A/N: Here is a short one-shot I wrote centered around Marceline and Princess Bubblegum's relationship. Whether it is a romantic relationship or a friendship, I'll let you decide, but please don't start a shipping war over this. Also, the song is called "When She Loved Me" by Sarah McLachlan and I don't own the lyrics to that song. Enjoy!
A light breeze blew through the Land of Ooo as dark clouds rumbled over the sky. All inhabitants of the Candy Kingdom were inside their sugary homes except one. A little pink princess kneeled over the chocolate dirt in the Candy Kingdom castle garden. She ran her fingers across the petals of a deep red dahlia flower in complete fascination. The petals were made of powdery sugar that rubbed off at the touch. The princess scribbled down notes, trying to figure out how such delicate flowers could weather the pelting rain.
"Well, well. What's a pretty pink princess like you doing outside before the storm?" A voice hissed. A shadow loomed over the young princess of the Candy Kingdom and she stiffened, slowly turning to see a tall grey skinned girl with flowing black hair looming above her.
"W-who are you?" the little princess shook in horror. The girl smirked, showing off her pearl white fangs.
"Some call me the Princess of the Nightosphere, others call me the Queen of Vampires, but you…" the woman swooped down in front of the cowering princess. "…can call me Marceline."
"W-what do you want from me? Money? Power?" the princess gulped, "Blood?" Marceline smirked. She licked her fangs menacingly and came up to the princess' neck.
"Your blood would be quite interesting." Marceline inhaled, smelling the sweet bubblegum and licked her lips. "I wonder if it would taste sweet." Marceline let out a shrill hiss and lunged forward. The princess yelped in terror and scrunched up awaiting the vampire queen's cold fangs. They didn't come. The girl opened her eye a crack and saw the once red dahlia flower in her hand pale grey like the clouds in the sky. A laugh erupted from the vampire and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Delicious."
"You eat shades of red?" The pink bubblegum girl asked. Marceline smirked.
"It's not as good as blood, but it'll fill ya." She said.
"Bonnibel Bubblegum!" a woman's voice sounded from inside the castle. The princess turned towards the castle after hearing her voice being called. "Bonnie, dear, please come back inside!"
"I'm coming, Mother!" Princess Bubblegum said. She turned to bid the vampire farewell but saw that she had already disappeared into the night. She looked left and right, but she still could not see her at all.
"Bonnie!" A male voice sounded loudly. Bonnibel quickly picked up her notes and ran back into the safety of the castle. Marceline slowly became visible again and looked up at the looming candy castle.
"Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, huh?" She smiled and flew back to her cave just as the rain drizzled down.
When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful
Every hour we spent together, lives within my heart
Seven-year-old princess Bubblegum walked down a candy gravel path through the gardens towards the fountain at the center. The sun was bright today and Bonnie sat in the nice shade of a big caramel apple tree. She neatly tucked her dress so she could sit in the grass.
"Ow!" Bonnibel exclaimed. A caramel apple hit her head and rolled to a stop at her feet. She looked at the apple and examined it. The outside of the apple was grey instead of red. Princess Bubblegum looked up and saw a pair of eyes and two fangs peeking out from the leaves of the tree.
"Marceline!" She exclaimed happily. Marceline smiled and floated down under the tree in the safety of the shade.
"Sup, Squirt." She smiled and pat her head. She leaned down and retrieved the apple, rubbing it on her shirt to get the dirt off and handed it back to Bonnibel. She looked quizzically at the fruit and then back at Marceline with confusion. "You want it?" Marceline asked. Bonnie took it from her hands and looked down at it, rolling it back in forth in her hands.
"Can I eat it?" She asked. Marceline looked at her and rolled her eyes.
"I just ate the red, Bubblegum. The apple didn't change except the color." Marceline said. "I thought you were a smart scientist, Bonnibel." Marceline said teasingly. Bubblegum glared at her and stuck out her tongue. Marceline stuck out her forked tongue playfully and floated next to her.
And when she was sad, I was there to dry her tears
"Bonnibel?" Marceline tapped lightly on the princess's window as thunder roared through the night sky. A frightened squeak came from the room. Marceline gently pushed the window open and let herself in. She floated over to the quivering lump under the pink bed sheets. "Bonnie?" Marceline poked the sheets and a yelp came from under it. Bubblegum burst out of the sheets and jumped into Marceline's arms, burying her face, wet with tears, in Marceline's chest. Marceline wrapped her arms around the sobbing princess and hummed quietly, quickly lulling the girl back to sleep. She brushed her thumb across her cheek.
"I'll always be here for you, Bonnibel."
And when she was happy, so was I, when she loved me.
Ten-year-old PB stood in front of a tall mirror in a big, silky pink dress. She frowned at the sight and ran her fingers through the ruffles in the dress.
"I never understood why everything you owned was pink." Marceline sneered. PB sighed and continued to fix her hair. Marceline floated in front of her upside down and tugged at her poofy sleeve. "Do you have anything that isn't pink or fancy?" Marceline asked with complete curiosity.
"No." She said with a hint of sadness. Marceline frowned. She took her hand off the sleeve and floated back right side up.
"Oh." She said awkwardly. She glanced over at PB and saw her looking sadly at the mirror.
"I hate being a princess. I have to wear all these fancy clothes and be nice to everyone." Bonnibel turned to Marceline. "Why is it that you're a queen but don't have to dress fancy or act nice?" she asked.
"Well, that's mostly because vampires aren't fancy or nice." Marceline explained. "I'm my own person. I'm the queen and nobody tells the queen what to do." She said with a smile and ruffled PB's hair.
"Hey! I spent forever on that!" Bonnie yelped but still laughed.
"That's better." Marceline said. She stood back and tapped her chin while looking at PB. "You're still missing something." She said. Bonnie tilted her head in confusion.
"What?" She asked. Before she could get an answer, a t-shirt swooped over her head.
"A touch of black." Bonnie looked down and looked at the shirt. It was black with a print of dead candy lollipops and snakes, but most importantly, it wasn't pink. Bonnie smiled and hugged Marceline.
"Thank you, Marceline! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said with glee.
"Can't have my princess all sad." Marceline looked into Bonnie's eyes. "Just make sure your parents don't see it." She said with a wink.
Through the summer and the fall, we had each other, that was all
Just she and I together, like it was meant to be
And when she was lonely, I was there to comfort her
And I knew that she loved me.
Bonnibel sat on her bed with her knees up to her chest and her body shook with sobs.
"Bonnie?" a familiar voice whispered. She didn't answer. "Bonnie are you ok?" A cool hand touched her shoulder and she pushed it away. "Bonnie, what's wrong." Marceline asked with concern. She put her hand on the princess's back comfortingly.
"They're gone." Her voice whispered. Marceline stiffened.
"Wh-what?" She breathed, but she knew exactly what Bubblegum meant. Bonnie pushed her away and looked at her harshly. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and her bubblegum hair was everywhere.
"Their gone, Marceline! Mommy and Daddy both!" she sobbed. Marceline was not really surprised. Her father had died last year in a battle against the Flame Kingdom and her mother had been sick in bed for the past few months. Bonnie had worked day and night on a cure, but they both knew it was useless. Bonnibel cried and Marceline wrapped her arms around her frail body. "What am I going to do, Marceline? I can't rule a kingdom." She cried.
"Sure you can. You're the smartest little princess I know." Marceline said. Bonnie shook her head.
"I'm only fifteen, Marceline. I don't have the wisdom to rule this great kingdom." She said. Marceline's face turned serious and she put her hands on Bonnibel's shoulders.
"Bonnie, look at me. I'm not going to give you a speech about what an amazing person you are because you would just ignore me, so I'm going to say this. This isn't your choice, Bubblegum. This is your responsibility, and sometimes responsibility demands sacrifice." Marceline said. Bonnie looked at Marceline with shock, but she nodded in understanding and wiped her eyes. Marceline smiled and looked out the window. "I have to get going, the sun's going to come up soon." She stated and started to float towards the window.
"Wait." Bonnibel grabbed the vampire's cold wrist. "Can…can you promise me something?" she asked.
"Well, that depends on what you want me to promise on." She said. Bonnibel looked into Marceline's cold eyes and swallowed.
"I want you, to promise you won't go away. You need to promise that you won't leave me alone like my mom and dad did." She said with a shaky voice. Marceline was silent for a second.
"Well that was a dumb question." She said harshly. She tilted the princess's chin up so that she would look into her eyes. "Bonnie, I'm deathless. I can't die. I won't die. I won't leave." She said. Bonnie smiled.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
So the years went by, I stayed the same
And she began to drift away, I was left alone
Eighteen-year old Princess Bubblegum sat in her lab, mixing chemicals from vile to vile in one hand and rigorously taking notes in the other. Her coat was stained and her eyes showed exhaustion as she worked aimlessly.
"Hello Bonnibel." Marceline's voice hissed and she floated into the lab through an open window. Bubblegum didn't answer and instead continued with her note taking. Marceline frowned and floated up to her glancing over her shoulder. "Anti-death serum? Glob, that is dark stuff, Bonnie." She said and smirked. "I knew you were a scientist, but I didn't think you were a mad scientist." Bonnibel frowned.
"Not now, Marceline, I'm busy. " She said with venom in her voice.
"Bonnie, you should really take it easy. I think you need a vacation." Marceline said and pulled her chair out and away from her desk. PB yelped in surprise. "We can go down to Finn and Jake's or we could go to the garden and pick dahlias. I can eat the red and you can keep the fl-"
"No." Bonnibel said with a stern voice, interrupting the Vampire Queen. Marceline growled in irritation.
"Really, Bonnibel. I know you're 'Princess of the Candy Kingdom' and all but you seriously need a br-" Bonnibell stood up and her hands balled up into fists.
"Marceline. I don't care if you can be an irresponsible Vampire Queen. I need to be responsible for my kingdom and my subjects. I don't have the same freedom I did as a kid. I have to be responsible now." She said cruelly. Marceline looked taken aback and she looked at the princess angrily.
"At least I still know how to have fun! Ever since you became ruler of this damn kingdom you've been too stuck up to have fun! Are you really going to sacrifice all the fun we had back then for this stupid kingdom?" She yelled with fury, her fangs showing. Bonnibel didn't even flinch.
"Sometimes responsibility demands sacrifice." She repeated the words of the vampire. Marceline growled angrily. "Get out of my castle." PB said with no emotion. Marceline floated towards the window and floated out into the downpour of rain.
"I made a promise, Bonnibel Bubblegum. I intend to keep it." She hissed before she sped off into the night.
Still I waited for the day, when she'd say "I will always love you."
"Did you get the documents I asked for, Peppermint Butler?" Thirty-year old Princess Bubblegum said to the short candy butler.
"Yes, Princess." He said and handed her the papers.
"Thank you, Peppermint Butler. You are dismissed." She said. The little candy bowed and left the room. Bubblegum sat at her desk and started scribbling on the papers.
The rain outside poured down, but that didn't matter. One looming figure floated beside the castle completely invisible to any being. Marceline the Vampire Queen floated outside, a silent guardian over the pink princess.
Lonely and forgotten, never thought she'd look my way,
Marceline floated above her rock hard couch. Bonnibel was over one hundred years old now. The last time she checked on her old friend, she was bed-ridden and looked like death was going to claim her soon. Marceline thought about going in to see her one more time, but she didn't want to disappoint her. The vampire shook as tears threatened to fall. Simon had forgotten her, Finn and Jake had left her after they died, and now she was going to lose Princess Bubblegum without a goodbye.
There was a tap at the door. Marceline zipped to the front door and immediately threw it open. An old lady fell into her arms.
"Bonnie?"
She smiled at me and held me, just like she used to do,
Like she loved me, when she loved me
The aged candy princess smiled at the vampire she had grown up with. She wrapped her weak arms around her old friend and felt tears of happiness roll down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Marceline." She sobbed. Marceline held the princess in her arms gently and felt her tears fall.
"Don't apologize, you butt." Marceline cried. Bonnibel shook her head.
"You were so loyal to me. I know you were there waiting outside my window no matter what happened. You kept your promise. You never left me." She cried feeling guilt.
"I can't die, remember?" Marceline cried.
"I know. I'm sorry." Princess Bubblegum breathed. She fell limp in Marceline's arms and the vampire's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Bonnie?" Marceline gently shook the old gum body, but it didn't move. Marceline felt hot tears spill down her cheeks and she hissed. "Dammit, Bonnie!" She screamed into the air and cried a lifetime worth of tears.
When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful,
Every hour we spent together, lives within my heart
"I want you, to promise you won't go away. You need to promise that you won't leave me alone. Promise?"
When she loved me.
Marceline sank her fang into a red candy dahlia flower, drinking half of the color. She placed it on the dirt under a large candy apple tree. She rubbed her palm on the old cracked tombstone that read "Here lies Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum; Ruler of the Candy Kingdom". It was worn from one thousand years of weathering, but the vampire queen had not changed at all.
"I promise I'll never leave you."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are deeply appreciated!