Pink hair and a broken heart

Chapter 25. Dearly departed

Here come the feels, the feels. Watch out!~W.R.

{Location: The Red dessert}(Seliel's POV)

Mom finishes up. I never thought I actually scared my Mom. She seemed so fearless. She keeps describing every inch of my baby face. It's actually a little embarrassing. Then the tape ends and pops out.

Marci snickers a little as she turns onto a dirt road, "And how's little Seliel-bear now?"

I roll my eyes as I put the tape back in the pocket, "Better than Marci-ari will be if she doesn't stop the baby talk."

"Message received." She salutes me as the dirt becomes sand. "Do we still have a tail?"

I look behind us. The crowd has kinda thinned out but Victor is still leading the charge, "Yup. How much do we have left?"

"Almost out." Marci pats her car, "I never thought I'd say it, but I might miss the piece of junk."

I pretend to be shocked, "I thought you hated this thing."

"I do. But, it's hung around me for a long time. And anything that hangs around me for a long time is strong."

I get the sense she's not talking about the car. I play with the radio a little, "You think being around you is strong?"

"Well, maybe not strong. But enduring." Marci presses the gas harder, "I mean, having to suffer through all my clinginess, my awful jokes and puns and still hang around me. I bet it's hard."

"Well," I kick my feet onto the dashboard, "I'm only guessing here. But maybe part of the reason something sticks around is because they actually like you."

"We're not talking about the car anymore are we?"

"Yeah." I see tall buildings in the distance with a few blimps flying overhead, "Marci. You are my best friend. I have never thought of your company as a bother. In fact, it brightens my day. Keeps me smiling."

"What was it I said as my final words?" Marci ignores the beeping from the car, "Keep smiling."

"Yeah," I remember that horrible moment. Was it about a year ago? Seems like a lifetime, "Marci. What we do is dangerous. And I want you to know something. It doesn't matter to me if you're here or not. I'm always going to be happy when I think about things like your jokes."

"What about the playground?"

"Happy."

"My parties?"

"Happy."

"My clinginess?"

"Happy." I smile as my eyes shed water. "You always made me happy and proud as a best friend. But, I noticed a trend." I lean back, pretending we're kids again and playing detectives, "It's always been others before you. And while I love that about you. Please be selfish once in awhile."

Marci rubs her eyes then holds the wheel again, "Ok." She has one of those natural smiles on her face as she shimmers a little.

Then the radio blasts a DJ's voice at us, "HEllO New Ninjago city! Happy Day of the Departed!"  He takes a long slurp of something, "I hope everyone is heading to the concert by the New Ninjago museum. I mean a concert honoring the Ninja, who wouldn't be there."

Marci clicks off the radio as steam comes out of my ears, "You ok?"

"No." I ball my fists, "I'm still mad at them. It wasn't fair. We were abandoned. No one had to get hurt but they didn't come and that's on them. Whether they know it or not."

"I have a question," Marci bobs her head back and forth, "If it came down to it? Would you team up with them to save the world?"

"What kind of question is that?" I watch as we pass through a canyon now.