Gumball awoke to the feeling of tingles everywhere on his body. It felt so nice, so peaceful. After their little "session" with each other last night, he had dreamed of being embraced by her more. He also dreamed of...going further.

'Aaaand that's something I best keep to myself...' He thought as he outstretched his arms.

Nicole, feeling him stir, slowly awoke herself. As her tired eyes soon focused on Gumball, she decided a 'good morning kiss' would be a perfect thing at that moment. With a somewhat swift motion, she rose behind him. As he outstretched his arms and tilted his head back, she made her move. She locked lips to an unsuspecting Gumball. This made him open his eyes in surprise, before closing them slowly and giving into the gentle kiss. After a few seconds she pulled back.

"Good morning~" she said lovingly, causing her 'target' below to gain a very dark shade of red on his cheeks.

"You know that wasn't very nice. Embarrassing me like that..."

Nicole wrapped him in her arms and rested her chin on his head.

"I'm sorry. But I must admit, you do look pretty cute when you blush like that."

A mumble of pouty words could be heard emanating from Gumball, causing her to smile in delight. Just then, Gumball stopped, went silent for a moment, before responding back with a changed tone. A playful one in fact.

"Oh, so I look cute blushing huh?"

He then turned to face her before using his body to push her back onto the bed, surprising her and catching her off guard. He then climbed on top of her and pinned her arms gently off to her sides before looking smugly at her.

"Well, miss beautiful, I'd say you look even cuter then me when you blush..."

Nicole blinked before processing what happened. Then she felt it. Her cheeks were quite warm. She WAS blushing.

'Oh he's good...' she thought to herself.

Nicole, not wanting to be bested by her lovely opponent, decided to 'up the stakes'.

"Hm, I don't know. I still think you look the cutest when you blush. Especially-" she stopped herself mid sentence as she freed herself and pinned Gumball below her in a similar fashion before continuing.

"Especially, after last night with your little...incident."

That statement seemed to turn Gumball's face into a shade of red that would rival a tomato.

"H-hey! No fair..." he said averting his gaze and making a small pout with his face.

She had won. Another victory for her like that had made her feel so good.

"Ha, gotcha."

Gumball rolled his eyes before meeting her gaze once again.

"You're too good at this..."

Nicole leaned in closer, smiling at him.

"Maybe so...but there is something you seem to be better at then me..."

This grabbed his attention.

"Hm, like what?"

She leaned in and softly planted a kiss on his lips before pulling back.

"Like eating a much more hearty breakfast then me."

Gumball grew a very big grin at that, before snickering.

"Very true, very true..."

Almost on queue, his stomach grumbled. This caused Nicole to laugh herself and Gumball to give her a look of annoyance.

"Really? See what you caused?" He said, freeing himself and rubbing his stomach.

"Alright I admit it. Come on sweetie, let's go fix that problem then." She spoke, as she stretched and made her way to the door.

Nicole fixed them their much needed breakfast, and of course, gave Gumball extra. As they sat down and started eating, Nicole looked over towards him and simply watched him for a moment. Seemingly oblivious to her gaze, Gumball chowed down on his food like no tomorrow. His now very animated moments and happy gestures doing so seemed to please Nicole's heart.

'Looks like last night's idea worked. It's been so long since I've seen him this happy... *sigh* maybe I should cancel training today...NO! I can't. Not after what he said. Hm, maybe I'll train with him today. Better yet, I'll teach him easy training for the time being. I've neglected the toll that the mental training had done to him, and I cannot repeat that...So, I guess that's my plan. Maybe I'll reward him for making it through today's training as well...'

Nicole focused her gaze on Gumball again and saw that he was now almost done with his food, surprisingly. This caused her to rest her elbows on the table, and rest her chin on her raised hands. She was loving this. His childish and enthusiastic manners while eating seemed to remind her of the good old days with him, Darwin and Anais as they would eat happily after a long day at the beach. Eventually, she started eating her own food, but her mind still raced with memories and thoughts.

'Yes. I think I will reward him...'

——————————

Nicole and Gumball made their way outside. As Gumball outstretched his body, she could sense a small amount of stress emanating from him. As much as he was wanted to train, she couldn't blame him from feeling a bit of fear and stress after what had happened to him previously. Today, Nicole would hopefully relieve him of that fear. Today would be a nice and easy day.

"Alright Gumball, today I'm going to be teaching you breathing techniques. I want you to first copy me, then try out different ways of breathing when I tell you to relax, okay?"

Gumball seemed to smile internally from this, as he quickly sat down with rapid succession. He was eager to learn this lesson, she knew it.

After about 30 minutes of training, they stopped for the day. Today's lesson was short, but nevertheless, a successful one.

"Well done Gumball. I'm proud of you."

This seemed to make him blush slightly.

"Thanks. I'm glad I did alright."

Nicole rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad too. Now, I've been thinking of something..."

"Like what?" He asked quizzically.

"Well, I've noticed you have done very good today, and I thought we could do something fun together."

"Really?!" He replied excitingly.

Nicole giggled.

"Yes sweetie."

"Alright! So, what's the plan? What do you wanna do?"

"I'll let you decide this time." She said, letting go of him.

Gumball pondered a moment, before getting an idea.

"Well, I think I'd like to put some of my exercises to some good use. So, how about we play...a game of Tag?"

Nicole liked that idea.

"Alright. A game of Tag it is."

"Awesome!" He said, giving her a warm hug before running inside to change. Nicole let out a small and happy giggle of amazement of how fast he did that.

'Looks like I was right again. Nice one Nicole...' she said to herself before following him inside.

——————————

After a change of clothes, they both decided to head towards the park. Being a wide and open area to run in, it would be a more then suitable spot to play in.

Gumball loosened his muscles and Nicole did the same.

"Alright Gummypuss, I'll give you a head start. I'll count to ten, then try tagging you. After that, it's free roam, and there's no rules."

"No rules you say?" He asked, finishing the stretches on his arms.

Nicole gave him a devilish grin and flicked her tail back and forth.

"Indeed."

Gumball knew she had something planned, but wasn't sure what. As he watched her crack her knuckles and get into a crouching position, he then knew she wasn't going to play nice.

"You got 10 seconds. You better run~" she spoke with intimidation.

Gumball gulped, before taking off as fast as he could in the open grass. Knowing how fast she could be, he had to clear some distance from her. Nicole's ability to hunt was second to none. He may not have as much endurance as her, but he could attempt to outsmart her.

Nicole closed her eyes. She knew instantly which way Gumball was running based off his footsteps. She knew he couldn't go far. His feeble attempt to run away would be no match for her speed and agility. As she finally counted to ten, her eyes shot open, and her pupils shrunk in size. Her 'predator mode' was in full swing now. All that remained now...was catching her prey.

With a mighty 'swoosh', she leaped off the ground and bolted towards Gumball. His distance wasn't far. She could make out his form now. As she raced towards him, drawing closer and closer, she saw him dart to the side and into the woods.

Gumball pushed the small branches out of his way as he rushed past several trees. He had to lose her somehow. Then he got an idea.

'What if I can hide in the leaves in the trees above me?'

Gumball looked up, and saw the very thick layers of leaves and branches above his head. It would be perfect. As he stopped, he found a sturdy tree trunk to climb. He extended his tiny claws and quickly, yet carefully, climbed up the tree. As he made his way into the thickened leaves above him, he heard the sound of Nicole approaching.

'Uh oh...' He thought as he continued climbing just enough to cover his body. Just as he secluded himself and stopped moving, Nicole came into view.

She had lost him. She was distracted after a branch nearly jabbed her face. Those few seconds seemed to have given him enough time to gain some distance, much to her dismay. But surely he couldn't have gone far...

As she made her way through the woods, she kept her ears alert. She didn't hear any footsteps now. Had he gotten that far away from her? Or...was he hiding somewhere? Nicole decided to go with the second option.

Nicole pushed leaves and branches away from her as she trudged through, looking for a cleared path, but didn't see any. Better yet, she didn't see any footprints either. That could only mean...

She looked up. Above her was a mass of entangled branches and leaves that nearly blocked out all sunlight from entering.

'Of course! Why didn't I think of that earlier?'

She let out a sigh, before cracking her neck. She had some climbing to do.

"Come out come out wherever you are~" she said tauntingly, swishing her tail back in forth.

As she climbed into the mass, she could barely see what was in front of her. As she reached ahead, she felt only more branches and leaves.

'Looks like he's playing hard to get...' she thought.

Just then, something seemed to change in her. She was...feeling a tinge more of excitement. Not only was Gumball playing hard to get, it was proving a challenge for her. Something she craved, especially with her strive to be the best.

As she poked her head through another small open area in between the branches, she saw Gumball's jacket just barely visible on the other side. Licking her lips, she inches closer, ready to pounce. Just before she touched them, she leaped full force to throw him off.

"TAG! I gotcha!" She exclaimed, holding the jacket.

As she pulled it closer to her, she noticed...it wasn't attached to Gumball. It was an empty jacket.

"Dang it! He pulled a decoy move. Now he definitely knows where I am...' She thought.

As she continued around the branches, she decided to move down the other way, hoping he was on the opposite side of the decoy. After she reached where she had hoped he would be, she still couldn't find any other clue of him.

'Where IS he?' She thought, and she stopped and pondered where to check next.

Just then, she heard it. Running. She heard running! As she scanned the area around her with her ears, she pinpointed which way it was coming from. As she crawled and dropped down onto the ground below, she started running towards the sound of footsteps.

As she ran towards the open grass area, she saw him. He was running full speed now, turning his head briefly to glance at her, and blew his tongue towards her in a taunting fashion.

'Oh it's on now!'

Nicole sprinted with full force towards Gumball. As she was just about to reach him, he ducked, sending her flying over top of him. She quickly turned around and attempted to touch him, only for him to dodge every finger. Gumball then tried to knock her onto the ground with his feet, but failed as Nicole braced her stance. Just as she was about to touch his foot, he pulled away. Gumball did a backwards somersault and landed on his feet.

Now, both of them stood their ground. Gumball looked towards her with sweat dripping down his body, panting heavily. His 'alert stance' still was in effect. Nicole on the other hand, stood in a similar manner. She was drenched in sweat from head to toe, and stood ready to attack some more.

Both stood this way for a good and solid minute before Gumball broke their silence. His heavy breaths soon became small fits of laughter. Nicole soon followed. Both were now laughing hysterically.

"I-I can't believe you fell for that." Gumball choked out, coughing shortly after from laughing.

"I couldn't believe it myself to be honest. That was clever Gumball. Along with those moves you tried on me. Consider me impressed."

Gumball gave her a smug grin.

"I used those breathing techniques well enough to prevent you from detecting me. I was literally right above you when you lunged at my jacket."

Nicole was taken aback by this.

"Wow. That's...actually really smart. Well done sweetie!"

Gumball dropped his stance and did a small bow.

"Thank you."

Nicole inched closer to him.

"I'm so glad I've taught you so much. But I must admit, there is something I've yet to teach you..."

"What's that?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

Just then, Nicole leaped onto him, and pinned him to the ground. She then raised her left hand, and with a very dramatic motion, used her pointer finger to boop him on the nose.

"I've yet to teach you...the art of NEVER letting your guard down. Also...Tag."

Gumball was dumbfounded. He never thought of it that way. She was right. He was careless just then. But, just as he was regretting his previous choices, he couldn't help but look up and into her eyes as she gazed down at him.

'Man, even in this state she's kind of hot...'

"Earth to Gumball, are you there?" She asked softly.

Gumball shook his head before looking at her again.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I just...got lost in your eyes again."

Nicole inched her face closer to his.

"This seems to be a common occurrence. Am I that alluring to you, mister?"

Gumball smiled.

"You know you are."

Nicole giggled before resting her forehead against his. Gumball freed his hands before bringing one up to the side of her cheek.

"I think we need to get cleaned up. We both smell like grass." He said, taking a small whiff, before scrunching his nose in disgust.

"Hm, are you sure you don't want to smell like grass...and ME?" She said, rubbing her sweaty arms on his chest.

"Agh, gross! Stop hahaha~" he protested, trying to push her off of him.

Nicole held firm and ceased her attack. Gumball eventually stopped squirming before meeting her gaze again. After taking a whiff of his shirt, he seemed to change attitudes.

"Okay...MAYBE you don't smell so bad compared to the grass..." he said, averting her gaze now.

Nicole rolled her eyes at this, and moved a few of his sweaty hairs from his face.

"Okay, first of all, gross. Second of all..."

She then leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

"You don't smell as bad as the grass either."

Gumball smirked at that.

"Wow, I feel honored."

Nicole playfully hit his chest before drawing him in close for another kiss. They soon were passionately making out. They took turns rolling each other to the ground. Eventually, Nicole ended up on the grass with Gumball looming above her. His sweat dripped down onto her but she paid little attention. Sure, they both were a mess right now; but to her, his eyes and lips were all that mattered right now.

"Gumball...I-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sheering headache rocked her brain. She cried out in pain as she clenched the sides of head and covered her ears. As she squinted through the pain, she saw Gumball was experiencing the same thing as her. He fell off her and squirmed, holding his head in a feeble attempt of stopping it. His cries of pain only seemed to worsen her state as she felt it ripple her brain with an increase in intensity. After a few grueling minutes, Nicole's headache seemed to subside, before completely disappearing. As she opened her eyes, she saw Gumball had stopped moving around and was now breathing really heavily.

"Gumball..." she half wheezed, crawling towards him to cradle his body.

As she reached him, she pulled him into her arms and wrapped them around him in a protective manner. As she scanned the landscape around her...she saw it. A bright green glow emanating from the woods to her right.

'Whatever that is...it must have caused this. I must check it out, for Gumball's sake and mine...'

As she took a deep breath and collected herself enough, she spoke.

"Gumball. Stay here. I'm going to investigate that glow over there."

Gumball quickly grabbed her arm.

"N-No. Don't go. What if it's a trap or something? What if it hurts you more? I can't risk that. Please..."

"Gumball, listen to me. I have to check it out. If I don't, I can't guarantee that it won't hurt us again. Stay here. I'll come back. I promise."

She then kissed his cheek before letting him go.

As she wearily got to her feet, she started walking towards the glow. As she pushed through the trees and shrubbery, she saw the glow intensify. As she approached closer to it, it emitted a strange metallic sound, before going quiet. Then the glow faded.

As she pushed the last bit of leaves away from the spot where she saw the glow fade, she saw it.

"A...A watch?" She said to herself as she gazed at the object before her.

As she reached to pick it up, she noticed the leathery strap and the the metallic piece on top of it.

The soft sound of it could now be heard to her as she picked it up and placed it near her ear.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.