Warmer
by Gregory Cooper
Chapter One: A Mother's Love
A/N: A specially commissioned picture of Bubbles and Blossom, expressing their love for and to each other, can be found at "http :// myweb . tiscali . co . uk/gswcooper/fanfic/hairygregorytoc/BubblesBlossom . jpg" courtesy of Palcomix (please remove all white spaces from within the quote marks).
"...and once again, the day is saved, thanks to...the Powerpuff Girls!"
That immortal sentence was the final words of the article uttered by the newsreader. As the weather report following it began, Professor Utonium reached over and turned off the television, before turning to his three little girls, one with blonde hair, one auburn, and one black, sitting on the couch next to him, each with a glass of warm milk.
"OK girls," the Professor said in a kindly tone, "time for bed I think." Two of them simply pouted, but the third spoke up.
"Aww, Professor - I'm not tired", the little girl grumbled deeply, brushing a few short strands of black hair out of her face. Her sisters looked over at her.
"Now Buttercup," said the redhead, "I'm not really tired either, but the Professor says that it's time for us to go to bed now. We're only 6 after all, and he was kind enough to let us stay up past nine o'clock to watch the news as it is, otherwise we would've been in bed half an hour ago." Buttercup just shrugged this comment off.
"Doesn't mean I have'ta like it anymore though, Bloss", she said offhandedly in response to Blossom's statements, drawing a small glare at the usage of the nickname that Buttercup knew was not appreciated in the slightest. The Professor winked to the blonde sister, who was lying sleepily with her head rested in his lap, and she winked back before floating between her two arguing sisters.
"Cummon you guys," the third girl said in a high-pitched voice thick with sleepiness, "let's just go upstairs and start getting' ch...eeeeeawnn..." her sentence trailed off as she gave a big yawn and stretched in the air. Both her sisters, watching her, suddenly felt a massive urge to yawn in reply, as anyone seeing someone else yawning is wont to do. The blonde gave a wink and a tiny smirk to the Professor that was not lost on her siblings.
"That's not fair Bubbles," said Blossom, trying to stave off the inevitable, "you always...pull this trick...on...uuuuuuhhhhhhnnnn...", she too faded into a yawn and blinked the sudden blurriness out of her vision. "That's low", she muttered, rubbing her eyes and trying to glower at the blonde Bubbles, who just floated there with a grin on her face, looking too angelic to be annoyed at. "Darn it...I can't stay angry at you; how do you do it?" Blossom asked, fighting back another yawn. Buttercup was sitting still, staring fixedly at the pattern on the couch material and clenching her mouth tightly to hold the yawn, until the Professor poked her in the ribs, causing her to yelp in surprise and then immediately give out a jaw-poppingly loud yawn. Having given in, she just floated off up the stairs, pouting at the Professor as she past him, followed by her sisters and then their guardian who just nodded in appreciation of Bubbles' gift at making her sisters tired whenever they complained they weren't.
"I'm just too lov'bul, 'course", said Bubbles, hugging Blossom and giving her a tight squeeze as she made her best angelic face. By the time they reached their shared room - and bed - Buttercup was already in her nightgown and shot into her green third of the treble-wide bed, still sulking at being duped so easily into going to bed yet again. Blossom shook her head in amazement as she removed her bow and clip, and her long orange locks burst free and wafted down, hanging past her feet by a clear several inches as she floated above the ground. Bubbles untied her short pigtails and shook them free as well, combing them out quickly, and both put on their colour-coded nightdresses; Bubbles in sky blue, Blossom in pink.
"Hurry up will ya?" Buttercup snapped at them while the Professor listened from outside the door. "Geez, you guys always take so long getting up and going to bed. I'd like to get to sleep before I'm old and grey, thanks very much", she added in a decidedly sarcastic tone. A second later, the bed was filled with Blossom and Bubbles flying under the blankets before Buttercup had even time to put the lights out.
"Goodnight Buttercup", he said, kissing Buttercup's forehead; her scowl didn't disappear, but it did lessen somewhat. Then he leant over her to reach her sisters, "Goodnight Bubbles", he said, kissing her forehead next, and she gave a brilliant smile followed by another small yawn, and snuggled down more under the blankets. "Goodnight Blossom", he said, leaning over still more to kiss the redhead's cheek, and she too gave a lovely smile and slid further under the blankets to stay warm.
Outside, it was a cold dark midwinter night; clouds were blotting out all of the stars, though there was no rain or snow, and it was actually freezing, the temperature slightly below zero.
"Do we have to have the hall light on?" Buttercup moaned as the Professor left, propping the door ajar to let the light from the hall spill into the room and across Bubbles' middle third of the bed. Blossom just sighed, this argument also sprang up more nights than not. "I mean Bubz, you're a superhero who faces monsters, villains, and power hungry psychos everyday, and you can't get over this fear of the dark? Why don'tcha just get a grip already?!" Buttercup exclaimed, shooting out of bed only long enough to shut the door.
Bubbles' big blue eyes went wider in the dark, and Blossom was first to notice the small tremor in her voice. "Y-you're right B-buttercup; if I don't try, I'll never know if I c-can sleep in the dark." She tried to stay brave, but Blossom could feel her shaking in the bed, and it wasn't from the cold.
"Don't worry Bubbles," she said kindly, "nothing can hurt you while you sleep, not when I'm here", and she squeezed the girl's shoulder in a reassuring manner. Bubbles smiled weakly up at her.
"Pwomise?"
"Always." Blossom smiled at her, as Buttercup settled back under the covers, giving a soft snort at the exchange between the other two. "Now come on, just close your eyes and try to count some sheep, okay?" Buttercup's eyes were closed and she'd already nodded off. Blossom followed shortly thereafter, snoring quietly.
Bubbles lay there in the pitch-blackness, staring up into the dark, listening to the sounds of her sisters sleeping calmly. Those noises helped sooth her nerves a little, but she couldn't get to sleep. The more she stared in the darkness, the more she could make out shapes of blackness swirling above her head, shapes and objects and creatures and...
Too tired out from being scared to be scared any longer, Bubbles finally fell asleep, resting peacefully between her stronger, braver sisters. It didn't matter that she was scared of the dark, or that she wasn't as strong in battle beside them. Feeling warm all over and serene, Bubbles lay asleep with Blossom and Buttercup either side of her.
The three girls appeared together in a grassy area beside a calm pond, their favourite dream location in which to spend their nights; being created in such a manner had the effect of letting them link their subconscious minds at will, so that they could share their dreams and control them; the girls spent most nights in this fashion, playing and having fun all three of them. If not for this relief in their sleep, the constant battles against the various crooks and monsters and such that plagued the city of Townsville would already have driven them all insane.
When Bubbles awoke, the first thing she noticed was that it was still dark outside, and she bolted upright in the bed, unaccustomed to there being no light coming in from the hall. The sudden shock of waking in the still, black night made Bubbles very scared, and she started hyperventilating, sweat breaking out on her forehead and her nightdress sticking to and prickling against her skin.
"What's that?" Blossom asked, floating gently above the pond while Buttercup swam laps in it. She cocked her head as if trying to hear something muffled, and felt it again. Fear.
"What's the what, Bloss?" Buttercup asked, pausing in her swimming to listen too. She could feel it now..."Bubbles", she said, swimming again. "Must'a woken up and got scared in the dark. Wuss." Blossom aimed a sharp glare at her tomboyish sister.
"Buttercup!" she exclaimed, shocked at her sister's declaration. "I'm appalled - you know how scared she gets. I'm going to go help her." And so saying, she vanished from the dreamscape and woke up in bed, feeling that Bubbles was sitting up next to her. Buttercup just shook her head and continued with her swim in dreamland.
"Hey Bubbles", she said softly, so as not to scare her already twitchy sibling. "You okay?" she asked, sitting up and wrapping an arm around Bubbles' waist, before pulling her in to a comforting embrace. She could feel the poor girl was shaking like a leaf, and felt a small wet spot where tears were quickly absorbing into her nightie.
"Oh Blossom," Bubbles sobbed into her shoulder, "I was sooo scared, I thought I could sleep without the lights on, but I can't I'm sorry I just can't..." her terrified ramblings drifted off as she just let herself be rocked gently by Blossom, who sung "Rock-a-bye baby" to her in a voice so soft it was barely above a whisper. Finally, Bubbles' shaking stopped and she just rested against Blossom in their hug, and started to suck on her thumb. Blossom heard the sound and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"You suck your thumb?" She could feel that Bubbles nodded in reply, then removed her thumb briefly to speak.
"Yuh-huh, always have; but only when Buttercup can't see, 'cos she'd just make fun of me...even morer."
"Oh Bubbles", Blossom sighed, pulling Bubbles gently back into a lying position so that they were lying facing each other. "I meant what I said you know - as long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen to you at night, 'kay?" Bubbles nodded, then blushed when she remembered it was too dark to see that response.
"Yeah Blossom, I know. And Blossom?"
"Yeah Bubbles?"
"I love you," Bubbles said, and returned to sucking her thumb. She never heard Blossom's answer of "I love you too, Bubbles", as she was already asleep by then.
"'Night Dad," Buttercup's slightly gravely voice floated through the thin internal walls of the halls as Professor Utonium turned off her bedroom light and shut the door to her room behind her. Then he headed down the hall a little ways into the other bedroom, where Bubbles and Blossom were lying side by side in the same treble width bed, the blanket now split into two down the middle. Left half bright blue, right half pink.
"Goodnight sweet Bubbles," the Professor said, giving her a big kiss on each cheek. Still the sweetest of his three little girls, Bubbles wriggled comfortably under the blankets and gave her very cutest smile, which the Professor and Blossom couldn't help but return in kind. The gentle scientist walked around the bed and similarly kissed Blossom goodnight on both cheeks, and Blossom sighed contentedly and scooted under the covers a bit more. On his way out, the Professor turned off the bedroom light and pulled the door closed, shutting out the light from the hall.
It had taken many months for little Bubbles to get over her fear of the dark, but she was stronger for it. Now, three years down the line, Buttercup refused to share a bed with her sisters any more, saying she felt uncomfortable with both of them at night, and also citing that as they were growing up, it was only natural to want more space to herself, away from the eyes of her siblings; somewhere she could go to be on her own occasionally, and just relax. Blossom readily agreed, but Bubbles voiced the differing opinion that she still didn't feel okay with sleeping on her own, and so Blossom opted to continue bunking with Bubbles for the time being. Something about the pleading look on Bubbles' face, she just hadn't been able to deny Bubbles request for a roommate. At least they were sleeping in proper darkness now, and it had been Blossom who kept waking up to calm Bubbles down in those first few months of overcoming her fears. Not that she regretted that at all.
The three appeared yet again in their grassy field by the pond, but as they got bigger, so did their dream world; the pond had grown into a lake, and several new trees had grown, tall and thick with lots of lovely shade for the girls to rest under when they were finished happily swimming and playing about in the water. A pet fox also lived near the water, which Bubbles had created one day and named Cherry, of all things. Buttercup had laughed at the choice of name, but a look from Blossom quickly silenced her.
"Cherry and Blossom?" Buttercup said, stifling laughter, "get it? Ha ha ha..." and she cracked up completely, just before being unceremoniously tipped into the lake by a quietly fuming Blossom.
"So, whaddya guys wanna..." Blossom began to ask when Bubbles disappeared, and a shrill scream startled Blossom out of the dream world as well. Bubbles was curled up in a foetal position next to her in the bed, and something was banging about in the dark of the room, making various moaning sounds and other loud noises. Bubbles didn't stop her shrieking until Blossom was forced to clap a hand over her mouth.
"Shh, shh shh shh Bubbles," Blossom whispered in her sister's ear, as Bubbles still shifted awkwardly and continued making frightened little noises into Blossom's hands, though she did relax somewhat feeling her sister by her side. "It's alright Bubbles, just calm down and breathe." As Bubbles forced herself to calm down, she noticed that the chill of fear had gone away completely, and she listened to her own breathing, not the sounds, to stay calm and quiet.
CRASH!
Bubbles squeaked slightly and jumped a little in surprise more than anything else, as did Blossom for that matter. At that moment, a voice spoke out.
"Bubbles?" It said. Clearly a grown man's voice, but definitely not the Professor. "Shit - I'm in the Powerpuff house?" he asked, fear tingeing his voice.
"Yeah", said Blossom slowly and coolly. "Who are you, mister?" She floated over and turned on the light to reveal a short thin man wearing a balaclava on his head and carrying a large empty sack. He tried to turn and run, but didn't make it two steps before Blossom pounced on him, shredding all his clothes right off his gangly body and depositing the petty crook outside on the sidewalk.
"That sorted him out," said Blossom triumphantly on her return, dusting her hands off for show. Bubbles stared at her for several moments, before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.
"What's so funny, Bubbles?" Blossom asked, bouncing down on the bed next to her sister and wrestling her playfully.
"I...hee hee hee...I dunno...hahaha...being scared of a crook breaking in...hehehe...you stripping him like that...hee hee hee..."
"Oh really?" Blossom said, raising an eyebrow at the laughing girl. "So you think that's funny do you?" Bubbles shook her head strongly, but her continuing giggles said otherwise. "Well then, I guess there's only one thing to do in that case..." she said, leaving the sentence hanging menacingly in the air as she hovered over Bubbles, still struggling to contain her laughter.
"What?" said Bubbles, fighting to straighten her face but a smile still tugging insistently at her mouth as her stomach heaved with laughter building inside of her. She began to giggle nervously even before Blossom dove on her from above, grabbing her sides and squeezing lightly in what she knew was the best way to get Bubbles to laugh.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeheeheeh eeehee hee hee hee hee...Blosshahahaahahaham! You know I'm tee hee hee hee ticklish!"
Blossom only tickled Bubbles for a few seconds before relenting, and Bubbles had to calm her laughter all over again as Blossom ruffled her blonde hair, now hanging down a couple of inches past her shoulders. "I know Bubbles, that's why I did it!" Blossom said, a slight giggle evident in her own tone of voice. "You're just so cute when you're giggling helplessly like that, I couldn't resist."
"Well resist harder," Bubbles answered dryly, before letting a last couple more giggles slip free at Blossom's raised eyebrow. "Thanks Blossom", she said suddenly, hugging the pleasantly startled redhead.
"Whatever for Bubbles?" Blossom asked.
"Dealing with that crook when I lost it," Bubbles said in a small voice.
"Hey, that's just what sisters are there for," Blossom said, hugging her back. "Looking after each other. Now get back to sleep, alright?" Bubbles nodded sleepily and they both lay down after Blossom turned off the lights again. "Night".
Buttercup was watching the NBA downstairs while Blossom was doing some extra math work for school in the study, and Bubbles was working on a piece across the room from her for art class the following day. Bubbles had chosen Blossom as her subject; Blossom, in her natural habitat no less, at a desk with math textbooks strewn across its surface, as well as several sheets of paper covered in sums that were scattered idly about.
"Now, if I subtract that from both sides of the equation, then I get that one more than the variable squared is equal to zero, so the variable equals..." Blossom muttered chewing distractedly on the end of her pen as she pondered over the meaning of the equation currently running through her mind. Bubbles stared at Blossom for a few moments before becoming inspired and beginning to paint again at a rapid pace.
"Bubbles, what on earth are you doing over there?" she asked, a little exasperatedly as she heard a paintbrush on canvas.
"Just paintin'", came the reply, and Bubbles kept putting brush to canvas, peeking around the easel occasionally to look at the scene she was painting, of Blossom mid-schoolwork.
"Could you do it somewhere else, please?" Blossom asked as politely as she could. "The sounds are kinda distracting me."
"Oh, sorry," Bubbles said, looking a bit sheepish and settling her brush down.
"Don't stop on my account," Blossom added hastily, "but maybe you could go do your painting in your room?"
Bubbles wrinkled her nose as if in thought. "Well not really Bloss, I'm paintin' you."
"Me?" Blossom said, blushing a little. "Why me?"
"Well, my art teacher told us to paint the person or thing that's most important to us, an' I..." Bubbles said, coming over all shy and finding an interesting spot on the floor as she dug the toe of her flip-flop into the carpet, and chewed on her lower lip. Blossom smiled up at her and then moved to give her a cuddle.
"Aww, thanks Bubbly", she said, wiping a tear from her eye, "that really means a lot to me, honest it does." Bubbles looked up and into Blossom's eyes and they smiled at each other, before Blossom gave Bubbles a quick peck on the cheek.
Bubbles eyed Blossom up close and then said, "Why'd you cut your hair off Blossom? I mean, it looks nice, but I think you looked better with it long." In truth, Blossom had been getting told by the Professor and Buttercup that her hair was far too long, and finally caved to the pressure, cropping it to a shoulder length bob cut, hanging strait down. It made her face look a little more elfin, and also leant itself better to her studious nature.
"Really? Hmm..." Blossom said thoughtfully, "I think you look better with yours long too," she added, causing Bubbles' cheeks to redden slightly, "but hanging loose doesn't suit you - you should put it back in ponytails; they're just sooo cute!"
While Bubbles was distracted by her own shyness, Blossom then tried to move or to peek around her to see the painting in progress. "So can I get a sneaky little preview then, Bubbly? Please?" she asked, trying for an adorable pout. She couldn't do them as well as Bubbles herself could, but she'd learnt to do them pretty well anyway. Bubbles shooed her back to her desk.
"No," she said adamantly, sitting Blossom down again. "This is my first piece for middle school art, and I wan' it to be perfect before anyone sees it. Even you," she said, adding the last part as Blossom looked about to say something. Instead, she clammed up and thought for a moment before replying.
"Of course it'll be perfect Bubbles, all your artworks always are." That did it, Bubbles blushed bright red and found herself suddenly unable to look Blossom in the eye. No one knew how to do that to Bubbles with just one sentence quite like Blossom did.
"Hee hee, thanks Blossom..." she said shyly. Anything said further was completely lost in a crashing sound from outside as the sky flashed a bright yellowish-white.
KABOOM!
"Ah!" Bubbles screamed, flinging her hands over her ears and jumping right out of her cute little flip-flops. Without even thinking about it, Blossom immediately tackled Bubbles into her biggest, warmest hug, and Bubbles gratefully melted right into it, shaking against Blossom in fright. Blossom just stroked Bubbles' hair and made soft cooing sounds to lull her blonde sister. A moment later, Buttercup appeared at the door.
Blossom whispered close up to Bubbles' ear, "There, there Bubbles; it's all right; it's all alright; it's only a little thunder; you're okay; I'm here, I'll look after you..." as she stroked the shaking girl's hair and rubbed her back in slow soothing motions.
"Hey, didya see that lightning? It was awesome!" Buttercup exclaimed, then saw the scene of Blossom holding a trembling Bubbles to her. "What's with her?" she asked Blossom, and was greeted in response by a throw pillow living up to its reputation.
Blossom glared at Buttercup, obviously highly vexed at the tomboy girl's lack of sensitivity. "You really don't know your own sisters very well, do ya BC?" she said sharply.
"I've been sayin' that for years sis, I've been sayin' that for years...not that I'd wanna, either..." she said, finishing with an odd smirk. She floated back downstairs to catch the end of the match, leaving Blossom to look incredibly confused by that statement as she comforted Bubbles.
Later that evening...
"Blossom...?"
"Yeah Bubbles?"
"Do you ever get fed up of me?" Bubbles asked, softly as she sat down on the end of her entirely blue bed and pulled her t-shirt off.
Blossom paused in the middle of unfastening the straps of her dungaree-dress, and looked carefully at her, then moved over to sit next to her on Bubbles' bed. "Of course not Bubbly, what could ever make you think that I'd get fed up of you?" she asked, a little worried.
"Well..." Bubbles said, looking like her eyes were already beginning to tear up, "I'm always getting' scared n' stuff n' then ya haveta look after me, 'n I thought maybe you'w're getting' tired'a never bein' on yer own..." Bubbles said, trailing off and sniffling a little. Blossom wrapped her arm tightly around Bubbles' shoulders and gave her a warm squeeze.
"Hey, I could never get tired of you, Bubbles," she said softly, reaching out to wipe a tear from Bubbles' slightly reddened cheek. "You're my sister and I love you, 'kay?" she added, with a slight emphasis on the words "sister" and "love", sticking her face right in Bubbles' view so her sister couldn't ignore what she was saying, and smiled at her a little, getting a small smile from Bubbles in return. "There, that's a little better now, isn't it?" she said, bumping their noses together, which made Bubbles giggle a little bit too.
"Thanks Blossy," Bubbles whispered, "I don't think I could rely on Buttercup for support like you give me," she said, and then gave out a yawn, her thumb slipping easily into her mouth as she rested her head on Blossom's shoulder tiredly, her eyes starting to glaze over with tiredness.
Blossom admired the absolute cuteness of her baby sister, 11 years old, in only a little girl's vest and a pair of panties, sucking calmly on her thumb as she dozed. Then she sighed good-naturedly, gently moving Bubbles' head from her shoulder, and lifting the girl into the bed.
As she tried to step back and tuck Bubbles into bed before moving across to her own bed, Blossom suddenly felt her waist being grabbed by two strong, firm, yet amazingly gentle hands and dragging her down onto the mattress, pulling her into a cuddle. The sleeping Bubbles kept her arms around Blossom's waist, and so Blossom could not get up without waking her sister, and that was the last thing she wanted to do, to ruin this beautiful moment. So instead, she turned and blew at the light switch, knocking it to the 'off' position and lying in the dark, in her enforced cuddle with Bubbles. She sighed softly again, this time with a little tiredness too - it wasn't so bad being held like this, Bubbles felt so warm and soft...it didn't take long for Blossom to nod off either.
"Blossom?"
"Huh...gurh...wha' time i'it?" the half-asleep redhead mumbled, rolling over from being on her back in her bed to lying on one side, facing the open door, through which Bubbles had just come, leaving a large patch of light from the upper landing to spill into the room.
"It's 3am Blossom..."
"'Searly..."
"Blossom, please!" Bubbles said frantically, keeping her voice to a whisper to avoid waking up their father or Buttercup.
Blossom sleepily cracked open both eyelids, her bright pink irises blazing out in the darkness. She took a moment to moisten her lips and then spoke again, her voice still thick with sleep.
"What's the matter Bubbly?" she said, looking at Bubbles' worried expression and trying to gauge roughly how bad it might be.
"I wet my bed Blossy..." Bubbles said in a small voice, looking forlornly down at her feet floating just above the carpet of her sister's bedroom.
"Oh Bubbles..." Blossom said, sighing softly as she reached out of the bed to take Bubbles' hand in her own. "There's nothing wrong with bedwetting, it's perfectly natural..."
"Not for a twelve year old Blossy," Bubbles said, then put her hand between her legs. "And 'spesh'ly not when I'm bleeding, too. I think I must've cut myself somehow, but I don't understand." Blossom's eyes widened at the mention of blood, then all the pieces clicked into place.
"Don't worry Bubbly, you haven't hurt yourself," she said, sitting up and pulling Bubbles down onto the edge of the bed next to her, cuddling her from behind and leaning her head on Bubbles' left shoulder. "You've just started having your period, that's all."
Bubbles looked around at Blossom, cocking her head to the side in a sweet little look of confusion. "Huh? My period of what, Blossy?"
Once Blossom was done with her brief sex education lesson for the night, Bubbles' face had run the gamut of facial expressions from perplexed to concentrating hard, through surprise and shock, to disgust, nausea (at some of the more graphically made points) and finally to one of understanding.
"I'm never gonna have kids," Bubbles declared with all the certainty of her youth. Blossom just smiled indulgently at her.
"You say that now Bubbly, but later..." she said, letting the implied end of the sentence hang in the air. "Now c'mon, we both need our sleep; go back to your bed-"
"I-I-I-I-I-I can't," Bubbles said, stuttering and blushing with embarrassment.
"Why ever can't you Bubbles?" Blossom asked kindly, her hands resting lightly on Bubbles' tummy. Bubbles' blush deepened even further.
"I wet my bed - it'd be too uncomf'bul now; when I saw 'n felt the blood, I wet myself in fright. Don't worry, I washed myself 'n changed my nightdress 'fore I came to you though," she added quickly.
"Hmm," Blossom said, pretending to think deeply, "okay then, you can share my bed; in the morning, we change your blankets and don't tell Dad or BC, okay?" she asked in a kindly voice that was surprisingly chirpy for the early hour. Bubbles nodded in enthusiastic response and hopped into the bed, Blossom scooting back to make room for her. When they were in position under the blankets, Blossom was lying on her side with Bubbles' back pushed against her front, the two of them spooning together quite naturally.
"Mmm, this feels warm 'n snuh...snulg...snuggily," Bubbles murmured, purring slightly as she relaxed, and pulled Blossom's arms around her to rest the redhead's hands on Bubbles' tummy, with Bubbles holding her hands in place there.
"Yeah, it does I guess", Blossom said, sleepy again almost instantly from the warmth both in the bed and coming from Bubbles pressing back against her. She couldn't help but think that, even now she and Bubbles had separate bedrooms as well as separate beds, they still nearly inevitably seemed to share a single bed. But at the same time, Blossom never once felt put out in the least bit by this fact. Quite the opposite...she loved having Bubbles around to care for, she always felt happiest helping Bubbles; as opposed to Buttercup, who disliked hanging around with either of her sisters, and almost flat-out refused to spend time with both of them at once. Whenever Buttercup saw Blossom and Bubbles spending time together these days, she'd quickly find something else to go and do instead, like hanging with Robyn.
End of Chapter One