A/N: WARNING! DEPRESSING ENDING AND POSSIBLE OOCNESS AHEAD!
Disclaimer: I only own my own imagination
"Hey, Marceline!" Marceline turned around to see a familiar face behind her.
"Ice King? What do you want?"
"I'm trying a new plan to make Princess Bubblegum fall in love with me, and I was wondering if you could help me?"
"Uh, no." Marceline said with a frown. "First of all, I have better things to do than help you pick up on chicks, second, give it up. She's never going to like you. You know that, right?"
"Oh, come on!" The old man frowned, and Marceline felt kind of bad for being so hard on him.
Even all these centuries later, she still couldn't help but see her old friend Simon Petrikov when she looked at him. Of course, he had changed a LOT from the time she knew him, but after the times they had spent together, it was hard to shake the feeling that Simon might be in there somewhere. Which was why she tried to avoid him as much as possible.
Marceline shook the thoughts from her head, forcing herself to put on a stony face again as she said
"Look dude, you can't force someone to love you. Now, if you'll excuse me…" She started to float off again, only for the Ice King to follow after her again.
"Hey, wait up Marceline!" Marceline started to tell the frost-ridden old man to leave her alone, only for him to ask a question that threw her completely off guard.
"Do you love anyone?"
The vampire queen froze in midair. She didn't know why she didn't just say no. After all, she wasn't in love with anyone. She hadn't dated since breaking up with Ash, and there weren't any guys that caught her eye. And yet…one face kept popping into her mind. A face belonging to a head that was topped with a certain white hat…
What?! Marceline chided herself. I do NOT like Finn! I raised that kid since he was little! He's more like a little brother to me than anything!
Though, she had to admit, he wasn't so little anymore. Finn was fourteen now, getting close to her in age, well physically anyway. And he was definitely brave and strong, albeit not afraid to fight dirty when he had to (even if he fervently denied it). All the qualities Marceline liked in a guy. She had to force herself not to blush as she realized that.
"Hello? Marceline?"
Marceline blinked as she realized that the Ice King was still next to her.
"Huh?"
"Well? Is there a guy out there you like?"
"I-I don't know." Marceline immediately felt like slapping herself.
"You don't know?" The Ice King repeated. "What do you mean 'you don't know'?" Marceline glared at him.
"I don't know, okay?! Why do you care so much, anyway?!"
"I may not be an expert on love," The Ice King started, "But if you love someone, you should let them know. Even if you don't go out and tell them flat-out, maybe just give them a little present to let them know how much they mean to you." Marceline stared at him in shock. The old man was actually making sense.
"That's what I did with Bubblegum." The Ice King continued. "I made her this cute little heart to represent my love for her!" As he spoke, he pulled a beautifully painted ceramic heart out of his beard. "Of course, she immediately threw it back at me and shouted for her banana guards. I just barely saved it." He bit his lip at the memory then turned back to Marceline, plastering a smile back onto his face. "But who knows? Maybe you'll have better luck with your guy." He handed the heart to Marceline, and she reluctantly accepted it.
"Um, that's really okay Ice King, you don't have to…"
"No no, I insist!" The old man said kindly. "The guy'd be nuts not to fall for you when you give him that!" Marceline let a genuine smile cross her face as she looked at the man who had once been like a father to her.
"I-I…thank you."
"Hey, no problem!" The Ice King said. "In return, how about you help me with Bubblegum?" Marceline flew off without another word to him.
Later, Marceline was still heading home, holding the ceramic heart. Now that she had let her head clear a little, she was reconsidering accepting the thing. It was a stupid idea. Even if she did like Finn, which she didn't (as she kept telling herself), so what? Was she really just supposed to give him the thing and hope that he threw himself into her arms? Marceline let out a snort of laughter.
"Crazy old man." She said out loud to no one. She suddenly noticed that she was next to the Candy Kingdom. "Guess I might as well warn Peebs that the Ice King has something planned for her." With that, she floated inside the kingdom, going into Princess Bubblegum's castle. She turned down the hall-and froze at what she saw.
Waiting for her in the main hall were Princess Bubblegum and Finn-kissing. Marceline's mouth fell open in shock at the sight. An inexplicable pain suddenly seemed to grip her, like she had been stabbed. Before she could stop herself, the heart fell from her fingers and onto the floor, where it broke in two. The sound shocked Finn out of the kiss.
"Huh? Marceline?" Marceline couldn't answer him. For the second time that day, she turned her back on someone she cared about and left without a word. This time, however, she kept her head down to keep anyone from seeing the single tear that poured down her cheek.
A/N: So yeah...some of you probably hate Finn now. Simmer down folks, next chapter shows HIS view of things, so don't be too quick to kill him. In the meantime though...review?
