"So, who is the Storyteller again?"
"She knows all kinds of fraggle lore and what caves are nearby and far away. If she knows all that stuff, then she's bound to know something about Uncle Lenny and Aunt Morrigan."
Gobo and Jessa were on their way to see the Storyteller. Aside from spending time with her boyfriend, Jessa had been discovering more about her father's side of the family. After going through Traveling Matt's old journals, the two cousins decided to visit the Storyteller.
"I hope she's not busy," Gobo said before ringing her doorbell.
"Coming!"
The Storyteller peeked outside to find Gobo and Jessa standing at her front door.
"Gobo Fraggle," she began while opening the door. "What do I owe the pleasure?"
"We were wondering if you know anything about a fraggle named Lenny. He's my other uncle."
"Lenny Fraggle? You mean the one who ran off with a shazzle all those years ago?"
"So you do know my dad," Jessa piped up. "It's a much smaller world than I thought. Either that or this is a very tight-knit community."
The Storyteller took a good long look at the purple fraggle before her.
"You're not from here, are you?"
"No."
"This is Jessa, Lenny's daughter, also my cousin," Gobo introduced.
The Storyteller began to spill some ancient facts about Lenny and Traveling Matt, some of which were eye-opening. Others were just mundane stuff. Gobo hadn't realized how close his two uncles were in their youth. Not that he ever asked about Lenny in the first place, and even if he did, Gobo doubted Traveling Matt would ever open up about such a thing.
"Wow, they were such a duo," Gobo commented after hearing about all the stuff they did. "What happened?"
"It started when Morrigan Shazzle came into the picture. Matt and Lenny were caught in a rough current while exploring one day, and suddenly, the water stopped being so chaotic and became tranquil. Neither of them knew what had happened until a shazzle appeared out of nowhere. Lenny fell in love with her, but Matt was suspicious of Morrigan. From that day forward, Lenny began sneaking back there to see her. They had a secret relationship. Poor Matt wouldn't find out about it until 6 months later. He tried to remind Lenny that his lover was a shazzle, but he wasn't having it, saying she was different. But things were different back then. Fraggles were much more wary of shazzles than they are today."
"How do you know all this stuff?" Jessa asked.
"I'm the Storyteller. It's my job."
"I mean the more personal details."
"Because your uncle confided in me. I was close to him and Lenny growing up. Those were the good old days."
Jessa was less surprised than Gobo since her mom had already her that story from a young age. However, Traveling Matt was never mentioned. That part surprised her, at least.
"Interesting," she finally said. "Mom told me how she and dad met, but Uncle Matt was never mentioned."
"Why is that?" The Storyteller asked her.
"If I had to guess, they probably didn't want me running off to Fraggle Rock."
Before Jessa could continue, she remembered something that she had forgotten years ago: Morrigan's diary.
"But I do know this, mom used to keep a diary."
"A diary?"
"Yeah, it's back in the Shazzle Realm. But I have no interest in stopping by. Too many bad memories."
"That's a shame because we could really get some insight on what happened the day your parents met," Gobo told her.
"And read another person's diary? Are you nuts?!" The Storyteller asked him.
"Privacy won't matter since she's already dead. My father, too," Jessa said grimly.
The Storyteller was sympathetic.
"I'm so sorry about your parents, young... er, what should I call you?"
"If you want to refer to me by name, Jessa. But as far as titles go, Fraggle is just fine. I don't use the Shazzle title."
"So you're a hybrid?"
Jessa hummed in a bored tone.
"She's also an All-Element Bender," Gobo added.
Jessa filled her in on that lore, which the Storyteller found interesting.
"Shazzles aren't such common knowledge to fraggles anymore, but they were centuries ago. I'll have to update my papers later."
"Glad I can fill you in and debunk all those myths you believed in for so long," Jessa replied.
"And another thing, young fraggle," The Storyteller continued. "If I were as lovely as you, I would have Traveling Matt wrapped around my finger."
Gobo choked on his Doozer stick that he was munching on, and Jessa just stared at her with a deer-in-headlights expression.
"I'm sorry?" Jessa asked.
"I can only wish to have your kind of beauty so I can attract a man like your uncle."
"You're a bold one, aren't you."
"We gotta get going anyway," Gobo interjected while grabbing Jessa's arm. "Thanks again."
"No problem."
"What was that all about?" She asked him once they were out of earshot.
"She's had the biggest crush on Uncle Matt for years. I guess I should've warned you about that."
"You think?"
"I wasn't expecting that at all."
"Well, either way, we got some answers and confirmed the things we speculated."
"Yeah."
Gobo released Jessa's arm as they walked back to his and Wembley's room.
"By the way, that letter you were going to send to him?" Jessa inquired.
"I'm not sure if I want to send it now," Gobo admitted. "This seems like a very touchy subject, and I don't think he would be in the mood to hear about Lenny's death."
"That and I have a feeling I'll remind him too much of dad."
"Maybe if I word the letter more carefully..."
"You can try it if you want Gobo, but I can't promise how the outcome will look. Uncle Matt is going to react the way he does, and if he doesn't want to meet me, that's his choice."
"Are you saying it wouldn't hurt to try?"
Jessa only frowned in response, but Gobo had already made up his mind.
"I'm going to give it a go and see how the letter turns out. Come on."
"Why do you need my help?"
"Because we're family, Jessa."
"We're talking about writing a letter, a one-person job."
"But you can draft it out and see if I need to change anything."
"Fine, I'll help."
Wembley was playing on his bongos when Gobo and Jessa returned.
"So..." he inquired.
"Some of the things in Uncle Matt's journals turned out to be true. And now we gotta write the letter."
"And the visit ended on a rather awkward note," Jessa added. "The Storyteller is a huge simp for our uncle."
Gobo suppressed a giggle while Wembley only glanced at her in confusion, not knowing what the word meant.
"So what have you written so far?" Jessa asked her cousin.
"Here, take a look."
Jessa took the letter from Gobo and read it before handing it back.
"The only thing you have to update is my whereabouts. Other than that, you're golden."
"Boy, wait until Traveling Matt hears about having a niece," Wembley commented excitedly.
"I'm not sure what his reaction will be," Gobo admitted.
"Same," Jessa added. "We can only assume from here.
"When are you going to send the letter out?" Wembley asked.
"Might as well be right now," Gobo answered him while sticking the paper inside an envelope.
"It's your call, Gobo," Jessa told him.
Gobo wrote the address of the last place Uncle Matt had given him in his last postcard before putting a stamp on it.
"Ready Jessa?"
"As long as I don't have to smell like dog by the end of it, sure."
"You mean you hate the smell of mutts?" Gobo joked, only for Jessa to reply with a snarky reply, and they both laughed.
"Boober, have you seen Jessa?" Red asked him.
"She's with Gobo seeing the Storyteller. Why do you ask?"
"I need her for a new stunt I came up with."
Boober stared at Red in confusion.
"It involves Jessa using her wings. She's going to fly me up all the way to the roof of the Great Hall, and she'll drop me as I do a fantastic dive into the water. Then she'll water-bend, so I'll dive in the waves."
"Red, this has to be the most reckless thing you've ever thought of, even by your standards."
"What's so reckless about diving into the water?"
"Don't you remember what happened the last time you did a stunt in the Fraggle Pond? Jessa had to revive you."
"The only reason that happened is because there were too many water vines. But I got rid of them."
"And they'll grow back, and the same thing will happen again."
"Boober, really?"
"Yes, really. You can get seriously injured from doing a stunt that extreme."
Red only groaned in annoyance. But before any more could be said, Mokey came into the room with a huge smile on her face.
"My painting is finished!" She announced joyfully. "Who wants to see it?"
"I do!" Red said, not wanting to get lectured at a second longer.
Boober followed behind them, curious to see what his friend had painted. Wembley was already in the room admiring the canvas, which had all of them, including Jessa, on it.
"I call it Friendship," Mokey told them.
Red and Wembley were commenting on how exquisite said painting looked while Boober walked closer, wanting to get a closer look at his girlfriend. Mokey captured her beauty perfectly, and the tsundere berries Jessa gave her matched her complexion.
"You like it, Boober?" Mokey asked him.
"I love it," he answered. "I wish Jessa could see this."
"Where is she anyway?"
"She and Gobo went to see the Storyteller. Something having to do with her dad."
"Jessa and Gobo went to Outer Space," Wembley interjected. "They're sending that letter to Traveling Matt."
"I wonder how he would respond to knowing that Jessa is his niece," Red wondered.
"Gee, I don't know Red," Wembley answered her.
"Probably shocked, I'm sure," Boober added.
"Or pleasantly surprised," Mokey said.
While this was going on, Gobo and Jessa walked into the room, but neither of them paid any mind to the discussion.
"Nice painting, Mokey," Jessa finally said after a few minutes, causing everyone to turn in their direction.
"Oh, thank you," she replied. "This has to be one of my best paintings yet."
Jessa hadn't noticed herself in the picture until staring at it for a few seconds. Luckily for her, nobody noticed her solemn expression as they were too busy chattering. Something tightened in Jessa's chest, and her eyes burned with tears. But she walked out of the room before anyone could see her cry.
BOOBER'S POV:
I was in the middle of chatting with my friends when I saw Jessa leave. No explanation or anything. Just a speedy departure. I didn't think much of it until I saw her lips quiver from a distance, and I followed her.
"Jessa!"
She stopped long enough for me to catch up to her, but I approached her slowly.
"What's wrong?" I asked her while hugging her from behind.
Jessa remained silent, but I didn't push her to speak. She needed her time to collect her thoughts. I buried my face into her neck, the smell of her perfume making me blush.
"I wasn't expecting to be included in that painting," she finally admitted.
"Why?"
"Do I really need to explain, Boober?"
She didn't say this maliciously, but I regretted asking when she'd already told me half her problems.
"I wasn't expecting anything to come out of my first visit to Fraggle Rock."
"What do you mean?"
Jessa nodded.
"I lived in the Terrible Tunnel for a long time, but every now and then, I would come across some people. But I never stuck around long. But when I came here, it felt... different. I don't know why, but it did."
"In what way?"
"Like I... wasn't here for someone else's benefit. I was here because because I was valued. I'm not used to that."
Jessa then took my hand and caressed it.
"But I'm glad I met you all. And I like the painting Mokey made."
"Me too, Jessa."
I kissed her neck and squeezed her gently, which made her giggle.
"Geez, I'm getting all sappy over a painting."
"Mokey has a way of bringing out emotions with her work."
She intertwined her fingers with mine, and my baloobius glowed.
"Would you be opposed to a few cuddles right now, Boober?"
"Not at all, Sugar Lips," I whispered before stealing a kiss off her cheek.
Before I knew it, I was leading Jessa to my hole, my arm around her waist.
End of Boober's POV