A/N: I haven't really done a Donald-centric fic before, so here it is. :)
Also, I reposted my fic from Archive of Our Own a couple of days back, so if you want to read it there, then go ahead. :)
NOBODY'S P.O.V.
****MONDAY, 03/25****
"Where's Donald?" José kindly asked his red-feathered friend.
Panchito rolled his eyes in annoyance, arms folded. "How should I know?"
The parrot held his hands up in surrender. "Desculpe, eu só estava perguntando."
"Bem pare de me perguntar então," the rooster murmured rudely.
José suddenly had enough and retorted, "Okay, that's it! Qual é o seu problema?"
"You really wanna know?"
"Yes!"
Sighing despondently, Panchito said, "It's Donald! He's been acting weird lately."
José shook his head and replied gently, "He just returned from the Moon. Dê a ele algum tempo, Panchito."
The rooster averted his gaze. He didn't have the patience to leave Donald alone. After all, they were best friends! They should've been able to tell each other everything! Otherwise, what was the point in reconnecting after eleven long years?
"Sim, mas por quanto tempo? How long will he keep pushing us away?!" Panchito exclaimed, clearly upset over the whole situation.
He didn't want to be kept in the dark anymore, so he stood up and declared, "This is a waste of time. I'm going to talk to him."
With that, the rooster ultimately decided to confront Donald regardless of José's protests. Suddenly, the parrot grabbed his arm, causing Panchito to turn around.
"What?" the rooster said impatiently.
"Please, just hear me out," José pleaded desperately.
"Why? Just because you don't want to help our friend, doesn't mean I shouldn't either!" Panchito said harshly. I know I'm the narrator, but dude, chill!
"Of course I want to help! But forcing Donald to open up is not the answer!" the parrot argued.
"Enlighten me then! What is your oh-so brilliant idea?" Panchito shot back with a hint of sarcasm.
"It's—" José sighed defeatedly. "I don't know. Just leave him be, please."
"Alright fine!" Panchito huffed, waving his hands in the air before storming off. Still determined to confront his best friend, the rooster chose to delay his plan by 24 hours.
****TUESDAY, 03/26****
The doorbell rang, revealing Donald Duck himself. "José? Panchito? What are you guys doing here?" he asked, utterly surprised.
Panchito's arms were folded, giving him the look while José smiled weakly and waved.
"You think you can avoid us forever?" the rooster said accusingly. "Well think again!"
The parrot nudged him in the stomach. "Seja legal!" he hissed.
"I don't give a crap!" Panchito hissed back frustratedly.
Donald on the other hand, was extremely confused. "Uh guys? What's going on?" he asked them, scratching his head a little.
"Doesn't matter! It's you who owes us an explanation! So explain!" the rooster demanded gratingly.
The sailor felt his mouth open, but no words came out. Growing even more impatient, Panchito added, "First you don't contact us for eleven years, then suddenly out of the blue, your family expects us to pay for your little trip to Brazil! And now this? What the — "
"Whoa whoa whoa! Where's all this coming from?" Donald interrupted him, brows narrowing worriedly.
Rolling his eyes again, the rooster sighed. "You didn't contact us for over a decade! No wonder we've grown apart..."
Donald suddenly understood what Panchito was getting at. He wasn't just mad about Donald ignoring him recently. It was the fact that the sailor isolated himself from everyone after his sister disappeared. But he had a pretty good excuse, right? He was busy trying to maintain a stable job, failing every time while raising three rambunctious nephews.
Except it wasn't a good excuse. Not really. He could've maintained contact with his friends at least, if not his family. José and Panchio could've helped babysit the boys, but no! Donald had to be stubborn and handle everything himself!
Swallowing hard, the sailor replied, "I-I'm sorry. It's just that I've been living on a remote island for weeks without any contact from the outside world, so I needed a break. What can I say?"
While the other two listened attentively, he continued. "And things had escalated between me and Uncle Scrooge all those years ago, since Della stole the—" Pausing for a second, Donald managed to compose himself. "Well—you've heard the news."
The sailor told them about purchasing a houseboat soon afterwards and how he struggled to cope with his grief, seeing an anger management counselor in between.
"Oh. We understand—right, Panchito?" José responded sympathetically.
However, the rooster continued scowling while turning his head away, arms crossed. "Well I don't!"
"Panchito!" the parrot warned him in a low voice.
"You could've called once! Just once, and we would've answered! We could've helped you!" Panchito exclaimed angrily.
"I know, I-I'm sorry — " Donald tried to apologize.
"Well sorry is not good enough!" the rooster shouted.
All of a sudden, the duck felt rage boiling in his veins. "What about you then?! You two should've called me, but you didn't! And now you have the audacity to blame me for all this?! What bullshit! I already told you how much I struggled to find a good job and keep it while raising three kids—my sister's kids! How many times do I have to explain myself? Huh? TELL ME!" he exploded.
José and Panchito were taken aback by Donald's outburst. Wincing guiltily, the parrot reached out for him, but the duck slapped his hand away.
"I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore," Donald sighed hopelessly before turning to Panchito, who wore a similar expression to José's. "You're right, we've been apart for too long."
Shaking his head, the rooster replied, "No, I-I shouldn't have lost my temper. To be frank, I haven't been very honest with you guys either. And we should've made an effort to call you as well—but we also experienced our own financial hurdles."
"Just like our college days, eh?" José added thoughtfully, chuckling a bit.
"Yeah," Panchito sighed, facing Donald again. "Sorry about earlier. It was wrong of me to assume you were the only one who should've contacted us. We're all to blame for that," he added apologetically. Both his friends nodded.
"So are we still friends or...?" the rooster said hopefully.
Taking a deep breath, the sailor smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?"
With that, the three of them embraced each other and laughed. Soon, they exchanged funny stories about the old days and burst into more hysterical laughter.
"Oh yeah, I remember that! Although I'm pretty sure Dewey will use it against me one day—me accidentally dropping him," Donald chuckled.
"Wait—you did what?!" The Three Caballeros froze and made a 180-degree turn, studying Dewford's perplexed expression.
"D-Dewey! How long have you been standing there?" the older duck spluttered, holding his breath.
"Long enough," the middle triplet revealed, glaring daggers at his uncle. "So I'm the one you dropped, huh?"
Chuckling sheepishly, Donald nodded fervently. "Y-Yeah."
"Care to explain?" Dewey demanded firmly, arms folded.
"Well..." the sailor began to explain, scratching his neck anxiously.
A/N: Hope you liked it! :)
I DO NOT OWN *Ducktales (2017)*! All CANON dialogues are credited to the WRITERS/PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS of the show! :)