Marceline's feet landed firmly on the ground of the Candy Castle balcony.
She stared at the heavy oak doors in front of her, trying hard to pluck up the courage to knock.
These doors weren't even here the last time, she found herself musing. This whole TOWER wasn't here.
She was quite impressed with the overall development of the Candy Kingdom, it had enlarged and extended incredibly in the space of one year.
She deliberately tore herself from thoughts of the kingdom and focused her attention on its princess.
Marceline trusted herself to be valiant and knock on the door.
But nothing happened.

She growled in irritation, sighed and turned away, soaring up into the sky above.
One day soon, she might be brave enough.
But not tonight.

As the vampire glided higher in the sky and out of sight, Bubblegum opened the doors, peering outside at the balcony.
She blinked sleepily then, whilst stifling a yawn, closed the doors securely and went back inside.
She must have been dreaming.

Marceline was lost in thought, completely unaware of her surroundings, when she felt a strong force wrap around her middle.
Gasping, she looked back in shock and saw that she was in the clutches of...a giant gumball machine?
"What the-? Hey, let me go!"
"No," the monstrosity replied in a robotic tone. "You are a danger to the kingdom."
"What are you talking about? I – urgh!"
Marceline was suddenly being squeezed forcefully by the creature's hand.
Struggling slightly, she willed her body to change and then altered into her demon form, breaking free from the gumball's tight grip.
"OK buddy, you want a fight?" she growled. "Let's dance!"

That was when a dazzlingly bright light hit her full on in the face, blinding her instantly.
"Halt! Stop right there intruder, I - Marceline?"
Bubblegum's voice was distorted and warped. For a second, Marceline wondered if this was all some wild dream.
Hissing against the bright light, Marceline squinted down to the ground where two banana guards stood by...

Bubblegum.
Dressed only in her nightgown and a jacket she had obviously just pulled on over it, Bubblegum hardly looked regal or ceremonial or sophisticated.
But she looked absolutely beautiful to Marceline. Just as stunning as the last time they'd seen one another.

"Gumball Guardian, thank you for catching the intruder," Bubblegum was saying to the large mechanical creature. "You can go back to patrolling the kingdom now."
The gumball machine gave Marceline one more long look (she stuck her tongue out at it) before saying "as you wish" to the princess and stamping away.
Now Bubblegum looked up at Marceline and Marceline look down at her, neither of them sure of what to say or do.

"Uh...Princess? Shall we take the trespasser to the dungeon?" one of the banana guards asked but Bubblegum was shaking her head.
"Nein, I'll deal with things from here," Bubblegum said, not taking her eyes off of the vampire floating about twenty feet above her. "You're both excused. Thank you for your help."
The banana guards left the scene and Marceline floated down, diminishing the distance between her and Bubblegum until they were face-to-face.
"Hi," she said stupidly.
"Hi," Bubblegum echoed. "Were you the one outside my window?"
Marceline nodded silently.

Bubblegum looked down at her feet, then looked back up at Marceline, narrowed her eyes.
"You never even called me."
Marceline opened her mouth, then closed it again. She hung her head in shame.
"You didn't even leave a message," Bubblegum went on. "A note, a letter, a freaking memo! Nothing. You just left."
Marceline nodded wordlessly.
"I looked for you," Bubblegum continued, her voice gathering anger. "I was so worried Marceline, I searched this entire land, urgently trying to find you! And then when Keila said you had just left voluntarily, I felt like...like...well, like I didn't matter to you at all."
Marceline looked up at that.
"You did matter!" the vampire insisted. "You mattered to me so much that I couldn't even try to contact you. Because I was convinced that you didn't care about me anymore and – well – if that was the case, it would have been too painful to stick around and just watch our friendship disintegrate so I-"
But Marceline was cut off by Bubblegum throwing her arms around her neck and hugging her.

"Geistesschwache," she scolded, holding on tight. "As if I'd ever let our friendship fade away! I know I could have done more to make time for you but-"
"I shouldn't have run," Marceline said, holding her close. "I'm sorry Bonnibel."
There was a long pause where the girls just squeezed each other, desperately wanting to feel close to the other one.
"I missed you," Marceline said after a while.
Bubblegum smiled into her shoulder.
"I missed you too," she said. "I'm so glad you're back."
Marceline blinked back her tears, silently thanking Gabriel for always being right.

It didn't take long for the vampire and the princess to pick up where they left off.
Bubblegum asked Marceline to join her on an expedition to the Isle of Trash the very next week and their series of epic adventures together begun again.
Marceline proved herself to be a great asset to the Candy Kingdom; reinforcing the outer walls of the large territory, forging weapons with the blacksmith, teaching battle tactics to the banana guards.
Weeks went by. They turned into months. Which turned into years.
About a year and a half after Marceline returned, Bubblegum and Creampuff ended things on good terms, deciding to remain friends.

That's when the next section of the girls' story together truly began.