AN: I just wanted to thank all my amazing followers and reviewers, you guys really inspire me to continue with this wonderful story, you're kind of overwhelming me with all the feels, so in return here is a feels intensive chapter :)
Also, chapters might come out a little slower now. 1-2 weeks in between as school has started again and I'm doing Electronics and English, so hopefully my writing will improve even more as the year goes on. I do plan on breaking things up between chapters with one-shots and ficlets, so if you're interested feel free to subscribe to me, I appreciate every single person who does 33
Since Marceline's admission of wanting to join the Candy Kingdom's army several weeks ago, Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum had been worrying herself sick. She knew that if Marceline joined, she would have to live out most of her life in the barracks, constantly training and fighting, going out into combat and risking her life for the good of the Candy people and their sovereign. It left an uneasy feeling in her gut, and a sickly sensation crawling up the back of her gullet.
As far as she knew, the army rarely had any female soldiers. It was a long upheld belief in her Kingdom that men were simply faster, stronger, better fighters. Even when a woman did make it in, it was harder for them to keep up with their fellow soldiers, and they were also subject to teasing and discrimination because of their gender.
Despite the fact that Marceline was incredibly strong, Bonnibel knew this much, there was nothing to stop her from being picked on, and the fact that the Princess couldn't be there to help protect her sent shivers of fear down her spine.
Bonni sighed as she remembered the days where she and Marceline would play fight, running around without a care in the world, until one of them, usually the Princess, would end up with a grazed knee or a bumped head.
"I see you Bonni! You can't hide from me you know!" the over enthusiastic Marceline cried out, a huge grin cracking across her face as she saw a pink face peep out at her from behind a towering Willow tree that bordered the Candy town.
Marceline took off at full speed after the now squealing Princess, her eyes wide as she quickly caught up to the smaller girl. She lunged out, wrapping her arms around Bonnibel and tackling her to the grassy green beneath their feet. With an audible 'thunk', they both landed face first, coming to a skidding halt.
"Uhnf! Oww, grass burn!" Marceline whined, slowly sitting up as she rubbed a dirty forearm across her forehead before reaching up to pick some stray strands of grass from her raven locks. As she turned to Bonnibel, who was slowly sitting back on her behind, she noticed the girl's eyes welling up with tears.
"Oh... Bonni, are you okay?" Marceline asked quickly, scooting over to her best friend who was now pulling up the dirty and ripped hem of her frilly pink dress. Bonnibel whimpered slightly as a single tear dropped from the corner of her right eye and slid down her warm cheek.
Marceline looked down as Bonnibel pointed to her knee, her little index finger trembling terribly. The dark-haired girl frowned guiltily as she looked at the inch wide graze on the Princess's tender left knee.
"B-Bonni... I'm so sorry!" Marceline cried quietly, swallowing a lump of hurt in her throat at injuring her best friend. She reached down to the hem of her long grey shirt, and tore off a large section of it.
"Stay here, okay?" Marceline asked her quietly, waiting as Bonnibel slowly nodded in response, still sniffling as she wiped away more tears.
Marceline took off in a run, making her way down to the cool stream that licked its way through the land of Ooo. Falling down into the moist ground by its edge, Marceline reached into the stream and dipped the rag in the water, making sure it was thoroughly soaked before pulling herself back up and running to where Bonni was waiting.
She sat down besides the Princess's injured knee and carefully pressed the moist rag to it, eliciting a sharp cry from the pink-faced girl. The Princess tried to pull her leg away, but the dark-haired girl held onto it firmly.
"It's ok Bon, we just gotta get the dirt off it, okay?" Marceline told her reassuringly, watching as Bonnibel looked into her eyes, her tears slowly coming to a stop.
"I know... i-it just hurts Marcy." Bonnibel told her, biting her bottom lip as she sniffed again. Marceline smiled and finished cleaning off her knee, pulling the rag away to let Bonnibel inspect it.
"Thanks Marcy, you're the best." Bonnibel chimed softly, her warm eyes meeting with her friend's. Marceline blushed and looked away for a moment, before feeling herself being pulled into a tight embrace. She tried to ignore the warmth radiating even more from her cheeks now as she hugged her best friend back, still feeling terrible for causing her grazed knee in the first place.
"I'll always protect you Bonni!" Marceline reassured her, pulling away from the hug after a bit to smile widely at the Princess.
"Come on, I'll take you to stitch up your dress." Marceline said, standing up and holding out her hand for the Princess to take. Bonnibel did so, letting herself be pulled to her feet before being escorted back to Marceline's orphanage.
Bubblegum sighed again, wishing she could just go back to days when everything seemed so much... simpler. She didn't have to worry about the pressures of politics and being proper, the thought of one day becoming the Queen and ruling over her subjects seeming so far away back then.
She pulled a pink sweater with a pattern of lilies crocheted around it's hems out of her closet, followed by a paler pink skirt with a frilly hem and a lacy strip that tied in a bow around her hips. She dressed quickly, and as she leant down to pull on a pair of her favourite pink lace-up sneakers, a soft knock came at her door.
"Come in!" she called, smiling softly as she carefully laced up the white shoe laces on her right foot. The door handle groaned as it turned, and the door slowly opened to reveal Peppermint Butler.
"Your Majesty, I just came to see if you were ready to attend the markets." He asked cordially, smiling as he took a few steps inside the room, tucking his hands formally behind his back. Bonnibel giggled quietly as she finished tying up her other shoe, standing up and trotting over to him.
"I'm ready Peppy! Gosh, it looks like such a wonderful day outside, I can't wait to visit the new candy jewellery stall you told me about." she replied to him, slipping her right arm through the gap between his elbow and body as he offered himself as an escort.
"Oh yes, I hear it's quite wonderful, milady. When I was helping your father go over the permit for the stall, I couldn't help but notice they import some of their pieces from lands as far away as the Fire Kingdom!" He told her, laughing as he watched her enthusiastic face light up at that bit of information.
"It sounds wondrous, Peppy!" She replied, her chest heaving with a large sigh at the relief of leaving the Castle for her weekly visit to the weekend Candy Markets.
It had taken quite a lot of convincing on both her, and Peppermint Butler's part, in order to get the King to relent and allow his daughter these trips. In the end he had caved when Peppermint had made it very clear they would be for the purpose of visiting the people, teaching vital royal and social skills to the developing Princess, as well as the fact that he had guaranteed to be ever watchful over her the entire time.
The Sun was smiling down on them as they strolled through the town towards the western side of the city, every so often a candy person smiling and waving politely, or bowing when they watched as their Princess made her way past them. She always gave back a charming smile and a wave, but did not stop to talk as she was so looking forward to making it to the markets and drinking in all the beauty and wonders of goods that her people offered up for sale and barter.
As they rounded a corner, the first set of colourful striped gazebos greeted their sight, and she smiled brightly as she spotted one of her favourite stalls. Pulling along Peppermint a little more quickly, she reached it and beamed across at Candy cane man who was standing behind a small glass counter filled with all manners of brightly decorated pastries and cakes.
"Princess Bubblegum! So wonderful to see you again! How are you this fine day, hm?" he asked brightly, his thin cheeks blushing lightly as he was graced by the blossoming young girl's presence.
"I'm doing well, Candy cane! You know it always is a great day when I get to taste one of your new creations." she replied, smiling and laughing as she scanned all the delicious looking foods behind the glass. Candy cane's eyes lit up.
"Oh yes! I prepared something for you to try, hold on one moment." He said quickly, before turning away and reaching to a smaller white counter to his left and retrieving an opaque yellow container. He brought it back over and placed it on the glass counter-top, lifting the lid to reveal a large round bun. It was decorated with what appeared to be chocolate ganache flowers and slices of fresh, ruby red strawberries.
"Oh, that looks incredible! May I ask what it is?" Bonnibel's eyes were huge as she looked at the mouth-watering bun before her.
"It's a sweet roll, decorated with chocolate ganache, fresh strawberries and icing sugar. Inside is a peach, apple and apricot stew mixed with a thick vanilla custard, and a few of my famous secret spices." Candy cane winked at her a little as he mentioned his "secret ingredients", which was really just a delicately combined mixture of cinnamon, all-spice and crystallised ginger with a hint of finely chopped mint leaves.
"May I try it?" Bonnibel asked, her cheeks puffing out a little in anticipation. She could hardly wait to taste this sweet treat.
Candy cane nodded quickly, and watched as the Princess took the roll and lifted it to her mouth. She took a large bite, quickly bringing her right hand up to her mouth to catch the icing sugar and crumbs that fell away from the pastry as she did. She chewed on it for several seconds before her eyes became wide, glazing over before she uttered in complete amazement.
"Oh my glob! Candy cane, this is the most amazing thing I've ever tasted!"
He chuckled and watched her bite into it a second time, consuming the treat ravenously.
"I knew you'd like it! Now that I know it's good by your standards, I think I might add it to my weekly selection." he proclaimed, taking the yellow container from the counter and placing it back from where he first had it.
They continued to chat for a few more minutes while the Princess finished her food, before they said their farewells and moved on. Bonnibel loved browsing all the stalls, greeting their owners and complimenting them on their wonderful items. Beautiful dresses, cute gifts and accessories, artwork and more weird and wonderful food. Yes, other than seeing her best friend, this was definitely the Princess's favourite time of the week above all others.
With a light sigh, Bonnibel excused herself from the stand where she had been browsing a hanger lined with long, flowing skirts, and smiled as Peppermint followed after her. He was incredibly protective of the girl, and was true to his word that he would keep an eye on her at all times.
"Are you ok, milady?" He asked her, the corner of his mouth turning up into a gentle smile. Bubblegum smiled and nodded in return.
"Of course Peppy, I was just-" as she was replying, her polite voice was interrupted by one rather loud, but musical voice coming from their left near a fruit stand.
"Bonni!" Marceline cried out, her eyes bright as she held a cup of strawberries between her slender fingers, the excitement in spotting her friend almost too much to bear. She waved at Bonnibel madly, waiting for the girl to come over to her.
"May I?" Bonnibel asked Peppermint quietly, a slight blush rising up into her cheeks as she turned to her watcher sheepishly. The striped man smiled back at her and nodded as he straightened his tie a little.
"Of course, Princess. But don't be too long, yes?" he replied, watching as the Princess nodded back at him quickly, her pink hair falling about her face. He chuckled lightly at this.
"Go on then, I'll be waiting for you over there." He said, pointing to a row of food stalls, the smell of hot lunch foods wafting on the warm midday breeze, filling their nostrils with hunger inducing scents.
Bonnibel squealed slightly, and ran over to her best friend. She practically tackled her to the ground as she threw her arms around her shoulders, blushing slightly as Marceline's light laughter grazed her ear and her warm breath trickled down her neck. The Princess shivered ever so slightly, but not enough for her friend to notice.
She withdrew from the hug and took Marceline by the arm, leading her down a small dirt path that went behind the stalls to a small park with overgrown trees, their bark thick and dark as it peeled away from their sides.
"I missed you Bon." Marceline told her wholeheartedly as she took a strawberry from her cup and popped it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Bonnibel sighed quietly and squeezed the arm she held.
"I've missed you too Marce. I'm so sorry we haven't been able to see each other much lately, it's just been getting so busy at the Castle. You know how serious my dad is about me doing my royal studies, and with my chemistry experiments on the side... sometimes I feel like I don't even have the time of day to sleep." Bonnibel replied, her eyebrows knitting together slightly as she tried her best to push away the thoughts of her ever increasing stressful life.
"Hey Bon, don't sweat it. I know our friendship isn't going to be perfect all the time, what with you being royalty and me being just a peasant and all." Marceline replied, her voice trailing off a little at the end before she popped another strawberry into her mouth.
They came to the shade underneath their favourite tree, adorned with pink fairy floss foliage and small multicoloured gummy bears. Marceline was shuffling her feet a little as she thought about her last comment, mulling over the fact that her and Bonnibel were on complete opposite ends of a spectrum. They were truly the real meaning behind opposites attracting, but in the end it was something that strangely enough brought them that much closer, each of them working harder to make this inexplicable friendship last.
Marceline looked up from behind those dark locks of hair as she felt two pink hands tenderly grasp her own two paler, calloused hands. A blush crept into her cheeks and worked its way down to her collarbone. She swallowed as she looked into those deep violet eyes, smiling back at her with more than just a fleeting moment of care.
"Marcy, please. Don't ever talk about yourself like that. You're so much more, and you know it. You're kind, fun, smart and strong. Glob, if I'd never found you, I don't know where I'd be today. Your friendship has held me together through all these years of being caged by my father." Bonnibel's sweet words didn't fall on deaf ears, in fact, said ears were now also changing to a similar shade of red as Marceline's cheeks and neck were.
"Bon, you know you're amazing, right?" Marceline managed to only just get her voice above a whisper, only now noticing her fingertips were beginning to tremble in those caring pink hands. She quickly pulled them away, pushing at her dark mane of hair and tucking it behind her ears.
Bonnibel laughed quietly, a small blush forming in the peak of her soft cheeks.
"And I'm only amazing because I have you, so I guess that means you're amazing too." she teased back, gathering up her skirt and slowly lowering herself onto the soft grass beneath the fairy floss tree. Marceline followed suit and plopped herself down next to her friend, picking up a stray twig and twirling it between her fingers.
They were silent for a minute before Marceline decided to speak up about something else that was on her mind.
"So I start my training at the barracks next week. Cupcake helped me fill out all the paperwork a couple days ago, he vouched for me and everything." the dark-haired girl chuckled lightly before continuing. "I guess they must have been too intimidated to deny me entry when I'm living with the guy that supplies them with most of their armies inventory."
Bonnibel's eyes lowered a little as she remembered what Marceline had told her last week. She was still struggling to come to terms with it, the fact that her best friend was about to be ripped from her life for Grob only knows how long, despite the fact that she knew this was what Marceline truly wanted. It touched her, to think the raven haired girl would go to such lengths just to protect her. Maybe, it would be for the best?
Marceline saw the hurt in her friend's face, and she instantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to her.
"Hey, Bon, it's gonna be okay. I'll write to you every week, I promise! A-and we still get holidays and stuff, so I'll still be able to come and see you, yeah?" Marceline tried her best to comfort her, but she could already see the tears forming in those beautiful violet eyes. To her surprise, Bonnibel suddenly threw herself against Marceline's chest and buried her face into the soft peaks that were there. The taller girl blushed profusely at this, and continued to comfort her friend who was now weeping quietly into her black T-shirt.
"It's just not fair. I-I know it's what you want... b-b-but I'll miss you so much! Without you I'll have no one to listen to me blabber on about my latest experiments, o-or complain about my stupid History teacher, and... and..." Bonnibel continued, her fragile hands balling up her friend's dark shirt in a fist and squeezing it tightly as her tears left a wet patch on the fabric.
Marceline was still having trouble comprehending the foreign sensations the girl's proximity to her was causing. It was swimming around in her head and in her stomach, and it was completely different to the feelings of safety and comfort she felt whenever the two hugged or cuddled during a sleepover.
After a few more sniffles, Bonnibel lifted her tear stained eyes up to meet Marceline's, and was surprised by the strange expression on that pale face staring back at her. Those dark brown eyes seemed glazed over, and her lips were slightly parted. She could also feel the beat of her friend's heart within her ribcage, it was increasing the more that they watched each other.
Without so much of a warning, Marceline gently cupped Bonni's left cheek with her right hand, letting its warmth linger there for a few moments as she searched those innocent eyes for any sign of rejection to her touch. The Princess simply took a deep breath, which hitched in her throat as her stream of tears slowly stopped.
"I'll miss you so much, Bonnibel." Marceline told her best friend, her voice lowering almost to a sultry tone that she had no idea she was even capable of producing. The Princess's eyes widened, and her cheeks burned a furious shade of red at her friend using her full name in such a way. Her lips moved but her voice box refused to let her make any noise, other than a pathetic whimper.
Marceline gently leant her head down, her breath warm against those royal pink lips, before they finally pressed together. The kiss was gentle, tender, and it made them both blush even harder as the blood within their bodies rushed to untouched places, their skin prickling with goosebumps and nape hair standing on end. After what seemed like an eternity, Bonnibel pulled her lips away. She brought her fingers up to her mouth, and she looked up at her friend with both confusion and love in her eyes.
Marceline's lips moved, but no sound came out at first. She was petrified. Why did I just do that? What the Glob is wrong with me? Oh man, she's going to think I'm a freakin' weirdo and run off and I'll never see her aga-
Her thoughts were interrupted as Bonnibel suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around the raven-haired girl's waist and buried her face into her collarbone. Marceline was taken a bit aback by this, but a smile played at the corner of her lips as this motion comforted her into knowing her best friend wasn't going to go anywhere.
"I'm going to miss you too, Marcy." Bonnibel whispered, and it was then that Marceline felt the smile on the Princess's warm lips against her cooler skin. The dark-haired girl let out a long sigh she didn't realise she'd been holding, wrapping an arm loosely around her sweet Princess.
They held onto each other for a few minutes underneath the protection of the shady tree, every so now and then a cool breeze causing a shiver down the Princess's spine, which was always replied to by Marceline holding her a little closer to her warm body.
"Marce?" Bonnibel asked softly from the crook of her friend's neck, her fingers playing lightly with the girl's dark black locks of hair. Marceline yawned and looked down at her.
"Hmm?" she asked contentedly, watching as the pink-haired girl slowly looked up at her inquisitively.
"Since... you're going to be gone by next week... would... would you spend the afternoon at the markets with me? I-I'm sure Peppy is probably wondering where I am by now, as wonderful as it is just sitting here with you-" The Princess was about to continue, but Marceline interrupted her with a light chuckle.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about him. Sure, I'd love to hang with you Bon. Besides, you're right. It might be a while before I get to see you again and I-It would be nice to spend as much time with you as I can." the dark-haired girl replied, her eyes glinting as she smiled down at her dear friend. Bonnibel smiled back and slowly untangled herself from her friend's arms.
They pushed themselves up off the ground, dusting the dirt, grass and twigs off their clothing.
"Don't want ol' Peppy to think I've whisked you away from your Kingdom, he already thinks I'm a bad influence." Marceline laughed again as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her baggy khaki pants. Bonnibel laughed heartily at this, nudging her shoulders lightly into Marceline's as they slowly started to walk back to the stalls.
"Yeah! He does like you though, he just... he's protective of me. A different kind of protective to what my father is, anyway." the pink girl replied, laughing again as Marceline feigned pain at being bumped by her friend.
They continued walking, and were nearly at the path that led back into the markets, when Bonnibel grabbed gently onto Marceline's arm and brought her to a stop. The taller girl's eyes went wide as she turned to her friend, her eyes questioning her actions.
Before she had a chance to react, the Princess's warm lips were on her own. Their lips were closed, as they had been for their first kiss, but it filled them both with overwhelming feelings and butterflies in their stomachs. Bonnibel's right hand rested lightly on her friend's neck, her fingers tenderly fluttering over the flushed skin there.
After a few seconds, she pulled away, smiling sheepishly as a blush burned in her face. Marceline was in a similar condition, and the dark-haired girl laughed huskily, scratching absent mindedly at her head. She had no clue exactly what was going on right now, but whatever it was, it was nice. It felt good, it felt... right.
"Come on Marce, Peppy should be just over here." Bonnibel grinned at her friend, leading the way past the gazebo's and over to the food tents, leaving a still stuttering and blushing Marceline to catch up to her.
The girls had spent the rest of that afternoon browsing the stalls together, admiring clothing and costumes, despite the fact that their taste in clothing was completely the opposite of one another's. Bubblegum would squeal excitedly at anything pink or purple, and Marceline would hop about whenever she spotted anything remotely Gothic looking.
It was as the markets were coming to a close that they happened upon the new jewellery stall that Bonnibel had heard about.
"Oh look Marce! Wow, check out all this awesome jewellery! Oh, look isn't this one pretty?" Bonnibel rushed over to the tables and began inspecting practically everything there, much to Marceline's amusement. The items looked a lot different to the usual stuff that Bonni wore, lots of silver and iron pieces inlaid with mysteriously coloured gems and hard rocks. They actually perked her interest quite a bit as she joined in browsing with her friend.
"This place has got some pretty cool stuff Bon, see anything you like?" Marceline inquired to her friend, turning to see the girl staring intently at one particular piece. The dark-haired girl shuffled closer to the Princess, who had picked up the necklace and was eyeing it off carefully.
The chain looked like a dirty silver with a wash of copper, and on it hung a brass heart that was tenderly crafted with filigree and intricate patterns that resembled tiny flowers. Inside of the the heart was a wine-red stone. It was semi-transparent, and it glittered beautifully when held into the light. Both Marceline and Bonnibel were captivated by it, the Princess in particular, her eyes looking at it sweetly before turning her gaze to her best friend.
"Marcy... it's gorgeous." she uttered, biting her lip slightly as her friend turned to meet her gaze. Bonnibel stared into those dark brown eyes for a few moments, but was taken by surprise as the girl snatched the necklace from her hands and dug around in her pockets.
"I'll take this one, thanks. How much?" Marceline held out the necklace to the shopkeeper, who smiled gratefully at her.
"Five gold coin for that one, deary." the older shopkeeper replied, watching as the raven-haired girl quickly pulled out the coins from her pocket and dropped them into the wrinkled hand waiting for payment.
"Marcy! That's a lot of money, are you sure?" Bonnibel gasped, unable to protest as her friend had paid so quickly for it she hadn't had the chance. Marceline simply grinned at her as she thanked the shopkeeper and turned away from the stall.
"It's cool Bon, Cupcake pays me a good wage for helping him with his orders when he's behind, and I never really have to buy anything else anyway." She replied nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders.
Marceline reached forwards, pushing Bonni's hair off her shoulders. She held out the necklace, opening up it's clasp, and allowed her friend time to pull her hair out of the way of her neck. With a smile, Marcy moved forwards and placed the necklace tenderly around her friend's neck, closing its latch at the base of her hairline. She retracted her fingers, which grazed ever so softly against the skin of Bonni's collarbone.
Bonnibel was blushing profusely as she watched a smiling Peppermint Butler walk up to them with three ice creams in his hand.
"Oh, Princess, what a beautiful necklace!" He remarked, smiling as he looked at it closely before handing an ice cream to both girls.
"Thanks Peppy." they both said in unison, making him chuckle lightly.
"Thanks Marcy, I love this." Bonnibel said quietly, playing with her new piece of jewellery and smiling at her taller friend. Marceline just looked back at her with a lopsided grin as she took a chunk out of the side of her frozen treat. Peppermint was a little surprised by Marceline purchasing such an item for the Princess, and he had to stifle a cough that welled up in his throat.
They're just children, they couldn't possibly know what those necklaces represent. But, such a strange coincidence...
"Hey, I'm gonna be gone for a while, so at least you'll have something to remind you of me. Y'know, so you don't forget me and stuff..." Marceline replied, but got a little bashful towards the end. She felt so awkward with Peppermint being around, like she was under a microscope all the time.
"Well, Princess, I think it's time we headed home don't you?" Peppermint asked with a smile, and he watched as Bonnibel gave what could only be described as a smile of sadness. He knew it always tore her up to have to say goodbye to her only friend, it was the same thing every time. Bonnibel nodded, and was about to say her farewells only to be surprised by Peppermint speaking to Marceline first.
"Marceline, would you like to accompany the Princess and I to the castle gates?" He asked, and Bonnibel could have sworn she almost tackled that little mint man to the ground right there and then.
"Heck yeah!" Marceline replied, grinning widely as she saw the excitement in Bonni's eyes. They then walked together, all three of them, eating their ice creams and talking about all the amazing things they'd seen that day.
They finally approached the castle gates, and they all stopped as Marceline stared up at the towering candy castle behind it.
Peppermint scratched his head and sighed lightly.
"I'll let you say goodnight. Princess, don't be long, you don't want your father wondering where you are." the Butler said quietly, giving Bonnibel a stern look, watching as she nodded before he turned and motioned for the guards to open the gate for him.
Bonnibel smiled as she watched him stroll through the gates and up the path to the front of the castle. She turned back though when she heard Marceline's feet shuffle lightly in the candy gravel beneath her feet.
"Well, g'night Bonni. I guess... I'll see you-" Marceline begun to speak, her voice quiet but sad, her dark hair hanging over her face to hide the fact that she was close to tears. She was interrupted by a hand lightly cupping her cheek and lifting her face up.
"This isn't goodbye, Marce. Just promise me that?" Bonnibel asked, her eyes shining with the threat of tears, but her lips were turned up into a smile so tender it melted Marceline's heart.
"Of course I promise!" the girl cried in reply, pulling her friend into her arms and hugging her tightly. She wasn't afraid to let her tears come out, the warm droplets of water rolled down her cheeks and fell against her Princess's shoulder. The story was similar for Bonnibel, however she tried her hardest not to cry too much in case her father actually took notice of it and went on a tirade, wondering who had upset her and then banishing her to her room for all time.
At this point, the guards at the gate had turned around, embarrassed somewhat by the emotional display by the Princess and her friend. It was not their job to question, or poke their noses into business. They were there merely to protect and defend.
As the two girls broke away from the hug, wiping at their tears, Marceline laughed a little.
"I think your guards are shy." she uttered, noticing their turned backs. Bonnibel followed her friend's eyes, laughing as well at the sight.
"I guess they are." she replied, grinning widely.
Marceline turned back to the Princess, smiling sweetly. They just stared into each others eyes for a while, neither one of them wanting to initiate the farewells. That is, until Marceline leant forwards and pressed her lips to Bonnibel's one last time. It was shorter than the other two, but just as sweet. The kiss sent butterflies raging in their stomachs, and Bonnibel felt a tingling sensation all over her skin.
Marceline pulled her back into another hug, mumbling into her neck.
"I'll see you soon, Bonni."
Bonnibel clung a little tighter.
"Come back to me." she replied quietly, barely a whisper. Marceline nodded softly, pressed her lips one last time to Bonnibel's cheek, before finally forcing herself to let go of the smaller woman. Bonnibel smiled at her, watching as the raven haired girl nodded again as she slowly walked herself backwards from the Princess. With one final smile, Marceline turned around and bolted away from the castle, cursing to herself as her eyes ached from the need to collapse into her bed and cry non-stop into the night.
"Come back to me..." Bonnibel whispered again, her chest aching with a pain that couldn't be explained by science. She played gently with the necklace around her neck, bemused by the strange warmth radiating from within it. She gave a final, heavy sigh, before turning and alerting the guards to her presence, motioning that they open the gates for her.