This chapter has an obscenly large amount of hugging in it. To...make up for the angst in previous chapters.



Chapter 6




The trail of tears and the blur of emotions had led Blossom to a part of town she'd never been to before. She wiped the tears away with the back of her mitt and looked around cautiously. She was on a concrete sidewalk with small stores littering both sides. Blossom passed a 99 cents store and suddenly felt grossly out of place.

Blossom knew she was a target for ANY kind of miscreant. A little defenseless girl in expensive clothes…lost! Blossom hurried her footsteps her heart still hurting more so from the earlier incident. Blossom pulled the locket out of her shirt and rubbed it softly. Although the golden locket was the cheapest and most inexpensive thing she owned it always seemed to bring Blossom some comfort. Soon she looked up to she elaborate gates with a black sign on top. She looked up and read the gold encrypted letters. "Senecal Garden Park". The sunlight beamed onto the gates of the park making it seem inviting. Blossom walked in carefully following a sandy path into the park.

The day was warm and bright and the leaves on the trees glimmered in the morning sunlight. Blossom found the beautiful plants and flowers a bit of a comfort although her eyes still hurt from crying and her soul ached from the mental abuse. She soon found her way in front of a large, concrete fountain. It was expertly crafted with three angels pouring water from carafes into the large, rounded bottom on the fountain. The fountain was huge and shimmered beautifully in the morning's sun. Blossom sat down on the ledge of the fountain resting her head in her hands…her mitts. Her mitts were almost a reminder that she was, in fact, a freak. Blossom began to weep again.

Meanwhile on the other side of Senecal Garden Park, a small, blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl ran through the gates of the Eastern Side Entrance. Many tears blurred her vision as she pushed past a young couple. The pain in Bubbles's cheek had long since faded, but the hit stung in her mind. She didn't mean to be a bad girl, she was a good girl. Why did Daddy have to get so mad?

Bubbles slowed down, her little tap shoes becoming scuffed on the green blades of grass. She looked up, the sun blazing in the sky. No, it was her fault. She had made her Daddy angry. He was just…just trying to show her what she was doing wrong. She didn't mean to be bad. Bubbles rubbed her cheek, saddened by the realization. She needed someplace to sit down and think.

She wandered slowly through the trees and plants. The flowers bloomed toward her but Bubbles was too sad to notice. The park had always been a place of comfort. When she and her Daddy and her Mommy went there on annual picnics or special occasions, Daddy was always so nice, and Mommy was always so cheery. And at one point everyone would tell Bubbles to get up on the stage and dance. And she would giggle and get up on the stage with everybody watching her and loving her. And she would dance. And everyone would clap and cheer. And Daddy would be so happy.

Bubbles finally found herself in front of a large fountain. It glittered beautifully. Bubbles sniffed a little and smiled at it, she climbed up on the ledge and looked into the distorted image of herself in the water. She could already see a small mark forming on her cheek; a few teardrops fell into the water. Little did Bubbles know, but a girl was just across from her, crying as well. But the centerpiece of the fountain and the sound of the rushing water blocked her.

Meanwhile, again, through the third entrance of Senecal Garden Park ran in another distressed girl. Buttercup Robins stopped her run abruptly and took in several deep breaths lost in her own thoughts. What would her mother think? Just before she'd gone to school that very morning her mother had told her not to fight. To turn the other cheek. Why didn't she ever listen?

Buttercup sighed softly, walking further into the park. Her mother and herself were supposed to go to that park that afternoon. If she'd been good. Buttercup didn't mean to let her mother down. And what would all the new kids think of her? They'd all HATE her. Just like the kids at her last school. Sometimes she felt she couldn't do anything right.

Her thoughts and memories blocked her sight. She didn't notice how beautiful the day was or how fertile the green grass looked. Buttercup's eyes were cast down toward her little black Mary Janes. Where she was going didn't seem to be any of her concern. But as her speedy shoes hit from grassy roughage to a sandy path Buttercup began to look up. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Buttercup's shoes hit the side of a rather large fountain and she couldn't keep her balance on her rounded Mary Janes. She tripped foreword, catapulting into the base of the fountain with a very loud and very large splash. The water rose up on either side as Buttercup cried out.

"AHHHH!" The scream caught Blossom's attention. Oh no! An innocent person in trouble! Blossom's mind raced, her sense of justice just activated, she leapt off the side of the fountain the tears fresh in her eyes and ran to see who needed her assistance.

Bubbles Fisher heard the loud cry and leapt off of the ledge where she'd been pouting. Oh no! Someone could be hurt! Bubbles hastened to find out who had let out the scream. The blonde-haired girl nearly collided with a little redhead. Bubbles grabbed onto the redhead's arms.

"Are you okay?!" She cried, assuming the redhead had screamed.

"Of course I am all right! Are you in need of some assistance?" Blossom asked with concern, assuming the blonde-haired girl had screamed.

"No…no I'm good. Hmmm…well if I didn't scream and you didn't scream. Who screamed?" Bubbles questioned. Blossom looked up considering. Suddenly Bubbles felt a very cold shoot of water in the back of her head. "YIPE!" Blossom soon felt one too.

"AHH!! What in the-" She and the blonde-haired girl turned around quickly to see an unusual sight.

A very annoyed, very wet Buttercup huffed, waist-deep in water from inside the fountain. Her long black hair clung to her soaking wet dress as she folded her arms unhappily. Her big yellow bow hung limply in the back and her little cheeks were red mostly from anger.

"My heroes." She said as flatly as she possibly could. "Now help me outta here!" She insisted. Bubbles giggled and smiled.

"Sorry." She walked over to the brunette and motioned for Blossom to follow. "Come on, let's help."

"I'm not so sure I want to after she spit water in my hair!" Blossom touched her wet locks. Bubbles smiled kindly, Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"Come on." Bubbles dragged Blossom over and they each took one of Buttercup's mitts in an attempt to pull her out. Bubbles soon foiled that attempt. "HEY!" She cried releasing her grip on Buttercup's mitt, causing the yellow-clad girl to crash back into the fountain, and almost dragging Blossom with her. Blossom, fortunately released her grip also (heaven knows that uniform was too expensive to get wet). Buttercup angrily resurfaced.

"What the heck was that for?!" She screeched, spitting out some water.

"Look!" Bubbles thrust her hand foreword. "I don't have any fingers, and neither do you!" Bubbles wiggled her mitt as if to prove it. Buttercup raised her hand from under the water and wiggled it as well. Blossom looked at her own mitt.

"Me either." Blossom commented, getting the girls' attention. The three stood (or in Buttercup's case, sat) in silence, their mitts in front of them. There was an odd moment of understanding between the girls. There was almost a connection that could be felt in the very air itself. Each one couldn't get it out of their heads that maybe…just maybe they'd seen these girls before.

"I guess were all funny-looking." Bubbles giggled. The words she said sparked some memories in Blossom. Buttercup got frustrated and climbed out of the fountain herself.

"What are you two doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Buttercup question raising to her soaked Mary Janes. Bubbles and Blossom looked down sadly.

"Yes but…something happened at my school." Blossom said softly, the memories flooding over her.

"What happened?" Bubbles asked. She climbed back onto the ledge of the pretty fountain and patted the concrete next to her, offering the seat to Blossom. Blossom sighed and sat down next to Bubbles. Buttercup stood in front and began to wring out her hair and bow.

"Well…well first off I must not be so rude, despite what class I am conversing with." Blossom cleared her throat. "How do you do, my name is Blossom Laura Lukan." Blossom held out her mitt for a shake. Buttercup looked up. Blossom? Wasn't that the name Buttercup had thought of this morning?

Bubbles laughed and cleared her throat. She shook Blossom's hand vigorously, "Hello, how do you do, my name is Bubbles Bunny Fisher." Bubbles shook harder. Bubbles? That was the name Blossom had thought of that very morning. Blossom removed her mitt from Bubbles's death grip.

"Hey!" Buttercup piped up, "Aren't you that kid from the commercials?" Buttercup pointed. Bubbles nodded.

"Yeah-huh!" Bubbles stood up and began, without even realizing it, to tap dance on the ledge for her two new friends. Her little feet rapidly pounded on the ledge creating an intriguing rhythm. The most amazing part of this was that although Bubbles had neither toe nor heel in which to commence tapping, she still created a beat that would make even Shirley Temple envious. She ended with an adorable curtsy. Buttercup and Blossom applauded as she finished. How Bubbles loved that sound.

"Not too bad." Buttercup smiled a bit.

"Yes, you do have talent there." Blossom agreed.

"Yeah…oh," Buttercup decided to introduce herself. "My name's Buttercup. Nice to meet you." Buttercup smiled brightly. Bubbles pondered. That was the name that she'd scream at if it'd gotten to the bathroom before her. Was someone trying to tell her something? Bubbles decided to question this later, her new friend needed help. Bubbles sat next to Blossom when Blossom spoke.

"It is nice to meet you as well." She stated. Bubbles nodded in agreement although almost positive they'd all met before.

"Blossom," Bubbles began, "I think you were going to tell us what happened at your school." Blossom sighed.

"All right, I suppose. The children at my school are rude and...and incorrigible! I tried very hard my first day to create lucrative and beneficial acquaintances. But, my classmates were immediately despondent. They were appalled by my obvious abnormalities." Blossom sighed. Bubbles and Buttercup blinked without the slightest clue.

"Did you swallow a dictionary kid?" Buttercup questioned.

"First of, of course not! Second off, you mean a thesaurus!" Blossom angrily scowled. Philistines. "Alright, I will reiterate in laymen's terms. Ahem. My schoolmates were mean to me the first day. They did not want to be my friend because I look…different." Blossom looked over at Bubbles. Bubbles nodded, now understanding. Blossom continued, "Well, they are usually mean but today they were exceedingly mean. They started to make fun of me and Herbert tried to push me down the steps but I…" Blossom trailed off. She didn't exactly know what had happened there. Blossom decided that it was best not to inform them about the whole stairs incident. "Anyway…they all began to…to throw things at me and they ran me out of school." Blossom looked down sadly. Bubbles put an arm around her.

"There there, Blossom." Bubbles comforted.

"Heck," Buttercup said still dripping, "I know how you feel."

"You do?" Blossom questioned. Buttercup nodded.

"Sure, the kids at my old school made fun of me too. Everyone thought I was strange and weird looking. They thought I was dumb too. They were all just jerks!" Buttercup growled to herself, but quickly calmed down. "But you can't let 'em get to you. God will punish them for you." Buttercup nodded. She tried to adjust her sopping wet bow. "Besides, if they're really that mean, you should just go to another school. That's what I did." Blossom looked off.

"You do not understand. My mother…well I am strange and it is not often that a girl as odd as myself would get into such a prestigious school. She says I am not allowed to go anyplace other than Parvenu. Besides it is the only place worthy of a Lukan." Blossom stated. Bubbles gave Blossom a hug.

"But it's still not right that you're treated so badly. You should tell a teacher or the principle. They'll help." Bubbles insisted (how ironic).

"They think I am odd as well. They never stop the other children and I cannot do anything about it." Blossom began to cry again. Bubbles gave her a tighter hug. Buttercup looked on, worried. She noticed some peach-colored liquid dripping off of Blossom's face.

"What's that?" Buttercup asked. Blossom looked back at her.

"What is what?" She questioned, sniffling. Buttercup pointed to Blossom's face.

"What's that stuff on your face? Makeup?" She asked. Blossom nodded. Buttercup gave her a "what-in-the-heck" kind of look. "Here." Buttercup dripped her mitt into the water and brought her mitt towards Blossom's face. Blossom dodged with a look of annoyance on her face. "Hey come on! It looks like your face is melting. Let me clean that off." Buttercup began to wipe off the pancake makeup carefully with her mitts. Blossom allowed her to do so, but was wary. Soon all of the makeup was washed off. Bubbles smiled.

"You know what, Blossom? I think you look prettier without the makeup." Bubbles's comment made Blossom grin.

"Thank you…ah…um…"

"Bubbles." Bubbles stated trying to make sure Blossom would remember this time. "My name is Bubbles." Blossom nodded.

"Well what's your story, sister?" Buttercup questioned Bubbles while kneeling on the ledge and washing her hands off in the clear, cool water. Bubbles's throat tightened. Bubbles was never supposed to tell ANYBODY her "story". Daddy said that if she told, bad men would come and take Daddy and Mommy away. Bad men would take them and maybe even hurt them. Then they'd make Bubbles stay with other bad people. Bad people who would be even meaner. She didn't know how to respond to the brunette, but luckily, Blossom saved her.

"What is that around your neck?" Blossom inquired pointing at the golden heart locket that shimmered in the sunlight. It reflected beautifully, every curve of its design. It was one of Buttercup's treasures. Buttercup instantly beamed.

"This is my golden heart locket. It was a present from my mother a long time ago. I was just a kid but it meant a lot to me." She held it up to the light. "It's broken a bit though. There was this stupid little brat that broke it when I was a kid." Buttercup cupped it in her hands.

There was one thing that Blossom had failed to see in the locket before. There was a shinning gem in the center; it sparkled in the sunlight and glowed eerily. Blossom quickly pulled out her own locket. There was a gem in the center of her locket also. Her gem was identical to Buttercup's, it seemed to glow and hum softly. How could she have over-looked that? Buttercup did a double take at Blossom's locket.

"HEY!" She leapt to her feet. Buttercup snatched the locket from around Blossom's neck and gave it such a yank Blossom almost choked. Buttercup carefully took out her own and compared the two. "YOU THIEF! You're the little brat that destroyed my locket when I was a kid! I don't believe it!" Buttercup flipped open Blossom's locket to see her very own picture staring back at her. She couldn't believe her eyes. It really was her locket that was destroyed three years ago. Her new one was repaired, but this…this was the ORIGINAL half. Blossom regained herself and pulled the locket back toward her.

"Ack! Ahem, that must mean you are the obnoxious little philistine that stole my tiara. Twice!" Blossom accused.

"Come on you guys, let's not fight…" Bubbles tried to calm them but Buttercup ignored her.

"Well at least I gave it back!" Buttercup countered. She grabbed a hold of Blossom's locket with her mitt. "This RIGHTFULLY belongs to me." Buttercup gave a hard tug. Blossom Lukan had many things to call her own. She had more trinkets and possessions and everything a girl could want. She could've had a new locket shipped in from anywhere in the world. It could be made of pure gold studded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and every fine gem on the planet. But that locket, gripped in Buttercup's mitt, seemed to be worth so much more then that any diamond-studded locket could EVER be worth.

"NO!" She screeched. "Don't! This is MY locket!" Blossom clutched it using contractions for the second time in her life. Buttercup didn't expect Blossom to be so desperate, or loud, and let go of the locket. Blossom took her chance and pushed Buttercup back into the fountain. Bubbles gasped.

"Oh no! Buttercup!" Bubbles yelled. "You guys shouldn't be fighting! We're suppose 'ta be friends." Bubbles became saddened. Blossom stroked her locket lovingly and put it back down the neck of her shirt. She couldn't believe she had acted so inappropriately. It's just…when she was separated from the locket; a sense of her comfort was gone. Buttercup resurfaced for the third time spitting out the water.

"This is just getting redundant!" She growled at Blossom, ready to pounce. Blossom clutched her locket from behind her shirt and spoke.

"I am terribly sorry for my reaction, Butterfly."

"Buttercup! My name is ButterCUP."

"Right, sorry again. It's just, that day when we first met; I saw how sad you were when I had broken your locket. It meant everything to you. This little, cheap, inexpensive thing was your finest treasure. When I broke that…it was as if I broke you. I felt horribly about it. I had never meant to hurt you in such a way. When I tried to discuss it with my mother, she merely responded how right I had been and how our lawyers would make sure you were impecunious forever. Luckily, I convinced mother not to sue you. Still…this locket is a constant reminder to me of how little treasures can be everything. It lets me be a little more cautious when speaking. It has become kind of a companion to me, my only companion. Besides Nana. Please do not relieve me of it." Blossom cuddled it close. Buttercup looked off, biting her lower lip.

"Sure you can keep it, Blossom." She responded smiling. Blossom's eyes lit up. "I know how much it means to me, if it means that much to you too…" Buttercup trailed off. Blossom could've almost hug her, but she was wet and icky. Bubbles beamed and gave Buttercup a large hug.

"Oh you're so nice Buttercup!" Bubbles didn't care if she got wet or not. Buttercup hugged her back. Blossom shrugged and carefully, very cautiously, joined the embrace. The hug seemed warm and comforting as well as strangely familiar and wet. The three began to chatter excitedly about how they'd met that first time and about experiences. Bubbles had safely avoided the topic of why she'd run away. The three were sitting on the ledge of the fountain when they heard the church bells ring ten times.

"Ten o'clock." Bubbles stated the obvious. The three girls looked toward the large ivory-white tower of the church, it's old bells ringing their dull tones. They looked back sadly.

"I should go back to school." Buttercup commented quietly, although she had explained why she had left. Blossom sighed.

"I can not return! The children there…they will…they will." She didn't want to complete the thought. Bubbles put her arms around Blossom.

"Then don't return!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Come with me to MY school. They were really nice to me, even though this one kid was mean." Blossom looked up.

"Well…what educational facility do you attend?" She questioned.

"Golden Acres."

"GOLDEN ACRES?" Bubbles mouth dropped open in surprise. "ME TOO! I go to Golden Acres I'm in Ms. Green's class, room #36." Bubbles squealed. Buttercup's heart beat faster in delight.

"I'm in Ms. Green's class too!" The two girls hugged. Blossom smiled at the two. They already seemed like best friends. Blossom let out a deep breath.

"I wish I could join you two, but my mother would never allow it. A Lukan must never miss a day of school at Parvenu. We would never get into Harvard that way!" She stated sadly.

"Um…Blossom…" Bubbles began.

"Yes?" She sniffled.

"You're already missing school right now." Bubbles pointed out. Blossom looked around wildly as if the realization had just hit her…which it had.

"You are right! I must-"

"Come to school with me and Bubbles!" Buttercup finished her sentence off. "Come on, wouldn't you much rather go to school with me and Bubbles than with those snooty jerks?" She inquired. Blossom nodded her head slowly.

"Well, you're all ready missing school anyway." Bubbles commented, "You might as well enjoy it at our school." Blossom smiled. These weren't people just trying to take advantage of her for her money or for her position of slight power. They wanted to be her FRIENDS. Wouldn't Nana be happy…real friends! Blossom let tear of happiness roll off of her cheeks, with no more makeup to ruin, there didn't seem to be a problem.

"Okay." Blossom agreed. The two girls cheered. "Mother and Father will be so upset though." She made a vain attempt to sway their decision. Not that she really wanted to.

"Yes…" Bubbles's voice lowered, "I know what it's like for Daddies to get angry." She became a little quiet. Blossom wondered exactly why but Buttercup interrupted.

"I wouldn't really know. I never had a Daddy." She commented.

"Did he die? Or did he leave? Or what?" Bubbles quickly changed the subject over to Buttercup.

"I don't know…Mommy never spoke about Daddy. I don't even know what he looks like." Buttercup paused to ponder. Why didn't she know what happened to her daddy? Where was he now? She would have to question her mother about this later. Blossom cleared her throat.

"We should be heading off to Golden Acres." Blossom got up, straightening herself out. Buttercup nodded, she was a little drier now but still felt damp and uncomfortable. Bubbles hopped off and bounced lively down the path.

"I know where our school is! I pass by here on the bus ALL the time! I can take both you guys there. Follow MMEEEEEEE!" Bubbles excitedly skipped foreword. Buttercup shrugged and ran after. Blossom grinned. Real friends this time. Real ones. She put her hand over her locket happily. The gem in the locket seemed to grow brighter as Blossom ran after her two new friends.