Unfinished

Before they knew it the holidays were approaching. Thanksgiving was a few weeks off, and Professor Utonium was still with them. While she promised to spend more time with her sisters and usually held to those promises, Blossom spent most of her time working with her father towards a solution. One of their four full-time nurses always hovering in the background made it hard to forget what they were working for.

The case against Bubbles and Buttercup had been summarily dropped. The public response hadn't been so bad as they'd feared. Saving the world first from an alien invasion and then from the machinations a magical artifact which had taken possession of a young Hawaiian boy probably helped smooth things over a little.

There were still those who, even now, cast sour glances and taunts their way. But a few weeks after the trial ended, Bubbles received a cautious call from her friend Katie, wondering if she wanted to hang out.

When the dust settled, it seemed most of the people who had looked up to them continued to do so. Their friends remained so.

It became easy to ignore the rest.

Bubbles mused about these things on the couch, watching television with Buttercup. She wondered about her sister, too. They hadn't been intimate again; neither of them brought it up. Maybe they were more cuddly, but there had been times like that even before Buttercup had come forward. About all that it came to was that if anyone asked either of them, they'd say that, yes, they were most definitely in love. That and their kisses sometimes went beyond mere friendliness.

Were things really all that different, aside from their father's health? Did they all overestimate where things would end up? Or had all of them more feared the change itself?

Bubbles would soon after find a moment alone with Blossom and ask her, as Bubbles was wont to do when she felt she had all the pieces and still couldn't put them together.

"Well, as for you and your sister," Blossom started before pausing to recall some memory. Despite the genetics involved they still considered each other siblings. For the most part, anyway. "I seem to recall you once told me it's all about what you feel, what you can feel, and what you choose. I guess you figured out the first two. As for the rest, sure things have changed. Our whole family is closer, now. I feel bad it took all this to make that happen again, but I believe we're stronger for it."

To Bubbles, that made sense enough.

The next morning, just before the sun peeked over the horizon, Bubbles stole into Buttercup's room and woke her up. Without a word Bubbles wrapped her in a bathrobe and led her outside. A short flight later they stood together on the skyscraper Bubbles sometimes enjoyed the sunrise from. Up there they shared a kiss Bubbles meant to remind herself--to remind both of them--of the choice they had made.

Of course, the several webcams pointed at that spot caught that moment, and while it didn't make it into the brochures or onto posters, if you look hard enough you can find it on post cards in some shops. Precious few who bought them, though, and who understood what it showed, had a true understanding of the fire and pain that had been endured to reach that point.

Author's Afterward

To begin with, there were a few points I didn't manage to squeeze in. First of these is possibly important to some readers, and that is the question as to whether Him influenced Bubbles's reaction. The answer is no. Furthermore, I believe Him wouldn't have chosen to interfere that way. Tempting Blossom was just that--temptation. Not control. Even Blossom's reactions were her own. With Bubbles, Him would have gladly held back to watch things unfold. The stage had already been set and any outcome would have pleased him. Him considered those first few days "perfectly delicious."

Second is just a minor, unimportant thing, but it was on my to-do list and didn't make it, so here it is: I wanted one of the girls (probably Bubbles) to make the comment "poor boy" regarding Mike having to sleep in the bed Bubbles and Buttercup had shared. Bubbles and Buttercup probably shared that comment at some point, but not in any of the conversations that were written here. There were more important things to accomplish.

Third, yes, I realize the "spouses clause" of the contract is meaningless if people can be dealt with before they reach such a state. However, that little "indirectly" (present in the contingency clause but not the main contract) closes many doors. In fact, it is so broad that it would not have been agreed to at all without that limiting time span.

And while not exactly something I left out, I apologize for the genetics cop-out. While I enjoy darker, grittier stories with more dismal ends, I felt the most appropriate end for this was a happy one.

I'd like to know how those girls managed to get through their brief period of powerlessness in their youth. I'd like to see where the Professor's struggles to extend his life will lead him, not to mention why and how he made a deal with Him in the first place. I'm really curious to find out just what Mojo is up to, because I have the feeling his usual routine of overconfident attacks doomed to failure are now simply cover to keep the girls from prying into something he's working on in secret. I'd even like to find out if Blossom and Mike can move further still past their differences (even if the answer is no).

All the same, I will for now (and perhaps for good) leave this rest as it stands. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I hope more to have excited your imaginations and led you to think. Both imagination and thought are frightening, dangerous things, but little else has such power as they.