"So where all are we going?" Robin asked after Bubbles got done getting dressed the Professor had taken the girls to work so she could have the car. She was so grateful that meant she could wrap present without having to worry about having to get them.
"Well the mall obviously" she told her brown brown haired friend.
"I know that" Robin sniggnered in amusement. "But like what stores?" She asked with a sigh.
"Well the book store the athletic store the jewelry store then well anywhere that's open."
"Wait, do you actually know what you're getting?"
"Of course I have a vague idea of what I want to get them."
"Is this gonna be a Big flashy Bubbles gift exchange?" She asked, thinking back to three years ago when the blond fretted so much over what she got them they knew what they had before Christmas.
"No, I've calmed down over the years," she pouted a bit, gaining her an eyeroll.
"I get it just start the car and we can find out what you're getting them" she assured the blue eyed blond.
"Ok so where first?" Robin asked, jumping out of the car.
"I was thinking about the book store," Bubbles told her with a smile.
"For Blink or Blossom?"
"All three!"
A grin spread across Robin's face. "Spore?" She asked looking over to Bubbles who mimicked her grin nodding.
"She's still into comics?"
"What can i say it's her guilty pleasure" Bubbles smirked shrugging playfully.
"What issue is she on?" Robin asked as they looked through the many comics displayed in front of her. "103 I think I had to work fast to know which one it was she really has her collection buried" Bubbles whispered as they scanned over the 's' section of the comic books.
"Right, I don't see why she's so embarrassed. Blink is into this sort of stuff and she displays it proudly."
"Blink doesn't know what shame is." Bubbles giggled.
"Speaking of which I need to head over to the manga sections you look for 103 and 104 and 105 and 106" Bubble murmured standing up walking away.
"Don't spoil her Bubbles" she called after her.
"Just get them," she hissed.
"Yeah yeah"
After finding Blinks' manga she walked over to look for a book she saw Blossom researching. She knew she didn't buy it so it made a perfect gift. The best part is she could say she needed to tag along to make sure they didn't get them. Looking around she finally found it or at least she thought she did. "Red to black blood fire?" This didn't look right but it was the right author. Looking at the back, the thick book was only 25 dollars. She waited a second looking around just in case she didn't understand Blossom's interest but it sounded just like what she was looking up.
Shrugging to herself she gathered it up on her arms and went to search for Robin.
"You know you're really going all out for this" she commented looking at the stack of books in her arms.
"Well actually I'm helping the Professor, he didn't quite know what books they wanted so I volunteered to do it for him for a price" a smile crossed her face that was less than innocent.
"Price?" Her friend asked, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"I told him id get him the books if he takes the girls he honestly didn't have a choice" she explained with a shrug.
"Oh so these aren't their actual gifts" realization crossed her face. "What else did you promise the Professor that you'd get for them?" she asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing.
"Not much," Bubbles answered, not meeting her eyes.
"Bubbles, I will dig through your purse!"
"Fine, fine I may or may not have offered to at least get some of their gifts today" she admitted watching as Robin's face deflated.
"We're gonna be here forever" she cried, shoulders sagging.
"You wanted to come," she told her as they got to the cashier, placing the books on the table. She took the Professor's card and handed it to the lady.
"You have a card with the store we are having a holiday sale" the cashier asked with a smile. Bubbles beamed at her as she had come prepared, taking out Blinks card and handing it to the lady.
"Alright thank you your total is down to 86.75," the woman smiled.
"That is too much for books," Robin gasped.
"Dont worry im gonna pay the Professor back for Blossoms" Bubbles said with a shrug.
"Not what I meant" Robin sighed.
After half a day of shopping Robin finally convinced Bubbles to take a break by going for lunch.
"I don't see how you do it my feet are killing me" Robin whined as they finally sat down with their food. "I don't shop that often ya know" Bubbles giggled digging her fork into her noodles.
"Yeah but you're a waitress, you stand up all day Bubs."
"Well that's easy." The blond laughed, waving her hand.
"Well maybe for you but I don't know how you do it" she muttered, stabbing her sesame chicken.
"Rob, you're on the volleyball team don't you have to stand a lot?" She asked.
"Well yeah but I'm constantly doing something, not just standing or walking around," she explained with a sigh.
"It's not that different" Bubbles attempted to convince her stubborn friend.
"Whatever you say Powerpuff" something about the atmosphere froze as soon as the words left her mouth. Bubbles who was in the middle of bringing food to her mouth froze her eyes widened. "What?" Robin asked.
"What did you just call me?" She asked, putting her fork down, eyes staring down harshly at her friend.
"What powerpuff? Yah ah my dad called you it earlier it seemed familiar but couldn't put my finger on it. It was on that tin to the one your dad asked for" Robin explained tightly her throat went dry suddenly as the suddenly intimidating girl stared her down with hard eyes.
"Is there something wrong with the reaction?" She demanded she felt so tired of all the inside jokes and secrets the general distance sucks.
"Nothing," Bubbles declared, letting out a sigh.
"No tell me you guys react so strongly to so many things I want to know something" she was being a bit aggressive but didn't she deserve some kind of answer? They had been her best friends since first grade they were so close and now she hardly sees them outside of school.
"Ok well when we were 5" she paused. "What?" She asked, a bit irritated. "It's embarrassing!" Bubbles choked, covering her now reddening face.
"Come on" Bubbles stayed silent for a moment. "Really I won't laugh, come on," she assured her.
"Ok well when we were 5 the Professor would tell us bedtime stories about a group of superheroes. They were little kindergartners that had powers." Bubbled paused hand covering her hand. "And?" Robin asked.
"Well there were five" she paused a sad look passing her face. "Four there were four of them," she sighed. "They were amazing, they had powers, they didn't have names but it ok they had codenames pink,green,grey, and blue." Robin listened closely, motioning for her to continue.
"With each story we would learn more about them like how they had an evil monkey genus who always tried to take over the world. He would build big robots and machines that fit his schemes. There was one story where he had dressed up as a girl and went to one of the girls' sleepovers." Bubble smiled a bit before she stared blankly at the table.
"Well what else?" Robin asked it was honestly the first time one of them was completely open about something from their past. The admiration in her voice was like she was reminiscing fond memories.
"Well they were called the powerpuff girls. They were strong, smart, fast, and powerful. We were so obsessed with these stories we acted like the members. We played games where we were the characters and had powers. We did this everywhere: town, school, home, the store" Robin started to see where the embarrassment came from.
"You see we had to crash into the harsh reality one day that we were as destructive as the powerpuff girls and that we couldn't really be" she suddenly seemed to realise something. "We had to find out the hard way that the powerpuff girls couldn't exist because none of that stuff was real. It was too much of a danger to keep believing silly bedtime stories."
"Bubs" Robin's voice softened; they must have really believed these 'powerpuff girls' existed.
"There was no such thing as superpowered heroin or a genius monkey with a big brain, no gang of green teens, no lobster demons,no counterpart, no amba boys,no seductress who was a master of disguise-" Bubbles ranted, her voice becoming bitter.
"Bubbles" Robin called hoping to pull her out of her trance.
"Listen, it was obviously a vast world but it's also your past. You could write a book on itor make it a tv show. I mean it sounds interesting. Lobster demons big brain monkeys i'd watch it" she attempted to comfort the girl but it seemed the damage was done.
"It better just to forget it" Bubbles muttered her voice the lowest it seems to ever have been.
"Listen, I need to go to the jewelry store. Would you like to come with me?" She asked flatly.
"Well actually I need to get a gift for my mom" she said, her voice a bit awkward.
"Oh well after that i'll be done" Robin felt relief as Bubbles voice perked up.
"Kay, should we meet here?" Robin asked her tone was careful she didn't want to upset her any further.
"Yeah sure" Bubbles beamed back to her old self. "Listen i'm sorry about that its just the past stings it's why we don't talk about it" Bubbles assured her.
"Yeah i get it dont worry really" Robin reassured her friend.
