A/N

Hello again! Back for more? (Thanks for coming back, by the way.)

So, I'm doing a PPG POV in this chapter. It's not Buttercup. I've already done three chapters from her point of view. That doesn't mean I'll stop with her, but I'm going to take a little break. It would be extremely helpful if maybe you could comment on who you think I should write a POV of? I haven't done Brick or Butch yet, and I promise that will be written when the time is right, but so far, whose point of view have you enjoyed reading the most?

And also, thanks so much for reviewing/favoriting/following!

Meli32195: Yeah, I thought Boomer'd most likely be the sensitive one, because Bubbles is. And the sensitive ones fall head-over-heels first right? :)

Ppgrulz123: Thanks, I think Jersey Shore is hilarious, and thought it might be funny if the "accidentally" happened in the story. :)

Vwvanlover- I'm glad you could see Butch's impression of Blossom clear in your head! I really strive for that. And thanks, I'll keep trying to upload a chapter daily ;)

Monkey-Lover-25: Yeah… I thought Butch should try and expand on his vocab a little haha.

Canzie: Thanks for reviewing! And yeah, cliffhangers are almost irresistible. It's so easy to write something cryptic down that only the author will understand :)

KeroNya: Thanks! I try to make it interesting :)

Laurenv20: Secretly, Buttercup is my favorite too. I just couldn't bring myself to alter that feisty attitude of hers. It's too classic!

The-writing-vampire: Cayenne pepper in chocolate pudding? That actually sounds kind of good… I guess chocolate could use a little spice! And, yes, Brick is a bit immature, but I had the exact same thought in mind. Girls DO mature faster than boys. Actually, a couple of those questions will be answered in the chapter :D

Pink Moon Witch: Heehee. It makes me happy when my reviewers tell me to hurry :)

And thanks to KeroNya, laurenv20, Pink Moon Witch, and SunRose-01 for favoriting and/or adding this story to their alerts! (Also, if I forgot to reply to your comment, or put your name down, it's a complete accident. I'm a busy girl, and my inbox is kind of clogged, so I might not have seen the email with the comment or update thing.)

Disclaimer: I don't own The PowerPuff Girls.

Chapter 7

(Bubbles POV)

The second night in that horrible place, my dreams were filled with terror. Actually, a dream wasn't the word for that. Nightmare wasn't even terrifying enough to describe what I had seen.

It had started out great; I had been sitting in a field, enjoying a nice view of a meadow. Call me cliché, or a little girl, but I had imagined a pretty mountain in the distance with a waterfall spiraling down from it, and a rainbow touching the blue depths at the bottom. I hadn't been thinking about it, but I had made the water color the shade of someone's blue eyes… There was wildlife everywhere. There were different species of animals that varied from deer to sheep to narwhal, really anything I could imagine. I had even placed some peaceful dinosaurs and unicorns in my Utopia of dreams.

Anyway, I had been sitting on a yellow picnic blanket, admiring the scenery when all of a sudden, the sky had split open. It hadn't just broken in two like an egg, that's not what I mean, but suddenly, out of nowhere, thunder cracked and a bolt of lightning struck my meadow.

I had yelped, jumped to my feet, and had begun to sprint over to the scene, hoping no animals or plants had been hurt. All of my beautiful creatures were racing to the cover of the waterfall and the mountain for safety and it made my heart break. No one was supposed to be afraid here! Especially not the ones I loved.

I had reached the spot where I thought the lightning hit. It wasn't hard to find. I could see the parched spot of burning grass and bare ground from 100 meters away.

I fell to my knees and began to sob, because in front of me… was a dying fawn.

It was barely four months old I guessed, judging from its' size and the tiny white dots that speckled its light peach pelt. Its blue eyes were glazed over in fear and pain, and they were as blue as the water. My eyes traveled down from its beautiful head and down to its body where I choked back yet another sob. A horrible hole had been plunged between the poor baby's neck and heart, right where its shoulder blade was. The blood was pouring out onto the bare, cracked ground below me, and I tried not to gag as I examined the wound. The fawn was still breathing.

I couldn't see the ground through the hole, so I hoped that it hadn't been gouged deep enough to do any horrid damage, but I should have known better. The veins that made blood circulate from its heart to its brain had been severed, and it died moments later.

I let my shoulders sag and let out a huge moan, looking down upon my poor creature. What had caused that sudden lightning strike? What had made this beautiful thing suffer so much?

Something nudged my shoulder from behind me. It was a firm nudge, but it was also gentle. I ignored it the first time. When the nudge was repeated, I turned around. I found myself looking at the standing body of a pretty, also light-toned doe; the fawn's mother.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed burying my face in my animal's chest. "I wish I could've helped. It was my fault, I let my guard down. I couldn't protetct this place."

"It wasn't your fault, Bubbles," Came the soft reply. I jumped in alarm and looked up at the Doe's face, wanting to find those beautiful features that I recognized of the graceful deer. Instead, I found myself looking up at the face of none other than Professor Utonium.
"Professor?" I coughed out. I couldn't believe my eyes right now.

"Bubbles, you have to learn to forget. You have to let your guard down sometimes, even though it can get you hurt," He continued. I ignored the fact that my father's head was on the body of a deer, and looked up at him, taking in his words.

"But… but it scares me," I whimpered. I hated getting hurt. It made my heart ache.

The professor's throaty chuckle escaped his mouth, "Forgive, Bubbles. It might be the only chance to save what you love."

I nodded and looked down at my knees, as I was still kneeling. The professor made a sweet whinnying sound and nudged his head against my cheek affectionately. I tried again to forget how weird it was that his face was on the body of a deer. I was used to being loved by the animal, but with the professor's head on it? That was kind of creepy….

Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn't heard his words.

"Bubbles."
"Huh?" I asked softly, looking up at him. He lifted his hoof and pointed with it behind me where the mutilated fawn should be.

"Look," He whispered.

I turned to, once again, look upon that gruesome sight. Instead, something new greeted me.

Instead of a fawn lying there, it was a boy. He was dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt, and Nikes. His blonde hair was messy, muddy, and blood-caked. He was lying face-down in the dirt, so I couldn't see his face, but I already knew who he was. The most shocking thing was that in the middle of his back was that same bloody gouge that had been in the fawn.

"Boomer," I whispered, biting back more tears. I understood now.

I woke up to someone nudging me, and I turned around drowsily and opened up my eyes. I half expected for a doe with Professor's face to be standing behind me.

"Bubbles," Came that whisper. My eyesight was blurry, and I couldn't make out who was there. For all I knew, it could be another dream. Or…dare I hope? Maybe Buttercup or Blossom had escaped, and we were getting out of here! But then… why had I had that dream?

"Bubbles," The gentle sound was closer to my ear.
"What are you doing?" I muttered irritably, turning my head to face Buttercup whom was on my right side.

The only response I got from her was a soft snore. My eyes opened a little bit wider now, and I blinked a few times. I craned my neck to peer around my dark-haired sister.
"Blossom?" I whispered, but I saw her too. All three of us were contained still. That could only mean…

I whipped back around, coming face-to-face with none other than…

Boomer.

"What do you want?" I asked, ignoring my dream for the time being. I had planned to be hostile, but it had come out more fearful than I had requested of my voice. I was always so bad at masking my feelings. Why couldn't I be more forceful like Buttercup?

"I came to…" He started, but he faltered. His dark blue eyes drifted to his feet, and he took another breath to start again. Yet again, he couldn't find the words.
"Came to what?" I demanded, but softly. There it was again! Why couldn't I be harsher? It was totally against my nature, but why couldn't I just try it?

"I came to apologize," He finally said, "About what I did. I-I led you on, and then I knocked you out, and deceived you and stuff, and then I brought you here and you've been treated so badly… I'm just so, so sorry."

His words hit my heart like he had just sent a bullet through me. Wow. He'd said it with so much sincerity. I took a breath to reply, but he continued to ramble.

"It's just that… I agreed to do this, and I didn't want to go back on my word, so I had to ignore all of… uh… that… and I had to just do what I was supposed to before Butch and Brick got made at me, alright? I didn't want my already blooming feelings for you to-" I put my finger in front of his mouth as best as I could to shush him. After all, everyone else was asleep.

"It's okay," I whispered.

"I-it is?" I nodded. His apology had meant much more than him just letting me go, or something of the sort. It made me feel like he wasn't that deceiving jerk that I'd thought he was. Now I almost regretted wanting to get back at him.

"I just wanted you to know how sorry I am," He said in barely a whisper, looking away.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked softly, this time trying to be gentle.

He whipped his head around to stare at me with those deep blue eyes, and even in the dark, I could see a light blush form on his face. "Well… uh… you're so nice and stuff. It just made me feel bad."
I smirked. "My sisters are nice, would you do the same for them?"
I saw that glint in his eye, and I suppressed a giggle. "Okay… Blossom's nice, and Buttercup is occasionally. Would you do the same for them?" I rephrased the question.

He looked down at his shoes again, appearing deep in thought. After a few heartbeats that lasted like centuries, he looked up at me.
"I don't think so," He murmured. I looked at him expectantly, urging him softly to go on with the look on my face. "There's… there's some weird feeling I get when I'm around you. I like it."

Now it was my turn to blush. I looked down at the floor, contemplating those words. My dream came back to me. Forgive, Bubbles. It might be the only chance to save what you love.

Honesty was the best policy. And for once, I felt more than just a mild attraction to the boy. I really felt something here.

"I think I feel that way, too." I replied.

The look in those gorgeous eyes made me smile. "A-Are you serious?" He stammered.

I nodded. "Mm Hmm."

He bit his lip then, and he looked down at the floor again. There was a heavy silence between us, and my heart started to beat frantically.

"Is… is there something wrong?" I whispered, feeling my hopes begin to plummet to the bottom of a chasm.

He emitted a small chuckle, and he looked up at me again. "Nah," He whispered.

And then I was caught up in so much emotion, as he did something so little and so sweet that it swept me off my feet. He leaned over, and he placed the tiniest little kiss on my lips. It was so sincere… so beautiful.

In that moment, I thought that I might want more, but what he had done was so satisfying, that I complied without complaint. The touch of his lips on mine had warmed my entire body from the tips of my pigtails to the soles of my shoes.

He got up after a short pause. "Don't tell anyone, 'kay?" He whispered.

I nodded. I wasn't planning to anyway. My entire life, my relationships had been a public thing. Everyone had always known whom I was dating. Now, it was private. So private. I wanted to leap for joy though, because of whom I liked. We weren't actually seeing each other, but that little intimate moment had been enough for my feeling for him to skyrocket. He gave me a little shy smile, and then he stole out of the room as quiet as he had come in.

A huge grin spread across my lips, and I leaned back in my seat. Glancing over at my sisters, my grin faltered. This was something that they could never know… This was one of the first secrets that I would ever keep from them.