Cherry Blossoms - Bonds Unbroken (BadGrammarCat's main AU)

## Right after AvM Ep. 30

OH! I ALMOST FORGOT TO ADD THE BORING STUFF! Before you read on with this, here's some things you may need to know:

This is a not-so-short oneshot focusing on King Orange (Mango) and Purple with some angst and fluff/comfort sprinkled in there, finished off with a bittersweet(?) ending. There are some brief and subtle mentions of child abuse and parental stuff... y'know, the canon sad stuff. This also is connected to Too Young to Die (which I have posted here and on the Animator vs Animation wiki). You don't necessarily read that to understand this, though.

But anyway, I won't delay you further! Enjoy the read!

He looked up. Purple was staring at a cherry blossom sapling in a small pot by the window. The petals were a light, fluffy pink and the branches were strong and stable. King drew in a breath.

“Look, I just want to say that.. I’m sorry. For how I treated you, for how I ordered you around since the start of everything.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I understand that you were doing it for the sake of your son.” Purple had their tired eyes focused on King now.

A second passed. Then two, then three.

Purple shifted their gaze back to their hands when King didn’t say anything. He turned his own sight over to the stick sitting across from him. King studied their lanky form for a moment. Their royal garments were cut and torn, their body battered and bruised- and they were shaking. Their elytra, their most prized Minecraft possession, was missing.

King looked down at the table he was sitting at and ran a finger along the edge of its mahogany wood. The room was dead silent. Specks of dust, illuminated by the sunlight, floated down around the two figures.

“Purple?” King asked in a hushed tone, as quiet as possible, not wanting to disturb the fragile stick that was Purple.

“Yes?” Purple looked up again. They mustered a small yet pained smile. Even smiling hurt for them.

“What happened to your.. ahem… elytra?”

Purple didn’t respond to the question. Instead, they trained their gaze to the wall behind King and fidgeted with their fingers. Their face held a blank expression of discomfort and uneasiness.

A second passed. Then two, then three.

King took that they didn’t want to answer the question. He stayed silent as well, looking around the almost-bare house.

Cracks had been gradually crawling up the stained gray walls, the bookshelves were rotting from the inside, and the floor was covered in a carpet of dust. The air was hot and suffocating. The holes in the ceiling were anything but pleasant. King hadn’t been taking care of his old house, but it didn’t matter to him. He had made a new one in the Nether. And he had abandoned this one.

“Hey, Pu-” King decided to ask another question but Purple cut him off.

“I lost it to the Minecraft block staff.”

King was confused for a minute. But then it came to him. Purple had been thinking about what to say to his previous question.

“When I was trying to get to you and the Minecraft staff. The beam kinda ripped it off my back, and the wings went into the black hole. It never came back, like the rest of us did,” Purple explained.

A second passed. Then two, then three.

The room was drenched in an awkward but somewhat pleasing silence.

“What’s wrong?” King gently placed his hand on Purple’s. They flinched, but didn’t pull away.

“My family..it wasn’t exactly like yours,” Purple started, “I did have parents, though. My mom was the best mom I could’ve ever asked for. She worked as a florist, made custom bouquets for all the sticks that came into her little flower shop. And my dad…my dad was an arena fighter.”

A second passed. Then two, then three.

King waited for Purple to continue. He had the feeling this was going to be a rough story. He could see the distress and unrest on Purple’s face when they tried to get the words out.

Purple took a deep breath and continued, “My dad was the best fighter in his arena. He would always win his battles, taking home lots of money. We were doing well. Until he decided that I was old enough to start training to be a fighter, just like him. I was five at the time.”

They let the sentence hang in the air for a bit, then continued. King stared with wide eyes.

“I would always try my best at training, but my dad would just say that I was weak. Every single time. Even when I turned ten and was getting better at it, he.. he started punishing me if I didn’t get the position right or if I went off-balance. My mom tried to come to my aid, but he-” Purple choked. “He left. He said that I won’t ever be good enough. He left and never came back.”

A second passed. Then two, then three.

Purple was having trouble speaking but forced the words out. “Shortly after, my mom… she- she passed away from an unknown illness. That’s why I was holding some cherry blossoms the other day. Those were for her.”

King didn’t know what to do. Purple was crying now, holding their head in their hands. He himself bit back a sob. They reminded him so much of Gold. Of his beloved son. So he did what he would always do with Gold. He pushed himself out of his chair and circled the table. Then he draped one arm around Purple’s back and held them close.

A second passed. Then two, then three.

Slowly, the crying stopped.

“I promise to you, Purple, if your dad comes back, I will beat him to a pulp,” King told Purple with a determined look, slightly shaking them in his arms. And right then and there, he did promise them- a promise that he vowed never to break.

### -Two Months Later-

*Knock knock!*

The door shook. King walked over and opened it.

“Hello, Orange!” Second exclaimed, “Is Purple here by any chance?”

“Oh, yes, they are. Want to come in for a couple of minutes? Purps is still getting ready, I think.”

“No thanks, we’ll be fine waiting out here,” Second gave a small smile.

A second passed. Then two, then three.

The Skittles gang stood there awkwardly, waiting at the doorway. Red let out an uneasy, half-hearted chuckle. Blue fidgeted with his potion belt.

“I’m here, I’m here, I’m here!” Purple came running to the doorway, almost bumping into King as they did.

Second and company visibly lit up at the sight of their friend.

“Ready to go?” Green asked, giving Purple a wink.

“Sure am! I’ll be back at 9:30 or somewhere around there, okay?” Purple said, turning to King, who was still standing at the door. He leaned against the frame like a cat.

King waved a hand. “Alright, kiddo. Just be back soon.”

“Thanks. Bye, dad!" Purple rushed off with their friends, towing Green and pulling him along.

King watched the kids walk off together, listening to their laughter. He smiled to himself. He would make sure that Purple would be alright. He couldn’t afford to lose them, either.

### Author's Notes

In my opinion, this is the best oneshot (or fanfiction work) I've written for the Animator vs Animation fandom! If you liked this work, please visit my other -in progress- fanfiction in the *Bonds Unbroken* main AU, *Too Young to Die*. Thank you so much for reading, **BadGrammarCat**