Princess Bubblegum sat beside her prince, her legs pulled into her chest under her skirt to keep warm from the biting air. She felt numb, not from the cold but from the utter shock of the sight before her. The Ice Prince was still, like a lifeless, blue doll. Skin many shades paler than usual. She felt her heart beat become erratic, though she had been told that he would be fine.

But…so much blood…

She jumped as a hand fell upon her shoulder. She looked upward at Doctor Princess, who smiled gently at her, reassuring her of his health. A few stray strands of brown hair clung to her green-tinted forehead, wet from perspiration, and then she left the room, gently shutting the door behind her. Doctor Princess had been desperately helping the Ice Prince fight his battle for life, when Princess Bubblegum was so scared of doing anything. Just watched as blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, staining the pure white sheets…

In a matter of seconds, she felt herself bite hard into her bottom lip, trying to restrain the tears that quickly fell from her sad blue eyes. She heard the door behind her open, and she quickly began to wipe her eyes. She figured it'd be the Ice King, though he'd been here earlier. He hadn't cried, or even tear up, for that matter. His eyes spoke a sadness, a melancholy of which Bubblegum had never seen before… She could never comprehend the Ice King could produce such a face.

He had spoken lightly to her, trying to smile despite the situation. "You shouldn't look so sad," he told her, though his sadness poked through his words, and it was evident on his face. Quite contradictory. "He will be fine. He was simply protecting his kingdom. S-Something I could never do."

Bubblegum had looked upward at that, shocked. He didn't look at her, though. His face had deepened as he gazed down at his sleeping son, who had been at the verge of death just hours before. Then he turned away, taking a long and shaky breath. He looked at the princess. "Please tell Finn and Jake that I no longer desire their friendship."

She had winced, but nodded weakly.

But to Princess Bubblegum's surprise, it had not been Ice King's return. She didn't turn as the door opened, but felt a large, thick blanket placed upon her shoulders. Startled, she turned as she saw Gunter, Guula, and Garry waddle to her side, Gunter leaping off the back of her chair that he had used to get to the level of her shoulder. Guula, a pretty bow on her head and quite small, carried a tea cup with a small plate under it. In it was a steaming liquid. She desperately reached upward with it in her hands, and PB accepted it, sipping to find that it was mint tea. She nodded gratefully at them, kissed her two forefingers, and placed the kiss on all three on their foreheads. They squealed appreciatively, and then set off on their way, shutting the door behind them.

The princess sighed, gazing over at the nightstand where her broken warmth contraption lay. Something had happened on the battlefield, but she couldn't figure it out. The melting snow had most likely caused a shortage. She sighed, the warm liquid fighting off the cold, along with the help of the thick blanket placed upon her shoulders. Her breathing came out shakily as she gazed at his peaceful looking face.

This is all my fault.

She sniffled, her thoughts wandering until they focused on the one statement. She knew she couldn't stay mad at Finn forever. After Jake had carried the prince inside and into the infirmary, he had desperately tried to explain Finn's actions. She had been so numb…she couldn't even look him in the eye. He latched onto her, hugging her legs, his voice quivering as he begged. Begged. Forgiveness for his misguided friend.

She could only turn her back on him.

Only now did Bubblegum fully take in his words. He was just so scared something had happened to you! He…he thought you were being held against his will. He didn't mean to—

A weak sound escaped her throat as she desperately tried to hold her tears, and she hiccupped, rubbing her red nose. She finished off her tea and placed the cup on a nightstand, pushing aside a thermometer and a few pills. Then she hugged the blanket around her shoulders, trying desperately to warm herself.

If only she had left the Ice King to never truly knowing if his only son had a heart. He would have figured it out eventually. She hardly even did anything. All she did was annoy him and treat him like an experiment. All these weeks…only for it to end like this. A brutal war. All for nothing. Nothing had been gained from any of this.

Princess Bubblegum gently reached behind her, pulling at her now shorter hair. A good couple of feet of it had been donated to mend the candy people. It was more than enough to make sure they all were healed and put back together. It now only reached below her shoulder blades. She wasn't concerned with her new look at all. It simply didn't matter.

And when she went home, she'd have to make a public apology. Tell everyone it was her fault all of this happened. It was her fault. She should have just cared for her own people, not the Ice Kingdom. Glob, why did she have to care so much? She hated that about herself.

Another weak sound escaped her throat. More tears began to spill. She quickly covered her mouth, trying to hold in the animalistic sounds but they spilled from her throat erratically. Soon enough, she was sobbing, strange noises escaping her already throbbing throat. She cried out, her voice a siren.

Princess Bubblegum was like that for a long, long time. She eventually got a hold of herself, after she felt she had released all of that which was pent up inside her. She sniffled, wiping her nose, which she found she could no longer breathe through. She sniffled, calming herself down. This was all so horrible. Everything that she had balanced so perfectly on her tiny shoulders had fallen and crumbled all around her.

She used the blanket to wipe at her face and then looked back toward the prince. She noticed he had moved in all her wailing. His lips were now parted open and his face seemed to be directed more at her. He was still sound asleep.

With a sniffle, the princess got to her feet. She walked the foot or two to the prince's side and simply gazed down at him. Suddenly, the battle she had been trying to force away came crawling from the back of her mind, producing flashes and pictures. The fight between him and Finn. The startled look in his eye as he saw she was crying. The sword piercing through his flesh and protruding from his stomach.

Her face scrunched up as she began to cry again. Most of all, it was her fault he got hurt. It's all my fault…I couldn't save him…

She just stood there a long time. A tear fell from the tip of her nose and onto the sheets and she wiped her eyes. It didn't stop the onslaught of fresh tears. She made small wheezing sounds, sniffling, trying to desperately keep them from falling but—her mind… It wouldn't stop circling around him. Her chest ached so much…like she had been ripped open. It hurt her so much. Why did it have to hurt so much? Why can't it just stop…?

"P-Princess…"

She gasped and opened her wet eyes. She saw his deep, dark blue eyes gazing up at her weakly, grinning. She quickly wiped her eyes, looking away, and not saying anything in reply. She felt his gaze burn into her for a moment, and then the sheets moving. She looked back to see him sitting up in his bed. The Princess gasped and took hold of him.

He groaned, holding his stomach. "You need to lay back down. You're going to reopen…"

The prince tsked. "I don't care." He winced, hissing as he sat straight.

She watched. He should have been asleep for a much longer time. All the blood he had lost. The I.V. was still pumping more into him. She opened her mouth to say something else, but he went first, his voice bitter.

"I'm going to kill him."

Her eyes widened. She looked up at him; his faded eyes sharp and angry, blue flames raging in them. He gritted his teeth, holding his stomach as if his guts would fall onto the floor. She swallowed, almost frightened by him.

"N-no!" She shouted, clenching her eyes shut and looking downwards. He stopped, his gaze softening as he looked toward her, confused. "H-He's…my friend."

"You're friends with that idiot? He tried to—"

"I know! B-But…" her eyes stung again. "He didn't mean any harm."

"He sure caused a lot of harm."

The princess looked up at him. She didn't realize it, but her eyes portrayed pain, like she was injured. "I know," she returned weakly.

They were silent for a moment. The princess was sniffling gently, trying to hold back what she had held in since he had awoken. But it was getting so hard…

"Princess—"

Suddenly, her heart somewhat lost, she cried, "Bonnibel!"

The prince, dazed, replied, "…Bonnibel?"

She whispered gently, "That's my given name."

He was silent for a long, long time. And she felt she should have kept her mouth shut, but then she heard him reply softly, "Cassius."

"What?"

"My name is Cassius. The first," he added gently, teasingly.

"Oh," she replied, sniffling as she laughed gently.

This exchange didn't seem to help her stinging eyes. She furiously began wiping at her face, and a sound escaped her lips before she could stop it. All her fault…all her fault… all her fault… all her fault…

And suddenly, she felt a hand on the back of her head, pushing her forward gently. Bonnibel Bubblegum gasped, taken off guard and suddenly falling forward. She caught herself a bit before she slammed against him, her head now on his chest. He ran his hand over her head in a comforting way, and she nearly melted on the spot. She broke down, sobbing into him, relishing the safety that rolled off him in waves.

"I'm so sorry! I-I-It's…all my fault…" she cried.

He whispered to her, voice fierce and encouraging, "No, it's not, Bonny. It is not your fault."

She felt a whimper escape her throat, and then she realized he was tugging her gently. She willingly obliged, crawling onto the bed with him, hugging him, basking in his scent, though mixed with blood, and loosening her grip when she heard him hiss. He held tightly to her, though, as if releasing her meant she would fall to her death.

His body was anything but warm, but the comfort wasn't in the coolness of his skin. It was the fact that he was there, that he held her close to him, that he whispered her name in her ear like a chant. Her face against his bare chest, her tears streaming freely, she felt vulnerable but safe. Safe…

When her tears began to slow, Cassius rubbed her head gently a few more times before whispering softly to her, "I need you to tell me."

"Tell you w-what?" Her voice was hoarse and weak. She pulled away from him and stared with red, wet eyes. Those eyes seemed to rip him apart…

"Why…all this happened."

"He…didn't mean to. It wasn't his fault."

"Then why did he turn your people against mine?!" He ground out bitterly, fighting to maintain an even voice.

"He thought you were keeping me held hostage. He thought I was being forced to stay here… I…I told him. He thought he was doing the right thing."

Prince Cassius held his tongue, a slew of unkind words burning the back of his throat. The princess in his arms felt his anger and betrayal, and pulled away to look at him as he spoke. "The idiot didn't trust you—?"

"No! I mean—"

"Finn, was it? He was the hero you said did many great things, didn't you?"

Bonnibel stared at him. She felt her chest clench uncomfortably in her aching chest. This was quickly going awry, she could tell, but he had every right to be angry. Just…not at Finn. It was her fault. She had abandoned Finn and Jake and her kingdom to help another and she watched everything fall apart, slip through her fingers like quick sand. No one could be blamed but herself.

Cassius looked confused and weak. With his skin the color of melting ice, and his temperature about the same, it was strange he could even speak functionally without collapsing, but he was doing just that. The damage that had been done seemed to melt into her at that moment. The Gumball Guardians had expelled fire unto the castle, and a portion of it that she hadn't had the chance to explore had been demolished. The Ice King had been mad with worry and grief when his son's state had been announced to him, and he seemed taken aback when he had heard who caused it. The one whom he, not long ago, had desired a friendship with.

She nodded gently.

Cassius shook his head, thinking some hero. He scoffed. "Go to your hero. I'm sure he needs you a lot more than I need you."

Bonnibel wiped furiously at her face when two tears betrayed her. That aching pain in her chest seemed to explode. She didn't even ask herself why he would say such cruel words before she scrambled off the bed and out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her.

I am so so so so so so sorry. It's been too long. About two/three months. And not only that but this chapter is so achingly short it kind of hurts. *points to chest* In here.

But I felt like I needed to get this chapter out as quickly as possible so I could tell you this. I got a lot of comments saying "OH MY GOD IS THIS THE END? WHY DID YOU KILL OFF THE PRINCE, YOU SICK FUCK?" And so I apologize for startling you. Maybe I shouldn't do epic cliffhangers any more.

But, no, this is NOT the end. I might have said in previous chapters that this story is nearing the end, and yes, it has reached its high point. At least, I think it has. I may do another twist and ithave like twenty more chapters, haha. I hope I do that. But we'll have to see what comes to mind.

And another thing I want to apologize for is the shortness of chapters. But this was my first story on Fanfiction and I didn't really give it any thought. But since I started this story with chapters that are "short and sweet" I am going to continue with chapters that are "short and sweet".

I hope that's okay.

Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading. It really means a lot to me. I'd also like to give a shout out topurpledragon6 for being with me since chapter 1 and reviewing for every chapter. It means a lot. :3

Anyway, thank you so much, guys! I hope you're all doing good as of now. BYE.