Jessa had dozed off after a bit, but her lava lake remained intact around her. She was lying on her side in a fetal position as the lava boiled on, threatening a firey death for anyone who dared to cross it. Even if Jessa had the energy, she would not open her eyes. She had no reason to. There was nothing to see beyond her self-made lava lake, the only light source in the Terrible Tunnel's darkness. Jessa remained asleep until she felt a tug at her side. But it wasn't from a physical being. It was a tug from a source of magic. Shazzle magic, to be exact. Alert suddenly giving her enough energy, Jessa opened her eyes, sat up, and looked in the direction from which the tug came. But there was nothing. Jessa growled before lying back down to resume her rest. But the tugging started again minutes later, forcing her to sit up and see what or who was causing it. To her surprise, purple flames came racing toward her before stopping a full inch away from the lava lake.
"Either I'm tripping on something awful, or someone is stupid enough to come looking for me," she said quietly.
"You're not tripping, Jessa."
Jessa stifled a gasp as Boober appeared on the other side of the lake of lava, though he was smart enough to keep a good distance from it.
"What are you doing here?"
"Why else would I be here? I came to find you."
"Why?"
Her tone had that same sharpness as it did the day they first met. Defense, Boober realized it was. She didn't speak that way to be mean but to protect herself.
"If you came all this way to end things with me, just say it and be on your way," Jessa told him after he took too long to answer.
"No. That's not why I found you. And before you assume anything, please... Jessa. Just listen to what I have to say."
"Fine."
Even from where he stood, Boober could tell that Jessa had lost far too much weight. Seeing this broke his heart.
"I thought the truth about you would hurt the most, but it doesn't. What hurts is knowing that you were suffering this whole time and weren't able to vent to anyone about it. Because you swore yourself to secrecy about being half shazzle."
"I had no choice."
"If you had a choice, would you have told me?"
"It's not that simple, Boober. Being what I am means I don't belong anywhere but here in this blasted tunnel. Shazzles don't respect me, and fraggles fear me. I can never have a moment of solace."
"I'm not afraid of you, Jessa."
Jessa wasn't sure if she heard him correctly as she gave him a blank stare.
"I'm not afraid of you," Boober reiterated. "I'm afraid of losing you."
Jessa looked away so he couldn't see her tears.
"I'm that important to you?" She asked, the sharpness in her voice now absent.
"Very."
Jessa's lips quivered, but she kept her sobs at bay long enough to look neutral before facing Boober.
"Is there any way you can make this lava go away so I can come closer?" He asked.
Jessa seemed to ponder for a moment before extending her hand. Boober watched as her eyes glowed red, and a bundle of lava rose to form a bridge. It kept rising until it was a safe height from the lava below. Jessa's eyes then changed to blue, and water flowed along the bridge to quickly solidify it and cool it off.
"This is your best bet," she answered him.
Boober waited a minute before approaching the solidified lava bridge, surprised by how it didn't scald his feet. He crossed it slowly, taking in the lava that still boiled under him. He felt nervous that one of the bubbles would grow to be an enormous size and pop, its impact radius affecting him. It didn't happen though, much to his relief as he made it to the other side and took a seat next to Jessa, the solidified bridge melting back into lava once Boober was safely away from it.
"When was the last time you ate?" Boober asked, noting Jessa's weight loss.
"As if it matters."
"It matters to me. You can't be wasting away in here. You'll die of starvation."
Boober took her hands before continuing, Jessa reciprocating the gesture.
"Come back to Fraggle Rock with me, and I'll cook something for you."
Jessa found it hard to maintain a neutral expression as he caressed the backs of her hands with his thumbs. That and the sweet longing in his voice made it difficult. She hung her head down to prevent Boober from seeing the hot tears forming in her eyes, biting her lip so hard her teeth almost pierced the flesh. Boober placed his hand on Jessa's cheek and angled her head up.
"I don't know how you're still alive at this point."
"Shazzles can withstand harsh conditions."
Jessa broke eye contact while saying this, and Boober gave her a peck on the cheek.
"How can you still love me?" She dared to ask.
Boober pulled Jessa in for a hug before answering.
"I don't care what you are," he began while rubbing her back. "I care about how you're doing. And I care about you being in my life."
Boober tightened his hug, and Jessa couldn't control the tears as they slid down her face.
"I love you, Jessa."
Something tightened in her chest, and she began sobbing. Boober held Jessa while she cried, not saying a word. The lava around them had yet to calm down and solidify, but nobody's attention was on it at the moment. Jessa was too busy crying, and Boober was too busy comforting her.
"I never wanted to lie to you, Boober," Jessa admitted after she had time to calm down. "Or keep any secrets from you. If this wasn't such a big deal, I would've been upfront with you and everyone else."
Boober didn't reply, expecting Jessa to let everything out at her own pace.
"Remember that day at Sweet Water Lake when I told you about getting called names so many times that you started to believe it?"
"Yeah?"
"That was my experience with the shazzles. Day in and day out, I would get called all kinds of names. The abuse was also physical. That tsundere berry juice I use is to cover up the scars from fights I've had with them. If I can't be anything other than an ill-tempered half-breed, then that's what I decided to be when my folks died. I began acting like everything they said I was. I couldn't bring myself to care about the well-being of others who wandered the Terrible Tunnel because I was still raging from years of abuse. That anger is still here, and no matter how much time passes, I will never forgive a single shazzle for what they did. They deserve to rot in the fiery underworld."
Boober couldn't help but feel a rage building up inside of him. Not at Jessa, but at the rest of the shazzles. If he had the powers that his girlfriend possessed, he would wipe them all out with one swipe. Boober was not a violent person by nature, but when something or someone he loved dearly was being threatened, it didn't take much to piss him off.
"Is all of this why you've been so tight-lipped?"
Jessa hummed in response, still clutching Boober.
"I'm sorry for not telling you any of this."
Boober stared down at the bracelet in his hand, which had since extinguished and become dormant once again. The purple flame trail no longer existed, which Boober thought was a good thing because he didn't want anything to spot the two of them and kill them.
"That bracelet I gave you helped me find you."
"What?"
"It absorbed your thoughts and feelings the whole time you wore it. I don't know how I did it, but a trail of purple fire led me here."
Jessa withdrew from Boober before explaining.
"That's another part of shazzle lore," she began. "You made a wish from deep within your soul to find me. That's how you were able to find me."
"I did say my wish out loud," Boober admitted while placing the bracelet back on Jessa's wrist. "This looks very good on you."
Jessa blushed, especially when Boober wouldn't let go of her hand. Oh, how she missed him!
"I want you to know that I love you," Boober told her earnestly.
Jessa's eyes sparkled, causing Boober to blush. Her silver irises would pierce through anyone if she glared at them hard enough. Strangely enough, he found them pretty. Pretty and hard to turn away from.
"I love you too, Boober."
Slowly but surely, Jessa and Boober embraced each other and shared a long, passionate kiss. During said kiss, the lava around them began to solidify back into rock. The air around them got cooler, and soon enough, it was pitch black. It wasn't until the kiss ended that Boober noticed the change.
"Is it just me, or did it get cold and dark?"
"Just take it as a sign that I've calmed down."
Boober, not liking that he couldn't see Jessa, clung to her like a stubborn apple on a tree.
"Can we get out of here now?" He begged.
"Yeah, we've been here long enough."
Jessa then teleported both of them elsewhere. Boober was surprised that she did this and confused that she didn't just teleport back to Fraggle Rock.
"Jessa, this isn't Fraggle Rock," he said to her.
"No," she admitted. "I wanted to show you something first."
"What is it?"
"This is where I've lived for the past 6 years before coming to Fraggle Rock."
Boober glanced ahead to see an old ramshackle tent in disrepair.
"Jessa," he began sadly. "I know you told us your living situation wasn't peaches and cream, but I didn't know it was this bad."
Jessa watched him daintily pick up the ripped-up tarp as he continued.
"You have no clean clothes, no running water, no soap, no stove to cook your meals on. How do you live like this?"
"There's something else you don't know, Boober."
Boober turned to Jessa, awaiting her explanation.
"This tent you see right here. It's a decoy."
"A decoy?"
Jessa took his hand before extending her free one outward to press against her shield.
"My real home is in here."
Boober and Jessa faded into the shielded home and out of the Terrible Tunnel. Boober was admittedly terrified until he saw the atmosphere beyond where they were previously. There was a dojo, a non-polluted river, one lone Sakura tree next to the said dojo, and a voluminous mountain miles from the property, which was surrounded by a luscious forest. The place was lovely! Dare he say it rivaled the gorg's garden.
"What is this place?" Boober asked in wonder.
"Something I created years ago when I first came here. It's a manifestation of my happy place."
"Let me guess, another shazzle ability," he inquired while catching a cherry blossom petal that was flowing in the breeze.
"Yeah, but it's very uncommon for shazzles to do this. Only the most ridiculed outcasts are capable of pulling it off."
Boober dropped the petal and began to wander around and check everything out, much to Jessa's amusement.
"So this is where you've been living all this time?"
"It does explain why I don't look and smell like a hobo."
"It explains a lot," Boober replied to her before returning to Jessa and holding her hand. "Care to give me a tour of your house?"
Jessa smiled sweetly in response before leading Boober to her dojo.