Edit (6/29/09): Minor revisions to correct Frog's accent and adopt canonical scenario. Disregard ending author's notes.

I just want to apologize to everyone for writing this. It's probably pretty good by this site's standards (Oh, whatever. Look at any fandom and tell me you don't agree.), but I'm a writer by trade,and I have much higher standards. So, I'mnot satisfied, even though I've been working on it for weeks and have not been able to make it any better. Anyone who has suggestions (not flames or insults!) on how to make this better, please share, because I love Froggy and Lucca, and I want to portray their relationship (or my perceived relationship) as skillfully as possible.

All characters herein are the property of Square-Enix, which I am not affiliated with in any way besides uber fan.

Enjoy.

Wishing Star

"Why won't it start?" Marle demanded. She, Crono, Lucca, and Frog were sitting on the grassy hill where Ashtear Island sloped down into the ocean. "I'm never gonna get to make a wish if there's nothing to wish on!" When Lucca had found out that there would be a meteor shower that night, the immediate decision was to gather all of their friends to come see it.

"Y'know, other people who aren't here won't get that chance either," Crono pointed out, leaning her against him. He was referring to Ayla and Robo, both of whom had other plans with their significant others. And Marle also did not want Ayla doing a lot of time traveling in her current "condition," for fear something could happen and she would cease to exist… again. Thus, it was only Frog who could make the journey.

"Of course it doesn't really matter, being as it's just an old superstition anyway," Lucca stated, ever the logical thinker.

Marle stuck her tongue out at her. "Party-pooper."

"Though 'tis likely the tradition began as a result of our travels. Ayla, perhaps, would not have handed down the myth had she not learned it from her friends," Frog pointed out.

"Huh… wouldn't that be a kick in the pants," Lucca mused.

"Ooh… time paradoxes always make my head hurt," Marle said, shaking her head.

Crono glanced through Lucca's window at the clock in the living room. "Uh-oh. I hate to cut the party short, but Marle's dad wanted her home at eleven."

"What time is it?" Marle asked, turning to look.

"Eleven-ten."

"Ooh! Crono's in trouble!" Lucca smirked.

"Who cares? I'm a big girl. Forget my dad!" Marle exclaimed.

"I would really love to, except that he's the king of Guardia," Crono pointed out.

"Thou shouldst be on thy way, or else the king may have some punishment waiting for thee," Frog suggested, as Lucca slid her finger across her throat.

"Stop that, Lucca!" Crono took Marle's hand. "Come on. Hopefully it'll start on the way home."

"Aw! No fun!" Marle pouted as she and Crono started in the direction of Guardia Forest. "Lucca! Make a wish for me! Pleeease!"

"No promises!" Lucca replied, waving. Twenty minutes later the meteor shower started. "It's times like these I feel bad for Marle."

Frog nodded. "'Tis interesting, however, that Crono, who hath come face to face with death, feareth a mere mortal."

"I would hardly call King Guardia 'mere,'" Lucca said.

"Even so, can he be as terrible as some of the monsters we have faced?" Frog pointed out.

"I guess there's some truth in that. If worst came to worst, he could always kill the king and marry Marle so he'd be exempt from punishment," Lucca said.

"How incredibly morbid!" Frog exclaimed.

"Well, it's true!"

"'Tis not required that thou sayest it, however," Frog responded.

"Pfft. Now who's being squeamish?" Lucca asked.

"…Touché."

Several minutes passed in which they simply watched the meteor shower. Then Lucca leaned back and sighed. "Y'know, even though I know they're nothing more than a visibile heat signature due to the heat produced by the ram pressure of the meteoroid's atmospheric entry, those meteors are actually very beautiful."

Frog chuckled, "I suppose our escapades with time and magic hath taught you as much."

"Well, if magic as taught me anything, it's that not everything can be grasped by the human mind, or, if Queen Zeal is any example, complete understanding results in psychotic episodes." She ended with a short laugh, which Frog joined her in.

"If that be the case, wouldst thou then make a wish as our friend hath requested?" Frog asked.

"Now that's just pushing it, Froggy," she assured him.

"I thought thou believedest in magic?" he said.

"I believe in magic, but asking a rock to do you a favor is begging to be proved wrong," Lucca replied.

"Ah, but what hath happened to the faith thou wert displaying before?" Frog inquired.

"You killed it. Sliced it in two with the Masamune, you did," she declared.

"Now that hardly seemeth fair," Frog stated. "Pinning the blame on a friend. It does not befit thee, Lady-." She caught him with her sideways glar. "Er… Lucca."

"Was that part of Magus' curse? This whole 'thou' and 'wherefore' deal?"

Frog shrugged as much as a frog could. "I could not say for certain. I spoke not in this manner prior to the incident."

"Then what else could it be?"

"The fall?"

"I know he's our ally now, but I still can't forgive him for what he did to you," Lucca sighed.

"Nor can I, but neither can I say that the experience hath been wholly unpleasant."

"Frog, if that's true, you're either a liar or a masochist."

"I will admit solely to the former." They were silent for a moment. "'Tis for Marle."

"Frog!"

"My point be only that poor Marle was unable to remain here and will not have the opportunity to make a wish. It seemeth exceedingly selfish not to honor her request." Lucca had looked away and begun to hum. "She shalt not for give thee," he sing-songed.

"She shalt not find ou-out," she returned.

"Lady Lucca-," she glared at him, "-Lucca… you cannot expect me to lie to my good friend."

"Oh, come on. I'm your favorite out of all us anyway, aren't I?" she teased, batting her eyelashes playfully.

Frog was silent for a moment as he tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well, I could not say such to be completely untrue." Lucca looked surprised. "It is only that Crono and Marle most obviously prefer the company of the other more oft than not. And while Robo is kind for a robot, he does not quite comprehend the…." He searched for the correct words. Lucca gave him a prompting look. "Being a frog, I do tend to be treated differently where'erst I venture. Robo accepts my status as a talking amphibian. However-."

"He doesn't understand that not everyone is as accepting as he is, that the rest of the world sees you as an outsider."

"A misfit," Frog corrected. "A… freak. I must admit that I become at least a tad melancholy when the time cometh to return to my time. My excursions with our group of heroes hath become the highlights of my existence." They were silent for a few moments.

Lucca sighed, glancing at him. "Darnit, Frog…," she said, looking up. She picked out a meteor and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Didst thou just…?"

"Yes, I made the wish," Lucca replied exasperatedly. "But only because it'll help us both."

Frog nodded confusedly. "I see…."

"…Well, aren't you going to ask what I wished for?" Lucca asked.

"I was under the impression that would cause the wish to not come true," Frog stated, mouth slowly widening to a grin.

"Do you come here just to tease me?" Lucca asked incredulously. Frog fell into gales of laughter and, after a few moments of watching him, Lucca stopped fighting the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth and finally snickered and began laughing too. She wasn't one hundred percent sure what she was laughing at, but numbers and logic had mostly been outvoted that evening, so it did not much matter.

"Seriously though, it's driving you crazy, isn't it?" Lucca inquired.

"If it were, I would not be so foolish as to tell thee," Frog pointed out.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing, 'cause I wasn't planning on telling ya anyway," Lucca declared, lying back and folding her arms behind her head.

"I find such to be exceedingly difficult to believe," Frog said, turning toward her.

"Hmm," Lucca shrugged. "'Find it whatever you want. I'm still not gonna tell you."

"I doubt that," Frog said. "Thou art itching to tell this secret."

"I'm not scratching, am I?" Lucca asked lazily, letting her eyelids close. "And besides, it doesn't really matter since you don't wanna know anyway."

"'Tis true. I have no desire to know thy wish," Frog agreed.

"Excellent then," Lucca said.

"Exceedingly."

"Yup."

"Truly."

"Mm-hmm."

"Quite."

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the shower.

"Thou art certain?" Frog asked.

"Positive," Lucca replied, glancing at him with one eye.

Frog nodded, "Of course I should have known thou wouldst not relent under pressure."

"Of course. Lucca the Great never cracks," she agreed, eyes still closed. Frog eyed her carefully, marveling that his tactics had not thus far worked.

"Though shouldst thou ever become unable to contain thyself, I would be prepared to listen to thee," Frog informed her.

"Is that so?" Lucca smirked.

"Verily. As thy friend I am always here to lend mine ear," he assured her.

"How sweet," she said.

"…If ever thou hadst the urge…."

"Why, Frog," Lucca grinned. "Do you want to know what I wished?"

"Oh, no! No! Of couse not. I wouldst never have thou break thy word as such!" Frog replied.

"Okay. Just making sure," Lucca said.

"Although," Frog admitted, "I am the slightest bit interested as to why thou didst change thy mind about the wish."

"But, Frog, if I told you that, I'd inadvertently tell you what my wish was."

"How unfortunate. I suppose we shall just have to-."

"Frog! You're willing to stake my wish on your curiosity?" Lucca asked, aghast. She grinned impishly, silently divulging how much she was enjoying this.

Frog croaked low in his throat, crossing his arms resentfully. "Very well, thou winnest," he conceded. "I do desire to know thy wish…."

"I dunno, Frog," Lucca replied innocuously. "That was a pretty good wish I made…."

"Lucca!"

"I'd hate to spoil it…."

"Cease and desist! I beg of thee!" Frog pleaded, rather uncharacterically it might be added.

"Oh, fine," Lucca said. "But only if you ask nicely."

Frog sighed. "Wouldst thou impart to me thy wish?"

"You didn't say the magic wo-ord," she sing-songed.

'Aquos?' he thought his water spell but said, "Please?"

"Hmm…," Lucca considered it.

"Dost thou delight in tormenting me!"

"Maybe a little, but then, that's what you get." Frog sighed, acknowledging the truth of it. Lucca chose not to look smug but moved on, knowing she'd made her point. "If you must know, I wished for the Epoch to remain operational for at least as long as I live."

If Frog had had eyebrows he might have cocked one in interest. "Thou must explain this to me."

"Well, it's kinda like you said," Lucca went on. "Until we met Marle, Crono was my only friend. Everyone else alienated me because of my inventions and my glasses. …Actually, come to think of it, they still do."

"But thy inventions are what saved the world," Frog said.

"I know that, and you know that, and Crono, Marle, Ayla, Robo, and even Magus know that. But the rest of the world doesn't even know they were ever in any trouble," Lucca elucidated. She looked over at him and gave a meaningful smile at his appearance, "I don't have green skin, but playing with torques and wrenches made me a freak in this era."

"We have more in common than first thought," Frog commented.

"That we do," Lucca said, looking back to the sky. "You guys are the only people that really understand me. And no one but us knows what it's like to save the world." She shivered suddenly.

"No one else hath nightmares of that foul planet destroyer, either," Frog whispered.

"Who said anything about him? I was thinking of Death Peak. That place was cold!" Lucca declared, laughing but trailing off weakly. "Well, there's only one way to improve this evening."

"How might that be?" Frog asked.

"It's your turn to make a wish," she smirked, turning back to him.

"To what purpose? 'Twas thee Marle requested make a wish," Frog replied.

"Maybe, but if I had to make a wish, you have to," Lucca told him.

"T'would only be fair, although I was having fun tormenting thee," Frog answered.

"You seem to have a sadistic streak youself," Lucca commented.

"Thou art one to talk," Frog returned. He turned his face skyward. "Only because I had something in mind anyhow." He closed his eyes and made a wish.

When he'd opened his eyes once more, Lucca inquired, "So what'd you wish for?"

"Lady Lucca, just--."

"Frog!"

Frog looked puzzled for a moment, then he performed the Frog equivalent of a blush. "My apologies… Just because thou art willing to compromise thy wish by imparting it to me--."

"Oh, please, my wish is gonna come true anyway," Lucca told him.

"And how canst thou know this?" Frog asked perplexedly.

"Because I'm going to keep Epoch in such good shape she's never gonna die," Lucca grinned proudly.

It took Frog a moment to comprehend this. "Hold a moment, thou meanest to tell me that thou wasted a shooting star on something thou wert already guaranteed?"

"Waste nothing. Be glad I made a wish at all," Lucca told him.

"Lucca, I know just as well as thee that shooting stars come to naught with wishing, but couldst thou not simply embrace the nostalgia of the evening?" Frog asked. His expression looked genuinely disappointed.

Lucca was slightly abashed. "…Would it help if I admitted I probably won't be able to keep Epoch running forever without a little divine intervention?"

Frog considered this a moment. "That dependeth," he said.

"On what?" Lucca asked.

"How much intervention thou needest. I shall become depressed if I learn our excursions art numbered," Frog replied, breaking back into a smile.

"…Was that supposed to be your witty response?" Lucca asked.

"It sounded wittier in mine head," Frog admitted.

"Yeah, that was a little subpar for the evening," Lucca stated.

Frog sighed, "Mine apologies. "How dost thou propose we remedy this situation?"

"Well, you could always tell me your wish," Lucca suggested.

"Oho! That be funny, milady," Frog laughed. "But thou shalt not learn mine wish so easily. Not when thou tortured me so to learn thine."

"Should've known that would come back to bite me in the butt," Lucca commented to herself.

"'Tis thy move," Frog stated.

"Hmm… well, I would initiate some kind of guessing game, but, with my vast scientific logic and the fact that it's you we're talking about, figuring out your wish should be too easy."

"Oh? And wouldst thou care to hazard a guess?" Frog offered.

"Oh, I dunno. Something to do with a certain knight captain, a good friend who died several years ago, who we all know you always wish you could have one more conversation with, am I getting close?" Lucca said.

Frog looked at the ground and gave a soft laugh. "Thou wouldst think Cyrus should be the first thing that cometh to mine mind," he said.

Lucca raised her eyebrows curiously. "So… it's not Cyrus then?" she asked in disbelief.

Frog shook his head, looking back to her. "I made mine peace with his death," he said. "It took, perhaps, longer than it should, but his ghost hath finally ceased to torment me."

Lucca looked away and narrowed her eyes in thought. "I'm shot for ideas then," she admitted. "I honestly don't have a clue."

"Well," Frog said, averting his gaze so she would not see that color rising in his cheeks. "Perhaps 'tis for the best. I don't know that I want thee to know it, now I think on it."

Lucca turned back to him, surprised. "Whoa, what?" she said. "Why don't you want me to know your wish?" she asked.

"Well, now I take the time to consider, mine wish seemeth a bit… shallow, compared to thy wish or the idea of talking to Cyrus once more…."

"Shallow? Frog, it's you we're talking about. How shallow could it possibly… Frog? Are you blushing?" Lucca asked, horrified.

"What art thou talking about? Frogs cannot blush!" Frog exclaimed, turning his whole body.

"Yeah, but there has to be some kind of equiv-- Frog, are you really that embarrassed?" Lucca queried.

"I hath just told thee! 'Tis a foolish wish," Frog declared.

"Frog, I swear this isn't my curiosity speaking," Lucca stated, standing and walking over to sit next to him, "But no wish is foolish if it really matters to you."

"Oh? Then where didst the old cliché come from? 'Be careful what thee wish for?'" Frog posed.

"Well, they just didn't have any faith," Lucca said. Frog winced at his own word. "Come on, tell me."

"Thou wilt laugh…."

"I will not. Frog, we're friends. If it matters to you, it'll matter to me," she assured him and Frog was startled to find her hand on his shoulder.

He was silent a few moments. "I… wished to be human again…." He waited for her to laugh, to admit she'd been wrong or had lied.

"Frog… how could you possibly think that was a stupid wish?" she asked. Frog twisted around to see her. "Frog, not only is that not stupid, it's only fair. You never should have been turned into a frog, it's only right that you should want to become human again."

"'Tis not so easy!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands forward. "Magus hath disappeared into time, and so hath the only method of returning me to a human state! 'Tis like thee said. To make a wish on a rock is to beg to be disappointed." His fingers curled into fists.

Lucca shook her head sadly. "That's not what I meant," she said. "It's not a good idea to hang all your hopes and dreams on a shooting star, but you can still make your wishes happen." Frog lowered his head, staring at the ground. Lucca nudged him in the arm, "So what if Magus ran off? He's such a jerk, he probably wouldn't lift it for you anyway, but I'm sure there're other ways. After all we've seen, you gotta believe anything's possible." Frog shrugged, knowing she meant Crono's resurrection.

"As many years as I have been cursed, believing hath become a most difficult task."

For a few moments Lucca watched him watch the waves roll across the ocean. Then, making up her mind, she grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face her. "Lucca, what art thou doing?"

"Proving you haven't expended all possible means." And she kissed him. It wasn't a thing of beauty. The world didn't stop. Fireworks did not light the sky. Cheesy music did not play in the background. There were shooting stars, but they were there before the fact. It lasted all of one, maybe two seconds, but it was enough to scare Frog out of his mind.

"You… you… you just kissed me," he stuttered.

"Yeah," Lucca frowned slightly. "But you're still a frog. After what we've seen, I kinda thought that would work."

"But… you kissed me!" Frog repeated, the color returning to his cheeks again.

Lucca nodded, smiling wryly. "Not the best you've ever had, I take it?"

"No! I mean, yes! Er, no, I mean, I actually, I-." He decided not to tell her it was his first.

"Frog, calm down, and then I'm sure you could get whatever's in your head into words," Lucca instructed. Frog took several deep breaths, trying to settle himself. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you," Frog nodded. She rolled her hand to prompt him, and he started, "We're friends."

"That we are."

"In fact, we're rather good friends," Frog amended. "I think that's why your kissing me seemed so strange."

"I thought so," she smiled, and Frog laughed.

"It's good to know my friends would do anything to help me," he said.

"Well, Frog, a kiss isn't the most terrible thing to have to do for a friend," Lucca said, and they both laughed at this.

"Thanks, Lucca."

She smiled again, but suddenly she furrowed her eyebrows. "Frog… did you just say 'thanks?'" she asked, eyes widening.

"I think so," he said. And then he realized it to. "I'm talking normally!" he burst out.

"It worked afterall!" Lucca exclaimed.

Frog laughed, "I can't believe it…." He looked up at the stars again and closed his eyes. "Finally the words come out right again…." He turned back to Lucca. "Thank you."

Lucca smirked, "What are friends for?"

Little open ended. S'because I've got a kind of "second-chap/sequel" kind of churning in my head. No, they did not hook up in here, but maybe the seed of something has been planted in the back of their heads. (Well, duh. Otherwise there wouldn't be another chapter/sequel thing)(which is still up for debate). (Edit (6/29/09): Disregard the following.) Magus fangirls/boys be warned, you may be insulted by what I am about to is a scenario where Frog goes one-on-one with Magus and kills him. That's my favorite scenario simply because Magus is such an asshole.I never liked him, never used him, only twice let him live, but I have never forgiven him for what he did to poor Frog. In that vein, I also loathe LuMa. Fairly warned were ye. I don't want this mentioned in reviews. It's just to let you know.

Anyhow, KIT & KIR. If you want something better to read, I redirect thee to my other fics. They're infinitely better. Hasta for now, folks.