Life of Py

AK: this is a little fan fiction about Blossom from the point of view of her closest friend... One shot.

I was made in China. At least that's what my tag tells me. But I was purchased in Townsville by the man in the white lab coat. He grabbed my head in his fevered frenzy of buying gifts for his child, or children I suppose.

When we arrived, my packaging was unceremoniously stripped off and a girl with peculiar pink eyes looked down at me. Her hands were behind her back, and a puzzled frown had formed on her cupid's bow lips. To say the least, I disappointed her.

I thought for sure, "I will amuse a child greatly when I'm purchased." But this red haired young maiden remained unconcerned with me, moving on to a chemistry set, an abacus, and even a set of flash cards.

Clearly she didn't want me. A blonde girl the same age skipped by, waving a purple octopus plush toy around with glee. I thought again, "Surly such a connoisseur of sublime toys will play with me."

And for ten minutes, she did. And then I sat again in a spot for hours, facing the red haired girl who had abandoned me.

A green eyed girl with hair like night ran by, flying an airplane. I thought with relief, "She shall play with me."

And for ten horror filled minutes, she did. And once again, I was placed in front of the red head.

Soon the trio of energetic girls dozed off, and I sat alone in the quiet, facing the red haired girl who didn't want to play.

The lab coat man-whom the trio had addressed as Professor- came and took them all up stairs. For a while, I sat undisturbed by the goings on. "I'll simply be returned," I thought glumly. "A failure to my entire toy line."

The Professor had returned twice, once to retrieve the purple octopus and another to clean the mess up.

I sat there alone, until, sometime after, maybe hours later, the red haired girl returned. She stared down at me with her large pink eyes, hovering in the air. After what seemed like moments of thought, she picked me up and carried me to the kitchen.

I thought for certain she would throw me away, her expression unreadable.

Instead she clutched me close, pouring herself a cup of water. When she finished that, she returned up the stairs, my body tucked under her arm.

"Here, Bubbles." she said to the blonde. The water transferred hands.

"Thanks Blossom..." murmured the sleepy girl.

That said, the red haired maiden- Blossom- tucked herself back into bed. She cuddled me close, a content smile forming on her face.

She liked me! I felt jubilation in my furry body. She held me so close to her body, as if in fear that I would leave.

Never...

The next day, Blossom readied herself for school. She let her hair fall back in flawless waves of copper and red, brushing it back in a bow-clipped ponytail.

Before she left, she placed a chaste kiss on my cheek. "Bye, Pythagoras." she called behind her.

Pythagoras... I mulled over my name for the rest of the day. I didn't quite know what it meant. What was a Pythagoras? Was it a toy? A plane? A type of kite? I had only ever read the labels of other toys, their packaging, tags and the occasional children's picture book. I could quote the great Dr. Seuss without thought. But never had I heard of Pythagoras. A simply original name.

I waited laboriously for Blossom to return. I looked around the room, a cheery but empty place without my girl. Not even the man in the lab coat could keep me company during this period of silence, though he tried with his cleaning and talking.

Finally, my Blossom returned. She was saddened, her face blotched and her lips pouting. She snatched me up and hugged me close, burying her head in my belly. I longed to hug her, comfort her... But I could only let her hug me. Only let her hold me.

Eventually she calmed down, her faith in herself restored as she chatted to me in a low voice as her sisters cried and ranted respectively. She smiled as small smile and pressed me close to her body.

I felt important, and loved. So this was the life of an owned toy... It felt so wondrous and bright. I loved this feeling.

As I experienced joy and pain through the years with my Blossom, I found my name stemmed from that of a Greek mathematician. How absurd, to give a bear with my vast vocabulary a name for that of a math-minded fellow? Alas, I wouldn't change it, now. Blossom had christened me such and such I would be; though more often she called me Py.

I also found that most of her emotional ailments were caused by boys. Vile, really. That such creatures could harm my Blossom. But then, I could not prevent it. Only placate her when they had done their worst.

The first event transpired in the third grade. Blossom had made special valentines, that is cards to profess the emotional level on which she saw her peers, for each boy and girl. She'd left so happy and bright eyed that day, her smile a radiant beam. Sadly, the euphoric glow had dwindled to nothing when she returned, throwing her possessions and procured valentines on the floor. She roughly snatched me up and squeezed my neck, her cheeks red with anger and embarrassment. Finally, she broke down in tears, hugging me close and apologizing profusely. Her sisters wandered in, looking quite melancholy and concerned.

"Blossom, he didn't mean it..." Buttercup, better known to all as BC, said softly.

"Yes he did. He doesn't like me! He thinks I'm bossy, and prissy, and cold!" she lamented into my chest.

"Darius doesn't know you! That loser just listens to whatever the other guys say." Bubbles refuted.

"Still... I don't think I'll ever love again." Blossom mumbled.

Her sisters tried to console her, but it was futile. Instead, they left her in peace, solemnly leaving. Blossom sat there, hugging me to her chest. Her sobs and mutterings cutting me to shreds.

Finally, her crying led to the inevitable: sleep. Her soft snoring and eventual tumble to her side left me staring at the window.

I watched the day turn to dusk, her sisters going in and out as they pleased. Blossom did not stir quite as yet.

As the stars began to decorate the sky, a lone figure hovered outside the window. Blood red eyes and fiery red hair were the only features I could make out.

As he entered the room, I fretted over Blossom's helpless state. I could not alert her to any of the danger he would wrought, nor chase him from her chambers.

He hovered there, next to her bed in the darkness. His eyes drifted down her sleeping form then locked onto me. I wanted to gulp, but I had no throat or saliva.

Instead of attacking, however, the boy stuck a valentine card to my head, and some wilting flowers in my red bow, which was tied around my neck. Another glance at Blossom, and he flew off. I watched the sky, hoping for something else to occur, to stir her from her slumber.

Suddenly, the Hotline phone rang. Blossom groggily awakened, floating over to answer. As she listened to the speaker on the other end, she frowned.

"Girls!" she called.

Bubbles and BC arrived in seconds. "What is it?"

"Princess is attacking, dropping lace, red paint and pink glitter on the skylines and apartment buildings. The glitter is blinding the pilot of the plane of Jock Brawn, the mayor's favorite athlete whose flying in to take Miss Bellum to dinner." reported Blossom.

BUbbles gasped. "How dare she use glitter for evil?"

"I dunno; glitter was pretty evil before Princess touched it. Let's go save that hunk of man!" BC declared racing off, trailing her neon green streak.

"I want to see the lace!" Bubbles cried, bordering BC's streak with her own bright baby blue one.

Blossom followed them without a comment, her light pink streak completing the trilogy of departure.

Two hours later, they returned, smattered with glitter, red paint and had bits of lace sticking their clothes.

Blossom claimed the shower first, and Bubbles left with her cache of bath supplied for another location. BC simply left.

Ten minutes later, Blossom emerged, dressed for bed. She had toweled her hair dry, and was twisting the auburn locks into a pink towel to sap more moisture.

She finally looked to me, and gasped. She plucked the flowers from my ribbon and the rectangle card from my head.

The flowers looked like a mixture of weeds, dandelion, and lilies. The lilies looked as if they had once been white and radiant, but looked brown and suffering.

The card was crude, handmade and decorated with an assortment of stickers, red heart drawings and the words "Awesome Blossom" in bad handwriting on the front.

I was sure she would hate it, it was a poor attempt at best. Even no present, I thought, was better than that- that crass and unoriginal attempt at a valentine.

Alas, she swooned. She smiled brightly, elated with the card and flowers. She ran out to show her sisters, leaving me seated on the bed, once again.

For two weeks, she tried to deduce the identity of her secret valentine. Some days she was optimistic, and happy. Others bordered on depression. And then came the days she hated everything and blasted her foes with laser beams.

But for all these days, she ignored me. Finally, she stopped. She came home, sat next to me for a moment or two, then clutched me tight and whispered she was through searching.

Yes, back then I had already formulated my philosophy: Boys around my Blossom are evil. And none are worth her tears.

This philosophy was often tested many times when she entered the second level of education: middle school.

She and her sisters were exceptionally popular with boys, often being courted and cooed at. For their eleventh birthday, they received separate rooms, an escalation of their separate beds from second grade on. My side was now bear of Octi, the purple octopus toy Bubbles adored.

At one point, I did see Octi, and that was when Bubbles asked for assistance in breaking reliance on him.

For a gruesome three days, we sat in companionable silence listening as his owner whimpered herself to sleep. Finally, in the middle of the night, as Bubbles slept- and cried- fitfully, Blossom returned Octi to his rightful place in her sister's arms.

Then came the eighth grade promenade. A night of dancing and wonder for the girls. Well, at least it should have been.

Blossom, it turns out, had been chosen as the object of pranking among the boys. She'd been invited by Trevor Hudson, who she had frequently extoled as the hottest guy in school. She had sat in her room, waiting for him to pick her up, her hope giving color to her cheeks.

Her blush pink dress which she had painfully chosen, went to waste and after an hour, she changed to rolled up sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Her enthusiasm was gone, lost in the void blank look of a woman scorned. She called to the her father, the man in the lab coat, that she would be on patrol, tucking her hair under a blush pink baseball cap.

And then she was gone.

Her sisters returned an hour after departure, worried and frantic to find her. It seems that after Trevor arrived without Blossom on his arm, instead taking a girl pleasantly named Berserk instead, they had ditched the dance to comfort her.

Blossom came back minutes later, less bloodthirsty, her hat strewn sideways and her sweatpants a bit frayed. She looked surprised to see her sisters home, but they embraced all the same. They agreed instead, to go to the Townsville Fair.

"Its way more fun than a crummy dance," BC decided.

"Plus, all the cute plushies we can win!" Bubbles exclaimed.

They all changed, Bubbles into white shorts and a baby blue tank top, BC in black jeans and a green t shirt, and Blossom into a jean skirt and a red quarter sleeve shirt. Before they left, however, three boys showed up.

The trio float into the windows, dressed in jeans and button up shirts. The blonde nervously eyed Bubbles, and the raven haired boy exchanged banter with BC. Blossom simply slipped her wallet into the back pocket of her skirt and waited for her sisters to stop. It was only when the fiery haired boy, who looked eerily familiar to me, grabbed her arm that she spoke.

"Hold your horses, Pinkie. Why weren't you at the dance?" he demanded.

Blossom wrenched her arm away and seethed. "Well, if you must know, Brick, your amazing kind friend Trevor invited me."

"And you didn't wanna go with Terrific Trevor?" sneered the redhead known as Brick.

"He never showed up to come and get me." confided Blossom.

"Instead, he took your girlfriend Berserk." BC explained. "Now get lost! We have a fairground to cover in four hours."

Brick looked quite perplexed by Blossom's story. He motioned to his brothers, who all nodded in agreement.

"Let's make this interesting. Who can ride the most rides? Winning team gets to chose a prize off the losers." Brick wagered.

"Why should we?" Bubbles frowned.

"Think of it as a peace treaty sort of thing. I just got out of juvie today; I have no plans to go back." Brick replied. "How about it, Pinkie? Think you can beat the Brick Master?"

Blossom's eyes glared bright pink. "I know I can. C'mon girls!"

Hours later they returned, the girls victorious. They held prizes galore, their arms full of a cache of toys and baubles. Blossom had returned to high spirits, gloating at the boy, Brick.

She circled him lazily in flight, her tone eons from the sad and melancholy voice she'd used before.

"Alright, alright, now choose your prize, girlies." the raven haired boy snapped, sulkily.

He and the blond seemed discontent with their losing, but Brick seemed as happy as Blossom.

The girls conversed in secret huddle, before agreeing to something. "Close your eyes."

"Why the hell should we?" the raven haired boy demanded.

"Now, Butch, a loser shouldn't question the actions of a winner..." BC taunted smugly.

Grudgingly, they complied. The blond tried to peek.

"No peeking, Boomer." Bubbles warned, giggling.

Boomer closed his eyes again, his face as nervous as the rest. The girls moved quickly, each to their counterpart.

BC kissed Butch on the cheek. Bubbles kissed Boomer on the lips. Blossom kissed Brick on the cheek, and stole his hat.

"What the hell?"

"Do it again!"

"My hat!"

The boys were confused, as was I. Blossom placed the hat on her head. "You never said te prize had to be won at the fair." she pointed out.

"Touché, Pinkie. Fine, keep it. But take good care of it. I may steal it again." Brick threatened.

He and I both knew he was lying. He radiated happiness from her kiss, although his face was a mask of grudging compliance.

"Bye, boys..." Bubbles giggled, wiggling fingers at Boomer. She held a stuffed bunny plushie as her prize.

The trio of boys left, Butch rather stunned by BC's stolen prize. She then proceeded to show him what she stole from his pocket: a laser green pen.

I slept with Blossom that night, pondering her fascination with the boy's hat. I had the strange feeling that would not be the last time Brick came here. And that it also hadn't been the first.

I was correct, to my superb displeasure. She began to date the red haired mongrel, and was always happy with him.

And why not, I was forced to see. For he could comfort her, hug her, hold her the way I longed to. He was real, able to move independently, sympathize, protect and love her as I desired to. He could be with her in all the human ways that mattered. And she could love him the same.

He was flesh and muscle, skin and emotion. A physical manifestation of my failure. A worthy candidate for her love...

I was...obsolete now... Simply a childhood toy used to decorate her bedding, then pushed to the side when night fell.

And then, one day, I ended up on the floor. Then I was swept under her bed, and never spoken of again. For two years, the dust bunnies were my only friends, but even they left me on cleaning day... I resigned myself to being forgotten. Already, my name was erased from memories, I was sure.

One day, a commotion perked my ears. I waited to see what would occur.

The bed was hefted up by and older version of Bubbles. Her blond hair hung in beach waves, streaked with highlights. She frowned at me, quite...confused to see me. She nipped my ear and held me up in the light.

"Hey, Blossom! Where do you want this?" she asked.

I saw myself in the mirror, and was disgusted with myself. My once soft and brown fur was dirtied, full of dust, filth and grime. I was unrecognizable.

An older BC zipped in. "Toss it; that's one huge dust bunny."

"Ew!" She flung me away from herself.

I was caught in warm arms. "Stop that; this is Py."

Blossom's voice was clear and strong, and she brushed some dust from my face.

"That's got me questioning your baking skills." an older Brick laughed.

"Shut up! This is Pythagoras, my bear."

Her bear. A bittersweet title... I wanted to cry as she took me downstairs and hand washed me gently, wringing me out until the water was murky with the dirt. She put me into the dryer, and I was spun around until my body was relatively dry.

"You almost look like yourself." she smiled.

Now I could clearly see her. Her hair had been contained in a ponytail, but was much shorter than before. Her eyes held a wealth of intelligence in them that she had developed in two years. Her ears were pierced a few times. She looked happy, relieved to see me even.

She kissed my cheek and cuddled me. I felt warmth seeping into my stuffing. I saw Brick appear on the steps. "Are you done cheating on me with the bear?" he teased.

Blossom turned to stick her tongue at him. "Jealous?"

"A little."

"But I love my boys: both stuffed and buff." Blossom kissed my nose.

"Where's my kiss?" complained Brick.

"Somewhere..."

And so they bantered, my Blossom and her Brick. And I watched, overjoyed to be back with her again.

Time marched on, and life continued. Blossom graduated from college, co-valedictorian with Brick.

She went on to work in the finest lab in the world in Japan.

I followed, and had a permanent seat on her bedside table. I was always well cared for, and she never forgot to kiss me at least once a day.

Brick treated me alright as well, and I grew to like him.

Then one day, they placed me in a box, and for months, I saw nothing. When the sound of wrappings being torn off and my box lurched assailed me, I thought I had gone back in time.

A girl who looked perhaps five, stared down at me in awe. She picked me up and spun me around floating in the air. Her eyes were scarlet, but her hair was the auburn shade of Blossom's own. "Can I really have him, mommy?" she exclaimed.

"Sure, Bly." Blossom said from her perch on the couch. "Your grandpa gave him to me when I was five, I thought you should have one too."

She had longer hair now, and the glow of motherhood hadn't left at all. She had saved me for her own daughter, I realized. And Blossom was no longer my girl. This girl- Bly- she was my girl, now.

"I'll call him Socrates. Sock for short. What did you call him, mommy?" Bly demanded avidly.

"Py; I called him Py."

"First, Py, now Sock. You're a very silly bear." Bly giggled.

"Now go wash up! Your cousins will be here to take us to dinner soon. And your dad has a big surprise for you, too."

"Okay!"

She tucked me under her arm and flew up to the bathroom.

XXXX

AK: Sweet, isn't it? I know. R&R, please!