2 WEEKS LATER:

Boober stared at the spot in his bed where Jessa lay the night she had her nightmare and sighed sadly, missing her very much. It had been 2 weeks since he last saw her, but Jessa's absence was tumultuous for Boober. He had his book on medicinal herbs in his lap, reading it to take his mind off her. It helped some, but not much. Every time he read something, he would think about a scenario in which he was treating somebody, and the patient in question was usually if not always Jessa. Boober sighed again, pressing his palm against the vacant spot. He then began to wonder if it was such a bad thing to wish that she was here next to him, either talking to him or sleeping. Boober blushed imagining Jessa taking a nap while he rubbed her head, all while reading one of his books. The mental image made Boober smile, but his fantasy was interrupted by a loud fog horn noise.

"Can't a fraggle read in peace?" He complained before closing his book and getting up to see what all the commotion was about.

His friends had heard it too and were going to the Great Hall.

"Somebody's calling a meeting," Mokey pointed out.

"I wonder what it's about," Gobo wondered.

"If I had to guess, I'd say something bad has happened," Boober interjected before joining his pals.

"Still upset over Jessa being gone?" Red asked him.

"No," he replied, but the tone of his voice suggested otherwise.

"Maybe she'll come back tomorrow," Wembley told him, trying to cheer him up.

"I doubt it."

They all made it to the Great Hall, taking a seat wherever they could.

"As you all know, the summer solstice is coming up. And that means a party should be an order." an elderly fraggle announced.

Boober groaned in displeasure, but the other fraggles were excited. Maybe he should've skipped this meeting.

"I wonder if I can go back to my hole without anyone noticing," he wondered to himself.

Boober checked his friends to see if they couldn't see him in their peripheral vision, but they could, rendering him to stay put until the meeting was over.

While all this was going on, Jessa appeared at the entrance of the Terrible Tunnel but stayed where she was upon seeing that a meeting was happening. It was odd seeing the fraggles sit perfectly still and listen instead of jumping around and making all kinds of noise. Maybe Boober was rubbing off on them? Nah, unlikely!

"If this is some boring religious sermon, I'm coming back another day," Jessa said to herself before eavesdropping.

But Jessa had walked a long distance to be with the fraggles again, so she didn't want to go back to her house. She looked up to see a deep nook big enough to hide stuff in and climbed up to investigate.

"I could stick my sword in here for a few hours," Jessa said quietly, smiling before undoing her holster and setting it and her sword into the nook.

She climbed back down to eavesdrop on the meeting to wait for it to end so she could come out. Luckily it didn't last much longer and soon, the fraggles went back to doing their own thing.

"Oh, I just love parties," Mokey gushed while she and everyone else headed back to their holes.

"Me too," Wembley agreed.

"Yeah, they're loud and fun and exciting," Red went on.

"They're everything I hate," Boober whined.

"Oh come on, Boober," Gobo said to him.

"What's this about a party?"

They all turned to see Jessa standing a few inches behind them. Boober blushed and felt his tail wagging. He wanted to run to her and hug her like he did the first time she returned, but he stayed put to not startle her. While he was looking at her, Boober couldn't help but notice that Jessa looked thinner than the last time he saw her. Had she lost weight? Not that she needed to since she was already lean. Boober then thought back to when he first met Jessa in the Terrible Tunnel. While it wasn't blatantly obvious, Jessa was a little underweight. Aside from that, she looked the same as before.

"Jessa? How long have you been here?" Gobo asked her.

"Not very long."

"So I guess you heard about the summer solstice party coming up?" Red asked.

"I heard you guys talking about it."

"Why don't you come, Jessa," Mokey said to her.

Jessa thought for a minute before walking closer to them. Boober could feel his heart thumping inside his chest.

"I guess I could mingle for a few hours. When is it?"

"It's a week from now."

Boober couldn't help but feel conflicted. He hated loud exciting parties, but if Jessa was to attend, should he? Maybe she would change her mind before then. At least he hoped so. After a few more exchanges, everyone except Boober walked off to their holes.

"I haven't seen you in 2 weeks," he said to her while walking closer.

"Yeah, I've been busy."

"Doing what?"

"Keeping every living creature in the Terrible Tunnel away from my turf. And it's been exceptionally rough the past week."

Boober was quiet before speaking.

"You look like you've lost weight."

"Oh, have I?" Jessa asked, blushing out of embarrassment.

Though it was true that Jessa had slimmed down some. But it was due to not being able to eat after drinking. After the day she dreaded had passed, Jessa had to force herself to consume something once the hangover and vomiting had passed. It was hard at first, but Jessa could eventually eat without wanting to gag. Boober looked away awkwardly, feeling bad about pointing out something so touchy like that.

"Why did I say that?" He thought while mentally facepalming himself.

Jessa looked around the Great Hall before talking again.

"What have you been up to in my absence?"

"Laundry, cooking, the usual."

"Worrying about death as well?"

"Yeah, that too. And also worrying about pestilence."

Jessa chuckled lightly, knowing this quirk about Boober.

"Jessa," he began while rubbing the back of his neck. "Would you… like to go for a walk?"

"Sure."

Boober smiled before they both walked off together.

"Did you leave your sword at home?" He asked her while they passed by the pond.

"No, I found this nook at the entrance of the Terrible Tunnel that was big enough to hide it in. I figured that would be a good place to put my sword since I don't need it right now."

"What if you need to go to the gorg's garden?"

"Then I'll stop by and grab it. The gorg's garden isn't that far away from there."

They both reached that same secluded area where Boober first found Jessa skipping rocks and stopped there.

"And besides, how would it look if I was just waltzing in here with a giant sword around my waist? That would send the wrong message."

"Yeah, I see your point."

Jessa then sat down on the rock facing the pond as Boober joined her a second later.

"Not to mention that my holster gets uncomfortable after a while."

"I guess so, that sword must weigh a ton."

"It's actually not that heavy. Well, to me anyway."

Boober gave her a questioning look.

"If anyone other than the wielder tries to grab the sword, it becomes heavier than 2 anvils. They can't pick it up. That being said, I'm the only one that can use it without any trouble."

"So it knows who its master is?"

"Something like that."

Jessa shifted into a more comfortable position as Boober watched her.

"Why do you live in the Terrible Tunnel?"

Jessa frowned at that question.

"What else would I use my sword for?"

"Gorgs."

"But that's just about it here. In the Terrible Tunnel, there's so much more that I can beat up."

Boober couldn't help but find her statement a little suspicious. Almost as if what she said was to cover up something else.

"Is that really why you live there?"

"Boober, why does it matter where I live?"

"Because no fraggle should be living in such a dangerous place." He answered while holding both of her hands. "I… I can't stand it when you go in there every time you leave."

Jessa's expression softened.

"You really are a worrywart, aren't you," she said softly.

"You think?"

Jessa looked away before Boober let go of her hands and they both sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Have you ever thought about moving?" He asked her.

"Where would I even move to?"

"Here."

Jessa looked at Boober in surprise.

"That way you could be safe and sound. You wouldn't have to worry about fighting off any scary monsters and you wouldn't be by yourself."

Boober then put his arm around Jessa before continuing, making her blush.

"You also wouldn't be alone when you have another nightmare."

Jessa sighed at the memory of being comforted by Boober and leaned her head on his shoulder, much to his delight.

"You're giving me a lot to think about here," she told him.

"Take your time, Jessa," he said sweetly before resting his head on top of hers and holding her hand.

Jessa blushed before intertwining her fingers with his. Boober grinned and felt his baloobius glowing while they sat there and stared at the vacant and sedentary pond in front of them, their tails eventually twirling around each other.

"I missed you while you were gone," Boober admitted bashfully.

"Ditto," Jessa replied, grinning while they sat there in silence for a little longer.