The seventh day has ended, Zan removed the board that she made and organized her things. In the morning, everything was packed. Bandana Waddle Dee also prepared his stuff, after all, today was his last day as Taranza's intern. The two spear wielders went to the castle's entrance and waited.
"Wow! We'll be travel buddies!" He jumped in excitement, an action that would have made her annoyed. However, this time she made an effort not to ruin his moment. "Jokes aside, I have two questions for you before Mr. Taranza arrives." He said, touching her weapon with his own.
Zan smiled and patted the boy's head. "Go on." Just as she asked, he cleared his throat and began talking. "Okay, first question: did you like your time in Floralia? Was it worth it?" She nodded in response. "Seriously? No words? Just an action?" He insisted.
The girl sighed and stood with her arms crossed. "Yeah... It was... interesting..." Zan suddenly smirked and raised her eyebrows. "I cannot say the same thing for you. You should be proud that you've trained with the great Zan Partizanne! I bet your skills went up by twenty percent."
Instead of stopping her pride, the waddle dee only nodded. "I wouldn't say twenty percent, but it's close." He looked back at the castle and thought of something. "Speaking of fighting skills, have you found out what Mr. Taranza's weakness is?" The blonde mage groaned.
"Ugh... No, I haven't. But one day I'll come back and rub my victory on his face!"She raised a fist in the air and the boy jumped again. "Oooooh, so exciting! Tell me when you win! Or better yet! Give me the juicy details!" His stomach rumbled. "Mmm, a bottle of apple juice would be nice."
Before she could respond, Taranza came from the door, fixing his hair as he did so. "Salut my good friends! I suppose you're ready to leave." He opened his ship's door and let his passengers enter it, his face beaming as he did that.
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The journey took around one hour, Bandana Waddle Dee had a sleeping mask and loudly snored. Meanwhile, Zan made a rhythm in the window, it was her way of spending time. Taranza carefully commanded the ship and looked behind him; he didn't know why, but just by looking at the girl's face he could sense a smile coming. She reminded him too much of Sectonia, from her attitude to her unique hair style.
Taking a quick glance from the window, the spider saw castle Dedede. He then pressed a button, which made the ship slowly descend. After feeling a light bump, the waddle dee took his mask off. "Have we arrived?" Taranza gave him a thumbs up.
The lightning general grabbed her suitcase and got off the ship, not forgetting about her special gift. The arachnid helped his former intern grab his things, getting a thank you in return. "And here we are! (ugh, that sentence still gives me the heebie jeebies) I hope you have enjoyed your time in my kingdom." He tried to be cool by snapping his fingers, but ended up even more corny.
Bandana Waddle Dee ran to the castle to greet his real king and organize his things, leaving the two alone. "Um... This is weird." She said, fixing a hair strand that was on her face. "Sorry, I'm not good with this stuff." The girl said with a look full of nervousness.
With a small grin on his face, he playfully punched her shoulder. "There is no need to apologize, Zan, you can visit me anytime, just rent a ship and fly up, it's very simple." He laughed. "I am still waiting for that revenge of ours." Taranza teased her.
"And this time, I'll not be the one losing." She smiled and put one hand on her hip. "Take care, okay?" Zan looked at him with a worried look, which disappeared after he gave her a hug.
"I will. Until next time!" Taranza said and left with his ship.
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At the three sisters' house, Flamberge was trying to cook and Francisca had just finished her work schedule. A burnt smell came from the kitchen, which made the ice mage facepalm. "Dear, is everything alright in there?" She asked.
The red-haired girl didn't say anything, so her sister went to the kitchen and saw an enormous fire coming out from the oven. "Oh my Void!" She used her powers to put out the fire, removing a drop of sweat from her face right after. "What were you doing?" The bluette made an angry gesture.
Raising her hands in the air, Flamberge defended herself. "I was just making cookies, but the oven started getting crazy, It's not my fault!" Francisca made an unamused look, crossing her 'arms' in the process. That act made the middle sister sigh. "Okay... I maybe... have overheated the oven to make things quicker."
All of a sudden, the two girls heard someone entering their house. "Uh-oh, we have visitors, better not to keep them waiting!" She made an excuse and left the kitchen, which made Francisca roll her eyes. The youngest sister looked at the mess around her and groaned.
When Flamberge got to the living room, she saw her older sister with her suitcase in one hand, a flower in the other and her weapon on her back. "Welcome back!" She hugged the blonde girl who, due to the circumstances, couldn't move. "Franny! Come here! Zan is back!" She called her younger sister.
With a smooth motion, Francisca left the kitchen and went to her house's entrance. "It's so good to see you! How was it?" The bluette asked as she grabbed her sister's suitcase. "It was surprisingly great." Zan put her flower on the table and hugged the blue girl. "Missed me that much?"
That question blew Flamberge's mind, she even made a gesture to emphasize it. "I can't believe it! You're back to normal! I can now recognize you, the classes must have been great." She tried to control her excitement, but failed miserably. Flamberge hugged Zan again, and, this time, the hug was returned.
"Now that you're back, you must tell us everything!" Francisca nudged her sister. "And when I say everything I mean it." She nodded. "Let me just put my things in our room and then I'll tell you."
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The three girls spent the rest of their day talking and laughing together. They took turns and had a lovely conversation. Francisca told them about her new boss that was, honestly, very mean. Flamberge spoke about her misadventures with Dedede and the whole chips thing. And finally, Zan told about her trip, keeping a few embarrassing parts to herself.
"Zan, you didn't say what happened on the first and last day, come on woman! Give me the details!" The fire general said while she moved a lot on her bed. "I don't think that's necessary." Zan scratched the back of her head, but with her sisters' insistence, she was obliged to tell them.
"Nothing much, he just challenged me to a fight, that's all." She looked down in shame. Flamberge, though, found it impressive. "Wow, and you've won, right?" Her face almost hurt from smiling. Francisca noticed her sister's nervousness, so she decided to tease her. "Don't tell me that you have lost." She laughed.
Zan widened her eyes and nodded to herself. "Yeah... It's not like I couldn't land a single hit." The comment made the younger girls laugh. "That's a good one, sis. Wait, you're serious?" The red-haired girl gasped.
Seeing that lying wouldn't take her anywhere, Zan sighed. "I lied! He won by a landslide." She looked angry, which made her sisters tease her nonstop. "Did you really lose, what did you call him? Oh! A bowl cut intellectual." Flamberge said and high-fived Francisca. "His charm was way too strong, she didn't have a chance." The blue girl added.
The blonde girl groaned in response. "I want to see you two fight against him, I'm serious, he is way stronger than I." Zan processed what was said and frowned. "Wait a minute, what did you mean by that?" She tilted her head to the side.
Francisca didn't even care to hold her giggles. "Did you think I didn't see that flower?" Zan blinked twice, she still didn't understand. The middle sister looked at her two sisters and smirked. "Ooooh, your little 'gift'." She laughed to herself, which caused the oldest girl to shrug.
"I don't get it, what's the problem with the flower? Is it too big?"
The younger sisters looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. "I'll give you a clue, when a boy gives a flower to a girl, it can only mean..." Francisca made a gesture to make Zan think. The blonde mage connected all points in her head before gasping and widening her eyes.
"No! Stop it right now! He's just a friend who happens to be a guy. He gave me his favorite flower." She mentally facepalmed after she had said that. "His favorite flower, eh?" Flamberge said with the biggest smirk someone could imagine.
"Yes, and there is nothing more than mutual respect, now I think we should sleep." Zan blew a hair strand off her face and covered herself in her blanket.
"Okay, okay." Francisca said.
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After returning to Floralia, Taranza went to his room and felt emptiness in his heart, two of his friends had now left for Dreamland, which meant he was once again alone. "Back again to my original state, greeattt..." He thought and got himself a cup of tea.
The ringtone of his phone interrupted his thoughts, so the spider went to answer it. "Bonsoir, here talks the king of Floralia, may I ask who is there?" After a brief pause, a voice could be heard from the other side. "Finally! I found a way to make you work, stubborn cellphone." Dedede said
Taranza thanked that it was someone he knew, he wasn't in the mood of talking to a stranger. "It's been some time, my dear friend. How is it going with your new business? Do you need a new supply of ingredients?" The penguin shook his head from side to side.
"I just wanted to inform you that the mission has been a success! Flamberge said to me that Zan Partizanne is back to normal, good job!" He clapped his hands, almost dropping the phone.
The arachnid sighed and slightly smiled. "I appreciate the compliment...
"May I tell you something?" Dedede had a worried look on his face. "Of course, what's the matter?" He said and ate some chips, its noise ruined the moment. The bird apologized.
"I'm telling you this because you are one of the few that knows the story of my life. Do you remember the time I told you that Miss Partizanne reminded me of my former queen?" Dedede nodded, but remembered that they weren't seeing each other. "I do, what about it?"
Taranza nervously played with his scarf, his hands getting more and more sweaty. "So... Would you believe if I said that my feelings started to turn away from Sectonia?" The penguin almost choked on his chips. "Say what right now?" He coughed.
At this point the spider wanted to disappear, but he gained a little bit of courage, took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "I think I know who I want to rule by my side..." He turned beet red. Dedede gasped. "Wait, are you talking about Zan? Is she really the one who stole your heart?"
The spider didn't know if he could get any redder than he was right now. "Yes?" He nervously laughed. "That's great! She is a good match for you! I think." Dedede finished with his bag. "Please don't tell anyone. I'm still moving on from her after four years, when she, you know..."
Dedede loudly laughed "You have my word, lovebird. Just be careful with her, I'm afraid she might break your already broken heart." Taranza sighed. "That's my biggest fear, I don't want to go through that again." He said as tears formed in his eyes.
"One last thing, I'm planning a big party in the next week, ya invited if ya wanna go. Bye" He said as he grabbed another bag o' them chips and ended the call. The spider looked at his favorite frame, and rubbed it gently.
"My old friend, I know you would like me to move on..."