It was a sunny day in Ooo , the day was abit past noon .

Marceline is in the Candy Kingdom's castle , in the kitchen , sitting on a table in the middle of the room . She's in her seven years old form just for fun today .

No one else was around , the kitchen quiet and dipped in the warm sunlight that escapes through the open window . The day is warm .

Her hand is slicing the skin of some apples with a knife . And to finish off each one , she cuts them into bite size fruits and places them onto a plate . Sometimes escapes her lips a cheery tune and she sways her legs back and forth .

Outside the kitchen , in the main hall of the castle , the sound of two people having an argument . The main hall wasn't near , but vampire ears can easily pick up the loud discussion from miles away .

". . . I can't seem to see why you're not getting this , Finn ." That pitchy high angry voice clearly belongs to Princess Bubblegum .

" I don't understand , i did what i was suppose to do , right ? " The second voice , hopeless and desperate but sincere , none other than Finn the Human .

" But you weren't there last night . And besides , the creature you brought back to me doesn't even have the exact size i requested !"

" Look , i'm sorry but it wasn't exactly easy to measure them , the rascals didn't stop running away and they bit me whenever i pick them up !"

" Unecceptable excuses won't cut it Finn , a mission done wrong is a mission done wrong . And you weren't even at the banquet last night ! I told you you were the guest of honor ."

" Yeah but , there were villagers in dangered of getting killed by ogres and Princess Hotdog was having trouble with the Ice King and Flame Princess wanted to see m- "

" Enough with excuses , Finn , you failed my mission ." Turning around and walking away , the princess didn't forget to add :

" Therefore you will not be attending the Candy Kingdom party tomorrow "

"But- "

" Good day ." and the Princess left . Leaving behind a-lost-for-words and heavy-hearted boy all by himself .

The kitchen door was slammed close and Bubblegum let out a deep , long sigh . Turning herself around , she was startled by the present of a now young vampire , assuming that she was all alone .

There Marceline was , sitting on the edge of the table . She hadn't stopped cutting and slicing throughout the entire argument .

Marceline remained on the dark half of the room , but somehow her red pupils still reflected some of the sunlight . The color glistened and seemed grim but if you really look at them , you can tell they feel warm .

Her head had never turned up since the princess barged in .

" Hmm.." Bubblegum starts off . A slice of red fruit's skin dropped to the ground .

" What are you doing ?" She said , only intented to stir up a conversation and hoping to brush off an embarressing argument that just happened .

" What does it seems like i'm doing ? " . Marceline's voice all calm and quiet , so was her expression .

" How long have you been here exactly ?" Cold beads of sweat slowly following down the curves of her neck .

" Quite awhile ". The knife still moving .

" And did you heard my ... earlier discussion ?" She asked , the princess felt her lips dry .

" Maybe ." An awkward silence .

With a sigh , the princess finally gave in . Whatever , Marceline was never that much of a stranger anyway .

Surrendering , Bubblegum wandered over to the table . She grapped a chair and whirled it about , placing next to Marceline , she sat down on one side to face the vampire . Her arm rested onto the edge of the table and she leaned her head against it .

Comfortably seated , the princess let go of all the awkwardness and all sense of courteous that was present around the Candy People .

She forgets for a moment her responsibities and her important role in the Kingdom .

Now , she is just Bonnibel Bubblegum and she is with a friend . Bubblegum relaxes and closes her eyes and drifted off .

When she opened her eyes , Marceline was still there .

She eyed the motions of the vampire's hands . Clumsy , very clumsy , as though you're holding a knife for the very first time .

The slices uneven and the knife moving awkwardly , unnaturally . Then the tip of the sharp metal slips past the smooth surface of the fruit and jabbed into her thumb .

" Ouch ." The vampire mutters whislt looking at the wound .

" Do you need some bandages ?" . Bubblegum says with concern .

" Nah ." Then she refocuses her task . Bubblegum examined the wound , the cut was bleeding alot and it ran all the way across her finger .

" You sure?"

" Yeah ," she says . " It will heal in no time ."

Gosh , with the vampire's knife skill , no wonder she hadn't finish yet .

" How was your week ?" With eyes fixed down at the fruit , Marceline asks .

" The usual routine with the usual load of work ."

" Careful , if you work too hard ," she says ." you might get stressed out ." Bubblegum watches how she fidgets with the knife . The slow and awkward movement starting to frustrates the princess .

" Have you even been sleeping , Bonnie ? "

True , you've been doing alot of work . True , you were even abit sleep deprived , with dark circles forming below your eyes .

" It's not like i could do something about it , i have alot of responsibilities , you know ."

And that was also true , you like looking after and being there for your beloved citicents . So , you never complain . You're a princess afterall .

" I haven't visit the castle for like . . . weeks now , right ? I should probably come around more often , it's nice here . But might be not fun enough to have a long stay ."

Marceline was more than right , you get caught up in work so the days moved along fast . As for your friends , they stop by the castle from time to time . But they never stay for too long .

And at the end of the day , you would still end up alone . All by yourself in this huge and lonely castle .

You gave out a sigh , thinking how the days never change and how you were never reconized by something other than a princess , how it's just as stale and boring as Marceline describes , how you're just as boring .

" Well , that seems reasonable , since i'm just as interesting as this castle will ever be ."

" What ?" One of her eyebrows raised suddenly .

" Nah , Bubblegum , you're tons of fun , it's just sucks having to wait for when you're not busy and not caught up with princess duites and all . Sometimes , you'd wait for days but princess Bubblegum just isn't available . But . . . you're free now , right ?"

" Yeah , i got time ."

" Cool , cuz it would suck not spending time with that nerdy face of yours ."

You're touched , unexpected , but truly touched , because no one has ever said that to you before . No one has ever told you that they would miss you and they would want to spend more time with you .

" Aren't you starting to get abit feisty too?"

" About my earlier discussion with Finn ? "

" Yeah , what else ? "

" That was strictly between me and him , Marceline . He failed my mission and he wasn't even at one of my banquet the other day ."

" Hmm ." was all the vampire gives .

" What ? "

" Oh , you're asking for my opinion now ? That's a shocker ."

You gave out a light chuckle , but still says :" What now , i know you have something to say , so out with it then ."

" What is Finn to you , Princess ?"

Surprise by the sudden inquiry about the young human , you paused abit , but then decided to answer anyway :" He's my knight , and a very good friend of mine , . . . he's my hero ."

" Finn gets so much credit ." The hint of irony clear in the vampire's remark , she also laughed abit .

" Why do you ask ?"

" Just give me aminute , Bonnie ."

Then your name escaped her tongue , it's your name , everyone uses it all the time , but somehow when it was spoken by your fellow vampire friend , it seems to drew you both much closer , and that made your chest jump alittle .

Marceline pulled her eyebrows together as she focuses on slicing that stubborn apple . Then as the knife ruffly skits across the fruit and the skin was finally cut off . She sighed and continued :

" Do you ever get lonely , Princess ?"

Again , surprised by the unexpected question . Then you anwered calmly : " No ."

One of her eyebrows started pulling up at the responce .

" Well , what i'm trying to say . . . is that sometimes , when people aren't so busy as you are , they might get the feeling that like they're the only people that's around , the only people in this world . And with absolutely no one around , no voice , no life , the feeling starts to crawl deeper inside . It makes you feel empty , with nothing else besides your very own thought , and sometimes your very own sorrow . It makes you yearn for the warmth of another and that feeling of secure in another's voice once . And sometimes when you don't get it , maybe you couldn't , things starts to get abit darker . . ."

A silent . Then she starts again :

" And i should know , . . . because i'm , one of them ."

Gently she puts down the knife , and that sparks up a realization : Vampire eats the color red , if she peeled all the color away , then she wouldn't be able to-

Marceline jumped off the edge of the table before you had a chance to finish your train of thought .

" I didn't quite get what you're trying to say , but why did you - "

" Bonnie , thanks for spending time with me today . And , as for what i was saying , forget it , just rambling on about myself , i guess ."

Then her eyes met yours unexpectantly . And in her gaze , you see warmth , and you see honesty and sincerity . Suddenly the room wasn't so dark anymore . . .

" Be nice to Finn , okay ? The guy's trying his best to help out , but geez , he's not your servant or butler , Bonnie ."

" But what about the fruits ?" You asked as your fingers pointed to where the bowl of fresh , sliced apples are .

Suddenly , out of nowhere , in the vast of her red pupils , a flood the shade of gold dips over the red . Making it's color now yellow , and it sparkled and glistened like stars almost , but brighter . The curve of her lips made the warmest smile the princess has ever received . She mutters :

" A gift . For a friend ."

And just as quick as how the conversation started out , the child-size vampire strides out of the room , barefooted , now that the princess notices .

She was then left alone in the kitchen , muching apples slowly . Her mind still lost in what her friend had said . And in her chest , she felt as though there was something she needed to know , to find out .

But the princess herself too confused to realize . . .