The Professor was puzzled; he had never known a fever to subside so quickly. He simply must've been mistaken earlier. At least he didn't have to wake her.
Trudging back to the living room, the Professor suddenly became aware of how tired he was. Stress did that to him; he needed some rest. The couch seemed like a convenient spot for Lizzie to find him if she woke up again, so he settled down.
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The last thing he remembered when he woke up the next morning was taking off his shoes, which meant that he had fallen asleep very quickly. Pale slivers of early-morning sunshine set painted on the floor as the Professor squinted at the clock:
6:12. Might as well get up.
He checked on Lizzie first, then his Girls, then drifted to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Finally, he sat down at the table, massaging his forehead anxiously.
"Are you okay, Professor?" came a concerned voice.
"Good morning, Bubbles," the Professer smiled weakly, looking up at his blue-clad daughter. "Yes, I'm all right; it's just a bit of a headache." He pulled her into a hug.
"Okay," Bubbles replied, satisfied with the explanation. "Octi was just worried, weren't you, Octi?" She said, cuddling her stuffed octopus.
The Professor chuckled. "Well, Octi is very sweet," he said, giving Bubbles a kiss on the forehead. "Now, would you like some cereal?"
"Uh, huh!" In a flash, Bubbles had retrieved the cereal and a bowl from two separate cupboards, a spoon from a drawer, and the milk from the fridge.
"Is Lizzie still sleeping?" she asked conversationally as she dug into her breakfast.
The Professor nodded. "I think it would be best for us not to wake her; she didn't seem well last night."
A sudden flash of pink and green streaked through the room making the Professor blink. "Good morning, Blossom, Buttercup," he greeted his daughters.
"Good morning, Professor," the newcomers chimed.
Pouring himself a cup of coffee, the Professor joined the girls at the table for breakfast.
A few minutes passed. Bubbles told them all about a dream she'd had about swimming with farm animals, and when she'd finished, she glanced toward the door. Her eyes lit up. "She's awake, Professor!" Lizzie was standing in the doorway looking helplessly nervous.
"Good morning, Lizzie," the Professor greeted her cheerfully, "Come over and have some breakfast." He offered her the chair next to him, and the small girl came over, not meeting anyone's eyes, and sat down.
The Professor placed a bowl of cereal in front of her and gave his Girls a meaningful look. Blossom realized that the three of them had been staring and gave the sister on either side of her a nudge in the ribs, and the three became very preoccupied with their bowls.
"Are you feeling any better this morning?" the Professor asked conversationally, trying to wave the awkwardness in the room aside. Lizzie nodded. "Oh," the Professor added, "and these are my Girls; that's Bubbles in the blue, Blossom in the pink, and Buttercup in the green."
"Hi!" the Girls chorused, hopful that they could break the ice.
"We're the Powerpuff Girls!" Bubbles said excitedly. "We fight bad guys and monsters with our super powers! See?" She and the other Girls floated out of their chairs.
Lizzie nodded again. The Professor frowned. The poor girl seemed to want nothing more than to disappear.
After a few minutes more of silence, Buttercup finished her cereal. In her haste to leave the awkward situation, she bumped the table, causing the salt and pepper shakers to fall over. The tops of the shakers fell off on impact with the table, and their contents flew in Lizzie's direction, landing in her bowl and on the table in front of her.
"Buttercup!" Blossom groaned.
"I-I-I'm sorry! Buttercup babbled.
The Professor looked down at Lizzie with concern as she hastily picked up a napkin and her eyes filled with tears. He was sure that the situation had finally overwhelmed her, and she was going to cry. She sniffled, then coughed, then...
"Ah! Ah-choo!" she sneezed.
"Gesundheit!" the professor smiled kindly as he swept the spilled contents of the shakers into the bowl and set it in the sink.
"Thanks," Lizzie muttered, blushing at the attention her sudden outburst had gotten her.
Buttercup zoomed off to the Girls' room, and Bubbles excused herself and went to play with Octi. In the living room. Blossom, feeling it would be impolite to run off, stayed behind.
"Are you still hungry, Lizz?" the Professor asked. Lizzie shook her head. "well, then, I'll get after these dishes," he said. "You can stay and talk," he added, picking Lizzie up and setting her on the counter by the sink. Blossom offered to wash, and started the water.
Lizzie was still blushing, and the Professor chuckled. "You're as timid as ever; I see that some things never change." He patted her head, stirring up some of the leftover pepper, causing Blossom and Lizzie to sneeze simultaneously.
"Gesund..." he began, but felt a tickle in the back of his throat. "Atchoo!" He fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose. "All right. Let's finish these dishes and get out of here.
The Professor turned to the sink to wash his hands, but noticed something very strange about the water in the sink; it had been frozen!
"Blossom, you must've frozen the water accidentally when you sneezed." He looked concernedly at Blossom.
"Gee, I didn't think I did..." Blossom looked puzzled.
"But, I've never seen you spit ice when you sneeze. Fire, sometimes, but never ice. Are you coming down with a cold?" He touched her forehead with the back of his hand.
"I feel fine, Professor," Blossom assured him.
"Hmm. Well, you don't seem feverish, but I'd better keep an eye on you anyway- Lizzie? Are you all right, honey?"
Lizzie was shivering feverishly to the Professor's alarm. "All of the sudden, it was so cold, and now it's so hot," Lizzie whimpered.
The Professor picked her up and cradled her in his arms. "I thought you were feeling better. You're much sicker than I thought." He carried her to the guest room bed and tucked her in, but she sat up immediatly and started to cough and sneeze.
"That's it, I'm taking you to the doctor," the Professor said. He held the poor girl until she fell asleep.