#she tries to talk marcy out of... whatever she’s planning to do but Marcy’s like ‘hhh sorry anne’

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

What happens in the season 2 finale of your role swap AU? Will Sasha tell Anne what she did to Marcy?

Oh. Oh oh anansjsjdjddj I have NO IDEA. I haven't thought that far ahead yet, I'm still stuck on early S2 in my head, in which Marcy is on the run with Grime, Percy and Braddock and she's trying to convince them not to be evil anymore. She wants them the four of them to find redemption by becoming like, robin hood esque heroes in the woods while she tries to find Anne and figure out a way to go back home. Percy and Braddock fully on board but Grime isn't so convinced. Marcy defeating Yunan with her wits alone does make him realize he's better off doing whatever she says so he doesn't get killed. It's humilliating but he's too depressed to care.

On the other hand, Sasha is traveling with the Plantars to Newtopia. Sprig and Polly LOVE HER now, especially Polly. They think she's just soooo cool. Hop Pop is very grateful because she defended the valley but... something about the way she talks about Marcy irks him. Not that he doesn't think Marcy was fucking up big bad back there, but Sasha keeps talking about her in a very weird way, like she's more annoyed that Marcy seemingly doesn't want Sasha to think for her anymore than the fact she almost got everyone killed. He tries to breach the subject but Sasha just shrugs it off and claims she didn't really mean that, that she loves Marcy, she just also happened to know what her weaknesses were and what the best way to stop her without physically hurting her would be. Hop Pop still thinks it's weird that Sasha made a training dummy in Marcy's likeness to beat up with her sword.

So... Sasha and Anne reunite in Newtopia and at first, everything is wonderful. Anne has had a lot of stuff to do in Newtopia and has grown a lot. I'll make a longer post on Anne later but she's a bit of a diplomat nowadays? She's kinda like Olivia's protegé, a little bit like a court lady. A very misbehaved court lady, but she has her heart in the right place, and Olivia is proud to see her on her little diplomatic missions all across Amphibia to help solve problems between different groups of people.

So she and Sasha catch up, and Sasha tells her everything about Marcy in the worst possible way. She tells her Marcy got them stranded there on purpose, that she tried to kill her new frog friends and that she ditched them for some terrorist toads. Anne is shocked - that doesn't sound like Marcy at all - but technically, Sasha isn't lying, and she subtly intimidates Anne into not questioning her. Then, she kinda plays the hero by saying that, despite everything Marcy has done, she still plans to save her from the toads and bring her back home.

They get reunited while doing the whole temple quests. Maybe Anne and Sasha tried their hand at the First Temple and failed, so now they're looking for Marcy to complete it for them. Sasha says it's the least she can do after everything she's done. Anne is feeling more and more uncomfortable with this with every minute.

So they find Marcy, who's 1) really happy to see Anne and 2) terrified to see Sasha, but then Sasha is suddenly acting so impossible nice and sweet and the other two feel so confused they kinda just go along with it. Anne has no idea what to think but when she tries to ask Marcy in private, Marcy basically tells her the same thing Sasha told her - that it's all her fault. But her attitude is so different from what Sasha described! Marcy is nervous and sad and desperate and not at all as malicious as Sasha painted her as. Anne is just happy to have her back, and Marcy is happy to have Anne too, so they agree that they'll find a way out of this world together. Worst part is, Sasha can't say anything when she sees them bond despite how angry she is, because they still need Marcy.

I suppose whatever happens in True Colors is the explosion of this whole ordeal. It's likely that Anne will find out about what Sasha did to Marcy and take Marcy's side.

[huntinglove]

Blind Date AU with Simon?

Hi hi!! Thank you so much for the ask!! I got really carried away with this one so it got a bit long, but I hope you'll enjoy it!! :DD

As the wind blew gently outside, Finn and Marceline sat around inside the treehouse, playing videogames on BMO to pass the time. After a silent moment, Marceline peeked over at Finn and spoke calmly.

"Who's that lady you've been hanging out with recently? I've never seen you go to the beach so often, aren't you scared of the ocean?"

Finn thought for a second, before realizing who the vampire was referring to.

"Oh! You mean Ocean Princess? She's kind of like my swim instructor! She's helping me get over that, actually..."

"Oh, cool!"

Silence coated the room once again, allowing the two to play yet another level of their game. Marceline's performance immediately flunked, making Finn curious.

"Are you alright, Marcy? You were kicking my butt just a second ago, but you're goofing up all over!"

The woman let go of her controller as she stuck her tongue out slightly, eyes avoiding Finn's as she thought about her next words.

"Listen... I think Simon has been a bit... Lonely recently. I think it'd do him some good to get back on the dating scene. But every time I bring it up with him he just ignores me!"

Tilting his head in confusion, Finn questioned Marceline.

"And what exactly does that have to do with OP?"

"Listen, you know I keep an eye on you and Jake when I have nothing else going on... I've seen the way she talks, how she acts, she seems fun! I think she would be a cool person to have Simon hang out with, y'know?"

The boy pouted slightly as he thought about the situation, eventually nodding along.

"Do you want me to talk to her about it? She told me she's crazy about romance and all that junk!"

"Nah, I have a different idea... I think we should set her and Simon to meet up instead! Like a blind date!"

"Oh yeah, Jake tried that for me after the stuff with Flame Princess... I met some pretty cool people, maybe it'd work!"

And so their minds were set. It took them days to come up with a good plan, Marceline being assisted by Princess Bubblegum and Finn writing down Jake's advice on a small notepad.

They'd meet up every now and then to discuss their ideas, trashing anything that could go wrong and keeping whatever else they could agree on. It was a complicated situation, it was hard to take Ocean Princess away from the shoreline, just as hard to get Simon out of the house.

Soon enough, they had the perfect plan. Now it was time to make it work.

Finn headed to the beach during the afternoon, being almost immediately greeted by Ocean Princess, sitting on the sand and admiring all the shells she had collected.

"Finn!! How have you been, I haven't seen you in a few weeks... Don't tell me you're giving up on your lessons!"

"No no, that's not it at all Princess! I'm actually having a bit of a... Different problem."

"Hm? What's wrong? I'll help you if I can!"

A knot formed on the boy's throat, nervousness spreading across his body. Finn never really learned how to be a good liar.

"Yeah, um... I've been dealing with something else instead... I'm super totally scared of lakes right now!"

With a squint, the royal approached the boy, watching as he fidgeted with the brim of his shirt. Soon after, Ocean Princess' expression changed into one of worry, placing her hand on Finn's shoulder.

"Oh dear, you're trembling and sweating just talking about it huh? That's okay, I'm sure I can help you with this! Do you know anywhere we can practice?"

"Yeah! I mean... Yeah. There's a lake in the woods, a few minutes away from here."

"Alright! Show me the way!"

And so Finn had concluded his part of the plan, bringing Ocean Princess to the spot Marceline chose for them to meet.

Earlier that day, Marceline was setting her half of the plan as well. She had been pestering Simon about an artifact that Bubblegum needed for an experiment.

"I told her I could do it but it didn't work out when I tried it on my own... Please help me out here!"

With a shake of his head and a tired sigh, Simon decided to entertain the situation. As he looked at Marceline with a raised brow and crossed arms, he questioned:

"And how am I supposed to help, exactly?"

Trying her best to hold back a smug smile, Marceline handed the man a book, written in a language she herself couldn't understand.

Weeks prior, she had asked Bubblegum to sneak into the Ocean Kingdom and take a book from the library, to catch Simon's attention.

"You understand a lot of stuff about magic, mythos and everything, right? Well, I can't make out a single word from this, and it's the incantation that needs to be cited to get the monster to hand over the artifact that PB needs!"

Simon gave her a suspicious look, adjusting his glasses as he ran his fingers through the pages of the book. The feeling of the pages gave him many memories of the days when he used to explore different temples and spend hours researching about his finds.

His eyes shifted down, analyzing the words on the yellowed out pages. With a defeated sigh and a nostalgic smile across his face, the man stuffed the book under his arm and got up, placing a hand on Marceline's shoulder.

"Alright, alright. I think I can help you out. Where do we need to go?"

Unable to hold back her smile, Marceline picked up Simon and began flying with him in her arms, trying her best to keep conversation going about her plan.

Once they arrived at the forest, Marceline lowered both of them close to the ground, allowing Simon to walk around and take in the scenery.

A large lake was what first caught his attention, the whole place was surrounded by tall and dark trees. Next to it, a large fallen log, centering two stumps, held a large basket, overflowing with food.

Trying to keep his composure, Simon walked up to the log "table", gripping the book tightly.

"What's.. All this for?"

Marceline shrugged, floating above the ground.

"An offering, I think monsters are easier to deal with if they're well fed!"

A small gulp could be heard as Simon tried his best to stay calm.

Soon enough,Marceline heard rustling coming from a few trees behind her. Quickly making her way over to Simon, she rushed over her explanation.

"Alright, I'm gonna hide on one of the trees so I can catch the monster once you say the incantation, okay? I'm counting on you!"

Before Simon could answer, the vampire had disappeared. Little did he know, Marceline had picked up Finn and sat him on a branch on one of the trees, talking over their plan as they watched the commotion below.

Ocean Princess continued walking, looking for the boy who ended up scurrying off before she could catch up to him.

"Where are you? Come on, I'm just trying to help!"

Simon froze for a split second, flipping through the pages of the book until he could find the one Marceline had marked out for him.

Soon enough, they caught sight of one another. The man was caught off guard by the sight of the being before him. Body, clothes and hair entirely made out of water, making her necklace, crown and glasses stand out. As he mumbled to himself, his voice came out louder than intended:

"You're... Not as creepy as I had imagined."

Being prepared for this to be some sort of trap, Simon read and re-read the incantation in his head. He remembered the pronounciation as clear as day, but the meaning of the words escaped him.

Meanwhile, Ocean Princess smiled patiently, confused as she calmly spoke.

"Hello! Have you seen a-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Simon read the words out loud, structured like a poem. Soon after, he shut his eyes tightly, putting one of his arms up, waiting for the worse.

After a moment of quietness, the man peeked back at the royal, confused as she simply stood still. Bewilderment clearly adorning her face as she blushed and slowly approached Simon, tears forming in her eyes.

"That was... Beautiful. That's one of the ancient love poems from Atlantis, isn't it?"

As Simon scrambled over his words, flipping the pages of the book to make sure he had read the right thing, Ocean Princess walked over to the table beside him, scanning the contents of the basket.

"You even brought my favorite food! Oh my, I just told one of my friends how I was craving some of these!! You're so sweet, thank you!!"

The woman hugged Simon, causing him to drop the book. Somehow, her body felt warm and soft. It made the man's heart race as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her as well.

A few moments later, they both sat down, as they talked.

"And that's why I'm here! I can't find my friend anywhere though... I really hope he's okay. His name is Finn... Do you know him?"

Realization struck Simon as he chuckled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know him. You have nothing to worry about, he'll be just fine."

A relieved look manifested itself on Ocean Princess' expression. She had never met Marceline before, so she had no idea about what was going on.

Meanwhile, Simon was begining to enjoy his little night out, grabbing things from the basket and setting them between him and the royal, pouring them drinks and getting them played of food.

Conversation flowed naturally between them, laughter and loving looks being shared between them as they spoke about their day and the romance book Simon had brought with him.

High above, on the branch where Finn and Marceline sat and watched, a small high-five could be heard.

[ysabellious]

was looking through old thumbnails of an idea for a confrontation about the calamity box at the volcano back in march :’))

clearly it didn’t happen like this lol, but I really liked these bits so I thought I’d share :D

[catholicdaredevil]

Friends to lovers with foggy?? Where the reader thinks he’s in love with Marcy???

i've been thinking about this one for days i'm so excited for it but nervous i'm not gonna do foggy justice but let's see this is if reader went to landman and zack with karen and foggy in season one also this one kinda got away from me and here we are almost a full fic so this is gonna be beyond a keep reading as well this is 1.5k words and a love letter for my boy foggy

foggy bear.

those two simple words and your stomach dropped out of your ass. he hadn't brought that up before, marcy. not like he owed you anything, he was allowed to have private aspects of his life. just because you told him everything didn't mean he had to do the same. whatever moments you'd have imagined must have been just that, imagined.

"foggy bear?" karen broke the silence and foggy blushed a deep red, looking to the floor in embarrassment.

"yeah me and marcy dated in law school, back when she still had a heart." dated. past tense, that was good. except that marcy was beautiful, stunning really, long blonde hair, perfect body. her qualities all things you lacked. or you felt you lacked.

so foggy had a type. it could have been ignored when it was just karen, but with marcy in the picture it was a definite type. blondes and blind assholes. you fit neither box.

so caught up in your head you hadn't noticed the way foggy broke off from karen to stay back, walking in pace with you out into the streets. hadn't noticed until he bumped into you with a small smile. "you okay? real quiet back here."

"oh, yeah uh just thinking. you did a really good job back there," your answering grin felt fake and you hoped he wouldn't be able to notice the way the smile didn't meet your eyes. you had to get over this crush once and for all at the very least for your friendship with the man, if not your sanity.

"yeah? gave her the ol' one two huh, what can i say, i'm a really good lawyer." he elbowed you again, insistent to get a reaction out of you. it worked. you laughed softly and his face lit up, it was genuine and you were thankful. you knew he wouldn't have stopped trying until he got you to laugh, it was just who foggy was.

he cared more than anyone else you'd ever met, that was probably a factor to your crush. he was easily the best person you'd ever met, always there for everyone in his life without a thought for himself. you'd sit in the office and end up staring at him and daydreaming, luckily not getting caught. yet.

unfortunately your good mood dipped, reminded of how pointless your crush was. it wouldn't make a difference, he would only see you as a friend. you would never have the courage to try for any differently, especially not now.

"what's next foggy?" karen called back and foggy frowned at the way you seemed to lose your good mood so quickly, but if you didn't wanna talk he wouldn't push. so he picked up the pace, giving you your privacy, and started planning with karen for the next step.

you listened absently, happy to hear them talk. karen was always onto something, she was so much smarter than she let on and you wouldn't be surprised by anything she might come up with. it took the entire walk through the city back to the office for you to be able to push your feelings down. you thought you were being convincing enough, always forgetting how observant the two others could be.

"hey," foggy reached out and grabbed your arm before you could walk in the front door, pulling you back out into the hallway outside the office. "what's wrong? if you don't want to say that's fine, let me know and i'll leave it alone, but i'm here."

your chest suddenly felt heavy, breathing no longer coming easily. the hitch must have been audible based on the look on foggy's face, nothing but concern etched into his features.

"it's nothing fog, really. just thinking about something," you tried your hardest to brush it off, to brush him off. but all of those feelings you'd spent the entire walk home pushing and shoving down begged to be let out. clawing at your self control, begging to tell foggy what it really was. maybe he'd understand, it was foggy after all.

"it's not nothing, if it's bugging you this much it's not nothing." the certainty dripped from each word, him taking so seriously whatever could possibly be wrong with you. "is this about marcy?"

fuck him. fuck his observant ass, fuck the way he knew you better than you knew yourself. fuck yourself for being too easy to read.

"why would it be about marcy?" you choked out, great that was believable. you couldn't even look at him, the shame burning across your skin.

"oh i don't know, maybe because you were in a good mood before marcy and now you're not?" how did he make it so easy, he made everything so easy. talking to him like breathing, it just felt natural for you to tell him everything. you wanted to tell him, so bad. too bad.

"it's nothing, it's fine," maybe if you said it enough times you could convince him and yourself. then again maybe not if the knot in your stomach was anything to go on, just this small of a lie to him making you feel sick.

"if you don't wanna tell me just say that, instead of lying." his tone shifted to annoyed, and the churning in your stomach picked up since apparently it could get worse.

"it's not- i don't- i'm-," shit. "i'm not lying, er- i'm not trying to lie to you foggy i just- it's not fair, you don't want to know trust me."

a groan tore from his throat and he scrubbed at his face, the sudden increase in stress radiating off him in waves. "but i do want to know, and don't i get to decide."

being matt's best friend for the past ten years at least, meant foggy was stubborn. too damn stubborn.

"it's you! you're the issue! or me? i'm the issue! we're the issue!" you couldn't understand where the words were coming from, spilling out of you before you could stop them. "i'm just in love with you okay? i'm in love with you, and it's killing me. because i'm not your type or whatever- not that you'd ever say that. no you're too nice to let me down. so instead i just get to watch you and wish to god that in some world you watch me back."

the outburst wound down until you were barely whispering, the fight gone as soon as it came.

"it's just not this world, and that sucks, and it's my fault. i need to get over it, over you."

the weight on your shoulders lifted, your entire body thankful for expelling the secret that had been tying you down for months. always one step away from dragging you under. it was over, at least now he knew. the silence stretched, and when it stretched beyond what you could take, you finally looked up to see him.

he looked crazy, somehow. eyebrows knitted together, eyes closed as he struggled to piece together the puzzle you'd just thrown at his feet. waiting expectantly, your feet frozen to the spot, you couldn't leave now. not until you knew, knew whatever it was he was gonna say.

"i'm sorry, wait, why am i apologizing? what do you mean, you're 'not my type'?" when he finally spoke it was low, he sounded hurt almost and it was all your fault. but this wasn't the point you expected him to make, the aspect of your speech you thought he'd get hung up on.

"i mean that i'm not someone you'd go for. i'm not pretty, not like karen or marcy. or blonde because apparently that's a recurring theme, i'm just-" large warm hands grabbed the sides of your face as foggy slammed his mouth into yours. time felt like it slowed down, like you were moving through honey as you reached out to wind your own arms around his neck, kissed him back with fervor.

foggy kissed like you were in a movie. like the music was swelling, like your foot was popping, the audience cheering, like your whole lives had been leading up to this moment. this kiss. it was dizzying being on the receiving end of that kind of passion.

"that's the stupidest thing i've ever heard, and i hang out with matt. regularly." he spoke between kisses, his hands never wavering from their position, framing your face. you couldn't help but laugh at his words.

that was foggy, he was always so good at this. at breaking the tension, making you laugh when you'd been on the verge of crying. "it can't, can't possibly be the stupidest thing you've ever heard."

"it is!" foggy insisted, one hand traveling down the side of you until it wrapped around your waist. "the fact that you think i haven't been watching you too. that i wasn't so annoyingly head over heels for you that everyone but you saw."

"are you guys finished out there? we still have a case to win." karen called from her desk inside the office, your cheeks flooded with head and foggy laughed. he leaned back in to kiss you again, pressing all of the love he'd built up and held onto into it.

"go to dinner with me." his eyes met yours and the child-like joy he expressed made you feel lightheaded. "please? say yes."

"yes, obviously yes!" foggy pumped his fist, and cheered. you laughed and leaned forward to rest your forehead against his shoulder and he pulled you into the tightest hug imaginable.

[discet]

If you dont mind me asking how would the post timeskip trio and the AWIW! trio meeting look like?

So obviously there is some like, more serious future talk, "Hey, Andrias is evil and planning on genocidal conquest, don't trust him" / "theirs an evil hivemind AI in the basement of the castle" and things of that nature, but I'd rather focus on the dynamics.

au!Marcy/ts!Marcy: au!Marcy immediatly commits to growing her hair out seeing how it looks on her future counterpart, ditto on piercing her ears.. They exchange stories and au!Marcy is psyched to hear about the webcomic and they spends a good amount of time reading through it. Cause how often do you get to read something that is literally exactly your taste? On a more serious note when they have some time alone they share their relative traumas from Amphibia, with Andrias's betrayel and Marcy's fight on Toad Tower, and ts!Marcy comforts her younger counterpart about it.

au!Marcy/ts!Anne: at first Marcy is really nervous cause WOW Anne grew up to be even prettier and that's kind of intimidating. However once Marcy opens up about Wartwood and the Plantars the two are just absolutely vibing. Anne loves hearing about how the Plantars are doing in this version of things and thanks Marcy for looking out for being there for Sprig. She is slightly disappointed in Marcy for not pushing Sprivy harder. Definitely gets a little awkward when it comes up that au!Anne and au!Marcy were dating.

au!Marcy/ts!Sasha: Pretty casual at first. Marcy is also nervous with Sasha cause she's a little lesbian disaster, but Sasha pushes past it, employing her experience as a child psychologist to put Marcy at ease. Sasha preemptively apologizes for whatever her counterpart has done on their adventure. As Marcy talks about her happy home life with the Plantars like its a new thing, Sasha starts to key in on Marcy's neglect situation and tries to figure out a way for the two of them to talk about it in more depth later.

au!Anne/ts!Anne: au!Anne is shocked that her older self found a career in the sciences and is inspired by that fact. ts!Anne is shocked by the news that au!Anne figured out her sexuality so much earlier than herself. I think what au!Anne is most concerned with is is a) ts! experienced the same or similar betrayals as au!Anne did and b) how she learned to forgive Marcy and Sasha. c) how she dealt with feeling homesick. ts!Anne gives the best advice she can, obviously sympathetic.

au!Anne/ts!Marcy: Anne is surprised by how confident and cool Marcy is in the future, but overall things are a bit awkward considering they don't have a lot of common ground to work from and with what just went down in Reunion.

au!Anne/ts!Sasha: Anne is surprised by how mellowed out this Sasha is in the future and wonders how things went in Amphibia between ts!Anne and ts!Sasha. Sasha barks a laugh and says it went pretty bad until she hit emotional rock bottom, but that they were able to patch things up alright in the end.

au!Sasha/ts!Sasha: ts! has literally dreamed about this scenario her entire career and sets about trying to help her younger self. It goes about as well as you might expect but she had to try. After that when the topic of Grime comes up ts! is pretty frustrated when its clear no one bonded with the old toad. But hearing what happened to Anne and Marcy respectively can't really blame them. She takes solace that her Grime ended up in a better place.

au!Sasha/ts!Marcy: real fucking wary after her run in with au!Marcy in reunion. Doesn't trust the quirky nerd as far as she can throw them.

au!Sasha/ts!Anne: again, kind of awkward, but Anne is kind of relieved to see a version of Sasha without the scar she gave them.

[waybrights]

Okay okay okay I wish you would write another scene for the Runaway au. It can be angst or fluff or whatever but more Sasha and Marcy please :)

hehehe giving me the choice between angst and fluff could only result in hurt w a sprinkle of comfort at the end <333 anyways!!! runaways au my beloved!!! (also once again this is unedited but i rlly enjoyed writing this so i dont think there are a ton of mistakes hehe)

stupid. they were so, so, fucking stupid.

sasha didn't even know why she agreed, it had seemed like such a great idea at the time, standing next to the swing set, their swing set, marcy's shaking hands in hers, words tumbling out, a promise of safety and freedom if they just followed her plan, it had been everything sasha had ever wished for. she should've known it would go wrong as soon as she squeezed marcy's hand, nodding and giggling as they raced to their houses, only to find each other not even ten minutes later with bags slung over their shoulders, emptied of their textbooks and pens, now full of money and spare clothes.

running away had always been sasha's plan, whether it would happen when she was thirteen or twenty, she was going to run, run from her parents, from school, from everyone in church, their looks of poorly disguised disgust burning the back of her neck as she stood, hands clasps together, praying, just praying to feel normal, for once, whatever her reason, her excuse, it was her plan.

oh it all seemed to immature now.

now that marcy was sick (riddled with a fever and dizziness that meant she couldn't stand by herself) and they had nowhere to go, having to sit in the cold alley, hiding behind trash cans and stray shopping carts, all she wanted was to do what they used to, run over to anne's house and sleep over, lies pouring out of the pair just so they could stay for an extra day. but she couldn't, anne was all the way in california, over 500 miles away, whilst sasha was curled in a dingy alley, marcy's head in her lap as she tried to get her friends fever down.

it was almost comedic, how she'd gone from having a perfect life, a house and a life, to hiding behind a shitty food chain, clinging to marcy and wearing clothes she hadn't taken off in a week. a tiny laugh bubbled out of her at the thought, oh how her parents would love this, the movement of her stomach causing marcy to whimper, tightening her hold on sasha's sweater. the smile slipped off sasha's face and she placed the back of her hand to her friend's sweaty forehead, trying to keep the worry off her face as she felt the heat radiating off her.

"we have to get help soon, marbles," sasha whispered, her voice hoarse with disuse and lack of water. "we can't stay here."

marcy shifted again, blinking her eyes open and turning her head to look up at sasha. her brown eyes were glossy, but the fear was written clear as day. "no, no we can't," she replied, her words slow, "we don' have money, an' they'll jus' send us home."

sasha shook her head, bending down to press her forehead to marcy's. "you're hurt, i can't just let you stay like this," she mumbled, a lump catching in her throat. "mars you're only getting worse, you need help-"

"call anne," marcy hummed, sounding firmer than she had in a while. "or her parents, jus'... jus' no hospital..."

"are you sure? we're so far-"

"yeah," marcy nodded, the movement more of a jerk than a smooth nod. "i miss her," she added, a tiny smile appearing on her face, her eyes growing even more distant as she was sucked into a memory sasha would never know. (she tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her heart at that, of course marcy would miss anne, even after she let them go by this with out her, she just let them leave, even after all that marcy would always, always, miss anne more.)

"okay," sasha mumbled, her hands fumbling blindly for the shitty burner they'd bought a few days prior. "okay but, you have to stay awake, yeah? so you can talk to her."

"oh yeah, yeah i'll..." a shuddering breath, "i'll stay awake."

"cool," sasha replied, her attention only half on the number she was dialing - maybe if this was another time, she would be embarrassed she knew anne's number off by heart, but she didn't have time to be embarrassed, not when marcy was getting worse.

the plastic was cold against sasha's cheek, a sharp contrast to the heat on her torso and other hand, yet she couldn't even focus on that, not when the phone was ringing, once... twice... three times, with no answer. maybe anne was smart, and decided it was best to not pick up a call from a random number, after all it could always be a scam (she felt like a scam as she sat there, hair falling in matted clumps over her face and only just holding in her cries of despair).

by the fifth ring, sasha had all but given up. just as she was about to pull the phone away from her face, the ringing stopped and sasha's heart wasn't far behind. "hello?" anne's voice crackled through the phone's shitty speaker. "is anyone there?"

sasha gulped, slowly bringing the phone back to her ear, her eyes stinging as anne's voice reverberated through her head. "hellooo?" she called again and sasha could just see her face. the way her nose would wrinkle whenever one of those spam calls would come through, the roll of her eyes when someone would ask about her cars extended warranty, how a hand would come up to push her bangs out her face in annoyance. "look, i'm really sorry but i think you might have the wrong numbe-"

"annie?" sasha choked out, the name clawing out of her like a monster that had been kept in it's cage for too long.

"... sasha?" anne asked, her voice quiet, gentle, like she was talking to a feral animal. (and maybe she was.)

biting her lip to hold in her sobs, sasha took a deep breath, trying to gather her scrambled thoughts. it didn't help that marcy was weakly tapping her thigh, humming along, a song sasha vaguely recognised starting to float through the alley.

"sasha? sash is that you?"

"annie? we need help-"

[mythicandco]

No one asked me to write this but fuck it I’m writing it anyways

Tendrils of blue still clinging to her hair, Anne’s eyes darted from where her friends were fighting to the now-revealed staircase into the dark. 

“Find Sasha and Marcy!” Yunan yelled, swiping at a toad robot and slicing it cleanly in half. Toadbot? Automatoad? “We can’t hold them off for much longer!” 

But Anne couldn’t move. Her lungs stopped working, and everything blurred for a few moments. Then she was running - down the steps, almost tripping over herself, her hair glowing more than it was before to illuminate the way. 

She stopped, panting for breath, at the bottom of the staircase. She could hear her own heart hammering in her chest, pounding through her brain, making everything spin. It was dark, even with a blue glow surrounding her. 

Blue light meets pink and Anne picks up the small piece of coral-shaped rock Sasha used... back before they knew about Andrias’ plans, or Marcy’s secrets, or anything, really. It made her guitar louder, if Anne remembers correctly.

It’s no big deal, yeah, no big deal~!

It’s almost a laughable memory, except it’s Anne’s last pleasant one involving her gir friends. 

(That was a typo. “G” and “F” are very close to each other on the keyboard, and I mixed up the “R” and the “I” in “friends”.)

That’s when she hears the sobs. 

A nondescript lump on the floor, wrapped in a tattered, dark red cloak. Her blonde hair has been messily cut to more than half it’s length, and a green hair pin is clearly visible even though her face isn’t. 

“...Sasha?” 

Anne takes a step forward, suddenly aware of how loud her footsteps are. She’s... never seen Sasha cry like this before. 

“I can’t do anything, Anne.” It’s mixed with tears, and her voice sounds so hoarse, so dry, like she’s been screaming yelling at something. “I’m absolutely useless.” 

The girl was suddenly aware of how cold the room was, the clamminess clinging to her skin like cobwebs, the smooth, frigidness of the floor she could feel even through her sneakers. Sasha looked up at her, bleeding from her nose and the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face was red. She’d been crying for a while. 

“Sasha, what happened?” Anne’s voice was louder than she thought it’d be. She inhaled and tried again, quieter this time. “Where’s Marcy?” 

A bitter, dry laugh escaped Sasha’s throat, tears brimming in her eyes again. They seemed to flicker reddish-pink for a second, but Anne realized it was just the rock-coral guitar thing she was holding in her hand. It was warm, and rough, but also weirdly smooth where the edges cut clearly into little geometric angles in her palm. She squeezed it tightly, aware of her knuckles turning white. Anne’s ears started ringing and her heartbeat increased. 

“She’s gone. It’s hopeless,” the blonde somehow sank lower to the floor without straight-up laying down and pressing her face into it. She looked just about ready to dig herself a hole and never come out, with her hair a mess and the gleam in her eyes a desperate hysteria. 

And then Anne is aware of how everything smells - like burnt flesh, and blood, and salt, and... mint-chocolate chip ice cream? 

A dim orange glow appears behind Sasha. The blonde either doesn’t notice or has given up and doesn’t care. Interweaving wires and tubes appear around the walls of the room, and Anne’s stomach flips upside down. She’s pretty sure her lungs stop working again, too. 

The glow intensifies, and finally the silhouette of someone appears, sitting on a throne with tubes connected to it like puppet strings to a lifeless doll. Anne freezes, the chill of the room reaching her bones. She can’t move. 

For real this time. 

Eyes - too many eyes, TOO MANY EYES - open, one after the other, only serving to make the silhouette more defined. It’s face is illuminated just enough to make out human features - however everything above it’s mouth is covered in a shiny, dome-like helmet. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

NO.

Anne finally understands why Sasha - the bravest, strongest, most ruthless, apathetic person she knows - is a sobbing mess on the floor. 

“So you’re the Heart. Marcy had such fond memories of you.” 

And then there are more eyes, but these are in the wrong place because Marcy doesn’t have that many eyes and they were never that color but

THIS ISN’T MARCY ANYMORE.

Anne chokes on whatever she was going to say. Green flashes in her vision, and then blue. Blue, the color of sadness and the hottest of fires. Blue, the only color Anne can feel. 

There’s a shout, which is probably Sasha, but all Anne can see are those glowing orange eyes and that smile that doesn’t belong here, it belongs back home where they were all safe and in love, a smile that should never in a million years be attached to this thing that isn’t Marcy. 

“Go ahead.”

Something slams into her, and Anne and Sasha go sprawling across the floor. 

“What are you doing?” the blonde screams right in Anne’s ear, and she winces. A laugh that isn’t either of the girl’s (but sounds just a bit too familiar) booms across the space. 

“Cute, but really. Neither of you would let the other harm this precious human body.”

Anne looks into Sasha’s wide eyes and knows that’s true. She stands up and wobbly legs, and reaches out to help the other girl to her feet. Sasha stares up at her, but accepts the help. 

“What did you do to her?” Anne says, her voice sounding a lot closer to tears than she thought it would. There are wet lines on her face - when did she start crying? 

When did she stop crying?

“Exactly what it’s intended purpose was. Andrias was, admittedly... more excited and caught in the heat of the moment than he should’ve been, but this vessel has been far more useful than anticipated.” 

It’s Sasha’s turn to shout. “Give her back!” 

Anne hears the echo of her own words in her friend’s voice more than she hears just how hollow Sasha sounds, like she’s just talking normally with the volume turned way up. 

The thing inside of Marcy tilts it’s head at the girls, the cheeky smile gone in an instant. 

“I’ve waited for this for hundreds of thousands of years. I’m certainly not going to give it up just because you want me to.” 

Anne feels blue again, and this time is too fast for Sasha to stop her. A loud crack breaks the stifling, suffocating cold of the room and the orange eyes stop glowing. 

The room goes dark. A heartbeat passes. 

A scream - if that’s even the right word to describe it - goes off, and the whole room shakes. Anne swears she’s bleeding from her ears as she claps her hands over them in an ultimately useless attempt to block out the sound of a million smoke detectors going off and a thousand microwaves exploding. 

As soon as it starts, it stops. Sasha lets out a groan, and Anne’s hands curl into fists against the ground. When did she crumple to the floor? 

The room is one again illuminated only by Anne’s receding blue flames and the partially-crushed rock-coral in her hand. 

“Anne...” 

It’s not Sasha’s voice. 

The helmet is cracked, and it’s wearer is bleeding from a gash above their eye. Anne can’t really see anything from her angle, but it’s forcing Marcy to keep one of their eyes closed in order to prevent the blood from pouring into it. 

Anne hopes beyond hope, and fears beyond fear. Her voice is small, so quiet she can barely hear it in the dead silent room. 

“...Marcy?” 

[borkthemork]

Drabble Request: Anne and Marcy after her rescue

You know what, Anon? You get a 2,600 word draft as a treat. Thank you for your patience!

-----

Anne had read books before.

She wasn't the kind of person to read long-winding literature like the typical bookworms back home, but she did read whatever interested her. From magazines to comics to zoo books about bird mating dances, Anne liked stuff that had meat to it.

Give her enemies to lovers, she'd cheer at the makeouts. Give her gut wrenching biographies about surviving the Himalayas, she'd bawl her eyes out. And if one gave her story about being one's true self under the guise and acceptance of a duck instructor then she'd quack it up and never be heard from again.

There needed to be meat, drama, scenes of people kissing in the rain. Stories were all about getting punched in the gut over some random guy, and that would always be the best part!

So she had no idea why Cynthia Coven never stood out to her.

It might be because of the choppy writing style or perhaps fantasy wasn't her thing, but that didn't make sense to her. After all, she'd read anything as long as it was interesting and somehow the Coven books just…didn't stick?

Sure, Cynthia had a pet squirrel. Anne could find a squirrel at the park anytime. Cynthia had spells, curses, people with talking body parts that shouldn't be talking at all. Okay, cool — ugh, why wasn't she interested? Everything about it seemed right up her alley!

She chalked it up to preferences and moved on. 

But somehow, after all these years, the same book fluttered between the pages in her hands. And she found herself narrating, speaking the paragraphs out loud under the green canvas of her tent. 

All because the bedridden girl beside her couldn't sleep. 

It had been forty-six hours since Anne and the girls united. It felt a lot longer than that, if she wanted to be honest, but all the footing, fighting, and planning they did to get out unharmed from Andrias's castle had taken a toll on them. And for Mar-mar even more so, what with the amount of stuff that went down. A lot of explosions. Crying. Frog-on-frog violence.

So in this tent came privacy. Not enough privacy to basically stop Sprig or Sasha from barging in, but the makeshift walls were one of the most protected cliff faces inside the forests. So they were basically between a rock and a hard place.

And since Amphibia's nature became a hazard to not only the typical frog but aggro robot intruders, nothing got through as a threat in the end. Not even the huge mother frobo that she and Sash fought days prior.

Anne flipped a page.

The cold draft had slipped in and raised goosebumps on her umber skin. It almost seemed surreal that Summer started to transition out with the months passing, but the chirp of birds and the lack of cicada song had marked a new season, and now Anne shivered slightly with her narration.

Marcy's wounds needed to heal. From the remains of the stab wound to the headache to the numerous nicks upon her feet, if she didn't start sleeping then the medicine Maddie gave wouldn't come into effect anytime soon.

And if she didn't snore in the next ten minutes, Sash would have to knock her out with some sleepshroom grub saute and Anne wasn't going to let her get drugged anytime soon.

But from what was currently happening, Anne became unsure.

Marcy's eyes fluttered shut a few times. She would start drifting off at some random part in the story and then jolted back to listening intently as if nothing had happened. Nothing in the book could get her to sleep. Not Cynthia's introduction to werebeasts, her dramatic one-liners, or how she got knocked out for a minute straight from drinking a pint of Canadian beer.

Wait, could teens drink beer in Canada? Gah, that wasn't important!

What was important was that Marcy looked dead — terrifyingly dead — and no matter how much Anne tried to keep her eyes on the words, the fear clung to the recesses of her mind, asking if everything was going to be alright despite the girls' current luck streak.

That maybe this would be the last time she'd ever see Marcy alive. All because she fell asleep.

Anne leveled her voice when these thoughts struck her, and hoped Marcy didn't note the hitch in her throat or how she blinked faster to catch herself from crying.

Because Marcy was strong. She was stronger than people gave her credit for.

Anne peered down. Marcy's thumb had pressed to the side of Anne's fingers, their eyes meeting for a second; one harbored bags under her eyes, the other of worry.

"I promise I'll sleep." Her smile reached her gaze, the weariness plain on her worn out dimples and ashen cheeks. Anne might need a washcloth later. "It's been a long time since I've read the Cynthia Coven series, my brain can't help but pay attention."

"I know, Mar-mar." Anne closed her eyes for a second and let out a relaxed sigh. "Seven months can be pretty long."

"Tell me about it." Marcy's eyes lingered at the ceiling, licking her lips. "I've been so busy with everything that's been happening that I've barely caught up with the latest book."

"Yeah." Anne smiled. "You know they've got a new release out?"

She blinked. Almost as if Anne punched her in the face at that moment. "Are you serious? Aw man, I missed so much."

"Hey, it's alright. It'll be waiting for you when we get back." Besides, Anne already wrapped the edition in a lot of Christmas paper, might as well keep the surprise.

But Marcy still looked miserable. She pouted,  letting her sink more into the mattress almost comically, and Anne bit back a laugh when she groaned. "Oh man, I'm so excited, this sucks! At least tell me if Cynthia gets over the Bridge of Quintessence."

"I don't know what that means and besides, you're two books behind, why would you wanna spoil it!"

They shared a laugh and carried on. Anne missed this. She did. In between the page clips and the eagerness flowing in Marcy's voice, it almost seemed like they were back to what they once were: Two girls laughing and making fun of bad jokes, giggling at stuff that didn't make sense in the story. It almost made the worries over Andrias and her parents grow into background noise.

Almost.

Anne perked up. A question had flown past her, and now Marcy stared at her, inquiry clear in her eyes. "Oh, sorry, I zoned out a bit. What'd you say, Marbles?"

"I'm curious, Annarama."

"Curious about what?"

Marcy's eyes traveled over her shoulder for a second. Was it the fatigue? Judging from how she fiddled with her fingers, the question must've been something serious, maybe something about Andrias or what happened back in the castle.

Whatever it was, Anne readied herself as she waited.

And then:

"Is that mine?"

Anne blinked. She ogled her book, then at the bedside table with its medicinal herbs, then the Thai Go logo printed fresh on her shirt. "What's yours?"

She pointed to Anne's waist.

When Anne looked down, the realization struck her like a bat. Under the filtered sunlight, she almost forgot that the yellow jacket around her waist was there to begin with, snug and tight in that hard knot Anne tied everytime she stepped out of the house.

And somehow, it remained clean from countless dimensional hops and Super Saiyan power-ups. And now it was here. Being scrutinized by her and the girl opposite her.

With that, she started to sweat.

Right, that.

A nervous laugh burst out from her mouth, making Marcy stare at her more out of concern.

How was she going to explain that?

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" She rubbed her neck, trying her best to pick out the right reasons in her mind, but nothing stuck out to her. "It's a funny story actually, so funny that you'll probably forget in the morning so why not another time?"

A smile formed. "I don't know, Anne." Her eyes scrunched up too in pleasure, pressing her thumb against Anne's knuckles. "I'm all for sleeping to a comedy. Remember when we watched Borat? I laughed so hard I passed out."

"Oh, Mar-mar, that's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?" She then pulled her hand away, frowning. "Unless I'm pushing you, then I'll just—"

"No, no. You're fine!" What wasn't fine was how her heart pounded against her chest. Or, that the more she tried to take a deep breath, Marcy's growing concern made her laughter sound more like an old man wheezing from an asthma attack.

Anne was about to make a dumbass out of herself and that was fine! As long as she stayed calm and explained then maybe she wouldn't feel nervous about this.

Wait, why was she nervous anyway? It was just a jacket!

Oh, she knew why.

"Okay." Anne placed the book down, trying to regain her breath. Might as well go for it. What was the worst that could happen? Don't answer that. "So you remember how I've been trying to find my way back after I got through the portal?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I didn't want to forget. Not like I would've but I thought you died and I knew taking down Andrias was the only way to avenge you and get Sasha back." Anne sharply inhaled — words speeding past her ears. "So I thought 'Hey, I'll carry your jacket so I don't forget' and I basically wore it around everyday until I finally found a way back. So…"

Marcy's stare didn't help her sweating as she spoke, giving jazz hands to finish it all off. "Here I am. Yeah."

Marcy continued to stare at her. She'd never seen her this gobsmacked before; usually she found a way to ask questions, to let her enthusiasm shine through with eager stride, but now she became a deer in the highlights. All agape. All wide-eyed.

Oh Frog, I broke her.

"Mar-mar, you okay?"

"So you wore my jacket as a reminder to stop Andrias," she asked slowly, "after months of finding a way back?"

Anne puffed out her cheeks. "Maybe?"

"Anne…"

"Okay, okay, yeah." She hung her head, defeat in her voice. "I did."

"Oh." Marcy's eyes widened to the size of saucers, a shaky exhale breaking through. "Oh."

Anne stood up. If she didn't get out in the next fifteen seconds, she was going to explode. "Okay, yep! That's it for the Cynthia Coven series! Goodnight, Mar-mar, I'll check up on you later—!"

"Wait, wait!"

Marcy latched onto her wrist. Her ears pounded on, hard to focus with her sweaty palms and the shallowness of her breath. Because this whole situation was awkward and weird and it made her feel funny things in her heart and darn it Anne should've handled this back on Earth — not while they were stuck in the middle of a Frog darn war!

"Anne, please look at me."

She did. 

When she turned, the sight surprised her. Marcy's cheeks had darkened considerably as they held each other's gazes, the hold on her arm still having them tethered to one another.

Then the touch loosened slightly. It didn't speak of fear nor did it speak of pain. It didn't speak of the desperation Marcy once had when she held her fists in the broken halls of the Newtopian castle. What Anne instead found was reassurance. A reassurance in their interlocked hands, at how they gazed intently under the tent canvas, a heat creeping well onto Anne's cheeks too.

"It's really sweet that you wore my jacket like that." Marcy then bore down at the bedding lines, almost squeaking her words. "And very clever! Yeah! Because a physical reminder is a great alternative to notebooks and to-do list, and since my jacket has emotional connotations to me, of course you'd wear it! It just makes sense."

Marcy coughed into her sleeve, words almost a whisper. "You've always been good at improvising, after all."

"Mar-mar..."

"And thank you."

Anne stopped. She could've honed in on the bustling Wartwoodians outside. Or the rustle of the forest trees. But she focused on the comforting tap of Marcy's fingers, and the gleam in the girl's eyes — almost as if Marcy was about to cry.

"You've always been kind," she murmured. Her fingers trailed circles on Anne's palms, leaving her to shudder slightly under the touch. Especially when Marcy's eyes grew half-lidded. Remorse on her lips. "And to know you worked so hard after everything I did to you and Sash, I don't how I'll ever make it up for it."

"You don't have to do that," she said. Her words drifted between them, remembering what Mrs. Wu said a few months ago: That Marcy was the best out of all of them. Because she always needed to be. "What Andrias did was not your fault, and I'll beat him again if he ever makes you think it is."

"Besides," she said, putting on a smile. "Having you beside me has always been enough. Honest."

But Marcy's grief remained on her face, unspoken as her fingers faltered their dragging on Anne's palms.

Because she wanted to hold her hand instead, both their fingers trembling from the bedridden girl's arm.

"Anne, I hurt you. I did. No matter how much I try to justify myself, I still omitted everything about what I knew." Her eyebrows furrowed, glaring more at their shaky hands. "I was selfish. I wasn't honest."

"Don't say that. You didn't know this would happen, I understand this now."

"But you're still angry." Marcy sighed. "I know you are."

The conifers rustled silently. The faraway bugs whistled, occupying each interval as they held hands, their gazes observing anything but the other. Until Anne couldn't think up a better excuse anymore.

As much as Anne tried to forgive, there was something frightening about the resentment in her skin, underneath all that warmth. It went against every lesson she learned. Every lesson of compassion. Or maybe she was just denying it for what it truly was — a tight angry wound that had reason to exist as much as their handlock. 

Her body sagged at the thought. She'd gotten so far, trying to deny anything about herself would reverse so much.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I'm still mad. I don't want to be, but I am. But that doesn't mean I was gonna leave you guys in the middle of a war." The next words were under her breath. "I never wanted you guys to get hurt in the first place."

Marcy brushed her knuckles. "Take as much time as you need."

"I think a few months is enough."

"Or a year."

A smile. "Maybe more."

And Anne held her hand until the silence heard their heartbeats. Until their smiles returned slowly, surely.

"I talked to Sasha before you came in," Marcy said.

"You did?"

She nodded. "Mhm. And I don't know if she told you this, but we both agreed to a concordance." Marcy faltered. "An agreement I mean."

Anne snorted. "You don't have to dumb yourself down around me."

"Heyy, I'm not, I just don't want this to sound...clinical."

"Right."

The younger girl shuffled closer to her, which was surprising enough with the limited room on the bed itself. But when Anne held her eyes, there came recognition of something new. Was it relief? Worry?

"What we agreed on is that you don't have to forgive us. Maybe you'll be mad at us for a long time—"

"Mar-mar, I'm not—"

"Let me finish," she said softly. Anne hesitated. She resolved to caress Marcy's knuckles instead, and, of course, she didn't seem to mind. "Whatever happens, whatever you decide, we're not going to abandon you. If you want us out of your life, we'll respect it. If you want us to stay, then we'll respect that too."

Marcy inhaled, slow and careful. 

"And when you're ready, I'll make sure to be close by."

There had been times where Anne couldn’t predict what her future held. There had been numerous moments where Anne wanted to quit, to get angry, to question how her life hit upon all these coincidences like pinball and found herself in the most surprising of situations.

But when Marcy finished, stared at her, waiting for her to let her statement sink in, everything seemed to click in place. For just a single moment.

Each word had come out resilient, well thought-out. Anne could imagine the planning so clearly: How Sasha and Marcy sat in the same positions as them, sat with their heads together as they discussed what to say. And the more Anne listened, she could only hope that Sasha was just around the corner, ready to say the same things in her own Sasha-like way.

But for now, they gripped each other's hands, squeezed their fingers until Anne could only think of the heat. The burn in her nose. Then the bit-back sob and her trembling lip as Marcy pressed a thumb carefully to Anne's cheek, rubbing the tear trail away.

Because out of everything Anne predicted to find at the other end of the portal, it wasn’t this. 

"You promise?"

Marcy smiled, the ends of her lips twitching weakly. "I promise this time." Her voice broke. "I do."

With it, came the waterworks.

[sonofrose]

The Third Temple.

https://youtu.be/vPMFUe2yBmk

Third Temple Clear!

Well ladies, gentlemen and wonderful kaleidoscope in-between and outside those labels, it is done.

With this the Temple Quest is officially over, and there is no reason to come back to any of the temples.

NO

REASON

AT ALL!

Anyway and most importantly the gang’s all back together!

But before I talk about that I wanna mention something else.

Seeing the temple tests I finally realized that their designed especifically for amphibians, not only those of the third temple but those of the first two too.

this actually explains why the girls seem to breeze through them so easily for something that is supposed to be death defiying. I might go into more detail another time.

Also did you realize the lesson of this temple is the complete opposite of the first one?

The final test of the First (Wit) Temple is knowing when to quit, and the last test of the Third (strenght) Temple is to be persistent. Add the Second (Heart) Temple whose main lesson is responsability and you get a clear balance metaphor.

Going back to the girls, lets just get this out of the way:

The dominoes are starting to fall.

On one side we got whatever King Andrias has Marcy up to. 

On the other the Toad Rebellion is playing the long game to enter Newtopia.

And in between are the girls, all set to clash and show their “True Colors”. (sorry I had to)

Lastly, and admitedly the thing we’re all focusing on, let’s look at Sasha this episode.

To begin with we get the moment the girls met, and I’d like to point out that it seemed Sasha help them just because, once she “saved” Anne and Marcy she was just going to go her merry way.

Another thing of note is that even as a little girl Sasha has always been determined.

Even to her detriment.

But as cute as that is, the thing we’re all focused on is this:

And you know... I don’t buy it.

Yes she is using them, I won’t deny that, but from personal experience I can tell you that the best lies... are those build on truths.

Despite what Anne said about it not being just what happened in Toad Tower, it ALWAYS comes back to that incident, and it always will. Because that’s when everything came to light.

Because it was the moment that forced her to face the reality of what she was doing to her friends, because as much as she tries, she cannot deny what she did, because:

SHE KNOWS

Sasha knows what she has done, and no matter what happens she always will, She cares too much about her friends to deny it forever, even if it will be hard for her to admit it.

Look at that, that’s after being angry that Anne did not believe in her, yet as soon as she is told otherwise Sasha is in disbelief, because even she has to admit, if subconciously, that Anne’s not wrong.

She may have called everything she did in the temple an act, but it was one build on her true feelings.

Grime himself realizes it, that’s why he asks her if she remember the plan, and he might have a reason to worry about the plan.

Because this Head Toad has a heart.

Only two more things to say:

I’m a little worried about Marcy’s “live the fantasy a little” comment in “Bessie and MicroAngelo”

and

WE’VE TAKEN ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS THE CALAMITY

[justaself-shipper]

Idk Love- Marcanne

A/N: This is inspired by a lil comic thingy I did

Also spoilers for True Colours Anne wrapped an arm around Marcy’s shoulder, admiring the sunset view. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it.” Anne said, a soft smile on her face. Marcy glanced at Anne, her hair glowing in the sunlight. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and Marcy couldn’t help but feel a blush grow. “Yeah…” she mumbled quietly. Realising she’d been staring for too long, she turned away, her face turning an even darker shade of red. “I can’t believe we’re gonna go home tomorrow.” She said, returning her gaze to the setting sun. Anne hummed in response, the smile never leaving her face.

“Marcy! Hurry!” Anne screamed, standing in the portal as she waited for her friend. Marcy glanced up at her. “I just need to-“ She was cut off when she felt something stab through her chest, the pain overwhelming her for a moment as she stood in shock. Looking down, her eyes widened at the sight of a fiery sword. “Now look what you made me do.” The king muttered, withdrawing his sword. Marcy heard Anne call her name, but it sounded muffled as everything around her started to darken. “I…I’m sorry….for everything…” she mumbled, collapsing to the ground. The box broke, sending Anne and the Plantars back to earth. Everything was dark, blurry, and horrible. She could feel herself floating in a watery substance, yet she couldn’t bring herself to move. To escape. Eyes closed, she took in a deep breath through her mask, listening to the bubbles as she exhaled once again. The human could vaguely hear King Andrias talking to someone, their voice echoey and distorted. Her mind flashed to Anne, the look of utter betrayal in her eyes as Marcy desperately tried to explain her reason to dragging them all to Amphibia. She deserved it, didn’t she? This was what she deserved for bringing pain to the one she loved. “Mar-mar! No!” Anne giggled as she chased after a hyperactive Marcy. “Give me back my phone!” The frizzy-haired teen finally caught up to her, tackling her in a hug as they fell to the ground, laughing and giggling hysterically. Anne lay onto of Marcy, arms wrapped around her waist as Marcy lay on her back. Marcy caught her breath. “Okay, okay, you win.” She chuckled, handing Anne her phone. Anne took it, glancing at her with a smirk on her face. Without any warning, she leaned down and gave Marcy a peck on the lips, before she got up. Marcy’s cheeks began to glow, laying there for a moment longer before getting up. “You look so adorable like that, Mar-mar.” Anne stated, running off before Marcy could catch her. “H-hey! That’s not fair!” She cried, following Anne back inside the house. Marcy took another breath, listening to King Andrias. He was right beside her tank, talking to someone she couldn’t see. “The plan is almost finished, master. Now all we need to do is transfer your soul into the vessel.” Marcy took a moment to think. Vessel? Master? Who exactly was he talking to? The person seemed to have answered, but all Marcy could hear was an echoey hiss. Marcy awoke to someone inserting a needle into her arm. Eyes snapping open, she realised she was out of her tank, lying on a table. Arms and legs were bound down, she moved her head to find a hooded figure holding a syringe, the orange, glowing liquid still visible. Panicking, she thrashed around, breathing heavily when she felt something growing stronger in her mind, slowly taking over. Shutting her eyes tightly, she internally begged for this nightmare to end, for whatever this entity was to go away. Marcy dared open her eyes. She was no longer on the table, but in a white, empty void. Looking around, she realised there was a screen in front of her. They were tinted red, and through them she recognised the room she was in just a few minutes before. The screen began to move, turning to look at King Andrias, whom Marcy hadn’t realised was standing in the corner of the room. He stepped forward, as whatever was controlling her body sat up, now being able to move.

“Welcome back, master.” It had been several weeks since her body was taken over by the “Night”. And Marcy hated every second of it. The entity that had taken over her mind would sneer at her, call her weak and pathetic. Marcy never dared fight back, knowing this was karma for hurting Anne. Now, they were about to enter the portal back to earth. Marcy’s eyes widened in horror as the frog-bots entered first, gut wrenching as the terrified screams of the citizens filled the air on the other side. Strolling along the destroyed streets, Marcy watched as the frog-bots blasted buildings, the people inside barely making it out. All of a sudden, a blue blur attacked the bots, annihilating them in seconds. Marcy’s eyes widened as the cyan blue-haired person had her back to her, the familiar leaves floating within the fiery hair. The Night had a huge grin on his face, as a terrible plan began to form in his mind. He knew this person was important to her. When the person turned around, her eyes widened. “Marcy?” Marcy watched in horror as Anne’s smile brightened, tears of joy falling from her eyes as she began to walk toward her. “Marcy! You’re alive!” “You do realise that she’ll be in the way, don’t you Marcy?” Her eyes widened in horror, as Marcy realised what he was planning. “No…please! Don’t hurt her! Hurt me as much as you want, just don’t touch her!” She begged. The Night chuckled, watching intently as Anne stepped forward, arms outstretched. Marcy watched, helplessly, as the Night held a knife behind his back.

[jaekaicx]

so ive had this idea for an amphibia fangame for a lil while now-

(LONG post)

its based around the idea that sometime after anne got sent back to earth, she decides to sneak out one night to visit sasha and marcys bedrooms and poke through their stuff. this causes a bunch of memories to come back to anne through flashbacks while she tries to process everything thats happened and her feelings abt their friendship.

i was thinking itd be mostly a visual novel type thing. maybe with a few small choices, but the story would be mostly linear. thered be around 3 main story beats: a prologue bit w/ anne sneaking out of her house, marcys bedroom, and sashas bedroom. also one of the main mechanics would be looking at one of their bedrooms and clicking on random objects of importance and triggering a flashback sequence.

it came from the idea that anne will probably try to just shove all her emotions down and try to ignore her feelings abt true colors and everything that went down then. especially with what we saw in the sneak peek, anne will probably try to hide her emotions and bottle them up, which is obviously not healthy. so eventually shes gonna have to work through her emptional baggage and try to process everything.

i havent thought through EVERYTHING just yet, just some more major plot points and maybe one or two ideas for flashbacks. nothing too solid yet. but heres a bit more detailed runthrough of the plot

summary - prologue

so it would start off with anne at home. she and her mom are talking outside annes room. her moms concerned abt how annes been handling everything that happened in amphibia but anne keeps brushing everything off. her mom tries to get her to open up, but she keeps dismissing her and eventually shuts herself in her room. after taking a bit to cool off and think anne decides that shes gonna take the night to just ride off her emotions and stop repressing them for once. she also makes an impulsive decision to sneak out and check out marcy and sashas rooms.

anne goes to gather her stuff in her room, and just as shes about to climb out the window, sprig walks in to check on her. hes still rly concerned abt his big sis but he knows he cant stop her. he tries to go with anne, but she tells him she needs to do this on her own. so, sprig lets her go and tries to cover for her while shes gone.

so at this point i’ll probably give the player the choice of whose house to visit first. it doesnt rly impact the story or whatever, but i guess it might have a small emotional impact depending on whose house u choose to go to first??

(quick note: after this bit, there arent too many specific details for the plot and stuff like that. its largely just an overall idea of how the plot is gonna go. and even then, there isnt much to it. i didnt think that far ahead yet, which is why there isnt as much refinement yet. so far i just have general ideas for how annes gonna get to the bedrooms, with a couple of vague flashback ideas. just keep that in mind; this whole thing is still being thought over and planned as im typing this out)

summary - sasha

with sasha, annes still rly conflicted abt how she feels abt her. of course shes still rly hurt by being backstabbed by her twice and swordfighting her as many times. but as much as she hates sasha she cant bring herself to fully give up on sash. she hates her guts but deep down shes still willing to give sash another chance.

there may or may not be a small sequence where anne has to sneak into sashas house, but eventually she works her way into sashas room. im not entirely sure abt the details of sashas house n her family yet. im probably gonna wait for info from s3 until i solidify anything, but for now i do know that sashas family has a big house n theyre probably rich.

so anne goes into sashas room and its been left pretty much untouched ever since annes birthday, save for the few times someone came in to dust things off. again, dont rly have all the details for sashas room, but it kind of has a vibe of controlled chaos, with organized clutter and a bit of a touch of a rebellious teen girl. one detail i do want to have is a calendar opened up to the month the trio disappeared, with annes birthday circled and highlighted so much that its impossible to miss.

the calendar itself might include a flashback. im thinking of also having a varsity jacket and some old stuffed animal be different “artifacts” that trigger their own memories. there’ll be a bunch more, but those are the only ideas i have so far fjsbndnd

summary - marcy

ok so i want to be rly mean about marcys segment: this is going off the theory that marcys parents moved away while the trio was in amphibia.

anne doesnt know this yet tho, so shes in for quite a surprise when she turns onto marcys street to find a realtor sign on the front lawn. the clues are all there: an empty driveway, sign on the lawn, an overall empty vibe coming from the house. but it doesnt completely register at first. its not til anne actually comes up close does she notice the sign.

anne tries to deny it, and decides to prove to herself that “no marcys parents wouldnt do this. theyre not that cruel. im just gonna check marcys room myself.” the front doors locked, so she just goes over to marcys window and climbs in.

but its completely empty.

ok not totally empty, but a lot of marcys furniture and stuff is gone, except for a few stray toys and other “junk.” the home guys (idk what theyre called????) are still kind of in the process of cleaning everything out, so theres still some stuff left here and there around the house. but its still way too empty. and its yet another gut punch for anne.

anne searches the rest of the house a bit more, hoping that shes just hallucinating. but no, marcys parents are really gone. she tried to deny it before, but now she has more of an idea of how shitty the wu parents are. so anne decides to just mope around in marcys old room, checking out the stuff their parents left behind.

maybe she finds an old blanket marcy liked when he was rly young. or an old rubiks cube from marcys vast collection. a cnc figurine, some cards, a pride flag, and old diary? a couple of other old toys, an old report card or two, or maybe even some stray clothes. whatever anne finds, its all thats left of marcy, at least in LA.

it really doesnt leave anne in that much of a better emotional position. she already felt conflicted enough about what happened in true colors and what she found out abt marcy. but seeing even a small glimpse of what marcy was dealing with, it just makes her more confused. marcy was such a sweet kid! theres no way they couldve done anything wrong. yet here anne was, betrayed by both of her childhood friends.

only now is anne really taking the time to process the fact that marcy essentially kidnapped her and sasha with the calamity box. he didnt mean to do it, and theres no way they couldve known the box would actually work, but it doesnt completely excuse marcy. his actions still hurt anne and sash, and while they meant the best of intentions, it didnt rly come through that way.

and now marcy was dead. stabbed in the back by the newt king.

and now annes curled up in an empty bedroom, wrapped up in one of marcys old blankets, trying to wrap her head around her feelings about marcy while reminiscing in the past.

summary - extras/epilogue??

i kind of like the idea that anne ends up drifting off in which ever bedroom ended up being the second one she visited. she slowly comes back to consciousness, with her surroundings feeling somewhat familiar, only to wake up in horror bc “OH SHIT I FORGOT TO GO BACK HOME” im not completely sold on the idea tho bc it feels a bit abrupt and like too much of a tone shift?? idk it doesnt feel exactly right

but anyways, im also playing around with the idea of a small epilogue scene with the calamity trio hanging out in annes room, a good amount of time after amphibia ended. dont know what theyre doing in there, but theyre just chilling and feeling a bit nostalgic i guess.

but uh yeah thats pretty much what ive got for the overall idea. it doesnt feel too out of reach, but somethjng like this would definitely be ambitious. i could mayyyybe handle writing out the vn and drawing the character sprites, but i have no idea how to code a vn or draw detailed backgrounds, both of which would be pretty important to this fangame fjsndj. so i might consider having help with this.

THIS ISNT ANY SORT OF PROMISE OR WHATEVER. id rly love to follow through and make this fangame a thing, but im not making any guarantees. i have no idea if i’ll actually follow through, but i would definitely love to.

who knows. maybe in like a couple years this might actually become a thing. but for now i have no idea

[fan-art-ic]

Don't Stop Here

She's back. Anne is really back on Earth. She can hardly believe it.

(Picks up immediately after the episode ends) (ao3 link in reblog)

Anne can hardly believe it. Cars honked around her and every breath is heavy with unnatural smog. She meets eyes with a human stranger, who lifts a phone very quickly and stares bug-eyed at her. Not at her, no, at her family. She turns to Hop-pop, Sprig, and Polly, all scratched, bruised, tired, afraid, and looking at her with trust in their eyes. Hop-pop croaks and coughs and Anne notices her frog family's skin is graying. She has to get them out of here. Off the hood of the car, over five lanes of traffic, hopped over the guardrail, down the hill, through a sparse copse of trees, to the sidewalk under the bridge and-

"Anne?" A pink hand tugs on her wrist. "Anne, stop. Please." Her feet stumble to a stop and her socked foot lands on something sharp and cutting and she gasps.

"Anne!"

Two sets of hands catch her torso, and she faintly feels a wet touch pulling at her ankle. Her family carefully let her down, so she lands heavily on her butt instead of her nose. Anne's next breath is a punch of air and her lungs brighten with pain as she loses control of her inhales and exhales. Her eyes hurt and burn. When she wipes a dirty hand across her face, she winces as hot tears and snot sting her injuries. A light weight settles onto her back and rubs in a circular motion. Anne clings to the sensation. Between sputtering breaths, she begins to hear. "-in...and out...in...and out," Hop-pop's soothing, raspy voice repeats and then she can hear Sprig humming. It's a song Wally wrote about a silly snail getting lost and he had sung it at her Frog of the Year party. A laugh bubbles up into a sob and Anne reaches out her arms to pull all three of them close.

"I love you guys," she chokes out, and Polly pats her cheek.

"We love you too, Anne," says the polliwog, normally so energetic now wrung out and too bright-eyed. She needs to pull herself together. Anne releases her grip and her family takes a step back. She runs her hands through her hair and shakes her head, dust and dirt and surprisingly long twigs falling to the broken concrete.

"Alright, froggy fam," she begins, "I'm going to take you to meet my human fam." Sprig whoops, but he's clearly flagging.

"Yay!..."

Anne grimaces and looks at Hop-pop. The old, orange frog meets her gaze steadily, but she can tell how much he is missing his cane. "Hop-pop, you got Polly, I got Sprig?" He nods. "Alright. Let's make our way to the highway, follow along till we hit an exit, follow that till we hit town, figure out where we are, call my parents. Sound good?" No one protests and Anne helps Sprig up to her shoulder as Hop-pop collects Polly.

.

They're maybe ten minutes into their walk, and every step is a jolt to her nervous system. Her skin feels prickly, her jaw too tight, her muscles ache like never before. The pressure of her Newtopian breastplate, once reassuring, weighs her every step like a lodestone.  The heron-leather straps pinch at the underside of her arms. Sprig's cool, damp skin is refreshing against the back of her neck, but it's not slimy enough and it concerns Anne. She bites her lip and tries to time her steps so that her sneaker hits the rocks and roots, while her socked-foot hits bare earth. She isn't always successful, and everything is starting to throb. Her temples pulse loudly in her head and her knees are weak and her mouth is parched.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Polly..." Hop-pop murmurs behind her. She can't see him, but she hears the dragging footsteps crunch the dry grass and the low comfortings of the grandfather to the polliwog. A stabbing pain shoots through her chest, and Anne forces her legs into a march. Focuses on the act of raising her thigh, swinging her calf forward, shifting her weight, repeat ad infinitum.

In seventh grade health class, there had been only one day dedicated to 'mental health issues' and something mentioned was meditative breathing. In multiple P.E. classes, Anne heard the teachers talk about making sure to breath while exercising. One, two, three. In. One, two, three. Out. Anne can do this.

.

The clouds parted a bit as they walked and the sun is nearly blinding Anne, as she squints at the sign. DALY STREET EXIT, it read in giant white text on green. Okay, so now they can get out of the weird in-between highway area they've been hiking. She points at it. "This way."

Something is mumbled behind her back.

"Huh?" She stops to turn and looks at Hop-pop. "What's up?" The elderly frog's face is twisted in a very non-confidence inspiring way.

"Well...Anne, I can't help but notice you don't have your backpack. Or...or your phone. So-" All Anne could hear was a piercing, ringing sound. Her hands clenched and unclenched.

"Right," says Anne, interrupting whatever the old frog had been saying. "Right. I don't have my backpack or phone." She blinks rapidly and Hop-pop's brow furrows deeper grooves. Her fingernails dig grooves of equal depth into her palms. "Okay, so," she claps her hands and ignores Sprig and Polly startle, "we will keep going. We will find someone kind and nice who will be willing to call my parents. End of plan."

"Great plan," Sprig yawns in her ear, and she can't help the yawn in return. It stretches her neck muscles and she yawns again for good measure. Polly yawns, then Hop-pop, then her and Polly at the same time. They all smile and the moment of brevity gets the family going again, the plan -no matter how little Anne believes in it herself- solidly in mind and the goal spurring them on. Not too much further now.

.

The sign for 7-11 flickers and there is a closed down Redbox sitting stoutly next to a ash-tray/trash can. The ad in the window advertises Berry Glam Blitz Bomb and a two for four hotdogs sale. Her stomach rumbles.

Her family is crowded together outside the storefront, and Anne doesn't know what to do. She's loathe to leave the Plantars by themselves, but maybe the cashier won't be the most cynical soul in Los Angeles. Then the frogs won't go under the risk of wandering the streets, talking to strangers. She can't bring them in though, what if the employee freaks out (like...any reasonable person confronted by talking frog people would). A clammy, orange hand taps her arm twice. She looks down.

"We'll be okay for five minutes, Anne," reassures Hop-pop. "Hand me Sprig." She doesn't hand him Sprig so much as the pink frog melts off her back and flops down next to his grandfather, but either way transfer successful. Okay now it's just time to interact with a human who isn't one of her two childhood best friends. She can't be totally out of practice right?

Marcy's eyes had been so wide when she died. Her pretty, dark brown eyes glittering from the light of Andrias' sword. From the flashing blue of the portal home. From tears.

Anne swallows roughly and steps toward the entrance. She scolds herself when the self-automated doors startle her, and she glances around the store. Someone tall and bald by the coolers, someone on the phone in the back, besides them and Anne the place is empty. Well, and the cashier. She approaches the register before she can one-eighty out the stupid doors, and she clears her throat. The cashier, a young guy with bright green and black hair and a name tag reading 'Jared', looks up from his phone.

"Hey-o, ready to check out?"

"Um, no actually," Anne starts and stops. What is she supposed to say? "I...dropped my phone and it cracked badly," she lies. "I was supposed to meet up with my mom but I can't get the dang thing to turn on." She laughs, short and high-pitched, rubbing her neck. "Is there like, a store phone I could borrow to call her?"

Jared raises his eyebrows. "No, there isn't a store phone. If you buy something I could exchange dollars for quarters, I think there's a phone booth near here." The lights are buzzing really loudly, Anne notices. She takes a deep breath.

"Sorry, that doesn't work. Could I borrow your phone?" She sees how the older guy assesses her. She sees her dirty torn school skirt, her scorched copper armor, the twigs that she can't stop finding in her hair. "Or could I give you her number? Please, I just want to get back to my mom." Jared's frown softens and his mouth opens to speak, but is cut off by a voice behind Anne.

"Annie Bone-choy?" Her neck complains at the speed she turns to look. The bald person she saw earlier. Face contorted in open surprise, finger pointed in her direction, he says in a nasally SoCal accent, "Your parents have been looking everywhere for you."

"Do I know you?" Anne asks. Bald guy shakes his head. "No. I like your parents restaurant, amazing noodles by the way, and they have your missing posters all over the front. Yours and two other girls."

"I thought you lost your phone and were meeting up with your mom," Jared unhelpful interjects. Anne looks between both of them.

"Can I please use someone's phone to call my mom?" The two adults look at each other.

"Tell me your mom's number," says Jared tentatively. Anne rattles off the ten digit code with ease. She remembers sitting in the kitchen and her mom helping her arrange plastic magnet numbers in the order of her cell phone number. Jared puts the phone on speaker and the dialing tone begins to ring. Once, twice, three times, four...

"Hi! This is Madee Boonchuy. Not here right now, please leave a message!" The messaging system beeps and Anne just shakes her head at Jared. He ends the call.

"Can you please try again?" She pleads. Jared frowns, but does as requested. The dialing rings again. And gets voice-mail, again.

"I could call the restaurant," the bald guy offers. "It's not exactly rush hour but they are open right now, right?" Anne blinks away the stinging in her eyes. She has no idea what time it is, no idea what day or month or even if it's the same year. Who knows how Amphibia time lines up with Earth time?

"Can you? Please?" He nods and pulls out his phone. A minute while he finds the contact, and now for the third time, the phone rings on speaker. Anne knows what they say about third tries, and she crosses her fingers tightly.

"Hello? Delivery or pick-up?" Familiar, accented English, and Anne has to resist falling to the floor.

"Mom," Anne whispers in Thai, and the voice on the line speaks rapidly.

"Anne? Sweetheart? Oh my god, Anne? Anne?"

"It's me Mom. It's Anne," Anne sniffs and hiccups.

Some sharp, unintelligible yelling comes out the receiver, and there is a rustling and slamming sound before Anne's mom replies, "Where are you?"

Anne blue screens for a second. "I'm..." She struggles to remember. "I'm at a 7-11."

"What? Where? What street?"

"Daly Street," Jared pipes up.

"Who is that?" Her mother says sharply.

"That's just the cashier, he was, he was helping me. Well and another guy who comes to the restaurant apparently? I uh, he says he recognized me from my posters, huh, I didn't realize I'd have any," Anne rambles.

"I'm coming to you, Anne," Her mom promises. "I'm going to hug you so much. I'm coming to you. I have to hang up now, to get in the car, but do not go. Please."

"I promise," says Anne, and when her mom ends the call, she starts crying.

.

She exits the 7-11 once she gets the bald guy and Jared to distract each other (i.e. purchasing a bottled soda), and she spots the Plantars immediately. They're on top of a parked USPS truck. When Anne peers around the vehicle to see the other side of the street, she spies the mailman making his way towards the truck. Crap.

"Guys!" She hisses through clenched teeth. She raps her knuckles against the truck's side and hear Polly yelp. "Guys, get off the truck!" A moment later, Hop-pop and Sprig land beside her, Polly in her brother's arms. Anne pulls them over to the Redbox and huddles on the side opposite to the store entrance. She steps in front of them, hoping her body will shield enough of the frogs so nobody looks closer.

"Your mom is gonna be here soon?" Sprig asks. Anne nods.

"Yep, she'll...she'll be here soon." There's no response, and there is a take-a-tab paper taped to the trash can advertising singing lessons, and it's all Anne can do to not remember the time Sasha threw a karaoke party and they all started singing badly and together, and Anne blinks and keeps talking.

"My mom will come, and she's probably in her mini-van, oh man she's gonna tear through like twenty stop signs and scare other drivers so bad," she snorts, "and maybe there'll be a loose water bottle or a chip bag in the car, and oh man, you guys don't know what sour cream and onion chips are I can't wait to show you-"

"Anne," Hop-pop cuts her off. "Don't forget to breathe." She sucks in a deep breath and feels bile creeping up her throat. She tries to swallow but her mouth is so dry it just hurts. She can't imagine how her frog family's is feeling compared to her, they must be feeling so much worse than her, and they haven't said anything yet. Anne exhales forcefully. When a hand squeezes around her own, she squeezes back reassuringly.

They all jump as a dark red mini-van screeches to a halt in front of the 7-11. The driver exits the car, not wasting time to even park, and runs towards them. "Anne!"

"Mom!!!" Anne cries and she takes only a few steps before she's barreled over.

"Anne, oh my god, thank the heavens it's you! Anne, Anne, oh my baby," Anne's mom sobs into her shoulder before pulling back. Anne stares at her mother. Lets her eyes trace the deepened wrinkles, notice the shining, brown eyes the same shade as her own, the beauty mark on her chin. Her mom's glasses are new. Anne can't remember what they'd been, but now her mom wears tortoiseshell frames.

"I like your glasses," is the first thing to tumble out of Anne's mouth, and she nearly slaps herself. Her mom laughs wetly.

"Oh, Anne, oh, I've missed you so much." Her mother folds her back into her arms. Anne hugs back as tightly as she can for a second before her mom stiffens with a surprised grunt. "And you're so much stronger, when did that happen?"

Anne smiles. "I'll tell you about it." She steps back and grabs her mom by the shoulders. They're the same height now. "I'll tell you all about it." And that means... "Mom, let me introduce you to the Plantars," Anne steps to her mom's side and reveals her froggy family.

Her mother gasps and says something in Thai that Anne doesn't know. She would bet it's one of the worse swear words. "I know it's a shock, cuz, well, two foot tall talking frogs," says Anne and motions for the trio to come a bit closer. "But they protected me, fed me, and loved me while I was stranded in their world." Hop-pop shuffles the closes with Sprig and Polly poking their heads out behind him.

Hop-pop extends his hand. "My name is Hopadiah Plantar, it's an honor to meet you Mrs. Boonchuy." Her mom looks down at the wrinkly, orange hand and then back at Anne. She nods encouragingly and her mom steels herself before meeting the hand with her own.

She gingerly shakes it. "Pleasure to meet you...Hopadiah," Anne's mom says his name carefully. "My daughter says you kept her safe?" Hop-pop nods.

"To the best of my ability," and his face gains a wry look and he rubs the back of his neck. "When she and my grandkids weren't off chasing trouble."

Anne's mom smiles tentatively. "I'm sure. Are these your grandkids here?" Sprig comes out behind Hop-pop's back and puts out his hand.

"I'm Sprig Plantar! And this is-" A loud honk interrupts him and everyone in the group startles, moving to look at the source. A silver BMW is stuck behind her mom's mini-van and the one-way street doesn't give any wiggle around room. A shout filters out of the sports car. "MOVE YOUR CAR!" Except with a lot more swears. Anne's mom sighs.

"Introductions later, let's get in the car," she instructs and everyone moves.

All the frogs hesitate as they get closer, Sprig even flinching when Anne hauls open the back seat door with a slam. She gestures inside. "C'mon guys, it's just like a wagon," Anne says. Polly hops in first and settles into the closest middle row seat. She bounces a couple times.

"It's comfy," the polliwog reports. The jerk in the BMW honks again, even longer. Sprig and Hop-pop pile in and Anne closes the door behind them. She gets into the passenger seat and the feeling of air conditioning against her skin is like. Magic wind. Super relaxing. Like insane luxury. Oh, Anne missed technology.

"Buckle up." Her mom clicks her seat belt into the lock and starts pulling away immediately. Leaving Anne to explain what 'buckle up' means, and what a seat belt is, and no she doesn't know when they were invented. The questions continue as the mini-van pulls onto the highway, but the group soon quiets down. Anne blinks slowly and looks outside the window. The trees and billboards and other cars pass by her so quickly, so much quicker than Bessie could ever go. A pang strikes her heart as Anne realizes Bessie will be all alone. She hopes the Plantar's family snail is taken care of while they're gone. Anne looks away from the window as nausea grips her throat. She's almost home. She can hold off on falling apart for just a little longer.

.

"Anne, honey, are you awake? We're home."

Anne blinks and she squeezes her eyes tight and yawns loudly and long. She hadn't realized she dozed off. "I'm...home." She opens the door and doesn't let her twinging feet deter her from getting a good look at her home. The small bushes that lined the driveway, the slightly dented mailbox, the umbrella her dad always left outside the red door. Anne drinks it all in.

For the past several months she had been in a world with fantastical flora and fauna and shocking experiences every day, but Anne feels dizzy at the sight of her home. Her eyes catch on every detail, the once too-familiar not familiar enough. The bristly door mat; the unpolished brass numbers: 301; the creaky porch step; the small, pink, clay owl figurine Anne had given to her mom for Mother's Day in fifth grade and sat tucked in the corner. Her eyelashes are sticky with tears.

"Your house is SOOOOOOOOO BIG!" Anne snorts and is grateful for Sprig. She turns around to look at the small, pink frog.

"It's pretty nice! I've loved growing up here. Three-oh-one Silver Spring Lane." A gobsmacked look.

"You have springs made of silver?" Sprig's jaw drops. Hop-pop's head pokes out of the van.

"What's this I hear of silver springs?"

Surprisingly, it's Anne's mom who answers. She laughs, and it soothes Anne, before saying, "No, Hopadiah. It's just a nice name for a road." Anne tunes out what Hop-pop replies in favor of turning back to the door.

The metal door handle is hot to touch, searing from the oppressive California heat. She breathes out in a harsh whoosh and forces herself to yank the door open. It slams against the wall and the hinges squeak. Anne hears a sound of protest from her mom, but she can't acknowledge it when there's a bullet of fluff running towards the door.

"DOMINO!" The cat jumps into Anne's arms and she catches her, swinging Domino around and around and gosh, will Anne ever stop crying today? She hides her tears in Domino's soft, white belly, and laughs as the cat wiggles around to climb up her shoulders. Domino wraps around her neck and rubs Anne's check with her cute, little face.

Anne collapses to her knees and she pulls her cat around and holds her so carefully and so, so close. Domino allows this longer than ever before, but soon she does squirm and fall to the carpet on all four feet. She chirps and purrs vacuum-like. Anne's hands move on their own accord, stroking down Domino's back, scratching all her sweet spots, reacquainting herself with her Domino, her beautiful angel baby.

"Anne, could you move your reunion a few feet more into the hallway? So we can come in?" Her mom says, her tone telling Anne she's smiling. Anne kisses her baby's head one more time before standing up and moves to the side. Ugh, her knees hurt from carpet burn. That's one thing she hadn't missed.

"Sprig, Polly, Hop-pop! Remember the killapillar?" Anne scoops up Domino and holds her out. "This is Domino One!" Sprig steps closer, squinting. He pokes at Domino's paw and she mrrps! at him. He flinches back for a second before staring deep into her eyes. Anne watches this stare-off with no small amount of amusement.

Eventually, Sprig asks, "So this Domino won't kill us for dinner?" Anne shakes her head and a leaf drifts from her hair.

"Nope!"

Sprig oh so slowly reaches a finger to Domino's long-haired back. "Oh!" He says, curling his fingers through the fur. "She's even softer than peatmoss."

Polly joins her brother and jumps up and down on her new, little legs. "Let me pet her!" Anne leans back down, but Domino wriggles out her grip and runs down the hallway, disappearing around the kitchen corner. Polly pouts. "Aw! I wanted to touch Domino One."

Anne pats her yellow bow. "Don't worry. There's plenty of time for that later."

"I believe a good use of time right now," Anne's mom says, still lingering in the open door, "would be for you to change out of your dirty clothes. Go take a shower."

Anne stares at her mom stunned. "Oh my god...," she whispers. "I shall finally be clean." Sprig laughs.

"Are there no showers where you come from?" Anne's mom asks Hop-pop as Anne still revels in the very idea of pressurized water.

"I can't say I know what a shower-whatsit is, but we did bathe," Hop-pop says archly, half at Anne's mom and half at her. Her mom nods understandingly. Then frowns.

"Do you have any spare clothes with you?" She asks and all the Plantars go wide-eyed.

"We..." Hop-pop can't finish his sentence hands twisting his ascot. Sprig looks morose and he's holding onto his slingshot tightly. Polly is similar, tugging at her frayed and dirty yellow bow. Anne's heart twinges, and she cuts in.

"We didn't exactly have time to pack our wardrobes when we came, Mom," she says. "I have piggy bank money, we can go shopping guys! You guys have to see the mall. This time, my treat," she tries to cheer up the little frogs.

Sprig and Polly perk up at the mention of visiting the mall, but Hop-pop and her mom both protest at once.

"Anne, that's mighty kind of you, but-"

"Anne, that's very generous, but-"

Both stop and her mom motions for the frog to continue. Hop-pop waits a second more before saying, "Anne, you don't need to spend your savings on us. We can make do if you just show us to a wash bucket and a needle with thread. When these get worn out, we'll cross that river when we come to it." Anne's mom then lays a hand on Hop-pop's shoulder, slightly crouching to reach. Hop-pop nods at her.

Her mom smiles before saying to him, "I can certainly show you the washing machine, but we'll figure out another set of clothes for you." Her gaze casts over Sprig, Polly, and Anne. "For all of you. And Anne," her mom walks up to her and she smiles with glistening eyes, "when did you grow up so much?" She brings Anne into a tight hug before releasing her. And boops her nose. Anne squeals. Her mom smiles. "I will pay for the shopping. Now!" She claps. "Shoes off."

Everyone looked down at their feet and noticed the frogs didn't have any. "Ah well, shoes and...shoe off. Anne, what happened to your shoe?"

Anne waves it off. "Lost it a few months ago." Her mother grumbles and Anne suspects she'll be getting a new pair of sneakers in the near future. Then it occurs to her, "Where's Dad?"

"He had to stay to make sure the delivery went smoothly since Jackson quit and everyone else messes it up," her mom explains while running her hands through Anne's hair.

Anne gasps. "No! Not Jackson."

"Yes, Jackson," replies her mom. Her fingers tug painfully through Anne's hair and come away holding a handful of leaves and twigs. "Is there an entire forest in your head? Now off you go, shower. Get the dirt off," she commands. Anne rolls her eyes.

"Yes, Mom," Anne says in Thai and kisses her cheek. She looks to the Plantars. "You guys okay with my mom showing you around the house? Show you somewhere to sit and some water?"

Hop-pop nods and Polly wiggles. "I have a mighty THIRST," she yells. Anne giggles.

"Well, alright froggy fam. See you on the flip side," and she starts to head up the steps, her fingers trailing the railing, when a cough causes her to pause. She glances back.

"Anne..." Sprig says, "welcome home."

Tears spill over her cheeks and Anne half-falls down the stairs to give him a tight hug. Quickly, other froggy arms surround the two and are joined by a pair of human arms. All together, all safe, all alive. Anne takes a deep breath, and exhales heavily. She's back home.

[magicman111]

A Moth to a Flame - Chapter One

Marcy watched the sun slowly set on Newtopia as she’d done many an evening before. The sharp squawks of the gulls rang through the orange sky. She looked quite the forlorn figure standing by the hotel entrance, the gentle evening breeze that ruffled her cloak underscoring her solitude.

Her eyes remained fixated in the same direction her friend had taken off, maybe in some fleeting fool’s hope she’d change her mind and come sprinting back right into her arms.

Not a chance, Marbles.

Anne was long gone by now. Hopefully, she’d caught up with the Plantars’ fwagon before they reached the city gate. Judging by how quickly she booked it, the odds were in her favor. That girl didn’t make varsity back home for nothing.

Marcy only hoped those sweet, simple frogs knew just how lucky they were to have someone like Anne in their lives.

Sighing, her head lowered, she licked her wounds slowly.

Really? That easy, huh?  

Could Anne have made it any more obvious that she wanted to get out of there faster than she did? After they’d been apart for so long, and for a family of farmer frogs whom she’d known for what? Months?

No, don’t do that, she pulled herself up. It wasn’t right for her to be mad at the Plantars. This wasn’t their fault. Sprig and Polly were a barrel of fun at the slumber party, providing you disregarded their life-threatening encounter with the jelly-fish ghosts. Hop Pop, meanwhile, reminded her so much of her own grandpa it was uncanny. They were sweet, decent folk who’d taken Anne in and kept her safe all this time. It was just...

Her lips twisted into a bitter frown. How else was she supposed to feel but a little rejected?

However, was she really allowed to complain when holding her tongue was so normalised for her by this point? Marcy was a people pleaser, she understood that much about herself. Anytime Anne and Sasha got into an argument, she was there to keep the peace and everyone happy. So if Anna-Banana wanted to spend more time with her bumpkin frog family than her literal best friend since preschool, who was she to say no?

The story with her folks wasn’t all that different either. When they pressured her to keep up her studies, up to and including PSAT prep despite it being years away, she did as she was told like a good girl to make them proud, and they were. She hoped they were.

Goodness knows what they must be thinking right now—

Nope nope nope! Don’t go there, don’t go there.

She’d already lost too much sleep at night ruminating over the unspeakable pain she’d most surely put them through, it was the last thing she needed right now. She tried to do the logical thing and focus on the positives instead. That usually worked.

Anne wouldn’t be away for too long. They’d be together again as soon as Hop Pop’s contacts returned the Box to Wartwood and then it was off to the first of the three temples to get those gems recharged. Once that side quest was done and dusted, it was a simple matter of finding Sasha and making their way home.

Looking down, she caught herself wringing her hands.

Home.

That sure was the plan.

I mean... what else are we supposed to do?

“Always sad to see someone go, isn’t it?”

Marcy quickly wiped her eyes and glanced over her shoulder to greet the towering form of King Andrias.

Almost instantly, her mood perked up a notch. He was the one person whom she trusted, more than anyone else in all of Amphibia. Ever since she first landed outside the city walls, he took her under his wings and ensured her smooth transition into this brave new world.

Andrias was without doubt one of the kindest and wisest people Marcy could have ever hoped to meet. He was a true listener, and there were very few you could say that about, her parents included. How often had he been there to lend both an understanding ear and sage advice over games of flipwart?

Games she won more often than not, she wasn’t humble enough not to brag.

It was also he who sent Marcy on the daring missions that would eventually make her the hero of Newtopian society she was today. All because he recognised the value of her talents beyond passing an exam or helping her friends with their homework. No other 13-year-old had their own solid gold statue adorning a city bridge.

She owed this king a debt she couldn’t possibly repay, but one he was far too altruistic in nature to demand.

Then, why did he look so... solemn?

“Come along, Marcy. We need to talk.”

Maybe it was his serious tone of voice or those specific choice of words, but they made the hair on the back of Marcy’s neck stand on end. In an almost pavlovian manner, she corrected her posture and she held her chin erect.

Shoving whatever remaining conflicted thoughts aside, she silently followed Andrias back to the castle like a pilot fish tailing its great white. She was so puny next to this tremendous salamander, he could crush her with a single blow of his fist if he so chose. Not that a gentle, goofy giant like Andrias would even dream of doing such a thing.

So when he was dead serious, Marcy knew better to zip it, listen, and do as instructed.

Their quiet journey took them all the way back to the castle and into the royal throne room, a place she was all too familiar with by now. To enter this hallowed hall was a privilege bestowed only to a select few. For Marcy, it was where she had her morning debriefs over bugachinos.

Instead of going straight up to the throne for their pow wow as she anticipated, Andrias guided her down a small passageway to their left.

When they made their way up to the statue of what Marcy recognised as one of his ancestors, one of the great rulers of Amphibia, they came to a stop. Andrias then gazed down at her with the most serious look she’d seen him give anyone.

“Marcy, before we go any further,” he spoke sternly, “I need to be absolutely crystal clear about something. Okay?”

“Y-Yes, Andrias?” Marcy asked, shivering a little. She did not like being pulled out of her comfort zone, not like this.

“You’re about to enter the most secret place in all of Newtopia,” he continued, now down on one knee and his hand hovering over her shoulder, as close as they could be to eye level. “What I’m going to show you... I need you to swear you won’t share with another living soul. Not to Anne, not to Lady Olivia, no one. Do you understand? I can’t emphasise this enough, Marcy.”

“Of course,” she answered earnestly, trying to sound more confident. “You know you can always trust me, Andrias.”

A ghost of that warm, fatherly smile returned to his big blue countenance.

“Trust is a hard thing to come by, kid, and you’ve gone above and beyond to earn mine. It’s just that I’m not exaggerating here when I say this is a big one.”

Marcy simply placed one hand over his huge index, the other over her heart.

She smiled back at him sweetly, genuinely, “I promise.”

“Very well.”

Nodding in approval, Adrias rose. He reached out, pushing a luminous coral torch upwards.

It didn’t take an encyclopedic knowledge of ‘Creatures & Caverns’ for Marcy to predict that the statue was going to shift to the left next, revealing the spiralling staircase leading to Frog knows where. She probably should’ve been more surprised, but come on, it wasn’t exactly the first secret passage she’d come across in this castle lately. 

“Follow me,” was all Andrias said, before he pulled off the same coral torch, then proceeded down the stairs without another word. Marcy followed obediently, unable to ignore the unnerving chill that was now travelling up her spine.

Was it... always this cold around here?

Something about all this just felt so unsettling compared to last time. She couldn’t really explain why; she knew she was safe with Andrias and that he wouldn’t do anything to intentionally put her in harm’s way. It was a gut feeling and that sort of thing bugged a rational person like her to no end.

She tried to take her mind off it by hazarding her best guess as to precisely what he was going to show her. Either she did that or started getting all worked up dwelling on Anne again, which she’d rather not at the moment.

Another secret library, perhaps? Probably not, though she wouldn’t be at all disappointed if it was. Maybe there were forbidden texts about the dark arts hidden away down there. Magic users were incredibly rare in Amphibia these days—Marcy had already searched far and wide—so might this be her chance?

Oh, how the very idea of being able to cast actual magic excited her. Being Chief Ranger of the Knight Guard was a great honor and nothing to sneeze at, but to be a powerful sorceress, one who could communicate with spirits, raise the dead, shuffle the orifices on her enemy’s faces—

Okay, rein those snails in, Mar-Mar.

Her musings were interrupted by a strange noise emanating from below. At first she figured it was just her imagination, but the further they continued their descent, the clearer it became.

It sounded an awful lot like beeping. Yes, that was it. A progressively growing cacophony of bleeps, bloops and chirps, the kind she’d expect to hear from a high-tech supercomputer. Something absolutely alien in a world like Amphibia, she and her friends excluded.

Before Marcy could ask Andrias if he heard it too, she was distracted by the emergence of an orange glow chasing away the darkness below. It was a warm, almost heavenly light that conjured the mental image of a crackling fireplace on Christmas morning, protecting you from the snowstorm outside.

The chill in her spine had by now spread to the crown of her head and the tips of her toes. Her throat tightened up. Beads of cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

What the... Marcy could not say a word, only think.

There was something down there. Something greater than any library, however inconceivable that sounded. Whether it was good or bad was irrelevant to her at that moment.

It called her.

The duo finally reached the foot of the staircase and entered the sacred sanctum.

Marcy’s jaw dropped.

“Woah.”

There were no shelves of books. No ancient Amphibian artifacts. There weren’t even any walls that she could make out from where she stood. Just an apparently endless sea of darkness encompassing a large round platform from which both the enticing glow and the lowkey din of beeps originated.

Marcy resumed taking Andrias’ lead as they stepped out onto the platform, the clink-clank of their boots confirming her assumption it was made of metal. The whole thing appeared more at home on an alien spaceship than in the dungeons of a castle.

Upon arriving at its centre, Andrias knelt down on both knees and, much to Marcy’s curiosity, removed his crown and set it down on the floor. She took the hint by following suit.

Any lingering fears melted away the more she basked herself in the radiance. It was as if the beams were steadily pouring into her body, clearing up her headspace, reducing any tension in her body. She recalled a favored memory from when she was five-years-old, when she and Anne spent a whole summer afternoon by the beach. How the tides would come in and out without fail, washing away the ruins of their sandcastles, the seaweed, one of Anne’s sandles and the teeny tiny baby seahorse they rescued.

Like a nice blank canvas.

Was this a private place of worship? Not according to her expansive studies of Amphibian anthropology. Or maybe it was a place for Andrias to meditate away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the castle. Seemed a skosh excessive if that was the case.

“Truly captivating, I know.”

Andrais’ baritone brought Marcy back down to earth. She straightened up and tried to refocus herself. They were down here for an important reason, at least she believed they were.

“One can spend hours down here,” Andrias boomed ominously. “Adrift in their own thoughts and... dreams.” The light cast his face in a rather unnerving shadow as he stared ahead into the void. “But I’m sure you know I haven’t brought you here to show off my retreat from the world.” He took a long, deep breath, like he was mentally steeling himself for what he said next, “As much as it pains me to say it, I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely truthful with you, Marcy.”

He produced from his sleeve what appeared at first glance to be two giant pieces of parchment and unfolded them neatly on the metal surface. A closer inspection told Marcy they were in fact pages torn from an exceptionally large book. Judging not only by the size, but the font and format as well, she easily pieced together its origin.

“Are these...?”

“From the book we “found” in the wing?” Andrias chuckled mirthlessly. “Yes. Still kinda surprised you didn’t pick up there were pages missing, but that's not important right now. Please, read.”

The platform provided ideal reading light. Marcy’s ability to read at a 12th Grade level meant she cruised through the text and finished within minutes.

She read it once, then twice. A third and fourth time just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her.

Her bottom began to tremble.

No... Nononono, this... this can’t be right. I-It’s impossible! How in the world can it...?!

No amount of curative rays could unfreeze the blood in her veins. The metaphorical pistons in her brain were firing on full cylinders in a vain attempt to digest this earth-shattering information. For a split second, she thought she was going to pass out.

Desperate, she turned to the stone-faced Andrias to plead for some kind of answer, but she found no words with which to speak. All the personal growth and development that made her Newtopia’s champion had been stripped of her and she was reduced to nothing more than a helpless lost toddler.

A comforting set of giant digits placed themselves under her chin, the same way a father would do for his daughter.

“All this time, I’ve been testing you,” Andrias told her, his voice full of pride. “The games of flipwart, the missions, the “secret library”, even the barbari-ant colony I had lured to the city. I was watching you, studying your every action. With each challenge I issued, you excelled my expectations. You’re an exceptionally talented human being, Marcy, truly worthy of the name ‘Wu’.”

Even if these words were meant to serve as comfort or encouragement, they had only the opposite effect for Marcy. Tears were leaking out the corners of her eyes.

She mustered only a pitiful whimper, “I-I don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” he promised, “you will soon enough. He’s so excited to meet you.”

“... He?”

Lifting his mighty hand in the air, he thrusted it into the nothingness facing them. Marcy instinctively followed its direction.

“Marcy Wu,” Andrias’ thundering voice resonated throughout the sanctuary, “allow me to introduce you... to my master.”

No sooner had he finished, the whole world started to tremble at Marcy’s knees, throwing her off her balance. A rumbling, mechanical ROAR struck her ears so loud she had to cover them to protect the drums from rupture. Yet despite this sensory assault, she somehow forced her eyes to stay wide open. She needed to face whatever was coming.

Marcy gazed into the abyss.

And the abyss gazed back with all thirteen of its eyes.

Terror. Pure mounting terror overwhelmed every cell of her being. Her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. If her mouth stretched any wider, her jaw risked snapping clean off its hinges.

Everything around her faded into black. Andrias, the platform and its glow, the beeping, all vanished into the ether. All now that existed were herself and those colossal demonic eyes plucked from the deepest recesses of her nightmares, their leer burrowing into her very soul.

Marcy wanted to scream until she coughed up her lungs. Moreso, she just wanted to wake up. This was all a dream, it had to be. A lucid dream that had gone on for far too long. She and her friends weren’t in another dimension inhabited by talking frogs, such a notion was a scientific absurdity. She sure as heck wasn’t a ranger in some anthropomorphic newt army.

Any moment now, her wizard kitty alarm would ring and she’d wake up in her soft, cozy bed. Dad would have left for work by now, planting a goodbye kiss on her sleeping forehead as he did every morning since she was little. Mom would be already making her her favorite congee rice and youtiao for breakfast. Then she would begin the process of packing up her room for the big move to Oregon like a good girl.

Yes, she would even happily do that. Anything to bring an end to this ordeal!

Shhhh

Her train of thought screeched to a sudden halt.

Marcy

It’s gonna be okay

And just like that, as if those were the five magic words required, everything was fine again. No more panic, no more existential terror. Her heart rate lowered to a steady, non-life threatening level.

The tide had risen up and washed Marcy’s mind clean.

Like a nice blank canvas.

What quickly followed was an epiphany of sorts.

There was nothing for her to fear. Once she accepted that fact, the warm sensation from before returned greater than ever, engulfing her in what could only be described as a spiritual hug. She could feel the pair of hands, tender as her own mother’s, caressing her face and flicking away her tears. They even ruffled her raven hair in the same playful manner.

Come to me, daughter of Wu

Let me get a good look at you

Marcy obeyed. Getting down on all fours, she crawled across the nonexistent ground—the laws of physics evidently had no place here—until her face and the eyes’ chief pupil were within inches of each other.

Fresh tears, now ones of ecstasy, trickled down her cheeks and evaporated in the pulsating heat.

“You’re beautiful.”

I know

We’ve gotta lot to talk about, Marcy

And I have a feeling...

You and I are gonna become the best of friends

[theyapper0]

Amphibia season 1 rewatch + notes :)

So I just finished rewatching the ENTIRE season 1 of Amphibia and I have some notes on the episodes that stood out to me! There are some quick notes, a couple lengthy analyses and even some headcanons sprinkled in! It's like a written stew of season 1! I'll be doing a written Amphiba stew for season 2 too!!

It's kinda long so you could just skip this or hit the keep reading button and give it a read! 

S1: E2 Cane Crazy

Anne shows general disregard over other people's things

(Mimicking Hop Pop and breaking his cane, throwing all the wood carving things that Loggle made, even a coo coo clock that she even said was nice (And for him to say it took 20 years to make right after she broke it))

S1: E2 Flood, Sweat and Tears 

Anne would be the WORST during sleepovers and I LOVE IT!!! My girl is just being a tween, staying up late, playing would you rather and keeping everyone else up. I think that's ADORABLE and now I'm thinking about how sleepovers might've been back home with her, Sasha and Marcy… 

She also just stays up late in general?? She reads dumb magazines and eats CRUNCHY snacks. She is really just 13,,,

And it looks like Sprig does it too, not as much as Anne (probably because he is younger than her) but it seems like it has to be in his terms. Before, he looked to be annoyed with it when he was trying to sleep. But, if he was awake, like in the beginning or at the end of the episode, he had no problem staying up playing would you rather!!! 

S1: E3 Hop Luck 

Anne: Old things are dumb! 

And 

Anne:* violently GRABS Sprig and shoves him against the wall* don't you DARE talk about pineapple in my pizza… Ever…

Anne: 

Sprig: 

Anne: Okay! Let's go get these ingredients! 

HHHH ANNE!!! I love this funky little child SO MUCH!!! 

Hop Pop loves these kids so much that he was willing to put aside his old, traditional family recipes in exchange for making pizza with them. My heart is gonna explode I'm-

Anne please don't make your surrogate frog brother get married just to get some pizza dough I'M BEGGING YOU-

S1: E3 Stakeout 

Hop Pop: I'm a crisp 68!

Is Hop Pop actually 68 or does he mean more of 68 going on 80 68? Either way he looks great! 

Anne has Blam Berry Blitz ("the drink that punches you in the face and doesn't stop") in her bag along with all the OTHER stuff we already saw (air pump, toe nail clipper, pencils, cat toys, bath bombs, etc)

Anne is officially those friends that have EVERYTHING in their bag no matter what. 

I really like the relationship between Anne and Hop Pop, how they both in some way yearn for what was but in different ways (Anne wanting to go home and Hop Pop's olden ways when he was a little pollywog) but are still similar in how they try to remember. They try and try and try to keep what little family/friends they have safe and protected. They love the relationships they've formed with other people (And with each other) and would go great lengths to help and protect them!

Also I MAY be looking way too into it buuuut was Boulder-Tron (that rock dude that Polly hallucinated at the end) supposed to foreshadow Frobo??

S1: E4 Taking Charge 

Okay quick one, Anne nearly having a whole ass panic attack when her phone dies because she couldn't look at her photos or videos of home actually made me sad. This girl is only a CHILD and her entire home and everything is gone and she for real thought she couldn't ever get it back,,, 

Hop Pop: I mean, the part where the island itself is revealed to actually be…!

Sprig: No! 

Polly: Don't!

Anne: Spoilers 

I dunno why and again, I MIGHT BE LOOKING TOO DEEPLY INTO THIS, but maybe this is foreshadowing something with the land of Amphibia? That maybe there is more to this crazy land than we know? Maybe even a reason it, along with all the other universes even exists??? 

S1: E5 Breakout Star 

AHSBWJOA ONLY EPISODE 5 AND ANNE ALREADY HAS HER PHONE'S LOCK SCREEN OF THE PLANTER FAMILY I'M-

S1: E7 Dating Season 

Anne said that ⅔ of ALL soul mates start out as "just friends" 

…

I'm looking at you, team Sashannarcy 

S1: E7 Anne vs. Wild 

Hop Pop's behavior at the end of the episode when Anne finally shows them the calamity box is awfully sus…

He doesn't say anything but "may I?" To inspect the box and then is like "Nope, never seen it" I just feel like he knows something and then adding onto it with the whole burying it to protect his family just sounds like… he definitely knows something, maybe not a lot but there is something he's not telling the others 

Also, why would a book that HE has have information on the Calamity box?? 

(I fully support the Dr. P was a Planter and also possibly the pink frog who was friends with King Andrias theory)

S1: E10 Toad Tax 

At this point, Anne said that she has already been in Amphibia for over a month now. 

(And damn, Sasha's been in prison for like a month,,, yikes)

Also Hop Pop teaching Anne how to pay taxes is so adorable, she really is part of this family now guys,,,

And I love how Anne was able to win over the Wartwood people by being her natural, charming and not to mention caring self. Anne, like Marcy and Sasha, can be selfish because honestly what kid, especially a 13 year old, isn't. 

But what matters is that she always tries to make up for it. 

Yes she did join the arguably sketchy toads into getting the taxes from everyone in order to feel somewhat included in ANYTHING, but while she was doing it, she knew it was wrong. Anne knew it was wrong and tried to give back some of the stolen stuff. Hell, even at the end she risked her safety to protect people she felt didn't even LIKE her, like, Anne literally broke her arm from them because that's just how Anne is. 

S1: E10 Prison Break 

I always forget how like,,, SUPER cunning Sasha is. I mean, she was able to talk FIVE toads into quitting within a WEEK as a PRISONER. Like?? 

Grime: That's not a bird. It's a heron, a murderous predator that happens to love the taste of flesh 

Sasha: Cute 

The lines in this show I'M-

So Anne was a varsity tennis player and Sasha was a cheerleader and did Tai Chi. I still can't believe they were both jocks,,, 

(Well, Sasha I get but Anne? Sweet ol' lil baby with the lanky limbs Anne???) 

Hey um, why the FUCK does Grime have acid spit?

Sasha: *looking at photo of her, Anne, and Marcy* Hold on for a little longer, girls. I'm coming for you. And when I find you, we're gonna get home. But first, I think we're gonna have some fun with this place 

Okay so this line right here. Now I may not be even remotely correct but this line, this last piece of dialogue spoken by Sasha right before the episode ends leads me to believe that she… doesn't take this world seriously. 

At least not yet. 

I think the 3 girls all see Amphibia differently: Anne as more of an obstacle, a wall preventing her from being home, Marcy sees it as an escape from her life with constant stimuli, and Sasha, she sees it as just really another thing to control. Everyone and their mothers know that Sasha can be a little more than controlling and we all know that she liked being lieutenant just a little too much. 

This world is interesting to Sasha, not in the interesting that Anne sees it (who is interesting in the new people and the relationships she's formed) or Marcy (who is also interested in the relationships she's formed along with the thirst for knowledge and again, the constant stimuli in an environment where she isn't stifled and allowed to flourish). 

No, Sasha sees Amphibia as interesting because it gives her something to control. In a world that is not your own, a world that you will leave eventually, who would actually FOLLOW the rules put in place there? Especially a 13 year old who is basically like a war commander who, even if she does do something wrong or breaks a rule or two, the only person who might even dare to stop her is Grime, and even then, he might just encourage it because it is season 1 and they aren't that close and he doesn't really care for Sasha at this point. 

She also is actually very logical. Everything she does in Amphibia, all the morally questionable things she does, it is always for the same reason (or at least at first), to get her and her girls home. Wanting to sacrifice and kill Hop Pop at the end of season 1? Well The toads had promised if she helped, they'll help her find Marcy and bring the 3 of them home. She cares for Anne and Marcy SO MUCH that she is willing to go great lengths to help keep them safe. 

But even though Sasha didn't really care about anyone in Amphibia besides Anne and Marcy at first, it doesn't mean she won't ever. We see countless times throughout season 2 of Sasha caring. She feels regret with her impending betrayal on Anne and Marcy, she cares enough to try and warn Anne about King Andrias' evil plans. Hell, even in the season 3 intro we see her and Grime at Wartwood and it looks like they're gonna be starting another rebellion against the king to help all the amphibians in Amphibia. 

I just really like watching Sasha's appearance and knowing what will happen in the future with her character. 

S1: E13 Trip to the Archives 

Anne: I get this place. It's like a library from my world. Zoo books and manga, here I come! 

So whenever Anne goes to the library, presumably with Sasha and Marcy, she'd go straight to books on animals and manga probably while Marcy did whatever work they needed (if Anne's dialogue in season 2 with Marcy always doing the work for their group projects was anything to go off on)

I dunno, I think that's kinda cute that Anne liked reading books on animals and probably reading all the manga that Marcy recommended. 

Maybe Anne and Sasha would sit right next to each other while Marcy worked and read fun manga together and cackle with each other while Marcy tried SO HARD to concentrate and NOT infodump to them because she's read that specific manga 20 times and HAVE YOU GOTTEN TO THAT ONE PART WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER GOES- 

S1: E15 Wally and Anne

MOSS MAN!! 

When Anne wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to grab Wally at town square, her hood is up and it's dark. The only thing we can make out of her face are…

Glowing blue eyes.

Glowing eyes that share an uncanny resemblance to the moss men.

And Anne loves doing elaborate, silly handshakes? That's so CUTE! Too bad none of her friends liked them as much as she did :( 

When they finally reached the foggy mountain place, Anne noticed glowing blue butterflies and started to follow them, which led her right to the moss man.

WAIT ANNE ALSO DID ROCK CLIMBING BACK HOME?? FUCKING JOCK!!!

S1 E20 Reunion 

Okay I WAS about to say that there wasn't anything to say about this last episode that hasn't already been said before BUT

The last couple moments, when Anne is holding Sasha off the cliff and trying to pull her up with the Planters, there's a couple interesting shots that I would like to talk about. 

While the Planters were holding onto Anne, they say things like "Hang on, Anne! We got you no matter what!" 

And even when the stone cliff starts to chip and break, none of the frogs back off, they don't loosen their grips, they just keep holding onto Anne. 

And they will never let go. 

Because they love her. Because in only 3 months, Anne was able to get a surrogate frog family and dozens of other frog friends in Wortwood. Because Anne has this amazing support system both literally and metaphorically. Because Anne is Anne. And Sasha...

Isn't like Anne. 

Matt Bradly himself even said that both Sasha and Anne are different from Anne, Anne is the heart, the emotional connection in their logical worlds. Anne can make so many friends so easily and Sasha… Sasha became a war genral, she lost a fight against the one person who she thought would never fight back. 

Sasha doesn't have what Anne has. She doesn't have the kind of skills to make such strong relationships, the kind where you risk your life for the other, in such a short amount of time. 

Hell, they even play a song called "Lean on Me", Anne has people to lean on and they would lean on her just the same. She found these people, made these friends, formed amazing relationships, in only THREE months. 

"Maybe you're better off without me"

And Sasha was only dragging her down. 

Sasha loves Anne, she cares for her and would do anything to protect her. That's why she let go. She didn't want to drag Anne down, to hurt her more than she already has. 

Sasha would do anything for Anne, even die. 

Over all notes: 

Season 1 is SUPER FUNNY!! The lines hit and they don't rely on toilet humor to get the audience to laugh. They use great one liners and physical humor that isn't fart or butt jokes. They do an excellent job on showing how crazy the world of Amphibia is through humor like how the animals are always eating each other. 

I really like how the characters were crafted so carefully! And the storyline!!! You could notice things that get explored in season 2 and I can't WAIT to see how many bread crumbs were left to lead up to season 3!

HOW DOES ANNE KEEP SO MANY THINGS IN HER BOOK BAG??? 

That stuff is in her SCHOOL BAG, why would she bring it to school??? So far I've got an air pump, toe nail clippers, pencils, cat toys, bath bombs and an energy drink. WHY??? I wonder if she held on to any of Sasha or Marcy's things too or ever forgot to give them back

Also again, I'M STILL IN SHOCK OF ANNE BEING A JOCK. I don't even know why I am, I knew she played sports and stuff it's just,,, she's so lanky,,, 

Her and Sasha are jock buddies and WILL shove other jocks in lockers if they ever pick on their nerd Marcy.

I also am in LOVE with Hop Pop's screams lmao

Be ready for an analysis of season 2! 

[kaylaxwrites]

Catch the Wind

Pairing: Matt Murdock/reader Words: 7.2k Summary:  You like Matt. You’re pretty sure he likes you too. Then why does he say no when you ask? What is he hiding and why won’t Foggy tell you?Request:  “How about an old friend of Foggy and Matt, who has this will they won’t they thing with Matt and she finally tries to act on it for her only to get turned down by him. His decision was because he is too focused on being Daredevil and doesn’t want her to be swept up in that so they decide to be friends, but it takes a strain on her relationship with Matt but also with Foggy too. Then like decide where it should go from there” (anon)  A/N: decided to put this all in one part at an attempt for more notes lol

For me to love you now Would be the sweetest thing T'would make me sing Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind

“Catch the Wind” - Donovan

You had been best friends with Matt Murdock for nearly as long as you could remember. As the longest—and oldest—resident of Saint Agnes Orphanage, you had been assigned to show Matt around when he first arrived after his father’s death.

You quietly knocked on the open doorframe. The boy inside sniffled and quickly wiped away his tears before turning towards you. “Come in,” he said, never meeting your eyes. At first, you assumed he was embarrassed to be caught crying.

“Nice glasses,” you offered, hoping to draw his attention away from the death of his parents—or whatever happened to his family that led him here.

The boy pushed the glasses higher up on his nose. “Oh. Yeah. Thanks, I guess.”

You stepped across the room and took a seat on the edge of his bed. “You must be special. Sister Anne would never let me wear sunglasses inside.”

“Oh, they’re…not really…sunglasses.”

He spoke so quietly, you didn’t really make out what he said. So you continued talking anyway. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“Matt Murdock.”

You stuck your hand out for him to shake. “Nice to meet you, Matt Murdock.” You froze awkwardly as the kid made no motion to shake your hand. But then you put everything together—his dark glasses, the way he never met your eyes, the cane you were now noticing against the wall—he was blind. And you were an idiot. “I’m, uh, holding out my hand for you to shake.”

“Oh, sorry.”

At last, you shook hands, and you tried not to let the awkwardness sink in. “Um, so Sister Maggie told me to show you around. Do you want to go?” Matt nodded and stood, collecting his cane off the wall. You stood as well, unsure of yourself. “I’ve given this tour a dozen times to newbies, but never to a blind guy. How does this work? Do we hold hands or…?” You quickly shut your mouth. Obviously, you wouldn’t be holding hands—why would you hold hands with a stranger?

“No,” Matt chuckled. “Just give me your elbow.”

“Oh, sure.” You did as Matt said and led him out to the hallway. “I don’t know if they told you, but your room is the third one on the right. You must be lucky. You got a single room. Most of us have to share.” You directed Matt down the stairs until you were on the first floor. “We can’t go in now because they’re setting up for dinner, but the dining hall is here on the left. Breakfast is at 7 on weekdays, 8 on weekends, and dinner is always at 6.” You led Matt further down the hall and out the door. You stepped into a small, sunlit courtyard.

“This is the way to the church,” you continued explaining. “I don’t know if you’re Catholic, but you’re gonna be here real soon.” You stopped in front of the doors to the church, but didn’t go inside. “We’re required to go to Mass Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, as well as the weekly Mass school gives.”

“School?”

“Yeah, Saint Agnes also runs a school on the other side of the block. It’s where we all go.”

“So I won’t be able to go to my old school anymore?”

You sighed. Newbies always had a hard time finding out they’d no longer be attending school with their friends. “No. Sorry.” His face fell. “But! I think we’re in the same grade, so we should have some classes together. I remember when I was the new kid, but, hey—you already got one friend. It shouldn’t be too bad.”

“What friend?”

You nudged his shoulder. “Me, doofus.”

Matt smiled softly at you and from that moment on, you were thick as thieves.  

As you grew, you slowly realized you probably had more-than-friends feelings for Matt, but you never spoke about them out loud, nor did you dwell on them very often. Matt was your best friend—your only friend—and you didn’t want that to change. So you locked the butterflies in your stomach down tight and shoved those feelings in the back of your brain. It didn’t help that as you neared graduating high school, everyone thought you were dating. You even caught the nuns who worked the orphanage whispering sometimes about how wonderful the two of you would look married—as if things would ever get that far.

When you went to college, your pool of friends expanded by one: Matt’s roommate, Foggy. Foggy quickly became your other best friend—since you were around Matt all the time, it made sense that you and Foggy would be close as well. In fact, it was to Foggy one drunken night when you confessed your feelings for Matt for the first time.

You and Foggy stumbled back to campus after a night out on the town. You, Foggy, and alcohol were never a good mix—you always tried to drink the other under the table until neither of you could stand upright. You leaned against each other for support as Foggy fumbled with his keys to the dorm. You laughed loudly when he dropped them and fell trying to pick them up, but he quickly shushed you. “Shhhhh. Matt’s trying to study,” he slurred, trying and failing to whisper quietly. Matt said he couldn’t go out with the two of you that night because he had a test on Monday morning.

You made a zipping motion over your mouth, but giggled again as you watched Foggy unlock the door. He was on his knees, the doorknob at eye level, as he concentrated on putting the key in the lock as a surgeon would make an incision. He fell on his stomach when the door finally swung open. You leaped over him as soon as you could, eager to see Matt and annoy him to stop studying.

But the room was empty.

You turned to Foggy (finally standing), almost pouting. “Maybe he had to go to the library?” he offered. You shrugged, and then collapsed onto Matt’s bed. You weren’t sure your legs would hold you up any longer.

Foggy puttered around the room, trying to drunkenly change clothes, as you snuggled into Matt’s pillow. You closed your eyes to stop the world from spinning, but that made you realize how tired you were. “You know,” you yawned, almost half asleep now, “I think that girl at the bar really liked you.”

“Who? The pink shirt?”

You nodded into the pillow. “Yeah, she kept looking at you and smiling.”

“Huh.”

You peeked open one eye to stare at him. “Are you not going to ask me why I didn’t act as your wing woman?”

Foggy’s cheeks flushed. “Uh, no, that’s okay.” His voice was higher pitched than usual. What was he trying to hide? If you could move your limbs, you would have crossed the room to stare him down. As it was, you tried to be as intimidating as you could with your face half squished in a pillow.

“Who do you like?” you asked after a moment, finally coming to the conclusion that he must have a crush on someone.

“No one. Who do you like?” he countered.

“I’ll answer if you answer.”

He stared at you for a moment before flopping back on his bed. “You know the girl from my study group?”

You quickly sat up, instantly regretting it as the room—and your stomach—swirled uncomfortably. But you pushed it aside. “Marci Stahl? You like Marci?”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Don’t make a big deal about it.”

“Ooh, I am so going to have to tell her.”

“Don’t!” Foggy quickly turned to face you.

“Why not? I already know she likes you.”

“She does?”

“Um, yeah, it’s obvious.” That, and she sat with you at lunch one day and had asked about him.

“Cool,” he sighed happily, laying back down. You huffed a laugh, surprised that was all he had to say. You slumped back into Matt’s bed, eyes drifting closed. You were almost asleep when Foggy called you out on your promise. “Who do you like?”

You froze. You tried to search for a fake name, but the copious amounts of alcohol you had this evening meant you couldn’t think of one. So you sighed and figured you might as well say it. Foggy wouldn’t tell, right? And it was probably best you got it out of your system. “Uh…Matt?” you said quietly. You weren’t even sure if Foggy heard you.

But he did, and after a moment’s silence, he asked, “Have you told him?”

“Definitely not. I didn’t want to mess anything up between us and now…”

“Elektra,” Foggy finished for you.

It seemed Matt had been hanging out with Elektra more than you and Foggy lately. You tried not to let it get to you. Matt was allowed to have other friends, after all—even girlfriends—but something about her gave you a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. You couldn’t put your finger on the feeling or why it was there, but it worried you nonetheless.

“You won’t tell him, will you?” you asked. But Foggy was already asleep.

You were pretty sure Foggy kept this secret over the years, as Matt never once mentioned it to you. Or he was so drunk he forgot about it. That, or Matt similarly thought you should just be friends and never brought it up himself. Either was okay with you.

But now your feelings were somehow growing and you were ready for things to change.

You were hanging out at Matt’s apartment—you always did, every Friday. It was tradition. The two of you were tucked into opposite ends of the couch, watching random things on your laptop. You described what was happening whenever an audio description wasn’t available. But it had been several minutes since you last spoke. Matt hadn’t dozed off, like you originally believed, but he was lost in thought. You tried not to disturb him, thinking he was planning his opening for a case or something like that.

But the three glasses of wine in your system had other plans.

You slowly slid across the middle of the couch until you were inches away, thighs nearly touching. Matt gave no indication that he noticed you. “Hey, Matt?” you whispered after a few moments of silence. His head tilted towards you, indicating that he was listening, but he said nothing. “Can I tell you something?”

“Always,” he replied. He turned his body to face you, realizing from the tone of your voice, you guessed, that this was serious.

“I-I—uh…” you began. You heart pounded. What even were words? “Ilikeyou,” you finally breathed in one rush of words.

“I like you too.”

Your heart constricted. “More than friends, I mean.”

“I know.”

What? Your brain froze. You couldn’t comprehend. You were expected Matt to laugh you off, Matt to turn you down, Matt to do anything but that. “You—you do?” Matt nodded. “Then why…why didn’t you say anything?”

“I could ask you the same question.” He was smiling at you.

“I didn’t want to change anything. Between us. But I told Foggy once in college… I think maybe part of me thought he wouldn’t be able to keep his big mouth shut.”

“Oh, he told me.”

Your eyes widened. “He did? Oh, I’m gonna kill him.” You sprung from the couch, searching for your phone. But Matt stopped you with a hand around your wrist.

“Hey, it’s fine.” He pulled you back to sit next to him. Your thighs were pressed against one another. “I thought you wanted him to spill.”

“A bigger part of me wanted him to forget. We were really drunk that night.”

Matt’s thumb moved to rub circles on the inside of your wrist. Goosebumps raised on your skin. “I remember.” You were surprised he did. But you guessed maybe it was hard to forget the time your best friend told your other best friend that they liked you. Even if you weren’t there. You were sure Foggy gave him all the details.

Matt continued to rub circles into your skin and it was hard to think about much else. Your eyes raised to meet his. You sighed. His eyes were so gorgeous. You wished he didn’t hide them behind his glasses all the time, but you understood. Even then, you wished you could stare into his eyes all day.

Your gaze flicked down to his mouth. Before you knew it, your lips were pressed into his. He froze for a second, not returning the kiss, and you panicked. But before you could pull away, his hand was on the side of your face, pulling you closer. As your lips crashed into one another, you regretted not doing this sooner. He was an amazing kisser.

As things delved deeper, you turned to press your body tightly against his. You threw one leg across his lap and eased him back against the back of the couch. Your hands roamed—through his hair, over his shoulder, down his arms, across his chest. But when you brushed across his ribs, he gasped in pain and pulled back. You instantly sprung off of him.

“Oh, my god, are you okay?” you asked. “What happened?” You knew Matt somehow amassed a large collection of bruises and broken bones—he was just clumsy, he’d tell you ever since they started appearing in your teens. But you weren’t so sure. You’d never even seen Matt stumble once. You slapped Matt’s hands away as you reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up to reveal his ribcage.

Blue bruises stood in stark contrast to his skin, surrounded by cuts and scratches of various depths. He winced when your fingers ghosted across the widest bruise—was a rib broken? Several other injuries trailed around his side and you figured his back was in similar shape.

“What happened?” you demanded once more. “Have you gone to the doctor? Were you mugged? Did you call the police?”

Matt’s hands landed on your shoulders to stop your barrage of questions. “I’m fine,” he said, but he gave no further explanation.

“That’s not fine, Matt.”

“I saw a nurse. It’s nothing that won’t heal in a couple of days.”

You breathed a small sigh of relief. But you were still left with so many questions. “Who did this to you? What happened?”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it’s handled. They won’t be bothering anyone else.”

“That’s good,” you sighed. You wanted to ask more questions, but you knew Matt was being purposefully vague. Why wouldn’t he tell you what happened? Why didn’t he tell you that he was hurt? You wanted to press him more, but you knew Matt was as stubborn as a bull and there was no way you’d get any more information out of him. Tonight, at least. So you decided to distract yourself with the other question filling your head. “So…what about us?”

“We can’t.” Matt’s answer was immediate. No hesitation.

You felt as if a horse had kicked you in the chest. Your breath was knocked out of you. “What?”

“I…we can’t. There’s too many things going on and I can’t risk it.”

“What’s going on? You can tell me—you can always come to me. You know you can.”

Matt hung his head, leaning over his knees. “I can’t.”

Your eyes stung with unshed tears. Matt always came to you. You practically told each other everything. Had you messed things up by confessing your feelings?

“Does it have to do with your bruises?” you said softly.

Matt didn’t reply.

You stared at him, searching for words to say, begging for him to say something. But each of you remained silent.

Nothing.

“I have to go,” you said at last. You scrambled to throw on your shoes and gather your things.

Your heart shattered when Matt made no move to stop you.

“Do you know what’s going on with Matt?” you asked Foggy, pushing your food around with your fork. The two of you were at your favorite diner for your regular biweekly lunches.

“Uh, no. What do you mean?” Foggy’s eyes instantly darted out of the window. He fiddled with his hands. Foggy may be a lawyer, but you had known him long enough to know he knew exactly what was going on.

“I was at his place the other night and he had these bruises…” You gestured over your ribcage, indicating where Matt’s bruises were located.

“Oh. He probably fell down the stairs again. You know Matt.” Foggy chuckled nervously. He wouldn’t meet your eyes.

“Mhm,” you hummed skeptically. You stared Foggy down. Once or twice, he would glance up at you, but his gaze fluttered away when he realized you were still staring. The waitress brought your checks over and he fumbled getting his money out of his wallet and struggled with gathering his things. Before he could get up and leave, you spoke his name, forcing him to look at you. “Foggy. What’s going on with Matt?”

“Nothing, I swear—”

“Foggy.”

He looked at you and sighed. You were hoping he realized you wouldn’t back down. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why.” It wasn’t a question. It was a demand.

“He promised me not to.”

“Is he in some sort of secret blind Fight Club?”

“If only.”

You reached across the table to grab Foggy’s arms. You leaned towards him. If your college days taught you anything, you might be able to puppy-dog-eye your way to get what you want. “Foggy. Is he in trouble?” you said slowly, quietly.

He turned his head, looking away, as if to find somebody who would rescue him from your gaze. But there was no one. “Y/N, I…I really can’t do this.” His voice was weak. “I can’t tell you.” He pulled free from your grasp, standing and walking away from you. “I’ll see you next week,” he said over his shoulder as he exited the building.

You sat back in your seat, resting heavily against the booth. What was going on? There was nothing, nothing that they had hidden from you before.

At least…not that you knew of.

So why were they hiding this?

You ignored their texts and calls over the next couple of days. You were angry that they were keeping things from you. You were upset that Matt had rejected your feelings just like that, so easily. Your emotions overwhelmed you and you weren’t sure how to process them—so you just ignored them.

After about a week of the silent treatment, they sent Karen over to your apartment one night. She carried your favorite takeout in her hands as a bribe. You took it, of course, but you weren’t happy about it.

“They’re worried about you,” Karen said once the two of you were sat at your table, food dished out in front of you.

You speared a vegetable with a little too much force. “Yeah, well, they wouldn’t have to be if they would just tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m sure they have good reason.”

“You didn’t see the state Matt was in. Something big is going on.”

“Matt said he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe he was mugged and they don’t want to tell you so you’re not worried?”

“I wish that was the case.” You turned to face her. “How are you so calm about this? I mean, don’t you think something’s up?”

“I talked to him a few days ago and…he’ll tell us when he’s ready.”

You huffed and rolled your eyes. With Matt’s stubbornness, he wouldn’t tell you anything until the information leaked on its own. You’d have to wear down Foggy or…

Karen sighed. She could tell she wasn’t going to be able to get through to you. She decided to change the subject before you could rant any more.

“Seen anything good on Netflix lately?” she offered and the two of you made small talk for the rest of the evening.

A few days later, you were cursing yourself as you were backed into an alleyway. How could you be so stupid? You dropped your guard walking home for one minute and look where it got you. You knew to always be aware of your surroundings, so why did you stop to check the notification on your phone? Just one cute video sent from a friend of her dog and you were about to be robbed of your belongings…or worse.

You tried to form an escape plan—or at least a get-out-alive plan—but your brain was short-circuiting. You nearly shrieked when a dark mass seemingly fell from the sky. Your heart sped faster. Was this man an accomplice to your attacker? Would you now have to face two men to get out of this alley?

But you breathed a small sigh of relief as the man rose from his crouched position on the concrete. You had seen enough pictures in the Bulletin to recognize that this was the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. In the flesh. Right here in front of you.

The masked man took only one step forward but it was enough to send your would-be attacker running for the hills. The masked man cocked his head to the side, listening for a moment, before turning to face you. “Are you alright?” he asked. His voice was comforting, like an old friend.

You let out a shaky breath. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” You crossed your arms in an effort to hide your trembling hands. “I wish I knew all it took to scare someone away was to wear a mask. Maybe I’ll start carrying one around.”

The man smiled, small but tense. “If only that’s all it took.”

You glanced awkwardly around the alley, unsure of what to say next. “I, um, thank you?” You cleared your throat. “Thank you,” you tried again. “I…I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.” You tried to clamp down on your wandering thoughts, but it was hard to stop the flashes of possibilities in your brain.

“Is there anyone you could call to come get you?”

Matt. Foggy. Karen. But you still didn’t feel like reaching out to any of them just yet. You shook your head. “No. My apartment’s just two blocks away, anyway. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. I’m just a little shaken, but I can make it. Thank you.”

The man hesitated a moment longer, seeming to check that you would actually be all right, before scaling the nearby fire escape in leaps and bounds until he disappeared in shadow. You took a moment to collect yourself before stepping out into the warm light of a streetlamp. You hesitantly made your way home, skittish and jumping at every little noise. You sighed a breath of relief when the deadbolt of your front door finally slid closed.

Even though you were on the fifth floor, you went around your apartment, checking that every window was locked and secured. You pulled the blinds closed for good measure. You froze when you spotted a figure crouched on the fire escape across the street, but smiled as you realized it was the masked man, seeing you safely home. Despite the evening’s events, you felt safe knowing the masked man was protecting the city.

You spotted the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen several more times over the next few weeks. You would catch glimpses of him on your walk home, spot him in shadows from out your window, heard the stories of those he saved. It was comforting, knowing he was out there. You didn’t think his persistent presence would one day turn against you.

You awoke in the middle of the night to a noise in your apartment. You laid still, ears searching for another sound. You relaxed when you heard none after a few minutes. Maybe your neighbor just dropped something, you thought. You closed your eyes and tried to fall back asleep. You tensed again at the sound of fabric rustling, realizing after a moment it was just your window curtains in the breeze. What had you so jumpy tonight? You had seen the masked man just this evening, keeping watch over the block. You knew nothing was going to happen…

You were nearly asleep when a hand clamped over your mouth and nose.

You were dazed and confused when your eyes finally fluttered open. You weren’t in your bed—had you fallen asleep working at the kitchen table again? You moved to stretch your arms and back, but something tugged tight at your wrists. You glanced down with groggy eyes to find a neatly knotted rope around each arm. You kicked your legs to find that they were similarly bound.

In an instant, your sleepy mind flashed to full clarity.

Not good. This was definitely not good.

Your eyes focused just ahead of you. Across a small wooden table was a well-dressed man with dark hair. He was sitting casually, almost lazily, with one leg draped across the arm of his chair. He was twirling a knife idly in his right hand and barely glanced at you when he spoke. “Finally awake?”

“Where am I?” you responded, giving another futile tug to your bindings.

“New York City,” the man deadpanned. You nearly rolled your eyes—you could’ve figured that one out yourself. The sounds were distant, muffled, but you could still make out the sound of the hustle and bustle of the busy city. You couldn’t exactly tell which borough you had been brought to, but you knew you weren’t in a residential area. The room you were in was big with tall ceilings, dim construction lights, and no windows aside from darkened skylights on the roof. An abandoned factory. A warehouse, maybe.

Well, isn’t that just a bit cliché.

You shivered as a draft eased over your skin. The building certainly didn’t have central AC—you were freezing in the thin pajamas you had been kidnapped it.

Kidnapped.

You had just been kidnapped. Why this was only registering now, you weren’t sure. You fought the panic rising in your chest. Hyperventilating now would be no good and you didn’t want to know what would happen if you passed out. A count of five to control your breathing, then: “What do you want from me?”

“It’s not you we want, sweetheart.” He rose from his seat, straightening his suit jacked and adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves. He slowly stepped around the table and you couldn’t help but be reminded of a jaguar stalking its prey. You tensed when he disappeared behind you, but he was only gone for a moment before tossing several issues of the Bulletin across the table. “It’s him.”

You cautioned a closer look at the papers in front of you. Featured on each page was a different grainy photo of the man in the mask, Daredevil, whatever they were calling him these days. “I don’t—I don’t know him.”

“You don’t?” The man—your kidnapper—pulled out a few photographs, placing them slowly in front of you. The first was of you and Daredevil walking side by side. It was taken shortly after he had saved you from that alley, you realized, when he escorted you home. The second was a picture of the fire escape landing just outside your window. You were leaning out the window, handing him a bottle of water—the defender of Hell’s Kitchen needed to be hydrated, right? But glancing at the third picture, you were unsure of what it had to do with you. Until you realized it was of him kneeling on the rooftop of the building across from yours.

“We’ve been trying to track him down,” your kidnapper continued, “as he’s been interfering with several…business ventures of ours. He’s been very hard to locate. Fortunately for us, your apartment is one of his more…frequented locations. We just want to know who he is. Then we might be able to…set you free.”

“But I don’t know him!” you insisted again.

Your kidnapper retrieved a knife from his pocket, sliding the flat of it up the side of your arm. “It would be easier on the both of us if you just told me his name.”

“It would be easier if you’d just listen! I don’t know—” Your words abruptly cut off as the man slid the point of the knife against your thigh—not deep, but enough to slice through your pant leg and draw a thin line of blood. You could almost laugh. You were expecting much, much worse. “That’s the best you could do? I’ve had paper cuts worse—”

Your eyes widened. Why were you mouthing off at a time like this? Why would you say that? Stupid, stupid, stupid… In a flash, the man’s palm struck across your cheek, turning your head sideways. You tasted blood. Your lip was split. Fantastic.

“I just need a name.”

“I don’t have one!”

“Then let’s just hope he finds you in time.”

“What? No, please, please!” you shouted as his fist collided with your temple.

It was a slow night for Matt. He hadn’t stumbled across any emergencies needing his assistance nor could he hear any in the surrounding area. The night was almost too slow, it seemed. Without anything to do, he jogged across rooftops until he reached your apartment building. He always told himself it was just part of his nightly sweep of the neighborhood, but deep down, he knew it was more than that.

It had been weeks since you’d talked to him—well, talked to him as Matt, that is. You had been his best friend for nearly two decades now. It pained him every day the two of you didn’t talk.

But it wasn’t like he didn’t understand.

He rejected you. He probably broke your heart and, to top it all off, he was hiding a huge secret from you! He understood why you were giving him the silent treatment—he’d probably do the same if the roles were reversed—but he was thankful he could still at least check on you every day, even if it was as the Daredevil. He just wished you wouldn’t take it out on Foggy, too.

Foggy was torn, to say the least. He hated to see his two best friends apart like this and hated knowing he had contributed to it in some way. He wanted to tell you Matt’s secret, he really did! But he couldn’t. He desperately wanted to tell you so you could talk some sense into Matt, get him off the streets every night, but he couldn’t betray Matt’s trust like that. Even as much as he wanted to. He’d tell Matt as much, but things were already tense between them as they were.

Shaking his thoughts aside, Matt stepped gently onto your fire escape. He first noticed the cool air seeping out the window to your apartment. How many times would he have to remind you to lock it? He made three quick raps against the pane, alerting you to his presence. He waited for you to answer, but you never showed. He turned his attention away from the city and directed it to the inside of your apartment. But…he couldn’t hear you.

He could hear the loud thumping of the heartbeat of your upstairs neighbor and the quieter beats of her two cats but not you. He slid your window open wider and slipped into the space of your kitchen. The air was still. You hadn’t been here in a few hours. Dread pooled deep in his stomach.

Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket. Normally, he left it behind, but part of him hoped you would end your silent treatment one of these nights. Whatever the reason, he was thankful he had it. He just had to assure himself that you were okay—perhaps you’d gone to the store or out to a movie with a friend. He quickly dialed your number, paling when he heard your phone buzz on your bedside table. He hung up. Foggy’s number was next.

“Matt?” Foggy asked groggily, disoriented from waking up and confused that Matt was actually calling him.

“Have you heard from Y/N?” Matt asked quickly.

“No. Why? What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just…stopped by her apartment and she’s not here. She’s not answering her phone.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. She’s probably at a friend’s place. Asleep. Like we should be.”

“Yeah. Goodnight.” Matt ended the call, nearly throwing the phone across the room in frustration. Something wasn’t right about this. He paced across your apartment, freezing when he caught the scent of…cologne? His heart dropped a little. Maybe you found somebody to replace—

His mind made the connection. That was the same cologne as one of the crime bosses he’d been following.

This time, he did throw his phone across the room.

You realized at some point you’d gone unconscious. You awoke to a throbbing in your skull and sharp pains across your abdomen. You couldn’t feel the rest of your body, but you generally felt like you had been hit by a truck. The taste of blood was heavy on your tongue. You pried your eyes open, but everything was blurry. Was one of your eyes swollen shut or just could you not see from the pain in your head? You pried your eyes open further and winced. Swollen. Your eye was definitely swollen.

You couldn’t catalogue any other specific injuries. All the pain swelled together, indistinguishable from one another. You thought maybe a finger was broken, but you couldn’t tell for sure. It definitely hurt every time you tried to flex your hand, though. You also realized deep breaths were something to steer clear from.

Your captor noticed your movements and stepped into your field of vision, leaning against the table in front of you. “Back, are we?” he asked. He casually bumped your knee with his, almost affectionately. You hissed from the pain the movement caused.

“Didn’t…didn’t think I could leave,” you wheezed. You’d certainly begged for it earlier. But your kidnapper made it clear the Devil arriving would be your only hope. Your kidnapper…you really needed to give him a name.

“Not yet.” Your captor—Zane. Yeah, let’s call him Zane—picked up a knife from behind him and twirled it in the air. You tensed, waiting for the pain to come, but he just continued to stare at you.

“Okay, listen,” you begged. “I’m weak. I’m weak, I know I am. I’m weak to torture. If I knew anything, it’d have spilled already. You’re good—you’re good at what you do, but I don’t have anything—”

“Flattery gets you nowhere. Besides, that isn’t even the goal anymore.” A glint from the knife was your only warning before it was embedded in your thigh. You screamed, begging, pleading, that your hero would find you.

Your bloodcurdling scream sent ice down Matt’s spine.

He had been poised outside the warehouse, waiting, listening, trying to find the best course of action to rescue you. But that sound had him throwing caution to the wind. He dove through the nearest window.

Three men were in this hallway. Matt dodged a bullet one of the men fired before ripping the gun out of his hands. A solid strike from the butt of the gun rendered the man unconscious and Matt turned to face the other two. His mind turned to autopilot as he incapacitated his enemies. Every move was instinctual, every hit uncaring.

At last, he found where you were being held in the center of the building. He tensed as he stepped into the room, hands raising in a sign of no harm. You were being held at gunpoint. Every step he took pressed the gun tighter into your temple, so he froze, thirty feet away from you.

Tears were streaming down your face. You knew a gun was being held to your head, but you weren’t conscious of much more than that and the knife still hilt-deep in your leg. Ringing in your ears drowned out all other sound. You weren’t sure how the Daredevil made it across the room or took down Zane, but you instinctively reacted when hands pressed down on your shoulders.

“No, please, stop!” you begged. “I don’t know who he is, I swear.”

Slowly, your senses came back to you. “Hey, it’s me. Calm down,” you heard. Your eyes fluttered open. The masked man blearily came into focus. You wished you knew what he looked like. He’d probably have such gorgeous eyes… “Y/N, hey.” A hand tapped the side of your face. “I need you to stay awake, okay? I’m gonna get you some help.”

“My eyes closed?” you mumbled. You were trying to stay awake, but your eyes had plans of their own.

“Yeah, they did.” He knelt down to untie the rope around your wrists and ankles. Once free, he tucked an arm under your knees and behind your low back. “This is going to hurt. I’m sorry.” On a count of three, he lifted you into his arms and you were out like a light.

 You groaned some time later as you were laid gently on what you thought to be a couch. You couldn’t tell where you were—higher thinking was on the backburner currently. The pain quickly erased any thought that came into your mind. You fought to open your eyes, though. You had to know if you were safe.

You were in a small apartment, on a living room couch like you originally thought. An expansive first aid kit was spread on the coffee table next to you. Several of the tools were bloodied; several packages were ripped open. You raised your eyes higher to find a woman and a man having a heated discussion. The man you knew—it was the Daredevil. You could tell even though his back was turned. The woman, though…you weren’t sure her identity. She wore blue, bloodied gloves and the ears of a stethoscope were around her neck. You caught the last of her argument.

“She needs a hospital, Matt. Only surgeons are qualified to remove impaled objects. And I, as good as I am at stitching you up, am not a surgeon.”

You thought hard to make sense of the words. Who needed a hospital? And wait… “Matt?” you croaked. She said Matt? Daredevil instinctively turned at the sound of your voice and you gasped at what you saw. His mask had been removed. You met the eyes of your best friend. Matt Murdock. “What? It’s you?” Matt sighed and ran a hand over his face. Fuck. This was everything he was trying to avoid. “This was why you had those bruises?” He nodded. “Foggy knows?” He nodded again. This was too much for you to wrap your head around.

Matt knelt by your head and took one of your hands in his. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m so sorry. This is why I couldn’t tell you, why we couldn’t be together. I knew someone was going to use you to get to me. It’s all my fault—”

You stopped his tirade with a whisper of his name. “Matt, it’s not your fault.” You reached up to wipe a smear of blood off his cheek. You weren’t even sure who it belonged to—you, him, or one of your kidnappers. “It’s not your fault. We’ll talk about this later. Right now I’m in a lot of pain and getting a lot of blood on a stranger’s couch. I need to know what the plan is.”

Matt turned to the woman and then sighed. “This is my friend Claire. She’s a nurse at Metro General. She’s going to take you to the hospital, okay?”

Matt moved to stand, but you gripped his arm. “You’re not going?”

“I’ll meet you there as soon as I can. I have to change clothes first. I can’t show up looking like this.” He gestured broadly to his bloodied suit. Your grip tightened. You didn’t want him to leave you. “I trust Claire with my life. She’s safe.”

You slowly loosened your grip. “Be fast,” you whispered. Matt nodded.

He and Claire loaded you into the passenger seat of her car. Matt pressed a kiss into your temple before closing the door behind you. Soon, the car was moving and you bared your teeth through the pain each turn and bump caused. Claire was a constant stream of “sorry.” You fought with everything you had to stay awake, but with the adrenaline gone, you felt every injury at full volume. But one ginormous pothole was all it took for your strength to shatter.

You groaned as you came to. Your eyes fluttered against the bright lights, but once they adjusted, you found you were in a hospital room. “I want to stop waking up in random places,” you whined. This was the third strange place you had woken up in since…however long it was since you were last at your apartment. A calendar on the wall said it was Sunday. So, two days.

Matt startled awake at the sound of your voice. You glanced over at him. He’d been trying to sleep in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs. He had dark circles under his eyes, worse than usual. Had he been here this whole time? “You look like shit, Matt,” you said.

“Y/N, I—” he started, but you cut him off.

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand now, I do.” Matt slid his chair across the floor until he was right by your side. You reached down to take his hand.

“But if I—”

“There’s a million things both of us could have done differently to not end up right where we are. The blame’s not all on you, Matt.”

He was silent for a few moments. He pressed the back of your hand against his lips as he thought. “How are you not mad at me?” he eventually asked.

“They got me on the good drugs right now, I think. But once they release me…ooh, you’re in for it.” You squeezed his hand, smiling.

“Yeah?” He returned your smile.

“Yeah.” You sat quietly for a few moments, your heart monitor filling in the easy silence. “So are you really blind? Or is that something to throw off people from finding out your secret identity?”

“You think I’ve had an alter ego since I was ten?” he laughed.

“You never know,” you shrugged. You burrowed deeper into your pillows. “I think I’m going to take a nap now. Will you stay?”

“Always.”

You were nearly asleep when you had to murmur one last thought. “I love you, Matt.”

“I love you too.”

[outofoz]

I think it's a travesty that Maddie and Bobby have had so few scenes together, considering how much they have in common. This moment is set some time after the Season 4 finale

TW: Mentions of Suicide Attempts, Depression

Bobby took the long way home today. That might sound like the typical drive to anyone who lives in LA, but Bobby was taking an even longer route home. He had had a long shift, filled with a lot of captain decisions, and on days like this, he savored the drive home. It let him unwind, shake off Captain Bobby so that when he got home, he could just be Bobby. Plus, Athena was deep in a case, pulling the night shift so the house was empty. Bobby never wanted to rush home to an empty house, not after he was forced to for so many years. So he was taking the more scenic route, less traffic and more nature, that reminded him of St Paul.

However Bobby's quiet drive home soon became anything but. As he began to pass over a bridge, his headlights highlighted someone, a woman, standing on the other side of the concrete railing. Bobby had sadly dealt with this many times, and had talked down many people in the same situation. Even himself, once on a night when all he could think about was his dead children.

He parked his truck at the start of the bridge. The road was quiet at this time of night and so he was doubtful that any other cars had traveled the bridge since the woman had been there. He didn't want to startle her with the sound of his engine. He got out, and started walking towards her.

"Ma'am?" Bobby asked quietly but firmly. She stiffened but kept her head bowed, looking at the swirling river below.

"My name is Bobby. I'm a LAFD captain..." before Bobby could finish his sentence the woman whipped her head up to make eye contact with him. Bobby stopped in his tracks as he realized he was looking into the broken eyes of Maddie Buckley. Maddie, his friend. Maddie, Buck's sister. Maddie, Chimney's girlfriend and the mother of baby Jee-Yun.

"Hey there Maddie" he said softly as we walked slowly closed. Maddie sniffed in response, trading his gaze to look back at the water below. Now that Bobby was next to her, he could smell the alcohol stench that was radiating off her. Maddie had been drinking. A lot. He knew that Maddie wasn't looking after Jee by herself at the moment. The baby was either with Buck, or Mrs Lee, or Sue, or Karen. Eddie had even taken a couple of shifts.

She had told Chimney she needed help, that she couldn't care for her baby, a week ago. She had started seeing a therapist and had been going for 5 straight days. Chimney had just finished his first shift in a week. Bobby had worked with him an hour ago. Maddie had told him it was fine that he went back, that she would be fine. Clearly she was not.

"Mine and Chimney's shift is over. He's probably on his way back to your apartment now." Bobby said as he leant against the rail next to her. Maddie had her arm bent back, and wrapped around the railing, holding herself in place. Based on how drunk she smelt, Bobby doubted she would be able to hold that for much longer.

"Chimney deserves better." Maddie whispered, her voice hoarse. "It's not fair that he keeps having to put up with me. First he had to deal with Doug, and then my PTSD, and my pregnancy, and now this. He deserves a partner, not another person to look after."

"That's what I thought too. That's why I never planned to move on from my wife. But then I ended up, sitting in a restaurant, across from Athena, and my life started again". Bobby said. "Being sober helped me find perspective. It was easier to see without the cloud."

"I'm not an alcoholic. I just needed the courage." Maddie almost snapped back, showing the most emotion Bobby had seen so far. "I just need the pain to stop. I need to stop feeling this hole inside. Doug took something from me, and I can't fill the hole, not with Chimney, not with my sweet baby. Chimney needs his pain to stop too. This will stop it all. I won't have to hear Jee cry anymore."

"Do you think Chimney will be in less pain if you jump?" Bobby asked. "Because I can guarantee you that he will not. He will be in more pain then he has ever felt before. I'm not trying to guilt you, I'm just being honest."

Bobby reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He reached for the photo he kept tucked in with his notes. It was him, Bobby, Brooke, and Marcie at the ice rink, their last outing as a family before the fire.

"A year after my family died, in the fire I accidentally started, I was feeling the exact way you were. I had the bottle of hydrocodone in my hand, the whiskey in the other, and I was ready to do it." Bobby held out the photo for Maddie to look at. "But then I thought that it was the wrong thing. Not wrong because it was suicide, but because I hadn't atoned for what I had done. 148 people died in that fire, and I decided then and there that I owed 148 lives before I could go. That's why I joined the LAFD."

Maddie reached out and touched the photo ever so softly, her bottom lip trembling. "Did you reach your goal?" She asked.

"I'm sure I have by now. But I stopped counting once I started dating Athena. I'm sure it sounds cliché, but once I had her in my life, I realized there was more to live for than just atoning."

"I've tried that and I didn't work! I'vemoved on from Doug, with Chimney, and I'm still ruining everything!" Maddie yelled. She was getting worked up. Bobby knew that she was going be more likely to slip, the more angry she got. It's not like the alcohol was helping her balance.

"You don't know what Chimney was like before you met him, I mean how could you?" Bobby said in a measure tone. "He was bouncing from woman to woman that he met on online dating, but he couldn't make it stick. And then his accident happened, and he felt even more lost. The change I saw in him once he met you was profound. I have never seen him so happy. Even after the stabbing, his mood didn't waver." Bobby slowly reached out and put a hand on Maddie's arm. "I know you feel like Chimney is always trying to save you, but you saved him, no doubt in my mind of that."

"I'm just so tired Bobby" Maddie started really crying, big heaping sobs exploding out of her. She tightened her grip on the railing.

"I know. It is tiring. Living with the pain, living with the guilt, living with the trauma, it takes a toll." Bobby tightened his grip on her arm. He knew she could slip at any moment, whether she wanted to or not.

"We can be in this together now Maddie, you can tell me whatever you need to. I know what it is like to feel like you have a big gaping hole inside, I know what it's like to feel the guilt of taking another person's life. I know." Bobby said. Maddie turned and looked him in the eyes. "I also know what's on the other side. And I can help you, I promise."

She gave him a tiny nod, then she turned to face him, and then her foot slipped.

Bobby tightened his grip, as hard as he could, and shot out with his other hand. He grabbed her other arm before her other foot could slip off the ledge.

Maddie let out a scream, which cut off when she realized she wasn't falling.

"I'm going to lift you over the railing now" Bobby said as he began to pull. Once her centre of gravity was on top of the railing, he let go with his left hand and swooped his left arm under her knees. He lifted her off the railing, until she was cradled against his chest, her tears wetting his shirt as she sobbed. Bobby leant against the railing and just held her as she cried. Eventually her tears began to soften and she looked up at him.

"Thank you" she whispered. "I didn't want to go over after all."

"I know" he replied. "No knew ever does once it is actually happening." He slowly lowered her down until her feet were back on the ground, his arms still around her, holding her up.

"Why don't we walk to my truck over there?" he said, pointing down to the start of the bridge. "I can take you home-"

"No!" Maddie yelled. "I can't face Chimney just yet. Not after I almost did...that."

"Okay well how about you come back to mine and Athena's?" Bobby suggested. "She's at work for the night, and you can sleep it off in the spare bedroom. I even have some leftovers from Pasta Thursday you can have. How does that sound?" Maddie nodded her head and whisperer out a thank you.

They slowly began walking towards his car, Bobby carrying most of her weight as Maddie stumbled along. She was really drunk. He opened the passenger door and helped her in, before going around to the driver's side. It was a warm night, but Bobby turned the heat on anyway, because Maddie was shivering like crazy.

He drove in silence, with Maddie staring out the window. They pulled up to his house, still in silence, and he cut the engine. He got out and went round to her side, helping her out and grabbing the cooler with the leftovers. He held her hand as he led her to the front door.

"I'm gonna put the leftovers on to reheat. Do you want to take a shower while they cook? If will help you sober up?" She nodded her head. He grabbed her a towel from the cupboard and led her to the bathroom. She went inside and he heard the water start. He pulled out his phone.

3 missed calls from Chimney. He took a deep breath, and hit redial.

"Bobby? Bobby I just got home with Jee and Maddie isn't here!  I've checked every room, I even checked the halls of the building. Her car is still here though." Chimney blurted out as soon as the call connected.

"Chim, it's okay, I actually found her. She's safe" Bobby said, before Chimney could continue.

"What?" Bobby could hear the confusion in Chimneys voice. "How on earth did you find her?"

"I took the long way home, over the Valley Bridge." Bobby trailed off, hoping Chimney would fill in the gaps and he wouldn't have to explain.

"Oh!" Bobby heard Chimney gasp, and then the line went silent. "Bobby was she going to, going to jump?"

"She was... considering it. But I don't think she was actually going to. She's pretty drunk." Bobby replied.

"Oh my god. Thank you Bobby, thank you so much!" Chimney was crying down the phone, the pain evident in his voice. "I'll come get her now."

"Chimney, I know you want to see her, but I think she really needs to sleep it off. She's having a shower and then I think she's gonna crash." Bobby glanced down the hallways as he heard the shower shut off. "I'll keep a close eye on her, don't worry."

"Oh okay. I'll come by in the morning then. Thanks Bobby. I just can't believe it." Chimney let out a large exhale. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Take care buddy." The call disconnected as Maddie made her way down the hallway. Bobby got a Gatorade out of the fridge and handed it to her as she sat at the table.

"Drink this" He said as he pushed it towards her. He went to the microwave and got out the pasta je had put on to reheat. He set it down in front of her. "You need to eat, trust me."

She picked up the fork and gingerly began taking bites. The bites slowly became bigger and bigger before she devoured the whole plate. Bobby wondered how long it had been since she had eaten anything.

"Thank you" she said quietly as she played with the bottle cap. She looked up and him and stared. She stood up, pushing her chair back, and rushed over, wrapping her arms around Bobby, tucking her head under his chin. He wrapped his arms around her, and felt some of the tension dissipate from her.

Tomorrow, Maddie would deal with her demons again. For tonight however, with Bobby watching out for her, she would take a deep breath, her first in what felt like forever.

Bobby knew, Bobby understood, Bobby could help. Maddie knew that now, and she wasn't going to let go before she had to.