Part 42: Last Farewell

When we passed through to join her, I immediately saw Berrybop, Tangerina, and Jitterjam staring me down. I was confused and a bit frightened that Wata and Peppie didn’t seem to notice.

“Wata… Look!” I exclaimed in a soft whisper.

Wata stared at where I was pointing but, now the animatronics were just standing there normally. It was annoying because of the way they moved and changed positions like I was seeing things.

“Let’s not worry about them right now.”

I couldn’t tell if he meant that he knew that they did this occasionally or that he wasn’t aware of it all.

We started making our way through those shortcuts that I remember from travelling up to the ninth floor of the cafe. Next to the 45th door, I saw Princesse Candiere waiting there for us.

Ohhh…

Upon arriving, Princess Candiere held out something I thought I would never see…

The Candiere Heart Badge.

She was holding it out for me to have. I was a bit hesitant about this though knowing what had been happening.

“Wait, why are you giving me this?“ I asked her.

Candiere gently grabbed my wrist and placed the badge in my right hand while closing my fingers for me. She firmly held it together while tears were streaming down her eyes.

“I hope someday, we meet again Ararima. Remember me… Because I will always remember you.”

My eyes couldn’t take the heartbreaking feeling. Why did it sound like she wasn’t coming? She was coming, right?

“Candiere, what is going on?”

She stood there ever so stiff.

“Oh sweetie. The cafe has its customers. I can’t leave them behind.”

“B-but you could go back to Madara again. I mean that is what you wanted. Right? I could also show you everything about where I live and then we could do so many things together...”

A pause of silence broke my words into pieces.

“I wish I could, but I’m not allowed to.”

“It’s The Traveller isn’t it?”

She nodded yes.

I stared at the door with my wet eyes closed. Without warning, I hugged Princess Candiere as tight as I could. Snuggling up as close as I could, I felt a kiss on my forehead.

As the waiters and waitresses of the cafe from behind her stared at us with mild confusion, I wiped my tears from my face.

This moment.

It hurt a lot.

Everyone started heading into the Cafe Catalog and towards the boarded door. I was the last one to go before I looked back at Princess Candiere for the last time.

She said her final words to me before I left.

“Charming farewells sweetie. I look forward to seeing you again.”