A member of the community put this idea on the table, and it got stuck in my head, so this is for you, my anonymous fellow.
A Story of Resolve
Disclaimer – Nothing gained, nothing owned.
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A Thousand Summers
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At age 13 he was invincible. Filled with energy. He talked and laughed, yelled and pointed. He made a fool of himself, and when others laughed at him, he laughed even harder. Never too busy or too tired, Finn and Jake cut across the lands, solving problems and raising their own brand of mayhem. The dragons were ripe for slaying. The treasures were ripe for plucking. The damsels were ripe for kissing. But Finn would just blush and look away. He didn't care about stupid grown-up stuff like that.
"I swear Finn, you're never gonna grow up." Jake would laugh, and then dog-pile Finn to give him a wet-willie.
And as Finn catches Jake in a headlock, he replies the same way he always does. "Growin' up is for suckers!"
The tree-house was always shaking with the rowdy action of two tireless souls, in a summer that seemed to stretch on forever.
At age 18 he couldn't be contained. Wanderlust took a grip on Finn's heart and wouldn't let go. For the first time ever, Jake was not by Finn's side.
Words were said. Things that even brothers couldn't shrug off with a simple "I'm sorry." So Finn packed up and left to wander beyond the maps. Jake watched him walk out the front door with that old green backpack slung over his shoulder. It seemed too small for Finn's broad shoulders. The door closed quietly behind him, yet the faint click was deafening to Jake's ears.
Jake didn't understand. What happened? When did things change? Was it him? Jake looked in the mirror and saw the same reflection staring back at him. No, Finn was the one who was changing. He was getting bigger and angrier. He was feeling things that Jake couldn't help him with. Things no one could help him with.
As Jake walks into the room they shared, the tree-house feels so much bigger without the human boy. Could Jake still even call him a boy?
Feeling suddenly exhausted, Jake lays down on the empty bed. He can smell something in those sheets, but as a dog who lives moment to moment, he doesn't recognize what it is.
In the later years of their time together, Jake would finally have a name for that smell.
Nostalgia.
At age 20 he had returned. He sits at the edge of his old bed, watching Jake kick the air in his sleep. He holds some sloppily-put-together eggs on a plate, a peace offering of sorts. It took him about an hour to make them, and they are almost certainly cold by now, but he's afraid to wake Jake up. Afraid of what Jake thinks of him. If he even still misses him.
He had already passed through Candy Kingdom on his way home. The sweet-natured princess was still the same as always. Was she always that short? Her reaction when she first saw him was troubling, however. It was the polite, charming smile she used when introduced to strangers. Only when she took a second look at the dirty gray hat on his head did she recognize her hero. When she took a third look, she almost cried at the sight of him. Whether it was tears of joy, pity, or both, Finn couldn't say. She wanted to throw him a party and treat his injuries all at once, but he needed to go home.
He needed to see Jake.
Many familiar faces greeted him, and he still did his best to give them a sincere, if rushed, greeting as he left the south gate. He found it much harder than he thought to shake hands with his left arm.
Finn is pulled out of his thoughts when he hears Jake wake up. Finn smiles a nervous, crooked smile in Jake's direction, but the dog only gives him a blank stare in return.
Finn suppresses a bitter laugh. Maybe Jake doesn't recognize him either. "Its me Jake, its Fi-" He doesn't get to finish his introduction before Jake tackles him in a bear hug, spilling the cold eggs all over the floor. Tears prick at the young adventurer's eyes, before they pour like a flood down his dirty face.
Finding the strength to smile through the tears, Finn jokes, "I would have written, but..." Jake laughs and cries at the tasteless joke. He has so many questions, so many things to say to Finn.
But they could wait. He's just glad to have almost all of his Finn back safely.
Finn returns the embrace, holding on as tightly as he can with his one arm.
At age 33 he was a veteran. He had a shield to make up for slower reflexes. An arm of science and magic to make up for his missing limb. His tactics were no longer just battle cries and fighting on-the-fly. After all, his skin didn't heal as fast as it used to. Scars made their mark. But he wore them with dignity. And as always, like a father proud of his son, Jake boasted of Finn's heroism to anyone who would listen.
"So there we were, Scorcher and his goons had us in a dead end at Red Rock Pass." Princess Bubblegum listens intently as she always does to Jake's tall tales. "All my paws are burnt up real bad, Finn's sword is melted, his pendant is gone, and I'm feeling like there's no way out." He stops, and pulls Finn out of their kitchen with a stretchy arm. "Tell them how you got us out, Finny!" Finn sighs and shakes his head with a small smile, a soapy plate still in his hand.
"Well first, I had to get Jake to stop blubbering about how he didn't tell Lady he loved her before he died." The pretty rainicorn laughs as Jake crossed his arms in mild embarrassment. His frown turned to a smile when she wraps herself around him and says, "Naneun dalkomhan saeng-gag!"
Finn continues his story. "After I convinced Jake that I was gonna get us out, I told him to shrink and jump into my shirt. I knew Scorcher couldn't resist a one-on-one rematch with me, and as I thought, he called off his summoned beasts to go it alone. But we weren't out of the woods just yet."
Finn raises his right arm, the mechanical gears turning slowly as the magic pendant around Finn's neck powers it. Pulling the pendant off his head and throwing it on the couch, Finn's mechanical arm slowly lowers as the gears come to a complete stop. "Earlier in the chase through the Rocks, I lost my pendant, so my right arm was dead weight. Using all of my cunning, I devised a plan so deviously clever that no one could ever-"
"GET ON WITH IT!" Marceline shouts from the kitchen, not at all happy about having to finish the dishes by herself.
Putting his pendant back on and picking up the still-soapy plate, Finn makes his way back into the kitchen. At the doorway he turns around and finishes his story.
"I ripped my metal arm off and beat Scorcher into submission with it. The End."
At age 59 he was a king without a crown. A monarch chosen by the majority.
His beard grayed at the edges. The mechanical arm became more hassle than it was worth. His voice was hoarse and quiet from a lifetime of shouting.
But to the people, his gray beard represented wisdom. His one fist was more than enough to strike fear into the hearts of the foul and the wicked. And his voice, his raspy, quiet voice, carried a greater influence than anyone could have dreamed.
But he couldn't influence her to stay.
"When are you coming back?" He asks, watching her stuff all her essentials into a worn brown suitcase.
Marceline slings her suitcase into the swirling black portal behind her and replies. "I'm not really sure. Just felt like heading out for a while. See other lands again, y'know?" She's as nonchalant as ever as she says this. She does her very best to keep Finn from knowing the real reason she is leaving.
She doesn't want to be there when Finn leaves her. Better to leave him first. Marceline turns away from Finn and stares into the portal that will take her halfway around the world. Far enough away not to hear news of The One Human.
How often had they talked about turning him? She knew how to keep him alive forever. She's done it before.
Every birthday she would put that offer on the table, "Growing up is for suckers, right Finn?" She joked.
Half-joked.
Secretly pleaded.
But no. He took the road that has an ending. He chose a beard over fangs. Wrinkles over flight. The whole apple and not just the color. She loved him and hated him for being so much braver than anyone else would have been.
She had considered forcing it on him. But as she watched him grow, she realized what a disservice it would be to the world, if she took away the Last Human.
For the final time, Finn gets a kiss on the cheek from Marceline the Vampire Queen. He's much too old to blush like he used to, but his smile is genuine.
Marceline's last words are exactly what he expected.
"See ya later, weenie."
The portal closes. Finn stands alone in a little cottage inside a cave. Reaching into the fridge, he pulls out a colorless apple and takes a bite. It tastes bitter and salty.
His bushy beard is wet. He is not crying.
His hand is quivering. He is not crying.
His voice is breaking up. He is not...fooling anyone.
Finn the Human is crying, gripping the apple tightly as he falls to his knees.
He looks at the mangled gray apple in his hand and sees himself.
At age 72 he goes to see his Hero. He and Jake approach the great blade known as Nothung. Lightly tapping it with his calloused finger, the blade shifts and the cave wall opens. Finn finds him in the same place, sitting on his busted television, surrounded by mountains of gold that he will never spend. He is as old as Finn remembers, but not any older. He's glad he convinced Jake to wait outside.
He doesn't want Jake to hear this.
"You've aged well." Finn starts, sitting on a nearby treasure chest. The blue-skinned bear slayer says nothing as he sits there, staring at Finn with a look of concentration, as if trying to remember how to speak.
Finn strokes his beard as he thinks of what to say next. They look like two old men reminiscing about the good old days. "I can't pick up a sword anymore." Finn continues, "I've bested Death several times and I finally slain the Lich that you yourself couldn't finish."
Billy doesn't respond, but Finn knows he is listening.
"But time... I couldn't best time. The passing years hit me harder than anything else."
Finn grunts as he stands up and walks over to Billy. Finn hesitantly puts his left hand on Billy's shoulder. "Billy. I have to ask. When's the last time you've seen the sun?"
Billy looks away. His silence continues.
"Jake, the princess, Lady Rainicorn, they are all the same as they were when I met them. But I've seen paintings of you, Billy. You had fiery red hair."
Billy suddenly stands up, surprising Finn. The pale blue legend walks a few feet away from Finn and stares at the wall, clearly uncomfortable with what Finn is about to ask him.
"Why did you stop aging?"
Billy puts his huge hands over his face.
"Did you go to see-"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Billy roars, startling Finn. The Human is shocked to see tears running down Billy's face.
The huge warrior runs at Finn, and for a split-second, the old hero thinks he is about to be attacked. But Billy stops right in front of him and grabs Finn by the head, putting his forehead right against Finn's. Finn has never seen Billy's face so close. Faded scars that you couldn't see from a distance are as clear as day from their close proximity.
Finn's thoughts are cut short as Billy whispers, "It was my greatest regret. After I lost my dog Peppo to the Lich, I felt fear of death for the first time. The years passed by, and only I grew and changed. I could feel the end was near..."
Finn backs away and starts towards the cave opening. He knows the rest of the story. Finn is almost out of the cave when he hears Billy call out. "Did I let you down? Am I...still your hero?"
Finn looks over his shoulder and smiles. "You may be blue and have twice as many fingers, but in the end, you're only human. And yes, you'll always be my hero."
The cave closes as Finn walks into the sunlight, Jake waiting for him. Instinctively, Jake lifts Finn gently onto his back. "Did you say what you needed to say, man?" Jake asks.
"Yeah." Finn replied. "I'm not afraid anymore."
Marceline knew how to keep him alive forever. She's done it before.
Billy sits back down on his broken t.v. and absentmindedly rubs his neck, two bite marks barely visible beneath his fingers.
At age 94 his eyes are getting heavy, and he is surrounded by familiar faces. He called them together because it's time.
They each have a different way of saying goodbye.
Princess Bubblegum won't stop crying, and she gives her hero one last embrace before she leaves the room. She smells like sugar and childhood.
It is not long before there is only Jake the Dog and Finn the Human.
Finn puts his hand in the air and Jake holds on to it tightly. "I don't know man, I...can't do this without you. Don't leave me man..." Jake whimpers, "...don't leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere." Finn responds, a peaceful smile barely visible through the long thick beard. "They don't have any handicap parking spots around here."
Once again, Jake finds himself laughing and crying at the same time.
"I swear Finn, you're never gonna grow up."
Finn says nothing. The human's grip loosens and his breathing slows.
Jake turns off the lamp and climbs onto the foot of his brother's bed. Moving in a circle, Jake makes a comfortable spot and lays down.
The two adventurers go to sleep.
But only Jake wakes up the next morning.
Finn stays in a summer that stretches on forever.
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