The next morning, after we sent the children off to their studies with their tutors and Gumball and I took care of the royal business of the day, he and I sat together in the observatory, letting the warm light of the sun bathe us through the opened shutters on the glass dome ceiling. I had a cup of hot tea in my hands, the steam helping me to stay focused on the thoughts I entertained in my head.

I thought about what Gumball had said the night before, about how it wasn't my fault. Logically, when it came right down to it, of course it was Hannah's fault. She was the one who used our children as bait to trick Marshall into taking her place. But… if this had to happen, if there was no way around it, then in reality, it really was my fault that it happened the way it did. I agree with Gumball that to remember Marshall, even like this, was better than losing him. But could we have avoided this? Why wasn't I watching the girls that night? Why didn't I keep them close by, knowing The Seeress's prophecy hadn't come true yet? Why didn't I force a contract with Hannah, making it so that he would only be there for half a year or something? There were a million ways that night could have turned out, but instead, it happened like this.

"Fionna, do you want to talk about it?" Gumball asked from his seat next to me. He reached over and laid his hand on my lap, stroking my thigh gently with his thumb so I would pay attention to him.

"It's just… even if it's not my fault, I still could have changed it. I could have done something differently, so this wouldn't have happened the way it did. I just… feel like a fool." I laid one of my warmed up hands on his, wrapping my fingers around the edge of his palm, holding him tenderly.

Gumball let out a big, heavy sigh, and reached over to pull my chin towards him, making me look at him. "I know this is new to you, Fionna. You're not used to being the one left behind. You're the one who always made that final sacrifice. I've almost lost you for good so many times, and each time I thought I would never be able to live right again. We just… have to learn to be strong. Now, more than ever, because we have three beautiful children who need us. We can do this, Fionna. I promise." For the first time in months, his smile had a degree of warmth to it.

I looked at him in wonder and disbelief. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe how blind I'd been, and how strong and compassionate he was being for me. He was right! There had been at least two dozen times where I left them behind, left them to wallow in misery, to let them think they'd never see me again. And each time they had to go through what I was going through. They had to experience what I was experiencing. I had always been so caught up in saving them, so caught up in being the hero, that I never stopped to consider what they might feel like once I was gone.

I set my cup down on the table next to us and hid my face in my hair. Slowly I stood up, letting the loose, flowing summer dress that I wore to the meeting earlier fall to my feet, and stood in front of him. "Gumball, I—I'm so sorry. I never… I never thought…" I collapsed onto his lap, straddling him and burying my face into his neck, letting the tears wash down my face once again. "I can't believe how selfish I've been! All those times I thought I was saving you, and really I was just leaving you behind. I never, ever wanted to make you feel like this, Gumball! I'm so sorry…" I cried and sobbed into his shoulder, gripping the folds of his shirt tightly in my hands.

He wrapped his arms around me, gently stroking my back in circles, shushing me and cooing me, trying to calm me down. "It's alright, Fionna," he soothed, pulling the long, messy blonde hair away from my face. "It's alright. You always came back to us. You've always been our hero." Again, he pulled my face up so he could look me in the eyes, a warm, generous smile on his beautiful pink lips. "You did what you thought was right, and never once did I doubt you. For all the pain and heart break I've endured, I've had happiness and joy a million times better, a million times longer. I felt pain because I loved you and nearly lost you, but I always knew you did it for all the right reasons, and who am I to question you?"

Through my tears I smiled down at him, laying my hand on his face and following the curve of his lips with my thumb. "I don't deserve you, Gumball. I really, really don't," I sniffled, letting the weight I'd put on myself lift itself up.

"You deserve the world, my love," he replied, pulling my face down to his with ease. He kissed me softly, sweetly, letting me feel through his lips everything he felt for me. I felt his love, his warmth, his kindness, his sympathy, his pure and utter strength. All this time I thought I was the strongest of us, but Gumball… he'd been through and came out on top of more than I could ever imagine. And he still had the strength left over to tell me it would be alright.

I crossed my arms around his neck, melting into him, letting the sweet taste of his lips fill my mouth. He slid his hands down to my hips, stroking them softly, letting his fingers trail down to and squeeze the fleshy bits that he loved so much. Out of instinct I let my hips roll back and forth in his hands, like I was dancing for him, bidding him to explore more of me. He made me feel like a person again, and, past all the hurt and torment I was feeling over losing Marshall, somewhere inside of me, I wanted to make Gumball feel just as good as he made me feel.

He let his hands glide down my hips, along my thighs, to the edge of my dress. With his lips still locked to mine, he slipped his fingers under the hem and gently tugged it up to my thighs. I adjusted for him, letting him pull the skirt of my dress wherever he wanted it to be. Gently, tenderly, I ran my hands across his neck and down to his chest, sneaking my fingers in between the gaps between his shirt buttons, tugging on the buttons one my one to reveal his beautiful pink chest. Carefully, Gumball glided his warm hands up under my dress, to the small of my back, pulling his lips away from me so he could look over my tear-stained face.

"You are so beautiful, even when your eyes are filled with sadness," he whispered, leaning in again to lay gentle, tender kisses on my neck.

I tilted my head for him, letting my guard down, letting myself just feel the moment, feel the now. I wanted to feel him, to be with him, to focus all of my energy and love and spirit on him. In the midst of all our sadness and all our pain, I felt like I'd almost forgotten about Gumball. But he… he never forgot about me. I never wanted to get that close to leaving him behind again.

I trailed my fingertips down his chest, down his stomach, and stopped at the button tab on his pants. As I did, he let his hands travel to the hooks of my bra, undoing them and eagerly sliding his hands around to cup my breasts. He pinched and tugged on my nipples, stroked and massaged my breasts with care and gentleness. By nature he was a tender man, and at a time like this, I couldn't ask him to be anything different.

He took his hands out from beneath my dress and pulled the sleeves down, making the dress and my bra drop down to my hips, exposing my top half to him as I straddled him in the chair. He ran his hands up and down my arms and sides and stomach, reveling in every inch of my body, running his eyes over every bit of my flesh. I let him look and touch for a minute before I lifted myself off of him and sat on my knees on the floor in front of him.

Seductively, I ran my hands up and down his thighs, letting them teasingly trail over his hard, waiting manhood. Then I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his pants, and with his help, I tugged off all the clothes on his lower half, leaving them to sit at his ankles. In front of me sat the strongest man I'd ever met, and one of the men I loved. As he looked down at me, want and affection covering his face, I thought to myself what I lucky woman I really was.

I leaned over his lap, letting my breasts glide across his bare thighs, and gently trickled my tongue over his hard, warm shaft. He squirmed in the seat at my touch, grasping the arms of it as he bit his lip and closed his eyes. I smiled to myself, letting myself feel good for making this wonderful, loving man feel pleasure, then I slipped his tip into my mouth. I licked it and sucked it gently, taking my time, working my way down his shaft, massaging him with my lips and tongue. He let out short little moans and gasps, rolling his hips this way and that, his body telling me he wanted more. I glided my mouth up and down, keeping my tongue soft so it felt like velvet against him, trying to get as much of him in my mouth as I could before he blocked out my airways. With one last long lick, I pulled myself off of him and stood up.

I let him watch me as I slipped the rest of my clothing off, standing bare in front of him, the sunlight bathing my knee-length blonde hair and creamy skin. He held his hands out to me, bidding me to come to him, and I couldn't refuse. With his length in my hand, I positioned myself to straddle him in the chair, my knees caught between his legs and the arms of the seat. Gently, I lowered myself on to him. As his tip pushed through my wet, wanting slit, I let out a small gasp, and slid him deeper inside of me, until I was left sitting fully on his lap.

He placed his hands on my hips, guiding them back and forth as I rocked on top of him, feeling him, enjoying him, knowing that in this very small way I could make him feel good, too. I bent towards him, locking my lips to his, our heavy breaths mingling in a flurry of heat and passion. He moaned against my lips and I moaned against his as I rocked my body on top of him slowly, creating a sensual, perfect rhythm. I wanted to be with him, to enjoy him, to show him how much I loved him with my body, and so I kept a steady rolling pace, letting him slip back and forth inside of me.

I entwined my fingers into his hair, pulling his head back from our kiss so I could see his lidded eyes and lusty look, so he could see my face and see how much he meant to me. He raised one hand from my hips to my face, laying his thumb on my parted lips. Gently, I sucked his thumb into my mouth, moaning against it, licking it tenderly with my tongue and nibbling lightly with my teeth. I could see in his face how much he loved this, how much he loved having so much of himself inside of me. He wrapped his other arm around my back, holding me down onto him and pulling his thumb from my mouth to add to the hold. Slowly, he rocked his hips with mine, pumping into me from underneath, keeping his eyes locked on mine so he could see my every reaction. It was like we'd come together like a perfectly working machine; my hips rolled back and forth and his hips pumped up and down. Even with the slow, loving rhythm, I could feel the pleasure build inside of me.

"I love you so much, Gumball," I whispered, leaning down to lay gentle kisses on his neck between moans. He raised one hand and laid it on the back of my head, holding me completely against him, every inch of my body pressed against every inch of his.

"I love you, Fionna…" he whispered back, his pace picking up. The ecstasy was building with each tender, loving thrust, so I clung to him, whimpering and sighing my moans into his neck. I tried to keep up with his rhythm, but I was slowly being overwhelmed by the building pressure between my legs, until finally, even his pace was faltering. I sat straight up in his lap, rocking my hips as hard and as fast as I could, feeling him slam into me from underneath. The warmth flooded me like a river flooding out from a damn, warm, all-encompassing, making me writhe and buck against him, biting my lip so only he could hear me.

With the bucking and writhing, he couldn't hold back either. Almost like he was planning to release with me, he pounded into me a few more times before I felt him spill himself inside of me, collapsing in the chair as I collapsed on top of him.

He wrapped his arms around me again, our chests rising and falling together, as he laid small, loving kisses on my forehead and face. I forced my hands under his back, holding him, too.

"Thank you," I said quietly to his ear, kissing his neck. "Thank you… for everything…"

"You're the mother of my children, the queen of my kingdom, and the hero of my world. I should be thanking you," he chuckled, hugging me close to him.

I smiled against his neck and let out a heavy, contented sigh. We may have been missing a piece of us, but we still had each other. That was something he remembered. It was something he helped me to remember. It was something I refused to ever forget.

Just like Marshall.