Disclaimer: This licence isn't mine. The opinions express by the characters are not mine. I do not support nor encourage the illegal or dangerous acts or words present here. I can make a distinction between fiction and reality and I trust in my readership's ability in doing the same.

Chapter thirty-five: Confession time

Two months later…

Plum Pudding was a fighter. The doctor had told her she would certainly never dance again; but she had none of it. As soon as her legs let her stay standing up, she spent her days doing her physiotherapy, making a point of honour to never show her tiredness or pain. This stupid accident had prevented her from attending the dance contest she awaited with impatience? She would showcase her determination and her guts through her recovery. This accident was certainly criminal, she thought. Lime Chiffon had certainly hired one of her friends to injured her; but unfortunately, she had no evidence for the moment. Whichever! When she will be famous, she would not fail to tell her struggle in every magazine. Her fans would be able to discover the truth.

At least, the day where she was allowed to leave the hospital came. Plum Pudding had planned to go back to the community center, but she still needed crutches to walk. Moreover, the doctor had said she would need calm and relaxation to end her convalescence; so she finally chose Strawberryland, where all her best friends where.

Plum Pudding settles in the Berry Bitty Café, in the guest room. None of the Strawberrylander wanted to let her alone in her own house, with her crutches; but she was unpleasantly surprised to discover the change of owner!

-Strawberry Shortcake, why did you do that? She asked.

-I know it seems odd for you Plum Pudding, but I pondered it for a long time and I'm sure it's a good decision.

-This Café was your soul!

-This Café was maybe a part of me, but… it was asking me too much time, when Apple Dumplin' needs it the most.

-I don't rule this Café so bad, do I, Plum? Angel Cake asked.

According to Plum Pudding, the Café had lost its essence. Strawberry Shortcake only wanted to make her customers feel good in it, just like if every single cup of tea was a tribute to life's treasures. Angel Cake wasn't as friendly, she could feel it. Her involved menus and her sophisticated cakes where here to make an impression on the customers and praise Angel Cake's savoir-faire. And Plum Pudding thought that Angel Cake needed to hear it.

-Having a good technique is one thing, Angel, and you indubitably excel in this discipline; but if you were a real artist, you would have learnt that the biggest difference between an industrial product and a unique object is the passion you put in its creation. And, as long the Café will be unable to offer anything else than industrial cakes to its customers, I would think you don't rule it right.

Angel Cake really wanted to tell Plum Pudding that it has been two months since she had been unable to do any "artistic" performance and therefore wasn't well placed for judging her, but she preferred not to. Plum Pudding was a chatterbox, and she didn't need her to spoil the Café's reputation. She had already notice that the customers became rare, not enough to provoke her bankrupt, but it was noticeable anyway. Berrykins were certainly unable to recognize good things.

Apple Dumpln's was already tired of school. It seemed that this year would never end. Of course, there was Mulberry Murmur, but time was sly. When she was having fun with Mulberry, time would always run extremely fast, but when she was attempting a history lesson, it would go by so slowly that Apple wondered if it had not stopped. She couldn't wait for being in summer holiday.

-I would really like to skip some lessons, she once complained to Mulberry Murmur, while they were entering the school by a sunny morning. "But I can't. Since my sister decided to be unemployed, she's always on my back. It's worse than a mother looking after her baby! I have no freedom. She checks absolutely everything I do. What a hell!"

Mulberry Murmur sniggered.

-I know a way for getting extra breaks, she said, "But I won't tell you if you are a wimp."

Apple Dumplin opened her eyes wide.

-I' m never scared when I'm with you, she proudly affirmed.

-Very well. Follow me.

Mulberry Murmur and Apple Dumplin discreetly got away from the hall and joined an empty corridor.

-We have to be quick, Mulberry murmured. "The bell will ring in two minutes. Hide me."

Mulberry Murmur quickly got a tissue and a lighter from her skirt's pocket. Apple Dumplin' immediately understood what she meant to do, and, once more, the excitation of doing something forbidden vanished and got replace by fear.

-You are going to…?

-Don't worry; the firemen will extinguish the flame quickly, and no one will have the time to be hurt. With some luck, the school will be close for one or two days. But if you are too scared to stay with me, you can go out and play with the kindergarteners.

Apple Dumplin shook her head. Mulberry Murmur was her only friend, and she didn't want to lose her.

-Berry well. Let's go.

Ten minutes later, all the school's alarms were ringing, a red fire truck was parked in the playground, three firemen were flooding the building with their fire hose, the youngest pupils were crying, the teachers were panicked, and Apple Dumplin' was praying that no one had saw her, because this time she had understood she had did more than an "harmless trick".

Orange Blossom was walking as fast as she could to her Mart. The last fruits delivery had had some late, and she had to go in person at the sender's address to get it back. Luckily, her faithful Berrykins had been extremely efficient in collecting all the fruits in boxes and carrying them to the Mart on butterflyback. All that she had to do was to oversee the transportation. People that used to say Berrykins were lazy and clumsy should try to treat them well. On its way, the procession met the twin princesses, who were picking flowers. Oddly, they were alone.

-Good morning, my little majesties, Orange Blossom said respectfully, as the Berrykins bowed. "Where is your tutor?"

-He's taking a nap, answered calmly Princess Emerald.

Orange Blossom thought it was extremely suspicious. To Berrykin Bloom, the little princesses were most worthy than his own life. He wouldn't have leave them without surveillance without having a good reason to!

-Well. Where is he, my little Majesties? She asked, trying to hide the anxiety in her voice.

-Over there, said Princess Tourmaline, pointing a bush out.

Very intrigued, Orange Blossom glanced at the bush, followed by some Berrykins. Unfortunately, as expected, something was wrong with Berrykin Bloom. He was laying on the floor, face down, his hands tensed on the ground, like if he was struggling for crawling and get some help.

-Oh no, no, no, Orange Blossom muttered, panicked, as she carefully turned him over. His face was livid, and as tensed than his hands. He was slightly drooling and his eyes had rolled back. Orange Blossom couldn't tell what he was suffering of, but at this moment the diagnosis had no importance.

-Quick! She shouted at her employees. "Go and find doctor Hazel Nutby! Hurry!"

Understanding that something was wrong, the twin princesses started to groan.

-We want him to wake up right now, sobbed little princess Emerald.

Orange Blossom didn't answer to her. She only hoped it wasn't too late. Between her hands, she could feel Berrykin Bloom's tiny chest rise and going down, very slightly, very slowly. He was still breathing, but for how long?

-Hold on, she begged. "You can't leave us now, mister Bloom… Please, stay with us…"

Orange Blossom placed her thumbs at the center of Berrykin Bloom's chest and started to press it at regular intervals. She didn't know why she was doing this, indeed, and she had never taken first aid lessons before, but she felt it was the right thing to do. Perhaps she would hurt him rather than help him, but she really hadn't the time to think at this moment. In fact, she wasn't thinking at all. All that mattered to her was to do something, anything it could be, to keep this imperceptible breath of life inside the little body she held. It couldn't stop in front of her. No, she didn't want to. She would not stand that.

-Let me pass! Said firmly someone behind her. Doctor Hazel Nutby had been quick. In a few movements, the giant squirrel had taken hold of Berrykin Bloom, had examined him and had made him an injection.

-Heart attack, she tersely said. "I'll bring him with me".

Orange Blossom did nit ask her any question. She knew she wouldn't have the time to answer it.

Orange Blossom personally took the twin princesses, extremely moved, to their castle. She had wondered if making her employees work would help them to overcome that they had lived, but she had quickly noticed it only worsened their trauma: they were unable to focus on their tasks, and spent their time talking about what they had felt during Berrykin Bloom's second heart attack, their dread increased by the fact they were stuck at the Mart and could not get news. Finally, she opted for the fairest decision for her: giving them a day off. Orange Blossom, by her side, took a walk through the orchards. She wasn't less worry for Berrykin Bloom than the others; it was she had understood this new attack had greatly affected him and she thought that too many visits in one go would exhaust him-and Doctor Nutby would disapprove that.

Walking in the orchard wasn't a that good idea. All these plants reminded her Berrykin Bloom's work, and the hours he had spent days after days, years after years, to make them healthy and fertile. All thing considered, there was no place in Strawberryland that was not wearing Berrykin Bloom's mark. This place was his place, he had shaped it during his whole lifetime, always concerned by his fellows' wellbeing, never thirsty for glory or recognition. Orange Blossom noticed she was already thinking of Berrykin Bloom like if he was dead, and she tried to get this awful idea out of her mind; but she had to admit that he was very old, and weakened by his heart troubles. The only thing she could do to get rid of her doubts was to visit him, and to see once for all is her anxiety was wrong… or true.

-I don't think it is a good idea to see him today, calmly said Doctor Nutby. "At his age, a heart attack must not be taken lightly. Except medical cares, that he needs the most is a lot of rest. You will be able to talk to him in two days, when he will have regained his strength."

Orange Blossom had entered Doctor Nutby's cabinet, but she hadn't been allowed to go further than the waiting room. At her office, the squirrel was putting files into order, while Berrykin Bloom was recovering on a berrykin-sized bed, in a private bedroom, next to the examination room. Orange Blossom could not know if he was awoke or asleep, as doctor Nutby thought it was better to him to stay isolated. Orange had also been told that the others Berrykins who had enquired about him had been dismissed, without exception.

-Is that Miss Blossom I heard? A weak voice from the bedroom called.

Doctor Nutby shared a look with Orange Blossom.

-You'd better have rest, the doctor replied.

-If you don't let me see her, I will stand up and meet her by myself, Berrykin Bloom insisted.

-Nonsense, sighted the doctor. "I bet you won't even be able to get out of bed without help. Berry well… Do not writhe. If it can appease you, you can see her… but no more than five minutes. Understand?"

When Orange Blossom entered his room, Berrykin Bloom made a real effort to sit up straight. He was still very pale, and the rose shades of his face were turning to a waxy color. Even though his whole body was, unwillingly, expressing his tiredness and pain, he did his best to smile on a natural way and sincerely cared about personally thank Orange Blossom for saving him.

-You did more than saving me, he said. "You manage to repulse your fear and to make the proper choices in order to fix a critical situation, when all your workmates were petrified and unable to help you. Through this hardship, you show the qualities of a good leader: speed, self-control, decision taking. My community could not have dream of a better protector."

Orange Blossom blushed.

-This is too flattering for me. I only did my duty. And… we all need you here. You could not leave us now.

Berrykin Bloom frowned.

-Of course… he said. "I guess I have been too arrogant. I should have formed my successors sooner. Instead of that, I believed I was immortal. I even accepted to be the princesses' tutor… Poor little princesses. Their mother will have to choose a new tutor… as thought she hasn't got anything else to do. They will be uprooted… again. Sometimes, I think I have been a terrible head for my poor pupils."

-I forbid you to say such a thing, Orange Blossom firmly said. "You are one of the best Berrykins our communities even had. Of course you made mistakes. Who did not? But your knowledge, your wisdom, your generosity and your skills are huge, and it's for these reasons you are and always will be irreplaceable to us. I made my duty," Orange Blossom added, "Now it is your turn to do yours, what is to say to get better and live between us for long, long decades. Swear it to me! I will make sure you will keep your promise."

Did Berrykin Bloom cry while hearing this? He sniffed.

-Talking about duty, I think there's something I can confess to you, he said. "It is something I never told anyone, but now I think you are the right person to hear this. You may know that's I'm extremely old…"

-During my last trip to Berry Big City, I checked the University's registers, Orange Blossom added. "Your name appears in one of them. You studied biology and botany there from 1801 to 1803. The register said you were a sixty-years-old student. It means you are born in 1740 and that you are now two hundred and eighty years old." (For more details about Orange Blossom's trip, I invite you to re-read the chapter "Orange Blossom's assignment").

-Your calculation are right, Miss Blossom. But Berrykins' lifespan is three time longer than humans one. A sixty-years-old Berrykins is equivalent to a twenty-years-old human. I wasn't that old, at the time.

-I never pretended to.

-Well, what I have to confess to you is about this period. I hope you will grant me your forgiveness.

Orange Blossom was more curious than shocked. Whatever Berrykin Bloom could have done, it was certainly not as serious as he was depicting it.

-My childhood had been rather hectic, and it is an understatement. First of all, I have to explain you how family works in a Berrykin community. You already know that we have no parents, because we make our gestation inside flowers (if you have forgotten this details, you should re-read the chapter "The royal birth, part 1"). We are all, in some kind, orphans. But sometimes, an adult Berrykin feels a special affection for one of the baby Berrykin and take personally care of him. To the baby, he becomes the equivalent of a "father" at the humans. You also know that Berrykins are the fruits of a fruit plant fertilized by a magic bee. When two Berrykins are born from the same plant, fertilized by the same bee, they are said "brothers". As a baby, I had the chance of getting a father, and my father had himself a brother. I was born in the berry large and prosperous community of Berryvania. But our Queen wanted it to be bigger, so she asked some of her subjects to pack up and to find a new colony, in order to gather more exotic resources. She also asked them to bring some babies with them, in order to ensure their longevity. My father was a part of the expedition, so I also. I was only one year old… The first winter had been extremely rude. As we had only settled there for a few months, we hadn't had enough reserves and we were suffering of starvation. The wild beasts were starving too. It was so cold… At the time, climate wasn't on the blink yet. So, as they couldn't find their food by themselves… well, they simply attacked our colony to take ours. One night, my father had been called with all emergencies in order to defend the little food we had left from hungry squirrels. I wanted to go with him, but he ordered me to stay at home. I didn't listen to him. I was cold, I was bored, and I have been told since my birth that a good berrykin has to scarify his own life for its community's sake… so, I picked up a twig (to me, it looked like a proper weapon) and I followed him, behind his back.

Berrykin Bloom wasn't looking at Orange Blossom. He was staring into space, and his weak and hoarse voice was the only thing that could be heard in the room. Sitting next to his bed, the young girl was religiously listening to his story, like if she was receiving his dying words. The atmosphere was extremely oppressive, even to Doctor Nutby, who was originally angry after Orange Blossom who hadn't left the room after her allocated time. Berrykin Bloom didn't care anymore about the five minutes he had to confess. His shivering body was in front of the two women, but his mind was away, very far away, in the obscure country of memory.

-You cannot imagine how an angry squirrel looks like to a Berrykin. Berrykins and Beasts weren't coexisting in harmony yet… One of the squirrels had torn our storehouse's roof off and was eating our very last food, and all the Berrykins, including my father, were around him, hitting him with their cudgels and spears to put it to flight, and I thought I could help him. How swaggering I was! It only made it more anger. With its claws, it swept the crowd and me too. Try to imagine the damage a squirrel's claw can makes on us… my hands had been tore apart. I screamed and cried and searched for my father, but I could not see him with all the wounded bodies around me. Finally, another Berrykin took me back home and ordered me to stay there until the end of the fight. I was too afraid and weak to disobey again. I was losing a lot of blood, and I was suffering of malnutrition since weeks. I was too weak and too cold to move, so I stay at home, sitting on the ground, sobbing and waiting for my father. I think I didn't feel the pain in my hands anymore, and the end. I waited until daybreak, but my father never came back. Finally, a Berrykin came and told me he had been killed by the squirrel, like so many of us. The survivors question stayed problematic. Should they go back to Berryvania? Or should they try in spite of everything to save the colony? My own question was harder: with my wounded hands, I would probably stayed disabled until the end of my life, and to be a worthless mouth to feed, something they could not assume. I would also need a lot of care, but they could neither offer them to me nor resolve to kill me in order to spare me a lot of suffering. Then, a Berrykin remembered I had still an uncle in Berryvania. They all decided to send me back home, where I would have everything I needed. Everything… except my father. The Queen of Berryvania approved their decision, as, of course, she didn't want the colons to die. She had already planned sending of supplies at the colony, something that had been poorly regarded by some Berryvanians who were afraid of running out of food themselves. But my uncle was ready to greet me. He had himself adopted a baby Berrykin, Bertram, and he thought we would be like brothers. Serious gross… my cousin had always been extremely jealous of me. The first reason was he was forced to share his father's love with me. The second reason was he was extremely talented, as talented as me. When the Berryvanians saw my seriously injured hands, the word on the street was I would never be able to use them again. On the other side, Bertram, in spite of his very young age, had already shown his brilliant spirit, and it was no doubt he would be one day Berryvania's gardener in chief, a berry coveted position as it would make him the Queen's right-hand man. But my uncle refused to admit I was beyond all hope, and he did his best to save my hands. Thanks to his knowledge on plants' attributes, he made me ointments and poultices that helped my flesh to heal. My recovery had been extremely long, but his remedies worked. The only thing that he could not do was to erases the deep scars all above my forearms. This is why you will never see me without my gloves.

Orange Blossom looked at his arms. Actually, the doctor had not taken his famous gardening gloves off: it seemed too obvious to her.

-During my recovery, I was unable to do anything, but I didn't lose my time. In memory of his brother, my uncle offered me the same education he was giving to his own son, and this is how I discover my talents for gardening, too. Of course, it didn't please Bertram. There could only be one gardener in chief in a community, and he started to see me as a rival. This is the reason of the hatred he vowed to me since we know each other. Things got worse when my hands got cured. He started to put me down in public, to trample on my work, and even to take benefit of his bigger strength to hit me in private. I simply bore it: I thought I could not complain about my cousin to my uncle, because he was his son when I wasn't. When I was a young adult, around sixty, my thirst for knowledge was bigger than the things I could learn by staying in Berryvania, so I managed to follow some lessons at the Berry Big City's University. At the time, Berrykins and humans were not supposed to rub shoulders, or I should say I wasn't suppose to rub my shoulders with the humans' ankles, but the president allowed me to listen to some lessons, hidden in a cabinet. At Berryvania, my cousin Bertram kept repeating I was a traitor and that I was having fun in town when they were all working, but when they all noticed the progresses I was making thanks to y lessons, they quickly understood the truth. So, Bertram tried a change of tactics: he knew I had to cross a forest to go to the university, so he used to dress up like a monster in order to chase me every time I would have to cross the forest. He hoped I would be too scared to carry on my expeditions… It was without taking the other Berrykins' fear into consideration. They set a trap for the monster, Bertram got caught and the deception got discovered. He said it was just a prank… At the time, I was furious against him because I thought he was preventing me from doing the good to my community because of his pride and jealousy. Had I know… Bertram was right.

Orange Blossom and Doctor Nutby shared a look. According to what Berrykin Bloom had said about him, he seemed to be an odious person.

-A short time after this episode, my uncle passed away. Before his last breath, he had given us, Bertram and me, two identical straw hats he had spun himself. The straw hat that was characteristic of the gardener in chief. On his deathbed, he told us that he had noticed we didn't get on well, but that we were both extremely talented and that he could not imagine all the good we could bring to our community if we could work together. But after his death, Bertram charged me one more time to be an ambitious and a social climber, and that I was extremely happy of my uncle's death that allowed me to take his place. I put it down to his mourn, but since my uncle wasn't with us anymore, there was nothing left that could prevent Bertram from bullying me, so I started to search a way to distance myself. The colony I had left urgently as a baby had survived and I decided to join it. With my straw hat, the Berrykins living there immediately accepted me as their new gardener in chief, all the more so as the colony was badly administered and had no leader. To them, I was a kind of miracle: I have been evacuated in a very critical state, almost dying, but now I was coming back, stronger than ever, full of new skills and knowledge. Moreover, they all knew I was the one who had kept company with humans, and who had learnt a lot from them. I was a legend, a hero. You don't know that, at the time, humans were extremely impressive for the Berrykins. They were so tall, and their way of living was so different… My acts didn't belie my reputation. This colony was small, neglected, and the colons had hardly enough to eat at winter time. It was a pity, because the colony was well-placed, sunny, and after some investigations, I discovered that the ground here was extremely humus-rich and fertile. I used the rudiments of economy I had learnt with the humans to create a project: this colony would be perfect to grow strawberry plants of high quality and trade the fruits against other supplies we would need. This is why this poor, isolated, crude colony quickly turned into the first producer of strawberries. And what strawberries! The biggest, tastiest strawberries that had never been saw in the whole country. Due to its monoculture, this colony got quickly nicknamed "Strawberryland", a nickname that's still in use today. These happy days lasts something like a hundred years. Everything was right, Strawberryland was growing up, its inhabitants were healthy and could greet new babies, and the Queen of Berryvania sent us a young Berrykin girl from her own subject as our new own Princess: she had given her accord for making Strawberryland an independant city. I was around one hundred and thirty years old, and my reputation was still growing. I was considered as a savior. When our Princess gave birth to her heir, sixty years later, there was a burst of joy in the whole city: at least, Strawberryland had it own sovereignty and legitimacy! But an awful accident ended this privileged era. One spring, the Princess got killed by an angry raven that got her mixed up with a real Strawberry during the traditional search for the Wanderberry. Unfortunately for her, she didn't die instantly. Her subjects transported her to her palace, and they called us, Cousin Bertie and me, at her bedside, because we were both considered as the most talented gardener and healer of our time. This time, and for the first time, we forgot all our old resentments. The only goal we were pursuing was to save her. But her wounds were too deep and our medicinal plants didn't help her. She quickly understood she was condemned, and she knew she wouldn't live long enough to attend her daughter's coronation. But our future princess was still a little girl, and, by my side, even though everyone considered me as the most responsible Berrykin of Strawberryland, I couldn't reign because I was a boy. So, the Queen of Berryvania appointed me as her daughter's tutor and regent until her majority. Bertram was green with envy… But he didn't dare to protest in front of the Princess herself and her guards. She breathed her last breath a few hours later. The biggest problem was I didn't know how I was supposed to raise this tiny, vulnerable, orphan little girl in order to make her a good sovereign. So, I had an idea. I sent her in a berry ancient Berrykin community in England, because I knew this country had a berry strong relationship with royalty, and I hoped they would be able to show her what a proper queen was supposed to do better than I could do. You may be thinking that moving our heir away from her future kingdom was a ridiculous mistake, but what I did after was even worse. I recognize it now… Now that our two-years-old princess was accommodated in England, we still needed a ruler in Strawberryland, a female ruler. I had the gruesome idea to pick up a young girl, not very clever but berry obedient, who would play this role without having doubts and who would kindly give us the power back when our little princess would be old enough to assume the throne. The girl I found was a young villager, extremely beautiful but a little bit idiot, and to whom this role consisted in wearing nice dresses. We were in 1930… She was known as "the Berry Princess", but I was taking all the decisions, behind the scene… As expected, when our legitimate heir turned sixty and was called back from England, she nicely agreed to give her back all her powers and leave us. But the disaster had started… Oh, Miss Blossom, I told you my whole story. Can you still consider me as a friend of your?

Orange Blossom nodded. At this moment, she wasn't sure Berrykin Bloom was still all there.

-Of course I like you, sir, she softly said. "I don't even understand why you are castigating yourself."

Berrykin Bloom sighed. This long speech had tired him a lot, and his voice was hardly audible when he added:

-You didn't understand me. Because of my process, of my ideas, the Berrykins started to admire humans and to think that collaborate with them was a desirable situation. They started to think that living by the human way was better than the Berrykin way. They were all living in peace… During my youth, Berrykins were the masters of their country and I spoiled everything with my stupid ambition. I made them encounter humans' customs, and I let them understand that it was a progress to imitate them. What a moron I am… Now, they believed they are honored when a human allows them to carry its luggage! Poor Miss Blossom, you are in front on the man who caused all the inequalities you are fighting. But you are avenged… I feel I'll die soon. I would die in peace if I could get your pardon, Miss.

Orange Blossom felt her eyes filled up with tears.

-I forgive you, Berrykin Bloom.

To be continued…