Wembley stood in his and Gobo's room, still unable to decide which shirt to wear. He was about to explode mentally when Boober and Jessa walked in.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he was still trying to pick a shirt," she said to Boober after witnessing Wembley's predicament.
"Help me," Wembley pleaded to Boober.
"You spent all morning doing this?" Jessa couldn't help but ask.
"I just can't decide."
Jessa glanced at the two shirts, both of them identical in color, style, and design.
"They're the same shirt," she replied flatly.
"Wembley," Boober began while walking closer to him. "Since I gave this one to you much more recently after washing it than that one, you should wear it."
"You really think so?"
"You don't want to wear a dirty shirt, do you?"
"Well, I guess I don't. But this other shirt isn't technically dirty."
"No, but fabric can gather all sorts of odors easily."
Jessa leaned back against the wall and watched them, letting Boober do all the work in helping Wembley pick out a shirt. Though if it were up to her, she would have just done the old 'eeny meeny miny mo' and chosen a shirt on Wembley's behalf and called it a day. But Boober had a different tactic. He worked with Wembley on it and helped him decide. Luckily it didn't take long and soon enough, Boober and Jessa had exited the room to give Wembley privacy to change.
"That was nice of you to help him out," Jessa said to him.
"One thing about Wembley, he can never make a decision."
"No kidding."
"But he has a heart of gold."
They walked closer to Mokey and Red's room where the former was starting a new painting, humming away.
"Knock knock, Picasso," Jessa spoke as she and Boober entered the room.
"Oh Jessa, you're back!" Mokey greeted her happily.
"Of course, I'm back. Why wouldn't I be?"
Boober and Mokey gave each other a knowing look while Jessa was seemingly clueless.
"Whatcha paintin'?" She asked.
"A portrait of us. I'm all ready to get started, except I'm missing one shade of paint."
"What color?" Boober asked her.
"Well…" Mokey began while holding up Jessa's arm. "I need the same shade of purple as Jessa."
"Where do you get your paint?" She asked her.
"I make them myself. But I ran out of purple yesterday and I don't have all the ingredients to make anymore."
Jessa then glanced down at the spot on her left bicep where her Bloodlust symbol was now masked by tsundere berry juice and got an idea.
"Mokey, I think I have an answer to your problem."
Jessa and Gobo set out in the Terrible Tunnel to gather tsundere berries, but not before Boober gave her one of his lucky charms. Jessa looked down at the bracelet he had put on her right wrist, blushing at the gesture.
FLASHBACK:
"Wait, if you two are going in there at least take a Lucky Flower Pot with you."
"Boober!" Gobo griped, not believing in any of the superstitions.
"Come on Gobo. Last time you were in there you almost got eaten by that plant."
Boober then dug out one of his Lucky Protection Bracelets and placed it on Jessa's wrist.
"Promise me that you'll be careful," he said to her while sandwiching her hand between both of his. "If something happens to you…"
Boober couldn't bear to finish his sentence when Jessa cut him off.
"I'll be fine, Boober," she promised. "And Gobo will be fine too."
"Yeah."
"Still, you're going in the Terrible Tunnel. Just take this with you."
Boober gave Gobo one of his Lucky Flower Pots, much to his annoyance.
"Boober, if you're going to give me one of your lucky charms, can it be something I don't have to carry around?"
"Fine."
Boober took back his flower pot and gave him a pair of orange socks.
"Put these on."
"So just out of curiosity," Jessa began while Gobo put the socks on his feet. "What purpose do these serve?"
"The bracelet I gave you will protect you from ghouls and anything that wants to eat your soul," Boober told her. "As long as you're in there, keep it on. I'm amazed it didn't happen to you sooner."
"Well, I do have a magic sword on me."
Boober squeezed Jessa's hand as if the reassurance of her sword wasn't enough to convince him.
"Please don't get hurt, Jessa."
Jessa heard the fear in his voice and felt her heart shatter a little. Before she could say anything else, Boober slowly hugged her.
"Boober?" She asked, her voice soft.
Gobo watched them, knowing full well that Boober had feelings for her. Even if he wouldn't admit it the night before, Gobo knew. He then wondered if anyone else besides Wembley knew. Up until this morning, Red was oblivious to the situation. Wembley, despite his lack of decision-making skills, knew that Boober loved Jessa. That left Mokey. Gobo couldn't decide whether she picked up on it as well or if she was oblivious. Either way, Boober wasn't being subtle about his crush on Jessa.
"Boober, let me tell you something," Jessa began as he looked her in the eye. "I've lived in the Terrible Tunnel for 5 years. Mind you, without so much as a lucky charm."
Jessa pointed to the bracelet still intact on her wrist.
"Five years?" Boober said, his voice shaking.
"Yeah, that long. But the fact of the matter is, I'm alive. You don't need to worry about a thing."
Boober sighed, withdrawing a minute later to let Jessa go into the Terrible Tunnel with Gobo. He remained at the entrance while they walked deeper into that tretreous cave, leaving only when he could no longer see Jessa.
FLASHBACK OVER:
Gobo and Jessa initiated a conversation once they were out of earshot of the rest of Fraggle Rock.
"So I take it you're not superstitious?" Gobo asked her.
"Heck no."
"I'm surprised you didn't take that bracelet off."
Jessa looked down at the bracelet Boober had given her, blushing at the memory of him putting on her.
"What can I say? It's a nice looking bracelet, superstition or none."
This wasn't a lie. The bracelet really did compliment her skin tone and go with her outfit. But there was more to it. It was the simple act of Boober offering some sort of protection alone that convinced Jessa to not remove the bracelet from her wrist. But she wasn't going to share that information with anyone.
"You got a bracelet and I got socks."
"At least give Boober some credit, Gobo. He was trying to help."
Gobo was quiet for a minute before speaking again.
"So, five years?"
Jessa side-eyed him before replying.
"I guess that's considered a lifetime by Fraggle standards. At least when it comes to the Terrible Tunnel."
"What made you want to live here in the first place?"
"This wasn't my choice of residence," Jessa answered before slashing her sword through some overgrown vines to make a pathway. "I live here because my old home was anything but."
"What happened?"
"It never was a home, Gobo. Not to me anyway."
Jessa didn't want to go into too much detail about her past given how much Fraggles feared Shazzles. This was her secret that she was afraid to let loose.
"I'm sorry that your old home wasn't pleasant."
"You have nothing to apologize for. It's been 5 years since I ran away."
"But why the Terrible Tunnel of all places?"
"Where else would I go?"
Jessa jumped down from a ledge and continued her way, Gobo following suit.
"I wouldn't fit in anywhere else. Where I lived before, I wasn't accepted. Everyone thought very little of me."
Gobo gave her a solemn expression while he listened.
"I was an outcast. That's why I left."
Jessa left it off there, not wanting to remember her childhood. Instead, she glanced down at the bracelet on her wrist.
"Jessa, you're more than welcome to come to Fraggle Rock. We won't judge you, especially not Boober."
This worried her even more. In the short amount of time of knowing him, Jessa discovered that Boober was timid. But if he knew about her Shazzle heritage, she knew that he would never want to see her ever again. Though Jessa couldn't blame him. Fraggles had every right to be afraid of Shazzles.
"We should be getting close to the Tsundere Caves," she pointed out to distract Gobo from her backstory.
"That didn't take long."
Gobo was still curious about Jessa's past but didn't push it any further, sensing the discomfort in her voice when questioned.
"Good thing the only way here isn't too far from Fraggle Rock," Jessa said to him while opening the vines like curtains. "Here it is, Gobo. The Tsundere berry bush."
Gobo looked on in amazement the same way Jessa did with Outer Space. The bush was glowing a subtle indigo that illuminated the entire cave. It was located right in the center as well, some berries having fallen off the bush and lost their glow while the ones that remained on the bush glowed brilliantly.
"So this is where tsundere berries come from."
"That's right."
They both walked in slowly, Jessa leading the way around the bush. Gobo reached out to grab one but was stopped by her.
"Don't, unless you want third-degree burns."
"The berries are hot?"
"The ones on the bush are. The tsundere magic is still settling inside of them. But the ones on the ground are safe to touch."
Gobo stared at the ones on the ground before grabbing one. It had long since cooled off after falling off the bush.
"Now I know why Uncle Matt drew a berry on this map."
"I take it that he isn't scared of the Terrible Tunnel?"
"No, he was. But his wanderlust got to him. That's how I ended up with a map of the Tsundere Caves."
"Now that's what I call dedication."
"Honestly Jessa, I doubt the Terrible Tunnel has anything on Outer Space. I have a collection of my Uncle Matt's postcards that he sent me."
"How long has it been since he first went in there?"
"Man, I don't know, 3 months?"
Gobo couldn't remember the exact date, but he did know it occurred somewhat recently. Jessa began picking up some berries and putting them into her sword that was shapeshifted into a bag.
"These ought to be good enough for Mokey's painting."
"She told you about it?"
"Yeah, Boober and I walked in when she was setting her other paints out. But she happened to be out of purple."
Gobo joined Jessa in picking the berries, using her sack to store them in.
"She said it was a painting of you guys."
"Did she now?"
Jessa hummed in response. Once they gathered enough berries, they decided to relax for a bit before heading back to Fraggle Rock. She sat down near the cave wall and plopped her sack down beside her, Gobo joining her a minute later.
"You know, I never did ask. Where did you get your sword from?"
Jessa glanced down at her sword in the form of a sack full of tsundere berries before answering.
"I found it after I ran away," she lied. "It was just laying in a cave somewhere 10 miles from here. I claimed it, and it's been mine ever since."
Jessa had concocted this story long before imagining her home into real life. The one that was guarded by the invisible shield. She wanted to hide the fact that she was of Shazzle descent. From using the tsundere berry juice to hide her Bloodlust symbol to sealing off her residence from anyone who dared to enter the Terrible Tunnel.
"Who would be stupid enough to leave a magic sword behind?" Gobo asked in a baffled tone.
"Beats me, but finders keepers. I'm not giving this sword back."
"Who knows how many other magic swords are lying around here? We sure could use some when going through the gorg's garden."
Jessa looked away, knowing darn well there wasn't another sword just like hers. The Holy Shazzlin sword had no other duplicates of itself. It was not made to do that. But Jessa didn't say anything.
"I wonder if that gorg is afraid of you yet," Gobo wondered out loud.
"It better be. I just can't wrap my head around why it wants to thump us."
"Gorg's nature, I guess. I've never met one that actually cared about the life of a fraggle."
Jessa lounged back against the cave wall and stretched out her legs, crossing them while Gobo stared at his map.
"Where else has your uncle explored?" Jessa asked him.
"All kinds of places, but it would take me forever to name them all. I do have his book on the caves he's explored if you want to read it later."
"Cool."
"He's actually the reason I got into exploring."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Uncle Matt would take me to the less dangerous parts of Fraggle Rock. When I was a little boy, he took me to the Siren Tunnels."
Jessa raised an eyebrow before he continued.
"We were far away enough from the sirens, but we could still hear their voices. They were lovely. I was lulled to sleep and Uncle Matt carried me back home."
Gobo smiled fondly at the memory while looking up. Jessa stared at him before smiling.
"Like uncle like nephew."
Before Gobo could reply, a distant roar was heard.
"I guess that's a sign that we should head back," Gobo said, standing up.
"Yeah, not to mention that if we stay here any longer, Boober will start assuming that we're dead."
Without another word, Gobo and Jessa headed back to Fraggle Rock. During the trip, she noticed the lack of interference from the monsters that dwelled within the Terrible Tunnel.
"Looks like the plants haven't found you very appetizing today, Gobo."
"Or maybe they're afraid of the murderer with a sword," he joked as Jessa laughed.
"You're a dick," she teased before playfully punching his arm.
"Hey!" Gobo yelled before laughing.
The punch was too light to cause any bruising, much to Gobo's relief.
"Well if I'm a dick, what does that make you?"
"Oh, I don't know, a bitch?" Jessa answered humorously.
They both laughed while walking back to Fraggle Rock.
"I hope these berries are the right shade of purple for Mokey's painting," Jessa said while peeking into her bag.
"Even if they aren't I'm sure she'll mix them with something to make how she likes it."
Boober was with Mokey, tying knots in his tail while Mokey hummed away. He tied more knots for Jessa, despite giving her his Lucky Protection bracelet earlier.
"Boober, don't do that to your tail," Mokey pleaded softly.
"Can you blame me for worrying?"
"Jessa will be fine."
Boober sighed, his tail starting to cramp from all the knots he tied it in.
"One knot ensures safety for them, Mokey."
Boober was about to tie another knot in his tail when he heard Jessa's voice.
"We're back with berries!" She announced before dropping her sack down on the ground.
Mokey opened it and took out a handful of berries, studying the shade of purple they were.
"This is just the shade I need. Thank you guys."
"You're welcome," Gobo replied before she walked off to start her painting.
"Glad to see that you're unharmed," Boober said to Jessa as he took her hand.
She smiled back before noticing his tail all tied up.
"What in the name of Ragnarok happened to your tail?!" She asked with concern.
"I tied it in knots so you and Gobo wouldn't get killed."
"Boober you already gave us your lucky charms," Gobo pointed out.
"And we're back now, so you can untie it."
Boober attempted to loosen his latest knot, but it was stuck.
"Oh no. My tail is stuck in knots!"
Boober began to panic when Jessa put her hands on his shoulders.
"Boober, calm down!"
"How can I be calm about this? Someone untie my tail!"
"Not it!" Gobo shouted before bolting, leaving Jessa and Boober alone with each other.
He looked at her and blushed, just as she did before they both looked away awkwardly.