Siblings' Quest |Phineas and Ferb Story|

Part Fifteen: Reconciliation

(A/N: I've been thinking about working on my old PnF fanfics like Adventures in Parenting and all that but idk, should I just make new ones instead? I've got a few ideas but most are just one-shots and most of them are angst and I think we can all agree my PnF angst ideas are trash-)

A few days passed since the slightly traumatic night for Phineas. Things were slowly returning to how they used to be for the Flynn-Fletchers, now that Phineas had stood his ground and finally got the answers he was longing for. Ferb was now talking to him again and his parents weren't quite so tense, in fact Lawrence was no longer working 14 hours a day. It seemed they were all slowly reverting back to their normal routine.

But there was the emptiness they all felt and didn't dare talk about.

Things weren't the same without Candace. Sure, she didn't live at the house anymore, anyway. But knowing that she was never going to come back to visit or even call any of them was what was hurting the most. At this point, Phineas would've accepted any sort of contact. A voicemail, a one-worded text, anything. He just wanted his sister back, or at the very least, he wanted to know if she was okay.

There wasn't anything any of them could do. Candace wasn't answering any calls or responding to texts (well, except for Ferb's, but even then she was brief with her words). No one had any knowledge of her whereabouts, she was gone for good. It hurt to admit it, but there was nothing they could do right now.

Phineas barely paid attention to the dimming sunlight outside, slowly fading into evening darkness. He was sitting in the living room chair, his eyes fixated on the glass door that led to the backyard. But he wasn't focused on the outside, his thoughts were too distracting for him to notice anything around him. Even when Perry had hopped up in his lap, his hand instinctively pet the platypus' fur without his knowledge.

Even though he was glad the rest of his family was getting better, it just wasn't the same without Candace. It was ironic to Phineas how when she left for college years ago, he and Ferb grew closer to her. They always enjoyed her visits and would sometimes drive up to stay with her for weekends. He remembered the late nights they spent getting ice cream from fast food places, playing video games on the Switch, watching silly movies, taking stupid selfies together, etc. He never realized he would lose those moments one day, all thanks to a man that hadn't been in their lives for over 17 years.

Phineas finally snapped himself back into reality when he inhaled the unmistakable aroma of pizza. He assumed his mother must've ordered it a while ago and it just now arrived. As much as he loved pizza, he was in no mood to eat. He sighed and rubbed his platypus' head, "Oh Perry, what should I do?"

Perry opened his eyes to look up at the teen.

"Ferb says Candace will come back, but I'm starting to believe it less and less." He went on, fighting the urge to cry. "I don't know what to do anymore...."

Unbeknownst to him, Perry actually frowned, feeling sympathetic with the poor boy. He, too, missed Candace and wished she would return soon. But even as a retired secret agent, he couldn't move heaven and earth just to find her. He had to be here to care for the family.

Perry chattered quietly and nuzzled up against him, hoping to give any sort of comfort. Phineas held him closer, letting a couple tears fall, since he just couldn't hold them back any longer.

"Boys! Dinner!" Linda called from the other room.

Phineas took a deep breath while wiping his cheeks with his sleeve. The last thing he wanted was for them to see that he was crying again. They all were trying so hard to move past this drama, and seeing him cry because of Candace wasn't going to help. He set Perry down on the floor and stood up, walking lazily into the kitchen, accompanied by Ferb and their father.