Queen Bubblegum took a deep breath as she shut the lids of her eyes tightly. The royal's lips were drawn to a thin line. Thick strands of sweat ran down the sides of her face. The pink haired women suddenly let out a pain filled moan into the large elegant room. Pure agony was woven into the noise and it made Flame Princess shudder lightly.
It was the scene of watching her friend of the past four years so weak and helpless that made FP shudder. She was, of course, used to this kinda thing. Watching people die that is.
But this? This was different. She actually liked Queen Bubblegum. The Flame noble had not liked the relatives who had tried to kill her father or herself. Those actions were always dealt with death. She would just sit by, feeling bored, for having to see another execution. But this was uncomfortable and saddening to see.
Queen Bubblegum hissed out and gripped the sweat soaked sheets. All of the sheets that had neatly laid over the huge bed were now tossed and throw around.
"Flame Princess...where's Finn?" Queen Bubblegum turned her head against the sweat soaked sheet to meet the Flame noble's eyes.
FP bit her lip, slightly nervous about this sudden turn of events. She glanced over at the grandfather clock on the pink wall. He wasn't here yet. He should have been here by now. Where was he? Finn had told her if the Queen wanted to see him, to tell her that he would be late. So that's exactly what she did.
Bubblegum stared blanking up at the ceiling, watching it as if the answer to whatever question she had in mind was there. She reached a pale pink hand to her throat and laid it there. It rose and fell slightly with the intake of her deep breathing.
"Do...you think I'm weak?"
FP blinked at this. Weak? No. FP didn't think Bubblegum was weak. Not by a long shot. Maybe when Flame Princess was younger the thought had come across her mind. But FP was jealous back then. Jealous because even though Finn was her boyfriend, QB and he had a special relationship. He was her noble knight and she was one of his best friends. QB understood him and...It didn't help that FP's temper was at its worst back then.
This new disease that was eating away at her...a normal Candy subject would've lost their battle with this deadly virus. But the Queen was fighting against it with all her power. She had been fighting for a little over a year now, but now it seemed that battle was coming to an awful end.
FP looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. Finn had given this dress to her for a birthday. As she stared at it, she thought she shouldn't have brought this certain dress to occasion. The red and orange blended perfectly together to give the illusion of hot flames.
FP looked back up to the dying Candy Queen and spoke in an even voice. "No QB. I don't think you're weak. You are a strong leader and an amazing women. You are not weak."
Queen Bubblegum just stared at the ceiling. FP glanced up at it to see what the Candy royal was staring at. There was nothing expect a beautifully sculpted chandelier. There seemed to be happy creatures frolicking around each of the crystal lights. The artwork was masterfully made, the joyful beings seemed to be actually dancing around it.
"I..." Bubblegum started as her small horsed voice drew back FP's eyes to her. "I don't think so. I think...I'm so weak, so horribly and idiotically weak." Flame Princess frowned at this and drew together her eyebrows in confusion but kept silent to hear the Queen explain for this.
THUD...THUD...THUD...
FP suddenly stood up at the soft noise that came into the room. She looked back and forth to locate the source of the gentle pounding.
"Rain... against the...window..." QB said, not ever taking her eyes from the ceiling. "...hope they get inside... don't like water..."
Flame Princess lifted the ends of her long gown before she walked over to the window. Queen Bubblegum was right; dark black clouds gathered above in the heavens and soft pellets of rain came down on the Candy Kingdom. She noticed the few candy citizens who weren't at the castle worrying for their Queen, were now racing to the warmth of their homes to escape the coldness of the water.
FP turned back to the Queen and sat down once again beside her. The flamed haired princess swallowed before speaking out her mind.
"Why did you want to speak with me? Lady's a nervous wreck outside and the Vampire Queen isn't in better shape either."
Bubblegum didn't move. Her breathing had become so soft and quiet that if it wasn't the hand on her throat moving in a steady beat, Flame Princess would've thought she had stopped breathing.
"I had to...talk to you...about everything...that has...happened."
FP stiffen in discomfort. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I've already forgiven you for whatever biz you put me through."
Suddenly Bubblegum's eyes grew wide, she started to have a fit, a mixture of moans and coughing that shook the whole bed. The Candy Queen held up the same slender hand to her mouth to muffle the disturbing sound.
FP took a handkerchief from the nightstand and gave it to the Queen. She took it, bringing it to her lips, and waited for the attack to pass.
FP had never felt so useless.
She couldn't do anything for her. She could only watch as the Candy Kingdom's Queen was dying of an unknown disease.
Once the fit passed, Bubblegum pulled the handkerchief from her mouth, and the cloth reviled the blue blood that all Candy people had running through their veins.
"Finn... I have to talk to you about...Finn." She spoke his name with sweet tenderness.
At the way QB said his name, Flame Princess clutched her teeth in anger while her hands in her lap tighten into fists. Then came the guilt and shame. Bubblegum was dying and here she was getting herself worked up with jealousy. Get a grip Flame. She thought angrily to herself.
"About Finn... Even when he had his crush on me...all those years ago, I told myself how...ridiculous it was," Flame Princess swallowed and continued to stare at her, "I was too...old for him and I had...my people to think of first. The kingdom...always came first. The kingdom must always come...first. Even if it costs you...everything."
Queen Bubblegum never took her eyes off the ceiling. The Queen's eyes somehow held years of knowledge like a heavy burden.
"When I saw how...happy you could make Finn- I was filled with...joy for you both. Yet at the same time, my heart was...breaking. But I told myself- I had believe- that no matter what happened...I would be glad that Finn and you were...together. He was happy and you were... I was able to run the kingdom and its subjects in peace...everything was right in the world. Everything...was how it should have been."
FP's lips parted in horror as it suddenly dawned on her what the Queen was implying. FP was never really good at talking about feelings. Sure she had gotten much better at it since she meet Finn but this...
"Glob! I wasn't suppose...to feel like that... Like something in...my life was...missing. Especially...when both you and Finn were content...with what was happening...between the two of you," QB brought a hand to her feverish forehead, she seemed to be in pain, "I loved him. My loyal knight. One of my best friends! I knew couldn't. My Candy people wouldn't have...been able to live right if I was too busy being love."
"Why- why are you telling me this?" Her heart was pounding against her chest. How the hoopers was she supposed to take in that Queen Bubblegum, Finn's former love interest, was still in love with him, her boyfriend of four years? How would anyone take that in?
QB closed her eyes, hand still on her sweating forehead and said in a voice fleeting in strength, "I know you...could've lived without...ever knowing this. And I know you would've probably been...happier if you never knew but... I thought if one day I told him...he, of course would reject me...because I had my chance...and I threw it out the window..." She gave a weak attempt at a smile, "but...now... Everything has changed... I'm dying and... And Glop this is so much...harder than I...thought it would...be."
FP fists shook slightly in her lap. How could this be happening? "I still don't understand."
Queen Bubblegum finally turned to meet Flame Princess's eyes, "I will not apologize...for loving him... But I simply wanted to say... In a way...as horrible as it sounds...I'm sorry I had to choose...my kingdom over him. Because for me...choosing Finn over my Candy people...was never an option. My love for both was too strong... I knew I had to choose one...and kill the other... But I couldn't... I couldn't. I choose but I wouldn't, couldn't, leave my love for him...so I buried it and kept it buried..."
"Until now." Flame Princess finished flatly.
"That is why I'm so weak...I can't even stay...alive to...to see how he feels..." At the look on FP's face, Bubblegum smiled tiredly, "Not the way you think...I just have to know...how it could've been...but I know...all I want...for him is to be...happy."
"Argh!" Queen Bubblegum suddenly screamed and held on tightly to the sheets of her bed. Her fingers curled into balls and she twisted in agony at the sudden pain that consumed her weakening body.
"Queen Bubblegum!" FP yelled out her. She began to whimper as the pain ate at her being.
Bubblegum shook her head just as Flame Princess reached over to somehow try to help the Candy royal. The Flame noble pulled back and stared at the Queen as the pain seemed to fade slightly and all that was left was a trembling queen.
Then QB's eyes, filled to the brim with sorrow, fell back to her to continue where they left off.
Flame Princess opened her mouth to reply, however, the two giant doors leading to the Queen's bedroom were thrown open to reveal a soaked human.
As Finn strolled into the room, his normally clean blue jeans were soaked and stuffed into his black boots in order to keep the cuffs clean. However, his boots were drenched in mud and had tracked their way into the Queen's living quarters.
Candy citizens and visiting royalty could be seen as they tried to peer into the room to see Queen Bubblegum. LSP screeched out for her longtime friend but was held back by several Banana Guards. Jake and Lady Rainicorn stood alongside Marceline and the Ice King in a grim silence. Peppermint Butler seemed to be the one trying to keep people calm. "Her Majesty will be all right! Calm down! Hey I said calm down! Down I say! Cinnamon Bun! If you don't stop crying right now I'll hurt you! LSP don't bite-" The noise was cut off as the two heavy doors shut closed with a loud slam.
Finn didn't have his typical white hood on his head, and it left blond hair exposed and wet. Droplets of the water rolled off slightly long locks and fell in explosions on the carpet floor.
He walked slowly to the enormous bed where the Queen of the Candy Kingdom laid bedridden. Finn stopped next to Flame Princess and leaned in a bit to whisper in her ear. "How is she?" His bright blue eyes were huge with concern and worry over the royal. A heavy fist tainted with jealousy punched FP in the face over the look in his eyes. She had rarely seen that look in his eyes. He was normally so...joyful. Then again nothing about this moment was joyful.
Yet again came the guilt. Bubblegum's flipping dying! Stop it! She screamed to herself.
Finally the pity arrived and it made Flame Princess give Finn's hand a squeeze, earning her a curious look from him, before she stepped back to let them have a moment.
"Finn...last time I checked...I wasn't dead...I can still...talk and... hear." Bubblegum added sarcastically as a genuine smile appeared on her paling pink lips.
The soft lilac nightgown she wore was hidden under many thick blankets. Finn's forced grin withered slightly when he noticed how much she was sweating. "Hahaha. Geez sorry QB. Hey aren't you hot under there?" He stuffed his hands into his dark blue hoodie. The black boots shuffled to one foot to the other in a nervous fidget.
"No...I'm still...pretty cold...but I somehow...end up...feeling worse when...I get more...blankets."
"Holy cabbage QB!" He sat down at next to her, "Don't worry a bit! I've been away for a butt load of days and I've been looking for things to help you and I just came back from the lab and everyone keeps saying that it might help but I know these things and I know that it's not a might! It's a yes…"
Flame Princess closed her eyes as Finn babbled away at QB. He quickly changed the grim subject by telling her some of the adventures he had gone on a few days ago. Minutes passed while this continued on until finally Bubblegum touched his mouth with a sender finger.
"Finn..." Her voice grew even more tiresome as she went on talking. "Thank you...for looking...so hard...but we both know...that there is no cure...not now. I do want people...to keep searching because...we don't know if...I'll be the last one. This disease is...something only...Candy people...can become infected with. I know that...much..."
"Quibbes!" Finn argued back.
"No. No Finn. Listen to me...I don't have much... much time left..."
Finn narrowed his eyes and grabbed her shoulders. "Don't you start taking like that! You are not going to die! You cannot die!"
This is too much. Too much for him. FP thought silently.
Queen Bubblegum smile lightly and touched his cheek with her hand. At the sudden gesture, Finn stopped speaking and stared at her with flushed cheeks and shocked eyes.
"Bonnie...you can't die. You just can't." The grief in his voice and eyes was heartbreaking. Flame Princess had never seen or heard him be like that, as if his soul was breaking in the progress.
"Finn...I've been...so...selfish. So very selfish...over the...years. Even now...I'm being...dreadful... because... I just couldn't...let it stay...buried."
Fresh tears spilled over her lower lids as she saw the confused look on his face. She touched a blond lock of hair, "It... hurt so much...when I...saw how happy you were with...Flame Princess. The pain burned...even more...when I knew what could have been...if...if I had chosen different. Every...single day I knew I only had myself...to blame. Now I only...want you to...be happy... I'm...sorry for bringing up...old feelings... But I have to now...that I'm dying... I need to say this..."
Thick globs of tears came down Finn's cheeks. FP saw the salty tears dip into his mouth and blend into his lips.
"S-stop taking like th-that! It's not your time yet! Bonnie!"
Queen Bubblegum leaned in, their lips touched like the wings of a butterfly against a passing flower petal. She could probably taste the saltiness of his tears on his mouth.
"Finn...I...have always...loved you...and will never...stop..."
Flame Princess muffled a sharp gasp as Queen Bubblegum gently fell back onto the bed. Her eyes were filled with happiness and they drew closed as she took her last breath.
"…Always...love...yo..."
Her gum-like hair laid spread around her head like a halo. The last feelings that she held in for so many years showed upon her face by the tilt of her head, the final flush of her cheeks, and the sudden brightness that came into her body.
Her lips held onto a soft smile just as the last tears she cried finished racing down the valleys of her eyes.
Finn stared at down at her and with a trembling hand, he started to gently shake her lifeless body. "Quibbes...wake up. It's not funny to play around like this." Finn began, tears furiously blurred his vision as he started to laugh lightly. "QB wake up. Come on. Everyone's waiting to see you! You can't make them wait this long! You just can't go to sleep now. How will you ever live this down with the other Princesses? You know how mad they get when you keep them waiting. Hahahaha."
Harsh salty blabs of water came down even harder as he began to shake harder. "Bonnie! Come on! Wake up! Wakeupwakeupwakeup!" Sobs took over his body in jarring tremors as he slide down to the floor, leaning on the side of the bed. He cried heavily, using his hands to try to stop the burning sensation on his eyes. "Please wake up! Bonnibel!"
Flame Princess took a step toward him yet stopped half way. She had seen so many people grieve in many ways and she knew that Finn wouldn't want her right then. Later he might but not now.
She tip toed to the closed doors and opened them. The Flame noble meet the eyes of many hopeful Candy subjects and royals, many hoping, praying, wishing that a miracle had happened. But none had.
They all stared at her face, and FP was sure the expression on her face said what was unspoken.
"No." The vampire whispered.
Marceline flew into the room behind her, flying faster than a dropping pen. Lady followed suit, leading the Ice King and finally Jake into the room of misery. Peppermint Butler, through tears, didn't let anyone else onto the room, refusing to let the too many people into the Queen's bedchamber. LSP screamed out bloody murder before she dropped to the floor sobbing.
FP walked over to one of the huge windows that were in the equally huge hall. She pulled back the curtain to watch the heavy rain shower the kingdom. The loud wailing and weeping of the Candy citizens and royals could almost block out the sound of the rain. Almost.
She really loved him. FP gripped the curtain harder. It had been Queen Bubblegum who found a way to keep her fire powers under control. It had taken the Queen about two years of research so that FP wouldn't burn everything she touched to ashes. It was because of her that Flame Princess and Finn could touch normally without any worry whatsoever. Bubblegum only wanted Finn to be happy. Even if it cost her own happiness in the progress.
The window caught FP's eyes, using her reflection as bait. Her hair had grown out from since she was younger. The long flames licked upward, highlighting her crown. Her crown was the only thing that she had to remind her of her kingdom. Her father still resented her for choosing Finn over the throne and being proved wrong that she wasn't evil.
She noticed that the dress that Finn had given her fitted well and showed off her figure nicely. She really wouldn't have worn this dress today. It somehow felt as if, unknowingly to the dying Queen, that FP was rubbing their relationship in her face. It felt wrong.
She closed her eyes from the reflection and turned away from the window. FP stalked back to the double doors, only hesitating at where Peppermint Butler was crying on the floor. The peppermint man simply waved her in without a word.
The world inside was just as horrible as the outside was. Lady and Jake held on to each other tightly as the rainicorn sobbed loudly into his shoulder. Ice King leaned on the large dresser with his head bowed, his back to her, and shoulders shaking quietly while he cried. The Vampire Queen was sat next to the Queen's bed. She stared blankly at Bubblegum's body with pure horror painted in her eyes.
Finn had moved from the bedside to the far end of the wall. He sat down against it while thick tears still dripped down his face. As FP walked closer to him, she could hear him mumble words she couldn't understand.
Flame Princess knelt down in front of him and watched him to see if he noticed her there. If Finn did, he made no move. She stretched her arms around him, and hoped to somehow take the pain from him.
Finn stiffened, he felt like a plank of wood in her arms. But then slowly, he wrapped his own arms around her. It was only then could FP hear what he was mumbling. "She shouldn't have died! Glop! Why her?!" The tears that rolled off his face landed on her shoulder and small sizzling noises came from it. FP sucked in her breath a bit.
Even after all the Queen had done for FP, the Candy royal couldn't neutralize the affects that water caused. Bubblegum was- had been -working on that before the illness took her.
The thought made Flame Princess hug Finn tighter. She held on to him like he was a lifeline.
"Why- why didn't she tell me that how she felt? I- I loved her once too! Maybe- maybe-" Finn babbled on through blinds tears.
"Maybe what Finn?!" FP tried to whisper it gently but it came out bitter.
"I don't know! I don't know... Maybe things would've been different...maybe she wouldn't have died. She could've been happy..." Finn withdrew his hands and threw them through his wet hair. Desperation was clearly woven into his words.
"She picked, Finn. She chose her kingdom over you because that was what she felt was right. As long you were happy she was content, not happy but...content. It wasn't until later did she really regret it. She made her decision Finn! So don't you blame yourself or think about what ifs! Because this is what happened!" She said passionately. "Don't look back! Look forward to the future! Be happy! Honor what Queen Bubblegum wanted you to be."
Flame Princess grabbed his face in her hands and spoke to him to his face.
"She wanted you to be happy because she knew that one day you would! So please, for her and me, don't let this change you! She wanted you to stay like how you are! Happy and full of life! So please don't change that! 'Cause that's not what she wanted! So please don't!"
Finn's shining blue eyes stared at FP then past her to the rest of the people in the room. No one had moved from their places except Marceline and Jake. His best friend glanced up at Finn in worry, but stayed where he was because of Lady bawling her eyes out on his shoulder. The Vampire Queen simply moved to the large window in the room to stare out into the rain with the same dead gaze.
Finn gently pulled FP's hands from either side of this face. "I...I need time...because I just can't be how she wanted me to be. I can't. Not now."
"Yeah...of course Finn." Flame Princess said but Finn had already turned away from her and headed toward the Queen's bedside.
He stood next to her, and gently put a hand to her cold cheek. Finn leaned in to whisper something that FP couldn't make out.
Then Finn walked back to the door, he stopped just before he opened it. "Don't look for me."
Both the Ice King and Jake looked up and opened their mouths to protest, but out of nowhere, Marceline placed her hand on Ice King's shoulder and shook her raven head at Jake.
Leave him be was the unsaid message. Flame Princess silently agreed.
Finn threw open the two doors to let in the misery that lay outside the room. The Candy subjects were a miserable mess to look at, most on a heap on the floor, sobbing. All the Queens and Princesses of the other kingdoms weren't much better off. The screaming and wailing was so loud FP was tempted to raise her hands to her ears.
Finn calmly walked passed everyone and swiftly headed to the palace doors. As soon as he disappeared from the sight of the people in the hall, Flame Princess went off after him.
It wasn't until he had reached the front doors did FP realize how much this wounded Finn.
Finn walked through the palace doors and into the freezing rain.
It was then that Queen Bubblegum's most loyal and strongest knight walked away from the greatest battle of his life.