Chapter 202 - Monica

"You're so mean. Where did you learn how to play with other people's feelings? huh?" Petunia said with a big put while pushing Gem away with her skinny little arms.

"From your friend?" Gem said and then looked up as if trying to recall something from her mind.

"Heize?" Petunia suddenly asked after seeing Gem thinking.

"Yup, that's her name," Gem said and then laughed out loud before going back to her seat with a piece of sausage in her hand from Petunia's plate.

And when Petunia finally noticed the missing sausage from her plate, it was already too late since Gem has already taken a bite from it and even smiled at Petunia while munching on it to provoke her even more.

"Gem," Fily said hopelessly before moving forward to block Petunia's vision of her to prevent more silly fights from happening as the most matured person in the group.

"Why don't you eat first, Petunia?" Lei said and even did as far as fixing Petunia's plates and side dishes for her which just made Petunia speechless and confused as to why he was doing that.

Surely it was just not all about guilt. Could it be his interest in the flight potions? If so then I should initiate the conversation later about the flight potions since it's in my agenda anyway, Petunia thought to herself before proceeding with her peaceful meal for as long as she would not pay attention to both Gem and Von. Especially Gem.

***

"So, about the flight potion. I actually just need a little few more things before we can proceed with that. And since we can just get those from the storage back in Yvandir, I don't see any problem if someone wants to start making it with me immediately," Petunia said after clearing her throat and breaking the silence.

"Really? But shouldn't you be resting first after all those things that happened to you?" Lei said, confusing Petunia even more about what he was trying to accomplish with his actions.

"No, I just need to take control of my emotions, right Fily?" Petunia said and then looked at Fily for help.

"Y-Yes, of course," Fily said after being caught off-guard for staying inside her computer brain and not paying attention to what was going on outside aside from the old-school game she was playing on her mind.

"It's up to you then," Lei said with a monotone voice which made Petunia think that he was not excited about it even though she only said it because she thought Lei would be excited about it.

"Aren't you excited about being able to fly soon just like Venedette and Von?"

"Of course I am! I just don't want to pressure you, that's all," Lei said and looked away to hide his flustered face.

"So that was the reason why you two were getting along back then," Von said without any further meaning, but the way he said it made both Petunia and Lei blush for no particular reason.

"Oh, and speaking about clouds, we actually came back here for that other thing," Von added after finishing his meal, finally interacting with them after that very long silence from him that was probably a sign that he was already maturing little by little instead of picking fights just like what Gem was doing now.

"Yeah, we called Monica for a favor before going to the Alps. Wait, I think she's on her way here now!" Fily said after finishing her game and checking her Stat-hut to see an update from Monica since they were the only ones still keeping in contact with each other after that incident, especially when Petunia lost her Stat-hut and went rogue in the winter forest.

"Wait, what do you mean by Monica? As in the same bird girl that I helped earlier this week?" Petunia asked as if she could not believe it.

"Yeah, she said she didn't want us to leave empty-handed after all those things that we did for them, especially to you, so we asked her to look for your Gummy cloud's ingredients instead and bring it to us here so we can finally make your Gummy cloud again," Fily said and then paused when she realized something.

"But you won't be able to make use of it yet while you're still in your human form, huh?" 

"Right…" Petunia said after the sudden realization, "But since this is just a temporary cure for my cat phase then that means that I could still make use of my Gummy cloud again, right? Although we still don't know when that will happen. But I really miss my Gummy cloud! Maybe I should just make it a pillow while I'm still a human," Petunia said and giggled while her eyes were sparkling with the thought of bringing another Gummy cloud of hers back into existence.

"You're right. Of course, I also put that into consideration. And besides, aside from getting your Gummy cloud ingredients, you'll also get to meet with Monica both in your human forms for the first and last time before we go back to Yvandir. Isn't that great?" Fily said in delight.

"It's great, I can even feel my heart beating so loudly," Petunia said with a smile.

"Tch, why do you look so close to her when she's literally the person who almost got you killed?" Gem asked with a hint of jealousy.

"I chose to do that, okay? It's not her fault that she was transformed into an animal by my best friend so I had to take responsibility."

"Oh, so right from the start, you already knew that it was Heize all along?" Gem asked, looking like she was about to start an argument with Petunia again but before that could even happen, Lei immediately stood up and took it upon himself to prevent another tragedy from happening as early as he could.

"Drinks? Anyone?" He asked and then took their request in, cooling the tension and flow of the heated conversation with just a simple move.

"Did something happen to the both of you? Why do you keep arguing lately? It's very unlike the two of you to argue especially after seeing Gem's drive to save you yesterday, Petunia. You should thank her," Von suddenly said, which made Petunia embarrassed.

"S-She's the one who started it!" Petunia reasoned out even though she knew that Von was right.

"Sorry, I was just too unfamiliar with her human form. I just find it cute and funny to tease her. And I don't like how she's more excited and understanding to her old and just recently found friends when we're the ones who have always been there for her," Gem said, keeping the last sentence to herself.

"That's not a good enough reason for you to bully me! You're so mean!" Petunia said, her emotions getting the best out of her again instead of her rational thinking.

"Petunia…" Fily called to her again while looking back and forth from Gem and her and seeing the underlying emotions behind Gem's fake smile.

"Hey guys, look who I found on the way," Lei suddenly said while holding four cups of drinks that they asked him to get for each one of them.

Beside him was a familiar girl with long and shiny purple hair whose smile was so wide, Petunia almost couldn't recognize her.

"It's really you! I was looking for a cat earlier but now, wow! I couldn't even imagine you'd look this cute as a human!" she said and leaned in for a hug while being careful about the two cups of drinks in her hands.

"This was me when I was six years old, I guess I'm back to being a six-year-old now?" Petunia said after letting go of the hug and offering Monica some space to sit beside her.

"Well, you're cute! But weren't you supposed to be older than me? When I became human again I really didn't realize anything had changed with my body, I guess your human form is stuck when you transform into an animal, huh?"

"Yup," Petunia said.

"I'm so glad you're okay now, I thought you already gave everything up for me, I was so worried about you, did you know that?" Monica said and then wrapped Petunia around her arms again, this time without the cup of drinks in her hands but with overflowing emotions instead.

"Thanks, but I'm not really that okay yet."

"What do you mean?!" Monica suddenly said while looking seriously at Petunia with her teary eyes.

"Nothing?" Petunia said, suddenly taking back what she said due to the fear of her emotions taking over again and giving Monica more things to worry about when she could have just lived peacefully without knowing anything about her problem anymore.

"Petunia?" Monica asked but Petunia shook her head, she even looked her friends in the eye to tell them not to bring it up which they all silently agreed with.

"Nothing, I said I'm okay now thank you for worrying. What's that in your bag?" Petunia said and pointed at the medium-sized briefcase to distract her, which by the way worked, making Petunia sigh in relief.

"It's the ingredients to your Gummy cloud, want to see?" Monica said, pushing her tears aside and keeping herself cheerful to celebrate Petunia's wellness.

"Not here, we're still in the cafeteria, it'll smell," Petunia said and then giggled with Monica in front of her ever silent and awkward teammates who were just not close to Monica as she was.

"It's okay Gem, this will be the last time they'll see each other anyway," Fily said when they were finally a safe distance away from Monica and Petunia.