#but it always makes Marcy's chest bloom with warmth

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

Raised in Amphibia AU Marcy has a very complicated relationship with Andrias. They love each other and see each other as father and daughter. He never yells at her, never raised a hand at her, yet she's so utterly terrified of him. She doesn't even know why she feels like this, but all she wants is to not lose his love and to make him proud, and feels like she's always in debt, always failing at earning her place, always desperately two steps behind, never quite pleasing him.

She gives up so much of herself to earn his love and approval... she keeps most of her less useful interests secret, she doesn't have any friends except for maybe Lady Olivia, she drops whatever she's doing, no matter how important, to go to her father when he calls her, she "forgets" about her feelings when they're inconvenient to him...

She used to wear her hair long because he liked it. He never pressured her to wear it like that, possibly didn't even notice the effects his words had on her, but he once said it's what's traditional for the Leviathan royal family, and that it looked good in her, and she was determined to keep hers as long as possible, until one day she can't handle all the stress and anxiety and she desperately cuts it all in her bedchambers. Now it's so short, barely reaching her jaw. She cried herself to sleep that night. Andrias didn't say anything about it, only that it looked nice, and Marcy feels her heart sink - she let it grow for years no matter how uncomfortable it was or how little she liked it for nothing.

[waybrights]

Uhhh, how about Sashannarcy saying goodnight to each other? Just, how would they each do it? Is that what you’re looking for?

HEHEHE YES IT WAS!!!! THANK U BROCK!!!

---

anne was usually the first to bed ('the only smart one,' sasha had called her one night with a wide awake marcy by her side, talking a million miles a minute). she would feel her eyes beginning to droop and heave a sigh, lifting her head from marcy's lap to give the two an apologetic smile. "it's getting late, darlings," she whispers each night without fail, "don't stay up too late today."

"we won't, annie!" sasha and marcy say in unison, matching grins on their faces as anne presses her lips to their foreheads.

"i hope not," she giggles. turning to marcy, she pushes her hair out of her eyes - that had never changed, no matter how old they got, or what happened, marcy's hair would always end up flopping into her eyes. "especially you, marbles," anne says gently. "you've got work tomorrow."

"don't worry, anna-banana! sashy won't let me stay up too late," marcy spins to face sasha, grabbing her hands and waving them, "will you sash?"

sasha snorts and gives anne a reassuring glance. "i've got her, annie, we'll join you in a bit," she pauses and allows a soft smile to take over her face, "i promise."

"if you're sure," anne yawns, walking backwards, refusing to take her eyes off her girls until her ankle hits the bottom step. only when sasha turns her attention back to marcy, listening so intently, does anne turn and make her way up the stairs, a warmth blooming in her chest.

-

marcy would be next, of course, it would take her another hour at least to finally wind down and let herself relax. her words, usually coming out so fast, would start to taper off, growing heavier as she pressed herself further into sasha's chest. "and... there's this..."

"hey, marbles?" sasha whispers, running a hand through marcy's hair (it had grown out since they were thirteen, now down to her shoulder blades. sasha had always liked marcy's hair, how it would always bounce when she moved, how marcy would let her card her fingers through it, separating all the clumps that had formed through the day). marcy shifts ever so slightly, turning her head to show shes listening. "i think it's time to go to bed."

"huh?" she hums, her brows furrowing against sasha's shirt. "what? nooo," she whines, arms wrapping around sasha's waist in protest. "i'm... i'm so awake sashy..."

"yeah?" sasha questions, pulling marcy into her lap, letting her curl up into her chest, "what were we just talking about then?"

marcy's quiet for a few moments and sasha begins to think she's fallen asleep, but then there's a small rumble from her lap and marcy curls her hands into the grey fabric of sasha's shirt. "mmm, it was... it was..." she trails off with a deep sigh, looking up at sasha, her brown eyes glazed over and full of exhaustion. "ghost stories from the 1860s," she finishes proudly, giving sasha a dopey grin.

"sure was, marbles," sasha giggles and presses her lips to marcy's forehead, just over the faint stain of anne's lipstick. "but we're still going up," before marcy can protest, sasha has one arm under marcy's knees and the other around her waist and is standing up. "besides, annie's waiting," she says quietly as they start their ascent to their bedroom.

"anne," marcy hums happily, clinging to sasha like a koala, not even letting go when they reach the bed. only when anne rolls over and with a tired arm tugs marcy's shirt, does she let go, allowing herself to be lowered to the mattress and immediately consumed by anne.

sasha's almost certain she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

-

being the last one to sleep had always been sasha's thing, even when they were twelve and sleeping over at anne's house, she would be the one to last the longest, staying up until she could hear anne's parents moving around outside the door. she would sit up until anne's mom would poke her head into the room and give her a sad smile, a quiet whisper of 'you can sleep now, sasha,' before rushing off to start breakfast.

sasha has always liked being the last one awake, watching over her friends like the protecter she'd been prophesied to be. the way she would sit with them, making sure that they were okay. any small frown that crossed their faces in their sleep, even just for a moment, would bring her to them, arms wrapping around them and whispering sweet nothings until that frown left.

now, though, she didn't have mrs boonchuy popping her head in to tell her to sleep, all she had was the beams of light poking through the curtains and the gentle murmurs of anne, telling her to rest. "c'mon sash," she hums, when the moon is starting its descent, "we're safe, you can rest."

and somehow, every time, that would be enough to bring sasha to the mattress, her head resting on anne's chest and hands wrapped in marcy's. sasha would lay there, finally letting her guard down. the warmth that came with her girls begins to fill her up and she gives up fighting sleep like she's done for so many years.

"night sash," anne whispers, her voice low and gentle.

"night annie," she replies with the last of her energy, curling into anne with content hum.

[arashikitten]

They Don’t Matter (Until they Do)

Anne had always been a creature of the heart. She cared too much, too easily, for people and things that didn’t really matter. When Anne loved someone, she loved them with her entire being, would put her life on the line for them at a moment's notice. When she cared about someone, she made sure the whole world knew it. When Anne loved someone, she would fight tooth and nail for them.

But that sort of devotion could be a double edged sword.

When someone rejected Anne or worse, betrayed her, it would shatter the girl. It would break her, hurt her in a way that Sasha had no idea how to fix. It would leave deep wounds, and although she would always be quick to forgive, the scars would linger, hidden beneath fake smiles and tight reassurances.

It scared Sasha a little bit, if she was to be honest. It scared her, because she knew firsthand how cruel the world could really be. How easily it would take Anne’s heart and tear it to shreds, how easily it would snuff out that bright smile and joyous laughter, how quickly it would take Anne’s kindness and warp it until there was nothing of the girl she loved her best friend left.

So, when she and Anne and Marcy had entered middle school, Sasha made a promise to herself. She would help Anne build walls around her heart, fortify that light and kindness so that the world couldn’t stomp it out. She would help her build shields, so that nothing good that entered could leave and take the girl’s heart with it, so that the horrors of the outside world couldn’t reach.

Sasha knew it would be difficult. She knew it would be painful, that Anne might not like some of what she did to ensure this outcome. But Sasha knew Anne would come around eventually, like she always did (she had to come around, because now that Sasha had that light in her life she couldn’t bear to go back to the darkness).

So she got to work.

It started off with some small things: convincing Anne to keep walking when someone dropped their book, getting her to brush off a rude remark, little things like that.

And Anne did it, even if she did seem to be slightly guilty afterwards. But that was fine. Of course, there would be some growing pains.

Anne would grow out of them soon enough (Anne’s light was dimming a little bit more every day).

Then, they started moving on to bigger things: spitballs, harmless little pranks, rejecting a confession. That was when Sasha started running into some issues.

Anne resisted these little attempts, reared back like a spooked horse. She was more unsure, less willing to comply, and Sasha was starting to get frustrated. Didn’t Anne see that this was for her own good? Didn’t she understand that this was necessary, that Sasha was doing her a favor? Why couldn’t she understand?

It came to a head one day during lunch. The three of them were sitting in their usual spot, Marcy was rambling about some new book while Anne listened, and Sasha scrolled through Instagram.

There was a sudden clatter on the other side of the cafeteria, followed by loud, obnoxious laughter.

Sasha, Marcy, and Anne all looked up.

One of the older jocks on the football team had smacked some kid’s lunch tray to the ground, along with the kid, and was laughing like he’d just made the best joke on the planet. The kid, one of the smaller sixth graders, looked absolutely mortified, freckled face a bright shade of red as the day’s lunch-meatloaf- dripped down his shirt.

Nothing too unusual, then.

Sasha was about to go back to scrolling through her phone when she heard the sound of a chair scraping across linoleum floors.

Anne had stood up, whole body tense as she watched the scene unfolding. Her mouth was set in a thin frown, and there was a low, simmering anger in her eyes, like she was five seconds from punching the jock in the face.

Panic began to settle in Sasha’s stomach. Since the beginning of the school year, she’d been fighting tooth and nail for a top spot in the social hierarchy. Being an underclassman made this task even more difficult than it already was, but she’d made some fairly decent headway. She’d even managed to bring Anne and Marcy with her, to an extent.

But if Anne got in a fight with that jock…

It was right down to the bottom. They weren’t high enough yet, they didn’t have enough standing to get away with something like that, and Sasha would not let all her hard work go to waste.

But she also couldn’t be too harsh with Anne: she was her best friend after all (and Sasha hated seeing Anne get upset, hated how it made something in her chest ache fiercely, like someone had reached into her chest and tore out her heart and lungs), and although Sasha had been making some progress with putting up Anne’s walls, the girl was still very sensitive when it came to her and Marcy. One wrong word, one lapse of control, and Anne would close up to her.

And Sasha could not, would not, allow that.

Anne was moving, and she didn’t have time to think of what to say, so she just did the first thing that came to mind.

She grabbed Anne’s arm (she tried desperately to ignore the warmth that bloomed in her chest at the contact, or the way electricity seemed to spark where her skin touched Anne’s).

“Anne, wait. Think about this.” The brunette stopped in her tracks, looking down with confusion (Sasha shoved down the warm fluttering sensation in her chest when she looked at her), her head cocked ever-so-slightly to the left. Sasha had her full attention.

“We don’t want to get in trouble, right? What if a teacher comes along and sees you getting in a fight with the star quarterback?” Anne paused, looking even more confused.

“Uhmm… we… both?... get in trouble?”

“No, YOU get in trouble. The quarterback gets off scot-free, because he’s the star of the team and the school doesn’t want to look bad. You, on the other hand, are an underclassman, and aren’t involved in any extracurriculars. If you get into a fight with that guy, it will do nothing. Besides, we don’t even know either of them. They don’t matter.”

Sasha knew she’d said something wrong when Anne’s face scrunched up, looking borderline offended. Crap.

“So-so what? We just… ignore them? Let this shit go down? Just because we don’t know them doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do something!”

Anne was getting really worked up now, and it was starting to draw attention. Shit.

“I don’t care if I get in trouble. I have to do something.” To Sasha’s alarm, Anne started to walk away. Toward the jock.

“Anne Boonchuy, don’t you dare!”

“Look, just because you don’t care about anyone besides yourself-“

Something inside her snapped. Anger, burning hot, filled her like lava from a volcano.

How dare she? How dare Anne say she didn’t care? Of course she cared, she wouldn’t be doing any of this if she didn’t. And yet Anne had the gall to take her kindness and call it nothing (a nasty little voice whispered that she was right, that Sasha was selfish and mean and Anne was right, because if she really cared about Anne, then she would’ve stopped when Anne asked her to).

“Anne. Boonchuy. You will sit down right. Now.”

“But-“

“END. OF. DISCUSSION.”

Anne flinched, eyes going wide. She was frozen, staring at Sasha with something that looked uncomfortably like fear.

Her eyes darted to the floor, all the fight leaving her, and to Sasha’s alarm Anne started to shake. When the girl finally spoke, it came as a whisper.

“...ok.” She sat down next to Sasha, but refused to look at her. Her shoulders were slumped, hunched over as if trying to look smaller. She was silent for the rest of lunch, unresponsive to Sasha’s attempts at conversation or even Marcy’s rants about some new show. When the bell rang for class, Anne stood up and left quietly, refusing to look at her. (It made her feel sick, that she’d been the one to do that. That she’d hurt Anne, that she’d done the one thing she promised she would prevent, because Anne fell in love easily, and that made it all to easy to break her heart)

It took three days for Anne to start talking to her again.

It took five days for her to smile at her again (even if it wasn’t a real smile, even if there was still that glimmer of fear in those dark brown eyes, it was better than nothing).

That’s what Sasha told herself

But something had changed. Anne didn’t smile as much anymore. She didn’t argue when Sasha made her do something. She didn’t speak up anymore, didn’t laugh as much.

She flinched whenever Sasha hugged her.

It’s for the best, Sasha told herself, even as that little blue light started to go out.

But is it really?

—————————————————————

They were upperclassmen now. 7th grade, at the top of the school, all thanks to Sasha’s hard work. The whole place was under her thumb, not even the teachers were willing to go up against her.

Best of all, she had Anne and Marcy by her side. They were together, they ruled the school, they watched out for each other.

And Anne…

Sasha watched as the curly-haired girl laughed at some dumb video Marcy was showing her.

It had taken a year or two, more than a few fights and tears and quiet apologies whispered in the dark night of a sleepover, but Sasha had managed to put up some walls around her friend's heart. People still came in, of course, and sometimes they were the wrong ones and when those ones left…

Well, Sasha had always been good at picking up the broken pieces.

But it didn’t happen as often anymore. Anne didn’t give many people the key to herself, and Sasha was careful to “test” the ones she did allow in.

If they failed that little test….

Well. It meant that Anne had more time for her.

And really, that was all Sasha wanted. She was at the top of the school, she had Marcy and Anne with her, and the three of them were happy.

Even if Marcy looked hurt every time Sasha brushed her off, even if Anne no longer smiled as much or as brightly as she did before, even if her only real friends were scared of her.

It didn’t matter.

They were safe, they were together, they were happy, and that was all that mattered to Sasha. They listened to her, they didn’t argue, they stayed with her, and she protected them, stayed with them, taught them who to like and what to wear and when to stand up for other people.

They were hers and she was theirs.

“Hey Sash, Check this out! Isn’t it the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?” Anne was shoving Marcy’s phone toward her, smiling like she was trying to outshine the sun. A video of a cat chittering like a dolphin was playing, not that Sasha really cared.

Still, she cooed over it for a moment to keep up appearances (Anne was watching her with the most adorable expression and it took everything in her not to burst into flames at the attention). The cat was fairly cute, and kinda reminded her of Domino, so it didn’t take too much effort to make her response believable.

After a moment or so, Anne turned back to Marcy, and Sasha could breathe for a moment, fight back the blush that was threatening to appear.

It wasn’t the first time she’d felt like this. Like her legs were turning to putty, like her heart was going to burst through her chest, like her face was about to burst into flame.

It wasn’t the first time Anne made her feel that way.

Sasha knew how to tell if someone had a crush: most of the kids here had all the subtlety of a brick to the face when it came to things like that, and Sasha had always been good at reading people. And this, this strange reaction to Anne, this desire to snap at anyone who got too close or God forbid, tried to flirt with her girl…

Sasha was falling, and she was falling fast.

And it scared her.

It scared her because somehow, Anne had gotten past all her defenses, had managed to find the most vulnerable and heavily guarded part of her and that was dangerous. It meant that she was vulnerable, that Anne could take control and even though she knew the brunette would never intentionally hurt someone, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t do so unintentionally.

And Sasha couldn’t let that happen.

She had to be strong, had to be on guard at all times because if she wasn’t, they’d be eaten alive, and Sasha might be able to make it out to the other side but Marcy and Anne would get torn apart. And if Anne broke her heart, even accidentally…

The consequences would be dire.

The school bell rang, loud and shrill in her ears, followed by the sounds of her girls getting up to go to class.

“See you in Math class!”

“I’ll see you too.”

Sasha watched as Anne disappeared from view, bright pink backpack slung halfway over her left shoulder.

She needed to fix this. Needed to seal up those little cracks, add more defenses, make it so that the fortress that surrounded her heart became completely impenetrable. She couldn’t afford to let anyone in.

But… could she afford to lose the closest friend she had? Could she afford to shove away the only bright spot in her life?

Could she afford to hurt the person she spent so long trying to protect? Would she have to break the one person she really cared about? Would she have to watch as Anne cried, would she even be able to bring herself to extinguish that light and watch Anne’s smile go out?

It wouldn’t be the first time you hurt her. That’s all you ever do, after all.

But if Anne left, or god forbid, turned against her, then there’d be nothing of herself left. All those walls, those defenses that she’d spent years building up, they would be little more than paper in the face of such betrayal. Sasha would break, would finally buckle under the weight of the lonely sky.

Anne had attached herself to Sasha’s heart, and for once, she didn’t have any control. The blonde was spiraling, even as she made her way to class and sat down, too lost in her own thoughts to hear the teacher give a lecture. Anne was too close, tied too strongly to all her defenses for Sasha to be able to remove her without some serious damage. Anne had wormed her way into the older girl’s heart, and had made a home for herself there.

Sasha couldn’t make her leave.

But….

Suddenly, a smile curled it’s way onto her lips.

Maybe Sasha couldn’t make her leave. Maybe she couldn’t force her out.

Maybe, she needed to do the opposite.

Something in her chest lightened at the idea. Warmth, a burning flame licked through her veins, a roaring wildfire that sang in her blood all it’s joy, it’s pleasure.

Anne was already in her heart, right? So maybe, all Sasha needed to do was make sure she couldn’t leave.

After all, as long as Anne was by her side….

Nothing else mattered.

————————————————

Sasha had never been a creature of the heart. Back home, back on earth, Sasha had always been the trio’s main line of defense: she’d been the muscle, the one who shielded them from rumors and bullies, who’d climbed to the top of the social ladder to ensure they didn’t have to. In order to accomplish this, she’d had to give up a great many things: she couldn’t afford to sympathize with every kid who got pushed around, couldn’t stop and help every time she saw someone in trouble. If she wanted to be on top, then it meant cutting certain people off, it meant being cruel when necessary.

Sasha couldn’t afford to be a creature of the heart.

Not back in school, and certainly not in this strange new world, where gigantic monsters were waiting to eat you at every corner.

When Sasha had first arrived in Amphibia, she’d been scared. She’d called out to Marcy, to Anne, and even though she considered herself atheist she found herself praying to whatever god would listen that her girls were alright.

Of course, all her shouting had drawn the attention of the local army of bipedal talking toads (because those were apparently a thing here), and she’d been taken prisoner and interrogated.

The toad who was currently doing the interrogating was a big, intimidating beast of a thing, with bumpy green-brown skin, and a scar over his right eye that went all the way from his brow (did toads even have eyebrows?) down to just a little past his mouth. That eye was glassy, a pale blue-white color that indicated blindness, while the other glowed a bright, acidic green. His wide mouth was set in a permanent grimace, and each of his fingers ended in a sharp, stubby claw.

Honestly, he reminded her a bit too much of a Disney villain for her to take him too seriously.

“I will not ask you a second time, creature. Who. Is. Your. Master?”

It took everything she had not to let her eyes roll out of her head.

“What am I supposed to say? Jesus? Look buddy, I don’t have a master. All I want is to find my friends and go home. That’s it. I really don’t get why that’s so hard to understand.”

Sasha waited for him to slam his fist against the table, to roar at her that she was lying, to show any of the usual anger.

She was very surprised when she heard the guy chuckle.

That couldn’t be good.

Grime (she was pretty sure that was what she heard the other toads call him) was smirking at her, all sharp edges and teeth, and her heart dropped into her gut.

Shit.

“So, the creature has accomplices. Tell me, were you planning on waiting for them to bail you out? Did you really think that would work?”

Sasha didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer, because that would set a dangerous precedent and run the risk of her accidentally revealing something this Grime character could use to hurt her girls.

And she couldn’t, wouldn’t let that happen.

Even though she’d hurt them plenty of times before, she’d hurt Anne plenty of times before this, and it was her fault they were even in danger in the first place, because she’d made Anne steal that stupid music box even though she clearly hadn’t wanted to, and at the time Sasha had told herself that she was doing the other girl a favor but looking back she was starting to realize that hadn’t really been the case at all

She’d make it up to them. She’d get them out of here, no matter what.

Nothing else mattered.

“I’ll give you one chance, beast. Tell me where your little friends are, and I’ll let you go no harm no foul. Refuse, well…” Grime grinned, although it came off as more of a threat display than an actual smile, “... Most toads can go for three weeks without food. I wonder if it’s the same for you?”

Oh, hell no.

“Go. To. Hell. Even if I knew where they were, which I don’t, I would never tell you. I know how assholes like you operate: besides, I will not put my girls in danger again.” Sasha snarled, putting on her best “you are nothing but the mud beneath my feet” glare she could muster.

Instead of the intended affect (Grime backing off), it only seemed to piss the old toad off. His good eye narrowed, and he growled (as in, actually growled. Like a dog).

“You say that now, beast, but I doubt that’ll be the case after a few days. PERCY!” A smaller, more yellowish toad stepped shakily out of the shadows with a squeak. The toad- what had Grime called him? Percy? Yeah, that was it- was shaking as he raised one hand in salute, sweating profusely. Grime turned to him, every step betraying anger.

“Watch over the prisoner, but do not engage. If it… says anything of note, report to me immediately. Bring it water, but not food. Make sure it does not escape. If I discover you have failed to do any one of these tasks…” The air went cold, oppressive as Grime trailed off. The Guard- Percy- was shaking like a leaf, eyes bulging as he stared at a spot on the wall over Grime’s shoulder. Honestly, Sasha couldn’t blame him: Grime might look and sound like a Disney villain, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t absolutely terrifying to everyone else. In fact, she almost found herself feeling bad for Percy. Sure, he might be on the opposite side, but Sasha could very easily see that this wasn’t the yellow toad’s thing.

“Do not fail me again, Percy. This is your last chance. Understood?”

“Y-Y-Yes, sir.”

“Good. And as for you, creature,” He turned to her, and despite all her bravado, Sasha felt a shiver of fear go down her spine, “You might act high and mighty now, but even the strongest of beasts can be broken. You will be no different. You will yield. No matter how long it takes. I will make you yield.”

The door slammed shut behind him.

It sounded like the blade of a guillotine.

Great. Now she was stuck here, with no friends and no way home, being threatened/tortured by a creepy anthropomorphic toad who also may be a warlord.

She needed to get out, that much Sasha knew. She had always been the defender of the three, the one to protect them from danger, except this time she wasn’t protecting them from rumors and bullies but massive, man-eating monstrosities that would tear her friends apart in a heartbeat.

She needed to escape.

“Okay, okay Percy, you can do this. You got an easy job, all things considered. This is fine. This is fine. You can do this. You can’t fail. You can’t.”

Sasha felt a small smile growing on her face. She might not be able to get through to Grime, but if she could get through to his soldiers….

“Hey, what did you say your name was again? Percy right?”

In the end, Sasha was able to learn a lot from lil’ ole Percy. She learned that the place she was at was called Toad tower. She learned that there was a small town of frogs maybe three miles from here (maybe that was where Anne and Marcy were?). She learned that Grime was the captain, that he and his army here at the tower ruled over the local frogs.

She learned little things too: Percy liked playing instruments, Bog was really good at some game called Flipwort (which seemed to be this world’s equivalent to chess), Grime really liked fruit flies, Braddock liked gardening, things like that.

Things that Sasha could use.

Really, her path ahead was simple. All she had to do was think of this like she had school: make people like you, say the right things at the right times, and soon enough, she’d rule this little army.

And once she ruled this place…

She could find Anne.

That was all that mattered, really. Not these toads, not this world.

Her girls were all that mattered.

Anne was all that mattered to her.

But Sasha wasn’t all that mattered to Anne.

Sasha wasn’t a creature of the heart.

But she could definitely pretend to be.

———————————————————-

Stupid. How had she been so stupid?

She knew, always knew, that Anne was soft. That she cared too much, too easily. That she got attached to things that shouldn’t matter, that wouldn’t matter to most people.

But then again, Anne wasn’t most people.

The night had started out well enough. She had gone to the neighboring town of Wartwood to catch the rebel Hopediah Plantar, and had been pleasantly surprised to see Anne was there as well (her heart had almost ripped itself from her chest at the sight of familiar bushy brown hair, covered in sticks and leaves and Sasha still wanted to run her fingers through it-).

Anne had been so excited to see her, and Sasha had felt the same way. Anne had come running to her, and Sasha had been ready and waiting. It had felt like fireworks had gone off in her head, like Anne’s laughter ringing in her ears for the first time in months was a victory song. Her warmth had felt like a blessing.

For a moment, nothing else mattered.

And then those little frogs showed up, and it all came crashing down.

Of course. Of course, Anne had gotten attached to the one frog that needed to die. Of course, Hopediah had been the one Anne had been adopted by, because the universe just seemed to hate her.

It made things… difficult. Sasha knew that Anne never wanted to hurt people. That she HATED hurting anyone, even if they didn’t matter in the slightest.

That she would never condone this, even if it was their ticket home.

So Sasha had attempted to be sneaky. She’d managed to separate Anne from the frogs, had gotten her up into her own little room (the thought made her blush. Focus, Waybright.), and they’d started talking, eating, enjoying themselves. Just like back home.

But Sasha knew it wouldn’t last. Eventually, Anne would find out. Eventually, there’d be a confrontation, an argument, and the truth would break Anne’s heart but better that than lose her to some monster or illness in this world far from home.

So, she had figured it would be better if she just. Told her the truth. Ripped the band-aid off, so to speak, because at least if she did it now she’d only have to deal with the shock and a little bit of horror, a little bit of resistance that she could easily snuff out even if a part of her hated the way Anne would shrink back, how that little fire in her eyes would sputter out in the face of those three words, how she always looked so scared of her and hurt and Sasha knew Anne’s heart was easily broken but this was a special kind of pain-. Much easier to deal with than the possible heartbreak of betrayal, than losing Anne forever.

Of course, she hadn’t taken into account just how much she’d changed.

Anne had freaked. Sasha had seen it in her eyes, even as she tried to put up that happy little mask of hers (Everyone thought Anne wore her heart on her sleeve, but Sasha knew better. She knew how good Anne was at hiding her hurt behind a false smile, how she hid her insecurities behind a joke or a laugh. Everyone thought Anne was one of the happiest people on earth. No one knew she was one of the loneliest too) and assure her that she was fine. She’d had the feeling that the brunette would try to warn the frogs, that she may try to help them escape, and lo and behold, she’d been right. They’d caught her and the frogs as they popped out of one of the sewer entrances.

But that was fine. Even if Anne had messed up a little bit, had made a misjudgment. Anne had always been compassionate, had always let her heart cloud her head a little. Besides, Sasha knew how her bestie worked. Hop-Pop had probably shown her some small kindness (He’d allowed Anne to stay at his house, if she remembered correctly), and Anne, in true fashion, had immediately latched on. It probably hadn’t helped that the girl had been pretty much alone in this strange new world, or that it had been a couple of months since they’d seen each other. That sort of attachment was to be expected.

As long as Anne realized who really mattered in the end, it would be fine.

But… that wasn’t what happened.

She’d miscalculated. She hadn’t realized how much Anne had changed, how much these… frogs had changed her only, they didn’t really change her, did they? They saw the real Anne, the Anne you shoved down.

You changed her, not them.

Not that it mattered.

Anne had never stood up to her before. She’d never looked her in the eye and said no, never turned her back on her, never turned that fire on her, and the few times she did, all it had taken were those three words she hated those words, hated hated hated them, and she would back down.

But it didn’t work this time. It didn’t work.

Sasha’s cheek stung, and she could feel the warm trickle of blood. Anne stood over her, sword three inches from her face and Sasha could feel her heart ache, could feel that numb disbelief and horror and realization because she’d lost. Lost the fight, their chance to go home, the respect of Grime and his troops-

But none of those things mattered.

None of them mattered.

Because she’d lost Anne too.

She could see it in how the other girl looked down at her, like she didn’t recognize one of her oldest friends, like she didn’t recognize the girl who had spent weeks making herself a shield to bullies and rumors and the cruelty of the outside world, like she didn’t recognize Sasha at all.

“It’s over, Sash. You don’t get to push me around anymore.” The nickname burned like a brand, emblazoned itself into her memories where it had once sent warm flutters in her chest. It hurt, sucked the air from her lungs in it’s strange familiarity twisted by months of pent up hurt and anger and regret.

She’d heard the frogs cheering, heard the pink one Anne had rushed to defend (she’d almost killed someone she’d almost killed him-) cheering her on as well, and then…

Then the ground starting to crumble away as the world exploded. She felt the stone below her give way, felt that brief moment of terror and looked up and saw-

Anne looked scared, eyes wide and worried as she pieced together what was about to happen-

Sasha called out as the floor vanished beneath her, and she saw horror in those brown eyes as gravity took it’s hold-

A warm, human hand gripped hers, and she was suspended in the air. Anne was hanging halfway over the edge, a panicked look in her eyes even as she tried to give her a reassuring smile, and even though they were about to fall to what would be their deaths, a small part of the blonde lifted because Anne caught her, Anne caught her and that meant she still cared-

Anne was slipping, their weight was too much. The tower was crumbling and they’d fall soon, there was no way Anne could lift them both up, and there was a rush of terror not for herself, but for the girl who still cared even after years of hurt and abuse on Sasha’s part because Anne deserved to go home, deserved to be happy, deserved to love someone better than Sasha could ever hope to be-

The frogs were there, pulling Anne from the edge. The polywog, the little pink one, Hop-pop - all of them were there, pulling Anne up and risking their lives -

They cared for her.

They cared for Anne.

They loved her enough to risk their lives, to pull her back -

“We’ve got you Anne! No matter what!!”

They were just frogs. They weren’t supposed to matter. They weren’t supposed to care.

But they did. They loved Anne enough to grab hold and refuse to let go, loved her enough that she was willing to risk her life for them, and they….

They treated her right. They allowed her to exist as herself, and they loved her for it. Anne was happy with them.

Anne…. was better with them than with her.

“Hey, Anne? Maybe you’re…. better off without me.”

Sasha wasn’t a creature of the heart.

But maybe, just this once, she could try.

After all, it didn’t matter in the end.

She didn’t matter.

But she did. Even if it was only to one person, one girl, who cried and broke under the weight of her disappearance as a family of frogs who weren’t meant to matter surrounded her in a hug, she still mattered.

They weren’t supposed to matter.

But they did

God this took wayyy too long. Anyways, here’s my Sasha character study because there aren‘t enough Amphibia fics and I am a fast reader.

[ninzied]

Hi, scintila for the prompt list?

scintila (n); a tiny, brilliant flash; a small thing; a barely visible trait

…

He’s the Punisher, and he’s not.

By day, he’s Pete. Works construction, comes home, reads a little. Meal preps for the rest of the week.

At night, he’s out on the streets again. He’s learned to share it, somewhat; on occasion, he even helps Nelson, Murdock & Page out with a case, if he and Matt are in the mood to compromise with one another.

It’s tense, and tenuous, but Karen can tell that Frank’s trying. And even though he’s still keeping a careful distance from her, she still gets to see him in some capacity, so it’s enough.

Of course, it’s not actually enough.

Tonight, it’s recon at a black-tie event. It’s being hosted by their person of interest – a crooked city official whom they’re trying to pin down for money laundering.

Foggy’s there with Marci already. Matt would’ve done it, but for whatever reason, he’d backed out last minute, and asked Frank to go in his place. White collar crime is really not Frank’s thing – the guy’s guilty, sure, but his main crime is greed, as far as they know. Nobody’s been hurt.

She’s taken aback when Frank tells her that he’ll pick her up at 8.

Karen’s waiting for him when she hears the door buzz. She presses the button to let him up, then wonders if she should’ve just gone to meet him downstairs instead. It’s not like this is a real date. She doesn’t need him to escort her.

“Hey,” he says when she opens the door. He doesn’t tend to say much else to her, lately.

“Hi.” She grabs her evening bag and her keys. Then she sees the flower in his hand – a single white rose, its petals still dewy and folding in toward the center.

“What’s this for?” she asks him, taking it delicately by the stem. Instinctively, without thinking about what she’s doing, she lifts it to her nose, and smiles.

His gaze has gone a little soft when she looks back up, and she realizes that maybe it’s been a while since she smiled at him, too. “That not what people do for this kind of thing?” he finally asks.

She fingers the petals and thinks about what they will look like in full bloom. “What kind of thing?”

“Saying I’m sorry.”

Everything seems to go still for a moment. Karen shakes her head and says, “You don’t have anything to—”

“Don’t,” he tells her, gently. “Course I do.”

Looking at him looking at her like that makes her feel a little lightheaded, so she busies herself with figuring out where to put the rose. She grabs a tall water glass from one of the cabinets, fills it up and sets it down on the counter edge that’s closest to them. There are better places for it to go, she thinks. But this way, it’ll always be the first thing she sees every time she comes home.

She’s putting on her jacket when his gaze loosens a little, sweeping over her for longer than he’s probably meant to before dropping down to stare very intently at the floor.

She sees his jaw tic – just a slight clench before it’s smoothing over again.

“You look, uh.” He doesn’t finish his sentence, but if that warmth spreading inside of her chest is anything to go by, she knows.

“So do you.” Karen takes a deep breath. “Seems a shame to waste it all on this party for what’s-his-face.”

He lets out a small chuckle, looking sideways at her. “That right?”

“I think Foggy and Marci could probably handle things on their own for one night,” she says. “What do you think?”

“Think we should give ‘em a shot,” says Frank, and when he holds out his arm, she takes it.