Mao Mao was surprised when he found a parcel filled with CDs of sorts in the mailbox. He hadn't been expecting this at all. Had he ordered something? (He would remember that, if that was the case, so it was unlikely.) Or was this a present from someone?

It didn't mean that he wasn't suspicious, of course. Who could have sent a package like this? He knew that Rose didn't send things this way, so he was entitled to some scrutiny. Was it an enemy who had sent it? He had a lot of things to worry about.

But he felt something familiar from it, so he just opened it up and popped one into the DVD player. It couldn't be that bad.

He was proven wrong when he was shown him growing up without Rose. Before he remembered her powers. He had to admit that he was crying at the end of it. He never realised just how pained Rose had been behind those doors. He thought she hadn't wanted him around. It just... broke his heart.

His eyes looked at the other disks hesitantly. Did he want to watch it? What if they had more stuff about him and Rose? He had told Old Blue that he wanted to leave that all behind. But right now, it was slapping him on the face. Who would do this to him?

A knock to the door snapped him out of it, making him get up to open the door.

Badgerclops waved at him lazily, "Hey, dude. We came over to visit!"

"Yeah! It's been so long since we've seen you!" Adorabat smiled. "You good?"

"Somewhat I guess?" he shrugged. "Come on in then. I'm a bit tired, but it should be homey and clean enough for you."

"Alright! You better have some snacks, Mao," Badgerclops grinned as he sidestepped his best friend to head inside.

Adorabat followed suit, so Mao Mao brought up the rear. He was a bit worried that they would see the CDs, but Badgerclops had headed straight into the kitchen for his snacks without a simple glance to the living room, so he was safe.

Adorabat, on the other hand?

"Oooh, this looks interesting! Mao Mao, let's watch this!"

"Wait, Adorabat no!" his reflexes kicked in, trying to lunge for her before it was too late.

Alas, they kicked in a bit too late, because Adorabat had put the disk in with a smile on her face. She then moved back to the couch and sat down on it, ignoring the look that he was giving her, "What?"

"What did you just do?"

"They looked interesting, so I wanted to put it in. Why? Is it wrong?"

Mao Mao was THIS close to face palming right now. What did he do to deserve it? Why was Adorabat still as excitable as she was when they met her? It just amazed him how crazy they were. Wait, he was crazy too. Not as bad as those two, but still crazy.

He just let out a low sigh. He supposed he could watch one more.

Badgerclops soon came back and took a seat, "What are we watching?"

"Videos," he shortly replied.

"Ooh, ooh, Mao Mao! Look! It's Rose!"

His attention snapped to the screen faster than you could say Mao. She was right, there was Rose.

As she started singing, the words struck Mao Mao hard. He could only watch in silence while she made her safe haven, awestruck and amazed at her capabilities. Watching it move around like magic was enough to render him quiet towards this miraculous beauty. He was amazed. He was speechless.

When it got to the part where she threw his locket away, his heart panged. He couldn't help but feel pain. Even if she came back eventually, it still hurt to see her do that. Was he not enough?

Thankfully, the DVD ended once she closed the door to her newly made castle, so he could exhale in relief.

Well, until he heard what Adorabat had to say.

"That was awesome! Let's watch the others!"

"Wait no!"

Too late once more. She had happily taken the next disk and popped it in before sitting back down again.

He groaned inwardly. What was up with this kid? Times like these made him feel like he wasn't appreciated, especially by the youngest. Yet he knew that he had to give in to her, so he supposed he could handle finishing the four disks.

He was proven wrong once again by the next video, which was about him and Rose when he was trying to convince her to come back home. The scars from that time had never faded, huh? It especially panged when he saw her blast him with her ice, hitting his heart. He looked away to hide it from his friends, though. He didn't want them to get worried.

That was the end of the disk, at least, so he braced himself for the next one.

It was just as bad as the last one. He didn't remember ever going through that, yet it reminded him of the previous disk. Just as heartbreaking. It just hurt him so much.

He had never felt as relieved as when he realised that it was over.

"That was nice, Mao! We should watch more of these again!" Adorabat cheered.

No, definitely no. Over my dead body no.

Outwardly, though, he just sighed.

Badgerclops' warm hand placed itself on his shoulder. He turned, and they made eye contact.

He smiled gently. His best friend always knew when he needed comfort.

"Thanks for having us over," he spoke. "Now, it's time for us to go."

"Awww but I wanted to spend more time here!"

"We already spent too much time here. Plus, you were very rude to Mao Mao."

Her eyes widened, and she turned to him, "W-Was I?" Her posture was slumped, as if she was slowly realising her mistake.

For all he knew, that was probably the case, but he couldn't help the softening of his eyes as he patted her gently, "It's okay, don't worry about it. Just remember this next time, okay?"

She just hugged him tightly, and for a minute he thought she would never let go. Luckily, Badgerclops soon pulled her off and they left.

He quickly started with cleaning up. The crumbs went into the trash can, the mess turned orderly, and the CDs...

He stopped slightly, but sighed as he picked them up and took them to his bedroom, where he put them all in a plastic and slipped it in between the photo albums he had on his shelf.

A small smile popped up. His scars may not have healed, but it didn't hurt as much as before. Scars do heal over time, he supposed.

Then, he turned around and went off to continue his life after those traumatic times.

Requester: maomaofan

Prompt: Reaction story to previous requests

Notes: Rose belongs to the requester.