DISCLAIMER: RAINBOW BRITE, RAINBOWLAND, AND ALL CHARACTERS
CONTAINED THEREIN ARE THE PROPERTY OF HALLMARK, INC. I DO NOT OWN
THEM (I JUST LOVE THEM) AND I AM NOT RECEIVING ANY PROFIT FOR THE
STORY (THOUGH IT WOULD BE NICE...)

For everyone who thinks there's no logic to the pairing of Patty and
Buddy...


BLUE AND GREEN
A Rainbow Brite Story
by Cyanne


At first, no one noticed anything out of the ordinary when Buddy Blue returned to
Rainbowland after a day-long touch-up trip to Earth with Rainbow Brite. His blue Star Sprinkle bag was empty, and both he and Rainbow looked understandably tired, so everyone figured they'd been working hard and things had gone okay. But Patty O'Green knew better as soon as she saw him. Buddy was not by nature a talkative person, but that day he seemed almost withdrawn, his brow creased and his eyes troubled. And the fact that he walked right past her without even seeing her clinched it, at least in her mind. Putting her broom aside (her latest playful prank--tinting Red Butler's prize red roses a harmless but nonetheless vivid green--had landed her a week of extra chores around Rainbowland, including sweeping the courtyards between the Sprite houses), Patty called out to him. Meanwhile, Buddy's mind was turning somersaults over and over a problem that had been plaguing him for two days, and which had his rational mind completely stumped. ~Are the Star Sprinkles losing their power?~ he wondered. ~Is there something wrong with the blue color crystal? Is it me?~ So absorbed was he in these thoughts that he did not hear Patty calling to him until she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey! What's eating you?" Patty asked, with a hint of exasperation. "Sheesh, did Murky zap you with his gloom cloud or what?"

"No. I'm just trying to figure out something."

"What?"

Buddy started to tell her the problem, then hesitated, not wanting to admit he couldn't understand his own color power.

"Well, it's kind of my problem," he hedged. "It has to do with the blue Star Sprinkles."

"So?" Patty was undaunted. "You can still tell me about it, can't you?"

Buddy hesitated again, then pushed his doubts away, telling himself that Patty was his friend and wouldn't think less of him. "Well, you see, a bunch of lakes on Earth have lost their color, and for some reason, my blue Star Sprinkles can't restore them. I've tried everything I can think of to recolor those lakes, and nothing works. I don't know what to do."

Patty pursed her lips, thinking. "Could it be Murky's doing? Maybe he put something in the water to make it resist Star Sprinkles."

Buddy looked skeptical. "I suppose that's a possibility, but frankly, I've never heard of him trying anything that subtle."

"You're right, it's not really his style," Patty agreed. She thought a few moments more. "Well, how 'bout I go with you next time? Maybe I can help."

"Thanks, Patty, but I don't know see your green Star Sprinkles could help make my lakes blue."

"Well, we'll never know until we try, right?" She grinned. "Besides, it'll give me a chance to do some touching-up of my own." ~And get me away from these boring
chores~ she added silently.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Buddy agreed. "And it would be nice to have some
company."

Patty suggested they leave early the next morning, ostensibly because it could be
considered an emergency, and covertly hoping they could get away without Red
discovering them and reminding her of her chores--and why she deserved them--in front of Buddy, who seemed not to have heard about the prank. Buddy thought it was a good idea; he liked getting started on things early. He even agreed to forgo his early morning jog just this once, so they could leave especially early (Patty was slightly chagrined at this, but wisely decided to leave well enough alone). They did have to let Rainbow in on their plans, however, in order to get a rainbow to take them to Earth. Buddy gave Rainbow the coordinates of the discolored lakes and Rainbow activated the belt, sending them down on a strong, fast moving band of color that set them down right in front of the first of the offending lakes. Before they left, Rainbow reminded them that the rainbow would fade after a certain amount of time without being replenished by Star Sprinkles, so they had a time limit if they wanted a quick ride home. "Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it, Rainbow," Patty assured her. When they set down in front of the lake, Patty whistled. "You weren't kidding, Buddy. That lake looks awful." The body of water was a sickly brownish-gray color, decidedly out of place in the healthy, colorful field that surrounded it.

Buddy tossed several blue Star Sprinkles into the water and shook his
head. "Still nothing, and these are those concentrated Star Sprinkles Shy Violet made for emergencies. They're twice the strength of a normal Sprinkle. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong. What do you think, Patty?" When she did not respond, he repeated, "Patty?"

"Huh?" Patty had been coloring some of the flora that grew near the
banks of the lake. The sound of her name startled her and a green Star Sprinkle slipped out of her hands and plopped into the water. "Oh, shoot!" she exclaimed, when she realized what she'd done. "I'm sorry, Buddy." She hoped Buddy wouldn't be as mad as Red was when he found his roses green.

But Buddy wasn't angry; he wasn't even looking at her. Instead, he was staring at the lake water in amazement. "Hey, look at that!" He pointed. Patty looked, expecting to see an unnatural spot of green in the gray water, and was
stunned to see instead that the area of the lake where she'd dropped the Star Sprinkle was now a vivid blue. "How did you do that, Patty?" Buddy asked, baffled. "How did you get the lake to turn blue by dropping in a green Star Sprinkle?"

Patty was puzzled for a moment, then an idea popped into her head. "I think I know." In experimentation, she dropped a few more green Star Sprinkles into the water. As she and Buddy watched, the area where the Sprinkles had fallen turned first green, then a deep blue. Now the all of the water by their bank of the lake was blue. "It's the algae, the green plants in the water," Patty told him. "They lost their color, and that's what made the lake lose its color. The algae can't live without the color, and the lake can't live without the algae."

"Wow, I never thought of that!" Buddy said. "No wonder the blue Star Sprinkles didn't work. It's a good thing you came along, Patty," he added, nodding at her
with respect. "I'd never have known if you hadn't dropped that green Star Sprinkle in by accident."

"Remember that next time you make a crack about my clumsiness," Patty
retorted, but with a smile.

"I will," Buddy answered. "Will you help me color the rest of the lake?"

"Sure!" Patty tossed several more green Star Sprinkles into the middle of the lake and watched the color change. Buddy then tossed in a few more blue Star Sprinkles for good measure. Soon the entire lake was a brilliant, sparkling cerulean.

Buddy smiled in satisfaction. "Great, that's one down. But we have a lot more to do."

As they visited the other lakes, they found that the same thing had happened; the green algae had lost its color and as a result, the lake's color had faded. "Boy, it's a good thing the plants and trees are looking good today," Patty said, as they finished the fifth lake. "These are the last of my green Star Sprinkles."

"I'm almost out, too," Buddy replied. "And we're almost out of time." He motioned
toward the rainbow, which, though still strong enough to carry them back to Rainbowland, was beginning to look spent.

"Well, we can come back tomorrow, right?" Patty asked, before she remembered that she was supposed to stay in Rainbowland to do her extra chores. "Or," she added, somewhat subdued, "you could just bring some green Star Sprinkles with you tomorrow."

"Nonsense," Buddy replied. "You have to come with me tomorrow. No use breaking up a winning team!" He grinned. "Rainbow won't mind--although I understand Red
might have something to say about it."

Patty was confused until she noticed the twinkle in his eyes. "So you did hear about the roses," she said, not bothering to hide her mischievous grin. "It was an accident, really."

Buddy burst out laughing. "Well, today I've gained a new respect for your little 'accidents,' as you put them, so how about we make a deal: you come back to Earth with me tomorrow, and I'll talk Red into letting you out of your chores for the day, okay?"

"Deal," Patty said. "Now let's get home, I'm getting hungry!"

Rainbow met them in front of the Castle, where the rainbow set them down. "There you are. So did you find out what happened to the lakes?" she asked.

"Sure did," Buddy said, exchanging a grin with Patty. "I found out it was something I
couldn't do alone."

Rainbow looked from one of them to the other, somewhat confused. "What do you
mean?"

Behind her, Red Butler came out of the Color Castle. "There you are, Patty--" he began, obviously in his I'm-the-leader-of-the-Color-Kids mode.

"Uh-oh! We'll tell you about it over dinner, Rainbow," Patty giggled, tugging on Buddy's arm and dragging him into the Castle before Red could finish his sentence.

Rainbow watched them go, amusement playing at her lips.

"Do you believe that Patty O'Green, Rainbow?" Red said huffily, stopping beside her. "She knew I put her on KP tonight, and instead she's off--"

"Doing her job, coloring the world," Rainbow interrupted mildly. "I heard what happened to your roses, Red, but don't you think you're taking her punishment a
little too far?"

Red's mouth opened, then shut again. Rainbow could see him struggling to rationalize his decision and what he'd been about to say, and tried not to smile. Then she gave up, grinned and took his arm. "Now, shall we eat?" Red was too surprised to reply.

THE END