This literally came to me at like *checks the clock* 7 at night on like a Friday or something, and I wanted to type it up. Hopefully it's pretty good.
Now, I know that there is more canon of the candy people being able to live forever and whatnot. I'm not going to follow that, although it is one the things that I greatly believe in to be canon.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Adventure Time, or the song.
Gumball is my true love. He was when we first met, he still is decades afterwards. He have always been like the that you know will grow old together and die.
There is a very, very small problem in that. Only one of us age.
Here's the thing. I'm a vampire. An immortal being. Something that simply can't die. Well, unless I go in the sun. That I don't believe is happening anytime soon. I'm forever cursed to walk the Land of Ooo forever. Alone in the end, as it so happens to appear to be.
I have my step-mother, who was far more caring to me than my actual mother, but she has… well, she has forgotten all about me. She only idols me as a musician, not cares for as a son. I watched as she went mad with the powers of the crown, and I could do nothing. That crown literally consumed her. She is no longer who she was when I first knew her. The fact that she doesn't remember me hurts, a lot. She is one of the people that I loved. Yes, I loved her as a mother. She was amazing after the Mushroom War.
She… is also the only person that has lived as long as I have. A person that I knew was living when others were leaving. That doesn't matter, though.
She doesn't know anything that happened, and no longer cares for me. At least, not the way that she did. She was the only one that cared for me. Loved me.
Until I had met Gumball.
Gumball, Bubba Gumball. The prim, proper prince of the Candy Kingdom. A man that I thought that I would only hate his guts, but that was when he still in his teens. Gumball felt the same with me, having said before that he hated how careless I could be at times. How irresponsible. Who knew that that was one of the few reasons that he had fallen for me. He and I were soulmates. Simple as that. Through thick and thin, he and I would remain together. Forever.
Funny how one word is the one thing that I truly, desperately want. Forever. I want to be with that piece of bubble gum until forever ends. My forever, as well as his.
There is a small problem that affects the entire way that our lives would be spent. Gumball is aging. His pink hair has faded to a much lighter pink, becoming close to a whitish color. His young facial features have wrinkled into that of an old man's. His soft hands are becoming dry, knobbly, and wrinkled. He can no longer write for hours on that one chemistry equation that makes something life or death. His hands are no longer stable.
His age now is about 120. His candy form pushed far more than the normal human, a reason why we only meet Fionna at the stone that stands above her resting place. Her leaving us was painful. Far more painful than anything that I have experienced. It was the same for Gumball. It was a loss of one of the most important parts of his life. Just gone. Poof. It hit him much harder, though. I tried to comfort him during it all, but he wasn't having it. He consumed work and equations during that time like they were food. He literally survived by writing, and writing, and writing. I had to drag him to bed at times just so he wouldn't fall asleep on top of some chemical and burn himself.
That's why, I'm scared that he is pushing himself too far this time. He doesn't want to leave me to be alone forever. He knows how hard this will be for me once his last breath is among the rest of the air. I'm just going to have to deal with it. He's not having it.
He keeps getting out of bed all the time to get into his lab to study anything he can on life and the biology of a candy person. Try as he might, he just simply can't get enough ties of his genes to the candy people. It didn't take him long to acknowledge the fact that he was half-human. Because of that, he can't be mortal.
That leads to today. He has become extremely sick. He can barely stand, and when he does his energy is completely wasted after a few minutes. I haven't left his side for nearly three weeks, regardless of him telling me that I need to get outside. I always respond by telling him that he always says that during the day time.
I'm currently sitting on a chair directly next to the bed, that had a very clear indentation of my behind and thighs on it for it be ever fixed. Gumball's now frail hand is intertwined with my pale gray one. Our hands have looked so different from when we first met.
Gumball shuffled under the covers, snapping me out of my train of thought about holding hands and cutesy stuff.
"Muh… Marshall…" Gumball whispered. His eyes squinted open to look around his room.
At least he remembers me.
"Hey, buddy. How's it going?" I asked him. I squeezed his hand.
Gumball nodded before looking outside, "I'm fine. Everything seems to be functioning." He wiggled his fingers on both hands, and looked as though he squeezed his toes under the covers.
I laughed at this. "Did you sleep well?" I asked.
Gumball nodded again. "Yeah. I had a nice dream that was based off of a fond memory of you and I." Even in this state, it made my heart flutter knowing that Gumball still took the care to make me smile. In all honesty, it was exactly what he needed.
"Oh yeah? What is the memory?"
Gumball giggled. Yes, giggled. I have honestly never heard him give a genuine "manly" laughter. "I think… it was when I was able to catch you after one of your concerts at the cemetery. We snuck off into that forest, and did who knows what." Gumball's pale pink face tinged a darker shade.
I laughed at how cute Gumball was saying. He remembered that night vividly. The fact that he and I had found a cave that had a rather flat floor. It was the few times that Gumball had actually topped… Okay. That is going too far, even for me.
"So… Did you have a wet dream?" I asked.
"N-n-no! Not at all like that. It's… just… darn it. I can't remember what I was going to respond to that." Gumball lifted his hands to his face to bury it in them. Marshall felt a pang when he noticed that he did so rather slowly.
"Well… that's okay." I said as a leaned in closer, getting out of the chair to lay on the bed next to him. I wrapped my arms around him, and let his head rest on my chest.
Gumball hummed in content as he burrowed his face into my chest. He was so cute, and basically all the time that I've probably died from cuteness a thousand times over.
Died.
Death.
An inevitable end to… to… all life. To… him.
But not me.
My body went rigid. Gumball noticed that I had done this, and looked up at me.
"Is… Is something wrong, Marshy?" He asked.
I sighed. "It's nothing, Gummy."
"You can't lie to me. I know it's something. Oh, it's that, isn't it?" Gumball asked. He plucked a heart string by asking that question. I still have yet to actually saying that five letter word. It felt like he was beating around the bush, and I didn't like it. Not one bit.
"Yeah…" I clung onto Gumball even tighter, and I felt Gumball wrap his arms around my waist.
"I don't like it either. You know that I've tried to change it, but I simply can't change how the motion of life works. It's an equation that has been created so only the creator can understand and solve it." Gumball said, his voice cracking.
"I know that, Gummy, it's just… I don't… well... " I was at a loss for words. I simply couldn't say it. I couldn't say… that I didn't want him to leave.
Gumball leaned onto my chest again, and clung onto the back of my shirt. He was slightly shaking, a sign that he was crying.
"No. Gummy, don't do that. Please, you're going to make me cry, too, and I don't want to be a bubble blowing mess right now." I rested my chin on top of his head.
Gumball chuckled. Ho looked up at me with eyes that had tears brimming them. I held his face as I wiped the tears from both eyes with my thumbs. Gumball gave me a heartwarming smile, and I couldn't resist but return the gesture. Likely with one of my lopsided ones.
Gumball and I both sighed, before proceeding into a conversation about the time that we've been together, and that was when I not so subtly mentioned what it has been like for me and the Ice Queen.
"She really doesn't remember you, does she?" Gumball asked.
I shook my head in response.
"Well, I promise that I won't forget about you. Ever." Gumball said. Oh, how cute this piece of candy was.
"What about in the afterlife?" Marshall asked.
"Well, I'm pretty sure Peppermint Maid can make some deal with Death to make sure that I keep my memories in whatever form that I'm in." He said. His eyes widened. "We should go do that! Where is she? I need to talk to her." Gumball was pushing the blankets off of his body to try and stand up.
I was pulling them back onto him. "Rest, Gummy. I'll go get her so she can talk to you here, alright?"
Gumball nodded, and placed his hands into his lap.
I stood up from sitting on the bed to go find the red and white maid. Leaving the room, I went immediately to the kitchen, as that was where I found Pep most often.
Sure enough, there she was, mixing something in a blue bowl.
"Oh, Master Abadeer. What it is that you want?" She asked.
"Gummy wants to talk to you about something." I answered.
Peppermint gave a small nod, and set down the bowl and spoon. She followed me from the kitchen to the bedroom of the pink prince.
I casually opened the door, and let the maid inside. I shut it behind both of them, and watched as she walked forward to Gumball's bedside.
"Um… Marshall. I wish to speak to Peppermint Maid in private, if that's alright." Gumball said.
"Uh… Sure. Tell Pep to let me back inside when you are done okay?" I said.
I walked outside of the room, and leaned against the wall next to the door. I tried to listen in on their conversation, but they were too far away from the door and too quiet for me to hear, even with my heightened hearing. I was standing there for about ten minutes when Pep came back outside to say that it was clear for me to go back inside the room.
I saw Gumball in the same position as I saw him earlier, but with a different facial expression. Earlier, it was cheerful, but in a way somewhat neutral. Now, it was more of a look of concentration. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he wrung his hands instead of them being in his lap.
"So… what did you guys talk about?" I asked. Apparently, Gumball was in a trance, because he snapped out of that look and gave me a smile.
"Just something that I wanted to ask her. It shouldn't worry you one bit." Gumball raised his arms and reached out to me, opening and closing his hands as though he were grabbing something repeatedly.
I took the motion as him wanting me to lay on the bed with him, so I did just that. We were both laying on our sides, staring into each other's eyes. I loved it when I was able to look at his eyes, and take in the beauties that they were. His eyes were a vibrant purplish pink, and were one of the few things that didn't fade away in color after the years. He grinned widely at me, and I returned the gesture.
His smile fell, though, and he opened and closed his mouth as though he were going to say something, but stopped himself.
"Is there something that you want to ask me?" I said.
"Well… I was wondering what it was like when the Ice Queen forgot about you."
That question honestly surprised me. After all of these years, Gumball has never brought up Simone. He knew that it was a touchy subject, so he just didn't want me to give a sob-story.
"Um… let me see…. I guess it was almost like losing a family member. The fact that I had to experience seeing one of the few people that I have ever loved forget me and see me as a stranger is… I don't know, it just really, really hurts." I shrugged.
Gumball sighed. He reached out to caress my face, and I leaned into the touch.
"I'm glad that I haven't forgotten you." Gumball said quietly.
"I'm glad, too." I replied.
Gumball looked up to see the alarm clock on his nightstand. "It's almost 10 at night…"
"Then we shall sleep." I said.
"Hey, Marshall. Could you sing for me?" Gumball asked.
I smiled at his request before nodding, and inhaling to sing a calming song that I know he likes.
Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby
Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay
And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow
Bless you with love for the road that you go
May you sail far to the far fields of fortune
With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet
And may you need never to banish misfortune
May you find kindness in all that you meet
May there always be angels to watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay
May you bring love and may you bring happiness
Be loved in return to the end of your days
Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you
I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay
May there always be angels to watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay
"What's the name of that song again?" Gumball asked.
"I believe that it's called 'Sleepsong'."
"Made before the Mushroom War, right?"
"Yeah."
After pointless chit chat, Gumball soon nodded off, me holding him in his arms. Soon after, I nodded off, too.
I woke up when the sunlight had shown through the curtains. I burrowed into the back of Gumball, groaning about getting up. Normally, I could feel Gumball's laughter when I said that.
Today was different.
"Yo, Gummy. Wake up."
I turned Gumball over to see that his eyes were still closed. I shook him a little, normally being enough to wake him up.
Today was different.
"Gumball! Come on, don't do this to me now." I said, shaking him a little harder.
Realising what might be the case, I laid him on his back and sat up on my knees, all groans of having to get up now forgotten. I placed my palm on the back of my other hand, and curled my fingers together. I placed them in the center of his chest, and began to push down.
"Come on. Come on." I said through gritted teeth.
Another compression. Another. Another.
"Come on. Come on!" I said through gritted teeth.
I push down a little harder. Again, and again, and again.
"Please…" I plead. My voice cracks, and I notice that my vision is blurring.
I continue to beat on his chest. Again. Again. Again. Again. Please no.
"Master Abadeer?" A voice sounded from behind me.
I shot up and turned to see Pep, and noticed her forlorn look. She was looking down, and tears were swelling up her eyes. She had a piece of paper in her hand.
"This… This is… well, it's for you." She raised her hand and handed me the folded piece of paper. On the front of it was Gumball's loopy cursive handwriting, which said me name.
"He wrote this yesterday when he asked you to leave his room for a while. He told me to keep it until.. until he…" Pep choked up, not able to even say the word.
I stared at the paper in my hands, and nodded, before telling Pep to leave the room and get one the banana guards to get Gumball a coffin. She nodded back and left.
With trembling hands, I opened the piece of paper.
For the amount of time, Gumball sure had written a lot.
I shook my head, and wiped the tears away, and started reading the letter.
Dear Marshy,
I know. I've realized that I'm soon no longer going to be walking in the mortal world for much longer I wanted to ask Peppermint Maid, in one desperate last attempt to stay alive, asked her what I could. She shook her head and told me that no one can cheat Death. That she knows from personal experience, and I know what she is talking about. I haven't accepted the inevitable, not one bit, but I know that I need to convey this to you now.
Marshall, you have no idea how much I love you. Even after about 100 years of being together, I still believe that I haven't said "I love you" enough times. If I had the choice to say nothing but those three words over and over again, showering you with gifts and coming up with events and other stuff just to prove how important you are to me. That still wouldn't be enough for me to fully show my love for you. It simply is an equation where the answer is infinity.
Now, I know that I'm probably laying in bed right now, looking at peace, and I figure that you are sitting on the edge of the bed holding this in your hand. In all honesty, I'm just hoping that you aren't cuddling my body. It's just, that seems really, really weird.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that by now I've asked you about the Ice Queen, and I know that you love her as though a mother. I haven't experienced the pain, but I'm sure it was hell multiplied by itself a hundred times over to go through.
I'm pretty sure that my passing will be a thousand times over. You can probably realize that, too.
That's why, I'm asking you for a simple request. It's very small, but may change the way that you perceive this from happening.
Don't forget me.
I don't care how long you live, whether it's only one year, ten years, or another one-thousand, but I want you to know that it would take me longer than any length of time for me to tell you how much I love you.
I want the memories of the century that we spent to be the embodiment of how much I love you, and how much I want to still be with you.
Marshall, I love you so, so much, and you know that I hate to see you cry. So please, wipe the tears off of your face. Smile that goofy, lopsided smile that you know that I adore. Please stay strong for me. Continue walking, as you have so much of your life left. Please.
Do it for me.
Sincerely,
Your one and only Gummy Butt
I clung onto that letter as though it were my lifeline. My tears had altered more than one of the words written in the loopy cursive. I didn't care at this point.
Each of the words were a mix of warmth and sadness. Most of all, the whole letter was filled to the brim. I don't care what Gumball would've said. This letter is the perfect representation of his love.
I couldn't stay strong for him now, though, because after I had watched the banana guards come into the room, pick up Gumball's body, now paler than ever, and carry it out of the room, I collapsed on the bed, and burst into tears.
I love you, too, Gumball.
I won't forget you. Ever. I promise you that.
Not until the day that I die.
...Yeah. I need to get this over briefly before I start crying, too.
I'm sorry if I start working up any feels for you guys… Really, I'm so, so sorry.
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I'll see ya!