Marceline stood in the burning ruins of the city. The flames crackled and shot sparks into the air. If she squinted, Marceline could pretend that the sparks were actually stars shining through the dark clouds of smog.

The little girl clutched long stick between her hands. Ever since the war had started and people had begun mutating, she'd been on her own. She had to fend for herself. Shelter was hardly ever a problem, for the city was practically abandoned. Food however, was a different story.

Sometimes Marceline was able to find real food. Some of it was a bit rotten, but it was better than her other food source.

Was it technically cannibalism, Marceline wondered, if the people had turned into candy?

The toxins had been doing terrible things to people. One of the less gruesome mutations was the Candy People. They didn't have blood, or hearts, or brains, but somehow they were alive.

Marceline tried to find comfort in the fact that she wasn't the only one doing it. With food as scarce as it was, eating the Candy people was frequently the only option for some people. Marceline only ate them if she found them already dead, but those who were especially desperate actually killed them.

So now, Marceline was on her own. She struggled to stay alive, but she was doing it.

Marceline wandered through the destroyed city with her stick, hoping to find some real food so she didn't have to eat the people.

"Hello?" a voice rang out from the darkness. Marceline jumped, spinning around and brandishing her stick.

"Wh-who's there?" she squeaked. Her arms shook making her seem less menacing than she already did. Her t-shirt and overalls dress couldn't have been very intimidating.

"Please, I won't hurt you," the voice said. When Marceline didn't move, a bedraggled looking man stepped out of the shadows.

A tattered suit hung limply from his thin frame. He had shaggy brown hair that was graying behind his ears. A scraggly white beard was sprouting on his chin. What was strange was that the man couldn't have been very old.

"I swear, I won't hurt you," he said. His voice was deep and scratchy, as if it had to fight its way up his throat to get out. "My name is Simon. What's yours?" He stood a few feet away from the little girl with his hands held out to show that he meant no harm.

"I'm… Marceline," she said hesitantly. She still wasn't sure whether or not to trust this strange man. She lowered her stick so it touched the ground in front of her, but kept a tight grip on it just in case he decided to attack.

"What a pretty name!" Simon exclaimed. "I've never met anyone with that name." He crouched in front of her, resting his forearms on his knees. "Where's your family, Marceline?"

"Gone," she replied. "They're all gone. I don't know what happened to them." She sighed and shoved her tangled mess of black hair out of her face. "What about you? What happened to your family?" she asked.

"My family doesn't want me anymore," Simon replied sadly.

"Oh!" Marceline gasped. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay," Simon said, dismissing his apology with a wave of his hand. "Hey, Marceline," he started. "What do you say about the two of us sticking together. We could be each other's family."

Marceline's heart skipped a beat. Ever since she'd lost her family, she hadn't even dared to dream about finding someone else to take care of her. But now, this man she'd just met wanted to take her with him.

The poor girl was overwhelmed with emotion. Tears welled in her eyes and she shrieked, "Yes!" She leapt forward and wrapped her spindly arms around the man's neck. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Simon replied. He returned Marceline's hug.

Eventually, Marceline disentangled herself from her new companion and retrieved her stick from where she had dropped it. She put on her most determined face and planted her feet. "Let's get moving, Simon," she ordered, putting her hands on her hips. "And if we run into any trouble, I'll defend us!" She raised her stick like a sword and swung it through the air,

Simon laughed and said, "Yes, ma'am! As you wish." He offered her his hand and she took it, wrapping her tiny fingers around his longer ones. "We'll protect each other now. We're a family."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Simon awoke one morning a few weeks later with a pain in his back. He groaned and rolled onto his side, but laying that way on the concrete floor want's much better than laying on his back.

Knowing that there was no way he was going back to sleep, Simon sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. His thick locks were almost completely white, with just bits of his natural brown at the ends. He had a full beard now, and it was getting longer by the day. He hoped Marceline wasn't noticing what was happening to him. He didn't want her to worry.

Speaking of Marceline, where was she? She'd gone to sleep right up against him the night before, but he hadn't felt her when he woke up. Unable to see without his glasses, Simon tentatively patted the ground to his right to see if she'd simply moved a bit in her sleep. Finding nothing, he felt to his left in search of his glasses.

Simon plunged his hand into his bag. He felt his and Marceline's clothes, their meager store of food, and finally his glasses. But something was missing. Where was the crown?

He moved his glasses up to his face, carefully keeping his shaking hands from poking him in the eye. He pulled everything out of the bag and looked again. Still no crown.

Simon started to panic. What if someone come in in the night and taken the crown and Marceline? He didn't know what he'd do if something happened to his little friend. And without the crown he'd…

But Simon wasn't going to think like that. Everything was going to be alright. Marceline and the crown were around somewhere. He tried to stay calm as he repacked the bag, but he could still feel the knot of fear at the back of her throat.

Suddenly, he heard humming coming from the hall that connected to the room he was in. He froze, not even breathing. Sure enough, Marceline came waltzing in with Simon's crown perched on her head.

"Oh hey, Simon!" she smiled when she saw that he was up. "This crown is super cool!" She pointed to the crown, as if he hadn't seen it.

"Take that off!" Simon barked. Marceline jumped and fumbled with the crown. Simon bolted across the room and snatched it from her. He tied it to his belt like he did every morning and turned back to Marceline to scold her.

Simon looked down at the little girl. She stared at him with a shocked expression and tears in her eyes. "I- I'm sorry, Simon!" she whimpered. "I won't take it again, I promise. I didn't know it was so special."

It occurred to Simon that he'd never spoken harshly to her before. He mentally kicked himself. He got down on his knees so he was about the same height as her. "No, I'm sorry, Marcy," he said. "You just scared me." Marceline gave him a confused look, so he continued. "This crown," he elaborated, tapping it where it hung at his hip, "isn't a toy. It's dangerous. If you wear it for too long it will do bad things to you."

"But you wear it all the time," Marceline countered.

Simon sighed. "I know, Marcy. I need the crown though. It's helping me more than it's hurting me. Do you understand?"

Marceline nodded. Then she squinted at him, studying his face. She raised one dainty finer and touched the tip of his nose. "You skin is turning blue, Simon."

Simon tried to hide his horror as he raised his own hand and peered at his fingertips. He swallowed hard, holding back a scream. Sure enough, the pads of his fingers had a slightly blue tinge to them.

Hoping that he didn't look as scared as he actually was he said, "That's nothing to worry about, Marcy. You've been getting paler, too. It's just because the sun can't get to us with all the smog. But we'll get out. Everything will be better." He took Marceline's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled, accepting his weak excuse.

He only hoped that he could keep up the excuses. He prayed that he could always be able to protect Marceline. He wondered if they would find anyone to protect him from what was happening.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

They'd finally done it. Marceline and Simon had finally escaped the maze of death and mutation the city had become. They'd made it to the top of the hill on the border of the city. Simon had left Marceline on the road and gone to find some sticks to make a fire.

Standing there on her own, overlooking the city that had once been her home, Marceline didn't know what to do. So much was wrong with her life.

Her family had abandoned her.

The city she'd once loved had held her captive.

She may or may not be a cannibal. She still wasn't quite clear on that.

And to top it all off, the one friend she'd had through the whole mess was losing his mind.

She'd known it was happening for a while. She was sure that it had already started by the time they'd met. His hair had been gray then. It had slowly gotten worse. First it was just the graying. His voice got worse, too. But then it was the blue skin. And lastly, he started to forget.

Sometimes, when it first started, he just forgot where they were or what they were doing. Then he couldn't remember who she was every once in a while. The first couple times all she had to do was say, "Simon, come back to me." But it got harder. It eventually took hours to get him back. She'd have to take him somewhere out of the way where they could stay until he was ready to move again. The whole time he would be rambling on about penguins and ice and princesses. Marceline just didn't know how to help him anymore.

Marceline had experienced a bit of it the day she'd put the crown on. It made her feel stronger, more powerful. It made her whole body feel cold. Now that she looked back on it, she realized that there had been short flashes of time where she couldn't think straight. And not just when she had the crown on. It continued for a few hours after she took it off before finally fading. It made her shudder to think that her poor friend experienced that and more every time he put the dumb thing on.

It was still unclear to Marceline why he did it. Maybe it was to protect him from the radiation, but something told her that it was for a different reason.

A familiar voice startled Marceline from her thoughts. "Are you alright, Marcy?" the voice asked.

Marceline wanted to wipe away the tears like a big girl would and say that she was fine. She just couldn't bring herself to lie to Simon though. Instead, she shook her head.

There was a clatter and Simon dropped the sticks he had gathered. He was at her side before she could blink. "What's wrong, Marceline?" he asked. He raised one blue hand to swipe the tears off her cheek. His skin was cold to the touch.

"It's just that…" Marceline started, but her words got caught in her throat. She wanted to say that she was afraid to lose him. She wanted him to know how scared she was. But she knew that saying that would only worry him. She didn't want that.

"That city's always been by home," she said instead. She gestured sadly to what was left of said city. "I just don't want to forget where I came from, now that I've left."

Simon let out a breath of relief and looked around. A little ways off the road were the ruins of a toy store. He stood and walked over. Among the shattered glass of the window were a few stuffed animals that were still in good condition. A particular one caught his eye. He wasn't quite sure if it was a monkey or a bear or some strange hybrid of the two. All he knew was that it was red, and red was Marceline's favorite color.

He handed the toy to Marceline. "Take this," he said. "It will help you remember your home and all the good times you had there."

Marceline took it and gave it a good squeeze. She smiled, a true, ear-to-ear smile, and looked up at Simon. "Thanks, Simon. I'll call him Hambo."

Simon laughed and ruffled the girl's hair. "That's the perfect name," he agreed. He watched as Marceline hugged the doll again. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside to see her so happy.

"And, Marcy," he continued, his damaged voice cracking, "if we ever get separated, Hambo will help you remember me."

"But we'll always be together," Marceline giggled, clutching Hambo to her chest. When Simon didn't reply, her smile slipped away. "Right, Simon? We'll always be together, right?"

"I certainly hope so, Marcy," Simon sighed. "But you should know, sometimes people need to leave somebody they love. It might be hard, for both of them, but it's always for a good reason."

Tears came to Marceline's eyes. She sprang forward and wrapped Simon in a tight hug. "Please don't leave me, Simon!" she sobbed. "You're all I have left. I can't lose you too, Simon!"

"I won't leave you Marceline," Simon whispered, blinking back his own tears. "I would never want to do that." He gripped her so tight that he was almost crushing her. But he needed her to know how much he loved her.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The bright sun shone through the window and onto Marceline's face. She groaned a grabbed Hambo's arm, whipping him up so he covered her eyes.

"Simon," Marceline mumbled. "Simon, the sun is too bright. Can you turn it off?" She laughed at her own joke. "Hey, Simon, did you hear that? That was a good one!" She waited for a response from Simon's bed across the room.

None came.

"Aw, seriously, Simon! You slept through that. That was a good one!" She flung Hambo across the room. She heard him smack against the wall and thump against the bed. There was still no response from Simon.

"Simon, wake up," Marceline shouted.

Nothing.

"Hey, Simon, are you up already?" Marceline cried, even louder. The house they'd been living in since escaping the city was small, so he should have been able to hear her. And he never left without waking her up to tell her where he was going and when he'd be back.

There was no response.

"Simon!?" Marceline called again. Her fear made her voice rise in pitch so that it was almost a shriek.

Marceline sat up and looked across the room. He wasn't in his bed. She threw back the covers and dashed to the door, pausing to grab Hambo on her way out.

"Simon?!" That time it was a shriek. She bolted through the living/kitchen area. On her way through, she stepped in something wet. She raised her bare foot and peered at the floor. Looking back the way she'd come, she saw a trail of water leading from their bedroom to the front door.

"Simon, where are you?!" she cried. She was getting choked up.

She ran outside in her bare feet and nightgown, her hand still clamped tightly around Hambo's leg. "Simon!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Simon, you promised!" she sobbed, talking to no one but the empty air. "You promised you'd never leave me Simon!"

Marceline collapsed to the ground, clutching Hambo to her chest. "You lied, Simon," she gasped between sobs. "I can't believe you lied to me. I need you, Simon. I love you."

So everyone, this was my first Adventure Time fic and I am SO proud of it. The idea came to me just as I was walking in to school, and I spent the rest of the day writing it. I really hope you like it, because I honestly do.