The figure turned slowly to face the trembling Bubbles, their face still largely shrouded by darkness.
Taking one step forward, Bubbles could see despite the fact that it was a dark moonless night that the figure had long auburn hair tied into two large puffs which hung at their side.
There was also no mistaking the expensive yellow nightgown which they were clad in, and the bright yellow crown worn neatly on the stranger's head which Bubbles could only now see.
"I'm a friend." stated Bubbles gently, hoping to reassure the stranger that she was harmless and indeed only here to help. "You don't need to worry about me. Really you don't. I just want to help you."
It wasn't until several seconds later that Bubbles got a response. The stranger seemed to convulse in fear, as they took a few steps forward, close enough so that now Bubbles could see their face clearly enough.
A freckled face, wearing a annoyed and wearied expression coupled with two narrow slits for eyes. The face of a wealthy, attention seeking girl who Buttercup would warn Bubbles to stay a mile away from ,were she here.
The face of Princess Morbucks.
Cold sweat trickled from her forehead, as Bubbles regarded the girl with a mixture of concern and shock. It was true that she along with her sisters, had been distrustful of this girl since the day their paths had crossed in Kindergarten. A day Bubbles remembered like it was just yesterday.
There was a shiny limousine which pulled into the driveway that sunny morning. Bubbles, along with a group of other eager children had watched as the car door opened and showed her Princess. An attractive enough girl about her age and height, wearing an expensive and very neatly organized jumper and skirt, with socks that reached up to her ankles.
Bubbles had wanted to walk up to the new girl , but some deep seated feeling had prevented her from moving even a step as the girl stormed angrily into school refusing to have anything to do with the various recreational activities that the other children were engrossed in, with the time still being morning break.
Despite her apparent coldness and abrasiveness that Bubbles along with her sisters saw in their new classmate, it was something in her eyes that made Bubbles want to run up to her and ask what was wrong. Why Bubbles never went with her instincts that day or any day after for that matter, she would never know.
Those tired, empty eyes which Princess regarded everything and everyone around her with till this day. A pair of fearful eyes that wanted to see no one and nothing anymore.
But that never happened and Bubbles had never approached Princess since that day. What ensued after a convoluted chain of events far too complex to go into without bringing nasty and visceral thoughts that Bubbles never wanted to remember again, Bubbles along with her sisters Blossom and Buttercup had stood staring as Princess was bundled into a police van which had arrived to take her away.
The three of them shared an answering glance as they realized together that they had made a dangerous enemy that day,. Though it was Bubbles alone as she clutched her still bleeding nose, who shed a tear as she reflected on all that had happened. A tear lamenting the loss of what could have been a long and beautiful friendship.
Those were the graphic images that flashed up in Bubbles's mind, as she managed with great willpower not to look away from Princess's grim frown. A frown which said more than words ever could, and once again caused Bubbles to shed a single tear which she quickly wiped away. A tear at the thought of what might have been.
Bubbles doubted there would be a formal reception between them, especially after all the nasty scrapes that had happened later between them. Bubbles herself had not forgotten the times when she had sought revenge against her and her sisters in a variety of creative ways to get back at them for what she perceived as a dire insult and wrong towards her.
Not that Bubbles really ever blamed her. Some of the horrible things they had done to Princess, many of which Bubbles was directly involved in really did make Bubbles's stomach churn with discomfort.
Bubbles could think of nothing to say, so instead respectfully waited in silence for Princess to speak first. It was the most polite thing she could think to do in this moment.
"What do you want?" sighed Princess at last, her tone neither friendly nor unfriendly. "Have you come to make fun of me because I'll never be one of you. Save it. I already know."
Bubbles could only shake her head gently, still at a loss for words.
"No? Then why are you here? Don't you realize that I was happy here by myself until you showed up." snapped the wealthy girl impatiently, her face already beginning to turn as red as her hair.
Bubbles took a deep breath as she tried to force herself to say anything. Anything to make her seem at least somewhat sympathetic to the girl she had spent most of her life spurning and rejecting, partly because of Blossom and Buttercup's warnings.
She could never bring herself to hate Princess the way her sisters always did, but whether this made her any better she didn't know.
"Go!" yelled Princess. "I don't want to see you here. If all you came to do was insult me to my face again like you always do, just go. I know I'll never be a powerpuff girl. You don't need to tell me again."
Bubbles shook her head once again, still unable to find the words to express her concern for the girl who clearly wanted nothing but to see her turn around and leave. But Bubbles did not want to leave. Princess's cries of grief had brought her here, and unless she was very good at pretending this time this certainly didn't seem like another trick.
Princess seemed to be on the verge of losing her temper, as she clenched her teeth. "I was minding my own business, until you showed up. All I am asking is that you leave me in peace. Is that really too much to ask?"
Bubbles took a deep breath, as she touched her chest with her left hand and held out her right hand. She had to speak now, and quickly before Princess's hatred for her got out of hand. It was time to do what should have been done a long time ago but which she had always procrastinated on. Since Blossom and Buttercup were not here to clean up their mess, she would do it in their place regardless of what they thought of her later.
"Look" said Bubbles, looking Princess in the eyes to show she was serious in every word she said "I'm sorry. Really I am."
"Sorry?" echoed Princess sarcastically, her face still red "You think a sorry will make me forgive you for all the things you and your sisters have done to me by now? Well keep your sorry for yourself. You clearly aren't sorry. You never were when you were getting me arrested and then getting me onto the naughty list without any sympathy. You're not sorry."
"I'm really sorry." repeated Bubbles gently "I never meant to do all these terrible things to you. I should have helped you instead of always letting my sisters decide what I should do."
"Your sisters are selfish losers who don't care about anyone but themselves" replied Princess, clearly still not buying a single word of Bubbles's apology "And so are you. I don't talk to selfish losers like you so just get the heck away and never come back."
Ignoring the insult, Bubbles closed her eyes and bowed in shame. "My sisters never meant to hurt you Princess. I know Buttercup can be a bit easy to upset sometimes, it's always been part of who she is and sometimes she even takes it out on me. And Blossom sometimes thinks she always knows better and doesn't listen to what I say either. I know how you feel Princess, really I do. Their my sisters. I put up with them despite their mistakes because I still love them."
"They still sound like selfish losers to me. And if they treat you so badly, you're nothing but an even bigger moron for staying with them. You should just leave them behind. Not that I really care since I don't like you."
"If I left my sisters, I'd have nowhere to go." explained Bubbles patiently. "I'd have no one to turn to when things got tough, and I certainly wouldn't be as happy as I was today. My sisters do care about me, just as I care about them. I need them, they need me. Life isn't easy, but when we're together it feels a bit better."
If Princess felt anything, she was certainly trying her best not to show it. But Bubbles could have sworn she saw Princess's eyes twitch, if only slightly.
"That's easy for you to say, you're a goody two shoes Powerpuff girl who everyone loves. But do you care that no one loves me. No of course not."
At the mention of the words "no one loves me", Bubbles began to feel a sharp pain in her chest as well as a huge surge of liquid forming in her eyes. Of course Bubbles knew that most of the school still hated Princess after her first day, but didn't Princess also mention she had a daddy who bought her everything she wanted.
Surely at least that man loved his daughter. Or had this poor, misunderstood girl really never known the beautiful sensation known well to Bubbles as love.
Did that mean... Bubbles could not bear to finish her thought.
"Why Princess? Doesn't your daddy at least love you?" Bubbles honestly could not care less at this stage if Princess went out of control and threw a fist into her nose. She would deserve it for all the neglect and indifference she had shown to this poor girl, despite claiming to be the "joy and laughter" in her group of sisters.
She certainly hadn't given Princess any joy and laughter, in their long years of hostility and pointless fighting.
Princess's red face, whitened a little at this question and Bubbles could once again swear that Princess seemed just as close to tears by now as her.
Princess's tired, narrow eyes widened a little and she sighed a little before uttering a sharp and curt laugh.
A laugh that hurt Bubbles, much more than hearing Princess cry. A laugh that a depressed man would make as he drove a razor into his flesh and dug it as deep as he could, hoping the pain would ease his sorrows when in fact he knew full well it would not.
"Ha ha ha ha ha" laughed Princess, clutching her chest as she stared at Bubbles with cold and empty eyes, which seemed to stare into Bubbles's very essence.
"What's wrong Princess" pleaded Bubbles, unable to listen to this sick laughter for any longer.
Princess managed after several more seconds, to get her laughter under control by taking several long and painful breaths which hurt to listen to.
Then in a voice already well under control, she grinned a little as she decided after what seemed to be a few long seconds in reflection to deign to give a reply.
"Ah you idiot." sighed Princess, feigning cheerfulness in her voice "You silly idiot. You really believe that you're the only one who deserves an oh so happy family, with an oh so lovely group of friends that love you oh so much, don't you. You don't think that maybe all I wanted was to be popular like you. Well if that's what you really think Blondie, you're even more of a loser than I thought."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not telling you anything else. I don't trust you and even if I did tell you, you'd just stay I was lying and that you didn't trust me. So forget about it and go away."
Bubbles gasped as the guilt that had began to fester in her gut since this conversation began, now seemed to course through her very veins.
She felt a heavy burden crawling on her back, and that the devil himself was staring her in the face as he brandished his giant red trident, grinning evilly.
A mixture of emotions ran through Bubbles in this very moment.
Pity with a lonely girl who the world had beaten down on for far too long, anger with her two sisters for manipulating her decisions so that she could never openly show the sympathy she had hidden away but overriding everything was a burning sense of determination and responsibility.
Determination to get Princess and her sisters to meet just once to have a peaceful talk and conversation without any more fighting.
Determination to see for just once, a true and honest smile on Princess's tear stained face as well. To see Princess's eyes wide and eager to live the life she had been given and embrace friendship rather than trying to shut the world out like this.
But most of all, determination to see Princess and Buttercup smiling together in a photo, A photo that they'd each keep a copy of to signify an end to a long and pointless rivalry and that the long years they had spent at each other's tongues had not been completely wasted. This would be the true sign that both of them had changed for the better and that the change was there to hopefully stay.
As much as Bubbles wanted to put the blame on herself, she admitted that it was probably Buttercup's smug and blase attitude which perpetuated this whole chain of sad events and misunderstandings. And only Buttercup could truly give Princess the forgiveness she needed to move past this sadness.
"Well if you have nothing else meaningful to say. I'm going. Don't come back for me again because next time I see you, I'll make you regret everything." insisted Princess as she stifled a loud yawn and turned to leave, taking step after step away. It was clear that her opinions on Bubbles and her own miserable existence, had not changed one bit.
"Wait!" Bubbles managed to shout just as Princess was about to vanish from her sight.
For a long tense moment, it seemed that Princess was ignoring Bubbles as she continued to trudge wearily away.
"I want to help you. But I can't unless I know what's wrong. Please tell me what's wrong and I'll do my best to help." promised Bubbles desperately, hoping the desperation in her voice made her vow at least slightly more believable.
Now almost out of sight and almost shrouded completely in darkness, Princess very reluctantly turned around and shot Bubbles a calculating glance.
"You already know what I want if you really want to help me. So go away." she muttered, before turning once more to wander away as she seemingly merged with the dark shadow of the night and vanished from view.
Cold and exhausted, Bubbles continued to stare into the distance silently for a few moments more, her eyes somehow still dry.
Then very slowly, she picked herself up from the ground as she slowly flew up into the sky to head for home.
She had found herself another task to add to her already arduous list of responsibilities tonight.
The new Townsville would never be the safe and happy place she wanted it to be if Princess wasn't part of the happiness and pleasure. And if her sisters couldn't stop fighting Princess, then there was no point in continuing further.
Peace and equality meant peace and equality for everyone after all.
Once again thank you everyone for reading and commenting on this story which I've worked so hard to think up and write. I really do appreciate all the comments and I really do read and appreciate every one of them.
Sorry this update took a while again. So what do you think of the story so far. What do you feel our blonde heroine will need to do next. Which direction do you feel things will head in next? I would like to hear your opinions in comments and would really appreciate the support.
So thank you and I will see you in the next chapter. Bye bye.