Oh my gosh, Bubbles thought…It can't be…

It was so tiny down below her, amongst the rocky soil. She almost missed it, and she was still high enough that she didn't fully trust her senses…after all, she knew it was impossible. Very slowly, she descended from the sky, until she was close enough to see that she wasn't mistaken. With greater speed, she covered the rest of the distance to the ground and landed.

She strode over to it, trembling a little in disbelief. Every leaf, every petal…she knew the shape by heart. Even though every one of her flowers were similar, they all carried subtle differences…and because of this, there was no mistaking this one, all alone out here in the field. She didn't know how, but it was really here.

Collapsing on the ground next to it, she hugged her arms tightly around the earth in which it was rooted, her tears falling and wetting the soil. "BULBA!!" she cried out in disbelief, "You're alive!!"

The small, white flower swayed gently in the breeze, almost in response. Its missing petals had grown back since the day it disappeared in the hurricane, well over a year ago. In fact, it was thriving out here in the rocky soil…it looked healthy as the day she had found it.

Bubbles started babbling excitedly, tears still filling her eyes, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it…I thought when you…and when you were blown away…I thought…oh my gosh, it's so good to see you again!" After only a moment's hesitation, she hugged the soil again and said, "Ohh, I missed you too, Bulba!"

She glanced back towards the ruins of Townsville, far off in the distance, and said, "You've got to meet the others!…Yes that's right, remember those seeds you gave me?…Yes! All of them! And they all gave seeds too! Can I dig you up? I promise I'll have you back in the ground again when we get there!…okay, hang on!"

Digging her hands into the ground, she carefully extracted Bulba from the soil. As she did, she was giddy with excitement. I can't believe it I can't believe it I can't believe it, she thought. We're together again! After all this time, we're together again! Cradling the flower carefully, she started flying back for the greenhouse, happier than she had been for a long time…

* * *

Bubbles dug a hole quickly in the soil as soon as she entered the greenhouse and planted Bulba near the others. Getting back up from the ground, she turned to look at the flowers and said, "Everyone, look who I found! It's your mommy—and grandmommy, for a lot of you—Bulba!" She giggled, "That's right! The one I've told you all about many times!"

She sat back and listened to them get acquainted, still in high spirits. This calls for a celebration, she thought, and quickly dug out a box from the stack of supplies nearby. Opening it, she pulled a handful of candy out and popped them one by one into her mouth. Closing the box, she laid down on her belly with her head propped on her arms, kicking her legs idly behind her as she enjoyed the taste of the candy and continued to listen to the discussion.

"No way!" Bubbles exclaimed. "When the wind died down, you landed there? How did you survive?" She grinned, "Even in that rocky soil, you took root…I've always known you were strong, Bulba. I knew you had grown up big and strong, and could handle anything." After a pause, she giggled again and said, "You think so? I guess I've grown a little. It's been two years since we first met…"

Swallowing the candy, she sighed happily and started to slide the box back into the stack of supplies. As she did, she took another small box out for a moment and looked at it…a wooden box, painted pink with a red heart set in the top, and a small combination lock on it.

"Hmm?" Bubbles said, looking back over at Bulba, then she explained, "Oh…this was something I found back at home. It belonged to Blossom. I never opened it, 'cause I don't know the combination…I still don't know what's inside it. Yes, I know, I could've just ripped it open, or used my x-ray vision, but…I dunno, it just seems more like it's still a part of Blossom this way, if I leave it undisturbed."

She set the box aside and laid down again, staring at it. "No, I really don't want to know, Bulba. I think if I ever found the combination or something, then I'd be meant to know. For now, it's just something to remember her by."

She looked back to Bulba again and said, "But c'mon, tell us! What have you been doing the past year? Weren't you lonely out there?" She and the other flowers listened intently to Bulba as the time passed, growing later into the day…

* * *

The following day, Bubbles was pouring over her books again. She should have been studying on her physics, but instead, she was going over a stack of other books, as she tried to solve another problem.

"All right," she said aloud to the flowers. "Bulba, you're not like any flower in the world. I already knew that, but it's even more so. You and your children are so tough. Between all of you, you've survived a machine that destroys all life, you've survived being ripped up from the ground by a hurricane, and you've survived both lack of sunlight and exposure to radiation. The question is, how in the world did you get like this?"

She closed the book she was reading and knelt down next to Bulba, asking, "Bulba…what's the earliest thing you can remember? Think as far back as you can…" She listened and nodded. "Okay, I remember finding you in that flowerbed, but can you remember anything else?" Another pause. "That's as far back as you can remember? That makes sense. So, what about your family there?"

Scratching her head curiously, Bubbles remarked, "So they weren't really your family, they just adopted you? You weren't like them at all, then…" No wonder they didn't survive also, she thought. Poor flowers. Well, Bulba certainly is one-of-a-kind, then. Hmm…this was in the park, maybe Mojo had something to do with it.

She glanced out of the greenhouse, towards the volcano mountain on the other side of the park. The observatory had already been in poor condition prior to the incident two years ago, but now it was almost totally demolished. Much of it had even fallen into the volcano itself, probably taking whatever secrets Mojo was hiding with it. Still, there might be something left, so she decided to take a look.

"Be right back," she said, leaving the greenhouse and heading for the remains of Mojo's hideout. It was precariously perched on the edge of the volcano, but was still pretty stable, not having moved much over the years. She decided to be careful and not actually land on it anyplace, in case her extra weight would cause it to topple over.

Carefully, she went through a collection of papers and equipment that were still intact. They were mostly weapon and robot designs, hardly anything of actual use to her. Plus, she didn't see hardly anything on biological research. Mojo was definitely more towards the engineering end of science. There was a little here and there, mostly failed research attempts to figure out ways to take her and her sisters' powers away.

A box full of videotapes intrigued her…they were each labeled and dated. There was also a small video camera in the box, modified so that it could hover instead of needing a tripod. She tested the power, and it still worked, although just barely…it would let her view the tapes back, so she popped one of the tapes in to check it out.

On the tape was a recording of Mojo standing there, doing a test of some laser rifle he designed. As he explained its operation to the camera, he turned and disintegrated a tree with it…then the weapon started to overheat, and he tossed it away before it exploded. Grumbling, Mojo returned to the camera, and the picture shut off.

Bubbles took the tape back out and checked it…besides the date, a big red 'Failure' had been stamped across this one. She grinned slightly and started looking through some of the other tapes and their labels, to see if there was anything of relevance. One particular tape caught her eye: it was dated barely a couple of days prior to Mojo's attack with the Robo-Jojo, the one that started the whole mess. It was also the latest tape in the collection.

She inserted the tape and watched. Mojo was outside in the park again, this time demonstrating a group of small hovering bombs. He activated one, then started flying it around with a remote control, and the camera followed it as it zipped from place to place across the park. As it did a final loop in the air, Mojo punched a button on the remote, and it detonated, almost like a firework…

Wait a second, Bubbles thought, backing the tape up. The explosion reversed itself, and the bomb started weaving through the park again…finally, she spotted something and paused the tape. It had passed close to a flowerbed, the very one where she had found Bulba. She slowly advanced the tape, a frame at a time, until she found one that gave her a clear view of it.

Something was missing, though…Bulba wasn't there. Other flowers were present, but there was no sign of the brilliant white flower she had come to know so well. Okay, this means that she was planted very recently…sometime from this point to the day that Mojo's device was used. That's a span of about…let's see…ten days.

She tried to think what had happened during those ten days. During the struggle in the park that one night, most of the park was burnt down, but it was slowly replanted and repaired over the week after it, leading up to the final disaster. Perhaps someone had planted it during that time? That was the only explanation she could think of.

Packing the things back into the box where she found them, she left the observatory, still confused. She figured that maybe Bulba still knew something, though. She could try to help the flower remember…unfortunately, that was her only lead. All other evidence had been washed away, along with the rest of life.

* * *

Bulba still couldn't remember a thing…Bubbles tried repeatedly to jog its memory, but nothing came. She eventually gave up and lay back, staring up at the darkening sky through the roof of the greenhouse. "Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter how come you're such a good survivor. But I really wish I knew…"

Going through the stack of supplies, she paused at the box belonging to Blossom once again. She brushed her hand across it gently, wiping off some dust that had built up on it, and smiled. Setting the box down between her and Bulba, she said, "Here's something that me and the other flowers liked to play once and a while…what do you think she kept in this box? I like to think she has a diary in there…"

She listened, then giggled, "Yeah! She'd probably be smart enough to hide candy in there, you're right! That's a good one!" She laid down and looked closely at the combination lock again and said, "Why else would she make sure the professor wouldn't find out about it? Or any of us?"

She sighed happily to herself. I really should just break it open one of these days, she thought. But that would ruin this memory of her…I think I'd rather just keep it like this. But I'm going to go through that house again one of these days and see if I can find the combination to this thing…

Looking up in surprise at Bulba, she said, "What? Well, umm…I guess I could try…it just sounds totally random, though…but what the heck!" She carefully twisted the lock dial around, stopping on different sets of numbers. When she put the third number in, she gasped as she heard a small click.

"Wha…Bulba!" she exclaimed. "You're right! How did you know?!" After a moment, she said, "Just a feeling? Wow…maybe you're psychic or something. You can't explain it either, huh?" She grinned and said, "Should I open it?" She paused, then nodded and took a deep breath, "Here goes…"

She lifted the lid slowly…inside, was an envelope, unsealed, but stuffed full of something. Written on it, in Blossom's handwriting, was "Our 'Baby' Pictures." Full of curiosity, Bubbles slid the envelope open and removed the contents: a stack of small photographs.

It looked like Blossom had gone through them once before, because they looked to be in reverse order. She saw several photos of her and her sisters not long after their creation, and one of them was right after it…they were still hovering above the bowl. The sight of this brought a tear to her eye, seeing a picture of them being brought into the world for the first time. The professor must have given these to Blossom for safekeeping, she thought. How beautiful…

The pictures didn't stop there…another photo showed the mixture, before the Chemical X had been added, before they had even been stirred even. With growing interest, she thumbed through the rest of them, and saw individual pictures of their ingredients: a photo of a bag of sugar…a photo of several jars of various spices…and a photo of a bucket, filled with what they knew as 'Everything Nice.' She had never before seen this before, in their purest form like this, before they were mixed together and split up amongst the three of them. It was incredible to see…

Wait a second, she thought, peering closely at the 'Everything Nice' picture. She squinted, trying to make out something on it. Looking back at her pile of supplies, she fished out a small magnifying glass and held it up to the picture for a better look. What she saw made her gasp, and she almost dropped the magnifying glass in shock.

Amongst the Everything Nice that was in the bucket, she spotted a small white flower…but not just any flower. Just as easily as she had recognized the shape of it before, she knew this one instantly. "Bulba?" she whispered. "But…but that means…that means…"

With a slow, unbelieving stare, she turned to look back at Bulba as it finally dawned on her. The flower was part of their Everything Nice…it couldn't have been from Bubbles, though, since she was still alive. And Buttercup's components, she knew, had been scattered throughout the professor's lab. But Blossom, whose components had been scattered to the winds…

"B-Blossom?" she managed to say, the photo and magnifying glass falling from her hands. It was there in front of her…even if it was only a small part of her, it was still Blossom. Somehow, the flower must have initially fallen from the air and taken root here in the park, just like it had from the hurricane…

Not wanting to crush the flower, Bubbles hugged the soil around its base tightly again. For a moment, she imagined that Blossom was there, at least in spirit, hugging her back, and tears streamed down her face as she cried happily. She was too overcome with emotion to speak, but even if she could, she wouldn't know what to say…

* * *

Chemical X was the key. Bulba—and likewise, the other flowers—carried a residual energy trace from the reaction which broke Blossom back down into her base components. It wasn't exactly like Chemical X, but it had its own properties. It certainly explained the near-immortal qualities that the flowers exhibited.

Bubbles was more concerned with its source, though. In the past few years, she longed to be with her sisters again, more than anything. How ironic, she thought, that it would turn out that Blossom had been by her side almost the entire time. Every laugh, every tear, through all her accomplishments and hardships, Blossom had always been near to her. It made her feel better, knowing that in a way, she had never left.

She thought about renaming Bulba to 'Blossom', since that's who it was, but she had gotten used to calling the flower Bulba, so she decided to stick with the name. It was funny to think that way back a long time ago, she had almost named the flower 'Blossom' in the first place.

With renewed energy, Bubbles had now found the confidence she was looking for and proceeded full-steam with her studies. She still had to make sure the flowers were secure here, but with Blossom's spirit watching over them, she knew they would be fine. Now, all that remained was to learn how to make those modifications to the Time Portal that would allow her to alter the past.

She wasn't exactly sure what the future would bring, but with Bulba returned to her again, and with the knowledge that Blossom had never left her, she knew she could handle it, no matter what it was.