Jessa woke up in her bed the next morning, staring aimlessly up at the ceiling. Her hair was still down due to a lack of a hair tie thanks to Sprocket, and she had yet to change out of her halter top and long skirt. She then sat up in her bed, stretching and cracking her bones before getting up and walking to her full-length mirror. Her hair still hung below her waist as she shoved some behind her ear and sighed.
"I need another hair tie."
Jessa turned around and looked at the folded clothes Boober had given to her, walking towards them and picking up her shirt. She buried her face into it, inhaling the scent of the laundry soap Boober had used. She had got a whiff of his scent when Sidebottom smooched her on the roof of the gorg's castle, and to be honest, he smelled good.
"It smells just like him," she said out loud, her voice muffled by the fabric.
After a few minutes, Jessa removed her shirt from her face and unfolded the sleeves, an idea immediately coming to her head. Jessa grabbed one sleeve and ripped it off, then the other, tying them tightly together and making a makeshift hair ribbon. After putting it together, Jessa took out her sword and transformed it into a hairbrush, flipped her hair forward, and wrapped her sleeves around it, putting her hair back up into a ponytail and brushing it.
"Feels so good to have my hair out of my face," she said after doing her hair. "When was the last time I ever needed sleeves anyway?"
Now her crop top looked more rugged with the sleeves ripped off, but Jessa liked it better that way. She took off her skirt and halter top and changed into her black ripped skinny jeans and black crop top. While she was fastening her boots, her left bicep began to itch.
"Dang it!" Jessa cussed before scratching.
As she did, purple flakes crumbled off, revealing her Bloodlust symbol.
"No, why now?!"
Jessa finished putting her shoes on before getting another glimpse of her reflection. The tsundere berry juice she used to conceal her Bloodlust symbol had started to crumble off.
"Looks like I'll be making a trip to the Tsundere Caves."
Jessa was annoyed that her plans to come back to Fraggle Rock were put on the back burner because of her need to hide her true identity. Nevertheless, she grabbed her sword holster and buckled it around her waist, locking up her house and exiting her homey bubble into the Terrible Tunnel. It was going to be an all-day affair, and while Jessa normally didn't mind the long trip, today it bothered her. She had a plan though; stock up on tsundere berries and get the hell out of there and back to her house. So she began her journey.
It was noon by the time Jessa returned to her house with loads of tsundere berries, but she was happy with the quantity. As soon as she entered her house, she got to work on scrubbing off the old tsundere berry juice and applying freshly squeezed juice to her arm where her Bloodlust symbol was. Once the procedure was done, Jessa relaxed on her bed and let it dry. But she was lacking in patience. Of all times to renew her symbol mask, why did it have to be today?!
"Come on, dry off already!" She yelled.
Jessa then sighed in frustration. Maybe she could air-bend the juice dry.
"That'll speed it up."
Jessa bounced off her bed and ran outside, summoning the wind to blow on her bicep. The wind was strong, but effective as the last of the moisture dried up. Her black ponytail flew behind her and her eyes glowed yellow from the air-bending power within her. As soon as Jessa could no longer feel any wetness, she stopped the wind and smiled smugly.
"I should've done this years ago."
Finally, she could go visit the Fraggles. Visit Boober. But she didn't want to act too happy to see them. Shazzles weren't allowed to show emotions, as it was a sign of weakness and vulnerability. It was the one thing that could get them in trouble or get them killed. However, it didn't matter to Jessa since she no longer associated with the Shazzles. But she did enjoy the Fraggles' company. She really did. They were her first set of friends. For years, all she had was her family. But they were gone now. Jessa had gone 5 long years without another person by her side, though it was far better than getting bullied by the other Shazzles. Solitude was better than being ostracized. Jessa pushed back the memories as she ran to Fraggle Rock, slaying any hostile creatures that got in her way. Nothing was going to stop Jessa from coming back.
Boober walked around the Great Hall, already having finished whatever laundry he had to clean. Despite what Mokey told him, he still doubted that Jessa would return. This saddened him greatly, and he continued to wander around until he saw her casually walk out of the Terrible Tunnel. Jessa was back in her crop top, jeans, and boots with her sword and holster intact. Boober instantly perked up when he saw her, his heart racing. Jessa took a few steps forward, pretending to look bored and apathetic when she was actually happy to be back there.
"Jessa!"
Before she could have a chance to respond, Boober ran up to her and hugged her tightly, grinning while his tail wagged and baloobius glowed brightly. Jessa froze, startled by this greeting, but it felt so… nice. Being hugged. Something she had never received from a nonrelative. Her expression softened the more Boober hugged her.
"I didn't realize I would be missed this much," she finally managed to say while returning his hug.
Boober blushed, not wanting to let go of her.
"I didn't think you would come back," he admitted, inhaling the scent of the laundry soap on her clothes.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because of what happened in the gorg's garden."
"You're still upset over that?"
Boober looked at her with a solemn expression before looking away, but he still held Jessa.
"Hey," she began softly while cupping his face, making Boober blush deeply. "We talked about this. I'm not mad at you. If I was, I would have you 6 feet under by now. Why do you think you're still alive?"
Boober didn't want to think about what Jessa was capable of with her sword or without it if she were to retaliate physically. If this girl could make it back from outer space unharmed and shoot a gorg in the gut with lightning bolts from her sword, who knows what she would do to him?
"Like I said, you weren't yourself," she said a minute later.
"But I invaded your personal space."
Jessa sighed sadly and hugged him tighter, which oddly made him feel better.
"Boober, I don't know what to say that will convince you otherwise."
Boober remained silent, enjoying the hug.
"I'm just glad you're here, Jessa," he said softly, burying his face into her neck.
"Can't imagine a better place to be."
They stood there and hugged each other, smiling and blushing the whole time. Boober felt all of his anxiety melt away the longer he stayed in her arms and sighed happily. For the first time in her life, Jessa let her guard down. Despite her Shazzle upbringing, she couldn't help but be vulnerable around Boober. He nuzzled her before noticing the changes in her shirt.
"Jessa, what happened to your sleeves?" He asked while fiddling with the ripped fabric where her shoulder was.
"Made a hair tie out of them. Stupid beast broke my old one."
Boober remembered. He remembered clearly when Sprocket snatched her hair tie while she was running from him. It was a miracle she didn't get eaten.
"Besides, I can't remember the last time my sleeves have ever served me a vital purpose when they were still on my shirt."
Boober still played with her now sleeveless top, enjoying the snuggles. Soon though, their tender moment was interrupted.
"Boober!" Gobo shouted. "There you are!"
Gobo stopped as soon as he saw him with Jessa.
"Oh sorry, was I interrupting something?" He asked them.
"Nah, I just got here," Jessa replied while letting go of Boober.
"Good, because I found this map my Uncle Traveling Matt had in his diary."
"What's it of?"
"It's a mysterious cave full of strange berries."
Boober let go of Jessa so she could investigate the map.
"What all kind of places has that uncle of yours been to, Gobo?" she asked him.
"Everywhere in Fraggle Rock, pretty much. As a matter of fact, he's explored every tunnel here. That's why he's now exploring outer space."
Jessa observed the map, taking in the details and reading the notes.
"This place looks familiar," she said before noticing the tsundere berry picture in the corner.
"Have you been there before?"
"Gobo, that's a tsundere berry."
"A what now?" Boober asked while walking closer to her.
"Tsundere berry. They only grow in one specific place, and it's the location on this map. One thing I don't understand is how Gobo's uncle survived the Terrible Tunnel to get there."
"What do they taste like?"
"They're not edible, but they do have other uses. I use them as a concealer for my battle scars."
"Gosh, I'm sorry Jessa," Boober apologized while caressing her forearm.
"Don't worry about it, Boober. It's been a few years since I first got them."
"Do you happen to know any alternative routes to where those berries are?" Gobo asked her.
"There are none. You have to go directly through the Terrible Tunnel to get tsundere berries."
"Well count me out then," Boober said, still rubbing Jessa's arm. "That place is very scary."
"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Jessa replied.
"And besides, we're not going today," Gobo added.
Boober sighed in relief before removing his hand from Jessa's arm.
"Hey, Jessa!" Red shouted from a distance before nearly crashing into her on her peapod zoomer.
Boober screamed while Jessa simply stepped out of the way to avoid getting hit. Red slammed into a wall, making the others wince.
"You okay, Red?" Gobo asked while kneeling over her.
Red was dazed from the fall but wasn't injured.
"Red, are you crazy?!" Boober snapped at her. "You could've run over Jessa!"
"Boober relax, I didn't turn into roadkill," she said to him before facing Red. "Looks like paying attention isn't your strong suit."
Gobo helped her back on her feet while Jessa looked around.
"I wonder where Mokey and Wembley are anyway," she said out of curiosity.
"For all I know, he's still trying to decide which shirt to wear," Boober answered her while leading her to Gobo and Wembley's room. "But hey, that's Wembley for you."
Jessa laughed in response while Red and Gobo watched them.
"Did Boober just…" she began before he finished her sentence.
"Yeah, he did. Just don't say anything."
"No wonder he's been acting stranger than usual."
"Boober's right though. You really should be more careful."
"I was going to stop, Gobo."
They then walked away towards the Fraggle Pond, where Red wanted to talk to him about a new stunt she made up.