Author's Note: I love both the show and this particular pairing but I never anticipated that I'd be writing for it anytime soon. But that's what ended up happening! This is my absolute first ever AT fic I've done, so I hope it's not too shoddy. The story is set in the time when Bubblegum and Marceline are still young children.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Be grateful that I don't.
The Vampire Queen and the Princess of Candy Kingdom didn't always know each other from the start.
Yes, the first half of their childhood had been spent avoiding each other actually. They were from two rivalling kingdoms that didn't get along with each other due to their own differences. This caused the Candy Kingdom and the Vampire Kingdom into constant squabbles over tedious, little issues. Things like who owned the bigger piece of land, or over comparing who had more gold then the other.
Though in actuality, it was the respective kings of the separate lands that were really the cause of most of the fighting. Their own servants were amazed by how the two royal leaders could go to such childish lengths to prove who was better than the other. Unfortunately, they couldn't speak up against the kings' behaviour lest they have a death wish. All they could do was complain about the fighting amongst one another in secret.
As time continued to pass with the servants having to refrain themselves from confronting the two kings, their hatred rivalry only grew worse. It seemed as if they focused all of their time on finding new ways to smite each other. Then came the time when the two kings' daughters were born. The kingdom was overjoyed by the arrival of the offspring, but the kings, however, weren't focusing on that.
They almost instantly agreed that their daughters would not be allowed to be to be friends.
Along with teaching the two girls lessons on how to properly honour their own kingdoms, their fathers made sure to educate them on why they should hate one another. Being young, the royal daughters, Marceline and Bonnibel, didn't fully understand the full extent of their father's animosity towards each other.
All they understood was that they had a long-lasting history that evolved around a spiteful relationship. But for Marceline and Bonnibel, that was enough to instigate the girls to mind their fathers' cautions.
It also helped quite a bit of course, that the two kingdoms were quite a distance from each other. This would make it be difficult for them to create a believable excuse if either were compelled to visit one another.
And from the awful stories they'd heard about the opposing kingdom from their fathers they weren't planning on meeting each other any time soon. At least not intentionally. However, the rest of the world seemed to have other plans. On a particularly sunny day, Princess Bubblegum was simply taking a stroll through the candy garden to admire the plants.
Though the weather was almost unbearably hot, Bubblegum wasn't very bothered by it thanks to the frilly parasol she was holding. She was sniffing a taffy flower when she heard the sound.
It startled her out of her tranquil mood, not knowing what to make of it at first.
She was about to call one of her servants for help when she was realized it was the sound of a person crying. No…that was the sound of a child crying! But as far as she knew, she was the only young child residing in the Candy Kingdom. And none of her servants had children, which often made it quite lonely on summer days like this when school was out.
Bubblegum would've noticed if there was another child who was her age in the castle. Perhaps the child was visiting from another Kingdom? No, they couldn't be here for enjoyment when they sounded so distressed.
Where ever the poor dear was, they sounded as if they were in unimaginable pain. Something stirred inside Bubblegum that caused her to move forward without thinking about it, to find whoever it was and help them.
Somehow she knew that she was the only one who would help this person. The candy princess followed the sound of the crying, only walking in directions where it sounded like it was getting louder. Finally, she stopped by a orchard of peppermint trees.
Bubblegum trudged forward through the bushel of trees until she finally caught sight of a small person crouching in cotton candy bushes. Bubblegum was pleasantly surprised to discover that her assumption of the person being a child her age had been right.
However, the young princess felt as if her heart guts were being mashed up in a blender at sight of the child crying so forlornly. Her voice caught in her throat for a reason she couldn't yet fathom, causing to nervously clear her throat, "H-hello there? What are you doing here all alone? Are you lost?"
The young child had apparently not heard the princess approaching her, causing her to recoil away from her out of fright. Although the shade of the bushes covered most of the girl's face contorted into a monstrous one, baring dangerously sharp fangs as she hissed at the intruder.
The mysterious girl scurries further away into the bushes to keep herself out of view of the other child who she assumed was a threat. She leers at the tiny opening through the cotton candy bushes where she can see the bright pink dress of the girl who startled her.
The princess herself was also startled by the harsh hissing sound, falling backwards in shock as she let loose a frightened shriek. Bubblegum could feel her heart almost pounding through her chest as she tried to recollect herself.
What WAS that thing! That couldn't have possibly been a child! Yes, it must be some repulsive, cleverly disguised monster that lures its victims to their demise by sounding like crying children that are in distress.
She needed to go get help or else be devoured or possibly something worse than that! In fact, THE smart THING to do would've been to immediately rush back to the castle, demanding the guards to toss that hideous freak out of the kingdom before it kills them all.
And yet…
She stayed where she was half sprawled out in the floor, her own shaky breath being the only thing breaking the intimidating silence. For some reason, Bubblegum couldn't bring herself to simply abandon the person there no matter how scary she looked or acted.
The candy princess was born into a hierarchy that encouraged its people to not harshly judge another based on appearance alone. Bubblegum had always believed in this mindset, ensuring that she incorporated that rule into her behaviour when encountering strange new people. Why should this little girl be an exception to that rule?
Sure the girl looked incredibly deadly, but Bubblegum was sure that underneath that horrifying exterior was a kind individual who cried, and laughed and felt fear just like she did. She convinced herself that once the girl was shown a little kindness, Bubblegum could bring out that side of her.
Feeling a little more confident about approaching the girl again, the princess pushes open the clearing in the bush so she can extend her arm out to her. Gracing her features with a pleasant smile, Bubblegum gently taps the girl who is now huddled into a fetal position.
The other girl uncurls from her foetal position, now looking at the princess with a terrified expression. She flinches violently at the touch as if having expected to be struck in the face, trembling fearfully.
Concern for the child overwhelms Bubblegums senses, now speaking in a soothing tone, "Shh, it's all right. I'm not going to hurt you. "
The girl's attention is brought forth by the princess' calming words. While her eyes are still wrought with distrust, she can tell this strange girl isn't a threat. But she doesn't know what to make of the girl, causing her to not be quite ready to let her guard down.
She wasn't sure what this girl wanted. Most people would've run away from her out of fear by now.
As the girl is now looking directly at her, Bubblegum is able to get a better look at the child. But she doesn't like what she sees. The girl in front of her is dressed in tattered clothes that look like they've never been washed.
In fact, she's not even wearing any shoes. Though that didn't disturb the princess nearly as much as the lost girl's face did, which was almost completely covered in gashes.
Bubblegum gasped in shock, overwhelmed with pity for her. Tears appeared in the corner of her eyes at the thought of what this child must've been through, "Oh, you poor dear! What happened to you! Who did this to you!"
"I, um, uh, er…" The girl's cheeks flushed bashfully at the princess' concern for her. She hadn't had anyone fret over her well-being in such a long time she didn't know what to say. She stopped in her efforts to reply, not wishing to embarrass herself further.
"Here, let me do something about those nasty scars on your face. I'm sure they must hurt quite a bit," Bubblegum promptly reaches into her pocket to take out a small medical kit.
Seeing the girl's confused expression, Bubblegum grins sheepishly before explaining, "I just happened to have this because father always makes me carry one around. He's convinced I'll hurt myself even if I'm only outside for a few minutes."
The dark girl nods quietly at the other girl's explanation, pretending she knows what it's like to have an overprotective father. If she did, she probably wouldn't be here now covered in scrapes and bruises and being pitied by some by some aristocrat girl.
She knew their types. They were type to torment girls like her with scornful words and physical harm. That was what she had expected to happen the instant this dolled up girl had approached her.
She'd scared her in hopes of not having to face anymore mistreatment. But instead the child had continued to confront her with kind gestures and words laced with sweetness. She'd never been treated this way before.
The little princess was even gingerly tending to her wounds without her having to have asked her. Why would this girl of royal blood go to such lengths to pretend to be kind to her before treating her lower than the dirt beneath her feet like she had expected her to?
It was nice to be cared for like this though. Maybe she should just savour the moment instead of jinxing it with so much doubtful thoughts.
She almost wanted the moment to last forever but knew she didn't have enough scars covering her to make it stretch out for any longer. She had been so entranced by the girl's careful touches that she was startled out of her tranquil mood when the gentle princess addressed her with a question.
"Where are you from? I don't think I've seen a person like you around here before," Bubblegum questioned her, careful not to use a tone that sounded too critical. She had just barely convinced the girl she wasn't a bad person, she didn't want to ruin that by offending her. "Can you tell me your name?"
The girl was about to tell her where she was from, but hesitated mid-sentence as she thought that through. She instead avoided the other question, choosing to reply in a quiet mumble, "I'm Marceline..."
"Marceline..." Bubblegum pursed her lips together thoughtfully as she tried to understand why that name sounded so familiar. Wasn't that the name of..? No, this girl acted nothing like the Marceline her father had warned her of. It was just a coincidence. "That's an unusual name, but it's very pretty."
Marceline's eyebrows perked up in confusion as the heat rose to her cheeks again. She never thought anyone would associate the word pretty with her, much less a princess. "Um thanks…uh, what's your name?"
"I'm Princess Bubblegum, royal heir of the Candy Kingdom," Bubblegum thought it might have been a bit much to tack that on at the end. But it's not like she could hide she was royalty with how she was dressed. "So, how did you arrive here? Did you get lost?"
"Sort of…" Marceline wasn't sure it was wise to discuss exactly where she came from to Bubblegum. Although, she seemed trustworthy enough, "I kind of…ran away from home because my parents suck gonads."
At seeing the princess' surprised expression, Marceline was about to apologize for her inappropriate behaviour when Bubblegum started giggling, "Well, I can certainly say I've felt that way about my own parents occasionally. But…I'm sure yours are very concerned about you. You should return home soon."
Standing up now that the princess is done with tending to her wounds, Marceline angrily kicks at the grass. She only wished that were true. "Yeah well, there's no rush or anything. I really wanna keep hanging out with you."
"Hang out?" Inside Bubblegum was leaping up and down for joy, but as she begins to remember her father's stories more clearly she thinks it might not be a good idea to associate with Marceline. However, she had always yearned so deeply for a friend that this need overpowered her better sense of judgement, "O-okay! I'd really like to visit you again..in fact, do you think that maybe..maybe we could be friends?"
Marceline was so taken aback by the unexpected response, she had to take awhile to make sure she heard the princess correctly. She'd never had anyone ask her to be their friend before. It was almost so unbelievable to her that she thought she might have been dreaming. But it was a dream, it was quite a strangely realistic one. Most of her dreams made absolutely zero sense. Even in spite of the fact she was convinced might wake up any second, a rare smile formed on her face she said, "Yeah. I'd like that, princess."
The two shared a set of giggles over a joke that only seemed to make sense between them until they began to chase after one another in a game of tag. Indeed, they both felt this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. And perhaps as time passed on, it would blossom into something more.