"Tommy, I know you'd never thought you'd hear me say this, but take your place on the podium and give us a speech. Or should I say, president-elect. Tommy Innit."
Your e/c eyes held a joyful twinkle, watching Tommy splutter in disbelief as his brother gestured him up to the podium.
"Hello everyone." The teenager took a deep breath, others greeting him back, before continuing. "Hello. Well, it looks like we've won. And- and I never thought I'd say this, but even after the hardships, the tyranny that we've been through, after everything, it was meant to be."
Through his sunglasses, Eret's eyes widened and he let out a laugh. "That's my line!"
"It was always meant to be." You smiled, squeezing Wilbur's hand briefly.
"Er, and, Wilbur," Tommy chuckled slightly, "thank you. For making me the president. And- and I know you said I never would be, I couldn't be. And after a bit of thinking, I decided... yeah. I can't be."
A murmur of confusion. A gasp. Your eyebrows raised just slightly.
Tommy continued. "And as much as this is everything to me, as much as this would have been everything - I've still got unfinished business. Because Dream, you've still got those discs."
Dream grinned lightly, making a motion as if to doff a hat.
"Until I've got those discs back, it's not fair for me to take my place in L'manberg. L'-" the blonde stressed the 'L'- "-L'manberg. So, Wilbur, I know you had your points where we thought you were gonna, y'know, fuckin' blow the whole place up - I know that's just talk now!"
Wilbur looked down, corners of his lips upturned, then back up.
"So, we did this, and there wasn't a single explosion." Tommy had a satisfied look on his face as he surveyed the crowd. "Wilbur? Take your place on the podium. And Dream? This isn't over."
You reassured Wilbur with a simple nod, him then speaking into the microphone. "Alright, I'll keep this brief as possible. Tommy, that was... good of you. And, so, the first thing I'll do is to scrap that flag. It's not our nation anymore."
Niki's cheers and Quackity's celebration made their way into your ear amidst Wilbur's words. "Yellow, black, red, white, and blue. That's how it should be. However, I also cannot be your president."
Eyebrow raise count: two.
"Techno, you've taught me a lot," Wilbur noted. "You taught me that government isn't the way to go, not for me at least. Whilst I can't judge the way other people run the country, I can take charge in whether I will. So, let me hand off the presidency. To say goodbye to my nation, my L'manberg, and there's only one other person who I want to come up to the stage."
Wilbur sighed, this one seeming to symbolize a final rest. "Let me welcome your next president of L'manberg. Tubbo."
Tubbo's face split into what you think may have been the biggest possible smile on a human being, his entire aura seeming to jump up several steps. Wilbur shared a smaller version, descending as Tubbo went up.
As he unsurely gave his speech, you couldn't help but notice the absence of a certain someone.
Wilbur, what are you doing?
-----
You walked with purpose, following the light footprints of the grass while messaging Wilbur frantically.
<y/u> wilbur where are you
<y/u> wilbur
<y/u> wil
<y/u> please answer me
<y/u> i need you
<y/u> we need you
The footprints ended, and you came across a wall of stone. Your hands ran across the cliffside, eventually touching a piece that caved into itself. Hesitantly, you pushed into it, revealing a gaping hole.
What became a tunnel was suffocating in its narrowness, a dim light at its end. You strained to hear or see something to indicate Wilbur's presence.
"If I'm gonna press it ever- it's- it's now," a voice muttered, low and stressed. "The thing that I built this nation for doesn't exist anymore. It's over."
You burst into the room, slowly taking in its appearance. A rickety wooden chair sat in the middle of the room, scraps of planks and pieces of cobble littering the ground. The walls had words scratched into them, your eyes darting around to piece them together.
"Wil."
Your voice shook in its feeble attempt to be firm. "What are you doing."
"Y- Y/n?" Wilbur's head snapped around, brown eyes darting slightly down and up.
Stepping closer to him, you gave a small nod. Your hand reached out to glide gently against the room's walls.
"What is this place?" you murmured.
Where men could go and emancipate,
"Oh, I- well, I-" Wilbur paused. "Do you know what this button does?"
"Would you like me to?"
The simple words seemed to mount a burden, Wilbur's chest sinking in on itself. "It's the button that will end it all."
Oh.
Oh.
Your realization must have shown on your face, Wilbur's expression changing to a pitiful one.
"You know, when we were- when we were making the anthem together, that sunny day way back, I was making a big point," Wilbur said softly. "It was poignant, and it was poetic, and it was that there was a special place. But it's not there anymore. It's not."
Your face twisted slightly. You gently took his hand and squeezed it, akin to how you'd done not even fifteen minutes ago.
"We just won it back, though, haven't we?" you spoke, turning to meet his eyes. "We gave ourselves for that place."
"Y/N, I'M ALWAYS SO CLOSE TO PRESSING THIS BUTTON!"
Your breath caught in your throat. Wilbur's fist slammed against the wall, making a loud noise.
"I have been here," Wilbur stressed, chest heaving, "seven or eight times. Y/n, it's been too many times that I've come back and stared at this button."
He collapsed onto the wall, forearms falling against it and head dropping down.
Your voice was no louder than a whisper. "So you want to blow it all up? You don't even want to try?"
"I do."
Wilbur shook off your hand, wrestling both of his into his hair. "I do. I- I could press it, I could. I wouldn't have to think about this, them, you, anything at all..."
"Do you really want to make that happen?" You let a single tear slip, composure shattering. "Do you really want to leave us behind?"
Your throat felt dry, chest felt heavy when the next question fell from your lips. "Leave me behind?"
"I- I don't, that's the problem!" Wilbur's voice rose once again. "But it's so fucking hard, you don't understand, it's so fucking hard to keep holding on."
You watched his fingers crawl onto the button, tracing it slowly.
"Wil." You grabbed his wrist quickly, trying to pull it towards you. "We still- we still have time, okay? We can figure this out. We're here for you. Me, Tommy, Tubbo, Fundy, everyone."
Wilbur retracted one finger from the button.
You let a slow smile inch onto your face while you continued. "I know it's hard- it's probably infinitely harder than I've ever been through. But I promise, I won't give up on you."
A second finger, twitching slightly.
"You've put so much work into beginning this beautiful thing, this symphony of a country."
Your hands moved to cup his cheeks, lightly turning Wilbur's chin to face you. "You can let somebody else finish it now."
Wilbur's last three fingers slid off the button.
Your chest sagged in relief, smile breaking out into a wide grin. Wilbur offered a small smile, eyes shifting from side to side.
"Can I - can I-" he stuttered over his words awkwardly. "Can I kiss you?"
If possible, your smile got even bigger as you breathed out a few words.
"Oh my God."
"Yes."
-----
1302 words (without a/n)
Header by @/kelodoru on Tumblr
aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÆEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
okay that's all, how are you today?
hopefully i did wilbur justice, his character is so interesting to write and explore. to my dream simps, your time is coming next week :D
make sure to take care of yourself! i hope to see you in the next chapter!
-Partially Human