"It's all over, I can tell, but Grunty's got just one more spell!"

For a witch that was old, green, and her heart darker than the black clothes she wore, her final spell must have been anger that she didn't express during the battle that forced her to swallow the defeat because of Jinjonator's final strike that was now lead to to unintentionally dive to her certain doom. Much like some of the spells that Gruntilda had casted against her foes beforehand, a similar spell of a foamy white and green was thrown from her hand, hoping to giver herself the minimal pleasure of taking her enemies down with her.

"I will not completely accept defeat, as you can plainly see…
If I'm going to hell, I'm taking you with me!"

Banjo and Kazooie would have had a few moments to celebrate, but the words of their foe that was now falling from the tower clearly showed that she had other plans. Kazooie the Bregull wanted to stick to the plan of staying alive to save her best friend's sister. Banjo was in agreement of the matter, and both respective members of the team knew exactly what they had to do. If it wasn't from the new move that they had obtained on their journey, it was instinct.

Since the beginning of this journey, she and Banjo had learned plenty of moves and had more than enough time to muster the skill to use these specific abilities as they went from world to world in their grand Jiggy hunt that would ultimately lead to the rescuing of Banjo's sister. Out of the collection of the moves, their only hope of surviving this specific attack that was conjured by Gruntilda's anger was all dependent on a collection of golden feathers.

There was only one problem performing this specific move: they only had three feathers.

Because of the timing in which Gruntilda casted her spell, Banjo didn't have time to move that much, which meant clearly that the use of the golden feather would be essential. Popping her head out of her backpack, Kazooie seemed to have read her friend's thoughts as she covered Banjo to activate the risky move, waiting in timing with the spell, which was dangerously close by the time Kazooie did cover her bear friend, the force of the spell beginning to take its toll on the duo that it was intended for.

If only one feather was enough to take the impact.

Perhaps if Gruntilda put that much power into her spells before, she could have had a better chance avoiding the situation altogether. Nonetheless, such power worked in a way that would have pleased the witch as black lightning that illuminated a cliche green began to spark upon impact towards the team of two.

"K-Kazooie!" Banjo yelled from within the feathered barrier, "I don't think we can take it!"

"We have three feathers!" Kazooie protested, "We've been in tighter situations than this! We can do it!"

Three…
Two…
One…
Explosion.

The force of the explosion that was conjured by the power of the remaining feathers made an explosion that sent the duo to the ground, Banjo's force unintentionally making Kazooie fly out of the blue book bag. A grunt of pain left the bear's mouth as the back of his head hit the ground, everything turning into a wave of colors for a duration of time that Banjo couldn't tell.

It must have been a for a few seconds, and just a few seconds was just enough to distract Banjo because of the impact. When Banjo realized that his book bag was painfully light because of the lack of his best friend accompanying him, he looked around frantically, his sapphire eyes falling to the edge of the tower where his best friend was about to fall off.

While his heart did stop for a brief moment, he used what strength he could find to lunge himself to the edge of the tower, both of his paws completely in front of him as if he were catching his best friend from the sky, but as long as he caught Kazooie before the gravity caused her to plummet to the ground, he didn't care how he got there.

As for Kazooie, she didn't know that she was falling from the tower, because the spell caused her to see everything in darkness and mixed colors. If there was anything else that hurt more than her head, it was definitely her right wing, which took most of the impact of the spell. When she said that they could do this, she really spoke out of stubbornness, and really didn't want to worry Banjo despite the three golden feathers that she had used to protect them. This same wing that was giving her pain was the same wing that shocked her out of her unconscious state, her heart almost stopping once again because of the fact that the ground below her was none at all. If gravity had not pushed her downward, then she would have assumed that the stone against her cheek would have been the actual ground.

Kazooie had to blink a few times in order to register that she was on the edge of the tower, and whoever had a firm grip on her wounded wing was the only lifeline she had that prevented her from meeting the same fate as Gruntilda. Slowly but surely, she glanced up towards the sky to meet the sapphire eyes of the one that rescued her, giving her only a few seconds to realize that it was none other than Banjo, now hanging halfway off of the tower with his paw in firm grip with her wing. Now that Kazooie thought about it, she slightly panicked after a few minutes of relief because of the fact that Banjo was shaking. It didn't matter if Banjo was shaking from weakness, or perhaps he was just that scared for Kazooie's safety: Banjo was shaking as if it were snowing outside, and it wasn't even that cold.

However, despite all of what could be and what might not really be, there was one thing about Banjo that she imagined that she would never forget: the bright tears that were falling from his eyes. Two of those tears, his face cringed with emotion, fell upon Kazooie's shocked face.

"H-Hang… on… K-Kazooie…" Banjo grunted, "Just… let me… "

"Banjo?"

"Y-Yeah… heh… that last spell was really bad, wasn't it? Hang on… I'll get you up."

Banjo was normally so easy-going, or perhaps cool-headed and relaxed, and there were situations they had that were far worse than this…
So why was Banjo crying his heart out?

"Banjo! You're bleeding!"

Yes, indeed the honey bear was bleeding, for the impact of the spell not only did a toll on his arms, but his head as well. While his arms didn't bleed that much, his head from both the spell and the back-end impact was leading to a combo that wasn't the least bit to their advantage. Banjo really didn't want to admit that his head felt like spinning, but the truth of the matter was that he really didn't have to: Kazooie could already tell from the haziness in his eyes and the shaking in his posture. It was more than obvious now that Banjo was putting all of his strength into not releasing his friend to the ground.

Because she had a foothold on her consciousness, Kazooie zipped through many thoughts concerning about what to do, and she listened to a latter one that told her to use her claws alongside the stone tower. In this manner, Banjo would have some advantage to pulling her from the edge. Using what strength she had in her other wing, she began to flap as she used her claws against the stone of the witch's tower, trying to climb to the best of her ability alongside the pulling of the hazed, brown bear.

If timing wasn't bad enough, Kazooie wished that it wasn't right now, because Banjo's body gave into the haziness as his sapphire eyes went dark, his body falling forward into unconsciousness. Sadly, it took the conscious Kazooie with him.

"Banjo!"

After using all of his strength to save her, even now it wasn't to any avail, and both were about to meet a similar fate as the witch if a sudden spark of determination didn't spark in her to save her friend. He just went through all of his strength and trouble to save her, and she knew that deep down, she would have a hard time seeing her existence without her best friend. She would care less just how horrible the pain in her wing was affecting her flight: she was going to save Banjo, and her physical state wasn't going to change any of that.

Kazooie already registered in her mind that he wouldn't have fallen off the tower if it were not for her. Yes, they did use the other golden feathers in the fight a bit recklessly. Yes, a bit of her wing was burnt off because of the last spell (and it was likely that she would grow her feathers back again), hence why Banjo had any wounds to begin with. No, even if it killed her, or even damaged her wing forever, she didn't want anything to happen to Banjo again.

After all, she made a promise that she would never let him go.

The idea of anything happening to Banjo again was unlikely, for ever since they crossed paths with Gruntilda, what they assumed was going to be their peaceful life was turned upside down. Now she was literally upside down, trying to extend her claws in order to catch her falling friend. He did what he could to stop them from getting into this mess to begin with, and it was her turn to do the same. Putting as much power as she could into her both healthy and beaten wing, she moved herself downward, trying to catch some of the air beneath her wings as she lunged herself once again to the fallen honey-bear.

This time, it actually worked, and he was now within her claws, but the ground was deathly close to her by the time she had caught Banjo, meaning only so much time to flap her wings and take to the sky once again. It was good that the Jinjonator was thinking along the same lines as Kazooie concerning the fall of her friend, or he would not have dove in time to catch the duo from meeting the same fate as the witch. With what power the Jinjonator had left, he soared much faster than Kazooie, meeting her on the bottom in order to catch her and the bear, feeling on his back the thud from the impact of the duo because he was trying to catch them.

"Jinjonator sorry," he said.

"N-No," Kazooie said through panted breaths, "I-It's… it's fine… I'm just glad that Banjo is safe."

Now that gravity wasn't against her because of the Jinjonator, she turned to look at her friend's condition. Apparently, she was right concerning the heat of the moment, for Banjo had a really bad gash in his head, still surprisingly bleeding despite the air of the fall. His arms were slightly bleeding, but it was nothing compared to what would be a possible concussion later on.

Looking around her, Kazooie relished the fact that she was now at the place she called home. What made her even more happy was the fact that despite them turning to pools of color, she saw Tooty, Bottles, and Mumbo running to meet them as the dark clouds began to pour the rain that was held back during the duration of the fight. If there wasn't a strange feeling in her heart that was shapeless, happy emotions accompanied by relief, she could almost die in peace.

She could almost die in peace.

Perhaps Banjo would have felt the same way, but he wasn't awake for the outcome of the fight. Yes, he knew that Gruntilda was defeated by the ending blow of the Jinjonator, but his mind was already lost to the lack of senses when he fell off the tower. In that darkness, that's all his sapphire eyes could see, and his panicking heart could ever think about.

Kazooie…

In his mind, all he could think about was the outcome of the tower. The last thing he could remember was Kazooie's face, and the obvious tears that were flowing from his eyes. Why wouldn't he be crying? In Banjo's mind and heart, he was in a nervous wreck, and it all had to do with the fear of one little spell obliterating any outcome of them going home in peace and trying to forget that all of this had ever happened.

All he ever wanted was a quiet life with his sister and Kazooie. Should the event ever occur that would lead to his sister finding a place of her own, he wouldn't mind living with just Kazooie. Other than Tooty, Kazooie was the only one that meant everything to him, which might have been the reason why he was crying so much.

Banjo allowed himself a minute to stop the hazy thoughts from running around in his head. Was he really crying? The water that was in his eyes were obviously from nowhere else in the room that was most familiar to him, since it was his room. However, if the tears were that much real, then that would mean that the face Kazooie was real too, and that she was looking at him with the kind of concern that mean business. While it made his heart swell with happiness because of the concern she had for him, his heart was also broken because of the shocked sadness that he woke up to.

"… Banjo… "

"…Kazooie?"

He allowed his widened eyes to narrow, sinking in the reality that he must have been shocked out into this new state. Closing his eyes for a minute, he made the decision to sit up, and Kazooie protested a little too late on the matter.

"Banjo!"

Confusion hit him again as a swirl of pain began to invade his mind, shutting his eyes tightly, he wondered when the pain was going to stop. Ironically, his hidden stupidity was wondering why there wasn't anymore pain, due the abnormal expectation that his head would hit against something hard, or maybe have a small backlash of pillow impact. His heart, however, really hoped that a wing would catch him before he did anymore damage to himself.

"Banjo… please, take it easy…"

When his sapphire eyes opened once again, a sense of relief came over him when he felt feathers instead of the back of the headboard, or even the pillows he had grown accustom to sleeping upon. He knew that he wasn't completely laying straight out, since he was leaning whole-heartedly on one of her wings, with one of her cheeks rubbing against his forehead (which was strangely patched up), but he knew this side of Kazooie was very rare, and perhaps was a side that Banjo wished he could see more of without getting hurt.

"What do you remember?" Kazooie asked gently.

"… The spell… " Banjo replied weakly, "… The tower… you were… I almost… "

If Banjo wasn't in a complete nervous wreck before, he was surely in one right now. Covering his face with his paw, his shaking form began to pour tears out once again, his heart plainly in each and every one of them. In each and every tear was not just a piece of his heart, but a piece of his heart that he was giving to Kazooie. If he had not given his heart to her before, than surely it was evident now. The bregull's face became gentle at the sight of her friend shaking and pouring everything out that he was hiding back in his unconsciousness just a while ago.

"Kazooie… I'm so sorry…"

She really wanted to tell Banjo that it wasn't his fault, really, it wasn't, but this was a kind of nervous breakdown that she rarely saw out of Banjo, and there were very few ways to go about this. Moving her damaged wing over onto Banjo's lap, she did her best to hold onto Banjo's free paw as she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against his head again. If there was anyone that she would willingly comfort this way, it was definitely Banjo, and more than likely Banjo alone, regardless if it was for his sake or just him. Both pair of orbs closed at the same time as the silence was only broken by the cracking of fire and the sobs that were coming from the newfound hero.

Everyone else wanted to say something, but Tooty stopped them, and now that they knew that Kazooie had the bear covered, they could only move to the best they could in silence as Banjo poured his heart out to Kazooie.

"Everything will be okay now, Banjo… just let it out… just let it out…"


Artist's Comments:

Part 1 of Banjo-Kazooie's Tears of a Bear: Free Falling

Setting: During Banjo-Kazooie: Final Fight

There were so many things that I wanted to do differently concerning this particular chapter. Originally, I was going to have Banjo save Kazooie completely, but then after watching the final battle again along with picture inspiration, I realized that I would have to write this a little differently.

This is the first time I ever wrote a Bazooie (BanjoxKazooie) fiction. I'm really sorry if it sucks, but I did warn you beforehand that this was a bearxbird pairing implying. There's going to be even more of it in the next shot. If you don't appeal to the ship to the degree that it would destroy any appreciation for this two-shot, then please go elsewhere.

Constructive criticism is advised.

May God's love, grace, and mercy be with us all.