Bubbles was happy. Lulu was doing a lot better now that she wasn’t all cut up and sad. She seemed to be in a much better mood also. She was talking and jumping on people and doing things she probably would have to be told not to do, but Bubbles was having a difficult time being the stern parent of their new furbaby. She was just so cute that Bubbles couldn’t handle it. At the moment, however, Lulu was doing what Lulu seemed to do best, trying to turn her leash into a chew toy.

“I swear, she doesn’t know the meaning of not turning everything into a toy.” But she sounded more fond of this fact than exasperated. This was only added to by the fact that Bubbles played back. “She’s pretty much the cutest thing that I’ve ever dealt with.”

Blossom didn’t doubt that some love and care and Bubbles could turn any sad little puppy into a happy little puppy in no time, and if Lulu had been mistreated before, she was never going to have that fear ever again, not with Bubbles, and Stefan, Blossom was sure.

But Lulu was really adorable, and she was perfect for Bubbles really. “But toys are fun,” and playing seemed to be what Lulu was born to do, “She’s the most adorable puppy I’ve ever seen, it’s true.” And they’d seen plenty of puppies by now. “Have you told Dad you have a puppy that’s living at your boyfriends house?”

Despite having lost her family in the woods to a coyote and being hurt, Lulu was definitely doing so much better. Bubbles was glad to see it. She’d taken her to see the vet at the place where she worked because she knew the people at work so well and they cleaned her up and gave her shots she was going to need. It was a miracle the poor thing wasn’t more sick than she had been. Really, Bubbles was happy for it.

“Toys are fun,” Bubbles agreed.” And so were puppies. “No,” she said quietly. “I mean, I guess he couldn’t really take a puppy away if I wasn’t housing it at the house, but...I haven’t told him about it yet.”

If there was one person in the whole world who was meant to be a pet owner, especially to a sweet little puppy, it was Bubbles. There were people persons, and then there were people like Bubbles, who were animal people to the core. And Lulu seemed the perfect dog for Bubbles.

It made sense to stall on telling their dad about things, it wasn’t utterly against animals, but he’d been fairly stubborn on the no dogs, no cats thing. “Pretty sure I could help you out there, I mean, softening the blow and all.” Because Blossom was contemplating the option where she could get free housing on campus next year if she opted to be a TA. “I think if you tell Dad about the dog, and then I drop my news, he’ll definitely be very accepting of Lulu staying with you sometimes if you wanted.”

Bubbles tilted her head to the side when she looked at Blossom. “What are you talking about?” Had she mentioned something to her that she’d forgotten or not listened to? What news did she have that would soften the blow of having a puppy that she hadn’t told him about? Lulu made a small whining noise and Bubbles looked down, petting her briefly before assuring her that everything was fine. “Lulu was wondering if something was wrong because I had a funny face.” She thought it was funny how much attention puppies could be. Even if some of the time, they did sort of get overly excitable.

“Well, I mean I have something to figure out, and I’m looking into it, and it might be a big change.” There was a lot of mystery there, and Blossom didn’t mean to beat around the bush, or worry Lulu because Bubbles had her pondering face on.

“Professor Constantine asked me if I’d thought about being a TA, and it hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but the more I think about it, the better I think I’d be at it.” And Professor Constantine wasn’t the sort that liked to do the planning and tedious stuff, Blossom had no problem with the organising of things, she liked to do it, it was calming for her. “But it includes on campus accommodation for free. And I think I’d take it.” It was a huge step, and a big change, and might soften the blow of Bubbles having a puppy.

Bubbles couldn’t help but stare at her sister for a moment. Move out?! They’d never talked about this before. It had been them always and forever. She wanted to be excited about it because it was a big deal for her sister. It meant something amazing. But she couldn't help but feel like she was being left behind.

A pout formed after that and she looked down at her shoes. “You're leaving?” Her voice was quiet and lacked the general bubbly excitement it usually held. She really really wanted to be happy. It just made her sad. Would Buttercup leave too? Would they all leave? She didn't really have anywhere else to go unless it was with Stefan and she hadn't actually considered it. Maybe it was just proof that she wasn't really as grown up as she thought she might be. Maybe it just seemed scary.

Actually the idea was terrifying. Out in the world without her sisters to fall back on. She always knew where to find them now? What if that changed? What if everything changed?

But this wasn't about her. It was about Blossom. It was about something that would make Blossom happy. So she shook her head and moved to hug her sister. She could be happy for this. She just had to try harder.

“Not leaving leaving.” Blossom had known that Bubbles would probably be a little iffy on this, more so than Buttercup in ways, and at least Buttercup would just state it if she didn’t like it, but Blossom didn’t like being the reason for that pout. “I’m just moving to campus, and I’d still be around all time. And you could come and stay in my dorm too.” It’d be a squeeze, but Blossom would make a sleep-over work.

“And it’s just until I graduate, so there’s no guarantee it’ll be forever either.” Although Blossom knew that eventually it would come to that, they’d slowly but surely move out on their own, and while their Dad would probably have a few small moments of empty nesting, she was sure that the big change would affect Bubbles the hardest, until she got to the point where she was secure enough knowing the Blossom and Buttercup would always be there for her even if they didn’t live together.

Bubbles was probably going to find herself at Blossom’s dorm more often than she probably needed to be...as long as Blossom didn’t tell her no. That would be so sad, though. So sad. And she’d probably cry. A lot. Blossom would definitely feel bad about it. Not that she’d cry just to get Blossom to let her come over. Maybe.

Okay, maybe she would, but she would try to understand if Blossom wanted to have someone else over instead. She owed her sister that much. “I’m going to come over all the time and latch onto you and you’re going to have to deal with it until I stop feeling sad.”

Bubbles hated the idea of them being apart forever, but she guessed it would be weird if they stayed together forever. She wasn’t sure if Stefan or Tyler would really want to do the whole living together thing. She was pretty sure no one really wanted to do the whole living together for life thing. It made her pout again, but she just kept hugging her sister instead. “I already miss you.”

Blossom just gave a small smile, wrapping her arms around Bubbles to give her a hug, not worrying about when the other girl might be ready to let go, “You can come over any time you want, and we can talk about boys and watch movies, I’ll keep lots of sweeties and popcorn, okay?” Things were going to change, Blossom knew that much, but it didn’t mean they’d change in bad ways.

Soon, Bubbles would be looking to start her own life for real, like serious commitment levels with Stefan, or even just having her own space for a while. It might not be right now, but Blossom knew Bubbles would get there. Change was just big and scary and Bubbles liked not having to face scary things by herself.

“And now, we’re all getting to our superpowers,” Blossom still didn’t have her strength, but that was okay just now, she knew it would come soon, “we can fly to each other quicker than a flash.” She might be looking to move out, gain a little independence, but she had no plans on abandoning either of her sisters or her dad. “And I’m sure I’ll be home for dinner a whole lot!”

Bubbles really was in no place to go letting go at this point. She probably could have, but she didn’t want to. She just wanted to stay there. Lulu was pulling at her leash, but it wasn’t anything that warranted any real concern. The leash was around her wrist and her arms were around Blossom. It was going to be fine. “Yay! Sweeties and popcorn!” she almost let go of the hug to clap her hands, but reconsidered.

“Can you fly, too? I haven’t gotten that one yet.” She pouted a little at that. She wanted to be able to fly. She could talk to animals and shoot lasers from her eyes, but she could not do flying. Buttercup could do the flying thing, though! Maybe she’d get there soon.

Sweet little Bubbles, Blossom was sure that even when Bubbles was all grown up and adult, Blossom would still be trying to protect her from anything. It was what big sisters did, right? She just gave Bubbles a little squeeze, not needing to worry about super strength like either of her sisters right then. “Sweeties and popcorn and all the best treats.”

It wasn’t like this was going to happen overnight either, it wouldn’t be happening until the following semester, and only if she passed the application and training, which was highly likely, since Blossom was an eternal perfectionist in her studies. “I can fly, yes. But I can’t super punch like you or Buttercup yet.” Eventually she knew she would, but not just yet. “And by the time I’m maybe moving you, I bet you’ll be flying too. It’ll be a couple of months away.”

“I have so many other things I could get that aren’t flying, though.” She pouted at that. “But hopefully they won’t be as dangerous as laserbeam eyes. Those are dangerous. Don’t squint too hard or you’ll explode things accidentally. WITH YOUR EYES!” Because so many trees had suffered because of her. Cindy had been very nice and hadn’t freaked out about the whole thing. She’d been glad for that. “And super punching is also sort of dangerous because you forget that you have super punching powers in the beginning and break your door and various other things. Luckily Stefan is suuuuper durable.”

She hoped that she’d get flying before anything else, though. She could speak to animals, had super strength, and laserbeam eyes. She just wanted to be able to fly! “Do you think Dad will be SO SURPRISED that having a dog won’t seem so surprising?”

Blossom just laughed warmly at Bubbles, wrapping an arm around her and starting their walk again, letting Lulu carry on inspecting things as she went. “The laserbeams took a lot to get used to, right?” Although they were exceptionally useful when things randomly happened in the county, since so much did tend to happen. “It’s good that Stefan is pretty sturdy as far as things go, you won’t accidentally break his hand just holding it.”

And Blossom was a little worried about that happening with Tyler, since he wasn’t a werewolf anymore and had returned to normal human strength. She was happy for him, obviously, because he was happy about it. But she still worried. “We could absolutely do that. Tell him we can shoot laserbeams out of our eyes, I’m going to be moving out, and you just happen to have a dog. I think the dog will be the least mindblowing of those.”

Although it might affect their poor dad’s blood pressure.