Nicole awoke to the now bright overhead light as it shined down on her. The scent of burnt flesh and dried blood loomed in the air, much to her disliking. As she yawned and wiped her eyes, she checked her body carefully under her towel. To her dismay, her clothes were ruined. On the plus side, it looked like her wounds had completely healed. Although she still had grime, bits of dirt and debris still clinging to her fur, she wasn't worried. This should easily come off with another shower.

As she turned and looked down beside her, she saw Gumball still asleep. His clothes seemed almost completely unfazed; with the exception of a few grass stains and a hole or two. She knew they both needed to be cleaned up properly. As she stretched, she tried to piece together what happened.

'My mind is half in shambles. *ugh* anyways, let's see; there was an explosion. I remember that. But what caused it again? It wasn't Gumball, I remember that much. Was it another gas leak? No, that's not it. A freak fire? Certainly not. Come on brain, THINK!'

Nicole glanced around before she squeezed the bridge of her nose.

sigh* 'It's hard to tell what time of day it is in here with no windows...'

Nicole suddenly felt something.

'Wait. Time...but what does that mea-'

"The Watch!" She blurted out loud to herself.

She now remembered everything. The fracture, the poking and prodding of the core. The explosion... It all came back to her in waves.

"Hm?" A sleepy voice called out.

Nicole turned to face Gumball. She saw him now slowly stirring in place, looking towards her with half closed eyes. She must have woken him up accidentally.

"Oh, sorry Gummypuss. I just remembered what happened."

Gumball seemed to try to process that sentence in his tired, scrambled mind before it jolted him awake. Quickly, he got up and observed her body.

"Nicole! A-are you okay? You were burned pretty badly..."

She slowly reached out an arm and caressed his cheek in reassurance.

"I-I'm fine now. But Gumball...the watch..."

"I know..." he said, lowering his head.

"I'm so sorry that happened Gummypuss. I-I didn't know. If only I had, we could have prevented all this. I could have-"

"Stop." He spoke, raising a finger to her lips.

"It's not your fault. It's alright. It was a accident. If anything, it's my fault for removing that broken metal piece and exposing the core."

"Sweetie, don't blame this on yourself..." she said, stroking his cheek now.

Gumball felt tears fall down his face now. The watch...was gone. Their only piece of tech that had a chance of possibly getting them out of here...lost. They were now back at square one. They were now alone again. So very alone...

"Why?...why did this have to happen?" He wept, causing Nicole to pull him in the tub with her and embrace him with her body. She didn't care if she was fully cleaned up or not, Gumball needed this. She rocked him forward and back, shushing him as she did so. He rested his head back into her, hating himself over crying again.

"I'm sorry..." he said, only this time, Nicole silenced him with her finger.

"Shhh, it's alright. Like I said, it's not your fault. It was the watch's fault, not yours. Stop being so hard on yourself, okay?"

Gumball nodded in agreement.

"Okay..."

A few minutes went by before Gumball finally ceased his crying.

"Thank you..." he said, wiping a final tear from his eye.

"Your welcome Gummypuss." She responded, rubbing the sides of his shoulders.

He then let it a half laughed sigh.

"You know, we gotta stop ending up like this..."

Nicole returned one herself.

"Do you mean in each others arms, or in ruined clothes caked in dried blood and debris?"

"What do you think?" He asked, giving her a smirk.

"I'll choose option 2" she said, kissing the side of his cheek.

"I can agree with that."

The two emerged from the tub and cleaned up the bathroom a little before heading out. As they made their way towards the entrance of the home, they walked along the now dried bloody trail from Nicole.

"Yikes. This trail reeks. I hope if the house cleans itself like ours, that it freshens this place up too." He remarked, pinching his nose shut in disgust.

"Me too. I also hope this doorway is fixed as well. The door was blown off its hinges and everything!"

As they stepped over the rubble and debris, they made their way across the road and over to their home. As they entered, it was decided that this time, Nicole got dibs on the shower first.

———

Nicole emerged from the bathroom after having took a bath AND a shower for extra measures; considering her condition that she was in. Now she smelled like a new person; squeaky clean too. After her, Gumball jumped in for a quick shower himself. About 20 minutes later, he got out.

Gumball finally felt fresh again. Well, fresh enough. He didn't smell like burnt wood and ash at least. He made his way into his room to grab a few clothes. After putting on a simple white t-shirt and boxers, he headed for Nicole's room. After softly knocking, he poked his head in.

"I'm all done. How you doing in here?" He asked.

A half sleepy Nicole rose her head off her pillow and looked towards him with groggy, slightly parted eyes.

yawn* "I'm fine sweetie. Just a little tired still. I should be fine tomorrow though."

Gumball made his way over to her, before sliding in next to her in the bed.

"That's good to hear. I'll take it easy with you tomorrow though. Just in case."

"You calling me weak?" She asked?

"What?! Of course not! I-"

Gumball was caught off guard by her question. Only after observing her face closer did he see a smirk start to arise from the corners of her mouth.

"You sly fox..." he said, returning a smirk of his own.

"Dang...you got me this time..." she said defeated, patting his leg.

"I guess I'm a somewhat fast learner." He replied, laying his head back against his pillow and closing his eyes.

"Indeed you are..."

'Heh, you bet your ass I am!' He thought back.

As the two laid there, Nicole eventually gave into her still sleepy body and fell fast asleep. Gumball then decided to join her; for at least a little while. His body didn't feel as tired as Nicole's, but a little 'catnap' wouldn't hurt...

———

Gumball awoke to the sound of distant thunder. He looked over and saw Nicole was still asleep. Her gentle breathing truly was something he enjoyed watching from time to time. It had the same effect on him as watching fish in an aquarium swim around. Soothing...

As a few minutes past, he decided to get up and let Nicole sleep a while longer. As he made his way out of the bed, slowly and as quietly as possible, he got up and made his way over to the door.

'I hope this thunder and rain doesn't wake her up. She'll need all the rest she can get. She took quite a beating today, I only hope she fully recovers...'

Gumball made his way into his room, and sat on the bed. There was little he could do now, since he didn't want to wake Nicole up. With thinking of something to do, he decided to reach under his bed and pull out his wallet. As he pulled out his family photo, he looked at his family again; But he couldn't help but stare at one of the persons in particular.

"Richard..." he muttered, eventually covering him with his thumb.

'How could you do all that to Nicole? How? She deserves so much. So much more than you have given her. She is your-...'

Gumball stopped. His eyes then darted from the photo, to the drawer next to him. As he reached over to it, he opened the top drawer, and pulled out the ring. It's golden shine seemed to reflect the flashes of light emanating from the distant lightning outside. Gumball couldn't help but stare at it for a moment before bringing it by the photo.

'She is...your wife.' He thought again, as he placed the ring's shape over Nicole.

Gumball let out a saddened breath, remembering the harsh things his...dad...did to her. That memory. That oh-so-sickening memory. He swore he wouldn't forget it; and he had kept his word. The way Richard had struck her, the way he had made her cry, the way...he had broke her.

Gumball dropped the photo and the ring onto the bed before feeling his fists tighten with anger and rage. His heart was now racing. Quickly, he got onto the floor and moved his body into the lotus position. Using the breathing techniques he had been taught, he imagined his anger leaving him with every deep breath out. As he continued to breath in and exhale, he felt his anger subside. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again. He was now calmer. His anger was gone, but something still lingered deep within him, and it made him uneasy; something harsh.

Gumball decided to shrug it off, and went back to sitting on the bed. As he picked up the photo again, he decided to simply put it back in his wallet; for obvious reasons. After doing that, he put the wallet and clothes back under his bed. All that remained now...was the ring. As he picked it up, he felt something different brew in him this time. It felt...good. It felt like relief. Maybe it was, but he wasn't sure. He then breathed out a breath he must have been holding.

'Im glad she found peace with me. But why did she take this ring off? If we go back home...wouldn't we have to be separated? What if...we never go back home?...'

Gumball grasped the ring in his hand gently now.

'Never leaving this place...'

That thought kept circling his mind, over and over. He let out a sigh.

'If that is the case, at least I'll be with her...'

Gumball paused for a moment.

'At least...I'll be with her...'

Gumball then got an idea. An idea he thought he would never imagine coming true. Something so 'out of left field' that he only imagined it during brief passionate moments with her that only lasted a second or two. Now...he was actually considering it.

Gumball opened the palm of his hand and looked at the ring deeply.

'What if...'

'What if I married her?'