Shaking off a Writer's Block from my other fanfiction.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fairly Odd Parents franchise. Any and all characters remotely related to Mr. Butch Hartman in this story will be returned to him in good health afterwards. Furthermore, I credit "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to Eric Carle and I also (unfortunately) don't own Mr. Gump's Wump or Ned from "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish", he's Dr. Seuss's.
A sleepy silence hung over the castle as Wanda floated down the corridor, pushing back the semi-dry locks of hair that clung damply to the side of her face. She calmly looked at the row of doors and pressed her ear against one of them. Deeming the coast clear, she carefully opened it and stepped into the room.
It seemed to be a nursery, or at least it had been at one point. Toys littered the floor, books lay discarded on the carpet and (every now and then) a character or two could be seen roaming the ground, as if someone had enchanted them out of their two dimensional stories and into the Realm of 3D. Wanda shook her head in dismay and continued further in until she came to the crib. Leaning against the frame, she gazed at the two figures inside with a mixture of amusement and pride.
Her son was asleep beneath a quilt that covered both himself and his father (who had curled up next to him in the crib). As Poof snuggling into his daddy's tummy for warmth the sides of Cosmo's lips lifted up into a natural smile as he slept on. Wanda felt a wave of serenity and contentment wash over her as her two boys dozed on in the bed. She loved it when they were together like this, both of them calmly dreaming in their own little worlds and she beamed when a strand or two of Cosmo's hair would slip onto his face and be brushed away by his breath. Wanda was so busy watching them she hardly noticed the paper butterfly that had landed on her arm. Curious, she stuck out her finger and watched as the butterfly landed weightlessly on it. Opening "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", the butterfly fluttered to its home on the page. She then began to shepherd the rest of the animals into their books, and picking the toys off the floor, dropping them into their designated boxes. She placed the final stuffed elephant into the chest, closed it and was about to leave when she noticed next to the rocking chair a book lay on its spine, one of the pages missing what appeared to be an oddly shaped camel. Wanda scooped up the creature from the ball it had climbed on and sat down, gently pressing it back into the book. Reclining in her chair, she was observing some children fumblng to climb on the Wump when she suddenly felt the heat of a breath tickle the back of her neck. Smiling, she looked over her shoulder at Cosmo who had leaned in to see Mr. Gump and his seven hump Wump. His hair stuck up in the back, and he still had the glow of sleep about him as his eyes lazily closed halfway. Cosmo grabbed a blanket off a shelf and dragged it over to the chair, plopping himself next to Wanda who squeezed over to make room. He threw the covering over the both of them and laid his head against Wanda's shoulders with a sigh. Wanda leaned restfully into him as she brought the blanket closer against her.
"How did you know I was here?" She asked after a moment or two had passed.
"'Smelled you shampoo" he said, sniffing the base of her neck to emphasize his point. Wanda rolled her eyes and turned the page to watch Ned complain about his little bed. There was something that was nagging at the back of her mind as she looked at Ned's feet sticking out from his small mattress, and she wondered if now was the right time to bring it up.
"Why do you always fall asleep here?" She finally asked.
"Wha?"
"I mean, why don't you go back to your bed when you're done putting Poof to sleep? Isn't your race car more comfortable then the crib?" Wanda waited a while before Cosmo replied with a yawn.
"I dunno, I like it better when Poof is close. It's comfy. And besides, I like waking up to your shampoo." He began to play with a strand of Wanda's hair, winding it around his finger.
"Can't you do that from our room sweetie?" Wanda was beginning to get worried and even a bit bothered whenever she woke up to find Cosmo's bed empty. He wasn't the one who usually put Poof to sleep but whenever he did, he didn't return to their room. Wanda looked to Cosmo for an answer. Cosmo, however, ignored the question as he let go of Wanda's hair and stared at Ned's disgruntled head sticking out in the book on her lap. Confused, Wanda closed the book to make him focus.
"Cosmo?" He sighed and mumbled something quietly. Wanda leaned in, straining to her what he was saying.
"It's just…I like it when you come looking for me and you come in and tell me not to sleep in the crib because it's for Poof and not me and you help me to clean the mess I always make and you smell nice and pretty and… and…" He took a deep breath to steady himself and looked into Wanda's eyes.
"You're always smiling when you're in the Poof's room, and I like it when you smile." He seemed flustered and little embarrassed as he looked at the cover of the book.
Wanda said nothing as she watched a light blush blossom on Cosmo's cheeks. She hadn't heard him talk to her in that way since the day they had found out they were having a baby, and she became overwhelmed with love for Cosmo. He had so much sincerity in his voice, and his ears were beginning to burn red as he focused on the differently colored fish. She moved in closer and kissed his cheek softly, smiling at the way Cosmo grinned sheepishly. He threw his arms over her and hugged her tightly. Wanda dropped the book next to the chair and returned the hug willingly. Rocking back and forth, Cosmo held on to Wanda until they were both asleep in each other's loving embrace.
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Blonda bolted upright, clawing the eye mask off her face as she gasped for air. Her chest heaved rapidly in an attempt to slow her racing heart and Blonda pressed her hand firmly on her sternum to keep it from being ripped out. After a moment or two, she exhaled with a shudder and ran her fingers though her hair as she came to realize what had cased the reaction.
It had happened again.
Blonda looked around the room and hardly registered her surroundings in her Fairywood estate as she struggled to make sense of what she saw. It had been a while since her last "episode" (as she had come to call them) and had hoped they had stopped, even though she knew they would haunt her for the rest of her life.
There was more to being a twin then sharing the same birthday and parents.
Wanda and Blonda (to a degree) shared the same soul, their pieces of themselves embedded in one another so closely their lives would at times intertwine and mingle-literally. There were experiences where they had shared the same memories, like watching a movie through another's eyes. But as they matured, they had begun to share the same feelings. Emotions would find a way to jump the highway of their beings and transmit from one another without warning. At first, it was fun- they always knew what the other was thinking and were able to comfort each other in their times of pain. As they progressed to their adult years, however, their bond became little more then annoyingly humiliating. Especially when Wanda got married. It seemed their connection would strengthen in times of powerful sentiments; it's one thing to know your sister was with her husband, but it's another to know exactly how she felt about it and when she was particularly overjoyed. It scared Blonda to know she was feeling something that didn't belong to her, that the lapses would come without warning or permission and overcome her body's control with a wave of emotion. Blonda hugged herself as she collected her thoughts. She feared the moments yes, but there was always a part of her that wished they would never go away.
They would start off generally the same: Blonda would be doing something her star-studded career would demand of her when she would suddenly feel as though a darkness had passed over her eyes. Then, she would get a sudden blast of sentiment- love, anger, agitation, serenity, depending on what Wanda was feeling. It would last no longer then a minute or two, before burning away just as quickly as it had come. Blonda was horrified the first time she was gripped with the crippling sensation of unconditional love that flowed into her being as she was getting ready for a rehearsal one time. She had never felt such a pure feeling in her being and when it evaporated it would as if someone left behind a hole, a shadow of what had been there. How Blonda hated those moments- and loved them.
Blonda never needed anyone's help with anything-she worked solo, a free bird to fly as she pleased and reap the benefits of her work. She had won the Zappy she had dreamed of not two nights ago, if she wanted attention, she had to but lift her finger and indulge herself in all the pleasures of riches. She was the most beautiful fairy in Fairy World; no man could resist her advances and all women longed to have the figure she did. She could kill with a look and charm with a touch.
Then why did she always cry when she connected with Wanda?
Blonda wiped her tears angrily from her face, feeling betrayed by her body. She didn't need anyone, men came and went, the lead roles were always plentiful, and she still had several millennia to go before her career would begin to wane. Sure, the poofarazzi were annoying, but who didn't want a picture of Blonda? Meanwhile, Wanda was stuck at some dead end job wiping the boogers off miserable human children who wished for their own silly needs alongside an idiot of a husband without a single recognition for her trouble. So why did she (dare she say the word) envy her sister? It didn't make sense, and most certainly wasn't possible, then why was it so? Why did she try to hold on to every moment of happiness and love her episodes brought up? Of course, it wasn't all good feelings; on occasion, she would feel rage build up inside of her and know somewhere Wanda was fuming. But it was the moments like these that had Blonda in inner conflict. On the one hand, she knew Wanda was content, enjoying some moment of happiness and it really didn't matter to Blonda what was going on in her sister's life. But on the other hand…the sensation of sheer loneliness that would grip Blonda afterwards was more then she could bear. More then once she had melted into bitterness on account of these episodes. More then once had she longed for a quiet life with a husband who loved her and a child of her own. But then she would snap out of it. Why have a husband when she had a crowd of men who would throw themselves willingly at her feet? Children were forbidden with reason and Blonda would never want a child to take over her lifestyle the way she knew her nephew did to Wanda. She had everything she could ever want, and accomplished more then anyone could ever achieve in the entertainment business. She had a good thing going on, why ruin it with a family?
But then another thought would enter her mind: What if Wanda knew how Blonda felt? What if Wanda could feel the envy and bitterness, the loneliness and arrogant pride her sister carried with her? It was too embarrassing for Blonda to even contemplate when she recovered from the episodes. It wasn't the real Blonda, she would keep telling herself. It was lapses in judgement, short periods of doubt that everyone felt at one point in time, and nothing more. Nothing more, Blonda would reassure herself firmly. She was far from being lonely, the simple life wasn't her taste anyway and, once again, she had lost some sleep because of Wanda.
Blonda reached out and grabbed the silken eye mask from the edge of her bed where it rested. With a toss of her head, she placed it back over her eyes with determination. Lying back down on her lace pillow, she contemplated what the morning would bring her, trying to push Wanda and her stupid feelings as far away as possible.
The "episodes" were guilty pleasures, and nothing more.
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