SEVERAL MONTHS LATER

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum drew in a deep, steadying breath, then let it out slowly. A bead of sweat rolled its way down her forehead, and she brushed it away irritably with the grimy sleeve of her once white lab coat.

"Finn, will you hand me that dropper over there?"

Finn jumped up from the stool on which he sat, situated in the corner of Bonnie's lab. He grabbed the dropper and handed it to her with an enthusiastic "Yes princess!"

Bonnie thanked him, wondering if she should ask him to be her assistant permanently. He had been invaluable in the process of extracting the memories from that monster, as well as keeping the peace in the kingdom while Bonnie figured it all out—rounding up the candy people and making sure none of them felt threatened, staying up through the wee hours of the morning simply to make sure Bonnie did not overwork herself. She could hardly believe he was the same kid that had broken a royal promise once, the same kid that used to rely so heavily on others for support. Someday, she knew, he would be unstoppable.

She turned back to the task at hand, smiling slightly to herself. Enthusiastic or not, Finn would never agree to be her assistant. He was an adventurer, through and through, and he would never be satisfied with lab life.

She glanced at the closed window before carefully pinching the dropper, letting a single drop of cola fall into the mixture in front of her. There was no interruption—no explosion. The mixture fizzled, turning a slightly darker shade of blue, and Bonnie sat back in relief. It had gone as smoothly as it should have on that first day.

There was a knock at the door, and Bonnie nodded for Finn to answer it.

"We're going to be late," Jake said as soon as he opened the door. "I thought we agreed on 4:00."

"Yikes," Finn hissed, glancing at the clock on the wall. "I guess I lost track of time."

"Well, hurry up," Jake demanded, crossing his arms. "Marceline doesn't like it when we're late—remember last time?"

Finn flinched, slinging his backpack over his shoulders. "Yeah, I remember." He raised a hand in Bonnie's direction. "See ya, princess. Let me know if you need any more help."

Bonnie nodded, biting her lip to keep herself from asking how Marceline was doing.

Jake hesitated in the doorway, wringing his hands together. "Princess, do you want to—ah—" He scratched his head, looking at Finn. "Come with us?"

Bonnie felt her shoulders tense, but she forced herself to give them a small smile. "Not this time," she said. "I'm far too busy right now."

Judging from both boys' expressions, they could tell she was lying.

"Really, I'll come next time," she said, waving her hand in a dismissive way. "Just go have fun."

"Alright, well. Good luck, Princess," Finn said, pushing Jake out the door. Bonnie thought she caught the words that's what she said last time mumbled in Jake's voice, and she sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her eyes wandered back to the window, shuttered closed against the afternoon sun.

When this is all over, I want you to erase my memories again. And then I want you to leave me alone.

That's what Marceline had said. The memory still cut through Bonnie's gut every time she thought about it, which was pretty often these days. She had held up her part of the bargain, though, despite everything. She had held up better than she thought she would.

Maybe she shouldn't have.

Leave me alone leave me alone leave me alone-

Bonnie groaned and stood, shrugging off her lab coat and snatching her jacket from the hook in front of the door before locking it tight behind her and making her way down the stairs. She passed Peppermint Butler, who acknowledged her with a formal nod. She passed through her throne room—empty—and she passed through her kingdom, greeting her candy people as she went.

What she had told Finn and Jake—it hadn't been a total lie. There was another project she was working on.

When Bonnie finally reached the Abyss, the sun was already below the horizon.

She looked out over the canyon, pulling her jacket tighter around her in the sudden chill that came in the wake of the sunset. It looked weird, she decided, without all those billowing clouds of toxic fumes clogging it up. It looked smaller, somehow. The machine she had built to clean the air sat somewhere down there—Bonnie wasn't close enough to see it, but she could hear it, whirring in the silence of the evening.

The Abyss—she would have to come up with a new name for it, once the cleanup was finished. She wondered what Marceline would have called it. The Big Scary Hole in the Ground Where We Almost Died? Bonnie grimaced, allowing herself to wish Marceline were here to name it. Bonnie had never really been good at that kind of stuff.

"I thought I might find you here."

Bonnie stiffened at the voice, turning slowly.

Marceline looked the same as she always had, with the notable exception that her hair was shorter—brushing just past the top of her shoulders. She didn't look at Bonnie, but stared into what used to be the Abyss with an expression the princess couldn't quite place.

Bonnie forced herself to keep her breathing steady, willed her heart rate to stay at an even 80 beats per minute.

"I thought you were hanging out with Finn and Jake," she said lightly, reaching for some sense of normalcy even in a situation like this.

Marceline snorted, finally turning to meet her stare. Her expression was guarded, but something sparked in her eyes—something quick and bright. Bonnie suddenly felt dizzy.

"They seemed worried about you, so I sent them home."

"Oh."

A breeze shot between them, lifting Marceline's hair from her shoulders, causing Bonnie to shiver, but neither of them broke eye contact. The space between where Bonnie stood and Where Marceline's feet were planted seemed strangely vast—an Abyss in and of itself.

"I like your hair," Bonnie said.

"Thanks," said Marceline.

Below them, the machine hummed and rumbled, echoing throughout the canyon like the purr of some sort of giant jungle cat. Marceline shifted her body so she was facing the edge of the cliff.

"We should probably rename it, dontcha think?" she said, flashing her fangs at Bonnie along with the ghost of a smile.

And just like that Bonnie's face twisted, eyes filling with tears. The tension shattered, and she sank to the ground with a stifled cry, digging the heels of her hands into her eyes as if she could stop the tears from coming—as if she could shove the emotions back down.

She felt Marcy's hand on her back—light, hesitant, but comforting all the same—and she leaned into the touch, ashamed that Marcy was the one comforting her when she was the one who had messed up.

"I'm sorry," she said when she was able. "I'm sorry."

"I know," Marceline said. She removed her hand from the princess's back. When Bonnie finally lifted her head, the vampire held something in her fist—something small.

Bonnie wiped at her face with her sleeve. "Finn and Jake told me you didn't drink it, but I still didn't know—I wasn't sure—" Bonnie swallowed, intimidated by Marceline's stoic expression, but she kept going. "I wasn't sure if you'd changed your mind about—about wanting to see me, too…"

To Bonnie's eternal shock, Marceline smiled. "I'm kinda surprised," she said. "I didn't think you could be so considerate."

The princess's lips parted, mouth open slightly. "Ouch," she said.

Marceline flicked her hair back from her face, smile stretching into a full-fanged grin. "After the battle I really thought you'd come around anyway. When Finn and Jake told me you were 'busy'—" Marceline rolled her eyes—"I was almost annoyed. But—" Marceline sat down on the ground next to Bonnie. "I'm kind of glad I made you worry."

Bonnie's face burned. "Marcy, that's cruel."

The vampire laughed, though the sound wasn't as genuine as Bonnie would have preferred. She imagined Marcy was still hurt—it would probably take a while for Bonnie to completely return to her good graces, but she was willing to wait. She was willing to wait forever.

"Sorry, Bon Bons," Marcy said, leaning back to stare at the sky. "Sometimes it's nice to see you sweat a little."

"You still have the formula," Bonnie said, ignoring Marcy's remark. It wasn't a question.

Marceline opened her fist to look at the small bottle of blue liquid in her palm, and her smile dimmed a bit.

"Saving it for a rainy day?" Bonnie asked.

"Something like that," Marcy answered.

Bonnie's gaze lingered on Marcy's face for a moment, then she stood, dusting herself off. She searched the ground as Marceline quirked an eyebrow, following the princess's movements with her eyes. Finally, she located a small pebble, and she bent to pick it up.

She stared at the rock in her palm, then she turned to Marcy, flashing the biggest, warmest smile she could muster. "I hope we can keep hanging out, Marcy."

The pebble soared over the Abyss in a graceful arc, and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

"Your turn," Bonnie said, searching the ground for another pebble for Marcy to throw.

But Marceline was already stepping toward the edge of the cliff. She looked out over the canyon, at the bit of toxic fumes that were still swirling below, at the craggy, jagged rocks that protruded from the ground like teeth. Then she looked back at Bonnie. "I hope so too, Bon Bons." she said, then threw the bottle off the cliff.

Bonnie's tears were back, but this time they were shed through a smile. "Your throw could use some work," she teased.

Marceline smiled again, and it was like the clouds had scattered, revealing the stars in the vampire's eyes.

"I'll remember that," she said.

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Full disclosure I finished this a while ago, but I didn't want this to be over. This was my first fanfic and I'm so attached to it. I wasn't allowed to use the internet in high school so this whole experience has been AMAZING and I can't thank you guys enough! To everyone who read or followed or favorited this story, thank you! And to those of you that commented regularly-you know who you are-and to anyone who commented at all, you seriously are the reason I was able to keep writing this. Thank you thank you thank you!