Chapter Text
The day after the fight…
It was just like any other day, the cast had been lounging around the circus waiting for Caine to burden them with another stupid adventure, only it was already midday and Caine was nowhere to be seen.
Jax had been keeping his distance from the rest of the group, confining himself to his room when he’d usually be tormenting Gangle or making fun of Ragatha, clearly something was off. He sat in bed, staring at a photo neatly framed. It was of him and a strange frog character, posing for the camera. His absent-minded staring was interrupted by a knock on his door, outside he could hear Zooble’s voice asking him to come outside.
He grumbled, standing from his bed and setting the frame on his nightstand, opening his door reluctantly. “What is it?” He asked, a tired expression coating his usually smiley face.
“Caine wants us all in the main room, come on.” Zooble explained, leading the way to the stage where the rest of the group had already gathered. Jax followed them, forcing a smile onto his face and standing further to the side than he usually would.
“Hello my babbling baboons! I have no adventure for you today, but I do think I have something more…Exciting!” Caine started off, looking at the group eagerly waiting for someone to ask what it was, however everyone remained silent.
“I have learned how to un-abstract people!” He continued “But I can only do 2 people for now, to avoid any.. Complications!”
Jax’s eyes widened, thoughts running through his mind Could this be it? Could I finally see him again? His thoughts were interrupted by Caine’s annoyingly prideful voice.
“Now, since I want this to be fair to everyone, I will let you guys vote for who comes back!” Caine explained further, he was about to talk more before Jax interrupted him.
“Ribbit!” Jax blurted out, his breathing becoming erratic.
The rest of the cast turned to face him, Ragatha’s eyes dilating at the name. She hadn’t realized Jax would vote for his return, she thought maybe Kaufmo, or Queenie, anyone else really.
Pomni turned to Ragatha, “Who is Ribbit..?” She asked quietly, to which Ragatha only shook her head.
“I’ll explain later.” Ragatha replied sweetly and quietly.
Caine interrupted their awkward looks and quiet discussion. “Does everyone agree with this decision?” To which everyone nodded, Jax looked relieved. “Alright then! Now who is the second person?” Caine asked.
Pomni looked around, waiting for anyone else to answer before slowly stepping forward, “What about..Kinger’s wife?” She asked reluctantly.
“MY WIFE?!” Kinger asked in his usual, broken-minded way.
Caine pondered for a moment, failing to remember her name. “That was… Queenie right?” He asked, seeing if his memory was actually working.
“Yeah it was..” Ragatha answered solemnly, reminiscing over memories of when she was still around.
“Well I doubt anyone would object, done!” With a snap of his fingers, Caine opened the cellar. He carefully lifted the 2 characters from the darkness and closed the hole beneath them. Queenie looked around, heavily confused, whilst Jax wasted no time; bolting towards the lanky frog and tackling him into a hug.
“Ribbit...” He whispered softly, holding onto him as if he would disappear if he ever let go. Tears streamed down the poor rabbit’s face, outlining the grief and relief he felt at having him back.
Ribbit held Jax quietly, letting him cry into his shoulder. He softly cooed and stroked the back of his head.
The rest of the group watched the scene unfold, some concerned, others happy that Jax knew how to show human emotions. Kinger made his way over to Queenie, pulling her into a tight hug. The normally kookie chess piece, finally feeling at peace with his queen returned to him.
Pomni looked around, watching as the others went to eagerly greet Queenie whilst having her own dilemma, Do I say hi? What if she doesn’t like me.. What about Jax? Is he okay? Her troubling thoughts were interrupted by the soft voice of the sweet black chesspiece.
“And who might you be, dear?” Her voice was a low hum, Pomni looked up at her. She took a second to respond, admiring the regal looking queen that stood in front of her.
“I-I’m Pomni! It’s nice to meet you..” She finally responded.
“Well aren’t you just adorable! I’m Queenie, Kinger told me you’re like a daughter to him,” She spoke softly, what could only be imagined as a smile crossing her face.
Pomni looked almost nervous, smiling softly as she continually took glances over at where Jax had tackled Ribbit, as if she was worried something had happened within 5 minutes.
Queenie noticed her worried expression and turned to look at where her gaze had been fixated on, seeing Jax still just holding onto Ribbit as tight as he could. “Go check on him dear, I won’t mind at all.” She reassured Pomni.
Pomni gave a curt nod, hesitantly walking over to where Ribbit and Jax were. She quietly sat down and gave a small wave to Ribbit.
He noticed the little jester and waved back, poking Jax to get his attention. “I think one of your friends came to check on you Bunny,” He said softly.
Jax sat up slowly, wiping the tears from his eyes and twisting to look at Pomni. “Oh hey Pompom…” His voice was barely a whisper, the look of a genuine smile creeping slowly. “This is Ribbit, he’s a good friend of mine from when I first got here.”
Ribbit elbowed Jax in his side, “Good friend huh? What about that time we-” Ribbit was cut off by Jax quickly covering his mouth.
“Ignore him!” He quickly spat out, glaring at the frog.
Pomni raised an eyebrow, looking at Jax suspiciously before shrugging and pushing her hair out of her face. “Nice to meet you Ribbit, I’m Pomni!” She tried to force a smile despite the overwhelming jealousy that she felt watching Jax be all over this strange person who she had never met.
“So I would assume you’ve been keeping this goober occupied while I’ve been away?” Ribbit questioned, side-eyeing Jax.
Pomni laughed softly, pulling her knees to her chest, “I guess you could say that, he keeps himself occupied though, I just accompany him I guess..” She explained, memories from the day prior hitting her like a tidal wave.
Ribbit raised an eyebrow, looking at Pomni and then at Jax, “Bunny- What did you say to this poor girl? She looks like she hasn’t gone to therapy in years.” He questioned, sitting up while scooting Jax into his lap.
“Oh uh- Nothing that bad, I kind of just-” Jax was cut off by Pomni quickly explaining.
“He didn’t say anything! I always look like this, don’t worry!” She forced a smile but Ribbit wasn’t convinced.
“Uhuh- For some reason I doubt that, but okay!” He shrugged, patting Jax’s head before carefully standing up and pulling Jax to his feet, “Come on you two, I wanna see the rest of the group and then go sight-seeing! Been stuck in that cellar entirely too long, I need some sunlight” He joked, leading the two of them to the rest of the cast.
Everyone was joking around, catching up on everything that Queenie and Ribbit had missed, and overall just having a good time. Jax hadn’t made a single jab at Gangle or Zooble, Pomni was already becoming good friends with the strange frog, and Queenie had basically claimed everyone there as her children.
As the group caught up together, the day ended with them together as a huge family. Kinger and Queenie walked their kids back to their rooms. They offered to tuck each of them in- Only Ragatha really took the offer, though Queenie did force Jax and Ribbit to let her do so. Jax hadn’t let go of Ribbit since earlier, so he was staying with him for the night. Not that the frog minded, of course.
The king and queen walked down the hallway together, hand and hand. Queenie smiled softly at her king, we smiled back at her lovingly. They stopped in between their rooms, a movement that they were all too familiar with. They leaned in and kissed like they haven’t done in years, a small hum coming from them at finally having the feeling of each other.
They pulled away, looking at each other lovingly, longingly. They leaned their foreheads together, holding each other tightly like if they let go they’d be stripped away from each other.
“I love you, my queen.” Kinger spoke softly to her.
“I love you, too, my king.” Queenie whispered back, squeezing his hands softly.
They looked at each other for a long moment, sharing so much love just with one look. They shared a nod, before hands entwining and walking downstairs to Kinger’s pillow fort, cuddling the night away together in the dark.