"I can't tell whether a revived man would appreciate his second chance or yearn for the stolen serenity."
Ahmed Mostafa
Tommy was lost. Not physically. He was sitting on the bench across the sidewalk from his house. The branches of a tree were creating shadows over his body that protected him from the sun in the worst of the heat. He was staring at the horizon, past the gaping crater in the ground that was formally part of L'Manberg. His arms remained at his sides while his legs were draped across the dirt and grass. His head was held up to stare at the sunset or the last of night when the sun rose behind him.
Mentally, Tommy was gone. He wasn't responsive. They had tried a lot of different things to make sure. Tommy wouldn't talk. He wouldn't react to being drenched in water or getting too close to fire. Tommy didn't seem to be listening as stories and music discs got no attention. If someone tried to remove Tommy from the bench, he would find his way back to it when they weren't paying attention. He was eventually left there. Tommy was lost in his grief. He had an air of depression around him that could make anyone cry if they stayed too long. The gods of the Server explained it was Tommy's magic. He had been something of a battery to the Egg's power because he loved Clara. Because Tommy still loved Clara, his powers kept functioning, but they didn't have a conduit to direct them to a device that needed energy. His magic stayed hanging around him, taking the attributes of his broken psyche.
Tommy remained docile and still. He didn't care about anything. He didn't have a level of self preservation to keep him alive. He didn't have morals that he wanted to spread. He didn't defend his honor or someone who should have been close to him. Tommy wouldn't give responses to the people that affected his life the most. Phil, Wilbur, Techno, Tubbo, Ranboo, Niki, Jack, Puffy, Karl, Hannah, Foolish, Quackity, Sam, SapNap, George. They all tried to get a reaction. They all failed. Tommy was better described a breathing corpse than a living human. The Mobs didn't even recognize he was an autonomous creature. He was better known as part of the scenery. He belonged there as much as the tree behind him or the rocks beneath his feet did. The hostile Mobs treated him as a statue.
It wasn't clear if Tommy cared or not. He didn't seem to notice, so what could he do to care about it? His sadness remained the same. It had become stronger, actually, considering Puffy swore she had seen a zombie that wandered too close crying. After that declaration, it wasn't uncommon to find that Mobs had a reaction to Tommy. Endermen left blocks around as a means to cheer him up. A Creeper that was seconds from exploding deflated when he came close to Tommy. A Skeleton had lowered their bow while sitting on the grass before Tommy with a mile long stare. A large Golem had escaped from a Illager village that the Dream SMP members had to fight. The stone collapsed when it reached Tommy's home. Either Tommy's sadness was that prominent, or Clara's legacy had survived past her death. The red streaks in Tommy's hair identified him as something that belonged to the ancient race of Dreamons. All Mobs were wary of Dreamons as they were once the guardians of the Nether like the Ender Dragon was the keeper of the End. Maybe Clara had placed a protection spell over Tommy before her death, and that was what weaponized his dormant magic.
Whatever the case, Tommy was safe but unreachable. His friends had to learn to accept it. The day Tommy lost Clara, they had all lost Tommy. The first and last day of the Apocalypse was placed on the calendars. Every year, that would celebrate a day to honor Clara and Tommy's heroic sacrifices to save them all. The day didn't have an official day, but it had been referred to as Motina Diena, Mother Day. Tommy didn't have a reaction to a holiday all about him, even though Tubbo had been hoping for it.
——
"Come on, Tommy, you need to eat." She said. She approached with a bowl of soup. She walked over to the bench while closing the gate. She stepped right in front of Tommy's view of the sunset. Like most days, he seemed to be looking through her instead of at her. She got on her knees that way she was face to face with Tommy. She pushed the bowl into Tommy's hands with a sad smile. She unwrapped the plastic around the bowl. She took a spoonful of the soup from the bowl to Tommy's face. He didn't fight her when she feed him the soup. Tommy swallowed the soup without letting the flavor sit on his tug. She was just glad that Tommy was eating something. It would be a whole other problem if Tommy completely refused to eat.
"Puffy! Here you are! They've had a breakthrough! You need to come quick!" Karl said as his body slammed into the fence. Puffy dropped the spoon back into the bowl. She sat it right beside Tommy on the bench. Puffy stood up onto her feet. She kissed Tommy on the forehead before promising to return. Puffy went towards Karl. They ran down the Prime Path to see what Quackity and Phil had done.
The wind started to pick up. It blew through Tommy's hair and beneath his nose. A distinct smell in the air made Tommy's nose twitch. A figure started to take shape on the fence that kept people from falling into the crater that used to be L'Manberg. It was a woman in a white, spaghetti strap dress. She was looking towards where the wind was going with a peaceful smile and closed eyes. She turned towards Tommy with her eyes opening. "Why aren't you eating, sunshine?"
The woman touched onto the ground with her bare feet against the sand. She flexed her toes to test her walking skills. She stepped towards Tommy with her arms folded behind her back. Tommy had tears falling down the sides of his face as he followed her eyes as they came closer. Tommy's lips formed words that came out in a broken whisper. "Hannah?"
"Guess again," Clara said with a quiet laugh. Tommy launched forwards with open arms. Not prepared for the movement, his body wasn't able to hold its weight. Clara caught Tommy instead of letting him face plant. Tommy gripped Clara like a lifeline as he sobbed into her shoulder. Clara felt tears run down her own eyes as she held Tommy just as close. They both fell to the ground on their knees. "I told you we would meet again. I kept my promise, didn't I?"
"Mom," Tommy whispered as he pulled back to see Clara's face. She grabbed onto his cheeks with a thumb rubbing away his tears. Clara pressed their foreheads together with a quiet chuckle. She held Tommy close like that as she whispered, "I'm not going anywhere, son."
The End
