The Withering-Dreamnotfound {Sequel Out Now!}

Two by Two

          "You were the last one to touch it, so it revived you," Zak explains to George as the group walks back to the village, their bags full of wood.
          "Why did it take so long for me to wake up?" George asks.
          Zak shrugs. "My best guess would be that it's because when you were brought back to life, you were so exhausted that you stayed asleep. It's a good thing Dream dropped it. Had it still been linked to him, you would've stayed dead."
          "Well, I don't care how or why George is back," Bad says. "I'm just glad he's here."
          All morning, George had been feeling the love from his friends. Even Sapnap had a newfound appreciation for him which kind of freaked him out. George didn't dare complain. He'd rather enjoy the peace while it lasted, however long it may be.
          George points at a tree. "I'm going to chop that one down and I'll be good to good." He begins cutting down the tree, but hears a cutting noise from the other side of the trunk. He leans over and sees Sapnap cutting the same tree.
          "Sapnap! Go get a different tree!" George says, jokingly.
          Sapnap smirks. "I was helping you mine the blocks!"
          George rolls his eyes. "No, it doesn't help when we're both mining it!" The two fall into laughter as they collect the wood from the bow fallen tree. George places the wood into his backpack, then catches up to Dream, wrapping his hand into Dream's. Dream had been pretty quiet since George came back. He looked like he had something he wanted to say, but was having trouble finding the words. Had he not seemed as happy as he was right then, George would've pushed him to tell him what's wrong. But in this moment, he was perfectly content just holding his hand.
          Everyone except Dream couldn't stop talking the whole way back to the village. George was only gone for a few hours, but it felt like a lifetime to his friends. It warmed George up inside. Once they made it back to the village, Rose and her team got to work guarding the village while the guys focused on making sticks.
"How many emeralds was it for armor?" Sapnap asks.
"25 for each us of except Dream," Bad answers. "He's got a chest plate so he only needs 16."
Skeppy whistles. "That's a lot of emeralds. Are we going to have enough sticks?"
George nods. "We've got plenty! Alright, hand me your sticks and I'll go trade real quick."
As George walks off with arms full of sticks, Bad turns to talk to Dream. "Are you ok? You've been oddly silent."
"I love him," Dream says, "but I don't think I'm ready to tell him."
Bad smiles at him. "I'm so happy for you, Dream! You two warm my heart. You're my favorite couple."
"I thought Skephalo was your favorite couple!" Skeppy says playfully.
Bad blushes. "Real couple, Skeppy."
Skeppy punishes him. "I was only teasing!"
"You should tell him," Sapnap says, to Dream's surprise.
"Not the answer I was expecting from you," Dream states.
Sapnap looks at George. "He's a good guy who only deserves all of the happiness in the world. And you give him that. If that's how you feel, who am I to deny you if that?"
Dream chuckles. "Wow. Who are you and what did you do with the real Sapnap?"
Sapnap laughs. "I'm serious, Dream! If this whole adventure has taught me one thing, it's that we need to live every second like it's our last. We've had too many close calls, especially lately. And it's only going to get harder from here on out." He rubs Dream's arm. "If you're ready, tell him."
"Tell who, what?" George asks, walking up to them with a large bag full of emeralds.
          Sapnap smiles. "Tell Zelk that Dream stole a shirt," he lies.
          George believes it and hands each the exact amount of emeralds they need to get their armor. George leads the way to the armorer and they quickly make their purchases. They slip their new armor into their bags and make their way back to the large warrior house.
          George sets his bag down and begins petting Cat. "I don't think I should take him with us," he says sadly. "I wouldn't be able to keep going if he got hurt."
          "Hey George?" Alyssa asks quietly from behind him. "I can take care of him if you want. I'll keep him clean and fed until you can come back."
          George smiles at her. "You'd do that for me?"
          Alyssa nods. "He'll be safe here with me. I promise."
          George hugs her. "Thank you! I promise we'll be back soon!"
          "We should probably get going soon," Sapnap says. "The linger we wait, the worse off we will be fighting that thing."
Alyssa sadly smiles. "Hey Mega, come say goodbye. I'll go grab Rose and Zelk."
Mega stirs in his bed and sits up, looking exhausted. He carefully climbs down the tower and begins shaking everyone's hands as a farewell. Once he gets to George, he pulls him into a hug. George smiles as he hugs him back.
Alyssa walks in with Rose and Zelk. Zelk doesn't show much emotion, but Rose looked very upset.
She walks right up to Sapnap and kisses him on the cheek. "This was fun."
Sapnap grabs her hand. "Come with us. Please."
Rose pulls her hand away. "You know I can't do that Nick. This place needs me." She then pulls his bandana off of his head. "This will give you a reason to come back. You know, when you win."
Sapnap kisses her gently. "Don't worry. I'll be sure to come back for my bandana and nothing else."
Rose giggles. "Asshole."
The girls give a tearful goodbye to the group, wishing them luck in their adventure. George slides out of Dream's hoodie and hands it back to him, knowing that his walk through the desert was about to be very hot. Before they leave, George makes sure to say goodbye to Cat, was hen nods sadly, signaling that he was ready to leave.
Leaving the desert village was bittersweet. It had to be done, but everyone had made so many memories there in the few short days they were there for. They all silently agreed that they'd come back as soon as they won against the Wither.