'Sup folks! This is my first fic in the sad-frogs-show fandom. I actually wrote it after watching the first half of season two, and had to change a lot of stuff after watching the finale. It took me a while to get the characterization and the voices right.
Also, i wanted to try something new and write from a Omniscient third person POV, since i usually write in limited third person. It was... a pain in the ass, honestly. But anyway, its done now.
I hope you guys like it.
Anne was on her way to her room at the hotel, thinking about nothing but sleeping after a long day in Newtopia, when a newt guard stopped her in the hallway.
"Excuse me, Lady Anne? Message from Master Marcy." The newt gave her a pretty letter, with a drawing of smiling Marcy doing a thump up in its cover.
Felt a little excessive just for a message, but Marcy didn't do things halfway.
"Thanks dude." Anne began to open the letter, when she caught the guard pecking over her shoulder. "Hey, what're you doing?"
"Apologies ma'am, it's just…" the guard fumbled with his words and his spear. "Master Marcy always writes the most amusing things when she's sleep deprived, and I was hoping-"
"You want to snoop on my message, don't you?" Anne asked. The newt nodded and squealed. She'd to give it to the guy for being up front about it. "Alright but you get no tip. And not a word of what this says. It could be important."
It better be, for a message at about eleven o'clock, Anne thought.
She ripped the message out and read it out loud. As best as she could, anyway.
Dear Anna Banana.
We're hanging out! Meet me in my room ASAP! The guard who delivered this letter will guide you to the Castle. COME ALONE!
#Girlshangout,#Itsgonnagetreal,#Marcanneforever,#Amphibialife#NOBOYSALLOWED#MarcyForPresident.
Signed
Your bestie.
Marcy Wu, Commander of Awesomeness and Good Times.
Anne finished the letter and folded it over. The guard gasped.
"That's it? That was so not worth missing a tip," he protested. "But I guess I'm to take you to Master Marcy. Shall we move on?"
Anne sighed. Guess I'll sleep at the castle tonight, she thought, a bit more dramatic than what the situation called for. They took a small detour to her shared room with the Plantars to let them know where she was going. Although she, herself, didn't know why.
What was Marcy up to? Why the sudden urge to hang out? Why write in hash tags in a fricking letter? Anne shrugged those questions off. Long ago she'd learnt that when life gives you Marcy, you make the most out of her —and hope she doesn't hurt herself too much.
The newt guard walked Anne through the Newtopian streets to her destination. The Castle was completely different at nighttime. During the day, the castle was a blur of people coming and going; servants, cooks, workers and Lady Olivia. Mostly Lady Olivia —that woman alone carried the castle, maybe even the whole kingdom, over her shoulders. She was like a mother of three mashed up with a drill sergeant. At night-time, however, everything was quiet, and even Lady Olivia was nowhere to be seen.
Which is why Anne was alarmed to found a crew of newts outside Marcy's room. They all wore blue overalls and were in a circle around a giant piece of furniture. It was all green wood and was closed with a lock. Could've been a fancy closet, but it didn't have any drawers, and it wasn't tall or wide enough. In fact, it was just wide and tall enough to not fit through Marcy's door… Ah, that explains the working crew. Once they were there, the newt guard turned towards her.
"I don't envy your life," he commented like it was nothing and left.
So much for a working attitude, thought Anne, but she couldn't get mad at the guy. It surely wasn't funny for him to have to be delivery guy at this hour. Which brought her attention back to the workers.
"Hey guys," said Anne to the tired crew. "So, uh, Marcy messaged me to come here and… yeah, what is this thing?"
"A pain in the tail is what it is," said one newt, older looking and with heavy bags under his eyes. The supervisor, probably. "A'right boys, one more try."
The newts repositioned themselves, hand stretched forward, at each side of the maybe-closet. To Anne's horror, the furniture began to fall over them —and her. She lifted her hands just in time to help the newts catch the thing. Damn! It was way heavier than it looked like.
"Guys! How 'bout yelling 'timber' next time?" Anne protested.
"What for? This ain't a tree," said the Supervisor.
"That's not— It got enough wood to make a tree, dude!"
From inside the room, a familiar head popped out. "Oh hey Anne! I thought I heard your voice." Marcy was wearing her pajamas and had a board in which she was furiously scribbling something. "Do you mind helping these guys get this babe inside?"
"Don't think I got a choice, dude," said Anne, sweat collecting on her forehead.
The following five minutes they did a series of weird maneuvers, shouted out loud by the Supervisor; 'move that around, flip it up, turn it down, then up again, move it to the left', 'whose left, mine or yours?' 'We have the same left, Anne-no, no that way! The otherleft', and so on. It took a lot of effort, pain and sweating. Mostly sweating —most of it provided by Anne. But finally, the maybe-closet was put down inside the room, in its 'appropriately designated spot', next to Marcy's bed.
The workers, with their breath made a mess, awaited for Marcy's approval. The girl scratched her chin, and then gave a chef kiss.
"Perfect!" Marcy announced and all the newts felt to the ground. Anne was tempted to join them, but if she felt now she might pass out on the floor.
The newts began to retreat, backs arched, outside the bedroom.
"Impeccable work as usual guys, thanks a lot," said Marcy, not reading the room." I told you it would fit." Marcy lifted her hand to high five the Supervisor, but she was left hanging.
"That's 'cause you didn't have to carry it, ma'am," he said, and was the last one to leave.
Once they were gone, Marcy eyes opened wide. "Hey, didn't this came with a-"
The Supervisor opened the door, pushed inside a wooden bench the same color as the maybe-closet, and then left, slamming the door on his way out.
The girls stood in silent awe at such reaction.
"You really shouldn't call these guys at almost 12 am, Mar-Mar."
Marcy crossed her arms. "In my defense, it was nine o'clock when I called them. My door wasn't as big as I first measured it." She scratched her arms anxiously. "Help me with the bench, please?"
Together they lifted the bench and placed it in front of its pair piece. Anne dropped herself into it, sweating madly. Marcy, being the good host she was, brought her a glass of water.
"I'm so glad you're here Anne. I've been planning this for a while now." Marcy checked her friend up and down. "Why aren't you wearing your pajama? Didn't you get my letter?"
Anne drank half the glass of water and threw the rest on her face, moaning as the cold water touched her skin. "Well, the letter didn't say what to wear. Or that I'll have to carry furniture. If you'd told me I would've brought Sprig to help with this whatchamacallit." Anne gave another look at the thing, but it didn't make any more sense now than before. "Marcy, what is this whatchamacallit?"
Marcy smiled wickedly, like a cat that caught a mouse. Anne feared that smile.
"This 'whatchamacallit', as you call it, is why I brought you here." Marcy sat down on the bench. She was wearing an overgrown 'Vagabondia Chronicles' T-shirt and blue sweatpants, her usual pajamas. "OK so, you know how I've been working non-stop on the Calamity Box, trying to find a way to send us home, which is a super important task I take super seriously?"
"Uh-huh, I know that."
"Yeah, well, I've been thinking. And maybe, it's possible, that I have neglected you just a bit?" said Marcy, more a question than anything. "So! I decided to take a break and spend it with my favorite human in all of Amphibia! Please don't tell Sasha I said that," she added at the end.
Anne felt her brain had melted down and was slipping from her ears. "You took a break? By choice? You?" She pinched her friend's cheeks."Who're you and what have you done with my Marcy?"
Marcy laughed. "Yep. Definitely a choice of my own. It sure wasn't because I kept falling asleep and drooling over the ancient scrolls so King Andrias gave me the day off." She cleared her throat and ignored the look Anne was giving her. "Anyway. Going back to this baby here."
Marcy fished an iron key from her pocket, the obvious fit to the maybe-closet's lock. Well, now Anne's curiosity was picked. She braced herself for anything as Marcy unlocked the maybe-closet and opened the doors wide open. The shining of the glitter blinded Anne.
Blushes, face powder, foundations, skin creams, lotions, potions, mascaras and, more importantly, lipsticks by the dozen stacked inside the closet. Which was no closet at all, but a beautiful green wood vanity, brimming with a collection of cosmetics, accessories and beautifying objects in general, everything set inside transparent cases and boxes fixed to the vanity, so even with all that maneuvering done, nothing was out of place.
When her eyes stopped hurting from all the sparkle, Anne shrieked.
"OHMYGOSH!" her voice was so loud it sure was heard everywhere in the castle —and maybe it deafened Marcy a bit. "Marcy, what's all this? Where did you get it? Did you just rob a spa? You can come clean to me, girl."
Marcy pushed Anne's hands away from her shoulders. "One, I resent that comment. I shower and brush my teeth often. And two, I didn't steal anything. This vanity is Lady Olivia's," Marcy gave a hand wave and a laugh. "The story is actually pretty funny! Three weeks ago I was in the library studying the ancient Amphibian language, as I usually do, when Lady Olivia called me into her room because of a pest crisis…"
Then Marcy explained, with very graphic details, how she found a whole nest of giant, acid-spitting roaches in Lady Olivia's room; and since Anne wanted nothing to do with that information, she tuned Marcy's voice out.
The vanity itself was a work of beauty —finely crafted, with gracefully dressed newts carved on its surface. It had a wide three piece mirror on top and four drawers at the bottom, each one containing fake eyelashes, fake nails, fake tails and several wigs. No need to know why Lady Olivia had those.
"…And once the Acid Roach Queen died, all her spawning did so too, AKA Zerg-style!" said Marcy, still stuck in her tale. "After everything was done, Lady Olivia thanked me and said I could suit myself to the vanity. So I did!"
Anne caught that last part of Marcy's tale, and her heart skipped a beat. She brought her hands to her face and breathed. "Marcy. Did Lady Olivia say you could 'suit yourself to the vanity," she paused. "Or did she say you could suit yourself to anything in the vanity?"
Marcy's smile faltered as she was sent into thinking mode. Finally she shrugged her worries off. "Meh. Those are just details, Anne. We'll return this before she knows it-"
"We have to move this out again?!"
"But for now," said Marcy, ignoring Anne's whining, "Let's dig in!"
The following hour was filled with the coming and going of hands, the noise of bottles and cases being opened, clouds of glitter fogging the room, and the giggling of the two friends.
The process was simple. First, the girls suited themselves to any oil, powder and cream they found interesting. Then they smashed it up on their own, or the other, faces. Finally, they took a selfie as best as they could in the middle of their fits of laughter. To be on the safe side, they made sure to take only a small amount of every product. Lady Olivia might have let Marcy suit herself to the vanity (maybe), but she surely wouldn't appreciate opening it to find everything have been used dry.
By the time they'd tried every product, both girls were red with laughter, and had fifty or so new selfies in their phones. All sleepiness had abandoned Anne's body.
"The controversy is settled then. I am not a summer person," said Marcy, her face smeared in oranges and reds.
Anne hummed. "Guess its winter then. You were right from the beginning."
Anne herself didn't look much better. There was enough powder and glitter on her face to make a clown look reserved.
They cleaned the make-up of their faces with a wet towel —although in Anne's case it would've been faster to suck it up with a vacuum cleaner— and agreed it was time for le piece de resistance. The lipsticks were organized by color, each one with its name written on the case. Marcy began with the blue-ish tones, while Anne tried out the greens (because she was spring, obvi).
"Man, these lipsticks are quality! Can you feel that creamy goodness?" Anne smeared the paste on her lips. "How come you didn't have all this in your room before? Also, what do you think of this 'Killing Kiwi' color?"
"It's nice, I guess. Although it raises the question of how Amphibians now what a kiwi is," said Marcy. "As for the other thing, I don't know. I've never been much into traditional girly stuff. Remember Sasha always tried to get me to be more feminine?" There was a hint of resentment in Marcy's voice. "How do you like this 'Deep Sea' color?"
"It's pretty."
The cleaned their faces with the towel, then picked two other colors. Anne chose 'Candy Slime'. Didn't sound too harmful —but it did sound super gross. Suddenly, Marcy spoke.
"Can you imagine if Sasha were here? She would've gone crazy with all this."
A punch in the gut wouldn't have stunned Anne as effectively. The room felt bigger, now. Quieter. She applied the lipstick in silence until she couldn't keep it down anymore.
"I wish she were." Anne said, guilt pouring over her. "But its not that I'm not having fun with you, it's just-"
Marcy gave her a dismissive hand gesture. "It's fine Anna Banana. In any case, it's my fault. I shouldn't have mentioned her." Marcy gave Anne's shoulder a playful shove. "It's kinda hard to play with lipsticks and not think of Sasha, you know?"
Anne didn't know what she meant. But really, she hardly got a clue what Marcy said. "I don't remember she was that into make-up," she said. "Also, this color doesn't look like vomit, does it?"
"It's the exact same hue as the Amphibian Acid Roaches. Which means yea, it looks like human vomit." Anne made a bleugh noise, getting a giggle out of Marcy. "And you do know what I mean. Don't you remember how Sasha was always trying to get us to kiss her?"
A truckload of memories rolled Anne over. Memories she'd long forgotten about. Or blocked. She blushed deeply, which made Marcy laugh at her very 'Anne reaction', which in turn made Anne become a deeper shade of red.
"Oh Frog. I thought I'd blocked that out, but you're right. Sasha was super into smooching." Anne rubbed her cheeks, trying to force her smile down. "She was such a jerk about it, too! Every time she would do us a favor or keep the bullies away from us, she would be all 'I'm you guys' boyfriend, which means you owe me smooches!' Which was also super sexist of her, going back to it."
Marcy was thrown into a fit of laughter. "Yeah it was! Even about that she was really bossy."
Anne hummed in response. More memories came to her, and her smile grew uncontrollably. "You know what else I remember?" she scooted closer to Marcy, until she was at whisper distance to her. "You were superinto it, too."
Now it was Marcy's turn to blush. It was a shy color on her cheeks compared to Anne's tomato imitation, but it was something. Score one for Anne!
As she did with more things in her life, Marcy dismissed the topic with humor. "Anne Boonchuy." Marcy brought a hand to her chest, like a distressed maiden. "Are thou implying I had the likeness of a harlot?"
"Mm-hmm. I do be implying thoust werest… uh… Yeah, you liked to be smooched by Sasha," said Anne, hand waving the Shakespearean accent. "Actually, wasn't this around the time Sasha stole that prop sword from the school theatre? She carried that thing everywhere. And she played pretend she was a knight or something, and she would demanded we kissed her as tribute. And I remember you liked it." Anne wiggled her brows suggestively. "'Kiss me brave knight!', 'Come here for your reward!' Remember all that, hun?"
Anne hands went through Marcy's belly, pinching the girls' sides and sliding her fingers over the skin, tickling her. Marcy fought back with weak slaps that quickly turned desperate. She'd always been the ticklish of the three —something that neither Anne nor Sasha ever forgot about.
In the middle of her spasms of laughter, Marcy shouted. "A-alright I g-give up!" Anne stopped her assault, and helped Marcy rearrange herself on the bench.
Marcy breathed in and out several times, trying to still her heart and keep the air inside her lungs. "I admit that sword was very dumb. But I did not spoke like that!" said Marcy, who definitely said it like that. "Besides, gimme a break. That was my only way to ever get kissed."
"I'm not sure if those counted as 'kisses'. Sasha was just being Sasha." Anne cleaned her lips with the towel. "They sure didn't count to me. In my book, my lips are still the Virgin Islands."
"Anne, Oh my Frog! Don't say it like that" Marcy punched Anne's shoulder because she couldn't believe she just said that! Then she picked the towel and cleaned her own face.
They both inspected the lipsticks in silence. The air was not the same anymore. It was denser, more suffocating. She knew it was Marcy's bedroom and that it was a fairly nice size, but once again, Anne felt the room was too big for just two people.
She kept her head down, playing with the still unopened lipstick in her hands. 'Poison Ivy'. She wasn't in a rush to try that one out. Her thoughts were filled with a mane of blonde hair.
Marcy saw the change in her friend's behavior. Only one thing could cause that. "Anne, are you still thinking about Toad Tower?"
Oh shit. Marcy should've not said that. Anne's change was instant; her expression turned somber and she stared at the air. Looking without looking. Like a part of her had never left that cursed tower. Very often, Marcy wished she'd been a part of Anne's early life in Amphibia. Moments like this made her reconsider that wish.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up," said Marcy, as she played with her hands.
It wasn't exactly a 'lie'. Marcy did hate how Anne got when someone brought the Toad Tower incident; but she didn't regret bringing it up.
"You know it wasn't your fault, right? None of what happened is," Marcy insisted.
"Yeah yeah, I know," said Anne, as convinced as someone who had been asked if they know they have grown a second head. "I couldn't let Sasha get away with feeding Hop-Pop to an angry frog-eating plant." Anne grew a tiny smile, as she held the lipstick on her left hand. She was holding it with her whole hand, like a tiny sword. "And don't get me wrong, standing up to her… Wow. Best feeling of my whole life. Like I've been holding my breath since forever and now I can finally breathe and it's a relief.
"On the other hand," Anne continued, showing her empty hand, "seeing Sasha fall to the ground was the worst thing to have ever happen to me. I never wanted to hurt my best friend. And I mean not just Sasha, but you too dude, I-"
Marcy grabbed Anne's free hand, throwing her doubts away. Sure, Marcy and Anne had known each other the longest, but it was Sasha who had the most prominent role in their friendship. She was the leader. Anne has always looked up to her.
Marcy too, in a way.
"I know things look messy now Anne, but I'm sure everything will be better once we find Sasha." Marcy squeezed Anne's hand. "'Cause you know we have to find her, right?"
No answer and now Anne's was pouting like a small child. Cute, yeah, but it was counterproductive too.
"Anne…"
"I know!" the other girl grunted miserably. "It's just… It's Sasha. And she's impossible to talk to! I want things to be right between us but I don't know where to start. There's so much stuff going on in my head and its like I've got a lump, right here on my throat and sometimes I can't breathe when I think to much I-"
"Handhandhandhand!"
Anne let go of Marcy's hand. Marcy rubbed her fingers, now red and sore. Wow, Anne's strength grew since we landed here. Wish I could document this, shethought.
"Sorry Mar-mar. But that's exactly what I mean," Anne rubbed the back of her neck. "There is so much going on between us, I'm scared that when I meet Sasha, I'll just blow up like a bomb. And knowing Sasha, she'll take it personal. And I guess it kinda is."
Marcy covered her mouth, keeping a façade of seriousness. Deep down, she was hopping around and patting herself on the back. Things were going smother than she'd expected.
Truth is, King Andrias did dismissed Marcy for the day. Unfortunately, Marcy's brain was like a shark; if it ever stopped working, Marcy would die. She couldn't sit in bed and let the day go to waste! And since she'd been banned from studying the box, she focused her brainpower into the second biggest issue: rekindle theirs best friend's friendship. So after a 45 minute powernap, she conjured a plan to get Anne and Sasha back to where they were before Amphibia. Things between them couldn't be that bad.
But they were bad, she knew that now. Anne was still too hung up on the whole Toad Tower fiasco. Sasha was too, probably, but she was who-knows-where doing Frog-knows-what. Even if Marcy could talk to her, it won't do any good. Sasha's problem was with Anne. Which meant that if they wanted things to be alright between the three of them, Anne will have to do something about it. Which meant Marcy will have to do something about Anne.
Marcy tapped her chin, scratched her head, flapped her hands. Moving helped her think. She felt the peculiar tickling on her brain that said an idea was coming. And it better come quickly because Anne was giving her a 'are you alright there buddy?' look. Marcy dodged the other girl's glance and caught her own reflection on the mirror. She looked down at the lipsticks. Then at her reflection again…
"DING!" Marcy shouted, making a sound like a giant light bulb had appeared over her head.
"Dude, don't yell like that," said Anne. "What's the matter? Do you got something?"
"Just the answer to ALL our problems."
Marcy ignored Anne's confused look and dug into the lipsticks, searching the reds. 'Crimson Blood' sounded about right. Marcy cleaned her face with the wet towel and applied the new lipstick with shaky hands. She checked herself in the mirror, her smile growing wild. Perfect! Finally, she rested both hands on her hips and whipped her neck to face Anne.
"Alright Anne," said Marcy. "Pretend I'm Sasha."
To a sentence like this, there was just one thing to say: "Saywhatdoyoumeanwhat?"
"Just what I said! Pretend I'm Sasha and talk to me like you were with her!" Marcy insisted, like it was a perfectly normal thing to suggest.
It wasn't.
"Marcy, I-I don't think I'm in the mood for playing games."
"No, no. This is legit Anne. It's an actual technique used in Psychology. I studied it back home." Marcy held a finger up, as a teacher explaining something to a knuckleheaded student. "Look, you obviously have a lot on your chest right now. Heavy stuff. Stuff that cannot come out when you talk to Sash."
Anne shuddered at the thought. She almost didn't make it out of the first fight with Sasha, Anne wasn't in the mood for a rematch. "Yeah, we can't allow that."
"Exactly. But this way, you can tell Sasha everything you need. You let go of all that junk clogging your chest. And the next time you meet her, you'll be much calmer."
"But Sasha will not!"
"That doesn't matter." Marcy put her hands on Anne shoulders. She tried to look into the other girls eyes. She failed. She focused on her neck instead. That's better. A pretty neck to look at. "You CAN get through her Anne. It's your superpower. I trust you. Do you trust me?"
This got through Anne alright. Being told how much Marcy trusted her was humbling enough. Trusting Marcy in turn was just fair.
"It's just… I don't think I could pretend you're Sasha," Anne confessed.
"Sure you can! Just picture me as blonde."
Anne flinched painfully. She hasn't felt this sick ever since she caught Hop-Pop getting out of the shower. "I legally can't do that."
"Fine. Would you prefer to be Sasha and I get to play being Anne?"
"What? No, that's— I don't even… Dang it Marcy! Now you're just confusing me"
Marcy huffed and rubbed her palms red. "Alright. How about you close your eyes? Focus on what I say, not how I look like."
"Mmm, agreed. But please, don't do your 'Sasha' voice'."
"But I've been practicing!"
"Marcy."
"Fine!But methinks the lady doth protest too much."
Marcy closed her eyes, tapping her knees as she waited. Anne got a good look of her in her mind. She wasn't going to talk to Sasha for real. Just good old Marcy. Anne closed her eyes and announced Marcy she was ready. A few seconds later, the other girl spoke.
"Hey girlfriend," said 'Sasha'.
"Uh, hey Sash. Didn't see you there." Probably because I got my eyes closed, Anne thought. "H-how are you doing? What've you been up to?"
"Oh, you know me. The usual. Sword training, making my enemies cower in fear, inventing new fashion trends for girls with facial scars. I'm living my best life, girl." 'Sasha' held up a giggle. 'Definitely better than you. Don't you ever get bored of playing with your cowboy-frogs in your little backwater town?"
"Gee, no pulling back your punches huh?" Anne mumbled. "They're farmers-frogs, and they're the cornerstone of society, thank you so much. And they have names, you know? Sprig, Polly and Hop-Pop. Remember Hop-Pop? Remember how you tried to feed him up to hungry plant? Because that's a thing that totally happened."
'Sasha' snorted. "You're still hook up on that?"
"Yes! I'm still pretty mad about that!" Anne clenched her teeth and breathed loudly. She'd to calm down. Sasha wasn't here. Just Marcy, and she was just trying to help. "You tried to kill them, Sash. They're my family and you were fine with letting them die!"
"That was just Toad business, Anne. Nothing personal."
"What about the duel, then? What about all the times you pushed me around and dismissed me and treated me like I didn't matter? Was that business too? 'Cause it felt kinda personal."
"If I remember right, you took vengeance on that." 'Sasha' grabbed Anne's hand and brought it to her face. For a minute, Anne didn't know what was happening. Then her heart skipped a beat.
Marcy didn't have a scar on her face. But Sasha did.
"I was mad. I'm sorry about that." Anne recovered her hand. "But I'm not sorry about standing up to you."
'Sasha's laugh was ice cold. "I could tell, with how fast you replaced me and Marcy with those squeaky frogs."
Anne stuttered, anger rising in her chest. "Ragh! Why do you always do this? You said it was only business, but you're obviously just as mad at me. Can't you take responsibility for what you'd done? Do you think I wanted to fight you? You're my best friend and I had to put a stop to you. How do you think I felt?"
"Hey, that was all on you." 'Sasha' retorted. "Do you wanna talk responsibility? You could've stood with me instead of them. Choose the winning side, my side."
"There are no sides, Sash. Stop acting like I'm… I'm…" Anne took a pause. "What's the word I'm looking for?"
Marcy flipped one eye open. "Antagonizing?"
"Thanks," Anne whispered, and then went back to shouting. "Stop acting like I'm antagonizing you! I did what I had to because you were being a jerk to my friends, but you're my friend too."
"But you chose them."
Anne bit her lip. They were running in circles. She'd to break that, smash the circle to pieces. Time to pull out the big guns.
"Look Sasha. Back home, you and Marcy were… the most important people in my life besides my parents. But when I came here, I changed. I grew up, made new friends. But they'll never replace you, no matter what." Anne tried to keep a calm, steady tone. Sasha will only listen if she sounded certain. Confident. "I want us to be friends again. I really do. But things can't be like they were before, with you always telling us what to do." She stopped. That would be when Sasha snapped at her, but nothing happened, so Anne kept going. "You know what? If you want to be the leader, fine by me. I don't care about that. I never did. But you have to treat Marcy and me like equals, or else we'll keep standing up to you. Isn't that what you always told us to do? To be strong and keep our ground?"
Marcy whistled. "Oooh, using her own words against her. That's smart." She cleared her throat. "I wanted you two to stand up to bullies," said 'Sasha'. "Glad to know that's how you-"
Anne surrounded 'Sasha's hands with hers. "If I thought you were a bully, would I be trying to make things right between us?"
"Y-yeah, well…" Marcy hesitated before 'Sasha' took over. "I mean, whatever. I don't even know why you care so much about me?"
"Why wouldn't I care about you?"
"Why would you? You make me sound like I'm such a monster, and hey, it's kinda true. I know it, the teachers know it, the kids at school know it. Even my parents knew I was messed up. They left me to my luck and didn't look back. If my own parents couldn't care about me, then why would you?"
Anne opened one eye. "Seriously dude? Kick me in the groin, it wouldn't be that low."
Marcy opened one eye herself. "You know Sasha's gonna play the 'I'm an orphan, nobody likes me, I don't know how to love' card at some point."
"…That's fair."
Both girls shut their eyes closed.
"Back home, nobody cared about me," said 'Sasha', salty as ever. "Didn't you think I'd notice? The teachers couldn't wait to get rid of me. The kids at school muttering 'I hope Sasha is in a good mood today' when they thought I wasn't listening. I can play people how I want, but I can't make them care. You and Marcy were the only ones to stay by my side. And now you're drifting away to be with some frogs you barely know? How about you think how I feel?"
Each word hit Anne like a slap. A sharp slap with a knife. That couldn't be Sasha, right? Sure, Sasha's always making people dance to her tune, and it's no secret that it makes some folks mad. Pretty sure even her friends from cheerleading don't really like 'like' her. Come to think of it, Anne had never seen Sasha hanging outwith anyone that wasn't her or Marcy, but that was Sasha's choice!
Right?
The more she thought about it, the harder Anne mentally slapped herself. Guess Marcy had Sasha figured out better than I did, Anne thought.
"So yeah, I always make all the decisions and push you guys around because I want you to be better. To have the guts to fight back." 'Sasha' stopped, as if the revelation had been too much. "Never thought I would be the one you stood up to. I don't know how to get along with people. If I can't make you do what I want, what's stopping you from finding a new friend?"
There was a crack at the girl's voice at the end, sending an alarm on Anne's mind. That wasn't 'Sasha' at all.
"Are you alright there?" Anne asked. "'Cause we could call this off if you-"
'Sasha' ignored her and kept talking. "I mean, you'll be fine by yourself. But what about Marcy?"
Anne's brain's stopped working. What?
"At least I could always count with her. Seriously." 'Sasha' laughed with no humor. "That girl couldn't get a new friend even if she tried."
Anne dared to open her eyes. Marcy didn't seem trouble by this at all. Somehow, that made it all much worse. Who was talking right now? 'Sasha' or Marcy?
"You're wrong," said Anne.
"Am I now? Marcy is-"
"I know you don't think like that, Sasha." Anne put weight into the other girl's name. "Marcy's different, I know that. She knows that, trust me. But I know you care about her as much as you do about me. Fighting the bullies for us, inspiring us to give out our best —that's your way to show off how much you care about us. Maybe I don't love all the pushing around, but you're a good person. That's why I'll always be by your side. Even if you try to hurt me, even if you bring harm to the people I love, I'll be there to stop you and put some sense into that dumb blond-dyed head of yours. You're stuck with me forever. You AND Marcy. So get used to it, alright?"
And there it was. Brows lifted up, lips curved into a smile, and a tiny giggling that lighted the room. Marcy was happy. Another one for Anne, folks!
"I don't know why, or if it's because we're all trapped in this crazy awesome world together, but as time goes on, the more I miss being with you guys." Anne felt heat rushing to her face. "I love the Plantars. And I love my parents. And I love you guys. Maybe it's selfish but I don't want to put my happiness away. I won't choose between the people I love."
Anne bit the inside of her cheek. Too much information, way too much, why did you say that? Anne's inner voice berated her, but she found it easy to shut her up. All of it was true and it was out. Finally. And it felt great! Like she'd been carried a heavy bag over her shoulders and she'd finally let it go.
Marcy was just as surprised as her. She opened her eyes and… oh Frog, only a few inches of air were in their way. Have they been this close the whole time?
"That…" Marcy stuttered and hit her chest, trying to get the frog out of her throat (ha!) "That was great. You really… really held your ground back then. The whole 'not gonna put my happiness away' is sure to get through her."
"It was true. All of it." Anne's hand went to Marcy's knees, gently rubbing circles over her legs. Right now, Anne felt happy like never before.
Marcy, however, was about to die. Alert, alert! Too personal! Too much! Went her brain. The contact felt nice, even the closeness was alright. But not the eye contact, no sir. Marcy couldn't do it, opting to close her eyes. There, much better. In her own private dark world, Marcy had the control.
She cleared her throat and went back to being 'Sasha'. "Well Anne, you're right about something. We should stick together, no matter what. That's what I've been trying to say from day one." 'Sasha' laughed wickedly and made her distinct hand wave. "Which means you finally learnt something from me. You're welcome!"
Anne didn't mean to laugh so hard but she did. That was spot Sasha, with the 'no biggie' hand gesture and all. If only Marcy could get the voice right, Anne could actually pretend she was with the real Sasha.
Except Sasha wouldn't have said those things about Marcy. Is that how Marcy thinks Sasha sees her? Or is that how Marcy sees herself? Everything was confusing. Even Anne didn't know to whom her words were to. But whatever her reason for saying that, Marcy was wrong. No matter how much of a jerk she could be, Sasha always had soft spot for their common friend, even if she didn't say it. Marcy, it seems, never even knew about it. Guess this is something Anne knows that Marcy ignored. And Anne scores again! She's in a row!
"So, Sash. I take it we're cool now?" Anne asked. "I mean, we friends again, right?"
'Sasha' hummed, but Marcy smiled. "Yeah, I guess if you need me in your life so badly, I can't stay mad at you." said 'Sasha'. "But you gotta do something for me first."
"What is it?"
"Gimme smooches!" 'Sasha' threw herself at Anne's arms.
Anne snorted and kept the girl at bay with one hand. "Wha-at? Marcy, no."
"Marcy? Where's Marcy? I don't see her here."
"'Cause you got your eyes closed, Mar-Mar."
"Name's Sasha," 'Sasha' insisted, frowning. "And I demand mouth Snu-Snu!"
"Oh my Frog! Don't call it that" Anne covered her ears.
Marcy —or was it 'Sasha'? Anne hasn't felt so confused ever since Math class— threw herself into Anne, holding her by the neck. Anne caught the girl into her arms. "Come oooon Anne, give a smooch to your boyfriend."
Anne gave up. When life gives you Marcy…. "Nooo, you can't take away my first kiss!" she whined like a defenseless maiden.
They played back and forth for a while. Anne felt something she thought she'd forgotten about. Simple minded joy. Like she was a little girl again, with no worries on her head except reminding herself not to eat the red crayon —no matter how much it looked like berry— and what games she'll play tomorrow. Everything felt right. Like making a puzzle, piece by piece, and seeing the picture take form. The sound of Marcy's laughter, the tears of joy on her face as she delivered weak slaps, trying to overpower Anne. How soft and close and safe she was. How safe Anne felt with her. Big tears felt down Anne's face. She missed home terribly. And she'd missed Marcy so much.
Before she could stop or think, Anne leant forward. Marcy lips were wet with lipstick and very warm. It was a messy kiss; two walls of flesh touching each other. More than a peck, but not enough to be called a 'make-out'. Marcy opened her mouth, granting Anne better access to her… her everything.
WOW. OK. Big miscalculation here, major one, thought Marcy, as she mentally checked her list of all possible scenarios for the night. This one wasn't on the list; not even in the pre-list she'd made before the real list. But that was the thing with Anne. She was too chaotic, too… unpredictable. Always driven by her emotions, following her gut, or her heart or any other organ of her body except her brain. Every time Marcy thought she knew what the girl will do, Anne did a 180º spin and threw Marcy's off balance.
In a way, she and Sasha were foils to each other. At the end of the day, Anne was a simple person. Which was good! She'd simple thoughts, and it was easy to figure her out. However, her emotional nature made her quick to sudden, out of nowhere decisions. Now, Sasha… Sasha liked power. And control, something Marcy could relate to. Those two objectives drove Sasha forward, so you could always guess what she would do, as long as she could keep pulling the strings. That said, the inner machinations of Sasha's mind were an enigma. What small information Marcy had figured out about Sasha over the years had taken her a lot of brain power and observation. Would have Sasha had kissed Marcy? Not likely, not unless she'd gotten more out of the kiss than what she had to gave. But would Sasha think about kissing Marcy? Now THAT was a mystery.
Going back to the kiss, it was nice. Real nice. Not really on Marcy's plans… but when life gives you Anne, you don't question her. She found herself leaning against Anne, eager to get her even closer-
CREAK went the door as it was opened.
"Master Marcy, do you have my-"
Lady Olivia froze —physically and mentally— at the threshold. Marcy and Anne pulled away from each other in a flash and try to appear 'relaxed'. This meant that Anne was fully leaning against the vanity, legs opened in a very unlady-like fashion, while Marcy was leg crossed, with her back so straight an ironing blade would feel jealous.
So yeah. 'Relaxed' as false witnesses.
"…Vanity."
"HEY! Uh… hey, Lady Olivia. My girl, my lady! The Lady," said Anne.
"What's up Lady Olivia? Everything alright? Because everything's alright here. I'm alright, Anne's alright, and we're definitely not doing anything not-age appropriate," said Marcy.
Lady Olivia felt the pressure on her eyes building up to the bursting point. She rubbed her temples and did her breathing exercises.
"You know what? I don't even want to know," she declared and, after a few more breaths, addressed Marcy. "Master Marcy. When I said 'suit yourself to the vanity', what I meant was 'suit yourself FROM the vanity'. I absolutely didn't mean that you could sneak into my chambers in the middle of the night and steal the whole darn thing! It's a family heirloom, you know?" she added with a grumble.
Marcy turned even redder. "Oopsie."
"Yeah, we were wondering about that, ourselves." Anne commented. "But on Marcy defense, you couldhave been more specific."
Lady Olivia brows furrowed to previous unknown deeps.
"We'll return it on the morning," Anne added, sensing a planet-busting nag coming. "Right Marcy?"
The other girl nodded like bobblehead on a country side road.
Lady Olivia relaxed —thought it was almost imperceptible. "Thank you. Now if you excuse me, I'll retreat for the night." Lady Olivia gave her back to the girls. When she spoke again, her voice had certain sharpness. "Do keep up with the age appropriate thing you were doing, but don't go to bed too late."
And with that she left the room, slamming the door behind her. She was very tired and hot faced. That was something she'd always suspected, but did not need a confirmation for.
"Note to self. Knock. Always." She told herself and began her walk back to her chambers —with a planned detour through the King's wine cellar.
Inside the room, the two blushing girls relaxed, this time for real.
"Oh boy, that was so close! I thought we were done for. All because of this piece of wood." Anne gave a slight punch to the vanity.
Marcy relaxed so well she actually felt from the bench and landed, butt first, on the floor. "Don't joke about that. You're just visiting, I actually have to LIVE here."
The girls reassumed their positions on the bench, albeit with more distance with the other. They said nothing, probably because they were thinking stuff like 'Alright. Anne just kissed me. No reason to panic. Just calm down and thing this logically', and 'I KISSED MARCY, WHAT THE HECK?! WHAT DO I DO NOW?'
Choosing to take the initiative, Anne spoke. "So…" she began, and that was as far as she'd planned. "That was something uh? I, uh, I don't know what came over me."
"I do."
"You do?"
Marcy turned to look at her friend. "Sure. I'd it happen to me before. Not the 'kissing some else' part. But I'd got lost into role-playing too. Remember when I binge watched both Star Wars trilogies on a weekend? I wore a Jedi robe to school for two weeks." She groaned. "Soo cringe of me."
Anne remembered. She always thought Marcy wanted to start a fashion trend. It never really caught up.
"So… You're not upset then? Maybe a bit mad? I was a little forceful back there." Anne rubbed her hands together. "I just can't believe I'm with you right now. And I was so happy and thinking about how now we have a chance to get things right with Sash- ouch!"
Marcy punched Anne's shoulder. It wasn't too strong, but it's the action that mattered. "Of course not, silly. I know you didn't mean it," said Marcy.
That… felt wrong. It wasn't what Anne had been trying to say at all. Because Anne did meant it. The details were a bit fuzzy since Anne's head felt like a soup with different types of noodles, but she'd wanted to kiss Marcy. Hearing Marcy shrug it off that easily hurt her.
Unknown to her, Marcy was mentally running around in a panic room, hurling herself at the padded cells. That kiss wasn't meant to her. It was Sasha's. It was obvious now. Marcy just happened to be there, pretending to be the blonde girl; the closest thing Anne could get to the real deal. It hurt. But it was the truth.
"So I guess the spa time is over?" Anne asked, breaking the tension.
"Definitely. I feel like such a criminal now!" Marcy squeaked in response.
"I get that. The day I stole that stupid Box is still haunting me."
To this, Marcy just hummed in response. Anne reached for the towel and cleaned the remnants of 'Crimson blood' from her lips. Then, without warning, she put the piece of cloth against Marcy's lips and rubbed, cleaning her face too. If there was any rule of personal space between them before, neither of them could remember it now.
Anne stood up and plummeted herself on Marcy's bed. "You wanna watch a movie till we fall asleep?"
Without a word, Marcy got up the bench and dropped on the bed, where Anne received her.
She would be lying if she said she didn't want to know more about this. About what Anne felt for her. What Marcy felt for Anne. And how their mutual friend fit into all this. But Marcy's heart was pounding too hard and it made it hard for her to think. And if there was anything Marcy was good at it was ignoring an issue until it went away or it killed her.
It's a trait she shared with Anne.
They laid on the bed as Anne pulled out her phone. They had to sit closely together to hold the phone with one hand each. Anne picked a post-apocalyptic romance movie, which were amongst the few she had on her phone.
As the movie progressed, Marcy felt the anxiety receding, as she could focus on what she was watching, putting a pin to everything else. Movies and videogames always had that effect on her.
Anne's voice dragged her back to the real world. "Marcy, I've been thinking," she began, voice trembling. "Since we agreed that Sasha doesn't count as a first kiss. Does that mean you're my first kiss?"
Marcy shuddered. She'd been pondering about that too.
"It would've been if you had kissed me. But you kissed 'Sasha', remember silly?" said Marcy, skillfully dodging the subject.
Anne got quiet. Marcy was satisfied with how masterfully she had handled that situation.
A few minutes later, she heard Anne talk again: "Marcy look at me."
Marcy should've seen it coming. But she didn't, and as she turned her head, Anne pressed her lips against Marcy's. It was as shorter kiss, barely a few seconds long. But it felt different than before. More confident. Marcy could only look at Anne after. She was stunned, but Anne was smiling.
"There," said Anne. "Just so we're clear."
And with that, as if she haven't just rocked Marcy's whole world, Anne went back to watch the movie.
Marcy was burning —not literally, but almost. If she was confused before, now she was lost at sea with no map. Any talking done now would be useless. One day, however, when Anne was done pushing her feelings down, and Marcy had sorted her thoughts, they could talk this through. Hopefully, Sasha will be with them by that point, and Marcy could sit and talk with both of them, in private and together. And maybe then, she could explain how the Box really came to be in Anne's hands and how, when the time came, Marcy won't be going home. And maybe then… maybe they will…
Marcy shook her head. There was time for. Now, there was a movie to watch, and a whole night to sleep, and an endless list of things to do in the morning.
Now, Anne's hand was soft against her, and her breath was easygoing and relaxing. Now, Marcy just wanted to thrive in the chaos that was her best friend.
And there it is.
As i said, this fic was very difficult since it was a new fandom and a new way of writing for me. There are a ot of scened that required a lot of work... but i have re-wrote it four times already so i'm done with it.
In any case i hope you guys liked it alright, faults and all. If thats the case, dont forget to like and comment!
See you all next time!