The prince steepled his fingers and cast a wary glance around the area. Certainly no one would be awake at this hour, save for maybe old Miss Creampuff, or perhaps the forever enigmatic Peppermint Maid, but neither of them should give him any trouble, or worse, ask him any questions. Above all else, only discretion mattered for this mission. Discretion and timing.

He glanced again at his watch. It was time to leave.

With an audible gulp, he zipped up his jacket, laced up his boots, and set out under the soft cover of a magnificent and cloudless starry night.

Ease up now, Gumball, he told himself, straightening his spine as he walked. Keep a stiff upper crust. This is going to be no different than any other ambassadorial visit. The same as you've done for years upon years upon years. You're a pro, and there is absolutely nothing to fear at all about this.

...then why am I so terrified?

Off in the distance sang a chorus of frogs, one for each star in the sky by the sound of them. Fireflies flitted around, casting a strange dancing glow on the path at his feet. The air smelled of dewdrops. The whole spectacle felt like the first night of spring all over again.

He frowned at his watch and picked up the pace. Timing was critical, and if nothing else, he would absolutely not stand to jeopardize his pristine record of princely punctuality.

Only a mere two weeks had passed since the big, secret project had been completed. Two very radio-silent weeks, most of which Gumball had spent indoors or cautiously scanning the skies. Call it a habit or call it paranoia, but he was not about to be caught with his pants down in the event of a catastrophic Fionna failure.

But that's preposterous, he thought, shaking his head. Fionna very clearly insisted that she had everything under control. And when have I ever been failed with her on the case? She's always been my infallible champion. I have to trust her judgement!

He stopped and looked up toward his imminent destination, shimmering gently in the waning moonlight.

...somehow I can't find much comfort in that thought.

His attention was drawn away by the sound of something scuffling at his feet. He squinted to see a fat penguin falling all over itself as it half-waddled, half-rolled its way downhill toward him.

"Wenk," it said.

"Yes, yes, wenk to you too," the prince mumbled, waving the penguin away as he retrieved a flashlight from his backpack. The sky had brightened up during his walk, but only as far as a lighter shade of dark blue. The sun would be breaching the horizon soon...he might almost be late.

Flustered, he beamed his light over the vicinity, fallen snow gleaming back at him. Where was the entrance? Fionna had said it would be extremely obvious. Had the definition of "obvious" changed in the past two weeks?

He felt a tug on the leg of his pants, accompanied by another penguin grunt. He aimed the flashlight sharply down at the culprit and sighed dramatically. "I don't have any penguin munchies on hand. What do you want?"

The penguin blinked a few times in the spotlight, then squeaked and waddled off into the darkness, bumping into another penguin on the way. Gumball curiously traced his light behind them, and raised his eyebrows as snow gave way to ice, arranged in small rectangular slabs leading in an upward slant. Stairs. Ice stairs. These had most definitely not been here here before.

...obviously.

He gently placed a foot on the ice, arm immediately thrust out for balance, but to his surprise, he didn't slip. The ice was solid, and he might also have called it "dry" if his dedication to scientifically accurate terminology would have let him, and it proved no trouble at all to walk over. It was like walking on sheets of glass.

Impressed, Gumball began ascending the steps, taking hold of a freezing cold railing off to the side. The two penguins hopped up in tandem beside him, one step after another, soon joined by many others as they all climbed together.

The stairs wound around the sheer mountainside, carrying him up and around the steep peaks of the foremost mountains of the Ice Kingdom border. He anxiously glanced down at his watch again, then worry turned to smile as he confirmed that yes, he was, as he always was, right on time.

As he rose to the top of the grand crystal staircase, the first rays of daylight shot forth from over the horizon, lighting up the shadows to reveal a magnificent crystal castle towering before him. The walls of the castle were absolutely glittering, including the towers above and the parapets all around and the sharp crystal drawbridge in the front. Two massive gleaming fountains adorned either side of the snowy courtyard, both of them populated with bathing penguins. Those sudden shafts of sunlight were refracting off of every surface of snow and ice, producing tiny, sparkling halos of light in the air all around.

And when the drawbridge touched down before him, two figures appeared in the mouth of the castle. Their shadows dissolved in sparkles and rainbows as the two magnificent ladies stepped into the morning light, in their unrestricted, most regal glory.

"Hey Prince Gummybutt!" came the familiar voice of Fionna.

Gumball smiled and sheepishly waved back as Fionna and Ice Queen approached, seemingly in slow motion. He could see she had certainly undergone a number of radical physical changes, not the least of which was her pale blue skin and her massive, wavy hair. She was still dressed in a more casual two-piece outfit than the queen, though it still ran with fancy trim and puffy sleeves, and a pair of fuzzy climbing boots to complete the image. She hadn't gotten rid of her trademark bunny hat though, and the new tiara, a manufactured marvel of science and magic and magical science, sat calmly atop that.

All changes completely aside, she was still very much Fionna where it counted. And despite his instincts telling him to run away and hide from the approaching Ice Queen, he held fast to the comforting notion that as long as Fionna was still Fionna, everything would work out fine...

"Thank you for coming, Prince Gumball," Ice Queen said with some hesitation, reading his expression. "I know this must not have been an easy thing for you...but it does mean a lot to me that you came."

"Yes, well," he replied, diverting his nervousness by using large hand motions, "As an ambassador for my kingdom, and as a personal friend to your...ehm, co-ruler, I feel like this is a very important and promising gesture of goodwill for the future…".

"Oh come on and stop being all serious biz for a minute, would ya?" Fionna said, smacking him on the back. "Pop a seat and have some tea!"

"And Cake!" another familiar voice added, from beneath the table. Cake herself popped out from under it, stretching up and out to greet everyone, complete with plates of chocolate cake in either hand.

The prince chuckled and politely took a seat. That same inexplicable sense of confidence that only Fionna and Cake could inspire was hard at work again, and it quelled his anxieties with ease. Safety and serenity replaced fear and doubt, just as it always had whenever he had them around. Which reminded him…

"I have to say, Fionna, I can plainly see what a benevolent influence your presence has had on the Ice Queen," he said, gesturing to the benevolently influenced. "And while I'm pleased as pastries to see such progress, I do want ask…".

He paused to take a sip.

"...now that you also are an ice queen, who will I call when I need a hero?"

Fionna cocked her head, mouth full of cake and crumbs falling down the collar of her fancy shirt. "...whatchu talkin' 'bout, Gumbum?"

"I MEAN, now that you're living here with your girlfriend full-time, who will take over your role as the resident Hero, the Champion, the Defender of Justice, and whatever other titles people have given you over the years?"

"ME, silly!" she replied, knocking back the contents of her teacup as if it were a shot glass. "Who says I'm leavin' the Hero-ing business? It's not like me being an ice queen's gonna stop me from being a classy hero gal too! It just means now I get to save the day with cool ice powers on top!"

"...but...?"

Fionna slammed her palm on the table. "Look, the only butt around here is the snow butt we're gonna build after we've had our tea and cake! I've always been an adventurista in my heart and bones, and there ain't nothin' that's gonna change that course, got it?"

"You tell 'em, baby!" Cake joined in. "Besides, you still got me, I'm still gonna be around! I can be a hero too! Or did ya forget already?"

"Of course...who could ever forget you, Cake?" Gumball replied with a smile.

Cake half-smiled, then half-sighed, then side glanced over at Ice Queen. The queen met her eyes briefly, then looked at the ground in silence. Cake paused a moment longer, then shrugged. "Dang globbin' right!"

Satisfied, the prince again sipped his tea. "Well, hearing you say that certainly cools my cookies. Thank you, Fionna."

He turned to the queen and gave her a meaningful nod. "And thank YOU, Ice Queen. Er...FIRST Ice Queen, I mean. Both ice queens...ahm…".

"Hey, yeah," Fionna said, pointing a finger at the queen's nose. "There's two of us now, blubberbutt. You need a name. A normal name, I mean. Not just plain-jane-weathervane Ice Queen."

"Hmmm…" the queen mused. "You know, I did have another name, many many years ago, before this whole tiara affair was ever started. If memory serves - and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure it still does - I used to be called Sim-".

"Precious!" Fionna shouted triumphantly, snapping her fingers. "Your name's gonna be Precious from now on."

"Fionna…".

"Precious Butts," she said, rubbing her chin. "Yeah, that's perfect!"

Precious stared back at her, unimpressed. Fionna raised an eyebrow. Precious pursed her lips. Fionna stuck her tongue out.

"...well, what can I do about it anyway?" Precious shrugged, complete with an eye roll. "There's no victory in an argument with you!"

"Yer darn hootin'!" Fionna said proudly, taking a victorious mouthful of cake.

"Well alright then," Gumball announced, pushing his plate in and rising to his feet. "Fionna...ehm, Precious...I'd like to thank you for inviting me to this wonderful little get-together. I wish I had more time, but I'd best be on my way now, to resume my usual princely duties before any of my loyal citizens become suspicious of my absence."

There was a collective but understanding sigh among the group.

"...so perhaps we'd better hurry up if we're still going to sculpt that snow butt!"

"WOOO, atta boy, Princey!" Cake cheered, hopping up off her chair. "Let's get to it!"

As she and the prince trotted off toward the open courtyard, Fionna turned to her co-ruler and grinned. "Now see? I told ya things could work out much better if you just followed my advice!"

The queen sighed contentedly and smiled back. "I'll admit, your presence has really done wonders for my smile muscles."

"'Course it has, you absolute patoot," she replied, standing up to put an arm around her. "All you needed was an honest chance. Sometimes I think that's all anybody really needs...just to have someone around to help snap your life back into shape, reboot your brain, and just sorta be there to tell you that you're not totally bonkers."

The queen glanced up serenely into the sky for a moment, hair glistening softly in the sunrise, then glanced back down at Fionna. "...all I needed was someone like you."

Fionna met her gaze and then forced herself to turn away, cheeks flushed and smile uncontainable. "Yeah, well...I mean...what else are heroes for, right?"

She suddenly found herself looking again at the queen as she lifted Fionna's chin to face her. "Fionna, don't leave me hanging like that...".

She stared up into the queen's face, softer now than it had ever looked before. There was an indescribable newness to it now, a fresh and lively complexion full of promise and youth that Fionna had definitely never seen in her before. Her expression was sincere, her eyes earnest, and her lips eager…

She stood on tiptoe and pulled the queen in for a soft kiss. It didn't matter that her body had now been frozen inside out, that her brain was constantly humming with thoughts of winter, or that her very bones were now coated in frost. The queen's kiss still felt as electric today as it had the very first time. It filled her senses and floated her off the ground and lingered within her veins.

She finally pulled away, her breath steaming gently in the morning air. The queen smiled down at her, opened her mouth to add a comment, and decided it wasn't necessary. For some moments there are no words, for others they just aren't needed.

But they are needed to break the ice once the moment passes.

"Alright, Precious," Fionna said, taking in a deep breath. "Let's go touch that butt!"

"Right now? Fionna, it's probably good manners to at least wait until our guests have left...".

"You know what I mean, ya goober!" she laughed, pointing to Cake and Gumball's handiwork as she and the queen made their way over.

Every year, the cold, biting chill of winter slowly fades away to reveal the soft warmth of spring hiding beneath it. But no one can know with unwavering certainty the day it will come. For winter is tricky, and any perfect spring day can always be interrupted by an unexpected flurry of snow.