Archive of Our Own ^beta

It is a Saturday morning; the sun is shining brightly, and fluffy clouds are drifting slowly across the sky. Crossroads is already busy with the sound of traffic and commotion, and just as sunlight pours through his window, a certain blue-horned inphernal is waking up.

Today is the day Rocket is going to kill himself.

He has planned this perfectly.

Nobody can stop him.

As always, after he gets out of bed, he grabs something simple to eat and goes down to help in Da Shop.

The scent of motor oil fills the air, while the sound of whirring fans and machinery grows louder. When Rocket gets downstairs, he sees that the new shipment of fasteners has arrived, and he busies himself moving all the parcels from the front of the store to the storage room and organizing them.

After working for an hour, Rocket catches Zuka glancing at him. Finally, Zuka asks, “Rocket, are you feeling okay?”

Rocket stops moving the box in his hands. “Of course! Why are you asking?” He can’t know about this. There’s no way he can know.

“You suddenly seem a lot more cheerful today, that’s all. I’m glad you’re less gloomy.”

Rocket laughs nervously and replies, “I guess I’m just excited to be able to hang out with Sword at Sling’s Cafe! I haven’t gotten the chance in so long since he always has training.”

Hearing this, Zuka relaxes. “It’s nice to see you hanging out with Sword again. Have fun later, don’t get into trouble.”

After doing some more miscellaneous tasks around the workshop, Rocket leaves to meet up with Sword. “Bye, Dad! I love you!” Rocket yells as he heads out.

Huh, I guess Rocket really has gotten better, Zuka thinks to himself. It’s not like Rocket to say ‘I love you’ so directly to someone.

On the way to the cat cafe, Rocket stops by a flower shop to buy a bouquet of hyacinths and lilies, tying a ribbon around the stems to conceal a small note.

“Thank you for shopping here!” the cashier says, handing Rocket his change.

Rocket responds, “Please keep the change. Thanks, and have a nice day!” Then he walks out, leaving the confused cashier holding twice the amount of money the bouquet had cost.

A bell rings as Rocket enters Slingshot’s Cat Café. The scent of coffee and pastries fills the air. The café has a warm, bustling atmosphere, with most of the tables filled and the sound of conversation rising from various inphernals.

“Hey! Over here!”

Rocket hears an inphernal calling out to him from the corner. On closer inspection, it turns out to be Sword, and Rocket hurries over.

“I arrived early and got us a table!”

As Rocket sits down, he presents Sword with the bouquet of flowers. “I bought these on the way here for you. I thought it’d be something nice to make up for the time we haven’t seen each other.”

As Rocket hands Sword the bouquet, Sword starts tearing up. “Wow, these are… beautiful. You really didn’t have to do all that for me.”

Rocket smiles and wipes away Sword’s tears. “I wanted to buy these for you. You deserve it.”

“But now I feel bad for not getting you anything…”

“Don’t be! I never told you about this in the first place. I wanted it to be a surprise, even if it’s a bit lackluster.”

“It’s not lackluster! It’s amazing!”

Their conversation continues, with Sword repeatedly thanking Rocket for the flowers and Rocket insisting he doesn’t need to. After ordering some food and drinks, they talk about the past few weeks; how Sword’s training is going, new gears created at Da Shop, the latest phight results. For a while, Rocket almost forgets. Almost.

Gradually, the sun begins to set. While Sword rambles about Valk and Dom’s new album, Rocket watches how the golden light illuminates Sword. How it almost makes him look like he’s glowing. It’s unfair, Rocket thinks, to notice how warm Sword looks only now.

“It’s nice to see you like this!” Sword says as he finishes his rant about the new album. “You seem happier, a lot more than in the past few weeks.” Sword beams at Rocket. “It’s good to see you like this again.”

Rocket’s smile wavers. “Yeah, I guess.”
At that moment, Rocket wants to tell Sword everything; his plan, the note he wrote, the way he felt weighed down by everything for the past few weeks. But the moment passes quickly, and Rocket makes up his mind.
“By the way, I love you, Sword.”

As they say their goodbyes and go their separate ways outside the cafe, the sun has almost completely set. Even though it’s dark now, Crossroads is still full of inphernals heading home and the sound of horns honking at slow cars fills the air. Before Rocket goes home though, he has one last stop.

On the rooftop of a tall building, the entire Crossroads sprawls far below him. The crisp air feels refreshing after breathing in the smog from the cars below. From this height, the sounds of traffic are barely audible, fading in and out. Sitting on the edge, Rocket is tempted to jump right then and there, but he pushes the thought away. He’s only here to admire the view one last time. After sitting there for a while, he finally climbs down from the roof and walks back home.

Back at Da Shop, he’s relieved to see that Zuka has already gone to bed. In the workshop, he places a note on the workbench, then walks to the storage room. There, he finds a length of rope he can use. With every part of his plan now complete, Rocket walks upstairs to his room.

Rocket’s last words, “I’m sorry,” are never heard by anyone.