Princess Bubblegum had to recover from the events a few months ago. Although in front of Marceline and all those around her she put up a tough front, on the inside there was a war of conflicted feelings. Many times she would find herself in a conversation and she would blank out, thinking of that girl. That girl with the black satin hair, that girl with the pale skin that looked like the glossiest silver when it shined in the moonlight, that girl whom Bonnibel had created so many special memories with. Yet all of it was taken away as soon as it was given to them. She knew there was nothing that she could say to make things better, nothing on the entire planet. That feeling is what ate her up at night, and sometimes she would find herself on the verge of tears.

Some of her friends had attempted to console her, although they never knew the entirety of their relationship, nor of how either of them felt about the situation. Even Finn and Jake had noticed her melancholy aura, and had, in multiple attempts, tried to get her out of the hole she was in. One of their attempts took its form of a stroll in the kingdom's garden. Jake had brought picnic supplies made by Lady Rainacorn, and Finn was carrying the blanket and umbrella. The princess had been dressed in an attire that had looked fit in only a funeral. That's when Finn got the courage to ask what happened to the Princess that day.

"Princess…?"

"Yes Finn?"

"If you, well, if you want to, can you, just, can you please explain to us what happened to you the day of um, your… event?"

"You know this is a hard subject for me."

Then Jake, in an attempt to save Finn stated, "We know, but in order to effectively carry out security measures, we need to know the severity of the situation, and how we can prevent it."

With a sigh the princess responded, "I suppose that would be reasonable, however I am going to have to give you the abridged version, if that is sufficient."

"Yes your highness." Finn said.

The three of them picked a nice spot under a candy apple tree to place their picnic blanket. The spot was nice and sunny, the kind of weather that felt good to have the warm sun and cool wind on their skin. There were a few clouds in the sky but not too many where you could make shapes out of them. This relaxed the group and in its own way, it helped the princess open up about what happened that day.

She brushed her hair out of her face that the wind blew, and then she looked down and gave a soft sigh. Finn asked if she was sure she wanted to talk about it all. That's when she looked up with a face that realized there was no hiding from these two, they were more than just royal body guards, and they wanted to be her close friends. Now knowing how good they both were only reassured the princess more.

She explained it in a way that was simple, in a way that wouldn't essentially freak the two boys out. However because of Finn's innocent and oblivious nature he didn't exactly understand the full extent of the girls' relationship. Jake knew right away but chose to keep it from Finn; he didn't need any more motivation to pursue a girl much older than him. PB noticed their reactions to their relationship and didn't feel judged or even gross about it, they seemed open and she truly appreciated them for it. In his own way, Jake wanted to reassure the princess, so he promised her to help Finn understand the situation and she thanked him for that. Finn on the other hand wanted to do anything he could to make the beautiful princess happy once more. He knew that for the past few months she wasn't eating right, she didn't get enough sleep, and even once they had to get her out of her bed. Although now that he understood why she was like this, it did help him understand and feel a sort of empathy for her.

For the rest of their lunch break the group made jokes (most were made by Finn and Jake in an attempt to cheer Bubblegum up) played around with each other, and just gave each other the most precious gift that friends can give, company. When it was time to pack up and head for the kingdom, Jake quadrupled in sized and started a warm group hug between the three of them. Walking back Bubblegum kissed the both of them on their forehead and she went away to tend to her daily duties.

However Marceline on the other hands didn't have the type of company that Bonnie was graced to have. Most of her bandmates were in the Nightosphere and she couldn't get a hold of them. The only company she had was the Ice King who occasionally visited, however he opened up even older wounds that plagued her for most of life.

She felt trapped; she didn't feel the lightness that she had before. It had been months since she even went outside to the meadow where she played as a child with her mother. There would be days where she wouldn't leave her bed, days where she would just make music. However, after a few weeks even her one and only enjoyment was filled with the emptiness that she felt in her heart.

Eventually Keila had the opportunity to visit her best friend. No one came to the door when she arrived, but she knew for a fact that Marceline was inside.

"HEY YO MARCY! I'M HERE, I SEE YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED YOUR LACK OF MANNERS."

No response, Keila instinctively headed towards the room.

"Hey! Where ar—"

"What are you doing here? No, don't answer that, just go, I don't want to see anyone."

"Yea no. I'm going to get you out of this mess of yours."

"What's the point anymore? I mean seriously? I just push everyone away…"

Marceline pulled her pale red covers over her (without the motivation to get out of bed she resorted to stealing the red from her sheets).

"Marceline you better get your sorry sweet ass out of bed! I mean it!"

She grumbled.

That's when Keila shouted at her once more and pulled the sheets from her.

"WHAT THE FUZZ KEILA, I WANT MY SHEET BACK!" She shouted as she transformed into a giant bat, however even that didn't last due to how weak she was.

"YOU KNOW WHAT MARCY! DID YOU EVER ONCE THINK THAT YOUR FRIENDS CARE ABOUT YOU TOO? HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR DAD FEELS? HOW GUY FEELS? HOW I FEEL? Because…" And then she became small like a child. "I can't stand to see my best friend in so much pain. Dude, I've known you for centuries, centuries okay, and we've been there for each other for the good times and bad. This is one of your bad times, man, and I will be here for you."

Marceline had tears streaming down her face, and she knew in that moment she wasn't alone. The two best friends hugged each other and both cried. Once they wiped off their tears the two of them sighed.

"Keila, I love you man, thanks for just, being here."

"Oh don't give me that cheesy stuff, I'm supposed to be here for you dude. Just, please you need to let me help. I mean you're way worse off now than when I broke up with that demon dude, or when you broke it off with Ash."

"I guess so…"

"You really did love her, didn't you?"

She nodded, one more tear streamed down her face as she started to fight back more.

Keila went through this long speech about what it means to end it off with your first love, and what she planned to do in order to get Marceline normal again. This meant plenty of sleep overs, trips to the Nightosphere, and making some rad punk music. She called up a few more of her vampire friends the next day and ended up watching horror movies the rest of that day. The distractions were what Marceline needed, and did help her become socially interactive. However at the end of the day, when she was alone, nothing haunted her more than that of the princess.

If only I made better choices. If only I handled it all differently. If only she just decided to talk to me. I need her; I need her in my arms again. I miss her so much I ache inside just thinking about her, it leaves me incapacitated. Bonnie I wish you could just hear what I was thinking; I would do anything, anything in the world to get you back. I promise I won't be selfish. I love you Bonnie, I just wish I was there to tell you that I do.

Out of the two of them, the princess was better off, this was because she was almost never alone anymore, however she developed the complex of always needing someone with her. Being alone truly became her biggest fear. As for Marceline, she adapted to all of that that was around her. Her biggest fear was feeling alone. Although, with the help of Keila and her friends, things became much more bearable.

Sometimes at night, the two monarchs would dream in unison, dream of simpler times. This night was a memory of when they were younger, the human equivalent of 14 years old.

"Marcy! Marcy hold up! I can't run that fast!"

"Just hurry I have something I need to show you!"

They were in the flat lands, this was the one area where you couldn't find any ruins of the past world. It was a beautiful sight, sometimes in the spring the flowers would sprout out and fade with the sky with their shades of blue.

Marceline stuck her umbrella in the ground so that the two of them would lay next to each other.

"Bonnie what's your favorite flower?"

"Pink roses."

"Oh pink here we go again!" She would tease her endlessly about that color.

"Yea but I haven't seen any for a long time. I don't think they're around anymore…"

"Nah I'm sure they are, I promise, I'll find one okay, just for you."

"You're so weird Marcy!"

"No I'm not! I'm just being nice! Fine I'll never be nice again so you can have it your way!" Her cheeks turned into a fiery red.

In an attempt to make it up to her, Bubblegum gave her a friendly nudge and then a hug.

"Marceline, you're my best friend, you know that right?"

"Well actually I didn't…"

"Oh whatever!"

Then the two girls smiled at each other. Marceline gave her signature grin, she did this a lot to show off her vampire teeth. Bonnie's smile was very sweet and innocent. Then she looked up at Marceline, they shared that moment together. Marceline quickly started to look at the sky, in an attempt to hide away from the princess' gaze. However she herself kept turning a brighter red. This made Bubblegum giggle.

"What!?"

"Nothing, promise!" She smiled again

"You're such a bad liar you know that!"

"Nahhh you're even worse when it comes to hiding things."

"Whatever!" Marceline turned away, but then smiled to herself. She felt so happy. Even in the real world, that night she smiled to herself, just that memory gave her some relief.

The two of them laid there until the sunset and then Marceline would walk Bonnie to her home.

"Goodnight loser!"

"Goodnight weirdo!"

With that, the dream ended, and the harsh reality stayed. Although they both won't admit it, the two girls mutually wanted reconciliation for their mistakes, and hopefully mend their relationship.

That pink rose Marceline promised, eventually turned into Bonnie's favorite part of her garden. Walking past those bushes filled her with happiness and in tough times, showed that Marceline was a true friend to her. However now, it only brought her a deeper gash in her heart, she wouldn't go back to her garden for almost a year, although she would have it tended to by the candy workers. Marceline kept one of the roses in a time bubble, it would be preserved as long as she lived, and even now she had it as decoration in her house. The two girls would always hold onto their memories, and for now, they were the only hope they had for fixing their ruined relationship.

Lasting love is never lost as long as two carry the weight upon themselves.