Starting New: A World Apart

Chapter 7: The Return

5 years. It had been almost 5 years... 4 years, 287 days to be exact. Nicole counted. That is how long it had been since the fire. That's how long it's been since she had lost Gumball. She was a changed woman now. She had grown stronger then she had imagined she would. The first year...god Nicole hated it. That night...that dreadful night when she thought of plunging that knife deep into herself. It had changed her. She remembered several days after that, she started cutting her arms. The pain of losing someone so close to her was taking its toll...

This continued for months. She slept little. She felt worthless. She had reached the lowest point in her life. Nicole knew she needed to change. After cutting too deep in her arm one night and blacking out from it, she knew she went too far. That was the last time she would purposely cut herself. She was done. She needed to be strong. Her family may have been gone...but she must carry on. In honor of them. Especially Gumball...

Ever since then, Nicole had focused on herself entirely. She started exercising. She started eating. Before then, she was nearly skin and bones. Why eat when nothing mattered? She started doing her yoga, then returned back to her childhood activity of doing Karate. Over the years, she noticed a few things had changed. Her muscles were now quite large; especially her thighs. Her abs was ripped, something she was proud of achieving, along with the flexibility of her younger self surprisingly.

She had barely left her neighborhood since the fire. Everything she needed was right here. Her home, the food, and the peace of mind. What more could she ask for? Nicole breathed heavily after having done her karate exercises for the day. She wiped her forehead and made her way inside the house and into the kitchen for some water. She chugged a glass before heading upstairs. She needed a shower.

The warm water washed down her now tired form as she breathed a sigh of relief. Today was a good day. She accomplished everything she had scheduled for herself.

'I think I'll start a garden tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't rain. Or if it does, at least be after I plowed the soil...'

Sure Nicole had all the fresh fruits and vegetables gifted to her by the "magical fridge", but she thought it would be something fun to help pass the time; not to mention be rewarded by it in due time. Nicole shut off the water and started to dry herself off. She would start first thing in the morning.

She walked into her room, and placed her sweaty workout clothes into her closet, before shutting it, and reopening it to find the same pair all fresh and clean; neatly folded next her other clothes. No matter how many times she witnessed this, she felt SO happy to see it. Oh how she wished she could have had this in her old home. Her...old home...

Nicole silenced her mind quickly. She knew that feeling. Luckily for her, after enough meditation and self control, she had learned to stop these thoughts in their tracks with rapid succession. This was one part of her that made her stronger than her past self. Not only was she strong physically now, but mentally too. Nicole shut her closet again and dropped her bath towel to the side of the bed and climbed in. It was now time to rest. She would wake up first thing in the morning...

The night came fast for the tired blue cat as she slept soundly in her bed. Well, that was until she heard a very loud and eerie sound...

Nicole shot up in her bed and looked towards the window. That sound she just heard was deafening!

'What on Earth could have made that sound?'

She got up out of her bed and made her way over to the window and looked out. As she gazed outwards towards the park trees, she saw a greenish blue color emitting from deep within the vegetation. This sent her mind into a mini frenzy. This was very unusual. Even for this places' standards. Nicole rushed over towards her closet and put on some normal clothes before heading downstairs. She wanted to go see what was emitting that glow. Something inside her was telling her to do so. She didn't know why, but she went with it.

Nicole made her way outside and onto the pavement, walking hastily towards the green grass not to far away. As she was about to step onto the grass now right in front of her, she stopped. She remembered her thoughts of this park when she and Gumball had left it in a confused and broken state. She basically swore to not go back here. It seemed to bring only painful memories to her. Surely she shouldn't go back right? But as Nicole looked over towards the now noticeably fainter light glowing not too far ahead, she knew she had to make a choice; either go and investigate, or be left in a deep state of curiosity. Nicole let out a defeated sigh. Curiosity was never a kind friend to a cat; especially Nicole, and she knew that. With a single cautious step forward, she placed her foot on the soft, green cut grass. She was now in the park. No turning back now.

As she made her way down the grass lawn and onto the gravel path, ever closer towards the light; she witnessed it continue to fade. It was now seeming to dim further with every minute that passed. Nicole picked up the pace. She wanted to reach whatever was giving off the strange aura of light before it completely fades and she couldn't find it again; especially surrounded by the pitch black shadows of the night.

Finally, just up ahead, she reached where she was heading to. Just beyond the bushes she saw the blue light. It appeared to be glowing liquid. It was scattered all about the place. She also saw lots of wooden debris everywhere. Nicole stepped closer to investigate. Cautiously, she stepped around a shattered tree limb and walked towards the center of the mess. In the middle of all this...was a crater. Nicole's heart started to race. She felt as though she wasn't ready to find what lied inside it. Swallowing her fear, she hesitantly took her final step forward to gaze down and see what had caused all this.

Nicole's breath stopped. Her body froze. She felt her body wanting to collapse on her, right then and there. In the center of the crater, covered in the glowing liquid...was her son.

Nicole felt her legs give in, and she fell to the dirt. She couldn't believe it. Nicole used her arms to drag her still limp body over towards the craters' edge. She peered down again onto Gumball below. He was still there. She wasn't imagining it. As she gazed closer, she could see he was curled up in the fetal position; she could also see he was...breathing! With this revelation, her eyes widened. With a mighty burst of energy, she rose to her feet, and climbed down to Gumball. She didn't care about the liquid that was getting on her skin as she now cradled Gumball in her arms.

"Gumball?" Nicole whispered softly.

No response. Nicole brought him closer to her and rested her head gently on his. She reached her arm over to his neck and checked his pulse. It was strong and steady. It was a miracle. Nicole felt tears fall from her face. Gumball was back. Her son that she loved with all her heart was back. She needed to get the both of them home. Exposing him to the elements in this state any longer was not a good plan. She gingerly picked him up in her arms and climbed out of the crater with him. Working out her arms turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Gumball was light as she carried him back towards home. As they made their way down the gravel path, Nicole looked down onto Gumball. He now was starting to stir in her grasp. She smiled. God she missed him. As she looked down further on him; something awkward occurred to her. Gumball was naked. In her heightened emotional state to care for Gumball, she seemed to have forgotten a rather important detail. No wonder he was stirring, he must be freezing. Nicole picked up the pace now. She needed to give him a warm bath pronto!

After reaching the house and bringing him upstairs, she placed him in the bathtub and turned on the warm water. She had noticed the liquid that was previously glowing was now a clear slime substance. As she grabbed a wash cloth and started cleaning Gumball off carefully, she saw him stir some more in the water, before opening his eyes slowly. His seemingly unfocused eyes eventually met his mother's gaze. With a coarse voice, he spoke.

"M-Mom?"

Nicole let go of her wash cloth and pulled her son into a warming embrace. Tears fell. This time from Gumball. She felt him weakly hug her back.

"Shhh, mommy's here. It's all right. Everything's going to be alright..."

And finally, for once in so many years...everything at that moment...was alright. Well, at least in Nicole's eyes...