A/N: Hello again, readers. I've had this idea sitting around in my head for a while, and now I've finally typed it up and made it available to the public. It's just a little one-shot story that won't be continued. I don't think I possibly could continue it after taking forever just to create it. :P So yes, please enjoy. Maybe leave a review or two. This is my first sad fic, but I don't think I'm gonna do more sad ones. So much energy, so little time...
Adventure Time and all of its relations to it are owned by Pendleton Ward. I have no ownership to any of it.
The Ice Kingdom. The icey, mountainous, snow valley oasis that natives called their home. Penguins scampered about in the snow, playing with each other normally. Snow Golems wandered the blanketed forests, cautious as they tended to their business. But one individual in the chilling area was enjoying none of the usual weather. Instead, she preferred to have a quiet and unsettling afternoon in their home. If things were allowed to go that way.
In her ice ridden tower, a blue skinned female sat in her easy chair. Lazing about in the midday frigid breeze that blew through her window, she sank inches lower into her recliner. A puff of air escaped her mouth as she blew strands of her white mane out of her eyes. The 600 year old looked over to her right and saw one of her penguins settling into something. A pet bed. Her eyes met up with the harboring penguin's. It blinked back at her innocently and shifted in the mattress. Then she heard trickling liquid coming from the bird.
"Gertrude! Get off of that!" snapped the Ice Queen, obviously irritated. She sprang from her chair and chased away the penguin, zapping ice bolts at the animal's webbed feet as she ran. Gertrude waddled as fast as she could to bathroom and slammed the door shut, the lock clicking.
Ice Queen stopped herself short at the penguin's tactic and decided to leave it alone for now. One penguin could do only so much trouble.
The queen went back to the previous corner and examined the soiled spot on the bed.
"Blech, darn penguins. How did this even get out here anyway?" she muttered to herself. The ice ruler looked around her lair cautiously before bending down and getting closer to the bed. She felt underneath the pet mattress until she pulled up a photograph, a ball of yarn, and a small cat tooth. Ice Queen got on her knees and rested her bottom on the back of her legs. She set the yarn and the tooth on the floor next to her gently, and cradled the picture in her hand.
"Oh, my sweetest little Cake..." Ice Queen breathed holding her right hand over her heart. A picture of a furry, tiny kitten playing with her bushy, coffee-colored tail was shown to be owned by the white haired ice witch. The kitten was attentive in the picture, as her eyes were glued to her tail, her tongue was halfway out her mouth, her paws playfully grasped the tail, alive with energy. Ice Queen's eyes lingered at the picture for a moment before setting it down gingerly and bringing the yarn ball to her face next. It was a faded navy blue with fuzzy, knotted threads inhabiting the surface, mostly worn out by prolonged use.
"Cake used to love playing with this." Ice Queen almost whispered in remembrance. She envisioned a bright warm sun beaming on the two as Cake the kitten smacked around a yarn ball in the grass.
"Cake, don't hurt yourself now, you hear?" Ice Queen warned motherly. Cake nodded, her large and shimmering kitten eyes still fixated on the yarn. She winded up her tiny, yet surprisingly strong paw and hit the yarn again...
...scoring on Ice Queen's face. Cake doubled over into a furry little bundle on the ground and started laughing. Then soon enough, Ice Queen threw her head back joyfully and started laughing too, falling beside her Cake in a heap.
Those were the days...the best days. The best days possibly out of her own wizard life.
But that was just a memory now.
The ice witch stuffed the picture and the yarn back under the mattress. She was about to look over the next item when the bathroom door shot open. Ice Queen jumped and whipped her head around. Many Gertrudes spilled out in a mess of soapy water and bubbles.
"What are you naughty penguins doing? Pick yourselves up and get into the basement! NOW!" Ice Queen yelled at her fish-eating companions. The penguins moved at lightning speed, as their master bored holes with her eyes at them in annoyance. The ice door to the basement slammed shut, as the frenzied penguins left one of their own behind. The last penguin tried to pry the door open with its flippers, but to no avail. The Gertrude glanced back at the blue-dressed female in sheer terror. Ice Queen snorted like a bull as cold air condensed in front of her nose. The penguin became alarmed and ran through the ice door, literally.
Gertrude left a penguin shaped hole in her wake after the dry ice mist cleared.
"Bird-brains..." Ice Queen remarked after the ordeal. But now she was alone, like she always was. It always seemed to be that way to her.
Though of course she was always alone. Who wanted to be with a person as nasty, odd, and cold-hearted as her? Nobody. Nobody at all, for that matter. And it was the same answer every time she asked herself.
But then came that special light. A soothing, loving warmth that seemed impossible to get rid of. It was special, it felt good, it changed her for a short time, it made her feel...like a person again.
All good things must come to an end, unfortunately. At coming to an end, it came much too soon. The era, of when she and her, Ice Queen and her Cupcake, were...were...
That was just it.
Were.
Don't keep yourself in the past, Queenie. That was then. This is now. This is what I have to face now, as a result of that. I probably deserve it though, because I'm not worth anything to actually be happy. Be happy for once n my life. Why did things turn out the way they have if I didn't deserve anything? Ice Queen thought. Things always go a different way. At least for me.
The cold-blooded dame picked up the ivory cat canine and let it roll in between her fingers. Her lightning streak eyebrows flexed into sorrowful lines as she felt the surface of the tooth with her thumb. "I remember when she lost this tooth..." Ice Queen started. She could still feel how smooth it was when she first helped her pull it out. "I told her the tooth fairy would come that night if she left it under her pillow, and then I would read her a story, and kiss her goodnight, and I would tell her I lov..."
Ice Queen couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. Her mouth slowly spread a tiny smile on her face, and she inhaled gently. Her tears had a snail race with each other as they crawled down her cheeks and fell to the floor, freezing on contact. Ice Queen stretched out her legs, leaned her head back against the nearby recliner, sprawled her arms out limp, and lowered her eyelids shut. Smaller beads of water were forced from under her eyelids and soaked into her hair. The leaning position she was in caused her tiara to slide off her head and clink on the floor helplessly. She didn't break down sobbing, she didn't silently cry, she didn't weep hopelessly. Ice Queen calmly breathed in and out, feeling the rise and fall of her chest, and listened to the lone silence that engulfed her as she let the tears fall.
Letting it out felt good. Letting it go felt good. Letting it just come out and be set free was good. Ice Queen resumed her position and took off to a world unknown, quaintly remembering the moments a lady and her kitty had together.
When she was aware of herself, the queen fluttered her eyes open and looked over her surroundings. The tooth remained in her hand, as well the crown on the floor beside her. Ice Queen carefully set the magic implement atop her head and returned the tooth to its place. After getting up and smoothing out her gown, the old aged woman gathered up the bed and walked to her bedroom. She thoughtfully selected a spot in her room where no one would be able to disturb the bed, even Gertrude, and patted it softly before leaving the room and closing the door.
The ice ruler washed her face in the bathroom, splashing lukewarm water on her features with her hands. She dried off with a towel and stared at herself in the mirror for some time, then returned to her chair and plunked down in it.
Ice Queen concentrated on the door to the basement and wondered what those pesky penguins were up to. She was going to glance at the window before noticing activity near the door. The ice monarchy gazed at the door hard, and sure enough there was something there.
A penguin knocked on the door cautiously, testing its limits. Another peeked through the hole made earlier, and one waved slowly trying to gain trust.
"Oh, come here you guys." Ice Queen said giving in to the penguins' antics. They weren't as good as Cake, but they were nice to have around anyway.
The Gertrudes dashed to their mother and piled on top of her, covering most of her body. Ice Queen held one that was covering her face and stroked it.
"Mommy's sorry she yelled at you guys." Ice Queen apologized. The birds quacked and made wenk sounds in response. "Me too, Gertrude. But that has a different meaning when it comes to food."
A pink crystal sword flew across the room and stuck into one of the ice walls. The penguins got tense and started to flap and flutter their flippers, scrambling off of the recliner. Ice Queen looked at who entered her home through the feathers that were raining down.
The bunny-hatted adventuress front flipped inside the room and landed cleanly on the smooth ice floors, touching her hands to the ground to maximize her landing safety. Her furry feline sister followed inside, one hand morphed into an oversized boxing glove and ready for battle. The human girl had a fury in her eyes, as she got up and took a battle stance.
"ICE QUEEN!" Fionna shouted wildly. "Why the plop did you steal Turtle Prince's romance novels!? People at the library are complaining that they're all gone!"
"When you take a person's romance novel, then you take their...well actually, I dunno what you take." Cake said trying to attempt a battle quote.
The Ice Queen straightened herself up when she heard this and stood up from her recliner. Just at the right time. Like I need them here. The blue babe charged her ice magic and stepped forward to her opponents. She put on her game face and cackled evilly.
"Ah...well if it isn't Fionna and Cake. Nice seeing you here." Ice Queen greeted. "You messed up my wall though. That's gonna take a while to fix."
"Then here, let me help you start!" Fionna said charging at Ice Queen. The ice female prepared to hurl a bolt at Fionna and waited for the right moment. But when she figured she was in range, Fionna slid on the floors past Ice Queen and leapt for her sword.
"Oh no you don't!" Ice Queen said. In her natural instincts, Ice Queen pointed her finger at Fionna as a white bolt shot out of it. Fionna quickly pulled out her sword and deflected the oncoming projectile.
"Cake, ice magic at 3 o' clock!" Fionna warned. Ice Queen saw her chance and grabbed Fionna's ankles. Fionna collapsed to the floor and Ice Queen froze her feet, making Fionna immobile. "Butt traps." Fionna said thinking of what to do next.
Cake snapped into evasive mode and ducked before the onslaught got to her. Ice Queen laughed heartily and began charging more magic to throw. Cake saw Fionna's current state and proceeded to help her sister out, but she noticed something different about Ice Queen. She seemed like she was...acting different today. Like she's faking her behavior. Is she trying lead us on? Cake thought trying to come up with a plan.
"Cake! I need some assistance here!" Fionna called out to her zoned out friend. She started whacking the entrapped feet with her sword to break the ice.
"Oh! Um, yeah baby! I'm coming!" Cake said coming back to reality. I need to get a closer look...
Ice Queen figured out what Fionna was attempting to do, so after the girl's hard work of shelling off most of the ice, Ice Queen froze over another layer on Fionna's feet.
"Aw what! You sucubutt!" Fionna complained tiredly. Hacking away at ice that thick was a challenge.
Fionna delivered a sword swing to Ice Queen, but the ice powered foe flung the sword out of Fionna's hand and sent it flying out of reach. Ice Queen advanced to Fionna and decided it was time to go in for the kill.
"Dang it Cake." Fionna said as Ice Queen hungrily inched closer to her. Fionna spat on Ice Queen's cheek to gain some time in between her rescue.
"Eww...Fionna, that's gross." Ice Queen remarked wiping the spot with her dress sleeve. "I'm going to fix you up!"
Cake suddenly jumped onto Ice Queen stretched big and rolled around with her. The sassy cat started to wrap stretchy rope around Ice Queen to keep her from getting up and trying something. A Morningstar tail crashed into Fionna's ice prison and made the ice shards explode everywhere. During that time, Cake studied the witch's face.
She definitely is doing it. Cake could sort out the pitiful expression Ice Queen was trying to filter. She looks so sad and broken, like she was torn apart over something. But what could it be?
"Yaaaaaah!" Fionna ran to the Ice Queen, jumped into the air, and pointed her elbow down at the queen's abdomen. Within impact, Cake unwrapped her arm and Ice Queen received the hit also.
"Owwww. Honey, you have to watch where you're attacking. You hit me too." Cake said shaking her arm.
"Yeah, sorry. Pile drivers are risky." Fionna attained her sword from the ground and pointed it at the Ice Queen. Though she would have pointed it at her if she was actually there. "What the junk? Where did she go?" Fionna said looking around for her.
"There!" Cake exclaimed as she pointed out her location. The ice witch was crawling away into the living room as fast as she could manage. Fionna grabbed her legs and dragged her back to where they were standing, then put her into a head lock.
"Where are the flipping books!?" Fionna questioned roughly. She was really getting tired of fighting the Lice Queen.
"They're near my nightstand in my room, over there. Just take the books and go!" Ice Queen said defeated. She blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Wait a minute, where's my crow-"
"If you're looking for your tiara, I have it here."Cake said whirling the magic accessory on her tail. She steadily sauntered to the ice woman's bedroom.
"Good cat." Fionna said complementing her partner on her awesome move. She adjusted her pose on the ice monarchy's head, which caused the hair to fall back into her face.
"Hey, stop moving. I can't see here." Ice Queen said trying to move the hair from her face again.
"Good. There's nothing to see here anyway. Let your hair stay where it is." Fionna said. The adventuress shifted on her side with her arm around Ice Queen's head to become more comfortable. Though that would be a difficult task to feel good on cold hard ice floors.
Cake wandered into the room and sniffed around the nightstand where the books supposedly were. Cake rounded the corner of the nightstand and investigated behind it. Huh, narrow fit. The cat thinned out her body slightly to the thickness of a board and proceeded. She was about to get the novels when she stumbled upon something interesting.
"A bed...?" Cake inquired while crawling closer to it. The cat sniffed the mattress and mewed softly. The bed had a scent of old fur. Bleh, someone else was sleeping here before.
"Maybe this fell off the table." Cake said. She decided to be generous and pick up the bed to put it back where it belonged. In the process of moving very swiftly to avoid germs, Cake noticed a blue ball of yarn plop onto the floor.
"What the..." Cake started and picked up the yarn. She turned it over in her paws carefully. Why was this item so familiar? Where was this item before that it's remembered?
The feline furrowed her brow at the yarn. It just looked so...
"Oh my Glob." Cake whispered in shock. The hairs on the end of her tail began to stand up and the tiara slid down to rest on Cake's bottom. How could she, the Ice Queen, still have her stuff after so many years?
Cake attempted to put the yarn back as neatly as possible despite the fact her arms were shaking aggressively. She started to back out from the confined space when Fionna called for her.
"Cake? Cake! What's taking so long?" Fionna yelled from the next room. The sudden beckon gave Cake chills and she snapped back into her original objective. "Did she even really hide the books back there? 'Cause if she didn't I'm going to spank her face and donk it up. Really bad."
"The books are back there, alright? No need for spanks girl! And your headlock might be cutting off circulation for my head..." Ice Queen remarked bluntly.
"I don't care about your stupid head. But I'll be nice today and loosen my grip a little bit." Fionna said following her word. "Just hurry up though Cake!"
"Umm...okay, I'm coming Fi!" Cake looked around for the romance novels and tried to ignore the pet bed that lie in front of her. Unfortunately for her, the stack of novels had been placed mere inches from the bed. Cake sighed and stretched over to the opposite side while avoiding contact with the bed. Even touching it was the potential of a scar for life.
The furry companion gathered the 30 books and placed them in skin flap pockets on her. She exited the cavern from the other side and widened her body to normal. "Alright Fionna, I found the books!" Cake informed Fionna.
"Rad. Now let's go man. I wanna go play Beemo now. I'm tired." Fionna said trying to conserve her energy for the trek back home.
"See? I told you so." Ice Queen voiced annoyingly to get Fionna upset.
"Shushers. I'm too tired for your junk right now." Fionna released Ice Queen's head and then lifted her up and threw her on her chair. Ice Queen, surprised, opened her mouth to say something, but Fionna cut her off.
"DON'T move from that chair, chick." Fionna warned pointing at her. "Or I'm gonna jack your whole you up."
The ice witch settled into her chair and looked at the floor. "Then leave me now. I don't need you here."
"Fine. I wasn't planning on staying anyway man." Fionna retorted.
"Cake, let's roll. Dinner roll."
Cake walked into the living room and examined the scene. No Ice Queen on the floor with Fionna standing on top of her. No Fionna entrapped in ice and surrendering. Just Ice Queen in a chair and Fionna kneeling from exhaustion. Cake exchanged glances between the girls which seemed to be a never ending staring contest. Fionna stood up after the umpteenth look over and made a move.
"Come on Cakey. Let's go. Now. " Fionna said starting to get ansty. Cake narrowed her eyes at her sister.
"Girrrrrrllll, don't you give me that attitude." Cake said in her sassy voice. "I'll leave when I'm ready."
"But I don't wanna stay here dude! I'm gonna flip out if I have to stay here forever!" Fionna said trying to defend herself from overstaying.
"Listen, since you wanna get your panties in a knot, we'll leave now." Cake began.
"Yes! Thank you!" Fionna said putting away her sword.
"But, you have to go first. Start climbing down and I'll come."
"What?! Come on! You know how hard it is to get up here without you? It'll be even worse trying to climb down!"
"You're just about to walk all the way home on foot if you don't start climbing, Fionna."
Fionna grunted and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine, whatever. Have it your way." She commented waving her hand. The human girl walked over to the triangle window and stepped outside of it.
"Go on now." Cake encouraged swishing her tail.
Fionna started her descent down the mountain. "Donk move." Fionna muttered placing her foot on a protruding rock. "That was a donk move."
"You forget I have enhanced hearing, sis. We'll see what a donk move is when we get home." Cake said watching the window as Fionna's head lowered. When she fully disappeared and was assumed to be out of earshot after 7 seconds, Cake turned her head to Ice Queen.
The blue skinned figure watched Cake blink at her. Give her the innocent stare. Like cats always did. Mesmerizing you into an unknown trance.
"What?" Ice Queen said flatly after 3 slow blinks.
Cake unexpectedly ran to Ice Queen and jumped into her lap. She nuzzled her head against her chest and purred loudly. The queen was taken aback by this, as she had her arms raised up like she had a bomb in her lap.
"I...I love you mama." Cake said with her eyes closed contentedly.
The ice lady just lost it.
She started to tear up and cry a little into Cake's shoulder as she gripped her for dear life. Ice Queen held her former cat tightly and stroked her back the way she used to.
"I love you too, my dear sweet Cupcake..." Ice Queen whispered into Cake's ear. The two held each other close, sharing their body heat that was kept to themselves for years. After embracing each other for a while, Cake broke away first, but slowly. They looked into each other's eyes, becoming lost in a flood of memories and remembrances.
"Oooh, you're gonna make me cry..." Cake squeaked as her voice started to crack from emotion. A tear snuck past and ran down her cheek.
Ice Queen held Cake's paw in her cool hand and wiped the tear away with her other hand. She squeezed it firmly and lifted Cake's chin.
"But you have to stay strong. Not just for me, but for Fionna. And for yourself too." The ice mastress said.
Cake smiled and sniffled. "Okay, I'll be sure to remember that."
The Ice Queen nodded and let go of her paw. She looked back to the window that Fionna had went through moments before. "You should get back to Fionna now. Before she gets suspicious." Ice Queen said painfully. She didn't want Cake to leave. She didn't want her to leave forever, but she had to give her up. Cake is an independent cat now. She doesn't have to rely on anyone for anything. She can take care of herself. But if only Ice Queen could do the same. If only Ice Queen could take care of herself.
"I...guess this is goodbye." Cake said faithfully. She looked at Ice Queen once more with her huge, innocent cat eyes. "Oh, and here's your crown." the cat returned the tiara atop Ice Queen's head.
"I guess it is." Ice Queen said. She moved Cake off her lap and placed her on the floor. "Goodbye Cake."
"Goodbye Mama." Cake said back. And with that, to save them from shedding any tears, she turned on her heel and walked to the window briskly. Cake stepped out of it and tracked Fionna's progress.
"Girl, you slowpoke! Come on, you can get on my back now." Cake said putting Fionna on her back.
"That's not my fault I was slow! I didn't pack gear for climbing." Fionna said settling herself on her ride. "Anyway, let's go return the romance novels."
"Maybe tomorrow baby. These rubber legs are getting worn out too." Cake said preparing to stretch down to the base of the mountain.
Ice Queen watched the window and listened for their voices, expressing laughter and joy with each step on the way down. When they grew fainter and fainter until she could only hear the familiar gusts of ice winds, Ice Queen drifted over to the window and rested her hands on the windowsill. A view of her snowy domain was present with a girl and her cat racing to the border.
Fionna and Cake were in hot pursuit to get back to the treehouse. Mostly because it was meatloaf night and Fionna would have to do every single dish in the sink. But of course the sly kitty didn't mention that on the way.
Cake turned her head and looked back at the mountain to see a blue dressed female standing in the window. The cat used her stretchy powers to create a small hand that waved at Ice Queen.
The blue babe squinted and leaned forward to get a better look at what Cake was doing. The feline was...waving at her. Ice Queen smiled and slowly raised her hand to wave back too. She fluttered her fingers awkwardly.
Cake grinned as she realized Ice Queen had gotten her message. She watched the figure slowly walk backwards into her home, still waving until she was seen no more.
Fionna caught on to what was happening and looked behind her. "What are you looking at Cake?" Fionna questioned puzzled after seeing nothing.
"Oh, um, nothing honey. I just thought I saw Lord Monochromicorn flying round here." Cake said retracting her micro hand. Fionna looked behind her again.
"Okay, whatever. Let's just get on out of here. Turbo mode!" Fionna said lowering her body closer on Cake's back.
"Sure baby." Cake said pumping her legs faster. The crunches of the cold snow became lighter as the cat moved more quickly.
Ice Queen and Cake both cleared their minds and focused on nothing for a short moment. Even though meeting each other and realizing what they had before was a lost memory, the moment they shared briefly before in the chair was all the more special. A quaint reminder that the love was still strong, and that would truly be...
...something to remember.
Yep, that's it. I hope it wasn't too much of something extra. I wanted to do this type of story since from what I can tell, there aren't really much stories on Ice Queen and Cake, considering that Ice Queen used to own her. So I hope you liked, thank you for taking the time to read, and enjoy yourself.
Credit to SarahSquirrels on DeviantART for letting me use her image cover. Thanks Sarah! :D
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