Nothing else happened between Marceline and I for the next 2 weeks. Nothing else really happened with anything, actually. As hard as we tried, no one could figure out what to do with the mirror, and no one could decipher The Seeress's riddles. Ice King couldn't get ahold of her, either. As each day passed, the future looked more dark and grim for Aaa.
I had 37 days left. A little over a month.
"Awe, come on, Fionna! Don't look so sad. We'll figure this out!" As usual, Jake was trying to lighten the mood. Him, Finn and I all went on this mathematical quest 2 days ago, and had just come back to the tree house, which reminded me of how much I missed Marshall and Gumball and Cake and everyone in Aaa.
"I'm not sad, Jake. I'm just… disappointed in myself." I twirled a strand of my blonde hair in my fingers as I spoke, trying not to make eye contact. The truth of the matter was that I was sad. I was very sad. I wanted to go home, to be with my men, to spend time with my sister. The longer I stayed here, the more I understood why everyone else wanted to pretend that everything was awesome for the last few days we had together, and the more I regretted not giving proper goodbyes.
"Jake's right, Fi. We'll get this! Peebles is coming over later with a new scientific whatsit and Marcy said her dad gave her this spell or something to cast on the mirror. Even Ice King is looking heavy into it. You've got all of Ooo helping you out!" Finn's face was bright and full of childish wonder. I think at one point my face looked like that, until I had to go and mess it all up.
I smiled sheepishly at him, suddenly aware of how grateful I should be. "You guys are right. I'm sorry for being such a bummer. I just miss Aaa, you know? I miss my sister, and Marshall and Gumball. I even miss kicking the Ice Queen's butt!" I chuckled a little, hoping that throwing in that last bit would take attention away from my sad mood. It didn't work.
Finn and Jake looked at me with concern on their faces, Finn's face looking a little more hurt than anything. "You're not going to lose them, Fionna. We're going to stop Hannah and the Ice Queen, and you can be with your men again. I promise." The look in Finn's eye, the sheer determination, the heroic ambition… it really got to me.
"Thanks, Finn." I gave him a weak smile, a blush sort of pooling on my cheeks.
"Now now, Finn, you know better than to go on seducing all the pretty ladies in Ooo. The same goes for the ladies from Aaa." Marceline's musical, seductive voice rang out from the window behind us as she floated in, closing her umbrella. Her statement didn't really help my blushing situation.
"You know I can't help it, Marcy. I'm just surrounded by some gorgeous women! What am I supposed to do?" Finn and Marcy had this connection as they flirted, like they didn't even know they were doing it, or like they forgot they chose not to be together.
It was quiet as they smiled at each other, lost in their gazes. I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I could almost feel each second go from the present to the past. I cleared my throat and said, "Hey, Marcy! Did you find anything out about the mirror?"
Their gazes fell, and suddenly an air of discomfort floated throughout the room, like they remembered that they needed to be friends and nothing more. "Well, my dad gave me this reverse time spell thing, but it only works to reverse aging or something. We can try it, but I don't know if it'll do any good."
She pulled out a slip of paper, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and said, "Hold out the mirror in front of me. I'll read the enchantment."
I did as she asked, standing up in front of her with the mirror laid gently in both of my hands. She took another deep breath, then began to cite strange worlds from some lost language. They sounded terrifying coming from her melodic voice, but even so, I couldn't help but stare at her as she chanted.
The mirror started glowing, changing right before my eyes. Within seconds the grungy, dirty old mirror suddenly became cleaner, shinier, and easier to see into. The changing process stopped when she finished chanting, and even after all of that, the mirror was still far too old looking to be the one from my world.
I let out a deep sigh and looked into the speckled mirror, observing the dark bags under my blue eyes, the downward curve of my lips, and the fading tones of my skin. "Thanks, Marcy, but this isn't how it was when I got it. It does look better, though."
"We still got Peeble's potion thingy, Fionna. And Ice King might have found something," Finn said, laying a broad hand on my shoulder.
"Oh! That reminds me! I saw the Ice King on my way here. He told me to tell you guys to meet him at the entrance to the Fire Kingdom. He said he might have come up with something about the riddle," Marceline offered, looking less disappointed in her spell.
"Algebraic! The old man might not be so useless after all! Let's get going!" The excitement in Finn's face was enough to lift even the heaviest of hearts, and Marcy and I both smiled warmly at him, ready to follow him in all his heroic glory.
"You guys go, man. I'm going to get Lady and Peebles and meet you there." With that, Jake stretched and slinked out the window, already on his way to the Candy Kingdom.
"You heard the mutt! Let's get our butts in gear!" Marcy announced. It was like the excitement was spreading, touching everyone's hearts. I wondered to myself why now, of all times, did this make us all feel hopeful.
I guess we had to wait and find out.
The walk to the Fire Kingdom was… awkward, to say the least. Finn and Marceline kept to either side of me, not wanting to be too close to each other. No one said a word, but both of them stole glances at each other from time to time. It was like, when it was just them, they couldn't handle the others' company.
I tried to break the silence and start up a conversation. "So… Ice King… do you guys think his information is good?"
It was silent for a moment as we walked, as if the two of them were waiting for the other to answer. "It's worth a shot," Marcy said, short and simple.
"Yeah," Finn agreed.
I sighed. So much for my breaking-the-ice plan. We continued on in that awkward state for more than a little bit, going almost an hour without saying a word. Silence was okay from time to time. Everyone needed space to reflect and junk. But this was just maddening. It wasn't silence. It was a cold war.
Finally, I had enough. I stopped dead in my tracks, crossed my arms, and looked at them both. "That is enough, you two! I'm tired of all of this high-strung nonsense. You need to turn to each other, look them in the eye, and tell them how you feel. Now."
They both turned to me in bewilderment, as if they didn't know that, not only were they deliberately being awkward, but that I could tell they were being awkward.
"Fionna—" Finn tried.
"No, don't talk to me, talk to her. There's some bad feelings between you two, and that needs to get solved." I felt proud of myself for a moment, being able to stand up to them, for them. I felt like I had a chance to help them with their relationship.
"But Fi, we're here," Marcy pointed out. All of my pride went out the window as I finally noticed everyone was staring at me. Literally, everyone.
Ice King, Jake, Lady, Bubblegum… they were all looking at me like I was insane, and like I set a bomb off.
"No, you know what? I think she's right. I think we should get this out." Finn turned to Marceline, his stance grounded and ready for a fight.
She turned to him as well, planting her feet on the ground and crossing her arms. Bubblegum came up to them, her hands out and a worried look on her face. "Guys, this isn't the time. We're so close now! We just have to—"
"I have some things to say, Bonnibell. It can wait." The sheer power in Marceline's voice was enough to send shivers down my spine. She was definitely Ooo's Marshall. "Finn, does she know? Did you ever tell her? Or did you just leave me behind for her?"
"Tell me what?" Bubblegum asked, shocked and surprised.
"It's none of your business what she does and doesn't know, Marceline. It's in the past," Finn countered, his face hard and stern, unyielding.
"Well it's my business, Finn. What don't I know?" Bubblegum walked up close to him, staring him in the face.
For a moment he kept his eyes glued on Marceline, but then dropped his gaze and took in a deep breath. "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to be upset."
"Tell me what—Finn?" Anger was dripping from Bubblegums words as she spoke.
"He didn't tell you that Finn and I were a thing for a while, after he left Flame Witch," Marceline offered, since Finn was staying quiet.
"Don't call her that!" Finn shouted, growing angrier by the second.
"You and Marceline? Finn! Why didn't you tell me?" The anger was replaced with shock and hurtfulness. Bubblegum didn't seem offended that he had been with her, but hurt that he didn't tell her.
"Don't be so quick to judge him, Bonnibell. I get the feeling that you never told him about us either." Marceline's tone was commanding and manipulative, as if she was a puppet master pulling their strings.
"You've got to be kidding me! When were you and Marcy together?!" Finn cried, looking as hurt and confused as Bubblegum did.
I watched them fight just a few feet away from me, wondering how it had come to this. Had I started this? Or was it already in motion? Did I just make it worse? No matter how it happened or what state it was in, this fight was going to continue until everything came out. I just knew it.
"When were you and Marceline together is the real question here!" Bubblegum shouted back.
Finn's face went hot as he scowled at Marceline, upset with her for taking it this far.
"Don't you look at me, Finn. It's you two who made things this way," Marcy spat, adding her own two cents to the growing pile of discomfort.
"Don't think you're not a part of this, too Marceline. You're just as guilty as we are," Finn forced through his tight, angry lips. He glared at her, fists clenched and eyes glued to the angry vampire in front of him.
"How dare you. After everything I've gone through! With you! With Bonnibell! And you dare say I'm the one who's guilty?" Marceline was seething now, breathing heavily, her body arched forward. "You're the one who made those choices. And you. Chose. Wrong."
That broke him. His anger had boiled over, and so did hers. Bubblegum, Jake, Lady, Ice King and I all watched helplessly as Finn lunged at Marceline, his fist ready to make contact, his eyes piercing with rage and hurt.
It all happened in slow motion. Finn made contact to her stomach, and Marceline made contact with his jaw. He went flying upwards, but then, as time sped up, upwards wasn't the only direction he was going. Before I had the chance to get out of the way, Finn slammed into me, forcing both of us to go flying into a wall of rocks.
We heard three sounds at once. The first was the aching groan coming from me and Finn. The second was a loud crashing, breaking sound coming from my backpack. Instantly my heart flipped, as I could only imagine one thing in there that was fragile enough to break on impact. The last sound was the sound of the air suddenly changing its current, piling itself into one single space right behind us.
Finn and I jumped up, anxious to see what had happened. From the look on the other's faces, it was clear that whatever we'd done, it was something to stare at. We turned together, the wind whipping in our faces, to find that somehow, through all of the trouble we caused and all the fighting that went down, we managed to open a portal. And not just any portal. This portal led straight to Aaa.
I took my backpack off, opened the front pocket, and hung the whole thing upside down. Out poured a million tiny shards of gold and glass, all of which at one point was my mirror.
"When she is done and hearts she's won, the mirror will send them back as one. Burst on a rock the glass unlocks a portal to this world in shock."
"That's it…" I mumbled, staring excitedly at the shattered mirror. "That's it! Burst on a rock the glass unlocks a portal to this world in shock! Breaking the glass was the key this whole time to getting back!" Tears poured down my face as my heart beat wildly in my chest. I could go home! I could see everyone again!
"Well yeah, that's what I brought you all here to tell you," Ice King said nonchalantly, as if he was waiting for this to happen before he told us he had figured it out. I was far too excited to be mad at him, or even to pay attention to him.
I turned to everyone, tears in my eyes and a smile bright on my face, clutching my backpack to my rapidly rising and falling chest. "The portal's open, guys! We can go to Aaa!"
Finn joined in my enthusiasm and turned to everyone else, too. "Alright everyone, you heard the lady! All aboard the portal to Aaa!"
Marceline floated towards us first, shooting a shy, apologizing glance at Finn before she stopped in front of me to give me a hug. When she pulled away, she smiled down at me and shouted, "Me first!" She darted into the portal, completely disappearing the moment she touched it.
Bubblegum went next, still angry with Finn, but completely distracted with the fact that a mirror had opened a portal. "This is fascinating Fionna! I need to study this!" Slowly, she reached her hand out to touch the portal, and just like Marceline, she disappeared.
Ice King didn't even bother with introducing himself to the portal like the others did. He just flew straight into it. I smiled after him, happy that everyone was so on board with going.
Jake turned to lady, said some things into her ear that made her laugh, and hugged her goodbye. "Lady's going to stay here, in case the pups need one of us. Come on dude and dudette! Let's get going!" Jake stretched straight into it, not even bothering to walk. He went head first, not caring about the repercussions, if there were any.
Finn turned to me, smiling with bright and shining enthusiasm. "You ready to go back home, Lady Finn?"
"More than ready, Sir Fionna," I replied, a big, toothy grin spreading across my face.
We held hands, and together we stepped into the portal, with the promise of everyone in Aaa waiting for us.