What if... Airy didn't fall off of the bridge and die.

Some key things to note before we begin this story:

#1 - If you haven't watched or finished ONE by hfj cheesy, then please go do that first!!! It's an amazing and beautiful series on YouTube and this ONE-shot contains spoilers for it.

#2 - I don't ship any of the hfjONE characters. No, not even Sodapack. I don't mind the ship, but in my opinion none of the characters (except maybe the ones they already knew on Earth) have had enough time together to form a truly decent relationship.

#3 - Airy Lore. In the series, Airy claims he had been in the world where the computer is for 'at least' 10 years. My theory is that he says this because, 10 years ago during season 1, was the first time he started keeping track of the date. He has actually been there much longer.

Airy is a kerosene lantern, which was used until the 1920s when electric lights became widely available. He also died in a car accident, and cars also became widely available in the 1920s. This suggests that Airy died during the 1920s or shortly after. The series takes place in 2022-2023. Using all this data, I have come to the conclusion that Airy has been dead for almost 100 years, which is significantly longer than most people believe.

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Liam woke to see the wooden beams of Airy's crudely built hut looming overhead. What happened? He groggily pushed himself into a sitting position, and yelped as the movement caused his broken right leg to explode with new pain. Oh right... Liam sighed, tears welling up in his eyes. He had failed. Airy didn't even fight back, yet Liam couldn't kill him. He thought of Owen, his best friend. Liam had failed him.

He glanced down at his broken leg, and was shocked to see that not only was it cleaned up, but that same cursed cast, or at least a very similar one, was strapped on. Instant flashbacks of its weight dragging him further and further down, away from the surface, away from air, away from life. Liam shuddered and clutched his head, forcing the disturbing flashback into the corner of his brain.

Suddenly, yet another unsettling thought crossed his mind. Hadn't a tree fallen on his leg? How did he get back here? Wait... Airy?!?! Airy moved the log and dragged him all the way back here unconscious and completely defenseless. Right after Liam tried to kill him with a freaking ax no less...

Airy really was stupid.

Liam pushed himself off of the wood cot, biting back the stinging pain in his leg. Fresh, sweet-smelling reeds tumbled out of the cot's frame as Liam unsteadily slid off. Had Airy just gotten those? He glanced down at the pile of reeds on the floor that Airy put there for him... wait? Did Airy put Liam on his own cot? Again, immediately after Liam tried to kill him?

That hole in his head must have done a lot of damage.

Liam, on the other hand, had his priorities straight. He hadn't forgotten or forgiven a single thing. He was furious.

Liam snarled as he snatched up the makeshift crutch that was left leaning on the log wall. He hobbled out the door, determined to do whatever it took to put that miserable lantern out of existence just for THINKING about bringing more people to the Plane.

Liam didn't care about Airy's brain-dead kindness.

He was going to end this once and for all.

Liam stormed outside, and headed directly to the cave. He just knew Airy would be there.

Indeed he was, sitting on a very old, patched-up stool. The lantern stared into the glow of the computer screen, not even noticing when Liam entered the room.

Liam didn't have a plan, but he most certainly had the determination necessary to get the job done.

Airy finally noticed the tapping of Liam's crutch on the cold stone floor, and slowly spun around to face him.

Liam stopped dead in his tracks.

Airy was... crying. A single tear falling from his single eye and sliding down his smooth glass face.

"Oh... hello..." Airy choked and hacked for a good minute before continuing, "...L-...Li-am?"

Liam's eyes widened, and he nearly dropped his crutch, snatching it back just before it fell out of reach. He stared in disturbed silence for several seconds. Did... did Airy just call him by his real name???

Other than the tear, Airy's face remained as expressionless as usual as he stared back at Liam. "I told you... that I would... send... the contestants... back.................. today." His monotone voice droned, emotionless.

Airy reached over and hit a button on the miraculously fixed cassette player laying on the desk. Liam jumped in surprise when that familiar, static melody began to play. How had Airy fixed that overnight?!?!

"...but..." Airy began.

"NO! No 'buts' Airy! You're going to send them all back RIGHT NOW!!!" Liam screamed in rage, limping forward awkwardly, pointing a shaking finger at the tiny little planet called the Plane, "I don't care that there's six more eliminations! YOU'RE SENDING THEM BACK RIGHT NOW! AND IF YOU DON'T..." Liam paused to catch his breath, tears welling up in his eyes and his throat burning from screaming. "I SWEAR I'LL MAKE YOU PAY. I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KILL YOU, BUT YOU BETTER BELIEVE I CAN BREAK BOTH OF YOUR STUPID LEGS!!! I THINK ONE OF THESE CASTS WOULD LOOK GOOD ON YOU AIRY!!!"

Liam shook violently, tears falling from his canvas as he hobbled even closer to Airy.

"It's not... about the... eliminations..." Airy explained dully, looking up at Liam with that same dumb, glazed over expression. He didn't seem even mildly concerned about Liam's threat.

"Oh yeah? THEN WHAT IS IT ABOUT?!?!" Liam demanded, grabbing ahold of Airy's bronze hood and jerking it upward, forcing Airy to look into Liam's eyes.

"Gah!" Airy gasped, the strain on his head causing one of the cracks in his face to splinter further. Yet even in his pain, the fear Liam yearned to see just wasn't there. He wanted Airy to FEAR him! He pulled Airy's hood further. "Guh!... uh..." More tears began to fall from Airy's single eye as he whimpered in pain.

"I'll send them... back..." Airy choked out through his pained gasps. Liam smirked and released his hood, leaving Airy breathing heavily, relieved that the pain was over. "...If..."

Liam's snarl returned and he furiously clenched his hand into a fist. Liam opened his mouth to yell more threats at this brain-dead psychopath, but Airy interrupted him.

"...you stay..."

Liam's eyes widened in shock. "You... want me to stay? Why?!?! I want to go home!!!"

"When you... chased me... with... the............ax..." Airy stuttered, rubbing the fresh crack on his face. "...it made me... remember... the... radio..................... what it was... like... there..."

Airy paused for a long moment.

"And?" Liam eventually prompted, impatient for this idiot to finish whatever crap he was spewing so that he would send Liam's friends back.

Another lone tear trickled down Airy's face, "I don't want to... be... alone... again..."

Liam stared down at Airy in a mixture of disgust and anger. He was so stupid! "Did you not see that you did the same thing to us! You left us for seven months Airy! Alone!!! We know how it feels!" Liam snapped.

"But you still had the... others... you still remembered... your lives... your... your names..." Airy's voice grew softer as he spoke, but remained monotone throughout as he gently caressed the broken shards of glass on his broken face. "I made sure... that no one... I... brought... was............... alone."

Liam stared at the lantern blankly, not willing to accept or feel any pity towards him.

But then Airy met his eyes, and for the first time, Liam saw something besides a blank stare glaring back at him. He saw a haunted expression of dull terror that shook him to the core. Airy wasn't afraid of Liam, he was afraid of being alone.

"I'll send... them..." Airy pointed to the Plane, "... back... and I won't do... season three... but only... if you stay..."

Liam sneered internally, thinking of how dumb Airy's plan was. Liam could just kill him as soon as he watched him send the others back, and then use that code to send himself back... but something suddenly dawned on Liam...

"If you're so lonely, why wouldn't you just send yourself back to Earth? Why all this?" Liam questioned, suddenly very frightened, his stomach clenching in dread as he awaited the awful answer.

"The computer... doesn't work on... people... here... only people... in other places..." Airy explained.

Liam clutched his head with his spare hand. His breathing began to quicken and his head began to feel light. Those notes... Those notes were the only way back... and now that they were gone... Liam gagged on the reality, his body lurching forward with the motion...

He was trapped here.

Forever.

Liam looked back at Airy, and asked, "So if I can't get out anyways, why do you need me to agree to stay?"

"Because... I don't... want... you to... kill yourself..." Airy explained in that infuriatingly disinterested tone.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, Liam quickly dismissed it. He shook his head, hardening himself to face the cold reality with a strong resolve. Liam couldn't kill himself. If he wasn't here to stop him, then Airy would most definitely continue bringing more and more people to the Plane.

Liam took a deep breath.

If staying here forever with the person he hated most was what Liam had to do to stop Airy from ripping anyone else away from their lives, then so be it.

"Alright," Liam nodded, "I'll stay."

A small, satisfied smile slowly spread on Airy's cracked face, and with a genuine hint of happy excitement in his voice, Airy said, "Good!... I'll send... everyone... back now..."

Everyone except him. Liam sighed, swallowing down the bitter bile rising in his throat.

"Hey," Liam said, and Airy turned to look at him again, "Can I talk to them one last time?"

"Sure..." Airy turned around again and hit a button on the keyboard. "Go ahead..." He motioned to the small microphone sitting on the desk.

"Hello?" Liam spoke into the microphone, fresh tears welling in his eyes as he thought of how close he had become to everyone down there, and of how he would never see any of them again.

"Backpack!" Scenty, no Amelia, was the first to cry out at the sound of his voice, joyfully jumping out of the log hut they had built together.

"Liam!" Bryce shouted a split second later.

Liam leaned closer to the tiny little green planet called the Plane, and watched his miniature friends' reactions. He observed every tiny detail, memorizing everything he could, knowing that as much as he didnt want to, Liam would eventually forget them all, just like Airy.

"What happened?! How did you get up there!?!" Bryce demanded.

Liam told them everything.

Silence reigned.

They wanted to comfort Liam, but they knew there was nothing they could do. Nothing they could say would fix it.

"Goodbye, guys," Liam sniffed, trying to hold back his sobbing, "Thank you for everything. Good luck back home."

Amelia fell to her knees sobbing, Bryce wrapped an arm around her back, comforting her while shedding tears of his own. Even Moldy, no Charlotte, hid her face to cover her tears.

Liam stared at the floor, and said, "Go ahead Airy."

"Ok."

The tapping of keyboard keys.

The clicking of a mouse.

Liam looked back at the Plane.

Empty.

Good.

Liam turned to begin hobbling back to the cabin, wiping tears from his face as he did.

But someone stood in his way.

Airy smiled at Liam, and abruptly wrapped his arms around the green backpack, tears streaming down his glass face as he pulled Liam into a hug.

Liam didn't resist. He leaned into it. After all, he was going to be here for eternity, he might as well get used to his new companion. He sobbed into Airy's shoulder, letting out all of his hopeless frustration, knowing deep down that he had done the right thing, but feeling daggers of regret stabbing into him nonetheless.

"Are we... friends...?" Airy asked, his monotone voice hinted at desperate longing. He suddenly reminded Liam of a child.

"Yes, Airy," Liam sobbed, accepting his inevitable fate, "We're friends."

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Wow... I'm actually crying.

This is so sad... ;-;

Not all of my ONE-shots will be like this, I promise. My heart couldn't take it...

Edgy out!