Chapter Text
It was one of those perfect afternoons, where the whole forest seemed to be at peace. The woods were alive with the chitter and skitter of the critters skipping around. The Bear was taking a nap. Bunnies were enjoying their greens. Birds were chirping their lovely songs. There was a gently, warm breeze and the skies were as blue as the little blue people lived in a village that was hidden for everyone, except for those they called friends.
Yes, it was quite the smurftastic day.
In Smurf Village, it was business as usual: Papa Smurf was in his laboratory, working on one concoction or the other. Chef was preparing lunch. Brainy was riding around his Smurfway, ‘supervising the efforts of his fellow Smurfs’. Smurfette was teaching a class on Smurf-fu, with Hefty Smurf lovingly gawking at her while insisting he was working out. Jokey smurf was doing his rounds delivering his ‘presents’. Lazy smurf was … snoring. One way or the other, the Smurfs were enjoying their day under the sun.
But there was one Smurf who was not enjoying her day with everyone else. One Smurf had secluded herself away from the rest, wanting some private time for herself. The clover on her Smurf Hat as green as the dress she wore.
She adjusted the quiver on her shoulder a little as she took out an arrow. She dipped it in the jar of sticky sap, tapping it on the edge to remove the excess from the arrow’s tip.
“Focus … concentration … controlled breaths …” She told herself as she readied the arrow. “Pull back the arrow … grip not too loose, not too tight … eyes on target … deep inhale … exhale and … release!”
The arrow whistled as it flew through the air … and landed square in the center of the target.
“Bullseye …” Smurfstorm muttered as she lowered her bow, but the tone of her voice didn’t feel like she was in a celebrating mood. She let out a frustrated sigh as she took out another arrow out of her quiver and dipped it in the sticky solution before she placed it on the string. She repeated her mantra … but stopped halfway through as she opted to throw the arrow with a frustrated groan instead.
Normally, archery practice was perfect for Storm to deal with whatever could be bothering her: whether as a way to think her issues over … or as a tool to help her ignore them. The former was a better method than the latter, Papa Smurf and Smurfwillow would often remind her.
But this time …? This time, neither thinking about nor ignoring her issues was helping. The more she thought about them, the more frustrated she felt. And ignoring them just made remembering them hit so much harder.
Putting her bow away, Storm dragged her hands over her face. “What’s smurfing wrong with me?” she asked herself in a whisper. “Why do I still feel like this? Maybe I should tell Clumsy ab- … no, I’m not going to bother him with this. This is something for me to fix … since it’s me I need to fix. Hearing about … all that would only make him responsible … and he doesn’t deserve that. I’m not going to do that to him.”
Then again … maybe she should just tell him; let him help her out. It would be logical, right? They’ve only been dating for … several years now. And since becoming his girlfriend, Clumsy Smurf had been nothing but a good boyfriend – no, the best boyfriend – for her. She had grown in ways that she had never considered.
Public displays of affection had always irked Storm in some way, even with her own sisters. She was a warrior and a protector, so she was expected to act like one. But with Clumsy as her loving guide, she had – slowly – overcome these apprehensions. Nowadays, she could spend hours snuggling with her boyfriend on a bench, in plain view of everyone in the Village, and not care at all.
She, in turn, had tried so help Clumsy deal with his … clumsiness, and … gotten mixed results.
Nevertheless, Smurfstorm was sure of two things: One: she was in love with Clumsy, and two: Clumsy Smurf was in love with her. Sure, there was the occasional bickering, but what couple didn’t? Look at Heft and Smurfette, or Brainy and Blossom, Papa and Willow, Dimwitty and Begonia … not that those last two ever seemed to argue about anything.
And after years of dating, going back and forth from the Smurf’s Village to the Girls Village, it only felt right that they’d move in together. First in Clumsy’s old home, and soon enough to a bigger house where they could comfortably live together … and where her boyfriend wouldn’t be tripping over her stuff all the time … which still happened.
Storm could honestly say that she was happy and loving every day that she was able to spend with her Clumsy.
So why then … did she still feel this way?
This whole mess started a while after she had moved from the village. Once they had settled into this new normal … something had started to feel … off with Storm. This little, icky feeling hidden away in the deepest corner of her heart. At first, she figured that it was just the realization of this rather huge change in her life that was hitting her.
Back when she and her fellow Smurf Girls had to move away from the destroyed Smurfy Grove – thanks a lot, Gargamel - and into their new village, she had felt something similar, but Willow had assured her that it was a normal thing to feel and that it would pass with time. And it did.
But it had been a several weeks since then now, and Storm still would get this feeling. It snuck upon her when she felt at her most comfortable, like when she and Clumsy would be cuddling in bed. Or during a feast, where everyone was laughing and having a good time. It was like … she really couldn’t describe it, which was almost as frustrating as the fact that she couldn’t shake it. Not even archery was helping.
And since archery wasn’t helping her right now, Storm decided to just pack up and go to Clumsy’s house … her and Clumsy’s house. Right, she sometimes forgot to call it that, that’s all.
She was in the middle of gathering her things when a commotion in the Village caught her. She could hear shouting and Smurfs running around … something was wrong. Storm’s heart clenched … Clumsy. Where was her Clumsy?
She ran to the Village square, where Papa Smurf was already dealing with whatever situation was going on.
Seeing Handy standing there, she tapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention. “Hey, what the smurf is happening?”
“Uh …” Handy rubbed the back of his head, seemingly apprehensive about revealing the problem. “A group of Smurfs was sent out to gather Smurfberries from the west fields, and they ran into some trouble. Rather … trouble ran into them.”
“Don’t tell me …”
“Gargamel.” Handy stated, and that one word made Storm’s hard clench again. “Or rather, his cat. Seems that old Azrael caught them by surprise. Most of them managed to escape, but that darn cat has a few of them trapped.”
Storm’s eyes darted around the Smurfs gathered in the square. She saw Brainy, Blossom, Chef, Dimwitty and many others … but one Smurf in particular seemed to be absent.
“Handy … where is Clumsy?” Storm asked, already fearing the answer.
“Uh …”
“Handy!”
“He went out picking berries?” Handy replied sheepishly.
It was like a block of ice dropped in Storm’s stomach. Clumsy was out there … with Azrael. She quickly ran up to Papa Smurf, pushing her way through the crowd of Smurfs.
The elder Smurf had noticed her earlier, and quickly waved her closer. “Storm, before y-.”
“Is Clumsy one of the Smurfs caught?” Storm asked, interrupting Papa, who tried to calm her down.
“No, he’s not. Vanity and Poet are the ones cornered by Azrael.” Papa assured her, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes that didn’t sit well with Storm.
“But …?”
“But it seems he stayed behind with Hefty and some of the others to see what they can do to help.” The elder Smurf said, quickly taking a stand between Storm and the general direction of where the trouble was, to keep her from immediately taking off. “Now, I know you really want to go and help Clumsy, but we need a plan in case that Gargamel gets added to this mess.”
Brainy, who had been uncharacteristically silent, cleared his throat and tapped Papa’s shoulder. “Papa Smurf?”
“Not now, Brainy.” Papa dismissed with a wave of his hand, keeping his eyes on Storm in case she’d bolt anyway. “First, we need to—”
“Papa Smurf?”
“Later, Brainy.”
“But Papa Smurf!”
The red-hatted leader let out a defeated sigh and turned to give his apprentice the attention he seemed to so desperately crave. “Yes, Brainy?”
“I don’t think a rescue plan is going to be needed, Papa Smurf.” Brainy stated with a growing grin, pointing towards the main entrance of the Village.
A surprised but happy murmur started to rise from the crowd as Clumsy, Hefty and the other Smurfs that had stayed behind made a triumphant return, with the rather disheveled but otherwise unharmed Vanity and Poet Smurf in tow.
“Well … I’ll be smurfed.” Papa grinned as he walked over, only to be all but pushed aside when Storm passed by him at full speed.
“Clumsy!” She practically threw herself into her boyfriend’s arms, who let out a pained grunt.
“Hey, Stormy … ouch, watch the arm.” Clumsy groaned as he awkwardly returned the hug.
“Your arm? Oh!” Storm gasped when she noticed the cut on his arm. It wasn’t deep, but a wound nonetheless. “What happened? Did Azrael get you?”
“No, it was, uh …” Clumsy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “A branch.”
“A branch.”
“With a really sharp, pointy end.”
“Don’t forget the rolling tree trunk that it was attached to.” Hefty added with a grin.
Papa Smurf quickly got between Storm, Clumsy and Hefty. “How about you boys tell us what happened. How did you manage to get them out, Hefty?”
“Well actually …” Hefty threw an arm around Clumsy, giving him a proud, brotherly grin. “It was all him. Clumsy here managed to give that old cat the slip.”
“Pff, wha? No, I didn’t do anything, really.” Clumsy quickly said, blushing a little. “It was a happy accident.”
“Don’t be so modest, Clumsy. We would’ve been cat chow, hadn’t it been for you.” Vanity stated as he and Poet joined them. He glanced over to his mirror, letting out a horrified gasp when he saw his reflection. “Oh, all this stress and running in fear has given me worry lines.”
“It is with Vanity that I must concur, my good sir. Rather, with the part of your help, and not with the latter.” Poet rhymed. “Without you there to intervene, it would surely have been the end of our scene. Accidental or not, you made Azrael miss his shot.”
“I just… tripped over a pebble.”
“Which caused a chain reaction that ended with Azrael being chased off by a runaway tree.” Hefty said, grinning as he accepted a hug from Smurfette. “It gave us the time we needed to get Vanity and Poet out of there.”
“My mighty warrior.” Storm cooed as she pulled in Clumsy into a hug and kissed his cheek. Noticing how the crowd was already starting to disperse and most Smurfs went to do their own things again, she started to guide Clumsy away from the square and back to their home. Gargamel seemed to be smurfing a plan to capture the Smurfs almost every week, so it wasn’t surprising.
One of the first changes that Storm had made when she and Clumsy started to live together was making sure that they had their own first aid supplies on hand, so they didn’t have to bother Papa Smurf or Doctor when the lovable village klutz had an injury after one of his … namesake-ish incidents.
“Let’s get that cut taken care off, hero.” Storm said as she took out a bottle of disinfectant and some bandages.
“Honestly, Hefty did most of the work.” Clumsy deflected, sitting on the edge of their bed.
“Babe, just take the win.” Storm chuckled as she applied some of the disinfectant on his wound, rolling her eyes as he hissed through gritted teeth. “Azreal? Not a problem, runs straight after her to save his fellow Smurfs. A little disinfectant? Now he’s wincing.”
“It stings!” Clumsy defended himself, grinning at his girlfriend despite the little jest.
“Well, I’m just glad it’s nothing more serious.” Storm grabbed the bandages and started to wrap them around the wound. With the excitement from earlier done and gone, her thoughts started to flutter back to the worries she had earlier. She gritted her teeth, trying her best to push those thoughts away.
“You okay, Storm?”
Clumsy’s voice jolted her back to the here and now, making her look up at him with the most reassuring smile that she could muster. “Well, my boyfriend got himself hurt, so ‘no’. Then again … I get to play nurse for him so …”
“Storm …”
“I’m fine, Clum.”
“Is this about why you’ve been looking so glum these last few weeks?”
Storm froze mid-bandaging, shocked by his question. She slowly looked up, and she almost melted under his concerned gaze. She could deflect, or even flat-out lie … but that wouldn’t do any of them any good. “You … noticed that, huh?”
“Yeah … a few times.” Clumsy chuckled sheepishly as Storm looked at him with surprise. “Hey, I’m ‘Clumsy’, not ‘Oblivious Smurf’.”
“I guess …” Storm brought her attention back to the bandages, making sure they were applied firmly without being too tight. She couldn’t bring herself to look her boyfriend in her eyes for the moment. “Then why didn’t you …?”
“-ask if something was wrong?” Clumsy guessed, scooting a bit closer to her. “I know how you are, Storm. You’re someone who likes to fix her own problems … even if she has an entire village behind her that could help. I figured that you would come to me if you really had to.”
“And I would’ve! Honestly!” Storm assured, nervously wringing her hands together on her lap. “I just … hadn’t convinced myself to come to you yet.”
“Well, I’m here now.” Clumsy gently placed a hand on top of hers, giving her a soft smile. “So, what’s been bothering you lately?”
Storm groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “That’s just the thing … I’m not even sure what it is that’s bothering me. I can’t figure it out!”
“Are you, uh, … having second thoughts?” Clumsy asked cautiously. “About us living together? About moving to Smurf Village?”
“What! No-no-no-no! That’s not it, I promise!” Storm quickly answered while grabbing Clumsy’s hands, giving them a squeeze. “I mean, sure, I miss my Village sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I—!"
“Storm, honestly, it’s okay if you do. If the roles were reversed, I’d sure be missing Smurf Village.” Clumsy said reassuringly. “I mean, you had to leave your home.”
Storm grabbed Clumsy by the face and made him stare directly into her eyes. “You are my home, Clumsy Smurf” She planted a kiss on his lips, throwing her arms around him as she pulled him into such a tight hug, as if she was afraid that he’d float away. “Whether we’re living here or back in the Girls Village, that will never change.”
Clumsy returned the hug, rubbing circles on her back. “Okay, okay … I’m sorry. I just had to ask.”
“I know. I would’ve, too.” Storm broke away from the hug, planting another kiss on his cheek. She sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder, intertwining her fingers with his.
“So … what is it, then?” Clumsy asked softly, nuzzling her hair.
“That’s just the thing … I don’t know.” Storm sighed, her free hand playing with the hem of her dress. “At first, I thought it was just … homesickness, you know? I figured that I needed to get used to living in the Village all the time and that I wouldn’t be seeing my former home that often anymore.”
“But …?”
“But it’s been weeks, and I still … feel like something’s off.” Storm groaned in frustration, burying her face in Clumsy’s neck and allowing herself to smile as she gently patted her back. She pulled away, taking her boyfriend’s hand in her own. “And don’t get me wrong: Moving here was the right choice. I love the hustle and bustle of everyone doing their own thing. Brainy zooming around on his Smurfway. Being around the table with everyone when Chef is presenting his meals to us. Smurf it, I even started to love Jokey’s stupid exploding presents! I love living here. But most of all …”
Clumsy’s face started to grow red as Storm took both of his hand into hers, gazing into his eyes with such warmth and love that he thought that he was gonna melt.
“I love living with you. Together, in this house. Our house. Our home.” Storm embraced her flustered boyfriend, nuzzling her face into his bare chest. “We’re building a life together, you and I. And it’s not like I’m never seeing my sisters again. Heck, I saw Lili and Blossom yesterday! I have no reason to feel anything but happy! But …”
She sighed, letting go of the embrace with a glum expression.
“So … what’s this feeling … feel like?” Clumsy asked.
“Clumsy, I just said that I don’t—!”
“Humor me, Raincloud.”
Storm felt the right kind of chills run down her spine as Clumsy used his favorite pet name for her. She smirked at him, letting him know that it was a cheap shot. She let out a sigh as she let her head fall back on Clumsy’s shoulder. “I guess the best explanation I could give is that it’s like ... a puzzle.”
“A puzzle?” Clumsy repeated, already confused. He yelped when Storm pinched him.
“Let me finish, you lovable jerk. You know I’m not good at this sort of thing!” Storm scolded lovingly. “It’s like having a beautiful puzzle in front of you, one that you’ve almost finished. It’s something you’ve worked on for a long time, and you are so happy with how it’s turning out.”
“So … I’m guessing the puzzle represents you? And the finished pieces are me, the other Smurfs, the village, and so on?” Clumsy asked, grinning his girlfriend nodded. “Okay, so far I’m following you.”
“But … there is a piece that is missing.” Storm continued, feeling a bit more confident about her explanation. “And you’ve got this back full with other puzzle pieces.”
“Which are, if I’m following, your attempts to work out this feeling?” Clumsy asked.
“Right! But no matter how hard you try or how many pieces you try to squeeze in there, those pieces never seem to fit just right.” Smurfstorm sighed as she turned to Clumsy with a sad expression. “It’s almost like … my heart is telling me something is missing. But no matter what I do, I am not finding the piece that needs to be put in there.”
“And you’re sure it’s not--?”
“If you dare to suggest I’m having second thoughts again, you’re sleeping in Spitfire’s nest tonight.” Storm warned jokingly … if she was joking at all, that is. She sighed, burying her face in her hands. “Clumsy … is there something wrong with me?”
“No, of course not!” Clumsy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “You’ll find your missing piece, I’m sure of it. And I’ll be there to help you … tripping over my own feet all the way.”
Storm snorted, hugging her lovable goof tightly. “Thanks, Clumsy … and I’m sorry I didn’t come to you with this sooner.”
“It’s fine, Storm.”
They sat in silence for a while, locked in their embrace. After a while, Clumsy perked up.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea!”
“Oh-oh … lay it on me.” Storm joked as she begrudgingly broke away from her lover’s arms.
“Why don’t you go to the Girls Village for a little while? Stay for few days?”
“Clumsy … I can’t just go drop everything here and pretend I’m going on vacation or something.”
“Why not?” Clumsy smiled widely. “You’ve said that you tried everything here, so … why not try a few things there?”
“I mean … it makes sense … BUT-!” Storm’s face instantly reddened when Clumsy placed his finger on her lips, halting her objections.
“Storm, you’ve been trying it in your own way for a while now, and I’ve been trying to be the good boyfriend and letting you.” Clumsy said, as he moved his hand from her lips to her cheek – blushing a little as Storm leaned into his hand. “But how about we try it my way … just for a little while? If it doesn’t work out, you can go back getting no results in your own way. What do you say?”
Storm snorted, giving her boyfriend a defiant look. “Since when did you become so snarky?”
“I’ve learned from watching you.”
“Shut up.” Storm chuckled as she let Clumsy’s idea mull around her mind. She eventually let out a defeated sigh. “I guess … you’ve got a point. I couldn’t hurt to give it a try.”
“That’s my girl.”
“On one condition.” Storm insisted, holding up a finger.
Clumsy cocked his head. “And what would that be-AAH! Oomph!” It was Clumsy’s turn to turn bright red as he suddenly found himself pinned on the bed beneath his girlfriend.
“You are coming with me.” Storm stated, leaning in close so their noses were touching. She was absolutely reveling in seeing her boyfriend trying to free himself from her gentle grasp. She giggled as she released him, and laid down to rest her head on her chest. “If there’s one thing I’ve gotten used to, it’s having you in the same bed as me. I can’t start my mornings without your face being the first thing I see when I wake up.”
Clumsy chuckled and wrapped his arms around Storm. “Likewise, Storm … okay, I’ll come with. I guess the village can do without their newest hero for a few – OUCH! No pinching the tail!”
“You deserved that, babe.”