The Kitten's Limit Remastered

Chapter 11: Forgiveness

The following scene was written by The Primordial Clok Roo, with small tweaks and edits by me, and was taken from his oneshot "The Aftermath"

The school day had finally ended, but not everything was on the up.

Darwin and Penny sat together on the ride home, their thoughts still on Gumball and his mental collapse that pushed him beyond his limit. At the time when he had turned on them, they were upset and hurt by his sudden actions. But after hearing the full story from Anais, they began to understand.

"Darwin," Penny began asking. "Is it alright if I come home with you for a while?"

"Why?" Darwin asked.

"I... we need to speak with Gumball."

"Are you sure you want to do that? After what happened?"

"We have to," The fairy declared. "After what happened, he probably thinks he's lost us forever. But the thing is... he needs us more than ever now. He needs to know that we understand and forgive him."

"...Do we forgive him, though?" Darwin continued asking.

"I do! Don't you?"

Darwin took a moment to think about it. Was he ready to forgive Gumball for lashing out at him the way he did? He didn't think he was...what he'd said had really hurt, and he wasn't sure he was ready to talk to him again. Not yet anyway.

But then he looked at Penny, and he saw how prepared she was to face him. To forgive him. To assure the boy that she loved that she was still by his side. Darwin had no idea how she was able to do it after what he'd done to her, but her confidence gave him the boost he needed to say:

"Yeah. I forgive him."

The bus eventually pulled up outside the Watterson home – not the normal stop for Penny, but it was for today. Herself, Darwin and Anais got off and made their way to the house. All three of them were worried about Gumball – Penny and Darwin more so; Anais had already forgiven Gumball at this point. As they stepped up the door, it was opened by Nicole.

"Kids," She said, her usual motherly pep and spark absent after today. "So glad you're home. You too Penny. Gumball has been awfully quiet since we got back."

"Is he OK, Mom?" Anais asked.

"He's fine," Nicole sighed. "I think he's just sorry for what happened. He seemed happy and relaxed enough when I was talking to him earlier, but...I think the guilt and weight of what he did to you is catching back up to him again...he's been in his room for an hour now, probably thinking about what happened over and over..."

"You aren't mad at him for trashing the school?" Darwin questioned.

"Ordinarily I would be, but...based on what happened, I'm more worried about him than anything, honestly," She revealed.

"How come?" Anais asked.

Nicole shook her head. "It's... best it stays a secret between your brother and me."

"Can we at least speak with him, Mrs Watterson?" Penny requested.

"I'll go ask him first. He might still be a bit nervous given what he told me," The feline mother said. As turned around and went up the stairs, the kids sat on the couch and waited.

"Wonder why Mrs. Mom's not angry with Gumball?" Darwin asked. "Normally whenever we do something wrong or trash the house, she becomes... gulp scary."