Part 6: Discovery

Part six in the side story PFN Park has been writing for Inheritance.  This one delves deeper into Bubbles and Maki's relationship, showing the first real sparks of what they become and giving a tantalizing hint to how Maki fits into the larger narative!  Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did!

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Discovery

She turned to look back at her traveling companion, who was trudging along with the same stoic expression she always had on her caramel features. Bubbles wore a far heavier backpack, though she shouldered it with no complaint.  

Maki smiled as she walked among the trees, adjusting the straps on her backpack.  The sky peeking amidst the branches were gray and overcast, a gentle wet nip in the air that foretold the possibility of rain later on. 

She turned to look back at her travelling companion, who was trudging along with the same stoic expression she always had on her caramel features. Bubbles wore a far heavier backpack, though she shouldered it with no complaint.  

Maki grinned inwardly as she watched Bubbles catch up with her. She’d been delighted to supply new clothes for the girl; her standard gym outfit and casual ware had been very dull since Maki hadn’t had anything of suitable size for the giantess on her arrival.  Luckily the internet existed and though it had taken longer than Maki had liked to get it shipped to Wanton Cove, she loved the result. Bubbles had been bewildered and floundered when presented with all the clothing which made it all the sweeter. 

Maki enjoyed the sight of Bubbles in jeans that hugged the muscular curves of her cheeks and thighs. The grey beanie she wore covered half the plastic mask that still covered her right eye. The fluffy jacket she’d chosen went decently with her blue sweater, but Maki wondered what lay beneath all that. She’d put some very spicy choices amongst them... 

 Bubbles seemed less enthused than Maki about their surroundings and more bewildered. The giantess had never been one for the outdoors, having been mostly stuck in urban areas where fights would be held. She’d seen more greenery in her short time on this island than her entire life. 

Bubbles wasn’t sure she liked it; the ground was terribly uneven with rocks and gnarled roots compared to the smooth concrete and hard mats she knew. Low hanging branches were currently her bane; she had to duck and weave around the wooden protrusions lest they scrape her or her new wardrobe.  

New clothes. Bubbles felt pleasantly uneasy when she thought about all those new clothes in her drawers. Since her earliest memory of being huge, clothes had always been an issue of too small, hugging her form uncomfortably tight unless it was specifically for a fight or working out. Even then, they weren’t like what she wore now. These clothes were a pleasant change. A variety of colors and materials at her fingertips, from smooth as silk to the rough denim of the jeans she wore, provided by the olive woman ahead of her. 

Maki. The woman brought confusion to Bubbles….Confusion and conflict to her mind. Ever since the sparring match a week prior, she’d felt this oddness around her. Bubbles felt her mind drifting often to their bout and Maki’s unusual tactics….that kiss...She felt a heat in her cheeks when that memory drifted to the forefront. It had been so sudden, so unexpected...but not unpleasant.  

“Not much further now, darling!” 

“You said that before.” Bubbles muttered, stepping over a gnarled root. 

 “My father and I used to do this every few months...trek out to this bluff and camp out for a night. Now it’s something I do only once and a while.” Maki sighed, looking up amidst the trees. “Adulting is a pain, darling. Never grow up.”  

“Too late.” Bubbles sighed. 

“A joke? Very nice!” Maki giggled. 

“It wasn’t.” Bubbles stated, killing Maki’s laughter in seconds. “I was the oldest. I grew up quickly. Gregory needed protection.”  

Maki’s face fell for a moment as they continued on in silence. 

“I never knew. I’m sorry, darling.”  

“I don’t….talk much.” Maki rolled her eyes at the understatement. “The streets weren’t friendly.” Maki sighed, stepping over a large rock.. 

“Howie never discussed your past with me. I know very little about your time prior to his….procurement of you and Gregory.” Maki explained. 

“We were homeless. Our parents were gone.” Bubbles stared down at the ground, purposefully avoiding Maki’s eyes. 

“We were fighting others. They wanted our things.” Bubbles stopped a moment to adjust the backpack. “Howie talked to us after. I had potential. Slavery or be homeless.” 

“He was right there. You are an incredible fighter. I did not expect your flexibility when you struck me with your knee.” Maki admitted. 

“You’re skilled. Judo?” Bubbles asked, watching the olive woman lead them further. 

“Oh, a little bit of everything, really,” Maki laughed. “My father insisted on learning some self defense when I was young, but I took it more seriously when I was travelling in Europe for a few years. I ended up picking up a variety, though I favor grappling and throws. I’m not the greatest striker, but I know pressure points and redirection..” 

“Redirection is good. You are smaller; utilizing opposing momentum is strategic.” Maki looked back at Bubbles with a surprised expression. 

“I think that’s the most I’ve heard you say in one sentence.” She almost giggled when Bubbles blushed. “It’s good! I appreciate praise from a master like yourself!” 

 “I’m no Master.” Bubbles tone dropped harshly, face lowering back to the uneven ground. 

Maki sighed, stepping past the last of the trees to a clearing that ended in a sharp cliff. She grinned as she dashed forward to its edge, gazing out at the open sea beneath her. The waves gently lapping at the rocks some fifty feet below the edge, gentle bursts of white across their grey surface. The sky was a dismal gray, but it only served to strengthen her happiness as past memories washed over her. Maki inhaled deeply, taking in the salty tang in the air. 

“We’re here!” Maki cried, dashing back to her companion. Bubbles sighed, unclipping the backpack and setting it down. Maki similarly dumped her pack next to the larger one before grabbing Bubbles’ hand. 

“Come on!” She pulled the giantess over to edge, standing on it and looking out once more over the ocean. Bubbles gulped, a tinge of nervousness creeping up her spine at being so close to oblivion. She felt her hand cover her mouth as she looked out over the horizon...this was something she’d not seen before. 

“My father used to bring me here to remind me how big the world is. It’s easy to forget that this island...that estate is such a tiny thing. A tiny piece in an infinite world, he used to say.” Maki sighed wistfully. “Tanya and I would look out with my father at the horizon, and at night we’d fantasize about exploring the great unknown, roaming the world….” 

“Tanya?” Bubbles tilted her head towards Maki. For the first time in her memory, she saw the olive woman blush as she stepped away from the edge. 

“....That’s a story for another time. Let’s set up camp before it gets dark.” -- 

By the time Maki and Bubbles had set up the tent, the sky had darkened as the sun fell below the horizon. Maki had gone and gathered wood while Bubbles watched the sun set on the edge of the cliff, savoring the view as the sun’s lingering rays pierced the clouds and reflected off the water. 

Bubbles sipped from her water bottle as the last light disappeared, leaving the greys and dark blues of the ocean to fade darker still. She pushed herself up, looking back towards the large blue tent they’d erected. She felt unease that there was only a single tent...the prospect of sleeping in the same confined space with the olive skinned woman filled her with trepidation. 

She watched Maki light the small fire, a wide grin on her face. She stoked it with a long branch until it was burning steadily, then looked over at Bubbles.  “Fire’s ready!” The flickering flames bathed her face in a warm glow that caught the breath in Bubbles throat briefly. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as strode over to the fire. Maki 

fished around in her smaller backpack, pulling out another bag before tossing the pack into the tent. 

“I have marshmallows!” She laughed, revealing a bag of large, fluffy marshmallows and several long skewers. 

“What?” Bubbles tilted her head curiously as she sat near the fire, enjoying its warmth against the chilling night air. 

“...Marshmallows.”  Maki looked at the larger woman dumbfounded. She plucked one from the bag and began to toss it towards Bubbles before catching herself. Maki leaned over and handed it to the giantess instead. 

Bubbles held the fluffy treat between her fingers, squeezing it gently. “Have you never had marshmallows?” Maki asked, shock in her tone. Bubbles felt a warmth creep into her cheeks as she continued examining the confection in her fingers. 

“My diet is…..was strict.” Bubbles corrected herself. “Gregory snuck me candy. Never this….” “You poor, deprived child.” Maki clucked her tongue, affixing a marshmallow to the end of her skewer. Bubbles sniffed it once, detecting the faint aroma of sugar in the white puffy thing. 

“This is as good a place to start, I guess. I do something with all the newer people on the estate.” Maki said slowly, lazily hovering the skewer around the flames. Bubbles looked at Maki, eyebrow narrowed slightly as she tentatively licked the confection between her fingers. “It’s an exchange of information. We ask each other questions. Most Masters tend to not care about the past or demeanor of their charges, but I’m...not normal.” Maki shrugged, watching as the outside of her marshmallow started to turn golden brown. 

That is certain, Bubbles thought to herself. “I’m a slave. I can’t refuse.” She asked, finally taking a hesitant bite of the marshmallow and chewing for a few moments. She tilted her head when she saw Maki’s face frown, as if her response had pained Maki somehow. 

“Darling, I want to be clear; you’re not my slave.” Bubbles swallowed slowly, strangely uneasy at Maki’s words. 

“Explain.” Bubbles asked, her baritone tinged with confusion. Maki sighed, pulling her treat back as it began to droop from the skewer. 

“I traded my debt to save your life, not to purchase you. You were raised a slave, but you are not my slave currently. That is something for you to decide when you’ve fully recovered.” She blew on the hot fluff for a moment before consuming it with a smile. 

“....I could leave?” Bubbles voice surprised her, having gone smaller than she’d intended. 

“That is an option.” Maki said, a strain touching her voice as she chewed on the gooey fluff. “Let me ask you a question now. “ She smacked her lips as she swallowed, reaching for the bag once more. 

I don’t know where I’d go, Bubbles thought to herself as she chewed on the treat. 

“Tell me about your diet back then?” She offered Bubbles another of the marshmallows. The giantess slowly took it, rolling it between her fingers as she contemplated her words. 

“Measured quantities of protein. Chicken mostly. Highly fibrous vegetables. Highly caloric meals.” 

“....You don’t know what you ate, do you?” Maki looked at Bubbles with a sly grin. Bubbles looked away from Maki, shame coloring her cheeks. 

“...No. My meals were planned. I ate what was given. I didn’t ask.” Her voice was quiet, heavy emotion creeping into it. “I...trusted him.” 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Maki put her skewer over the fire again with a sigh. “If I’d known….I can’t imagine what eating lunch in the cafe is like for you….Do you have any preferences?”  

“I don’t eat lunch there. It’s...crowded. I take the first sandwich, then leave. I...eat what is given. I’ve never...considered flavor.” Bubbles murmured as she chewed on the marshmallow. 

“Well. You’ll have to start taking meals with me besides just dinner, and we are going to develop your palate, darling! I will show you a new world called flavor!” Maki smiled warmly. Bubbles turned back to her, turning her words over for a moment. 

“If you wish.” Maki’s smile faltered for a moment, disheartened by the ambivalence in the caramel woman’s tone. 

“It’s your turn to ask me a question, darling.” Maki pulled her marshmallow away from the fire, blowing on it once more. Bubbles sighed, questions rolling through her mind one after another before she settled on one. 

“When did you first meet my old master?”  

Maki bit into the crispy outside of her marshmallow, pulling away a chunk with gooey strands hanging from it. “Years ago. I think five, maybe six? I was attending a fight as I was interested in one of his boys. I’d been looking to find a fighter for some competitions in the states, maybe a Gauntlet 

contender.” She finished the marshmallow off, chewing  silently for a moment. 

“The Gauntlet is difficult.” Bubbles stated, looking into the crackling fire. 

“You’d know. You won the last one in Russia, I think?” 

“In Kaluga last year.” Bubbles nodded, memories of the string of fights surfacing briefly. 

“Anyway, I didn’t like most of the ones he’d offered. I saw you though.” Maki twirled her skewer for a moment, grinning impishly. “I saw you stepping into the ring against a man. You decimated him fairly easily. I remember asking Howard if you were for sale. He declined.” She sighed wistfully, then smiled at Bubbles. 

“My turn for a question, darling!” Maki giggled, popping a fresh marshmallow to her skewer “Hmm, let’s ask something adorable….Who was your first kiss? Lord, I hope it wasn’t Howie. That would just be awful.” Maki clucked her tongue as she hovered the pasty white fluff over the crackling fire. 

Bubbles turned her eye away from Maki, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly as she let the silence stretch between them. The smaller woman tilted her head over to her curiously. 

“Well?” Maki twisted her skewer slowly as the marshmallow started to turn brown. 

“You.” The wooden skewer tumbled into the fire with a curse and a crackle as Maki stared at the larger woman. 

“No.” Maki felt her cheeks redden in the flickering camp light. 

“I…” Bubbles hesitated, looking away from the olive woman with similarly flushed cheeks. “I’m a fighter. I fight. I don’t….I haven’t….”  

“You’ve never made love with anyone?” Maki asked, a curious tone in her voice. 

“I can fight. I’m...not attractive.” Bubbles absently touched her scarred cheek, a sadness creeping into her baritone. “Most are too scared.”  

“Darling…” Bubbles looked back to Maki, startled by how much closer she’d gotten. Her hazel eyes had darkened, her arms resting on her knees. “You are magnificent….and incredibly lucky. I’ve met other Masters who would want nothing more than to have you in their bed….or their sex dungeons...or to pimp you out to such clientele. Most of them are quite horrid.”  

“What about you?” Bubbles narrowed her eye, her baritone rising. “You save me. You fix my wounds. You bring me here. You’ve asked nothing. You’ve told me nothing. You’re a Master. 

I’m a slave. What do ​you

​ want?” 

 Maki turned away from the giantess, rubbing her upper arms as her eyes seemed to glow in the flickering fire light. She didn’t like how quickly the conversation had turned to this...She knew it was inevitable, but she’d hoped for it to be later... “You won’t understand.” She murmured, barely above a whisper. 

“Try me.” Maki bit her bottom lip in thought for a few moments, eyes searching the fire for the right words. “...I want a pet.” Bubbles snorted, shaking her head in disgust. 

“This is about sex.” She growled. 

“No! I….This is complicated….” Maki sighed, a surprisingly desperate tone seeping into her words. “I haven’t told anyone this, Bubbles…” 

“More lies.” The giantess scoffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“I have never lied to you!” Maki snapped, turning an angry glare to the bigger woman. “I told you when we met I wanted you, but there’s more. You’re magnific--” 

“Stop saying that! You say that, but it means nothing! You use too many words! Too many that mean nothing! Say something meaningful!” Bubbles stood fully, towering over the smaller woman. 

Maki responded in kind, angry eyes staring into the enraged blue cyclopean as she stood and looked upward. 

“I told you I want you. I want your hard body against mine, exploring each other all night! I want to fuck you silly as much as I want you to fuck me, but that’s one part! One part of an equation that started out simple, but that got even more complicated!” 

“There’s nothing else. You want sex.” 

“I always want sex! You’ve talked with Brie; she knows what a ridiculous libido I have. Everyone on this island does! That may be part of how this began, but there’s more….” Maki found her voice rising in frustration. 

“You admit it! You saved me to bed me!” Bubbles jabbed a large finger at Maki’s face. 

“I told you before; get that out of my face or I’ll put you on your ass.” Maki growled slowly, staring past the finger to the enraged Bubbles. She slowly lowered her hand as Maki continued. “I wanted you when I first saw you, yes. Did that factor into why I stepped in? I’d be lying if I said 

no, and I’ve never lied to you. I stepped in because what was happening wasn’t right and I didn’t want to see you die, and because I wanted you. Now? I want more. I want you as my pet.” 

“A sex slave.” Maki threw her hands up in anger, letting out a cry of frustration as she turned away from Bubbles. 

“No! That’s...You’re so infuriating!” Maki rubbed her face, trying to regain her composure. It unnerved her that this giantess had gotten under her skin so easily...maybe because she actually cared about her opinion. 

“I haven’t told anyone this. Let me try to explain…” Maki pressed her hands together, turning back to Bubbles with pleading eyes. 

“You’ve explained enough.” Bubbles snarled, turning away.  

“Don’t you dare!” Maki grabbed the larger woman’s arm and pulled. Bubbles turned her head slowly, that blue eye staring dangerously down at Maki. 

“Don’t touch me.” She growled. 

“Don’t turn your back on me! Let me explain!” Maki’s hand stayed on Bubbles wrist defiantly, her hazel eyes full of steel. 

“Let go. Now.” Bubbles stepped closer, glaring down at Maki with a terrifying snarl.  

“Only if you listen to me.” Maki met her snarl with her own, unwavering in her stance. 

Maki wasn’t prepared for Bubbles other hand grasping her shoulder and lifting, her feet dangling as Bubbles raised her eye level. Instinctively Maki grasped the arm on her shirt, bringing her knee into Bubbles stomach. She felt the grip loosen as Bubbles bent over from the sudden blow and twisted, bringing the larger arm across her body and jamming her hand hard against the woman's shoulder. Bubbles dropped to one knee as she gasped for breath. 

“Stubborn girl, calm--”  Maki staggered as Bubbles shoved herself against her, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. The smaller woman cried out as the larger girl landed atop her, driving the air from her. She growled when Bubbles grasped her wrists, slamming them above Maki’s head into the hard ground as she straddled Maki’s knee’s, keeping them pinned. 

Maki’s breath caught in her throat as she struggled against Bubbles immovable grip. Her cheeks flushed in excitement.. 

Now’s not the time for this

​ , she thought to herself. She’d fantasized about this with the larger woman, but the situation Maki had envisioned was far more...amenable. 

“Isn’t this what you want?” Bubbles growled, her hair hanging loose around her face, her grey beanie on the ground. The plastic half mask hung askew, her cyclopean eye blazing in rage. “Me on you? This, right?” 

“No! I--” 

“You want me? That’s what this is about! Coming out here? All of it? Just for my body?” Bubbles snarled, her grip turning painful on Maki’s tiny wrists. She grunted, still struggling futilely against the giantess’ weight. She clenched her eyes shut as Bubbles growled again, pulling vainly against her grip.  

“Admit it! All of this! All of it! Just for sex! Admit it!” 

“I don’t want to be alone!” Maki cried out, eyes bursting open to glare up at Bubbles vivid azure orb. She felt tears of frustration in the corners of her hazel eyes as she finally sagged against Bubbles clutches. 

“...What?” Bubbles rage gave way to confusion, staring down at the tiny woman trapped under her. Her head tilted as she saw the tears flow down her cheeks, a new expression unseen by Bubbles on Maki’s face, illuminated by the flickering hues of the fire behind them. 

“All those people in that massive mansion, all of them looking at me for everything….I save them, I help them, I train them….but I’m ​so

​ alone. They look at me like, like I’m a queen and I hate

​ it. I’m either their Master or their employer, and all of them look at me the same; I am above them, and that makes me so alone. Even Brie, even Margaret...all of them.”  

Bubbles released her grip, sitting up as she continued to be transfixed by this woman. Maki pushed herself up to her elbows, her gaze locked with the caramel giantess. 

“When I was a child, my father gave me a slave….as training, he said. Her name was Tanya, and she was my best friend. She went everywhere with me, we did everything….She never looked at me like I was better. She said she was my pet... When I was older, she was my first lover.” Maki looked past Bubbles to the cliff edge, her mind wandering to years past.  

“My father didn’t like that,” She closed her eyes and she could hear the fight again, her companion cowering as her father raged in her mind. “He took her away and sold her. He didn’t tell me who he sold her to...so I ran.” Bubbles shifted, letting Maki’s knees go as she sat back on her haunches. Maki drew her legs up, hugging them against her breasts. 

“I told you I traveled for a while...All I found out was that he’d sold her to someone in Europe, so 

that’s where I went. It took me a few years...all the things I had to do, had to build up...but I found her.”  Maki stopped, staring towards the fire with haunted eyes. 

“Did she die?”  Bubbles voice was quiet, staring at this smaller woman. “Eventually….The woman who bought her had sold her to someone else….a monster. A fucking monster. He did such awful things to her; physical, sexual….the entire gamut of sadistic tortures….then dumped her in a ditch like trash. He made fucking videos for the dark web of all the things he did to her….You’ve no idea. She died in my arms.” Bubbles saw Maki’s shoulders shudder as she wiped the tears from her face. Silence stretched between them for a few long moments. 

“You said all Masters are killers once. I’ve no regrets for what I did to that monster...I took my time. It was slow and intricate…Then I dumped him in the same ditch he dumped Tanya in.” Bubbles felt shivers run up her spine as Maki spoke. 

“I brought her home. She’s buried in the cemetery; I’ll show you her tombstone. She was my pet…..and she was the only other one besides my father who looked at me like an actual person….Until you in that tiny locker room.” Maki turned her gaze back to Bubbles, her cheeks flushed. 

“You don’t treat me like a queen. You’re strong, mentally and physically...You’re brutally honest...is it any wonder I’m attracted to you? You’re so much better than me.” Maki pressed her face against her knees, hiding from Bubbles eye. 

The caramel giantess sat there for a few silent moments, her mind churning and processing the words of this smaller woman. So much darkness Bubbles never even knew. She felt like she was seeing behind Maki’s smiling mask for the first time…. 

Bubbles shifted slowly, sitting beside the olive woman. With trepidation she put one large arm around Maki’s shoulders. The smaller woman immediately leaned against her, resting her head in the crook of Bubbles’ arm with a sigh. 

“I’m….broken.” Bubbles murmured, surprised how much she was enjoying Maki’s proximity. She struggled to put words to her thoughts. “I don’t know….people. I can’t….Understanding them is hard. Techniques, strikes, grapples...I know how to fight. I know how to kill. Everything else is hard. Before....I never worried about that.” Bubbles gulped when she felt one of Maki’s hands touch her back gently. 

“Gregory handled that. He had many boyfriends...He knew people. Knew how they worked. My...former master...he kept my world running. Fighting is all I knew. All I wanted. They handled everything else. I-I don’t have them.” Bubbles closed her eye, feeling the tear slide down her scarred cheek as raw emotion broke into her baritone. “I don’t know how to live anymore.” 

Maki looked up at Bubbles with a forlorn gaze, her heart aching for the large woman as she turned her cyclopean eye away. She reached up and brushed her fingers across Bubbles scarred cheek softly, turning her troubled expression back to Maki’s sympathetic eyes. 

Maki shifted up to her knees, cupping her caramel cheek gently. She reached up slowly to the askew plastic half mask and felt Bubbles shrink against her palm, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment.  Maki carefully undid the clips, removing the hard material and setting it aside. Now she could see the bandage still in place, white cotton peeking out from under it. Maki brought her hand to the larger girls now exposed cheek and stroked it gently, eliciting a soft moan from Bubbles. 

The caramel giantess was surprised at how soft Maki’s hands were...and how much she was enjoying them against her skin. It reminded her of when Gregory would take her hands after a hard fight, filling her with reassurance and confidence despite any wound, any injury she suffered. 

She felt her heart ache when remembering her little brother, and she almost pulled away from Maki until she felt the smaller womans lips press against hers. Bubbles felt that jolt in her body, the same one from when they’d sparred so recently. It stiffened her muscles and froze her in place.  Maki pulled her lips away, hovering close enough to feel Bubbles hot breath against her cheeks. She smiled, savoring the surprised expression on her face. 

Maki kissed her once more, quite pleased when she felt Bubbles press back against her. The giantess’ large hands rested hesitantly on Maki’s shoulders as the smaller woman’s slid down to rub Bubble’s neck. Maki grinned inwardly when she felt Bubbles gasp as her tongue ran along her lips. Hesitantly Bubbles’ mouth parted, and the smaller girls tongue sensuously rubbed against hers with a happy moan. 

Bubbles felt her muscles relax as Maki moved her lips against hers. She felt the smaller woman press herself against her side. She was suddenly aware of how soft Maki’s breasts were against her and a rising warmth in her own skin, an unfamiliar sensation coupled with an unknown desire driving her hands down the smaller woman’s sides. The foreign tongue in her mouth caressing her own felt strange at first, but quickly she found it intoxicatingly pleasant and pressed harder against Maki. 

Bubbles gasped when she felt Maki’s hands slip under her sweater, fingers caressing the firm curves of her abdomen and stomach. 

“God, you’re so hard…” Maki murmured huskily, her lips voraciously attacking Bubbles after a brief pause. Bubbles moaned in response, Maki’s delicate fingers sending pleasant shivers through her caramel skin. She obediently raised her arms as Maki pulled the thick sweater over 

her head, exposing her warm skin to the brisk night air. 

The smaller woman straddled Bubbles hips, tossing the sweater next to the discarded half mask as she drank in the giantess’ well defined abdomen and muscles. She couldn’t help but giggle at the black, lacy bra Bubbles had chosen. 

“I thought this one would look good on you…” Maki whispered, her fingers dancing along Bubbles collar bone before drawing the blushing girl into another deep kiss, her chest mashing against Bubbles’. 

Bubbles felt a wetness drop onto her exposed chest and gasped at the sudden cold. Then she felt another...and another…. 

She broke away from Maki and looked upwards as she felt more and began to hear the steady patter striking the ground. The sky had opened and rain fell on the two girls, gaining speed from a few drops to a sudden downpour. 

Bubbles hesitated, looking back to Maki as the fire started to sputter and light faded. The older woman simply smiled and took the larger girls hand as rain splashed over them. Bubbles picked up the sweater and mask as Maki stood, her clothes quickly becoming soaked. The rain didn’t seem to bother her as she led Bubbles back to their large tent, pulling the flap open and pushing their backpacks to one corner. 

“After you, sweet girl.” Maki whispered