Jessa and Boober were relaxing under the Sakura tree the next day, enjoying each other's company. Earlier, she had asked him if he was ready to return to Fraggle Rock, but Boober insisted on staying at the dojo for a little longer.
"I didn't know you would like this place so much," Jessa said sweetly while they cuddled under the Sakura tree.
"How could I not? It's so peaceful here, not to mention romantic."
The last part he said quietly, but Jessa heard him and grinned. Boober played with her hair while she occasionally kissed his neck.
"Did you enjoy your flight this morning?" Boober asked while massaging her scalp.
"Sure did. I haven't flown since the last time I was in the gorg's garden."
"You've flown out there where the gorgs are?"
There was worry in Boober's voice, and Jessa looked up at him.
"None of them have spotted me so far."
Boober tightened his hold on Jessa in response.
"Good thing you can turn invisible," he told her.
Jessa hadn't planned to discuss her powers with Boober until he asked about them, which surprisingly didn't take long. She figured that he would wait a couple of years or so to have this chat, but he seemed curious.
"What else can shazzles do?"
"You've witnessed the teleporting. It's a huge time saver."
"How many places have you teleported to?"
"Too many to count. But there are rules in place for teleportation."
Boober glanced at her curiously.
"First, never teleport to a place you've never been to physically. Because teleportation is based on memory, and if you attempt to teleport to said location, you never arrive there. You get stuck in the teleportation dimension."
Boober gasped but didn't stop Jessa from info dumping.
"Rule number 2: if you wish to take someone with you when teleporting, make sure you're in physical contact with them so they won't be left behind. Rule 3: never teleport to a spot that you can easily walk to because it's considered lazy and a waste of power."
"And flying?"
"I don't think I told you about the growth of shazzle wings. It's a very painful process, similar to babies teething."
Boober stole a glance at Jessa's backside, though she long tucked her wings out of sight.
"Shazzles began sprouting them at age 3, but mine didn't come until I was 7. That was the worst month of my life."
"It takes a month for shazzle wings to develop?"
"Yes. And winging shazzles are given anesthesia to alleviate the pain. But since mine came much later, I was refused medical treatment."
"What? Why?!"
"It had something to do with me not being fully a shazzle myself. Mom broke into the medical facility and stole the anesthesia. It helped, but it just showed me how racist and close-minded shazzles are."
"Does it still hurt?"
"No. Once the wings are developed, you don't feel anything. Then we're taught how to fly."
"How did that go?"
"Putting flight into practice is a huge workout, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a breeze."
Boober buried his face in Jessa's hair while rubbing her back.
"That was much easier than developing the wings."
"I bet."
Jessa giggled at his muffled voice, finding it cute.
"Shazzles have rules for flying too. We're forbidden to fly in the wintertime because the cold air causes frostbite on our wings. They're very sensitive. We also can't fly when there's lightning in the sky, though I've broken that rule once already."
"Why?"
"I was bored."
"Jessa!"
"Did you know that there's a gorg village 3 miles from the castle?"
"...No. I never go out there unless I have to."
"That day I flew in the storm was when I was flying back from the gorg village. It wasn't storming when I went there."
"Are you crazy? One; the gorgs could have spotted you and killed you. And two; you could've gotten struck by lightning."
"But I survived, didn't I?"
"That's not the point, Jessa. The point is that you should be more careful. I don't want to wake up one day and find you in the afterlife."
Boober's tone softened with each word, and Jessa blushed.
"When I came into the Terrible Tunnel to find you after you ran away, I was expecting to get eaten immediately after entering. And I wasn't expecting you to be alive."
"Sorry to disappoint you," Jessa grumbled while crossing her arms.
"But I survived, and I found you. That was my blessing."
"Oh."
"In a different universe, I wouldn't have been so lucky. I don't even want to imagine the downward spiral I would go through afterward."
Jessa leaned in to kiss his cheek before smiling at him.
"You're not taking me seriously, my dear."
"Boober, you're getting too anxious. All these what-if scenarios are-"
"Is it so bad that I don't want you to get hurt and die?!"
Jessa looked away, but Boober put his hand on her cheek.
"As your boyfriend, I have every right to worry about your well-being."
He said this so sweetly that Jessa's heart raced. Before she knew it, she kissed his cheek. Boober couldn't help but giggle while his tail wagged.
"Just don't let it take over your life, okay Boober?"
"I can't make any promises there."
"Worrywart," Jessa teased while snuggling closer.
Boober only hugged his lady in response.
"I love you," he murmured lowly, making Jessa blush.
She then smiled and hugged Boober back.
"Is it bad that I don't want to leave this place?" Boober asked after several minutes of silence.
"No," Jessa replied. "When I created it, I meant for it to be a place of solace."
"It's beautiful."
Jessa grinned at Boober before kissing him.
"Boober?"
"Yes, Jessa?"
"Don't tell anyone else about this place."
"Boober and Jessa are trapped in there," Wembley told his friends. "We need to go after them."
The four fraggles began their journey in the Terrible Tunnel to find their friends.
"I wonder how far they went," Gobo wondered out loud.
"Not too far, I hope," Wembley said to his best friend.
"Jessa must have been crazy if she thought she could live here in the first place," Red interjected.
They continued on their way to find their friends, wondering if Boober had found Jessa and whether or not she had decided to return to Fraggle Rock. These were things that wouldn't be answered until they saw both of them. Two hours passed before Boober and Jessa were reunited with the other fraggles. While Boober was happy to see them, Jessa remained at a distance, weary of them given what happened the last time she saw them.
"How did you find us?" Boober asked.
"It wasn't easy, but we did," Red told him.
Jessa didn't speak and watched Boober chat with his friends. Seeing him happy made her smile.
"Jessa," Mokey began as the raven-haired hybrid turned to her. "Are you... feeling alright?"
"Yeah," she lied.
The truth was, though, Jessa wasn't sure how to feel at this moment. Sure, she was happy to see everyone, but were they happy to see her?
"Listen," Jessa began. "I didn't mean for you to find out about any of this. None of you were supposed to know what I am."
"It's okay, Jessa. We forgive you."
Jessa shot Mokey a surprised look, not expecting such kindness.
"You do?"
"Of course we do," Red chimed in. "What kind of people would we be if we didn't?"
"Shazzles."
Boober and Gobo were having a chat while Jessa chatted with the girls.
"I'm proud of you, Boober," Gobo admitted. "You went in here and found Jessa. I remember years ago you made a vow never to set foot in here."
"I still hate this tunnel, but I couldn't let Jessa be alone in here."
"You did the right thing."
"You sure did," Wembley added.
Boober stole a glance at his girlfriend before smiling. He felt some type of fulfillment in his heart, knowing what he did for Jessa.
"I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't used your powers," Red admitted. "And you didn't give me the chance to thank you."
Jessa stared at the ground, not saying anything.
"Yes, you saved her life," Mokey added.
"I don't exist to play the hero, but you're a group of people who don't make me feel worthless. You're all worth protecting."
Jessa struggled to admit that she cared about them, but they got the hint and hugged her. The boys soon joined the hug, and Jessa smiled. Before any of them could say anything else, something roared in the distance.
"What was that?" Boober asked fearfully.
"It's our cue to leave," Jessa answered. "And we better be fast."
The fraggles power walked back to Fraggle Rock, but whatever made its presence known snuck up behind them and grabbed Wembley. He screamed, alerting everyone else.
"Wembley!" Boober shouted.
Jessa was already ahead of the monster when it stopped in its tracks upon seeing her.
"How did she get there without us seeing her?" Red asked, to which Boober explained her ability to teleport.
"Jessa, help," Wembley pleaded, unable to free himself of the beast's tentacle.
She didn't reply, instead raising her fist as flames ignited around it, her eyes glowing red, and she punched it in the nose so hard it yelped. The others winced before Wembley was dropped on the ground. Jessa smirked, knowing said monster would be too distracted from the pain to notice them running away.
"What was that you said about not being a hero?" Wembley asked.
"Just go," Jessa instructed him. "This is going to get violent, and I don't need you guys in the middle of this gore fest."
The monster roared again in fury, but Jessa drew her sword and slashed his chest.
"Jessa, no!" Boober shouted though he had enough sense not to step any closer between her and the beast.
"Guys, don't just stand there. Get going back to Fraggle Rock. I'll catch up eventually."
"No, absolutely not," Boober objected. "You're coming with us, Jessa. I'm not letting that thing hurt you."
"If I don't kill it, then it will follow us back. Then we'll have a repeat of the bloodwraithe incident."
Boober wanted to say something to make Jessa reconsider her choice to take on something so dangerous, but before he had a chance to Mokey screamed while narrowly avoiding being grabbed.
"Run. Now."
Without another word, the five fraggles began running towards their home. Jessa's talons came into view, and she wasted no time clawing this beast.
BOOBER'S POV:
I heard Jessa yelling while my friends and I made a run for it, but the farther I ran, the more worried I became. That thing was going to kill her, and what am I doing?! After hearing what sounded like a limb being torn off, I stopped in my tracks and glanced back. Considering the size of that hideous monster, I expected Jessa to be injured, but imagine my relief when I saw that she still had her arms and legs. The monster, however, wasn't so lucky. It took me half a second to realize I was standing out in the open, so I hid behind a nearby stalactite. I couldn't watch my lady get injured, but even with my eyes covered, I could hear the screaming, the roaring, and the bones crunching. I prayed to my lucky charms that Jessa wouldn't be reckless enough to get injured like she did with the Bloodwraithes. All that terrifying noise carried on for a bit until I heard nothing. I was afraid to peek at first, but I had to know if Jessa was still alive. To my relief, she was, but she just stood there, seemingly admiring the now-impaled monster against the cave wall.
"Jessa?"
She took her time to respond, but I walked closer to her before she opened her mouth.
"It's dead."
Jessa then spread out her wings and flew up to retrieve her sword, which had grown in size to accommodate her battle. As soon as she wedged it out of the corpse, her sword shrunk to its original size as she flew down and water bent. I wasn't sure what she was going to do with it until she submerged herself inside a water cocoon, cleaning all the blood off. While it did make Jessa appear clean, I was still skeptical about how sanitary she was since she didn't have any soap on her.
"I still have that soap you used the first time you came here," I said to her as we started walking back to Fraggle Rock.
"Thanks," she replied.
We mostly walked back in silence, but I didn't mind. She wasn't wearing her original outfit, but she packed it into her sword. After our passionate time in Jessa's dojo, I put my hat and scarf back on before we left. She was wearing the mint green shirt and jean shorts from earlier, though her hair was back up into a ponytail. Though I'm not too fond of the Terrible Tunnel, I love the place Jessa created. A thought then hit me: if Jessa was going to live in Fraggle Rock, what was going to happen to her dojo and everything else in there?
"Jessa, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Are you... going to live in Fraggle Rock?"
"As long as I'm wanted there, yes."
"I want you there."
"Then it looks like I'm officially relocating."
"But what's going to happen to your dojo? Will it... disappear?"
"Oh that's not going anywhere. Once a Shazzle creates a happy place for themselves, it can't be moved or destroyed. It's permanent. The only way it will cease to exist is when said Shazzle dies."
"So as long as you're alive, that place will stay intact?"
"Correct."
I let that information seep into my brain before smiling.
"Is it okay if we visit there again sometime?"
"Absolutely. That dojo is my vacation home now that I've agreed to live in Fraggle Rock with you and everyone else. And to tell you the truth, I've missed my bed in Red and Mokey's room."
I couldn't help but grin at the last part.
"And another thing," she continued. "I would like for my dojo to be our love pad. You know, just a me and you thing."
My cheeks were heating up at the thought, but to say that I wasn't elated would be a big fat lie.
"Now I understand why you wanted me to keep that place a secret."
Jessa giggled, and it was the cutest thing I ever heard.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Jessa."
End of Boober's POV