Chapter 2: Guardian

"Come on dude just two more". Fionna coached spotting Gumball as he dead lifted fifty pounds.

His face was almost neon red at this point. Sweat ran down his neck and soaked his light pink t shirt. With his sneakers planted on the ground, he put weight of his legs as he lifted, clutching the bar and pushing it above his head.

"This is actually torture". He complained, about to finish his last rep.

"You got it"! Fionna encouraged.

At the sound of those words, a flashback occurred to Gumball. He remembered the time when he and Fionna had encountered Marshall Lee on his roof the day Fionna saved the fluffy people. His eyebrows narrowed, remembering how Fionna swooned over Marshall and as he had made his way back into the castle he slipped because he was not strong or coordinated enough to keep himself from any chance of harm's way. Thinking of the way Marshall smirked at him earlier for being so weak forced him to lift the bar completely over his head and then throw it. Fionna gasped and ducked as the weight flew over her head.

"I'm sorry, Fionna". Gumball gasped as he planted his hands on his bent knees and inhaled deeply.

"Dude you did awesome. You completed your first weight lifting session". Fionna congratulated.

Still breathing heavily, Gumball looked up with his red stains cheeks and smiled. Fionna blushed seeing him smile. She was impressed by his dedication. Watching him take part in one of her workouts had not only surprised her but had also sparked a bit of attraction. She could see the muscles in his body working from his arms down to his legs. She thought for sure he'd complain the whole time of being sweaty and dirty. It shocked her that he wasn't even wearing his crown which was a very rare site. As Prince caught his breath, Fionna turned her back on him, making her way towards their water bottles sitting on a bench. While reaching over to pick up one, she peered over her shoulder and watched Gumball for a moment. He started to stand upright, uncurling his back. Placing a hand on his hip, he shook his hair a bit that appeared attractive and soft in its messy state despite the beads of sweat that ran down one side of his face and down his neck. Fionna shut her eyes, feeling her heart beat speed up from such a masculine side of PG that she had never seen. A part of her wanted to go over to him and run a hand through his hair playfully as if to fix it. As she thought about it more, she couldn't help but imagine her hand making from his head to his shoulders and back as if to she were to examine his hard work for herself.

"What are we doing next"? PG asked as he turned his head toward Fionna.

He blushed a bit seeing her bent over and quickly looked away despite his desire not to. Fionna's cheeks were colored bright red as well as she stood up and fixed her skirt.

"Follow me". Fionna said, throwing Gumball a canteen of water.

Desperately he chugged and followed her, choking on water soon after.

"Unbelievable, a canteen of water can even overcome me". He said sarcastically.

Fionna shook her head and smiled picking up two swords.

"Shut up you're doing super good. Keep this up every day and you will be super fit in no time"!

Gumball nodded and took one of the swords. He examined it for a moment looking at his reflection. Taking his eyes away from the sword he then stared at Fionna as she thrashed the swords practicing her menacing looking techniques. He thought of how she must think of him and how no wonder she preferred danger zones like Marshall Lee or Flame Prince. Even when he was dating Fionna for a period of time, his insecurity only seemed to build whenever Marshall was around. Just seeing him try and dangle her infront of him from the other day had irritating him beyond belief. He had expected Marshall to literally and figuratively swoop right in the day that they broke up. As Gumball watched Fionna swing around her own weapon for warming herself up, he couldn't help but feel remorse for their breakup. They were forced apart from each other for the sake of Gumball finding a suitable wife to be his queen despite his belief that he already had one.

Fionna put her sword in the belt hole of her skirt and came towards Gumball.

"Ok, so let's work on some sword combat. Since I don't want you getting hurt, I'm going to need to uh position you". Fionna said a bit sheepishly, gripping the back of her neck.

The heat of embarrassment was concealed on her face as PG just smirked with amusement. It was as if Fionna was trying to remember and at the same time forget when the last time was that she had touched him in any way. Those memories of her holding onto his arm and his hand as well as the times she laid her head on his chest seemed to come back to her as she started to position him. Simply touching the pink skin on Gumball's arm brought back those memories to Fionna despite her desire to forget them. He heart seemed to clutch against her chest as if their time together had ended only yesterday. Despite their breakup being a couple months ago, PG also felt remorse. He could see in Fionna's eyes that purposely dodged his that she still felt uneasy around him. Fionna found her body pressed up close and personal against the prince's chest, trying to position his arm holding the sword. He stared at her lovingly as she talked excitingly about sword fighting and what she could teach him. Straightening her voice, she stepped away from him, taking in his sweet scent. After lifting his arm up a bit more she told him to bend his knees and keep his back up straight. Stepping away from him, Fionna admired her work and nodded.

"Ok, charge at me". Fionna said, pulling her sword from the belt hoop of her skirt.

"What? Are you insane"?! PG called out, horrified as the handle of the sword that he held in both hands resting on his shoulder shook.

"Do it"!

"That's obsurd I might hurt you". He noted arrogantly.

Fionna lifted one eyebrow to him as if to say, "Really are you serious".

After all, she had battled multiple monsters at once as well as gigantic ones. Fighting Gumball would literally be a piece of candy. Gumball shifted his weight and darted to her with a battle cry. His sword pointed to her as if he was jousting. In one hand Fionna grabbed Gumball by the wrist that held his sword and flipped him over. He laid there silently. If he didn't feel emasculated then, he sure as ever did now. Fionna looked over him, the shadow of her face darkened the room.

"Rule number one, don't ever charge at someone sword first. You need to use it like an extension of yourself. If it was your arm you would've broken it easily".

Fionna said as she stood up straight admiring her sword.

It was old and a bit rusty but it was her favorite because every battle she ever had, she had one with this sword. She gave Gumball a hand and helped him up. For the rest of the afternoon, she taught him how to cross blades correctly, how to achieve proper footwork and even how to look for weak points. The sun was setting as Gumball and Fionna's swords clashed against each other, both of them sweating and grunting as they dodged one another. Fionna saw Gumball's leg stick out at one point and just as she was about to knock him over, he spun quickly and surprising Fionna as she clashed her blade against his before he almost sliced her face in half. The two of them pushed against each other's blade for a few moments looking intently into each other's eyes. As she stared into his brilliant focused purple eyes, she got an idea. Without warning she let out a cry of pain. Gumball gripped less on the sword as her name came from his lips. Before he could finish, Fionna got back in the game, thrashing her sword around her head, then clashing against PG's sword and forcing it out of his hands and into the tumble mats. He just stared at the sword in amazing before he laughed and turned back to Fionna

"You cheated". He said slightly unamused.

"That's rule number two, don't give into weakness. You could've backed off if you thought I was hurt you don't need to keep clashing if you think you are hurting me, obviously DON'T EVER do that with an enemy though, especially Ice Queen, she's full of tricks". Fionna explained.

"Understood…well, thank you Fionna, I truly am grateful". Gumball said as he held his arms out to her.

She smiled and came in for the sweaty hug which she knew would also be rare coming from Gumball. He embraced her warmly, pressing his temple into her hair. Fionna rubbed his back and allowed her cheek to rest against his heart that she could feel beating into her ear. She shut her ears, feeling her heart sink again as PG hugged her close. Their embrace lasted beyond the duration of a friendly hug which made them both experience senses of satisfaction and guilt.

"I don't want to lose you, man". Fionna said into PG's shirt.

The prince broke their embrace gently and instead placed his hands on Fionna's shoulders to look at her. Just by examining her expression, Gumball could tell that Fionna knew she was disliked by his new bride. Their wedding was in a matter of weeks and shortly after, Gumabll's fiancé, Water Princess would inherit control over all of the candy kingdom, including his guardian. Gumball shook his head slowly, forcing a small smile to crack his lips. His thumb caressed Fionna's shoulder tenderly as she waited for an answer.

"I won't let anything in this world keep us apart". Gumball stated warmly.

Fionna smiled a bit and blushed as she looked away. Running his hands over her arms, Gumball pulled her back into his embrace. As Fionna took back her spot above the crook of his neck, she pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh as she remembered all they had been through together. Over the past four years, they had become coworkers, best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, and then friends once again. While Fionna allowed herself to be pressed against her ex, the images of him and his new wife together disturbed her. She was his employee before anything else, however their past romantic relationship seemed to haunt her every time she simply looked at him. It was a burden that she hoped would someday leave her.

Over in the Ice Kingdom, Ice queen glared at her crystal ice ball, watching the two embrace one another. Ice Queen sneered at the vision of Prince Gumball happily embracing Fionna, resting his cheek against the top of her white rabbit hat. Her long blue nails tapped against her crossed arms while she monitored them

"I can't take another day of them being all lovey dovey! Why couldn't he have chosen me to be his girlfriend"! Ice Queen called out, slamming her fist against the ice table that held the crystal ball.

Waddling into the room, Ice Queen's prized side kick stared up at the crystal ball, noting the differences between their master and Fionna.

"Wank"! The penguin called out.

"What is it with guys and blondes anyway"!? Ice Queen called out in response to her penguin's analysis.

Letting out a shriek of frustration in her fit of rage, she released ice from her hands, curling her fingers as she noticed a block of ice now encased her yellow lamp. As she stared at the frozen object, an idea came to mind. Turning her attention back to her crystal that stalked Fionna and Gumball, she folded her arms as she plotted to herself. Her lips curled and her eyes tightened staring at the blonde wrapped in Prince Gumball's arms securely.

"I'll show that tomboy! She's nothing without her strength. There's no way she can get in the way of me and my Gumball if she can't fight".

Ice queen cackled wickedly to herself and the image of Prince Gumball and Fionna split down the middle, separating them both from one another.