Memories in a Blanket
The city of Townsville was celebrating one of it's most favorite days of the year, that day being Father's Day! All throughout the city, daughters and sons were playing with their fathers, spending time with the male parent in their life.
Well, all daughters and sons except one teenage superhero, the green eyed daughter of Professor Utonium…
"You guys take the Professor out for Father's Day, I've got better things to do!"
"What could be better than spending today with the Professor?! For Pete's sake, even Mojo celebrate Father's Day!"
"I don't care!"
"Just shut up and listen for a minute!"
"No way, Blossom! I'm not wasting my time with this!"
"Wait, Buttercup, don't fly awa-"
Silence filled the room for a few moments. Blossom moved over to the window and slammed it shut as hard as she could let herself. She didn't want to break the house because of Buttercup.
"… I can't believe her. Come on Bubbles."
Buttercup scoffed, remembering the fight she had just had with her sisters. She'd opted to stay with the Gangreen Gang, thinking at least they wouldn't be all sappy about today, but as it turned out, Grubber and Billy were the only ones not visiting their fathers. And by the look of them, they didn't seem in the mood to smash some of the dump's broken down cars.
Deciding not to ask them about it, it wasn't like she was friends with them or anything; and leave them to themselves, Buttercup had flown off without a word. Which was probably for the better, lest the Gangreens wonder why a Powerpuff would come to them for... Anything, really.
"I'm home!" called a six year old Buttercup, a wide grin on her face. She knew she'd still have to take a bath in a little while, but until then, she was enjoying every second of being covered in filth and monster guts. Her sisters had been taking a bath at the time the hotline rang, so she'd answered it herself and taken care of the monster with ease.
She wiped the slime away from her eyes and floating into the living room, wondering why no one had even responded with something like "Take a bath Buttercup!" She knew she smelled pretty bad, but still, they could at least acknowledge she was home!
She blinked when she heard some sniffling, and floating up the stairs until she was standing outside of the girls' room, she peeked inside. The Professor was sitting on the girls' bed, holding Blossom and Bubbles close to him. It had been Bubbles sniffling, obviously just finishing up with a cry. Buttercup was about to make her presence known, when the Professor spoke.
"Listen girls," he said, and then he paused as Buttercup saw his sisters look up at him, and was surprised to see the dejected look on Blossom's face. "You two are my perfect little angels, no matter what mistakes you make. My perfect little angels, and don't ever forget that."
The words rang throughout Buttercup over and over as she drifted away from the room before she could be noticed. "You two." Not "you girls," not "all of you," but "you two." Not her, not Buttercup.
She felt tears starting to well up in her eyes, hot and stinging tears. She hated crying! A glare on her face, deciding then that if she wasn't good enough, not perfect enough for the Professor then… Then he wasn't good enough for her!
Since that day, Buttercup had always found one reason or another to skip out on the usual spending time with the Professor come Father's Day, but this year had been the first year she had so bluntly just left. No excuse of being sick, no project she just had to get done for school tomorrow. She had told her sisters she had better things to do, and that was that.
And so here she was, doing her "better thing to do," while the girls and the Professor were out having fun. But who needed them? She spent time with her sisters practically every day, in one way or another, and yeah, she spent time with the Professor… Sometimes. Just not today. Besides, she was having fun, wasn't she?
Sitting on a roof hugging her legs sure didn't seem better than humoring the Professor and letting him win golf games. But Buttercup was stubborn, and for all purposes, sitting here was the best thing she could ever do with her time when the alternative was humoring the person who didn't think she was as good as her sisters.
At the thought of that, a memory from her childhood sprung to the teenage Powerpuff's mind, a few days after that "lucky blanket" thing…
Little Buttercup scowled at Bubbles, who was hugging her stupid Octi protectively to her. They had just fought a dangerous monster, and for a while, Blossom and Bubbles had thought they were going to lost. Buttercup's scowl hardened. She hadn't thought for a minute they'd lost, and it had been her to finish the thing off too!
And they had won, but there was Bubbles, hugging her precious Octi close. Thinking back to the fight though, Buttercup reached under her pillow on instinct to pull out her… Oh right. The Professor had her blanket now.
"I don't need that stupid thing anyway, it doesn't even work," muttered Buttercup, glaring even harder at Bubbles, who still hadn't noticed. No, the little blonde superhero continued talking to her Octi, hugging it close to her, and Buttercup, for perhaps the first time in her life, felt extremely jealous of Bubbles in that moment.
Why could Bubbles have Octi, and she couldn't have her blanket? How was that fair?
"It's not fair," mumbled Buttercup, and that finally alerted Bubbles of her presence. The girl swung around and stared at Buttercup, clutching Octi even tighter. It didn't seem like she had heard exactly what Buttercup said, though.
"What is it? Why are you staring?" asked Bubbles after a moment, and she realized after a moment Buttercup wasn't staring at her, she was staring at… Octi? Why would Buttercup be staring at Octi? Unless… "Buttercup, I don't care if you make fun of me, I'm not getting rid of my Octi!"
Oh how little Bubbles knew. Throw Octi out? By this point, Buttercup would have rather been Bubbles, able to carry around Octi without anyone taking him away. Well, besides Him, but that was a little different, and it had only happened once.
"Oh be quiet, you baby," was the best thing Buttercup could come up with before floating out of the room, hearing Bubbles just go back to talking to Octi.
What the girls didn't know about that blanket was that she hadn't just used it as a lucky charm. She told it about her day, she'd talked to it, she even imagined sometimes it talked back to her. It was… special.
"Now I'm being a stupid baby…" Buttercup said to herself, her arms crossed as she floated down the stairs. Blossom was watching something about Biology or some other science they didn't need to know until college or high school, and the professor was nowhere in sight. Probably in his lab.
Deciding she wanted a sandwich, Buttercup flew past Blossom and into the kitchen, looking around for the bread. Seeing it on the counter, the green Powerpuff flew up to the cabinet and took out a plate, setting it down and placing two slices of bread on it. She stopped in midair and realized she hadn't decided what kind of sandwich she wanted.
"I'll see what we have in the fridge," she said to herself after deciding it didn't really matter, and with that, she floated over to the refrigerator and was about to open it when something she saw out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. There, sitting in a laundry basket, was the real deal, not a fake.
There in the basket was her blanket, on top of some sheets. No one was in sight, and it occurred to Buttercup that she didn't have to not have her blanket. She could… She could take it back and not tell anyone! She'd gotten away with her routine of hiding in the closet with it for weeks, and if she had to start that again to have it back, she'd do that without a second thought!
A growing smirk on her face, she could feel it growing more into a smile the closer she got to the blanket. She reached out and took it, still smiling. Seeing as Blossom and Bubbles weren't here to glare at her and make her give it up, she did the most logical thing she could think of. And that logical thing was to hug it close like it was a cherished person she hadn't seen for years and years.
"Buttercup…" Freezing and nearly dropping her precious blanket, Buttercup looked behind her and there stood the Professor, another laundry basket in his hands, this one full of dirty clothes as opposed to the one of clean sheets and towels she had retrieved her blanket from.
"This… isn't what it looks like," said Buttercup, hiding the blanket behind her as she turned around, forcing a grin on her face. Inside, though, she felt like screaming. He was going to take her blanket away again, wasn't he? And he'd hide it from her too, so she'd never see it again!
"I thought your sisters went over this with you," said the professor softly, setting down the laundry basket and sitting on it, so he could be as close to eye-to-eye with Buttercup as he could. "That blanket doesn't help you fight better, Buttercup."
"I know that…" mumbled Buttercup, sighing dejectedly and pulling the blanket out from behind her back.
"Then why steal it back?" asked the professor. He didn't sound angry, or ashamed of her. He sounded genuinely curious, but also very stern. Of course, he just thought it was a charm she believed made her stronger, and she should know better. Which she did. "If it doesn't help with your fighting, then-"
Buttercup muttered something, interrupting Professor Utonium's question. The look on her face was sour and angry.
"What was that, Buttercup?" asked her father of sorts. She was silent for a moment, she hadn't thought he'd hear her. It was a good minute, and the professor wondered if she wasn't going to answer him at all. "Buttercup?"
"How come I can't have my blanket, but Bubbles can still have Octi!?" yelled Buttercup, floating up to be at the professor's eye level. She looked nervous for a moment, then looked at her blanket and back at the professor. "It's not fair, professor! She can carry that thing and talk to it wherever she wants and no one says anything! But the second I get something nice, something I care about, you guys make me get rid of it! It's… It's not…"
Buttercup was too busy trying to wipe away her tears to finish what she was saying She was tough after all, she didn't cry, but the stupid tears were coming and they wouldn't stop now! Before she knew it, Buttercup was clinging to her blanket and crying, but then… Then she realized the professor was holding her in his arms rubbing her back in the way that always made her feel a little better.
"Professor…?" Buttercup tried to blink away the tears and look up at him.
He'd seen her crying, and for a moment, Buttercup wondered, her fear rising, if from now on, now that he'd seen this moment of weakness, she'd be treated like Bubbles for the rest of her life. She didn't want that! But it didn't seem that way, he simply reached behind Buttercup to take a cloth out of the basket the blanket had been in, and wiped her tears.
"You should have told me it meant this much to you…" said the Professor, his tone comforting. Buttercup's wide green eyes stared up at Professor Utonium for a few moments, then she began to comprehend what he was getting at. At least, she hoped she was figuring it out.
"Then… Then I can keep it?" she whispered. The professor smiled, and nodded at her. That nod earned him the widest, most genuine smile he had seen on Buttercup's face in weeks. And the tightest hug he had ever gotten from her, a stream of "Thank you thank you thank you"s coming from her, her eyes sparkling with that innocence and happiness he rarely saw in her but knew she had.
"Buttercup, I want you to remember something," started the professor. Buttercup made a sound, showing she had heard him. "Just because you have this blanket, that doesn't make you any less of a superhero, it doesn't make you any less tough. You can still be the 'toughest fighter' and have this. Do you understand?"
"... Yeah..." replied Buttercup quietly. Part of her thought it was a dream, but it wasn't. She just knew it wasn't. They stayed like that, silent for a while.
After a while, Buttercup pulled away. Still clinging to her blanket, she was floating a little away from the professor, not moving. He was confused for a moment, then she floated over and kissed him on the cheek, mumbling a quiet "I love you, professor," probably not expecting it to be heard, before flying off.
She could still see him as she flew off, sitting there rubbing his cheek and smiling. And with her ultra sonic hearing, she heard the "I love you too," without problem despite the fact she was halfway across the house by then.
It took a moment for Buttercup to realize she, not the little her from her thoughts, she, right now, was crying. Scowling, she furiously scrubbed at her eyes to make the crying stop. When it did, she looked up at the sky.
"So what if I'm not perfect? So what if I'm not a little angel? That's too girly for me anyway! If I get all worked up like this, imagine how Bubbles would handle it!" she yelled out to the heavens. "And you know what? He's still my… still my dad!"
Buttercup looked around, and came face to face with a giant clock. Definitely a good place to rest, so long as it wasn't banging loudly announcing the change of the hour. It was only two in the afternoon, the professor and her sisters wouldn't be home for a while.
"I've got some time… Way more than enough!" Nodding to herself and wiping one last time at her eyes, Buttercup flew off into the skies, a lone streak of green following her. She had years to make up for.
Professor Utonium sighed as he pulled up in the driveway of his house. Two of his girls, the only ones who had come, exchanged looks in the backseat. He turned around and offered the girls a smile. "I… I had a lot of fun today, girls. Thanks for taking me out."
"Don't mention it, Professor…" replied Bubbles quietly. Blossom was silent for a moment, looking at the house. The lights were on, which meant Buttercup was probably in there. She knew the professor and Bubbles were thinking the same.
"Yeah, we're glad to take you out," said Blossom, trying and failing to keep herself from stressing the "we," meaning herself and Bubbles. Oh, Buttercup was going to get it.
The professor had heard the argument the girls had had. It had, in a nutshell, utterly spoiled his day, and no matter what Bubbles and Blossom did, they couldn't manage to completely cheer him up. They didn't blame him, what parent wouldn't be even a little upset by what Buttercup had said and done?
"Well… Let's get inside and order that pizza!" said the professor, with obviously forced enthusiasm. Another look was exchanged between the two girls in the backseat.
"Are you sure you don't want to go out for dinner?" asked Bubbles. The professor nodded. "But… We always go out for dinner."
"How about tomorrow, honey?" offered the professor. A pause, and then Bubbles agreed, Blossom following suite. "Great, now let's get inside!"
Blossom was the first of the two to get out, Bubbles following close behind. They were both worried about the professor, and upset at Buttercup. The professor's cheeriness was obviously for their sakes, but he had never been a great actor.
The professor opened the door and hung his coat up, the girls doing the same and walking behind him. Loud music was coming from the kitchen, Buttercup was probably making herself something, not expecting them home for dinner. Like always. None of the three were expecting the sight that greeted them when they arrived in the kitchen.
Wearing an apron and a goofy chef's hat, covered in flour and icing, was Buttercup in an apron, staring at a cake and holding a turkey dayster that appeared to be full of icing. The cake read "Happy Father's Dax," and it was obvious Buttercup was berating herself for the "y" ending up an "x." On the counter was a white box wrapped in green bow, a card reading "To Dad Love Buttercup" on it.
"He'll hate it…" said Buttercup finally, picking up a cloth and cleaning up her hands with it.
"I love it," said the professor softly, walking over to Buttercup. Buttercup, on the other hand, just finally realized she had visitors, and so she yelled in surprise and spun around.
"W… When did you guys get here!?" yelled Buttercup, more out of surprise and embarrassment at being caught doing something as girly as cooking than anger. It wasn't like there was anything to be angry about, anyway.
"Just a second ago… Is that for me?" The professor already knew it was, everyone in the room did, and he looked like he was close to crying now.
"N-No, it's for Mojo Jojo," replied Buttercup, trying to get her ground back with something sarcastic. The professor laughed, and remembering something, Buttercup ran over to the counter and picked up the box. "This, though… This… I want you to have this, Professor. It's not much, but making the cake was going to take too long to go to a store for anything besides ingredients, and well…"
The professor just smiled broadly at his girl and opened the box, Bubbles floating up behind him with curiosity. Blossom, however, kept her curiosity in and stayed behind, though she too was curious.
"What is it?" asked Bubbles. The professor gently removed an old green blanket from the box, looking worn and used.
"Oh, Buttercup…" The professor really did have tears forming now. He was truly touched, for the gift Buttercup was giving was the lucky blanket from her childhood. He smiled and set the box down back on the counter, looking at Buttercup, who's gaze was set solely on the floor. "I… I can't accept this."
"I want you to have it though!" protected Buttercup, looking up at the professor. He placed the blanket in the box and looked at her, shaking his head and smiling.
"You know the saying, 'It's the thought that counts'?" asked the professor. Buttercup nodded, and was about to protest, when he placed a finger to her lips to stop it. "Believe me Buttercup, I… I'll remember this for the rest of my life, I'm sure. Just like I remember all the previous moments I've had with you, and your sisters too. But I want you to keep it, Buttercup."
"But…" started Buttercup, but the professor shook his head and smiled at her.
"No buts. Why don't you and your sisters go get washed up, so we can have some of that cake?" Buttercup paused for a moment, then smiled just like she had when he had first given her the blanket back.
"Last one up's a rotten egg!" yelled Buttercup, blasting off and heading for the bathroom. She could hear her sisters yelling and laughing, following her. As she flew through the house, careful not to knock anything over, she could hear the professor's laughter, the loudest and happiest sounding of all.
The professor smiled as he left Blossom to her late night reading, closing the door to her room as quietly as he could. Bubbles was already sleeping, and the only of his girls left to check on was Buttercup. He opened the door to her room, which was once the guest room, and peeked in. She was sitting on her bed, facing away from him, and holding the blanket close to her.
"Hey professor," she said to him, her gaze flickering to him from the window for a moment, then returning to looking outside. He moved to the bed and sat down next to her.
"Doing a little stargazing?" he asked, chuckling a little at the look he saw pass over Buttercup's face.
"Nah, just thinkin' is all…" replied Buttercup after a moment. It looked like something was troubling her.
"Is something the matter?" The professor raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, to get a better look at Buttercup.
"No, no I'm fine!" protested Buttercup, crossing her arms. Her gaze didn't move at all from the window, though the professor suspected she'd rather be looking at the wall opposite him.
"Buttercup…" said the professor, a little sterner than before. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing!" came the response. The professor just gave her a look, and after a she moments she scowled. "Alright, alright fine, if you really wanna know…"
"I do."
"Well… When I was younger, a lot younger," started Buttercup, then she shook her head. "No, professor, it's fine, I don't want to mess up today anymore than I have anyway. 'Sides, it's stupid."
"Come on," urged the professor. "I promise you, nothing you could say short of you really being an alien in some disguise and the real Buttercup is being dissected on some spaceship could ruin today."
Buttercup gave the professor a strange look, then shrugged and, with a sigh, started speaking again.
"Well, it was after I went to beat up a monster… Bubbles and Blossom were taking a bath, but I didn't want one," Buttercup grinned a little at the memory of that. Baths now, she found, could be very relaxing, but even so, she still wasn't against getting a little dirty and staying that way for a while.
The professor didn't say anything, looking at her patiently, waiting for her to finish. Which was good, because if there had been even one interruption, Buttercup probably would have decided the story wasn't worth telling.
"Well, I came in to our room, Blossom's now… And I heard you guys talking," continued Buttercup. "You told Bubbles and Blossom that they, you put it 'you two,' were perfect little angels… I dunno, I've kind of always thought you thought I'm not good enough… So I decided you weren't good enough for me and believed that, up till today…"
Professor Utonium was silent for a few moments, and when he finally remembered the day in question, he laughed a little and ruffled Buttercup's hair a little, in just the way she both liked and found annoying and childish.
"Now Buttercup, I won't ask why you never came to me about this, I suppose I can already tell from that, but…" The professor laughed at Buttercup, who pulled away from his hair ruffling and looked at him quizzically. "I really do think I should explain on that, and put your thoughts to rest."
"So… you don't think I'm not as good as them?" asked Buttercup, frowning. The professor shook his head, and Buttercup could just tell there was no way it was a lie. "Then why did you say it like that…?"
"Your sisters…" The professor paused, remembering that day very clearly. "Were playing around, nothing too big. But then, by accident mind you, they knocked over a glass figure I've had for years, you know, the turtle?"
"The one your… mom gave you, when you were a kid?" asked Buttercup, tilting her head. She had wondered what had happened to it, but the fact that it was so fragile had been a turn off for Buttercup, and had never paid too much attention to it in the first place.
"The very same," said the professor, nodding at her. "Well, they were feeling absolutely awful about breaking it, especially after I told them I probably couldn't repair it. I scolded them a little, but they were doing most of the scolding for me. I was comforting them, I assume, when you walked in. If you had stayed a little longer, I'm sure you would have figured it out."
Buttercup stared at the professor for a few moments, then fell backwards onto her bed.
"Man, I feel stupid," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "All of that over a stupid misunderstanding."
"It's fine, don't let it bother you," said the professor, shifting on the bed and looking at Buttercup, who was avoiding his gaze now, in favor of looking at the ceiling. "Look, Buttercup… I don't think you're worse than your sisters in the slightest. You three are my little angels, always have been, always will be. Nothing can change that."
There was silence in the room for what seemed like a long time, both it's current occupants thinking. Finally, it was Buttercup who broke the silence.
"Professor, I still want to try to make up for all the Fathers Days I've skipped out on," said Buttercup finally, sitting up and looking at Professor Utonium with a look that told him she wouldn't be taking no for an answer.
"Buttercup, really, everything is absolutely fine, you don't have to…" The look on Buttercup's face didn't change. The professor stroked his chin, then grinned. "If you're sure, there is one thing you can do for me."
"Name it," said Buttercup firmly.
"For my next… three birthdays, instead of picking a cake out from the store with your sisters, I want you to make it," The professor continued after sticking each of his fingers into his mouth one at a time and making exaggerated sounds as he did so. "Your cake was the best I've had in a long time. Deal?"
Buttercup looked at the professor and then the hand he offered her, grinning at him. She reached out her hand to take his and shake it. "Deal."
"Great! I'll be looking forward to it," said the professor, and that was the last thing that was said for a while. The two opted instead to simply enjoy each other's company.
The professor blinked when something pressed itself against his shoulder. Looking down, he saw it was Buttercup, falling asleep. He chuckled a little, and offered to tuck her in. She refused, at first, but a well placed pout from the professor and she resigned herself to being tucked in.
"If you tell Bubbles or Blossom about this, your next birthday present from me is going to be food poisoning," warned Buttercup after the professor kissed her on the forehead and bid her goodnight. The professor laughed.
"I think I can manage keeping this our little secret," replied the professor. He stood up and walked over to the door.
"Professor?" Buttercup yawned, and the professor looked back at her.
"Yes, Buttercup?"
"… Happy Father's Day." It was said quickly, and even in the dark, her face looked like it was a little red. Clutching the blanket from her childhood, Buttercup turned over and before the professor knew it, she was sound asleep.
"I'd better head to bed myself," Professor Utonium stepped out of the room and closed the door, smiling to himself. Buttercup had already "made up" for all those Father's Days, and then some.
And so once again, the cake was served, thanks to… Buttercup! Awww, ain't she sweet?
The End