Bubblegum didn't touch her food. She was paralyzed, humiliated even. The last think she had needed was more attention or perceived special treatment, so of course that's what she received from the human leaders. Weren't they briefed of the earlier situation? She glanced around the room. Princesses and diplomats were still glaring at her from every table. When she first caught them, she expected them to turn away. A few did. But most were relentless. It felt as if they were collectively attempting to dig into her skull. She gave a quick glance to her left. Finn, Simon, and Marceline weren't eating either. Further down the row, she saw that elder Marc hadn't been eating either. Instead, he was darting his eyes between the council and the seemingly less important guests. Then his eyes locked onto hers. He quickly produced a pen, tore off a piece of the table cloth and scribbled onto it. He gingerly passed the note to a Minerva bot and pointed at Bubblegum. The bot nodded but didn't budge. They weren't trying to cause any more attention to her.

The clanking of a fork to glass followed by a high-pitched voice pulled Bubblegum from her thoughts. She looked in Wayne's direction but didn't listen to what he was saying. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw that many of the princesses continued their fruitless efforts to drill into her. They were now joined by a sizable number of diplomats.

The high pitch voice subsided. He had mentioned something about older human culture. Several musicians had gathered in the empty portion of the room. Instruments, some new, some familiar were brought inside. A piano, a couple guitars, a set of drums, but also a weird triangle and what looked like wooden chicken legs with colorful designs. An odd mixture of music began to fill the room. Much of the music was accompanied by lyrics that didn't make a lot of sense. One song was about people who called themselves different colors of something called Christmas. Another was about a woman named Grace who seemed to be amazing for some reason. Yet another was about a shark's teeth, but also about a guy who had a knife? Old human music was confusing. Maybe the lyrics were just lost in translation after hundreds of years. It wouldn't be the first time. As the musicians wrapped up their latest song, Simon stood up and spoke.

"I apologize for the interruption, but this is the perfect opportunity. I believe everyone in the room can agree that you have been such wonderful hosts today. I wanted to ask permission to share a couple of songs that I remember from before the war. You could add them to your, err, wonderful collection."

Council chair Wayne broke out in a wide grin. He quickly ushered the musicians to take a break. Simon and Marceline rose and caught one of the guitarists before he could leave. After a small hesitation, the man handed Marceline his guitar and sat down. Simon sat himself at the piano that had been rolled into the room. Marceline began floating around waiting for Simon to begin.

"Marcy why don't you pick the first song?"

"You know what, I think I will. But you'll have to start it. It's that song you sang to me when you first found me."

Simon began playing the piano while Marceline followed along on the guitar. Simon began singing about sunshine, happiness and a grey sky. Marceline joined in, and the pair allowed each other to fade out and take the lead depending on the part of the song. Simon looked around. Several people, Marceline included, had tears forming in their eyes. He felt a bit of stinging himself.

Simon picked the next couple of songs. At first, he was met with confusion when he announced they were all from a human group known as the Beatles. But as he suspected, each song was a hit. People tapped their feet in place, hummed along, and bopped their heads.

Marceline picked the next two songs. Old showtunes that she had remembered playing for Two-Bread Tom and his group. She was surprised when a couple of the older humans began singing along, although they were out of tune and sometimes used the wrong lyrics. It was a nice chance to reminisce, but she felt a pit in her stomach about playing the songs again.

Finally, Simon ended the mini-concert with a goofy romantic song he used to listen to with Betty. It was funny. They had started listening to it as a bad joke but like most things in life it grew on them. Now it came across as cruelly ironic. The premise of the song was for the lovers to be together forever with each other. Of course, that couldn't happen anymore. Towards the end of the song his voice started to crack and he felt as if he might break down. Picking this song was probably a bad decision, but so was letting it forgotten to time. He saw Marceline catch on to his struggling and quickly tried to hide it. Too late. She announced the concert was over and briefly took him outside.

He expected her to be upset. Not angry or ready to blame him for anything, but upset nonetheless. He knew how she dreaded seeing him like this. Seemingly unable or unwilling to be helped. Everything had been going so well up to that point too.

"Why did you do that to yourself, Simon?"

He hesitated. By the tone of her voice, there wasn't going to be a satisfactory answer he could give her. He looked at her feet but gave his honest answer.

"I guess I didn't want the song to be lost to time. Sure, it brought up some sad memories. But they all kind of did. But they brought back happy memories too. I thought it was important to keep those songs and memories alive and well. I guess I was on the same train of thought as you when you picked our first song."

He looked back up. She wasn't frowning like he had expected. Instead, she wore a look of recognition. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. For a couple seconds they forgot about the room full of people they had just walked out from.

"Marcy, I don't mean to ruin the moment, but after we get back inside, I think you should check on Bonnibel. She looks like she could really use your support right now."

"I know. I'm just anxious, I guess. I want to tell her about it being my fault for her being dragged up in front of everybody, but I don't want to make it look like it was intentional or anything."

"She'll appreciate the honesty. I know I would."

"Simon. Do you think I should apologize to everyone in the room? Make them all understand I caused the special treatment?"

"I'm not sure if that matters anymore to be honest. They'll perceive what happened however they want. They might think you're just covering for her."

"That's what I was afraid you would say."

"Come on, let's go inside."

The pair re-entered the room and were immediately met with applause and accolades. Any tension or hostility that had been in the air before was gone— at least temporarily.

After the initial response died down, elder Marc rose.

"I want to sincerely thank the both of you. Many of the songs you played for us had been lost, we thought forever. And those that we retained turned out to be slightly corrupted by time. As I said this morning, our settlement truly values our past culture."

Elder Marc sat down. Council chair Wayne stood up.

"Building from what elder Marc has said, I would like to extend an offer. Simon you have previously proven helpful to the settlement's construction as well as its teachings on human history. I know that you do not live in the settlement, but you are the most qualified human alive for what I am about to ask of you."

Simon felt a lump in his throat. He didn't intend to be drawn into the political game. In hind sight, he should have seen this coming.

"Simon, I would like to ask if you would be willing to take on a very old role, we were unsure if would be of any relevance. In anticipation of today, we have been studying our few surviving texts on how our ancestor's conducted foreign affairs. One aspect was what they called "cultural diplomacy." We attempted to practice it today by showcasing our art and surviving music. You have displayed a great deal of knowledge of our culture's past, and have learned about our culture in the present. We would be honored if you would help us by representing our culture to the other kingdoms of Ooo."

Simon felt light-headed. On one hand, it was a sensible request. He had helped the settlement a great deal, and was the only person who was actually around to remember the culture before the Mushroom war. At the same time, it would murky the already disgusting waters. His connections with Marceline and by extension Bubblegum were sure to bring ire to the other kingdoms. It would look like the humans were continuing to inch closer towards the candy kingdom. But was it already too late? They had already made him the offer, and he had already been sitting as a VIP.

He looked to the room. All eyes were on him. None of the princesses were angry. In fact, many who he caught scowling at Bubblegum were smiling. This was a weird feeling by itself. He would travel and talk with princesses and diplomats- many of which he had once upon a time stalked and kidnapped- to represent human culture. It could help bring stability between the humans and other kingdoms. He looked to Bubblegum. She didn't look nervous or concerned about this. Instead, she was smiling. A Minerva bot was walking away from her.

"This is a sudden and er, unexpected development. I hope it wouldn't be rude if I asked for a bit of time to consider your offer?"

The council chair grinned.

"Of course, of course. I apologize for putting you on the spot and expecting an answer so quickly."

Simon let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He and Marceline made their way back to their seats. After they sat down, Bubblegum stood up.

"I would like to make an announcement."

All eyes transfixed onto Bubblegum. Many faces still lulled by the performance, but some had instantly regained their former hostility.

"I know that there are speculations between a secret deal between the Candy Kingdom and human settlement. I know my being up at this table, and my tour with elder Marc have arose suspicion from many of you. Especially those of you who know some of the wrongs I have committed in the past."

She swallowed. Some of the hostility appeared to momentarily vanish. She reached into her pocket and produced the defense agreement she had reviewed earlier that day.

"I was given an agreement by elder Marc about a defense treaty between my kingdom and the human settlement. I am willing to allow anyone who wishes to review this contract with their own eyes. The agreement is a mutual defense pact. If one of us is targeted, the other will come to their aid. It forbids territorial expansion or aggression on either signatory's part. I want to make it clear that there were no stipulations of technology trade, joint military exercises, or anything of the like."

A few grumbles of doubt escaped the crowd, but she continued.

"I want to make it publicly known that the candy kingdom will honor this agreement. But I also want to extend it. In an effort of cooperation, I believe every kingdom should sign this agreement with the human settlement. That way, those of you with concerns of a joint-human-candy take over, of developing military technologies, or of secret alliances can rest easy. I invite everyone in this room to either sign the document, or pledge themselves to honoring peace between all of our civilizations."

Multiple princesses shot up and made their way to Bubblegum. Bubblegum produced her hair pen and various signatures were added to the agreement. Slowly, other princesses and diplomats began forming a line to sign the document. Bubblegum looked to elder Marc who shot her thumbs up. She looked over to Finn who patted her on the back in return. Finally, she looked to Marceline and Simon. Both returned her gaze with relieved smiles.

The line of princesses and diplomats waned. In all, twenty kingdoms had signed the pact. Noticeably absent, however, included the Breakfast and Slime kingdoms, Wizard City, and the settlement's closest neighbors- the nearby nomadic and forest communities.

Bubblegum sighed but handed the document to council chair Wayne. Shortly after, the council chair departed the festivities.

"The next part is the dance, and as much as I would like to, I have more pressing matters to attend to" he had said before slipping out the door. Various other councilmembers and descendants of the founders also excused themselves. For a celebration of future diplomacy, there were very few humans of notable rank in attendance.

Tables were cleared and moved to the sides of the room. The musicians returned and began playing anything they could find on their music sheets. Princesses and diplomats began struggling with one another over the remaining humans to dance with. From the corner of her eye, Bubblegum saw Finn get buried under a pile of them as well.

She was grabbed from behind and swept off her feet. She let out a short yelp.

"Marceline come on, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I thought it would be a romantic surprise."

"And what's so romantic about scaring me?"

"You always look cute when you're scared."

"Knock it off Marceline. If you want to dance, just ask."

"Okay. Do you want to dance?"

"Of course."