I am SOOOOO sorry, I mean really. I keep having to say this, but I can't really do much more. I just had to spend the past few weeks with my grandmother and my great grandmother. I'm trying to spend as much time with her as I can before she passes on (which hopefully won't be for a long time, though she is like 83). So hopefully that's somewhat of a good excuse to not write. *cough* Anyway, so...here ya are! I'm not promising a long chapter, but it's better than nothing.

I LOVE YOU MY LOVELY LITTLE LEMON DROPS!

(Butch POV)

I yawned widely as everyone continued to walk through the woods, hoping to come to the bunches of blueberries that grew but a ways away. We weren't too far, but we had to walk so we did not miss her. She could not have gotten far, and there is no way in this world Bubbles might have resisted the blueberries.

I had been feeling rather groggy, which was most likely due to Boomer's sleeping disruption in the middle of the night. I would have to get him for that. I felt absolutely worthless at that moment; half the time not knowing if I was completely awake. I found myself dosing off constantly throughout our brief journey, nearly running into a tree branch during the process. Buttercup was too occupied to notice my rather strange behavior. I could not blame her though, she had been through a lot the past few weeks. She had been taking everything so incredibly well it was scary; it was almost as though nothing had affected her. However, somehow I could tell that she was dying inside.

It was incredibly hard to know someone as if they were your twin, but not be able to remember anything about them. I knew Buttercup...I knew everything that one could possibly know about her. I felt so close to her, as though we had known each other our whole lives. Perhaps we did? I had no earthly idea. I had no memories of her whatsoever. It was devastating and nobody could do anything to help me, as much as they wished to.

I ran straight into a tree branch with that, causing me to bow my head and hold it in my hands.

"Having directional issues?" Buttercup questioned as she walked up next to me.

"Rather having awareness issues in general," I muttered rubbing my head.

Buttercup walked in front of me, and kissed my forehead, "I'm sorry."

"Tis' nothing," I said waving it off.

Buttercup nodded, then we continued to walk in silence. I yawned widely causing Buttercup to turn and look at me.

"Are you sure you are well?" she questioned. "You look as though you could retire."

I shook my head, "Nah, I'm wonderful."

"Are you sure?" Buttercup asked one last time.

I nodded, "Positive."

We continued walking in silence once more, following Brick as he proceeded to find the correct path to the field of blueberries. It could not have been to far from where we were, since we had already been walking for quite some time. I found myself having to shake my head violently from time to time, to prevent dosing off while walking. My eyes would attempt to shut themselves, and I would have to think about it to keep them open. I nearly ran into another tree branch, but managed to avoid it. I figured that by that time Buttercup would certainly be suspicious.

"THERE!"

I jolted awake once more as I heard Brick yell out in triumph, "She is there!"

"With another woman...?" Blossom added.

"BUBBLES!" Boomer screamed as he ran towards his wife.

"Mummy!" Bonnie cried out happily, struggling to reach her mother from Blossom's firm hold.

Bubbles looked towards us with a confused look on her face, and then started to walk towards Boomer. The poor man was practically in tears...

"Boomer? What...?" she questioned before Boomer grabbed her in a suffocating hug.

"Bubbles," he said in relief. "Bubbles...don't you ever leave me again..."

"Oh dear," Bubbles said as her eyes grew wide. "I am so foolish! I did not bring myself to think of what you all might have thought I left for..."

"Hold on," Buttercup cut in. "Do you mean to inform us that you are not angry with Boomer?"

"Why on earth would I be- oh..." Bubbles stopped.

She looked up at Boomer with apologetic eyes, "I give you my sincerest apologies, hoping that you shall forgive my idiocy."

Boomer looked at her with slightly teary eyes, holding onto her as though she would float away if he let go, "You...are not angry with me?"

Bubbles shook her head, "No, of course not. I was merely frustrated last night, but I was nearly over it once you had exited the room. I did not think that you might come to believe I had left you because of an argument..."

Boomer pulled her forward and gave her a rather hard kiss on the mouth, causing her (and a few other people) to go wide-eyed. They broke away after a moment, and Boomer pulled her into another hug.

"So, if you were not angry...why did you leave?" Blossom asked.

"I left in hopes that I might find the man who took Bella," she said. "I was rather fed up with all of this chasing, and wished to finally grasp a small bit of an idea as to where she is."

"Well that was rather moronic of you," Blossom scolded. "All you managed to do was cause us all to worry to death of your well-being! For a while I thought Boomer was going to curl up in a ball of tears and die from fretting over you!"

Bubbles eyes got a tad misty, but she shook it off with a nod, "I know, I realize that now. But if I may be so bold to add that I may have actually found something, or someone to be exact, that could indeed help us find Bella."

"What?" Buttercup asked quickly.

Bubbles looked towards the woman behind her, whom I barely noticed in my half-asleep state, and motioned for her to come forward. The woman was dressed in all red, and her bright bushy orange hair covered her face almost completely.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Miss Sarah Bellum," Bubbles said with a smile. "Miss Bellum, these are my sisters, brother-in-laws, and our children."

"I am very pleased to meet you all," Miss Bellum said with a small curtsy and a ruby red smile.

"The pleasure is all ours," Brick said with a small polite bow.

"Miss Bellum may in fact know the man of which we search," Bubbles said.

Buttercup frowned slightly, "And how do you know this man?"

"My father is currently enslaved by him," Miss Bellum said with scowl. "I am also under his power, however I have escaped his wrath in hopes to find my father and I's salvation."

"Then you have indeed found it," Brick said before motioning towards Buttercup. "Once Buttercup is through with him, there shan't be a man left to have you as his slave."

Miss Bellum smiled, "You are all too kind."

"Enough chattering," Buttercup commented. "Tis' time to retrieve my daughter, and for that awful magician to meet his fate. Don't you agree, Butch?"

I was paying attention, don't get me wrong. However when she asked the question, it would be as if someone had just asked you, "What food do purple platypuses eat?". The question merely flew over my head and made no sense to me, though I did hear it. Then after a moment I had already forgotten what she had asked. Almost as if you had just woken up from a dream crying your eyes out over something that made perfect sense, and then after a moment you wondered what you were crying about (and if you did remember you would wonder why on earth you were upset over it). I merely stared at her, feeling a tad lightheaded, wondering why she was darn pretty.

"Butch, did you hear me?" Buttercup asked staring at me in confusion.

"Mmm," I said, wondering how I should answer.

"You look rather pale, Butch. Are you positive you feel well? You have acted rather strangely all morning," Buttercup said putting her hand to my forehead. "Oh Lord, Butch! You are freezing!"

"What?" I asked before shaking my head to clear it, only to find that it made me dizzy. "That was not very intelligent of me..."

Everything seemed distant, as if I were in a fairytale and nothing existed. I reached my hand out to touch everyone, but did not feel anything. Soon all sound left my mind, and all I could see were the wide emerald green eyes that were Buttercup's. Then I could not even see her, as I drifted into a state of unconsciousness.

(Buttercup POV)

"Butch wake up!" I said frantically shaking Butch, hoping to wake him up. "What on earth is going on?"

"Mummy," Basher said coming up to me, Breaker right behind him. "What is wrong with father?"

"I...I don't know honey, I'm sure he is just tired is all," I said hoping to calm my sons down a bit.

Breaker looked at Butch, "He doesn't look like he's sleeping, he looks like he's sick."

"Is he sick Mummy?" Basher asked feeling Butch's head with a worried expression.

Brick loomed over my shoulder trying to get a good look at Butch, "He did not seem so sick a moment ago."

"Do you think he could have been poisoned?" Boomer asked with a hard expression.

I shook my head, "I am familiar with hundreds of poisons, and not one of them would cause his body temperature to decrease. Not without his skin turning purple, which it is not."

Blossom came over, "Help me down Brick."

Brick helped her sit down, and she began looking Butch over. Butch looked as though he were dead, except for that troubled expression on his face and the beads of chilled sweat that rolled off his head.

"He feels like ice, and yet his heart is beating as rapid as a rabid squirrel runs," Blossom said in confusion. "That should not even be possible. Not to mention all of his signs point out that he is not completely unconscious, and yet we can not wake him up."

"Then what is your theory?" Brick asked, even more confused than Blossom. "You are the smart one here..."

"Shush while I am thinking," Blossom said using her hands to shut his mouth. "My only theory is that he has gone into a state of hypnotic paranoia."

"Or in other words, he is delusional," I said, slowly raising my eyebrow.

"In a sense," Blossom said.

I groaned, "Well we have no time for his delusions. Someone piggy-back him, and we shall venture forth to wherever Miss Bellum lead us (which I assume is what she is here for)."

"She's right," Brick agreed, beginning to lift Butch onto his back. "We can not stop now."

Breaker pulled at the hem of my dress slightly, "Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine," I said. "Your father has always been known to cause trouble."

Breaker and Basher's faces broke into large grins, before nodding.

I watched them run off, happy that we had supposedly found the lead to Bella and that Butch and Bubbles were both okay. Bubbles was busy preoccupied with talking and apologizing to Boomer, who had certainly had a scare. I was still rather upset with him, but when I saw little Bonnie's smiling face in Bubbles' arms I completely understood why he did what he did. Blossom was talking with Miss Bellum, who had begun leading the way to where the magician we searched for supposedly lived. Brick was walking just behind them, carrying a 'somewhat unconscious Butch' on his back. I began to walk up beside Brick when I noticed that Merlin and Ace where quite a distance from everyone else. Merlin was of course talking with Ace happily, which I found them doing quite often actually. However Ace looked pretty distant, as if he were depressed.

I walked up to them with a small smile, earning a larger one from Merlin, "Why hello Miss Buttercup, may we be of service?"

"Hardly, I just wished to see how you two were seeing as you decided to leave yourself out of everything," I said.

"Oh, I did not realize we were so far behind," Merlin said his eyes going wide before he began to run towards the others. "COME ALONG YOU TWO, BEFORE WE ARE LEFT FOR THE BIRDS!"

I giggled slightly, before looking over at Ace who's expression never changed once, "Are you alright?"

"No," Ace said blankly.

"How so?" I asked with a small frown.

"Everyone is in pain," Ace said with narrowed eyes. "Everyone is in pain for different reasons, and some for the same. Do you remember how I had once said it had all begun?"

I frowned, "This is hardly your fault."

"All of this is a result of my idiocy with that pendant," Ace muttered sadly. "My foolishness is what began all of this drama."

"To be quite honest, Ace," I said slowly. "If it were not for you, I may not have ever met Butch. As a result of that, the war would most likely still be continuing. Your mistake fixed most of everything in a way, and for that I thank you."

Ace looked at me with saddened eyes and gave me a small smile, "I never thought of that."

I kissed his cheek, "Come on, quit rolling in your self pity and let us be off."

Yes I know, short and crappy. No need to point it out. However I figured a small chapter would be better than nothing. I really have been pretty busy, and I'm really sorry. Not to mention for about a week I had absolutely no desire to write anything (which is weird), but hopefully that is over now. Never fear though, I shall finish this story even if it the last thing I write. :) TTFN peoples! :D