Of Good and Evil (Fiolee) - Ch.5

Fionna sighed with relief when she saw Gumball approaching her. She couldn’t have been happier to see him. On second thought, when was she not happy to see him?

She was standing at the start of the Castle Gardens, with the long expanse of shrubbery and flowering plants stretching behind her. After the horribly stormy day they’d had yesterday, the sky above was blue and clear, with the sun warming her face. What a great outcome from the previous day’s disaster!

Fionna was fiddling her hands as she leaned against a tall hedge. She felt very naked without Cake by her side. She was regretting telling her it was fine to leave her alone. But it wasn’t like this was the first time Gumball and Fionna had been alone, so why worry? As Fionna thought about the two of them, she figured they would never develop a proper relationship if they didn’t get any quality time with each other, away from their corresponding companions.

Which brought up a whole other topic on Fionna’s mind. Cake had been trying to ‘coach’ Fionna about relationships, being the caring and clever adopted sister she was. She said that Fionna had to be more assertive, especially since she was going after an older man. After Fionna rolled her eyes and groaned, “He’s not that much older, Cake!” Cake had insisted that he was old enough to look down upon Fionna, and not see her as a potential lady friend. This got the young girl listening as Cake described the many methods and techniques to go about wooing one’s crush.

Fionna was skeptical of Cakes insight at times, when it seemed like Cake was just spouting random, unhelpful advice. But she listened anyways, never thinking she would actually use any of Cake’s strange recommendations. However, as she saw the Prince walking towards her, as wonderful and radiant as ever, she decided it might be a good idea to use some of that advice. Right now. Probably speed things along a bit, she thought as she looked at Gumball with stars in her eyes.

He was pink and bright in the sun, and her heart started to race again despite all her efforts to make it calm. Her beautiful, shiny, Prince of the Candy Kingdom. She felt so much smaller and insignificant in his presence, so she took heed to her sister’s idea of being ‘confident’ and ‘self-assured.’

But her plans crumbled as he approached. She noticed he looked more troubled, rather than regal. That alarmed her. Her stomach fell to her toes when she thought this might be more serious than a date, if even that.

She felt a bit better when he smiled. “Hello Fionna! I called you here to give you a proper apology concerning yesterday’s unfortunate events.” He glanced behind his shoulder nervously. The worry lines on his forehead alerted Fionna; something was up.

“Are you okay, PG?”

“Oh, yes! Quite fine! Perhaps never better!” He flipped his head around to look behind his other shoulder.

“Um…” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“So!” He turned back to her, “About that apology! I would prefer us to converse in privacy.” He smiled at her, whipping out a hot pink rose from behind his back and handing it to her with dignity. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest in one beat. Maybe this was a date after all. His kindness made her heart hurt, and pushed her head into the clouds.

“Oh!” She breathed, the fact that it came from her prince made the small gift more beautiful in her eyes than in reality. “Thank you, PG.”

“Come,” He said as she took the flower. He took her other hand in his, pulling her into the garden.

Fionna trailed behind him, trying her best not to smile so overbearingly.

They walked, through the dazzling, colorful garden that never ceased to impress Fionna. The fruit on the bushes were the color of precious gems, and the animals were so cheery, it made her think of a storybook. She grinned happily as she looked at the garden’s scenery, but her smile faltered when she glanced up at Gumball. He had an anxious look on his face and kept glancing around.

She tried her best not to notice, but he wasn’t exactly very inconspicuous about whatever he was so worked up over.

They reached a simple fountain in the center of the maze of hedges. It was tall and beautiful, but also quaint, with cool, crystalline water flowing from its top. It had a classic looking bench sitting next to it, old wood painted white, with vibrant flowers surrounding.

“After you, milady,” Gumball gestured to the bench.

Fionna giggled as she and Gumball came to rest on the bench.

“Now with my request for forgiveness.” He smiled. “I really should tell you, we’ve been having a bit of a vampire problem. They just keep popping up unwanted, wherever they feel like it.” He looked around himself again, seeming to be flustered. “I hope that you’ll understand. I am truly sorry. If it was in my power, no vampire would ever bother you again.” He leaned closer to Fionna, grinning. “But I’ll do everything I can to keep you out of their destructive paths.”

Fionna blushed, never recalling a time Gumball had been so close to her. She could smell his fragrant scent, the sweet scent that made her want to get closer. He smelled nostalgic somehow, like she was walking into a candy store as a child. She remembered the wonderful smells filling her nose while she closed her eyes and breathed deep. She closed her eyes now and imagined the same scene, except this time it was a million times better, because Gumball was with her. Gumball was right in front of her! In some miraculous turn of events, her dreams were coming true. Whether it be fate, or the fact that he felt bad about that annoying vampire kid, it didn’t matter. Gumball was becoming closer to her. Both literally and figuratively, she thought smugly.

She knew she had to come back to reality eventually, so she tried her best.

She opened her eyes slowly to see Gumball’s right in front of hers, smiling with those intelligent eyes. “I-I didn’t know you had a problem…” She said, both shakily and dreamily.

“Oh yes,” he breathed, “a terrible problem we have. Nobody likes vampires around.” He smirked. Fionna almost giggled. How often was it that she got to see Gumball’s smirk with such a fabulous view?

Suddenly, she had visions of Cake’s coaching again. She pictured Cake standing on the kitchen table, bellowing like a preacher leading an entire church in prayer.

“You gotta be BOLD, honey! You have to be BRAVE! You have to put. Your. Self. OUT THERE!” She drove the words right into Fionna’s head. “A man likes it when his woman is assertive! You have to show him what you want, girl! You are Fionna the Adventurer! Show no fear!” Cake shouted to the ceiling.

“No fear!” Fionna echoed, pondering her sister’s advice.

Well, Cake didn’t spend all that time preaching for nothing. Better use it when I have the chance,
Fionna thought.

She ran through the facts in her head.

Gumball gave her a rose. He walked her through the garden. He sat down with her by the fountain. He’s leaning quite close to her, in a very non-friend-ish way... There’s no way this isn’t a date, Fionna thought. That’s it. Time to make a move.

“Well you know what we do like around?” Fionna asked, in her best attempt at a sultry voice.

“What’s that?” Gumball said, eyebrows raised.

Fionna smirked. “Gumwads.”

She pushed forwards the few centimeters separating them, before she could talk herself out of it, and kissed him. She kissed the prince.

She pressed her lips to his, and the first thing that came to mind was the amazing taste of them. Incredibly sweet and—

“Wah!” Gumball flung himself backwards, alarmed.

“What?” Fionna asked, still in the same position of leaning forward to kiss PG. Except PG was no longer there.

He gasped. “Wha—What—What are you doing?!”

“I was…” She paused, feeling very awkward and uncomfortable. “I was kissing you.”

Gumball’s face flushed a very deep red, and his face bunched in confusion. “I—I just…” He stammered. “I just don’t think that is a very good idea…”

“Oh.” Fionna leaned back, feeling like she had just been punched in the stomach. By a metal chair. Several times.

The feeling of rejection settled deep in her, like a hard, cold stone. Tears threatened at her eyes but she pushed them away, knowing she had to keep some sort of dignity. Gumball didn’t want her. She had been discarded. Unwanted. Rejected. She couldn’t get past that word. Rejected.

She didn’t even know what to say.

She stood from the bench and got up to walk away. “Uh, sorry.”

She turned slowly, walking back towards the entrance of the garden, each footstep feeling like a stack of bricks weighed it down. Thoughts scrolled through her mind at warp speed, trying to find as many ways she could have improved that moment, ways she could have fixed it. But the more she thought, the more she had to realize you couldn’t go back in time. There are no re-dos in life. That thought alone made a stormy cloud settle over her mind.

She heard Gumball scramble, standing up behind her.

“Fionna!” He cried.

She turned back slowly, ensuring she kept a straight face.

“Fionna, I—”

His mouth was open but the only thing that came out was silence. An unsure, confused, shocked, and baffled silence. A few heartbeats passed before Fionna turned away in disgust, not caring if it was the disgust of her own actions, or the repulsion of Gumball’s reaction.

She walked away, faster now. As soon as she was outside the gates of the Candy Castle, she broke into a stumbling run. Tears broke the surface and clouded her eyes. She wiped at them hopelessly, trying to clear her vision. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and cry into Cake’s fur.

Fleeing from her heartbreak, something broke inside Fionna. Something, right then, changed.

The entire way she thought about Gumball was now different. She didn’t put him on a high and mighty pedestal in her heart anymore. She wasn’t’ going to surround his very name with loving and adoring thoughts anymore. She wasn’t going to use her tireless efforts to please him anymore, serve every whim, come whenever called.

Suddenly, all those times when Cake had rambled on about ‘being used’ and ‘abusing power over someone’ made so much sense. It was as if all the gears had clicked into place, causing Fionna’s mind to whir. Her new revelation shoved Gumball out of his place in her heart, causing pain and bitterness to seep in and fill it.

Fionna looked with hatred at the wilting rose in her hand. She threw the flower down, leaving it in the grass behind her. As she thrust it away, a thorn caught her hand, leaving a bleeding scratch. She cursed, more tears flooding her eyes, as she cried out. The thorn in her rose broke her heart even further. Moments ago that rose had been like a precious gem, and now, it was trash in her eyes.

Fionna had been humbled, she knew that, but she had also been broken.