"You what?!" I stood staring in disbelief at Dream. We were standing outside L'manburg's walls, waiting for Dream to return with the news of victory. Wilbur was going to surrender, but instead, Dream returned with news.

"Tommy said he wanted to duel for independence." He stated flatly, his mask covering any emotion that showed on his face. He simply shrugged and began to remove his armor.

I watched in disbelief. Dream was going to risk dying or risk Tommy dying, just for the independence of a nation. Yes, they all took risks in battle, but outright accepting a duel was insane.

"I'll be right back," I said, not waiting for their responses. I stalked off towards where Tommy's angry voice could be heard. Tommy was ranting about Dream, his language being very colorful. Wilbur stood beside him, trying to calm the boy down.

"Tommy your passion is excellent in war, but not in these situations," Wilbur stated, being in a slight state of disbelief. Tubbo stood on the other side of Tommy, silently watching his best friend. The fear could be seen written all over his face.

"Well Wil, I need to do something. I can't just let that green bastard take everything."

Wilbur turned away, going to search for a bow for Tommy. I took my chance, trying to catch the boys' attention from the woods. Tubbo spotted me, tugging Tommy after him towards me.

"Y/n?" Tommy questioned.

"Tommy, what are you doing?" I whispered yelled, not wanting to catch anyone else's attention.

"I'm doing what we have to do for our independence. Even if that means risking my life." Tommy stood tall, attempting to put on a brave face. It didn't fool his two closest friends in the slightest.

"It's not worth your life, Tommy." I said, Tubbo frantically nodding in agreement. Tubbo's eyes were silver-lined, scared to death.

"It's all I can do," Tommy said, his mask cracking. Fear was webbed all over his face, his youth showing through. He was only a teenager and already risking his life. He would never admit it, but he was scared to death. He didn't want to leave his best friends alone in this world.

I pulled him into a tight hug, Tubbo grabbing onto the two of us. We hugged in silence, savoring the moment. Tears pricked my eyes and silently fell down Tubbo's face.

I pulled back, "Tommy I will try and convince Dream to not go through with this. I'm not sure what he is thinking. He doesn't seem like himself."

He nodded, watching as I crept back towards the woods. Wilbur appeared with a bow again, directing the group towards where the duel was meant to be.

I made my way to Dream, who was now standing by himself on the prime path. Our friends stood off to the side, watching fearfully. I looked to George, fear apparent in his eyes, who only shrugged.

"Dream what the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm not letting them win this, y/n." He stated flatly, facing partially away from me. Something was off about him. I reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away.

When he looked back at me, mask to the side, I saw something evil lurking in his eyes. I backed up a step.

"I'm doing this for our safety. For the peace in these lands." He stared back at me.

"You could hurt Tommy! Or hurt yourself!" I practically yelled at him, desperation filling my voice.

"I don't care if Tommy gets hurt. One person stands in the way of this revolution."

I took another step back, tears silently falling down my face. This wasn't Dream.

"Please. I can't live without you."

Dream turned away, back to me, "Well good thing I won't lose."

-

Dream pov

He knew he was hurting her. Tears were streaming down her delicate face, allowing herself to be vulnerable to him. She turned, walking off towards where his friends stood, Sapnap and George pulling her into a hug.

He wanted to run to them, to join in on their hug. He wanted to hold her hand and apologize for fracturing her heart.

But he couldn't. The voices held him in his spot, clutching the bow. He begged the whispers to let him go, but they wanted to see some chaos.

Tommy and his group arrived, Tubbo practically being dragged by his best friend. He reluctantly let go, moving with the group off of the path. Tommy stopped in front of Dream, while Wilbur began reciting the rules.

"You will walk, back to back, until I reach ten. Then you will fire on each other."

They turned, facing away from each other. He could see his friends, watching stone-faced from the side. Except for y/n. Tears still fell from her eyes, as she silently watched him. He knew she wouldn't dare try and stop him now.

"One."

The whispers grew in volume, growing excited.

"Two."

He started slowly walking forward, not totally in control of his feet.

"Three."

He tried to gain control, stop this.

"Four."

He clung to his promise. Trying to anchor himself.

"Five."

"Six."

"Seven."

He tried thinking of happy memories with his friends, even with Tommy. It wasn't working.

"Eight."

"Nine."

All of a sudden, y/n started yelling, "Dream STOP THIS!" She was trying to run to him, but Sapnap held her tightly.

"Ten paces, fire!"

He spun around, his brain moving in slow motion. The whispers were yelling now, screaming at him to hit home. But the world moved at a snail's pace.

He used his entire strength to gain any amount of grip. He reached to the depths of his heart, pulling all his love upwards. He pulled back the bow as Tommy's arrow whizzed by. Tommy was missing on purpose, he realized.

Something struck him as he was about to release the arrow. He gained control for one moment.

One moment too late.

He had released the arrow. But with the small control he had left, he tried to aim away from Tommy's heart.

Before he could see where he had struck, he turned to y/n. She was practically sobbing, horrorstruck. Her eyes found his fear shining in them. He stepped towards her, but the world suddenly snapped back into motion.

Tubbo's scream was loud and true.

-

y/n pov

Dream's eyes were full of something like confusion and regret. I would deal with him later.

Tubbo screamed, rushing to his best friend's side, who was now in the water. He was on his back, red pooling around him. I broke free of Sapnap's grip, running to his side.

Wilbur began shouting for Fundy to get medical supplies while he pressed a hand to Tommy's wound.

There was so, so much blood.

I gaped, trying to find anything in my magic to help, but I didn't possess healing power. So instead, I helped pull Tommy out of the water. Wilbur and I laid him on the shore, trying to keep Tommy from closing his eyes.

I pulled Tubbo close, who was now shaking with sobs. I hugged him as my own tears fell, pulling us to the ground next to Tommy. I kept Tubbo in a hug but I reached out and held Tommy's hand.

"Tommy, stick with us," I begged, gripping his hand tightly.

Fundy had finally arrived, carrying bandages and ointments.

"This is going to have to do while we get him back to L'manburg." Fundy panted.

Tommy closed his eyes, a smile faintly on his lips.

"Tommy, wake up!" Tubbo yelled, gripping his best friend. "WAKE UP. PLEASE WAKE UP!"

I pulled Tubbo back, as Fundy and Wilbur wrapped bandages around Tommy. Tubbo was shaking violently, not being able to hold his own weight.

Wilbur picked Tommy up, rushing towards their nation's land. Fundy reached for Tubbo, eyeing me as I handed him over.

"I'm going to follow right behind you." I reassured, Fundy nodding as he and Tubbo hurried after Wilbur.

I turned on Dream, who was still standing in the exact same spot, staring at me. He seemed lost and out of control. I stalked up to him, anger filling me up.

"Why the hell did you do THAT?" I raised my voice at him, not meaning to. The anger came violent and hot, escaping before I could get control of it. "He could die!"

"He won't die." Dream's voice came out quietly as if he was scared. "I hit him where it isn't vital."

"The amount of blood proves otherwise!" I shot back.

"He'll be fine." Dream stepped forward, pulling me into a hug before I could yell back. I struggled for a second, but his arms held strong. Sobs attacked my body, giving into Dream unwillingly. He just stroked my hair, murmuring apologies into my hair.

I pulled back quickly, sorry wouldn't keep Tommy alive. He could ask for forgiveness after Tommy was alright again. Before Dream could reach for me again, I turned and sprinted towards L'manburg.

So much guilt crushed me as I ran, tears flowing down my face. That wasn't Dream, Dream wouldn't have killed Tommy. Yeah, Tommy got on his nerves all the time, but he cared about him deep down.

I could barely walk due to the sobs by the time I reached the L'manburg gates. I would apologize to everyone as soon as I could.

-

A few days had passed and Tommy was still asleep.

The citizens of L'manburg had reluctantly let me in to see Tommy, only allowing it because of Tubbo. He pleaded with Wilbur to let me in, clearly in need of comfort. Wilbur still watched my every breath, in fear this was a trick.

I understood why they thought that. I was still on Dream's side. I think.

But I hadn't thought about that yet. My time had been taken up with comforting Tubbo, taking care of Tommy, and helping in any way I could. Regret still crushed me, so I tried to take as many chores as I could while I found the right moment to apologize.

It was now evening, I was helping Fundy and Wilbur replace some of the ground that had been destroyed from the TNT. Tubbo was still in with Tommy, the boy hadn't moved once since the duel.

This was my chance while I had the two alone. "Um, guys could I say something?" I broke the silence.

They turned to me, waiting for me to continue.

"Look, I know I'm the enemy and I hurt you guys. And I know you shouldn't forgive me, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. I take responsibility for my actions even if I can't go back and change them. You don't have to forgive me, I think I'm still on Dream's side." I hesitated at the part, unsure if I was, "But thank you for letting me stay while Tommy heals." I finished, turning back to the dirt.

Silence followed the words, as I was expecting. But all of a sudden a hand was placed on my shoulder.

"You're right, we won't forgive you just yet but that doesn't mean we won't. We need time to heal." Wilbur smiled slightly, "But thank you. And I should apologize as well. I treated you like shit."

I nodded at his forgiveness, tears pricking my eyes. That was all I needed.

We worked in silence again, until Tubbo came running towards us.

"Tommy's awake!" He smiled.

~~~~~

yay tommy's awake!