FANFIC A Brother's Promise

Brother's Promise

Bate / Ton

"Mom?"

A young Birdon chick by the name of Ton made his way into his mother's nest. Once there, he lightly shook her wing to wake her. After a good amount of nudging, pecking and chirping, she lightly stirred and opened her eyes. She looked around and noticed the little bird in her nest.

"Ton?" She questioned, letting out a soft yawn, "What is it, dear?"

The bird huffed a bit, "Brother isn't playing with me." He made a loud whining noise and flopped over on his back. "It's finally the weekend, but he still doesn't want to play. All he wants to do is sleep."

Bate, who was much older than Ton, rarely- if not, ever hangs out with him anymore. When he gets home from work, he makes his way to his room and rests for the remainder of the evening. Ton, who has always been the center of Bate's attention felt crushed when their time spent together each day was dwindled down to a mere 'hello.' Any time he tried to sneak into his brother's room, Suna would step in and tell him to leave him be. The little chick was saddened by their disintegrating relationship and hoped his mother, even though she always sides with Bate, could help remedy this issue.

Ton watched Suna get up and head towards Bate's room. Both carefully peeked in and saw him resting under a tattered blanket in the center of the floor. Ton gasped in disbelief when he saw her shut the door. Seeing this completely enraged him; it wasn't what he asked for at all! The little chick flapped his wings hastily and gave a chirp of disapproval.

"Mom, what are you doing?!!" He shouted, "I thought you were going to tell him to play with me! He promised he would!"

Suna quietly hushed her youngest. "Ton, you need to be quiet when your brother's sleeping, alright?" She saw how angry her son got and let out a sigh. She knew how much he wanted to play with him. "Bate just came home from a long shift at work and he's exhausted," She said, guilt lingering in her voice. "He has to fly all the way to central and work hours upon hours just for the sake of giving us food on our plate. Be thankful for that."

She recalled the memories of living in poverty with the young Puff. They had enough to get by each day, but when she was expecting another child, that's when things got extremely tight. Bate, who was still quite young, offered to get a job support their growing family. Though Suna was against the idea, she eventually allowed it as none wanted to go hungry. So, at the age of 1,300, Bate got a job.

She knew Bate had to grow up fast. He didn't have time to act and play like most children his age. Kids at his age would spend their days playing and lazily hanging out with their friends; never once thinking about the burden of responsibilities. Not Bate. The young Puff had to work in a factory making masks for the recruits who fought in the war; a low, minimum wage job, but it was enough to provide for the three. Once done with his shift, he had to make the grueling journey all the way back to his home, in East Nova. The past few years have taken quite a toll on the young warrior. Once Bate arrives home, he sluggishly heads to his room without greeting anyone and passes out until Suna has to wake him up to eat.

Suna could see how worn he's become from it all. It was bad enough the air gets him horribly ill at work, but it was the same case here, at home. She wanted to send him back to South Nova, but he refused. Both had quite a fierce argument over the discussion of his living arrangement. Eventually Suna gave up on his stubborn behavior and let him continue to live with her. Though Bate tries to hide his weariness in front of them, a mother's eye could see all. She knows he's becoming more tired and frail month after month. It breaks her heart to see her son work to the bone just for the sake of helping his family.

"You don't realize how much your brother sacrifices for you each and every day." She whispered, "One day, you'll understand."

Ton was about to speak up, but the sound of a door opening caught his attention. He looked over and saw his brother, tiredly hunched over, but smiling when their eyes met. He slowly made his way to the little chick and picked him up. Suna was shocked- 'Did he hear us talking?' She thought as she watched her eldest speak to Ton.

"Ton....I'm really sorry I haven't been spending time with you." He spoke in a low, hoarse voice; mainly due to all of his coughing. "Do you think you could forgive me?"

Suna quickly butted into their conversation. "Bate, you really should be resting," She advised, trying to get him to go back to his room. "I know you're concerned about this matter, but it looks like you're going to black out at any given moment."

"Mom, I'll be fine," The Puff looked at her mother and gave a reassuring nod. "Please, I just want to talk to Ton."

He turned his attention back to his brother. "I know I've been neglecting my promises, and I want you to know that there's not one day that passes where I don't think about that."

"T-then why?" Ton asked, "Stop working and stay with me. I...." He hugged his brother and started crying. "I just want my brother."

Bate hugged him back, "I know you do, but you and I both know I can't do that. What would you eat, if not? What would you sleep in, if not?" He pulled him away soon after to wipe the tears falling from his brother's face. "My schedule is very hectic, but this time I promise- No, I swear; I'll make time to include you in it."

Though he was tired and didn't pay attention as much as he wanted to, Bate truly cared for his brother. He felt horrible for being the one responsible for making him cry; it was something he never, ever wanted to do. He hoped what he was about to say would slightly mend it. Bate set the little Birdon down and gave him a small smile.

"It's still early out. Maybe we can play for a bit today," He said, "I could teach you a pretty cool aerial move I learned a few weeks back, if you want."

"Bate, are you sure?" Suna asked.

"I'm sure," He said, glancing back at Ton. "So...?" Bate asked, waiting for an answer.

Ton eyed his brother for quite some time before finally speaking up. He lowered his head and mumbled a soft 'no' to him.

"Huh?" Bate frowned when he heard his answer, afraid he angered him in some way. "Why? I thought you wanted to spend time together. I promise, we can do whatever you want today." He said, hoping that'll change his mind.

Ton, who's been blinded by anger- and maybe a bit of selfishness up to this entire point, finally got a good view of his brother. It looked like he was on the verge of collapsing. His wings were pressed up against the wall, using it to keep himself up; but soon noticed his grip was starting to fail. He also noticed his breathing was very ragged, as if he was struggling to fill his lungs with air through each battered breath he took. He then remembered his mother informing him awhile back that it was due to over exertion traveling between both lands, and the polluted air at work and home gravely affecting his asthma. He never paid any attention to it since Bate told him not to worry, but now he's wondering if he should have.

After all these years, it finally dawned on him. He never realized how physically exhausting it must've been for him to travel all the way to Central, work until the late afternoon and then fly all the way back home. His mother was right, his brother did sacrifice a lot for them. The tiny bird shook his thoughts and embraced his brother instead. Bate ended up losing his balance and fell with a light thud.

"Brother...." Ton's voice started to tremble, still clutching onto him. "I'm sorry! I...I didn't know, honest!"

"W-what?" Bate questioned, "Ton, what are you talking about?"

He shook his head and didn't reply to his question. At this point, Ton didn't feel like causing him unwanted guilt for something that truly wasn't his fault. "I-it's nothing..." He said, getting off of him. "We can play later....but for now...mom's right. Maybe you should go back to sleep."

"Wait, what?" The Puffball scratched his head in confusion from the sudden change of his behavior. He was about to speak, but Suna nudged him back into his room.

"Bate, we can talk about this matter later," She said, "But for now, your brother's right. You're not well enough to be roughhousing with him. Not today, at least."

"O-oh....alright, I guess." Bate grabbed the handle of the door and looked at the two before slowly shutting it. "Umm...goodnight, then."

Once the door clicked shut, Suna made her way back to her nest, followed by Ton.

"I'm impressed," She mused, settling into her nest, "When he's up, all you ever want to do is play with him. And when you finally get the chance you've been waiting for, you tell him to sleep."

"I, well...." He looked up at his mother, "Noticed. How tired he was, I mean."

"Ah, yes...he does get quite tired, even when it's his weekend off. But as he said, he's resting not because he doesn't want to spend time with you. You're brother would do anything in the world to make sure you're happy, and he tries really hard each day to assure that. I'm sure seeing you cry must've hurt him a lot."

"R-really?"

"Really."

Hearing this flooded him with regret. He never noticed, since Bate doesn't say anything, how much of a bother he could be at times. He looked at her mother one last time before heading to Bate's room. Suna, who was glad his youngest now understood, didn't bother to stop him. She closed her eyes as before and drifted off to sleep once more.

Once Ton arrived at his door, he quietly opened and quickly shut it when he entered. The room was dark, aside from a few sunbeams that escaped the worn curtain covering the small window; it was just enough light to make his way around without bumping into anything. He managed to locate the sleeping figure in the center of the room and headed towards him.

"B-brother?" He lightly nudged him.

Bate, who finally able to fall asleep again, felt something shaking him. He tried to ignore it, but when he heard his brother's voice, he decided to get up. The Puffball opened his eyes and slightly sat up. He saw the small figure staring at him, in a worried state.

"Ton," He spoke low, and let out a tired yawn. "What's wrong? Did you change your mind or something?"

The little bird didn't know how to respond to that. Apologizing would bring up more questions to be answered, and that's not what he wanted. He also didn't want to play with him like before; which was strange since it was the whole reason why he was whining in the first place. After thinking for quite a bit, he finally figured out what he was going to do. Ton leaned up against Bate's side, and nuzzled his arm. He slightly ruffled his feathers before closing his eyes and settling down.

"Tired?" Bate asked.

"No, not really." He snuggled against the Puffball. "I just want to be with my brother."

"Quite boring, don't you think? Bate lightly laughed, referring to him sleeping for the next few hours. He knew quite well that Ton wasn't the type to sit and wait.

"I don't care." He smiled to himself, "If I'm with you, then I'm happy."

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, not sure if Ton was being serious or not.

He lightly chirped. "Yes!"

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

Ton could see a faint smile on his brother's face before he curled up again and closed his eyes. Bate lifted one of his wing to shield the tiny bird and started to nod off.

"Alright, then." He yawned. "Goodnight, Ton."

"Goodnight, Brother."

Ton stayed by his side and watched over him. He would focus on the ticking of the clock hanging from one of the walls, or the shallow breaths that came from his brother. Sure, one could say it's not nearly as exciting as playing outside, but as Ton said before Bate fell asleep, he didn't care. Being alone with his thoughts made him realize that all he ever wanted was to be with his brother. Not to talk, not to play- but to be in the presence of one another. He didn't need Bate to play with him to be happy. Just being by his side and knowing he has someone who'd do anything in the world for him was good enough.

Ton let out a quiet yawn after the clock struck six. He leaned against his brother and soon dozed off a few minutes later. The two brothers- Bate and Ton, finally got to spend the evening together. A quiet, non-exciting, mundane, dull, boring, lackluster evening. Both brothers, however, when woken several hours later to eat dinner, fully agreed that they couldn't have been happier.

-The End-

Artist Comment:

January 7, 2015

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Small part of Bate's life while living in East Nova. Suna explains to Ton why his brother is unable to play with him when he comes home from work.

Kinda like how Meta calls Bate 'Teacher,' Ton does the same thing, only he calls him "Brother." n.n
Age wise, Bate's probably around 1,600 in this. (His talons are still growing) x)