Disclaimer: Bambietta Basterbine and all related characters belong to Shueisha. The title of this story, meanwhile, was suggested by NotXeno.
"So that's how you two and Aunties Meni, Li and Candi became ghost busters! That was so cool!"
Bernadetta Basterbine was an inquisitive child to say the least, the young girl always enraptured by her grandmother's stories. Especially when it was both her grandmothers working in tandem as storytellers.
"Well, yeah, there's that," Bambietta said, leaning back in the sofa, "but-"
"Geisterjager!" Giselle exclaimed, sitting forward from the sofa, ever the animated one even in her older age. "We didn't want to be sued by those dudes over in New York!"
"Considering Don Kanonji ended up becoming a branch of their expanding international business eventually, I don't think we had to worry about that," Bambietta added on, giving Giselle a sideways glance before chuckling. Her mind snapping back to the matter at hand, however, she looked back at her granddaughter. "So I guess we did become ghost busters eventually. But that wasn't the point of the story!"
"Oh yeah," Bernadetta replied, getting a little sheepish. "Bjorn Bangnyfe."
"I thought you two were besties!" Giselle said, looking overly distraught.
"C'mon, Gigi, this all started because Bernadetta said they're not getting along," Bambietta said, nudging her slightly.
Giselle looked at Bambietta, head tilting to the side. "Huh? Oh right! Sorry, I'm no spring chicken anymore! Maybe we should have stayed in those spiritual forms and avoided this whole getting older thing!"
"Oh no," Bambietta said, nuzzling up against Giselle, pulling her close. "I wouldn't trade this for anything."
"Bjorn and I did everything together, but now we're been getting in arguments over... you know," Bernadetta whimpered.
"Right," Bambietta said, trying so very hard not to laugh. "Anime."
Giselle, meanwhile, suddenly looked as if she had a thousand mile stare going on. "Anna May? She was so mean to me in school."
"Gigi, focus," Bambietta said, nudging her again. "Look, I get it, he likes his samurai anime a lot, you like the ninja ones. And didn't you say one of your other friends keeps stepping in to argue over in favor of pirate anime?"
"Yeah," Bernadetta said, glancing to the side.
"Look, what Grandma Gigi and I were trying to say wasn't that we and your aunts were cool ghost hunters," Bambietta continued. "I mean, we were, but-"
"And still could be if we wanted to go out and kick ghost butt!" Giselle interrupted.
"Heck yeah," Bambietta said, bumping fists with Giselle before looking back to Bernadetta. "But the point is, me and Gigi and your aunts had our differences and we worked them out in the end."
"And our differences were so much worse," Giselle said, getting a little withdrawn.
"Yeah, but look at us now," Bambietta said, hugging her. "One big happy family with a great kid and a great granddaughter."
Giselle sniffed. "I love you, Bambi."
"And I love you," Bambietta said, kissing her on the cheek.
"Gross lovey dovey stuff!" Bernadetta exclaimed, going red in the face.
"Just wait until you're our age," Bambietta giggled, looking back at her.
"Do we count the time we weren't aging in the Wandenreich?" Giselle asked.
Bambietta shrugged. "I'd rather not go with that number."
"So me and Bjorn and Gertrude can work things out?" Bernadetta asked, feeling more than a little hopeful.
"Of course, just give it time," Bambietta said, smiling. "I mean, it's just anime."
"Just anime?" Bernadetta gasped, her eyes going wide in shock, but she shrugged it off. The young girl ran up, hugging her two grandmothers tightly. "I'll do my best!"
"We know you will." As Bambietta and Giselle hugged their granddaughter, the older of the two quincy continued to smile, her thoughts drifting back to days gone by, her trying to pass a lesson along to Bernadetta having rekindled fond memories.
Decades prior was a much younger Bambietta beginning to awaken from a much needed slumber, finding herself resting in the room that Meninas McAllon had energetically guided her to the night before.
Slowly did Bambietta's eyes open, her process of awakening almost complete. She glanced through a foggy haze at her surroundings, almost lost in the unfamiliarity of the ceiling above her. The quincy had to correct herself then, that this was her new home, at least for now. Gone was her childhood home, the Wandenreich palace or even the motel known as Tabijinohate.
Bambietta blinked a few times, allowing her eyesight to correct itself as she came out of her deep slumber. Her mouth began to open then, her eyes shutting as it did so, a long yawn escaping from her. Then did Bambietta's eyes flutter open again, her lips smacking together slightly as she at least was able to stifle her body's objections to awakening. She stared blankly for a moment, the back of her head buried in a pillow. The quincy's eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the less than pleasant condition of the ceiling. Flaking paint, cracks in the wood, it was far from ideal. An imperfect home for an imperfect young woman, that was how she saw it then.
The quincy forced herself to roll over then, planting the right side of her head into the pillow so that she could get comfortable once more, unwilling to start the day. Her left arm fell away from her torso then, slipping slightly over the edge of the bed Bambietta called her own now. Then did she feel her fingers land atop not thin air but a soft surface that was hidden just out of sight and over the edge of the mattress.
"The hell?" Bambietta propped herself up on one arm in her bed, peering down to see just what she had made contact with. She saw it then, a mop of long black hair, the palm of her hand resting atop it all. Bambietta scampered across the bed slightly, realizing just who it belonged to. "Gigi?"
Bambietta could see it then, the former Sternritter Z leaning against the bed frame, the back of her head gently resting on the side of the mattress. The woman was simply sitting on the floor and completely adrift in sleep.
"You doofus," Bambietta said as she gently rubbed Giselle's head, ruffling her hair but not awakening her. "You have your own room."
Bambietta paused then, closing her eyes and she shook her head.
"But this is a new place, huh? Some things will never change I guess."
Bambietta sat upright completely then, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the bed, right alongside Giselle. The brunette quincy glanced at her clock and could see that it was eight in the morning already, earlier than she had planned on awakening. She had never been one for early mornings, something that had irritated Jugram Haschwalth and Yhwach no doubt. However, now that she was free from their influence, Bambietta still could not sleep in as late as she hoped. Despite her night owl tendencies, she had tried hard to get an early night's sleep the previous evening. That had not worked out for her, the battle with the hollows and the reunion with her old friends, not to mention meeting the fool they worked for, had put an end to that.
Bambietta felt it coming over her again and she raised her arms up over her head, clasping down on her left elbow with her right hand as another yawn echoed out from her mouth. Her arms at last dropping down to her sides again, Bambietta slid off the bed and on to her feet. She glanced down at the sleeping Giselle again and sighed. She crouched down then, slipping her arms behind Giselle's back and underneath her legs, gently lifting the young lady up. Bambietta lowered her into the bed then, allowing Giselle's head to rest on the pillow. As Bambietta began to bring a blanket up across Giselle's lithe frame, she glanced at the quincy's slumbering face and could see it. The skin around her eyes was red, light reflecting off the dried tears that were around the corners.
Bambietta reached out with a hand in response to that sight. Lightly did she caress Giselle's porcelain skin, allowing the few dried tears to brush against her fingertips. Bambietta wiped them away then, leaving Giselle's face free from the remains of last night's sorrow. Finally did Bambietta speak then, her voice a low, comforting whisper.
"Friends forever, Gigi."