So I finally, finally, finally have another chapter for you. I know updates are taking ages and I could give you all the excuses, but instead I'm just going to say once again that yes, I am planning on finishing this sooner or later. Thank you for your patience.

~CHAPTER 11~

As her older sister glared daggers at her, Tiny sighed heavily and began rubbing her temple. "Alright, alright, Dixie. We'll explain. But you should probably come in and sit down first."

"Fine." Dixie said irritably as she stepped into Cranky's house. Tiny shut the door with a creak once her sister had marched inside.

As the sisters sat down near Chunky and Cranky, the elderly ape grumbled a bit. "Welcome, welcome, Dixie. My house seems to be becoming a late-night party spot. Too bad no one asked permission to use my house beforehand."

Dixie snorted and glanced at her little sister and her cousin. "No kidding." She cleared her throat and looked at them coldly. "So, I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard my little sister screaming. Naturally, I was scared half-to-death about what could have happened to make her scream like that, and all sorts of awful things started running through my head. I got up in a panic and followed the noise, and when I finally caught sight of aforesaid sister, she was climbing out of a well for some reason. And then she and my cousin left without the rest of my family-without telling anyone where they were going-even though my cousin is injured and my sister just almost fell down a well. Care to explain what's happening?"

Tiny and Chunky exchanged nervous glances. "Dixie...well, you see...the other night, Chunky and I couldn't sleep, and we started talking about everything that had happened, and, well...I started to understand how important saving K. Rool is to him. I was too quick to assume Chunky was doing the wrong thing...we all were. We haven't been very good friends-or family members- to him throughout this whole fiasco. So I decided to help him."

Dixie stared at Tiny openmouthed. "Tiny...what happened to you? You were so adamant about stopping Chunky...you went on and on about how worried you were for him, how nasty K. Rool is...and now you've completely changed your mind? How did that happen?"

Tiny smiled wryly. "I dunno. I guess I finally actually listened to him and tried to consider his point of view maybe?" She looked at her sister hopefully. "But Dixie, listen. We found it. We found the mushroom-the cure for Kremling Kough! It was in the well the whole time! We can save K. Rool-please, Dixie!" Tiny looked at her sister with exaggerated wide, sad eyes, and her mouth was pulled into a pout as she folded her hands under her chin.

Dixie couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Tiny, I think you're laying it on a bit thick there, huh?" Her voice still had an edge to it. "But why did you leave without telling anyone? That was a dangerous thing to do!"

"...because we knew that convincing everyone that we should give K. Rool the soleil mushroom would take a long time. Time that K. Rool doesn't have." Chunky said a bit somberly.

Dixie sighed. "Well, you're right about that. He's been our mortal enemy for quite a while now...most of the other Kongs would take a lot of convincing before they'd agree to it."

Tiny gave her sister a sideways glance. "...but not you, right, Dixie? You're not so different from Chunky, in some ways. You've always been a peacemaker." Dixie blushed and turned away from her sister. "Yeah, you know what I'm talking about...who was the one who encouraged Donkey to try to make peace with Mario, even though our family had a pretty bad history with him? You did. And what about when Lanky first came to us after he decided he didn't want to be part of that group of weirdo, evil orangutan relatives of ours-I think they were called the Manky Kongs-anymore? We all thought he was lying, trying to play some kind of trick on us. Who was the one who convinced the rest of us to give him a chance? You were, Dixie."

Dixie turned back towards Tiny. Her face had softened a bit. "Yes...I'll admit, I can kind of understand why Chunky wants to do this."

Tiny beamed. "So, you're on board, right? You'll come with us when we bring the cure to K. Rool?"

Dixie bit her lip. "Well...sort of."

"What do you mean, 'sort of'?!"

"What I mean is that...well...yes, I think that the cure should be brought to K. Rool-but I'll bring it. I don't think you and Chunky should come."

"What?! Why?" Tiny was surprised to find that it was not her voice asking the question, but Chunky's.

Dixie's eyes flew to her cousin, slightly surprised. "Wha-Chunky, you want to go to Hideout Helm?"

Chunky nodded vigorously. "Of course-I went through all the trouble of getting the mushroom, so I want to see this thing through to the end."

Dixie's face became pained. "No, Chunky, you shouldn't have to-you've done enough already. More than enough." A lump was forming in her throat as she spoke. "You shouldn't have to go to Hideout Helm...and deal with the Kremlings. You shouldn't have been dragged into any of this. Not you."

Tiny, Chunky, and Cranky blinked at Dixie in bewilderment. "Dixie...what are you talking about?" Tiny ventured.

"It's my fault you guys ever got pulled into any of this business with the Kremlings! When K. Rool decided to kidnap everyone, if I had been at home, I could have helped you both hide from the kremlings! You wouldn't have had to get involved... but no, I just had to go visit grandma and leave Chunky and Tiny by themselves!" Tears started trickling down her cheeks. "I've always tried to be a good big sister-and cousin- to both of you, to keep you safe, but I failed! I let you get kidnapped! And now you both want to go charging into Hideout Helm and try to convince the kremlings to trust you? You might both just wind up locked in cages again-or worse!"

The room fell silent as Dixie began sobbing. Tiny and Chunky stared at her in shock. They hadn't realized that how upset Dixie had been that they had been kidnapped while she was away from home. She hadn't given any indication of her guilt until now.

Chunky and Tiny each put a hand on one of Dixie's shoulders. "Dixie...it's okay. We're okay."

Dixie shook her head fervently. "No...no you're not. Chunky almost got struck by lightning. Tiny almost fell down a well. You could be very far from okay right now, except that you got lucky a couple times." Dixie's tears began to cease, and her face hardened. "No. You are both too young for this. You need to stay behind-stay safe."

Tiny lifted her hand from her sister's shoulder and scowled. "Dixie, I'm not that much younger than you! A couple years, that's it! Why shouldn't I be able to help with our family's problems as well! And Chunky's actually a few years older than you!"

"Well, he may technically be older, but Tiny...you know how he is! Everything scares him! He may be big and strong and older than me, but mentally, he's still a child!"

Tiny's gaze flickered to Chunky's face, and she could see the smallest amount of hurt cross his face. Of course he knew he was a big baby sometimes, but…

Tiny sighed, gathering her wits. "You know, Chunky's not as helpless- or cowardly- as he seems. He's managed to do a lot on his own, and I really think he's beginning to grow up. And...I've grown more than you realize. I know you're worried, but we're not babies. We're not helpless."

Dixie looked at each of them, a pained expression crossing her face. "But still...I have to take care of you. I'm responsible for you."

Tiny felt irritation creep into her head. "Dixie...you can't keep pretending to be our mom forever. You're not."

Dixie emitted a startled gasp, and as the words sunk in she bit her lip, trying to keep any tears from falling. After a few moments, her face hardened.

"Well...I am well aware that I am not your mother. I am not...that dense. But seeing as none of us have any parents anymore, I only thought that someone should fill that role. It made sense to me. But please forgive me for making such blind assumptions. I tried to keep us all happy and safe, but I see now I was just being stupid." Her voice was cold and hollow, and Tiny and Chunky felt a chill in their hearts as she spoke. Dixie shifted her beret a bit before standing. "Nevermind. Do what you want. I'm sorry to have held you back for so long." She left for Cranky's guestroom.

As soon as the door clicked behind Dixie, Chunky looked at Tiny in dismay. "...you really hurt her, Tiny."

Cranky grunted in agreement. "Yep, you sure screwed that up."

Tiny sighed in agitation as she stood up and started banging her head on the wall. "I know, I know, and I feel awful about it!" She grumbled. "But I'm also frustrated with her, too! She's so impossible!" Tiny banged her head on the wall a few more times, then stopped, letting her head rest on the wood in front of her.

Chunky murmured, "I guess we'll just have to talk it out with her tomorrow morning. Or I suppose we could just leave without her, but I don't really want to do that. Hopefully she'll have calmed down by then."

"Yeah, hopefully." Tiny replied woefully. She surveyed the main labroom around her. "We should probably get some sleep before morning comes. Trying to reason with kremlings on no sleep sounds like a very stupid idea-we'd probably be so tired we'd act half drunk, and I don't think they'd be inclined to take us seriously if we did that."

Cranky chuckled at that. "Yeah, you're probably right about that, although that would be a pretty amusing sight to see. You can sleep in the living room, since I'm guessing you probably don't want to traipse back home in the dark."

Chunky and Tiny nodded. "It feels like forever since I've worn pajamas, but I guess I'll be alright for one more night." The large ape observed.

Cranky produced a few blankets and pillows and the three of them migrated to the living room. Chunky wrapped himself up in blankets and settled on the sofa, while Tiny snuggled onto the loveseat. To their surprise, Cranky sat down in his living room rocking chair.

"...you're not going to bed?" Tiny said quietly.

Cranky's face twisted into a wry smile. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a little while. I've got a lot on my mind. And, well, it's been awhile since this many of you were here at once…" the elder ape trailed off, feeling a tiny bit embarrassed.

Chunky arched an eyebrow. "Cranky...you get lonely sometimes, don't you?"

"...I never said that! That's ridiculous!" Despite the older ape's grumbling, Chunky could tell that what he said wasn't true- an almost sad look crossed his face, which was a rarity. Really, any emotion besides irritation was, but sadness was especially rare.

"Cranky, what was Wrinkly like?" Chunky asked before he could even think about what he was asking.

Cranky's eyes snapped to Chunky in surprise. His first instinct was to tell Chunky to mind his own beeswax, but when he saw the genuine curiosity on the huge ape's face, he softened up a bit. He opened his mouth to speak, but found he wasn't quite sure where to begin. He glanced around the room and realized that Tiny was also looking at him intently. They never did get to know Cranky's wife like Donkey, Diddy, and Dixie had, did they?

"Well, she was very smart. Far smarter than I am. I mean, sure, I can mix up a potion or two, and I could hold my own in an adventure back in the day, but she knew how to teach other monkeys things, something I never really had the knack for. That's why she was a teacher at the Kong Kollege for so many years." A faint smile crossed his face. "She loved birds, even those screwed-up looking banana birds. I nearly got my eyes pecked out by one of them once, and she just scolded me and said I was acting too intimidating around them. Well…now that I think about it, I was waving my cane at them, so I probably deserved it." He chuckled. "She liked to dance, but she really wasn't very good at it. When she danced she resembled an injured goose far more than a graceful swan."

"Cranky, that's not very nice!" Tiny scolded him.

"But it's true, and besides, it's not like I minded." he chuckled softly. "I'd take my injured goose over a swan any day." He ducked his head a bit in embarrassment over sharing so much, he wasn't accustomed to being so open with others about his personal feelings. But he really had felt rather lonely since his wife died, and the recent fighting among the other Kongs had made it worse, in a way. When Wrinkly had been alive, everyone had been younger and relationships had been so simple. Seeing everyone growing up kind of hurt.

He noticed Chunky and Tiny were still staring at him intently. "Bah! I've said quite enough, and you two need to get some sleep. You shouldn't stick your nose into other monkey's business!" He croaked half-heartedly as he stood up. He quickly shuffled toward the door, but stopped in surprise when he saw the door was cracked open ever so slightly and an emerald eye glittered in the darkness. It quickly disappeared and he heard hurried footsteps. Huh. Dixie must have been watching them. He shrugged and continued to his bedroom.

Chunky smiled contentedly as he snuggled deeper into his blankets. He had never seen Cranky's softer, more sentimental side before. It was nice to know him a little better.

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When Dixie emerged from her room the next morning, and headed to Cranky's kitchen to eat breakfast, she found Tiny and Chunky sitting at the table with their hands folded neatly and with nervous faces. A plate of toast covered in pineapple jam sat on the table in front of an empty seat.

"Th-that's for you Dixie. Um…" Chunky suddenly became laser focused on the grain of the wooden table he was sitting at.

Tiny swallowed a lump in her throat. "...we made you breakfast since we figured that we...uh, mostly me though...were very ungrateful to you last night. You've taken care of Chunky and I for a long time...and you took care of Kiddy too, back before we got so involved with the kremlings and had to send him to grandma to be taken care of…" Tiny played with the bracelet she was wearing nervously. "You gave up almost all of your free time so that we wouldn't have to be wind up living with strangers and we could really stay together as a family. I am so, so sorry about what I said last night."

Dixie was stunned. She hadn't expected her hot tempered little sister to calm down about the situation so quickly. She used to sulk for days after she had an argument with someone.

Maybe she was beginning to grow up.

"Oh, Tiny, I did a lot of thinking last night, and I'm sorry too. You were right in some ways. You have both grown up more than I realized and maybe the best thing would be for all three of us to bring K. Rool the cure together." She grinned a little lopsidedly. "It seems to be a hard thing for us to get in our thick heads, but things usually go better for us Kongs when we stick together. Having other people to watch your back just makes things easier in general."

Tiny and Chunky relaxed at her words. "Thank goodness. I'm glad you're not still mad at us. We didn't want to go without you and leave while you were still angry."

Dixie smiled, sat down next to Tiny, and began to eat her toast. "Mmm, this is really good! I wonder where Cranky gets his jam from? I'll have to ask him. Thank you for making breakfast for me, you guys. So, uh, when are we leaving?"

"Well, we were thinking we should get going as soon as possible, so probably once you're done eating, unless there's something you'd like to do first?"

"Well, I have a note I want to leave for someone, I already know what I want to say so it won't take me long to write."

"Alright, that should be okay, but who are you writing a note to?" Tiny quirked her eyebrow. "Is it Diiiiddy?" She asked in a sing-song voice.

Dixie nudged her playfully. "Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. That information is on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know."

Tiny smirked and leaned over to whisper to Chunky. "She's totally writing to Diddy."

Dixie rolled her eyes and smiled. Silly, teasing sister…

After she had finished writing her note, folded it up, and left it on the table.

Before they left, Tiny asked Cranky to do what he could to keep the other Kongs from following them-if the rest of the Kongs came charging in to rescue them, the Kremlings would probably kick them all out.

After Cranky agreed, Chunky, Tiny, and Dixie set off for K. Rool's Mechanical Island.

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"Excuse me, what are you Kongs doing here?" A female voice with a bit of a lilt hissed.

The trio of Kongs had only just gotten to K. Rool's mechanical island and a kremling had already noticed their presence. Although it wasn't as if there were any shortage of kremlings around-the whole island was crawling with them.

The kremling before them certainly had a striking appearance. She was about as tall as Candy, and her hair was styled in a purple afro. She wore a purple shirt with a skull on it and blue skinny jeans that were rolled up on the bottom, as well as some jewelry and makeup. She stared at the Kongs aggressively.

The three of them felt their courage escape for a moment, finally coming face to face with a kremling.

"Well?"

Chunky cleared his throat. "Well, uh, we heard about the situation K. Rool is in. And uh…"

"And what? You wanted to come rub his impending demise in our faces?" She sneered.

"No, no! We want to help! We know how to heal him, and we have the cure with us!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? A cure for K. Rool! How would you know about such a thing when our own healer doesn't?" Several kremlings had noticed the Kongs and had begun to gather around them.

Chunky, Tiny, and Dixie sucked in their breath. It was showtime.