Chapter Text
And just like that, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Ash's heartfelt letter had driven all of the pups to tears, with Ryder included among them. The older dalmatian's words to his son hit all of them hard, including the ones who Ash didn't even know personally.
But none were crying harder than that same son of Ash's. Marshall had barely managed to choke out his father's name before curling into a sobbing ball on the floor. He had to admit, he hadn't thought of his father in a long time, but knowing that his accident had hurt him too made Marshall feel even worse.
"...D-D… Dad… I..." Marshall sobbed, feeling incredibly guilty.
It didn't take long for Chase and Skye to drag themselves over to either side of the dalmatian and grab him in a hug. They felt an odd kind of solidarity with Marshall. Ash wasn't their father, and yet he somehow had a way of speaking to them all. Even the pups that had never seen him at all. And soon, the remaining pups joined in as a sobbing Ryder took them all in his arms.
"Oh, Ash..." Skye whimpered.
"I-I can't believe… I-I forgot about him..." Chase sobbed.
"I-I did too..." Marshall choked tearfully. "...a-and he… HE KNEW!! I-I feel like such a bad kid-! H-HE NEARLY-! NEARLY W-W-WENT THE SAME WAY MOM DID! A-AND IT'S ALL B-BECAUSE OF ME!!"
Ryder wanted to stop Marshall from putting himself down, but he realised that right now, no-one was in any fit state to comfort anyone. All he could do was get a grip on himself before trying to calm anyone down. And that wasn't easy thanks not just to Ash's letter, but the fact that every single one of his pups was crying up a storm.
But eventually, Ryder simply found himself unable to cry anymore. He was still deeply-rattled by Ash's kind words, but he'd done so much crying for over a week that he'd simply run out of tears. And something told him that one by one, five of the pups had done, too. A few sobs were all that came from the crowd, but none of them had any tears left to cry. All except for a certain dalmatian who continued to sob into Chase's fur.
"Marshall..." Ryder began quietly. "...what did your dad say? Didn't he just say not to blame yourself over what happened?"
"B-But-! H-He-! Said he… said he… w-was ready to-!" Marshall stammered tearfully.
"He did say that, yeah. But you saw how happy he was in that letter to see that you're OK. It's not like you went out of your way to upset him, and he knows that."
"Didn't you see how proud he was of you?" Chase asked sincerely. "If I remember Ash, he wouldn't think you were bad at all!"
"B-But he said he was… r-ready to-!" Marshall sobbed.
"I think we were all feeling that way." Skye interrupted. "And he's your dad, so of course he's gonna react like that. He said it himself: it's not anyone's fault. And it's definitely NOT yours."
With these words, Marshall fell quiet. He continued to cry, but slowly, it started to die out until once more, the dalmatian was silent save for a few scattered hiccups. For a few seconds more, Marshall was silent as his breathing returned to a more steady tempo, closing his eyes and breathing gently.
"Dad was watching me the whole time..." Marshall whispered. "...and I never knew…"
"Your dad's awesome, Marshall." Rubble reassured. "He's still looking out for you from who-knows-where."
"If you REALLY wanna see him again, why not use the address he left on the envelope?" Rocky offered.
"I think you both desewve a catch-up, dude." Zuma added.
Upon Zuma finishing his sentence, Ryder broke the hug and stood up, picking up the envelope that he had left on the table, his mouth twisting into a thoughtful frown as he studied the address.
"Mistveil Farms?" Ryder muttered absently. "Is that where he is?"
"Never heard of anywhere like that..." Rubble observed.
"Well, the mailman did say it came from way out." Skye replied. "Sounds like it's in the countryside?"
"With a name like that, I'm sure of it." Rocky added.
"Hey. What's this?" Chase asked. "There's something on the back, here..."
The group turned to Chase, who had taken the letter in his mouth and was turning it over. On the back, surprisingly enough, was a pencil sketch. And a surprisingly-beautiful one at that.
"Whoa… killew awt skills." Zuma remarked.
"No kidding..." Marshall agreed, until his eyes shot open with another gasp. "GUYS! This sign! L-Look at it!"
Distracted from the highly-detailed drawing of an old cottage at the end of a long path, surrounded by grassy fields and towering trees, some fields being populated with cows, with the sun shining in the sky above, the group looked at the sign Marshall was talking about.
Atop a wide, wooden archway embedded in some stones with some ivy coiling around it was mounted a sign with strong, clear lettering. And everyone gasped when they saw what it said.
"MISTVEIL FARMS"
"Marshall, this is it!" Chase shouted excitedly. "Someone made a drawing of where your dad lives!"
"So if we look on a map..." Skye began joyfully.
"...we can find the building and go out there!" Ryder concluded with a huge grin.
"Looks like you'll get to see your dad sooner than you thought, Marshall!" Rocky reassured with a toothy smile.
"Can we come, Marshall?! Pleeeeease?!" Rubble begged.
"I weally wanna see what your dad's like! Please let us come see him!" Zuma added.
Marshall didn't reply for a few seconds. His brain was still processing everything that he had just seen. His father had just revealed where he was staying after all these years. By the time he had thought to ask Mayor Goodway, she had long since lost her copy of the paperwork, with the official story being that Chickaletta had eaten it. Marshall still vividly remembered the huge meltdown he had when Ash was finally gone, and Chase and Ryder's frantic efforts to soothe him. And now, they finally knew where he was, and Marshall could see the father he left so long ago once more.
"Dad…" Marshall whispered. "...I'll see you soon, dad." Marshall looked up and raised his voice. "That settles it! We'll look for the farm and all go see my dad! Together!"
The pups responding with loud howling and barking. Particularly from Chase, who was the only pup to have actually seen Ash in person before he was adopted by the farmers.
"Let's not be too hasty, pups." Ryder cautioned. "We've still got a lot of resting to do before that. But I promise you all that we WILL see Ash soon. Especially you, Marshall. You just say the word and I'll get right on looking for Mistveil."
"Yes, sir!" Marshall barked happily.
Ryder smiled as he picked up the letter that Chase offered to him, carefully folding up back up and putting it back in the opened envelope. "(This is SO going on the wall.)" he thought, before laying the envelope on the table next to the second box.
"Anyway, back to what I was saying before the letter got here." Ryder continued. "This box right here has a surprise for all of us."
"What the heck's in it?" Rubble asked curiously.
"Weeeeell..." Ryder replied liltingly, unable to keep from smiling. "You know we spent the last few days watching TV, right? Well, I still had my Pup Pad with me, stillgottafixthatbytheway, and I was actually talking to Mr. Porter. I ordered a couple of things from him. First was Chief Wolfy over there..." Ryder gestured to the toy that sat next to Marshall. "...and this."
Ryder picked the box off of the table and laid it out in the middle of the pups, and with a flourish, pulled off the lid. What followed was a series of gasps and expressions of amazement at the sight within.
Inside the box was a cake that had the shape of a massive, white bone. And on it was cobalt-blue writing in the middle: "TO THE BRAVEST PUPS IN THE WORLD". On either side of the bone-shaped cake was the Paw Patrol's emblem, and around the edges was red icing.
"C-Cake?" Rubble asked with his eyes shining brightly and his mouth watering.
"Of course!" Ryder replied. "We all deserved a treat after the week we've had. But especially all of you, after the pawful that I've been. And since Marshall coming home was such a big occasion, how about we celebrate it properly?"
"It looks so yummy!" Skye said enthusiastically.
"It's amazing, Ryder, sir!" Chase concurred.
"I can't wait to taste that!" Marshall added.
"Neither can I, Marshall! Mr. Porter's really good at this, isn't he? But first things first..." Ryder took out his Pup Pad. "...if this is such a big occasion, it needs a photo to mark it, right?"
The pups quickly agreed and crowded around Ryder for a selfie. The resulting photo was taken from a high angle, with a beaming Ryder making sure to get everything in it. With the cake still clearly-visible at the back of the frame and all of his pups piled around the boy with wide smiles, Ryder probably would've shed a small tear of joy if he had any tears left. It was the perfect family photo for them all.
"One for the album, huh?" Rocky asked.
"Nope! One for the wall!" Ryder replied.
The cake, of course, ended up not lasting long. Cut into seven huge slices, with one remaining that could easily be split in half for Everest and Tracker, the cake tasted better than anyone could've ever imagined. The flavour and texture were simply divine, but the added happiness of the occasion made it taste even better. Even Rubble had stopped to savour his food for a change. Maybe the huge cake would spoil their dinner, but nobody cared.
The rest of the day had passed quietly after Ryder had come back from putting his pajamas on. Once more, the pups and Ryder had all piled around the TV to watch some more cartoons, but this time, there was more laughing and joking than there was in the last few days. The group all laughed at the funny moments and talked about the stories they saw with more interest than usual. And Ryder, sat amongst his pups, had been far happier than he had been in days.
And the happiness persisted all the way until night had fallen over Adventure Bay. True to his word, Ryder ordered "the biggest, greasiest pizza this side of planet Earth" for the group to eat. It had been a long time since any of them had had pizza for dinner, but it was no match for a group of hungry pups and one young boy, and it was gone within minutes. Even the movie they were watching, "Apollo Before Time", didn't slow them down any, and they had settled back down to watch the second half after finishing the pizza.
"Wait, what happens here again?" Skye wondered aloud as she settled back in, waiting for Ryder to press the play button again.
"Don't you wemember, Skye?" Zuma asked. "This is whewe Apollo meets those cavemen!"
"IS it, though?" Chase countered. "I thought I remembered Apollo flying with the pterodactyls here..."
"I thought the Spider King showed up here!" Rubble offered.
"That happened a little while ago, Rubble." Rocky replied. "Ryder, what do you think?"
"Actually, Rocky, I haven't seen this one yet." Ryder said. "I AM curious, though."
"Heh, this is nothing compared to the next movie..." Marshall chuckled, snuggling up in Ryder's arms with Chief Wolfy.
Marshall closed his eyes, ignorant to the shocked stares of everyone around him.
"Wait, you saw the next movie?!" Rubble shouted. "That's not even out in Adventure Bay, yet!"
"Apollo in Space?!" Chase added. "Did you sneak off to see that in Barkingburg or something?!"
"Dude, you can't just end it thewe!" Zuma demanded. "You gotta tell us how it is!"
Marshall's eyes flicked open, giving Zuma a funny look. "Hey, I can't spoil it for you!"
"You don't have to tell us everything!" Rocky pleaded. "Just tell us if it was good!"
"All we want is a taste of what it was like!" Skye added.
"Sorry, but my lips are sealed." Marshall replied teasingly. "You'll have to wait until it comes out."
"No fair!" Rubble pouted.
Everyone who looked at Ryder then would notice a vile smirk forming on the boy's face as he looked evilly down at the dalmatian.
"Feeling a little quiet, huh?" Ryder asked sinisterly. "Well, that doesn't matter too much… We have ways of making you talk..."
Slowly, Ryder moved his hands over to Marshall's torso and started slowly scribbling a finger up and down the spotted pup's belly.
"Tickle, tickle!" Ryder cooed.
"EEK-!" Marshall shrieked, practically jumping out of his fur. "Hee hee hee, n-no-! D-Don't-! Hee hee hee-! S-stop iiit! Ha ha ha ha ha ha-!"
"Aww, pupper can't handle a little tickling?" Ryder asked teasingly. "Now you feel like spilling the beans?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha-! N-NEVER!" Marshall laughed.
"Ooh, we've got a tough one!" Ryder replied. "Well, how about THIS?!"
Everyone present was nearly-deafened by the ensuing shriek from the ticklish dalmatian as all of Ryder's fingers dug into his torso, the boy quickly rolling Marshall onto his back.
"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!! NA-NAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-! N-NOOOOOOOOOOOAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Marshall howled.
"Gotcha now!" Ryder yelled, grinning joyfully. "I'll tickle the answers out of you yet, you little weasel!"
But any sound that came out of Marshall's muzzle was complete nonsense. Marshall was simply laughing too hard to even put together a coherent thought, let alone a sentence. The pups couldn't help but smile widely as Ryder made taunting, playful noises as he tickled the dalmatian silly, watching the squealing, squirming pup cry with laughter, kicking and thrashing around, yet not actually making any effort to get away. Until a certain german shepherd found himself unable to sit back and watch anymore.
"Hey, don't keep him to yourself!" Chase whined playfully, approaching the pair on the floor with a playful grin. "Now you're gonna get it, Marshall! GRAAGH!"
"AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! CH-CHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-! CH-CHAHAHAHA-! NAAAHAHAHAHA-!!" Marshall squealed helplessly as Chase pounced on him and began kneading his side.
Being tickled by Ryder was bad enough. Being tickled by both Ryder and Chase simultaneously was unbearable. But at the same time, Marshall couldn't deny that he was enjoying himself. Finally getting to play with Ryder and the pups again after such a long time only made the moment even better. The joy in Marshall's hysterical laughter was very audible to just about everyone, as was his furiously-wagging tail.
But as Chase merrily scribbled his paws up and down his friend's side, he didn't notice that Ryder had taken one of his hands away from Marshall. A hand that was slowly inching towards him.
"GOTCHA!"
And Chase let out a loud yelp of surprise as he felt said hand flip him onto his back like a pancake, landing next to the pup who was currently laughing his head off. The shepherd's eyes shot open as he realised that he was about to join Marshall in his laughter.
"OH, NO!" Chase yelled. "NONONONONOEEEEEAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!"
"CHAHAHASE-!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Marshall cried through his own mirth.
"Now I have two!" Ryder growled playfully. "You were both fools to challenge ME!"
Ryder was clearly struggling to juggle two helpless, squirming pups as he tickled them both senseless, but it was clear that all three parties were enjoying themselves immensely. Ryder was grinning widely enough to practically split his face in two. Perhaps the happiest he'd been in days. And the joy felt by the three way highly contagious, to the extent that a certain co*ckapoo decided that she didn't want to simply watch the three playing anymore.
"You're wide open, Ryder!" Skye shouted, charging towards the boy.
But unfortunately for her, Ryder's reflexes were better than she had intially thought. Almost as soon as Skye kneeled down mid-run to leap at her owner did that same owner let go of the two pups he was holding and thrust out his hands to deftly grab the co*ckapoo leaping towards him. The ticklish assault began quickly, as did the eardrum-busting squeal that resulted.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-!! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! N-NOOOOOO-! PLEEEEEEEAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!"
"Hah! Too slow, little pup!" Ryder taunted, wrangling Skye to the floor, not letting up on tickling her.
"Not Skye, too!" Rubble shouted, perhaps more dramatically than he intended.
"Nooooo!" Zuma howled, caught up in the moment.
"GET HIM!!" Rocky yelled, charging full-tilt to Ryder's side and leaping at the boy.
With a holler, Ryder involuntarily let go of Skye and toppled to the floor with a resounding thud. Seeing what was going on, Rubble and Zuma charged Ryder as Rocky wriggled underneath the boy's shirt, with Zuma moving to tickle Ryder's neck and Rubble pressing his paws into Ryder's ribs. Ryder's reaction to getting a taste of his own medicine was both immediate and very loud.
"GAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! N-NO-! NO-! HAHAHAHAHA-! NO FAHAHAHAHAHAIR-! AAAHAHAHAHAHA-!"
But for Chase, Skye and Marshall, the taunting from the other pups and Ryder's mirthful howls had faded into the background. For all three of them, had decided to simply lay where they were, a warm feeling of happiness spreading all throughout each of them. Which only intensified as Skye dragged herself over to the tired Marshall and laid down next to him, leaving the pup sandwiched between herself and Chase. Marshall only smiled more widely as the three elected to simply enjoy one another's company tails wagging gently behind them.
After about five minutes of Ryder slowly being reduced to begging for mercy, Rocky, Zuma and Rubble had finally let up and let Ryder go after he had turned red in the face from laughing yet again. It took the boy a few minutes to regain his bearings, but upon looking at the six tired-looking pups, with one dalmatian looking about ready to fall asleep where he lay, Ryder decided that perhaps an earlier bedtime would be in everyone's interest, something that none of the pups felt like disagreeing with, the paused movie on the TV all but forgotten as Ryder turned it off.
After their long day, the pups were all too eager to go to bed. Every single one of had been through more than they ever could have expected, and any extra sleep they could get would be most welcome. All of the pups swiftly jumped up onto Ryder's bed and lay down around him, with Marshall and Chase in particular going as far as to wriggle under the covers alongside Ryder, Marshall in particular not letting go of Chief Wolfy, even as Ryder drew the both of them into a hug after switching off his bedside light. With the room in darkness, the entire Paw Patrol quickly started to lose the will to stay awake.
"Hey, Ryder, sir?" Chase whispered from the darkness. "Do you think… that we're on our way to getting better, now?"
Summoning up the last of his strength, Ryder willed himself to reply before he finally fell asleep.
"One hundred percent, Chase." Ryder quietly replied. "The signs are there, aren't they?"
"Yeah, I mean we're finally playing together, again." Marshall whispered. "If that's not a good sign, I don't know what is."
"And we're finally back to our old selves, I'd say." Skye surmised softly.
"And we're gonna stay that… way… right?" Rubble attempted to ask, only to be interrupted by a yawn.
"Only if we work for it." Rocky whispered back. "And I'll bet that's exactly what we're gonna do."
"Wight on..." Zuma replied sleepily. "And we won't stop helping each other now that we're all back togethew, eithew. I know it. What's a family for, wight?"
Ryder felt his heart overflowing with joy. He was unable to keep the huge smile off of his face as he spoke again.
"What did I ever do to deserve pups as good as you?" he asked blissfully.
"Being the best owner ever, that's what." Chase whispered happily.
This response was all it took to drive Ryder even closer to tears. With them all having fun again and vowing to be there for one another in their times of need, normality seemed to have truly returned for the entire group.
"Pups… I love you all so much..." Ryder said waveringly.
"We love you, too, Ryder..." Marshall replied immediately.
"Heck, we love you more..." Skye added.
One by one, everyone was ready to fall straight into Dreamland, but not before Ryder was able to vocalise one more thought. One final affirmation of how much he treasured the company of his pups. And how much he adored his now permanently-reunited family.
"I love you times infinity..."
And just like that, the Sandman finished his work sending Ryder and the pups into a deep, blissful slumber. The group's suffering, for the time being, was finally over. There was a long road to recovery ahead of them. One that was doubtlessly full of bumps, holes and cracks. But it was a road that they would all swear to travel dauntlessly and without fail. And in the end, one thing was absolutely certain for both Ryder and the pups:
Life had never been better.
