Ch. 4, Part 1: Redemption Earns Life

The very concept of resurrection is almost...sobering. Most people don't really talk about it in town. Basically, nearly everyone figured, once you died, you died for good.

I wanted, no, I needed to know, if it were even possible.

It was just so confusing. Shark and I were seriously thinking about messing with the balance of life and death, just to restore the lives of a bunch of former criminals.

But I guess in the end, it was all straightened out.

Shark brought the situation up with Dudley and Scout, and they said that should the Rackets actually not be willing to change, they would be dealt with accordingly. Otherwise, they said that if their dead relatives really were honest about it, it was worth a shot.

And as for me? I asked around, seeing if any of the older inhabitants in town knew anything about raising the dead. After having next to no luck, I wound up talking to one of my co-workers.

She told me that there was a recipe for a special type of dish called "Ambrosia". She herself had never cooked it, but she went on to say that it was believed to prolong one's life.

I asked her what would happen if it were consumed by a ghost. She seemed confused, but then told me that if the person eating it was already dead, then surely the ghost could come back to life!

After we were done talking, she ended up giving me what looked like weird glowy pears. Called them "Life Fruits" and, if cooked with another ingredient, could possibly be used for whatever I was doing.

I couldn't thank her enough. Of course, I still had to figure out what else I need to make this "Ambrosia". And I...needed to know how exactly to make it.

I remember seeing a recipe for the stuff in the bookstore, whenever I went there to learn new things to cook for the family.

But at 12,000 Simoleons, I thought it was some kind of scam. Though, at this point, I was becoming desperate to try anything. So, I shelled out the money and took a chance.

Just as my co-worker seemed to predict, one of the ingredients was Life Fruit. The other was...Deathfish.

Life and Death...seemed fitting.

Around this time, the Rackets seemed to be showing up more often at night.

I think their appearing gave Shark a chance to reconnect, and reverse any bad blood between them.

From what I heard, he and his sister Lolly didn't exactly get along when she was alive. Probably just sibling rivalry gone horribly wrong.

Guess whatever the two of them were bickering about in their teens years didn't matter now. Shark wanted to mend the bond between him and his sister, and it seemed the feeling was mutual.

Uncle Bill...well, he was just about another story. Shark had a bit more difficult time with him. According to Shark, he was just difficult and aggravating back then.

Bill said that he was upset that Grandpa Max chose Dennis to lead the "family business" instead of him. He didn't want to listen to his little brother, and wanted to make a life of his own.

But in Bill's own words, that's kind of hard to do when the family sees you as the "walking defect". I think hearing that was what got Shark to soften up towards him.

When all was said and done, I brought Shark up to date on how I was doing. I told him, I got the recipe and the Fruit, now I just need the Fish.

I could've sworn I saw him slump, telling me, "this is the part I have to do, isn't it?" I just nodded. I had to find some way to get him involved, and I told him, at least he wasn't the one that had to cook it.

So the next time he got the night off, Shark spent the early mornings at the Graveyard, where he heard Deathfish were usually found.

He really didn't like his involvement, but one of us had to do it. 

(Ewww...)

After a few sleepless nights worth of catching enough Fish, Shark was quite possibly the crankiest I'd ever seen him in our marriage.

Once, he made me smell his hand before he cleaned it off. Holy crap, did it smell putrid. I promised him that after this was all over, he would never have to touch a Deathfish again for as long as he lived.

Well, after we got everything we needed, there was the whole preparation process.

I had to admit, the stuff looked appetizing, but it wasn't for me and Shark. He and I had to resist the urge to chow down for ourselves.

That, and we had a limited supply. In fact, I think we were one plate short. However...

Shark's grandparents told us they were fine the way they were. Their reason for not eating the stuff was, and I quote, 'why should we come back to life, when we're just gonna die again a short time later?'

I guess they were just happy being ghosts. Together in Death, I suppose. The other Racket ghosts, however...

We decided to try it with Shark's parents, first. They were the ones who showed up, so they were the two that tried it. 

The first ghost we gave Ambrosia to was Shark's mother. I think...I think she was the one who volunteered.

So...we watched patiently as she sat down, slowly eating it. It was torturous, waiting to see if all our efforts would bring forth the desired results.

When she was finished, she set the plate down, and slowly, we saw her changing...then a bright light and then...

She was alive. She was human again. The emotions that ran across Shark's face were a mix of utter disbelief, realization that he wasn't dreaming, and pure joy.

For a few moments, he wasn't the thirty-something Sports Star with a husband and two kids. Instead, he was this little boy, happy to see his mother again.

I swear, he was about to cry, he was so overwhelmed with emotion. Shark was so overcome, all he could say at this point was "Mommy!"

He just hugged her so tight, I was afraid he was gonna snap one of her ribs. He was just like a child who got lost in the grocery store, but found his mom again after searching the aisles enough. 

Well, I was just happy he wasn't repeating his teen years. Silver certainly wasn't ignoring him now.

After he calmed down enough, and we were convinced that it worked, Shark's dad was next.

(Oh, good! Sinbad put clothes on.)

It was still a bit hard to hide our anticipation. But we didn't need to worry. Dennis gladly ate that Ambrosia, acting as if he hadn't eaten anything in his life.

We were still hoping that he was a man of his word. The former leader of the Mafia, now had to fulfill a promise he made to his son, and a former employee of his.

The wait was brutal, but it was worth it. 

And just like with Silver, he too, gained his life back.

Shark wasn't any less enthusiastic. He hugged his old man just like he hugged Silver. Except, you know, less chance of breaking something.

He had both his parents back. Probably one of the few other times he was that happy in his life was when I proposed to him.

Of course, his happiness seemed a bit forced. He knew there was always that chance they'd resume their lawless way of life. The both of us pretty much took it with a grain of salt.

Thankfully, it didn't happen. After the whole ordeal, Shark helped his dad get a job at the Stadium, alongside him. Had to have been awkward, for a man Dennis' age to start out in a career that his son was already the top dog in.

The next night, it was Bill and Lolly's turn. I actually promised Shark that I wouldn't offer them Ambrosia until after he got off work.

As soon as he got home, almost as if by magic, both of them showed up.

(It was either this, or the one with Shark in mid-sneeze)

 Lolly had that grin on her face, as if to say, 'I'm finally gonna be alive again!' After her plate, Shark and their parents just watched as she floated, seeing her regain her second chance at life.

A girl her age shouldn't have died the way she did. Whatever she did in her short life, it didn't warrant her watery death.

For her relatives that died with her, it was karmic in a sense. But Lolly...she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I'm sure Dudley didn't want to kill his niece back then, but a job was a job. At the least, Lolly got her life back now.

And both siblings got a chance to start their relationship anew.

Shark wasn't as excited with Lolly as he was with his parents. They just looked at each other, like they recalled all their teenage quarrels and misunderstandings.

Where he was a little kid with their parents, he was at his adolescent years again with her. For a while, they just stood there not saying anything.

Then Shark just said, "Hey, sis," and moved to hug her. He seemed to be going through all their times together in his mind, then decided it was worth starting over.

All the horror stories he said about her seemed to be a thing of the past. Now it was like they'd always been best buddies.

After Lolly, Bill was the last one. Of course, we had to wait for Shark to change. He said his suit was chafing him.

From secondhand experience, it was a valid excuse. I've seen him after taking his suit off, and there usually were a lot of red marks in...certain areas.

I didn't care either way, of course. Shark, though, he liked being comfortable for important events.

"Walking Defect" or not, and I'm pretty sure he's really not, Bill took his Ambrosia and did what he was supposed to.

Like the rest of his resurrected family, he was ready to come back. And Shark was ready to accept him back into the world of the living.

As difficult as he was, Bill was also ready to go out and carve his own way through life. He was ready to find his old girlfriend, see if she was willing to rekindle their romance, and go from there.

Everyone that was willing to come back, had come back. Shark's grandparents, content with their status as ghosts, made plans to move out and spend the rest of their time on this plane of existence.

Shark's parents moved out and took those two dead old folks with them. We got a bed set up for Lolly, and Bill...

Well, it turned out his old girlfriend Julienne was happy to see him. She was shocked, but happy. And before Max and Marigold moved out, they asked if it was all right for them to get married.

First, though, Julienne had to confess that in the time Bill had been gone, she'd become a creature of the night, a vampire. Besides her skin getting pale, and her dislike of sunlight, though, she was still the same girl.

Bill was willing to accept her changes and flaws, and in fact, joined her as a non-human creature himself. She obtained a long life, now he wanted to experience it with her.

So he became a fairy.

After he transformed, Bill and Julienne asked if it was okay for them to get married. Max and Marigold had no problem with it. If anything, they were happy to have a new daughter join the family.

After they got their future blessed, Bill and Julienne set up their wedding day as soon as possible. They decided to make it quick, before either of them changed their mind, so they just set up a wedding arch in our backyard.

Of course, rushed or not, it was still a freakin' beautiful event. There was even a little crying!

...I wasn't the one crying, I swear.

(^I beg to differ, tough guy)

The whole thing was just... it was almost too quick to believe. Shark's parents and grandparents moved out into their own house, and Bill and Julienne got their own place for themselves.

Everything was quiet again. It was back to us, the girls, and that little furball that scratched me at the worst possible time.

And the whole time, I kept thinking, 'was this really happening'? One point, I looked down at my hands, realizing that these hands brought forth another chance at life.

I still couldn't believe it was me. After all, I had once been known for destroying lives. And now... Now, I'd ended up restoring them.

The whole idea that it happened, it was all so surreal. I was still reeling from it for a while afterwards.

Another thing I could use these hands for? Holding my kids when they were little. They all wanted to be picked up and tickled, or tossed in the air, or whatever.

Well, whenever they weren't playing with those ugly-ass dolls they got. I never did find out what happened to Echo's. All I know is after it disappeared, some kid with blue hair stayed with us for a while.

I drew my own conclusions, but still.

Other than that, it was...relatively normal. The kids got bigger, and my supposed rivalry with Masaru got a little more...well, interesting.

Well, I couldn't go around saying I was jealous of a cat, now. I thought that would've been ridiculous.

But besides that, I had to realize that he was a part of our family, whether it was fixed by resurrections or not.

And believe it or not, our family was about to get even bigger.

(A/N: End of Chapter 4, Part 1.)