manberg uniform.

How come things like the original L'manberg VS Dream SMP war felt like ages ago while in reality, it was only a few months?

Why did he just say that he pushed the blue away?

It's bad to push the blue away.

But he did it anyway.

"Yeah! Throw the blue away!"

"Blue is a pretty nice color, though," Tubbo jumped over the fence, splashing in the beautiful waters below. He giggled. "Like the sky. Why would you push the sky away?"

Ghostbur frowned for a moment, considering the question. "Well, if we don't push the sky away, it would fall on our heads. The higher the sky, the free-er we are. L-like that greek myth where that titan held up the sky! He pushes the sky away!"

Tubbo swam around, feeling the beautiful plants underneath his feet, "what about water? I know it's clear, but it's often portrayed as blue, too. We need water to survive." Very true. Water was beautiful, a sensational feeling. Tubbo couldn't find one thing wrong about it -- except that it could drown you, of course.

The ghost floated to the edge of the water, crossing his arms. "We cry with water. That's a no-no."

"Crying is good for your health, I heard."

"Well, tsunamis and hurricanes!"

"I suppose you're right. Why not push the red away? Or the orange? Red is fire, and we don't want to burn."

"Fire is warm and happy and nice. It makes me feel powerful," Ghostbur said eagerly.

Tubbo blinked. He hadn't expected Ghostbur to say that. "I see."

Tubbo swam to the edge, gathering himself back to dry land. After asking for a towel to dry off and utterly failing to find someone who was willing to lend him a towel (seriously, who does that these days? Disgusting), he simply went back to his quarters, changed, and hopped back out, not looking forward to even more presidential duties.

When he saw him.

His best friend scavenging a small chest in the corner.

In plain sight.

Tubbo's eyes widened. Tommy was... Alive?

H-he didn't expect-

But he shouldn't have assumed-

There was no body to be found, he shouldn't have concluded-

"Tommy?"

Tommy turned around, his bright blue eyes shining in the shimmering sunlight. 

How could Tubbo push away this beautiful blue?

Tommy smiled softly, on edge, "hi. Tubbo."

Tubbo blinked in shock. The surprise soon turned into fear, however, as a terrifying thought had struck him. "Tommy! What are you doing here? It's broad daylight! Anyone could see you, a-and you aren't supposed to be here-"

"I'm fine, Tubbo," Tommy said uninterestingly, closing the lid of the chest.

"You're stealing?" 

Tommy shrugged, "wartime measure,"

"War?! No one has declared war! What are you-"

"Tubbo, can you shut up?" Tommy snapped.

Tubbo fell silent, frowning. He was the PRESIDENT! How DARE he tell him to shut up?

"I thought you were dead!"

"I almost died. But I'm not. Look, Tubbo, can we just part ways and pretend that we didn't just see each other-"

"No! You can get hurt!"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" Tommy demanded again, louder. Tubbo blinked and stepped back, hurt. "Tubbo, can you let me speak for once?!"

"FOR ONCE?!" Tubbo suddenly shouted. Tommy rose his eyebrows. "I've always listened to you! I've always followed you, did exactly what you said, I've never disappointed you! And I speak for just a few seconds and you tell me to shut up? Do you really value me that little, Tommy? Do you really think I'm just your slave and you get to tell me what to do?"

Tubbo hadn't been this angry in ages. "I thought you were dead! I thought you died, Tommy, and I cried my eyes out because I don't know what I would have done without you-"

"Oh, so you exile me? Isn't that basically death? The whole point of death is that you won't be able to talk to dead people anymore and when I'm in exile you never come to talk to me-"

Tubbo was about to respond before his eyes caught a glint of Netherite in the distance. He shifted his gaze from Tommy to the top of the hill, where a green man was standing, staring directly at them.

Panic suddenly stuck Tubbo. He turned back to Tommy.

"-and now you're saying that I've been bad to you and that I'm in the wrong here, which is- are you even listening?!"

"Tommy, can you be quiet for a moment?" Tubbo told him softly.

"No! What makes you think-"

"I'm serious," Tubbo insisted, grabbing Tommy's hand. He missed the warmth, the comfort, that Tommy had given him, "please. You have to go."

"No, actually, I think I'll stay for another hour-"

"TOMMY!" Tubbo suddenly yelled. Dream was making his way down the hill. "Because I love you, Tommy, and I don't want you to get hurt, I demand that you run. Now."

"Wha-"

"Tommy, you realize you're in danger here, right? If anyone sees you, you're dead-"

"You saw me, and I'm not dead."

"Tommy, you know I wouldn't hurt you. Now you have to go-"

"Tommy, what are you doing?"

Tubbo stood stiff, staring at Dream, who had already come down and was behind Tommy rather creepily.

Tommy's eyes widened, realizing why Tubbo was insisting that he needed to run and turned around slowly. He gawked at Dream.

"Feelin' fancy today, huh Dream?" Tommy said casually.

"You are trespassing on L'manbergian land, Tommyinnit," Dream said, "I thought we had reached an agreement?"

Tommy bit his lip. "What agreement?"

"You're exiled, Tommy," Dream explained. It could have been a professor's lecture if it weren't about war and death. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Oh, I'm exiled? I didn't know that," Tommy said sarcastically. 

Dream brought down his axe and it slammed into Tommy's gut, sending him flying and landing a few feet away. He groaned and clutched his gut, grimacing. 

"I'm afraid you'll need to be executed for trespassing, Tommy," Dream grinned menacingly. "This isn't personal. I hope you understand."

This isn't personal. I hope you understand. The same words Tubbo had told Philza.

"Don't hurt him," Tubbo said meekly.

"But he's breaking the law, Tubbo. Surely, as the president, you know some things about the law?"

"Don't hurt him," Tubbo said again.

Dream surveyed Tubbo, confused. "Why not?"

"You can force me to exile him. But you can't force me to allow his execution," Tubbo said, raising his voice.

Dream raised his eyebrows, chuckling a bit. "I have a flint and steel. With just a few clicks... L'manberg could... Shine bright as the sun."

"One: that was a horrible pun. Two: I am the president here. What makes you think you can tell me what to do? You rule the Dream SMP, not here. And don't you tell me that Eret is the king, we all know who the real king is. Also, you're not supposed to be here either."

Dream was quiet for a moment, before walking to Tommy and piercing Tommy's right leg with his axe, blood spilling out.

"T-tubbo, you don't have to- to-" Tommy gasped, unable to finish the sentence because of the pain.

Tubbo bit his lip. He had just thought that his best friend was dead only a few minutes ago... And now... 

He wasn't losing him again. He couldn't-

"Let him go!" Tubbo demanded.

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm the president!"

Dream laughed. He turned to Tubbo and smiled, amused. "We both know who has the real power here."

We both know who has the real power here.

"ENOUGH!" Tubbo yelled suddenly. Dream took a step back, alarmed at the sudden change of attitude. "Everyone thinks that I'm this gullible boy who just follows orders! And yes, that's the sad truth, but THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYONE GETS TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO, OR SAY, OR THINK! NO ONE RESPECTS MY OPINION! NO ONE!"

Tubbo took a deep, shaky breath, as he let out all the emotions he had been bottling inside at once. All the contempt, all the frustration that he had been feeling.

"SO GET OUT! GET OUT! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU CLAIM YOU'RE GOING TO DO BECAUSE GUESS WHAT? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUST STORM IN AND DEMAND THINGS FROM ME LIKE I'M YOUR SLAVE! AND SAME WITH TOMMY-" Tubbo turned to Tommy, angry tears falling from his eyes, "-YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE I'M YOUR FRIEND THAT I'M YOUR STUPID SIDEKICK THAT YOU GET TO TREAT ME LIKE I'M DIRT! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOU AND DREAM AND SCHLATT AND WILBUR AND-!"

Everyone was evil.

Everyone treated him as a lesser.

Even Tommy.

"Tubbo, when you calm down-"

"I'm not listening to you anymore," Tubbo said through gritted teeth. "Put down that axe and get out."

"Mr. President-"

"GET OUT!"

But apparently, he had struck a chord with Dream, too. As soon as he had ordered him to leave the scene, Dream brought up his axe, ready to bring it down at any moment on Tommy.

Tubbo shook his head frantically, regretting what he had said, "no, wait-"

But the axe plummeted, beelining straight into-

Into Tommy's heart.

Tommy's eyes widened as he realized what had happened, as the axe entered his chest, and his eye's found Tubbo's as fast as he could.

"Tubbo!" he screamed.

It wasn't even dramatic. It wasn't a slow death where he and Tubbo would be able to say their goodbyes before dying.

He died instantly.

"TOMMY!" Tubbo found himself screaming. But he couldn't move. Somehow he was paralyzed, standing still in that position, both red and blue tears streaming down his shocked face.

Dream seemed to genuinely regret what he had done, even though he kept his cool. He took out a flint and steel, lighting the deck and the beautiful wooden structures that Tubbo had worked so hard to build.

Both men were silent. One grieving, one griefing. 

It felt like hours, days even, as the fire started to spread and several L'manbergians screaming and running, barely even seeing a still Tubbo, still standing there, surrounded by flames.

The red hot monsters licked at Tubbo's face, drying the tears. Smoke filled his lungs, yet Tubbo couldn't move.

He couldn't see Tommy's body. It was probably already burnt to ashes by now.

I could just die. He thought. I could just die in this fire. It would be so much easier.

For another second Tubbo stood there before his mind suddenly jolted back, and Tubbo gasped for clean air, doubling over.

No.

No.

No.

He couldn't die.

Not now.

Not here.

Tommy wouldn't have wanted Tubbo to die like this-

Tubbo splashed his water bucket on the flames, dousing the nearby fiends. He made his way into the boiling waters beneath L'manberg, jumping in. He had suffered many burns and now could barely swim without feeling an immense pain erupting all over his frail, young body.

But the water was soothing.

He couldn't push away the blue.

The blue was good.

It helped.

Tubbo emerged from the waters, coughing from both the water and the smoke.

His vision was fading in and out, his head oh so dizzy and heavy, his entire being in pain.

"Tubbo!" he heard in the distance. It sounded like Niki, but he wasn't sure...

"We have to help him, someone carry him to the hospital-"

"What happened to him?!"

"The fire must have injured him, hurry-"

He felt himself being carried away, away to another place, away to a safer place-

And his vision completely turned black.

-

"T-tommy-"

Those were the first words that came out of Tubbo's hoarse mouth when his consciousness was regained.

Tubbo opened his eyes weakly. He was in a stone room, in a plain white bed.

The remaining three L'manbergian's looked at their president.

"Tubbo, you're awake!" 

Tubbo blinked, taking in the sights of the room.

"How long..."

"Two days," Ranboo said excitedly, "you CAN'T believe what we found yesterday!"

"The fire was devastating but short-lived, AND WE WENT TO CHECK FOR SURVIVORS, AND WE FOUND DREAM'S BODY IN THE ASHES OF L'MANBERG!" exclaimed Karl.

Tubbo's stomach sank, "d-did you find Tommy?"

They blinked, "what?"

Tubbo began telling them in a long, prolonged breath, tears spilling from his eyes as he told them of Tommy's definite death.

"T-there's a chance he could have survived. N-no body, no death, right?" Quackity muttered.

Tubbo looked away, ashamed.

Ranboo sighed, "you need rest. Get some sleep, and we can talk later."

-

Tubbo trudged up the staircase, moving slowly. He still hadn't fully healed after two months. The burns were quite severe, and many surgeries had contributed to the gradual improvement of his health. 

"Tubbo!" Ghostbur suddenly popped out of nowhere, "what are you doing outside of your hospital bed?"

"I'm taking a walk," Tubbo replied.

"Aren't you too weak?"

"I'm strong enough to walk. I have a cane just in case."

Indeed, Tubbo was holding a small cane to support him.

"Hm..." Ghostbur smiled at him as they continued up the wooden path, "I wanted to say that you were right."

"About what?"

"That we don't need to push away the blue," Ghostbur said quietly. 

"Oh."

"Blue is quite pretty, you know," Ghostbur continued, "water is so calm and beautiful, unlike fire."

"Yeah!"

"And you were right about a lot of things. I'm going to try to remember. Trying to forget whatever that happened makes things worse. Fundy is mad at me and... I won't blame him. I would be mad if he wanted to forget all the good times we had. They were so important... And maybe somehow the bad things were important to him."

Tubbo smiled, glad that someone had found their way forward, "I wish you the best, Wilbur."

Wilbur nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke, probably off to visit Pogtopia or the remains of L'manberg again.

Tubbo continued down the path, walking, walking-

Until he came to Tommy's home.

His old home.

It smelled wrong, being inhabited by foreign souls. It felt very wrong. 

But it looked the same. It had the same design, the same place.

Tubbo's eyes found a small sign in the corner:

Tubbo:
It's Skeppy. I thought you'd like these.
Without Tommy alive, the discs aren't even valuable anymore anyway.
I picked up the compass while searching through Tommy's old things -- you know, to sell.
This isn't a troll! ;)
(Bad forced me to do this btw I wanted to sell them but NO he insisted on giving these to you.)

Tubbo blinked and opened a wooden chest beside it-

And only two of the 27 slots had items.

But the two items felt like they were worth more than even a whole inventory.

Cat.

And "Your Tubbo".

Tubbo stared at the items in shock. How did Skeppy know that he would come here? How did no one find and steal these before?

Generosity? Pity for the boy that lost his best friend?

Tubbo picked up the shining purple compass, the red little arrow swinging at Tubbo's heart. He bit his lip and held it close to his chest, gulping down tears.

"I love you," Tubbo whispered.

Then, eqquiping it to his left hand, gathered up the music disc, Cat.

Almost instinctively, Tubbo rushed to the bench, placing the disc into the jukebox and lighting up as soon as it started playing the lovely, lively tune that Tommy had sought for so long.

And what ended up to be his death.

Tubbo's smile faded almost immediately.

"If only Tommy was here," Tubbo said out loud.

If only Tommy was here to see that the disc was safe in his best friend's hands.

If only Tommy was here to listen to the disc that he had fought so hard for.

Tubbo sat on the bench, somber, rocking his head to the music. He could almost imagine Tommy there, laughing alongside him, boasting about his great feats to acquire his precious disc. 

And Tubbo would laugh and support him, he would congratulate him on his hard work and revoke the exile, allowing them two to live happily ever after in L'manberg.

But that would never happen.

Dream had made sure of it.

Tubbo sat in silence for another minute, humming alone with the light-hearted disc that tried oh so hard to lift his spirits. And it did, a little bit. But not enough. No, it felt like nothing could repair the damage caused. Tommy's death had been a rock in a scale with sand. It completely blew things out of balance.

"Tubbo!" Tommy had screamed the moment he died.

That meant that his last thoughts were of Tubbo.

The question was:

Did he die with happy thoughts?

Or bad thoughts?

~~~~~~~~

Epilouge

~~~~~~~~

Tommy woke up at spawn, confused. Didn't he just die? Didn't he get stabbed-

He looked down at himself, and saw that he was invisible.

Maybe he was just a spirit, a soul that walked the earth to see the fruits of his labor before leaving.

Tommy found that he could float, and fly too. He found that he could teleport, and he didn't get the hang of it until hours later.

He teleported to the bench.

Where he had felt the most content.

The memories flashed in his head. Him and Tubbo watching the sunset. Him and Tubbo laughing. Him and Tubbo fighting together.

They were always together, no matter what.

To Tommy's surprise, his best friend was already sitting there, dressed in all black. Scars and burns marred his face and skin, which was extremely worrisome to Tommy. What had happened after he died?

"Tubbo?" he whispered.

Tubbo didn't respond. Of course he didn't.

And the tune that he was listening to -- it felt so familiar, it felt so-

Cat.

It was Cat.

Tommy's invisible, non-solid mouth dropped open, in pure shock.

"Tubbo-"

Tubbo sat on the bench, teary-eyed, staring out into the beautiful sunrise.

Tommy immediately regretted allowing himself to die. He should have listened to Tubbo. He should have ran. Then maybe he would still be there for him, and Tubbo would not be alone.

But surely he wasn't alone? He had friends, like Ranboo and Technoblade and-

But Tubbo looked very alone. He looked so pitiful, sitting here.

Tommy took a seat next to him.

It was quite hard. He found himself phasing through the bench, dropping to bedrock almost immediately. But after around... Nine tries, maybe? He realized that all he had to do was concentrate on the bench, and calmly sit on it.

The soft tune of Cat filled the air, a lively joy that Tommy loved. He still couldn't't believe that Tubbo had it in the jukebox, playing, right now.

And then he saw it, a small enchanted compass, Tubbo clutching it very tightly.

Your Tubbo.

My Tubbo.

"If only Tommy was here," Tubbo said out loud.

Tommy waited another moment before shuffling closer to Tubbo, sensing that a breakdown was coming. He knew his best friend.

And he was right. The moment he came closer, Tubbo started full-on crying, gathering his legs up and sobbing into his lap.

Tommy's heart sunk.

"Tubbo..." he said, knowing that Tubbo couldn't hear him. "I-I'm right here."

Tubbo continued to cry, looking truly very small and pathetic.

Tommy thought for a moment, then smiled and hung his arms over Tubbo's shoulders, drawing him into a comforting embrace.

"I'm right here," he said again. "And I promise... I'll always be right here. For you."

-

A/N Gosh I usually write A/N's at the beginning before finishing, with a few edits. THIS LITERALLY TOOK ME A MONTH TO WRITE! But seriously, this stupid death was SO dang hard to write -- I literally had so many drafts before the version you're reading right now. But I'm happy with the version that I finally published (more like I'm too lazy to make it better anymore, I just want to get it out there by now), and it's your opinion whether you like this or not. Comments are appreciated! I need constructive criticism-