Chapter 4: Finally

Marceline floated over her couch, absentmindedly plucking at her bass. The Candy Kingdom and the neighboring lands had been uncommonly but pleasantly peaceful as of late. Of course, that usually means something big is going to go down in like, two hours or something. The vampire sighed a little from boredom. Man…life's just no fun when no one is being kidnapped or attacked and stuff. I wonder if Finn and Jake are up to any shenanigans. Maybe they'd want to jam…

As her thoughts trailed off, there was a polite knocking at the door. Marceline froze, knowing only one person who knocked like that. It was the Candy Princess…and though they had been on decent terms as of late, Marceline wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone in her house with the pink girl. She quietly floated over to the door and put an ear against it. Glob…glob! What do I do? Do I let her in? Maybe I'll just pretend I'm not home and she'll leave. Or maybe I can just fly out the window invisible. As Marceline silently freaked out, a voice came from the other side of the door interrupted.

"Marceline I know you are in there, and further more I know you are listening to me! I heard you playing your bass before I knocked, now let me in, please." Bubblegum's voice took on the slightly different tone reserved for the vampire. A tone of stern…stern what? Love? At least…that's what I used to think… Marceline still didn't move. "Come on, Vampire Queen of the Night and All that is Evil…open up." The slight sarcastic drip forced a small smirk onto Marceline's face, despite her inner protestations of the fact.

Realizing she'd been defeated, the dark girl took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the private encounter. Okay Marci…you can do this. Remember, you have no moral code and no feelings except anger. Sarcasm is your like, your thing, and nothing Bonnibel can do will make things different. Walls up, Marceline. She tensed herself in preperations and turned the knob, leaning casually on the door frame, with her feet on the ground, as the door opened.

"Well hello, Pinkie. What can I do for you this fine afternoon?" She knew she was basically blocking the young monarch from entry, but then, Marceline did what she wanted when she wanted how she wanted, and currently, she did not want Bubblegum alone in her house with her. The Candy Princess stood there with her hair shrunk shorter (just like Marceline liked) with a knee-length summer dress (that Marceline loved) on and a small bag in her hand.

"Hello Marceline. May I please come in? I would wait for you to invite me in, but manners have never been your strong suit." Despite the words, there was a slight teasing tone in Bubblegum's voice, and a smile tipped at Marceline's mouth. Now this is more like it…she thought, a volley of teasing. It's been like, forever.

Stepping widely aside, Marceline gave a low bow. "Of course, your most royal highness. Please, grace us with your noble presents and be my honored guest in my oh-so-humble home."

Playful sarcasm oozed from the girl, and Bonnibel giggled, stepping into the quaint, cozy, but very Marceline home. "Thank you Marceline." She sat on the couch, and the vampire closed the door, leaning against it with crossed arms. It was evident that the Candy Princess had something to say, so Marceline simply waited. She watched as pink fingers twiddled around themselves in nervousness, and raised an eyebrow expectantly. After more than a thousand years of living, waiting a few minutes or hours for the girl to speak would be no problem, passing like the blink of an eye.

"It's…nice when we get along, isn't it Marceline?" She said, looking down at her twitching hands. She cleared her throat upon receiving no response from the other girl. "Do you, perhaps, have some tea that we could share? I'd like to talk to you." She continued shyly.

Shy? If there's one thing Bonni isn't, it's shy…shy and nervous… Marceline thought. Nevertheless, she responded with a kind, "Sure, Princess," and went to make some tea. Boiling the water in the kitchen, she looked through the space in the wall to Bubblegum. Marceline pulled out the tea pot and the large bag of mixed leaves she had in her pantry. It was her private blend, one that Bubblegum had often tried to imitate and failed at. She had even stolen a pinch to try to analyze it, but even then, nothing quite compared to Marceline's Mix.

The vampire put a generous scooping of the tea into the wire mesh framing as the water hit a boil. She took it off the stove, and slowly poured it into the tea pot and over the blend, allowing ample time for the water to collect what it needed to before allowing it to sit with the leaves brewing. Tea was one thing that Marceline had always ingested for the flavor. Sure, she could eat things, but only the color red really curbed her hunger. Everything else was just for the flavor, and most of the time, she just figured there was no point. But not tea. Marceline loved her tea.

A few minutes later, the tea pot filled with the delicious and aromatic drink was set of the coffee table with two tea cups for the royals. Any additives were completely unnecessary, as Marceline's tea had the perfect balance of sweet, bitter, and satisfying. Anything more would simply offset the miracle blend, as Bubblegum had so often called it. Marceline poured it slowly into the two cups, and handed one to Bubblegum, who took a deep breath of the aroma, and sipped, sighing in contentment.

"Honestly Marceline, I have like, no idea how you do it! I have analyzed and attempted to recreate and yet not one of my experimental duplicates has even come close!"

Marceline simply laughed, as the Princess eagerly took sip after sip before she herself had even begun to drink. "It's a secret you'll never get out of me."

The two sat in peace for a few moments, drinking their tea, until Bubblegum finished her first cup. As she slowly poured herself another, she said, "It is nice, though, isn't it? When we get along…I can only imagine the look on Finn's face if he saw us acting like this."

Marceline erupted in laughter at the thought of it. "Yeah! I can see him now." Marceline stood up, pretending to have busted in her own door and using her axe to represent his sword. Putting on her best Finn impression, she shouted, "Okay! Who are you and what have you done with Marceline! Tell me or I'll bust your face open!" It was an accurate and good impression, and Bubblegum laughed.

Sitting back down, as it was her habit to be grounded with the other royal around, Marceline concluded, "And when I told him it really was me, he'd scream 'lies!' and attack, where he'd accuse the unknown perpetrator of magic and spells or kidnapping or something. That boy is such a weirdo sometimes."

Bubblegum laughed again. "He really hasn't grown up at all in the years we've known him, has he?" she mused.

Marceline took a moment to appreciate the friendly and kind situation. It reminded her a lot of how interactions with the Princess used to be. She heard a sigh from beside her, and turned her head. "So…" she began softly, "Why are you here, Princess?"

"What?" Bubblegum replied, extending the word for far too long. "Who says I'm here for anything? Can I not simply drop in on a friend? There is no reason. No purpose. Just a friendly visit between royalty."

Marceline laughed at the rambling girl. "I know when you're lying, you dork. What's up?"

Flushing a deeper pink, the other girl cleared her throat. "Do you…do you remember that thing with the Door Lord?"

Marceline did remember. It had been quite some time ago, but one does not simply forget an incident like that, especially when it held such significance. "Of course I do. It was like, wicked awesome! We totally kicked that guy's butt!" Marceline stated, ignoring the other part of the day that Bubblegum had clearly been referencing.

She hummed in agreement. "And you remember the conversation later that day?"

No, I completely forgot how I was all ready to totally bail until you asked me to stay and how I essentially sang like, an angry love song to you and almost confessed my feelings for you in front of Finn, Jake and Beemo. "Yes." Came Marceline's short response.

"Well…you…you didn't leave. And I guess I…what I'm trying to say is…it really got me thinking about, well, about…what happened with us." Marceline stiffened at the words. I should have seen this coming. We can't just have a nice conversation or tea or whatever. She sighed inwardly as the Princess continued. "Well I…I did a lot of thinking. Like…a LOT of thinking…and I realized I made a mistake. No…that isn't right." Marceline looked on as the girl struggled to find the words she wanted.

"Mistake would imply a certain naïveté that I did not have at the time. It was simply…or not so simply, a wrong choice that I consciously made. A very wrong choice and I…" Bubblegum gave a frustrated sigh. "I realized upon recollecting our times together that I made many wrong choices. And I selfishly and…cruelly" she struggled with the word, "have never, not once, actually…a-apologized…to you…M-Marceline."

Marceline, who had been taking a sip of her tea, lost control of herself for a moment upon hearing that, and the frail glass cup in her hand shattered at her strength. Is she…is this…is it…finally happening? Bonnibel jumped at the development, and then looked at Marceline, who was staring adamantly at the floor, completely frozen. Figuring there was nothing else to do, the candy monarch continued.

"Now I know that…that the words would not be enough and indeed could not be enough. So I began to wonder about the incident with the Door Lord. He passed through here but didn't take anything, which I found odd. Everyone has something that is that precious to them, precious enough for him to take, so I figured you must have lost yours already. So I-I began asking around and eventually…um…Finn told me about the adventure he had in your memories." She cleared her throat and grabbed her bag delicately off the floor and handed it to Marceline. "So…with this…and with my deepest apologies…I say I am…I am sorry, Marceline. For everything. I made a list of 'everything' but it would take too long to read. I can give it too you later if you'd like. I hope you will accept this as a decent enough apology, Marci, though I could probably never do enough, and…and I hope that maybe, someday, you can give me another chance."

She didn't. Marceline stared at the bag in her hands, eyes wide. There is no way. She untied the bow that was holding the top closed with shaking fingers. She couldn't have. As she slowly opened the small bag, she was met with a familiar face.

"Hambo…"

A/N

Obviously, this one takes place in the future. It's from Shadowfox who asked, 'Does Bubblegum ever say she sorry?' She does! And in the best way! Thank you for the lovely suggestion, and inspiration for the heartwarming return of Hambo. What a good apology from Bubblegum...

***Keep asking and I'll keep giving!***

Huzzah! *Triumphant music!*

-JD