CHAPTER II: SOMETHING NEW
"Come ooooon… sleeeeeep…" Anne groaned loudly as she kept tossing around in her bed.
It was no use. Anne knew that she would have never been able to sleep, not after what Polly had told her. She couldn't still manage to wrap her head around the fact that Marcy… that Marcy… liked her. Of course, the young tadpole could have been wrong, but now that Anne was thinking about it… there had been signs. She never doubted for a second that Marcy cared a lot about both her and Sasha but seeing how she had always been so immersed in her games, she never thought she'd ever be interested in… pursuing anything more than a friendship with… anyone. But since the two of them met again in Amphibia, despite the fact that she was still the enormous geek she had always been, Marcy seemed to want to spend more and more time with Anne, to be closer to her…
"Welp, no sleeping tonight, might as well-" Anne said but immediately fell silent as she heard the sound of steps coming from upstairs, "Wonder what that's about."
Anne got up from her bed and climbed up the basement's stairs. When she reached the top and opened the trap door, she noticed someone closing the house's front door behind them. Anne quickly pulled out her phone and looked at the time.
1 a.m.
Curious about who might have been already awake so early in the morning, Anne reached for the door and opened it slowly.
"Maybe it was just something weird that I ate… or maybe-"
Anne gasped slightly, surprised to see Marcy sitting down in front of the house's door.
"Marcy?"
The black haired girl stopped muttering and yelped in surprise as she noticed Anne standing behind her.
"Oh, hey Anna banana…" Marcy murmured.
"Hey Mar Mar…" Anne replied, "Couldn't sleep?"
"Ha! No, ehm… too many thoughts…"
"Yeah, same…"
Both girls remained silent for a few moments.
"Sasha looked really cool tonight…" Marcy said, avoiding Anne's gaze while she fidgeted with her fingers.
"Oh yeah, that outfit really suited her…" Anne said, chuckling slightly.
"Mm… yeah…" The black haired girl muttered quietly, a small frown appearing on her face.
It was short lived though, because an instant later, Anne was holding her hand. Marcy looked up and met the messy haired girl's gaze, a surprised expression on her face.
"But I think that I liked yours waaaaaay more."
"A-ah… well, yours was really pretty too." Marcy stuttered as a light blush spread over her cheeks
Why was she finding it harder and harder to look into Anne's eyes? And what was that… that strange feeling she felt in her stomach? It wasn't unpleasant, like the one she felt when she heard Anne compliment Sasha… it didn't feel as if her stomach was twisting… it felt as if butterflies were in it.
"Oops! Got a little bit of glitter left on your cheek." Anne chuckled as she raised her hand towards Marcy's face and cupped her cheek, trying to wipe away the few glitters that remained.
However, after a few swipes of her thumb, Anne stopped, noticing how Marcy was staring at her, a deep blush now adorning her cheeks.
"Y-you really think that, Anne? I-I mean… Sasha is… well… Sasha, and I'm… just me." Marcy asked, unable to look away.
Anne felt a surge of determination and quickly cupped Marcy's other cheek.
"Hey, look at me. Yeah, sure, Sasha is cool, but you? Marcy, you're the smartest person I've ever met, there's nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it, you're honestly the funniest person I know, you really give Sprig a run for his money."
"B-but I'm still clumsy! I-I still forget my surroundings when I really get into something and… I'm honestly terrible at making new friends."
"Marcy, what are you talking about? Maybe sometimes you lose yourself into things, but that's only because you're the most passionate person I know! In this or the other world. And I love that! And what do you mean 'terrible at making new friends'? The Plantars love you! You got here from an entirely different world and you still managed to become the chief of King Andrias' rangers! And you've even managed to become his friend! Of course, maybe you don't feel that self-confident around people, but trust me when I say that it would impossible for anyone not to see how cool you are."
Marcy's eyes widened as she listened to Anne's words. That wonderful feeling only grew as she kept talking, as she kept reminding her of how awesome Anne thought she was.
"Marcy, you're amazing." Anne's smile grew softer.
"Anne…" Marcy whispered in awe as she covered the messy haired girl's hands with her own.
Both of them couldn't talk anymore, they simply stared into each other's eyes, and slowly, almost unconsciously… the two girls began to move closer and closed their eyes. It felt like an eternity had passed, but finally, they closed the gap between them, their lips meeting in a timid, gentle, and yet incredibly electrifying kiss.
"That was…" Anne whispered as she slightly drew back.
"That was incredible!" Marcy exclaimed, surprising the brown haired girl, "Oh my frog! I should have known what this was since the beginning! T-the butterflies, the j-jealousy! It happened just like it did in Rings of the Elden Souls! W-when Vaary couldn't figure out why he felt so jealous of Maryot when he was around Kathy, a-and then the two of them began to spend more and more time together and finally started to figure out their feelings and then-" Marcy kept rambling on and on.
"Aaaaand she's back." Anne chuckled before cupping Marcy's cheeks again and bringing her into another kiss.
The two girls smiled brightly into their kiss, hugging and bringing each other as close as they could. The moment was short lived though, as the two were interrupted by the sound of a window bursting open.
"No funny business under my roof! I'm not ready to become a great grandpa yet!" Hop Pop suddenly yelled from his bedroom's window.
The two girls yelped in surprise, quickly drawing back from one another, blushing even more furiously than before.
"Oh my frog, Hop Pop! Go back to sleep!" Anne yelled back, while Marcy remained silent and hid her face behind her hands.
"No can do, young lady! You and your smoochin' companion get back in the house this instant! I may be old but not too old to give you both 'the talk'!" Hop Pop warned the two, crossing his arms.
"Aaaaand that's our cue to hide in the basement until morning!"
Anne took Marcy's hand and the two quickly rushed down to the basement, closing the trap door behind them. The two girls kept giggling as they sat down on Anne's bed. Minutes passed as the two remained silent, leaning against each other, Anne's hand still holding Marcy's. After a few more moments, the messy haired girl decided to break the silence.
"You're a really good kisser, you know?" Anne said, a smirk growing on her lips as Marcy's cheeks reddened at her compliment.
"Uhm… y-you too you know? Must have spent a lot of skill points there!" Marcy laughed nervously.
Anne simply chuckled and began to trace small circles with her thumb on the black haired girl's hand.
"Wish I spent a few more of those on my intelligence."
"Hey." Marcy's serious tone of voice took Anne by surprise.
The Newtopian Rangers' chief took both of the messy haired girl's hands into her own and held them.
"Cut that out. So maybe you can't solve every puzzle we come across in like… ten seconds. So what? That doesn't make you dumb! You say I'm amazing but you're even more amazing than I could ever hope to be! Your brave, selfless, you'd do anything for the people you love, you'd even fight through an entire army if one us would be in danger! And as I said, you're just so unbelievably good at making new connections! Talking with strangers, making new friends, even making a new family hasn't been hard for you!" Marcy's smile grew softer as she raised a hand and cupped Anne's cheek, "You're awesome Anne."
"T-thank you Mar Mar. Man, you're really good at this… uhm… romance thing." Anne murmured.
Marcy's cheeks immediately reddened once more, her confidence wavering.
"O-oh, thanks! I-I just… uhm… got lost in the moment and-"
Anne simply laughed and brought the geeky girl into another kiss. After a while, both teenagers were too tired to continue, and decided to lay down.
"You wanna stay here tonight?" Anne asked all of the sudden.
"O-oh! I-I mean… i-it's nothing we haven't done before, r-right?" Marcy stuttered, clearly trying to hide of embarrassed she was.
"Yeah! Totally! We had done this like… a million times during our sleepovers!" Anne tried to act as if the whole thing wasn't a big deal.
"Y-yeah…"
Anne tucked them in, and the two girls laid down close to one another, since the messy haired girl's bed was a single one. The two girls simply laid next to each other, both silent, staring into each other's eyes.
"Uhm… wanna hug?" Anne asked timidly.
Marcy simply nodded, audibly swallowing and moving closer to the brown haired girl. Anne opened her arms and hugged her close as Marcy tucked her head under Anne's chin.
"Anne?" Marcy murmured after a few minutes.
"Yeah?"
"What does… what does all of this make us?"
It was a legitimate question. Anne felt like she and Marcy had been friends since forever, and despite the fact that, if given the opportunity, she'd do what she had just done again and again, she couldn't lie and say it didn't feel weird in the slightest. Although maybe weird wasn't the right word for it… it felt… new, and a little bit scary, but Anne was starting to realize that it might just have been the best thing that ever happened to her, and that she wouldn't have changed it for anything in the world. That's why after a long sigh, the messy haired girl gently kissed the top of Marcy's head and spoke.
"I've been afraid of many things in my life Marcy, a-and I admit that… this is a little bit scary too… but I wouldn't change the way things are for anything in the whole world… soooo…"
"So?" Marcy asked, trepidation clear in her voice as she raised her head to look Anne in the eyes.
"Marcy Wu, will you be my girlfriend?"
Marcy's eyes teared up as a trembling smile grew on her lips.
"Yes! Anne, yes!" She answered, holding the other girl tightly.
It didn't take long for the two to fall asleep into each other's embrace. The night went by swiftly and in the morning, accompanied by the Plantars, Sasha and Grime, the couple travelled to Newtopia. That is when Sasha decided to betray them and tried to take the capital. Her efforts were in vain though, as Anne, Marcy and the Plantars managed to free the king and prevent the toad army from entering the city. Despite Sasha's betrayal, everything seemed to go well, until Anne gave the music box to King Andrias. The king quickly revealed his true colors, declaring his true intentions… and exposing Marcy's actions.
"Y-you don't understand… I-I did it for us!" Marcy stuttered tearfully.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Sasha growled.
"The day we came here, on Anne's birthday, they told me my dad got a new job out of state! They were gonna tear us apart!"
The black haired girl stepped forward, taking Anne and Sasha's hands into her own.
"I had no idea the music box would work, but it did! And it took us here, in place where we'd never have to be apart, where we could be together forever!" Marcy cried as she held her friends' hands.
"Get away from me!" Sasha yelled as she ripped her hand away from Marcy's grip.
It hurt her, it hurt her how Sasha was looking at her, anger and disgust written all over her face… but what hurt her the most was the pain in Anne's eyes.
"How… how could you?! I've been missing my parents, my life!"
"But look at how much fun we've had, at how much you've both grown! Look at Sprig!" Marcy cried as she gestured towards the small, red frog, "I gave you this! I gave you everything!"
Anne stepped back, but Marcy didn't let go, instead she took both of the messy haired hands into her own and stepped closer to her.
"Anne… do you think we could have had what we have now if… if we didn't come here?" Marcy smiled tearfully.
"What… what we have?!" Anne yelled in anger, slapping away Marcy's hands.
Slowly, the anger on Anne's face faded, replaced by a deep sadness. Her eyes teared up as she looked into Marcy's. In the heat of the moment, overwhelmed by anger and sadness, Anne spoke words she would have regretted one day.
"We have nothing Marcy…"
It was in that moment that Marcy's heart broke. Everything she had done, she did it to not be alone… but exactly how she ended up. She lost Sasha and now… she lost Anne too. The black haired girl fell to her knees. But not everything was lost, determined not to let Andrias' plan become reality, the small group fought back, discovering Anne's hidden power and managing to open a portal that would lead them home… but before they could all enter…
"Now look at what you've made me do." Andrias spoke in a grave tone of voice as he pulled out his sword from Marcy's chest.
"I'm sorry… for everything." Marcy murmured, tears in her eyes, before falling to the ground.
"Marcy!" Anne cried.
The music box fell to the ground.
The portal closed.