Fern and the Funny Bone, Part Three

The king lunged at his son, who braced for impact.

"Are you safe, my child? Were you harmed in the attack?" The Time King frantically lifted Fern's arms and checked his front, legs, and back, but could find no sign of damage.

Fern's eyes filled with tears, betraying his guilt and shame.

"Where does it hurt, Fernibulus? I will call the medics," the king said as he lifted a hand, pressing his thumb to his middle finger.

"It's my fault, Father! I made Kosmo hit your elbow!" Fern cried.

"Timelines," the king grunted as he massaged his funny bone, scowling at the pain that shot through his arm. "What possessed you to do this?"

"I just—I just wanted to prove Mother wrong," Fern said, bowing his head, pouting. "She always said you didn't have a funny bone, and I didn't believe her. You gotta be able to laugh, so I made Kosmo hit your funny bone to see if that would make you laugh since my jokes don't ever work." Fern's voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you hate me?"

The Time King stared at his son for a long moment. He looked at his elbow, then back at Fern, and then roared with laughter. A deep, full-bellied laugh reverberated throughout the throne room. He wiped at his eyes, laughing as his shoulders bounced joyfully.

The king's shoulders kept shaking, but Fern couldn't hear any joy in it anymore.

The king was sobbing.

Fern watched but had trouble taking it all in.

He'd just seen his father laugh for the first time.

He'd just seen his father cry for the first time.

The Time King took a deep breath and knelt before Fern. "Son, I could never hate you. I love you more than mere words could ever convey." The king shook his head. "I apologize for not showing it sooner. I have had to be strong for so long, for so many, that I forgot what it was like to grow up never hearing my own father laugh." He looked away. "Thousands of solar systems, Fern. Eighteen million-million lives. I make the best decisions I can, but sometimes even the best decisions lead to the destruction of planets full of innocent life."

"Can't you just go back in time and make the real right decision?"

"Fernibulus, listen to me very carefully. Time travel . . ." The king gritted his teeth. "It creates a new time branch, one you can never return from. That means the people you love from your original branch will continue on, never to see you again. To time travel, you kill yourself to everyone you know and rob them of the future they could have had with you. Time travel is a last resort. It is the worst-case scenario. It's what took your—"

The Time King's mouth clamped shut.

Fern's eyes went wide. "Mother?!"

The young prince paused, staring off into space, then beamed at the red-eyed king.

The Time King tilted his head curiously. "Why do you smile, my son?"

"Because I was right." Fern tapped the center of his chest with his pointy-finger. "I can feel Mom, in here, so she can't be dead."

". . . I feel her too, Son. Those we love are never truly lost."

Fern threw his arms around his father's neck, and the king held him tight.

As Fern let go, his father stood up, grunting as he did. "Now, you must let your old man be off to prevent another galactic conflict."

Fern nodded, and they made their way toward the open doors, his father resting a hand affectionately on Fern's shoulder.

They stepped past the Temporal Guards, who were even more still than usual. "Oh, of course." The king paused, hand resting on Fern's shoulder, raised his other hand, pressed his thumb to his middle finger, and snapped.

The banners around the room fluttered, the guards flinched and clutched their hypermantium spears as the king and his son appeared to teleport to the throne room's entrance, and Marmar's hands finally reached his ears, clapping as they did.

Fern looked up and met his father's eyes. "How do you control it?!"

"You will learn when you become king. What you did was beyond dangerous. Swear to me you will not pause time again."

"I swear, Father."

I'll find you, Mom. I'll bring you back.

They walked the corridor, father and son, toward the spaceporters.

Another impossibility. Just like her, the Time King thought, worried. For now, he had major conflicts in the Praxalorian star system that needed his attention.

Back in the throne room, the remaining Temporal Guards cleared out, heading off to fulfill other duties.

Marmar peeked one eye open just as a little orb of glowing blue light zipped past his nose and out into the hall.

"Wha—?"