#this was rushedly written on my phone rho

[kaseyskat]

in light of the journal page, I'd like to offer y'all something bittersweet.

~~

the airport is big and looming.

marcy clutches her bag so tight her hands are white. she doesn't have much in there; just miscellaneous items from her time in amphibia, and some of her own things from when her parents move that had been left at the boonchuys. still, it's enough that she feels hollow, empty, like she's already thousands of miles away.

she had gotten two weeks. two weeks of hospital checks and long conversations and tearful confessions. two weeks to reconcile seven months worth of missing time, to sort her memories out, to come to terms with all she's lost and all she still has left to lose. two weeks, and then the plane ticket had been bought on her behalf. she already has classes waiting for her in her new home, already has a life waiting for her, and yet...

...she can't do this to herself, not again.

the boonchuys and sasha are all here to see her off. the boonchuys had been housing her since the invasion, and both anne and sasha had been such active presences, marcy still doesn't know how she's going to live without them.

but they're at security now, which means it's time for marcy to step forward on her own.

she's never wanted a guiding hand more in her life.

the boonchuys are the first ones to hug her. mrs boonchuy offers her a comforting smile while mr boonchuy squeezes the life out of her, and they've been her secondary family for so long now, marcy truly doesn't know what she's going to do without them. she promises mr boonchuy that she'll still play vagabondia online with him, and they both step back, fond and proud of her in a way her own parents never have been.

sasha steps forwards next. "you're not gonna escape me so easily, nerd," she teases, but there's something hollow in her tone, longing and wistful just like the way she takes marcy's hands, clutches at them. "you gonna be okay on your own?"

"i'll call you if I need someone to kick ass for me," marcy teases right back, and she swallows past the lump in her throat to step into sasha's welcome embrace. as she inhales, her eyes sting, and she squeezes them shut to force her emotions back. "take care of anne for me?"

"only if you take care of yourself too," sasha says wetly. "i'm sorry we didn't get the time we needed."

"don't do that, please, don't apologize, it's okay." marcy finally - reluctantly - steps back, and she meets eyes with sasha, who is finally looking at marcy like she's a gem that sasha can't afford to buy- like she's valuable. it's one that marcy's wanted for herself for years now, and now that she has it, it just feels pointless.

still, she smiles, and gives sasha one last little wave- sasha smiles back, and then she's giving way for anne to dash forwards.

it feels right somehow, letting anne have the final goodbye with how long they've known each other, and this is the part that doesn't quite feel real. anne throws herself at marcy with a hunger, and marcy catches her, and she can't quite believe that this is it for them. surely she'll hug her best friend again one day, but they'll never be as close as they once were, and marcy doesn't know if it's because of the move or amphibia or both but she knows it's the one thing she regrets the most.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," anne mumbles into marcy's hair as she clutches at her. "I'll call you every day, and we can stream movies together! whatever you wanna do, promise."

"I'll miss you too, Anna Banana," Marcy whispers right back, and she sniffles, the burning in her eyes coming back with a vengeance. "it's okay, it's not a real goodbye, just a see you later. just like the temples!"

anne's voice is wobbling when she speaks next, and as she finally releases marcy from the clinging embrace she looks on the verge of tears as well. "I'll still miss you," she says, sounding almost petulant.

marcy sniffs again. "don't cry," she accuses, wiping at her eyes. "or I'm gonna start crying."

anne manages a shaky, wet little smile, before her eyes absolutely light up. "oh!" she exclaims, "I almost forgot!" she starts digging in the drawstring bag she had carried with her, brow furrowed in concentration. "I meant to give this back to you awhile ago but I thought I'd do something nice in it, give you something to read when your plane lands. only then, okay?"

it's her journal.

marcy had almost forgotten about the thing, truth be told. she remembers panicking the night after the battle of the bands, writing down a letter in amphibian runes just in case her plan didn't work out like she'd hope, and leaving the journal in anne's bag for convenient safekeeping. it hadn't been her smartest plan, because she had acted on impulse, fueled by her own guilt and last minute regrets.

somehow, it never occurred to her that anne would still have it now.

she takes it gingerly, flipping through the pages. her own notes on amphibia and rambling about newtopia make her feel small, her chest aching with a misery that hasn't quite managed to leave her yet.

"i read it," anne admits, and marcy startles, glancing back up. "I wanted to see if you wrote anything about how to travel between worlds- I didn't know how much you knew. I'm sorry for invading your privacy, but I'm not really sorry for reading it, it was... insightful."

suddenly, marcy remembers all she had written on anne, and her cheeks flush.

"it really helped me come to terms with everything, and I hope my sections help you come to terms with everything too," anne says, and she manages one more smile, one that marcy barely reciprocates.

and then it's time.

marcy clutches her journal in her arms as she forces herself to wave one more time. tears trickle down her cheeks as she turns away from her best friends, her favorite girls, the people she loves the most in the entire world.

she inhales, she exhales, and she steps into her new world; alone.