Finn felt like banging his head on the table. However, he knew that that would only earn him an irritated "Shhh!" from the librarian, and he was already sick to death of that.

He hated being stuck here, while Jake went off and had adventures. If he had a choice in the matter, he wouldn't be here at all, but he had gotten injured while battling a monster two weeks ago. It hadn't been too serious (certainly not worse than he had had before), but Flame Princess had gotten scared and had made him promise to take some time off and rest. He knew it was probably a bad idea (after all, Ooo tended to attract lot of danger and he and Jake almost always had to save it), but after all the problems they'd already had in their brief relationship, he wanted her to know he cared about her. So here he was, in the library, glancing over some book about ancient rulers who no one remembered.

"Finn!" someone whispered, snapping him out of his thoughts. He spun around, and realized it was Marceline.

"Oh, hey, Marcie."

"Hey Finn."

"So...not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? This doesn't seem like your kind of place."

"Oh... I was...looking for something." Was it just him, or did she seem a little uncomfortable?

"Well, I'd be happy to help you look. I was bored out of my mind, anyway."

"Um...sure, thanks." She was uncomfortable, like he had caught her doing something she didn't want anyone to see. He wondered why. It wasn't like this library carried anything but dusty old books - certainly nothing you wouldn't want to be caught reading.

"So what are you looking for?"

"A spell book, actually. Particularly those having to deal with healing."

They set off through the shelves, which were not in any particular order, with little clusters of similar books scattered throughout. It was not an easy task, especially since this was one of the largest libraries in Ooo. They found plenty of books on healing, but each time Marceline would shake her head and put it back on the shelf, with no explanation. After about two hours, Finn was getting sick of it, but then Marceline excitedly called him over.

"Finn! This is it!"

He looked over her shoulder at what she was holding. It was a plain, leather bound book, with nothing on the cover. It was quite thick, but many of these books were - he would never have noticed it. She flipped it open to show him the page she had been looking at.

"A...regeneration spell?"

"Yeah. It says it's for 'healing the injuries of time'."

"So what do you need it for?"

She suddenly tensed. What had he said?

"Finn...you know the Ice King? How he used to be a guy named Simon, before the crown drove him nuts?"

"Oh yeah...he collected old stuff or something like that, right? And he bought the crown, then started turning into the Ice King after he put it on."

"Well...it didn't happen right away. He didn't really...change...for a long time. And...I knew him."

"What?! But wasn't that, like, centuries ago?"

"Finn, I'm a thousand years old."

"Oh...right," he muttered sheepishly. "I forget sometimes. So...how?"

"What?"

"How did you know each other?"

"You know about the Mushroom War, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well...I was a child when that happened. I can't say how old I was, exactly - I've always aged differently than humans,'cause of my dad. I was pretty young. Anyway, my mom...well, she was only human, and she...didn't make it. She tried to hide me, in an empty bunker...all I remember is screaming and shouting and all these explosions. Then there was this wave of heat, like nothing you've ever experienced...and then it was so, so quiet."

"When I finally came out, I couldn't find anyone. Everything was destroyed. I guess there were bodies, but they were so...damaged...I didn't even realize they had been human. Eventually I just stood there and cried."

"That's how he found me. He wasn't hurt, 'cause the crown protected him. He tried to comfort me, gave me some food, gave me Hambo from a burned-out toy store. We kind of ended up adopting each other. He was sort of a father to me, y'know? Don't get me wrong, I love my dad, but Simon was there for me when I really needed it, and Dad wasn't. I can't forget that."

They were quiet for a while while Finn tried to process what she had said. He had known that the Ice King must have had a past, a whole different life, before he went insane, but Finn had never really thought about it. He and Marceline were two of the oldest beings in Ooo - now he found himself wondering what else they had seen, done, been, before he ever knew them.

"It must be really hard."

"What?"

"Seeing him like he is now, and knowing the person he used to be."

"Yeah," she said roughly, turning away, "it is. So I thought maybe, if I could find something to reverse the damage the crown has done, I could bring him back. I know he's done a lot of bad things, Finn, and maybe you think he doesn't deserve redemption, but I know that Simon is still there, and I can't even imagine what it must be like, being lost in your own head..."

"Marceline," he interrupted, "you don't have to justify this to me. I know that he's not in control of his actions, and my job would be a lot easier if he went back to normal. If there's anything I can do to help, tell me."

"Okay. I want you to bring him to that field around your house at nightfall tomorrow. It's better if we're not around a lot of people when we do this. I have to get the ingredients ready, so try make sure he doesn't come early or he might mess them up. And..." her voice got quieter. "Thanks, Finn."

He smiled. "No problem. See you tomorrow." Then he left. He'd have to make some arrangements, if this was going to work, and there wasn't much time.