It was hard to rebuild life in the Tristate Area.
His older sister, Candace, had lightened up and made friends with a girl named Stacey who lived a couple streets over. She had even gone out with Jeremy a few times. But underneath it all, it was obvious in her quick flinches, her nervous glances that she was just waiting for something else to happen, to jump back in the action.
Ferb was slightly infatuated with the daughter of Doofenshmirtz. The Garcia-Shapiro's, who lived across the street, had taken her in when her father was taken away.
But Phineas couldn't find a way to ground himself to the fact that this was reality.
He looks out the window to see Isabella-the-girl-who-lives-across-the-street sitting in front of her yard. She still wears her rebel clothes, as if confused on what to choose on her own. He thinks back to the Other Phineas' world. A girl in pink—when he thinks about it, she must have been the other Isabella.
He can't stop thinking about how the pink bow looked in her hair. He thinks it would look even better on Isabella-the-girl-who-lives-across-the-street's hair.
The next time he goes to the store, he buys a ribbon and stuffs it in his pocket, wondering why he felt the need to get this.
A few months later, he still can't get used to this reality. He picks up the ribbon and walks across the street.
Her posture is rigid and she seems alert, but the fact that she has a coloring book in her hands makes all of this seem silly. He tries to get her attention, and he does. Her dark brown eyes wait for him to say something. He hands the ribbon to her.
She accepts it carefully, staring at the silky glow before removing her hat as gently as possible. Her dark hair flows as she ties a bow perfectly at the top of her head, almost as if she's done this a million times. Moving a little faster now, she picks a piece of shattered glass still left from the attacks and checks her reflection.
She stares for a few moments, so he worries she doesn't like it. Then she raises her head and smiles, a girly one that made the pink ribbon stand out. He was sure she looked good in pink now.
"Thank you," she says quietly. It's the first time he's heard her voice without any hostility and he realizes he doesn't want her to be just Isabella-the-girl-who-lives-across-the-street.
You can take this nearly any way you want. The ending can be platonic if you want it to be. I tried not to use names because it sounded better to me. Well, I guess that's really all.