Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tubbo faced an impossible choice. He couldn’t exile Tommy, his best friend, now that they finally had a chance to be together again. But he also couldn’t face another war. L’Manberg was slowly rebuilding, and the people were slowly healing, but the wounds from the last war were still fresh, and no one would be ready for another fight so soon. So Tubbo faced an impossible choice.

Tommy sat on the bench, watching the sunset, and wished everything was simpler. All he wanted was his disks and the chance to be a child, for once, but he couldn’t have that. One prank, and suddenly everything he’d worked so hard for was once again being threatened. Dream had never been on his side, he knew that now. Dream had just been waiting for the opportunity to get rid of him again, and he was forcing Tubbo to do it. He hated this; he wished everything was simpler.

“Tommy! I am so, so sorry.”

Please forgive me, he prayed. Please remember what I told you. Please trust me. Please, when all is said and done, understand what I did and why I did this. We both have a part to play, so please play yours so I don’t have to play mine anymore.

“Dream, I’ve come to the decision, that it’ll be best for the nation, the most logical thing to do, for Tommy to be exiled from L’Manberg.”

Tommy walked away. He was exiled once again, but this time he held his head high and walked. He refused to give Dream the dignity of breaking him just yet. He refused to run, to cry, to do anything but argue and follow orders on pain of death.

Tommy had a part to play, but hearing Tubbo exile him had hurt. He would never tell his friend, former friend, no, best friend, this, but sometimes he reminded him a little too much of Schlatt. Always one step ahead, with a way of knowing when things would go south and how to always take back control. But Tubbo wasn’t Schlatt, just like Tommy wasn’t Wilbur. They each had a part to play, so Tommy walked away.

Schlatt. The name echoed through his mind, like alarm bells that never stopped. Tommy told him he couldn’t become the next Schlatt, and he had to listen to Tommy. But exiling him, and then hearing Quackity and Fundy yell at him, he’d never felt more alone, and Tubbo began to understand the old man.

Tubbo knew what the cabinet thought. He saw it in the way Quackity screamed, the way Fundy refused to look him in the eyes, the way Ranboo’s face dropped at the mention of “the incident” and his involvement. He knew they thought he was a monster. But Tubbo also knew what Dream thought of him.

Dream, who actually praised him on his decision making, his intelligence. Dream, the first adult in years to look at Tubbo with respect, not just humoring him. Tubbo hated the way he’d preened under the praise, hated the way he felt more respected by Dream than anyone else in the nation he governed. He’d always looked up to Dream, even when they were fighting against each other. Tubbo wished he didn’t admire Dream, especially after everything. It would make the future fight so much harder.

But then he thought back to Schlatt, and to exile, and to Tommy, and Tubbo remembered. He had a part to play, and he couldn't become the next Schlatt.

Tubbo had a part to play, but even the best actors needed a supporting cast.

“Ranboo! Hey! Just the man I was looking for!” Tubbo yelled, startling the other boy, who just nodded meekly. Ranboo would never admit it, but he was a little scared of Tubbo. He’d never met Schlatt, but from what he’d heard, Schlatt was bad news and Tubbo’s actions were a little too familiar to the other members of the cabinet.

“Are you going to visit Tommy?”

“Yeah!” Ranboo exclaimed, before shrinking back realizing he probably shouldn’t admit that to the person who exiled him, and could exile Ranboo too. “Well, not really visit, exactly. We’ve sorta become penpals, which is pretty cool.”

Tubbo looked slightly crestfallen, but Ranboo didn’t want to read too far into that. “I haven’t been able to find the time to see him, and quite frankly I don’t think Dream would appreciate me visiting. But next time you write a letter, just tell Tommy that I miss him, and I’ll try to visit soon. Can you do that for me?”

“Anything for you, Mr. President.”

“Oh, and can you tell him that the bees have begun pollinating again? He always loved the bees, and I know he was so excited for when they would start producing honey again, and I hate that he can’t see it this year, and oh I won’t bore you with the details.”

Ranboo didn’t know it yet, but he had a part to play too.

Tommy heard Techno laughing at him, and he smiled to himself. Even the best warriors needed backup.

Tommy pretended it didn’t hurt to hear Techno laughing at him. Techno’s warnings had come true, just not in the way he’d intended them. Tommy was Theseus, if Theseus had taken hold of his own fate. Or at least that was what he was telling himself.

Tommy was in control of his fate, right? He was exactly where he wanted to be, right? Far away from all friends, with only an amnesiac ghost, a former enemy, and the person responsible for all his problems. But he was exactly where he wanted to be. Right?

Techno laughed at Tommy, but Techno also took his armor off. Techno may have laughed at him, but Tommy could tell he pitied him too. Techno didn’t seem to hate Tommy, and that was a win.

Techno definitely didn’t know it yet, but even he had a part to play.

In his next letter, Ranboo told Tommy that the bees had begun pollinating. For the first time in a while, Tommy smiled. Tubbo hadn’t forgotten about him, and he hadn’t forgotten the part he was supposed to play.

Tommy had a part to play, and the play was about to begin.

“Tubbo,” Tommy whispered. They were on the bench again, watching the sunset for what might be their last night together in L’Manberg.

“Yeah?”

“What do you reckon you’re gonna do tomorrow?”

Tubbo shifted on the bench. He’d had days to think about it, but he still wasn’t any closer to a decision. “I don’t know…” he trailed off. Tommy didn’t seem surprised by the answer, turning back to the sunset, rays barely visible over the horizon.

The two sat in silence, watching as the sun finally fell out of sight. Their time was running out, and uncertainty filled the air.

Tommy inhaled, “You know,” he paused, looking over his shoulder before continuing in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, “why does Dream have to win? What if we just made him think he’d won, but we actually pulled a fast one on him?” His voice rose, growing more confident by the word. “Who is he to dictate what we do with our government? I say we take him down once and for all!”

Tubbo smiled at his friend, but the smile fell as reality came crashing back in. “Tommy, as much as I wish we could, you know we’d never win in a fight. Dream is basically a god—”

“Who said anything about a fight?”

Everyone had a part to play, and someone needed to be the one who lost.

“I heard you were building a prison.”