Chapter 6

"Marcy's Journal,

So, it's been a while since I wrote in here. Been busy with my plant encyclopedia, recharging the stones, everything really. I didn't get to write about the first or second temples, Polly's new robot friend that I have NO CLUE how it was even made here, this whole situation with the Mayor of Wartwood that Anne was telling me about, or the fact that I know how to make potions now… I put all my notes on that last topic in it's own book.

Honestly though, I really wasn't in the mood to write anything in here after what happened with Sasha.

I really want to believe that she'll come around… but I'm not sure. I just… I don't know what I'll do if she and Anne don't make up…

If I tell Anne that I knew the box might of taken us somewhere when I found it… I don't know what she'll say. I was hoping that I could be like 'Oh hey! But you made such amazing friends, you and Sasha are closer than ever, and we're even dating now! Isn't that worth it all?!'

… I really am pathetic… aren't I? Trying to justify the fact that I was just being selfish… That I just didn't want to say goodbye to those two…

Problem is… we're running out of time. We are going to the third temple today… and then… well, we gotta try and find Sasha I guess, and then we go home… with or without her…

If Sasha and Anne make up, then I'll tell them the truth, and tell them we could have more, great adventures like this with the King…

If not… I'll just go home… and then, my parents will make me move away… and I'll never see them again…

Please Sasha… please make the right choice…"

Later that day

The group was in the middle of going through the third temple, and had just barely managed to escape a room with a lava river, filled to the brim with lava snake… things.

That being said, they were only able to do so because Sasha came out of no-where and saved them.

Anne, for obvious reasons, was on guard when they got out of there. But, she was also concerned. She was expecting Marcy to be a lot more excited by Sasha's return, but the girl hadn't said a thing yet.

"… Hey Sash." Marcy said shyly.

"… Hey Mar-Mar." Sasha said calmly as she turned around to face the group.

"Ok Sasha, talk! What are you doing here?!" Anne asked.

"… I'm keeping a promise." Sasha said as she looked at Marcy.

"… Marcy?" Anne asked.

Marcy just sighed.

"Remember when I went on that mission with Yunan before the first temple?" Marcy asked.

"… No…"

"I… I wanted a chance to talk to Sasha alone Anne." Marcy tried to reason. "I'm so, so sorry for not telling you."

"Hey, It's alright." Anne said. "I'm sure you had your reason…"

"I just… she needed to think about some things… and I wanted to give her the chance to do so before I told you about that day." Marcy said.

"… Wait a minute… you looked like you were about to cry when you got home that night…" Anne suddenly realized. "What did you do to her?!"

"Nothing! Chill!" Sasha said defensively. "I mean… I did drop her off a cliff…"

"You did WHAT?!"

"There was a river at the bottom! And that giant bird caught her anyways!" Sasha tried to reason.

"Not helping Sash!" Marcy scolded.

"… Right… I'm sorry." Sasha said. "Like Marcy said…"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" A new voice laughed from behind the group.

They turned around to see Grime, completely dried up.

"Even in this sta-"

"Ugh, you're interrupting us Grimsey!" Sasha scolded.

"Oh, my bad."

Then, Sasha noticed how defensive everyone was. "Listen, we're not here to fight… I just wanted to tell Marcy what I decided is all."

"… I'm listening…" Anne said.

'Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease…' Marcy thought.

"Anne… I am so… so sorry for what I did at Toad Tower."

"WHOO!" Marcy cheered.

"Wait, what?" Anne asked.

"Marcy was right… I shouldn't of made you choose between these frogs and me…" Sasha said. "It took her almost killing Grime to make me realize that."

"I'm sorry, you did WHAT?!" Anne asked Marcy.

"I wasn't going to actually shoot him, relax!" Marcy said defensively. "I just wanted Sasha to realize what she did is all!"

"O…kay?"

"And frogs…"

"Sprig."

"Polly."

"Hop Pop."

"Right… I'm sorry for almost killing you all." Sasha said. "And thanks… for taking care of my friend."

"Oh… well… you're welcome… I guess." Hop Pop said.

"So… what are you doing here anyways?" Sasha asked the group.

"Oh! So, we need to recharge the three stones in the music box at three temples in order to get it to send us back home!" Marcy explained. "This is the last temple!"

"Wait really?! You mean we can almost go home?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah! Now come on!" Marcy said.

"Hold on Marcy… I want to talk to you a bit first." Anne said. "Alone."

Marcy swallowed thickly.

"Sure, we'll go on ahead and wait for you at the next trial." Sasha said as she and Grime went on ahead.

"Scream if they try anything." Anne said to Polly.

"You got it…" Polly said.

And with that, they left.

"So uh…"

Anne's pointed look told Marcy all she needed to know.

"… I'm sorry…"

Anne just sighed. "I'm not mad… just concerned is all."

"Still… I should of told you what I did that day."

"Yeah, but you had your reasons… and honestly, if you told me back then, then I don't think I would be able to forgive Sasha, even now that she apologized." Anne said. "She… almost hurt you really bad after all."

Marcy smiled at this. "Yeah, well I'm fine… and now, we're all back together."

"Y-yeah… I know." Anne said. "Sorry… I just… I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you, and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Then stop thinking about it. I know you'll always have my back, and that is enough to keep us both safe." Marcy said with a smile.

"… Right, thanks Marcemallow." Anne said.

"… That's a new one!" Marcy said.

"Yeah, I thought about it while roasting Marshmallows the other day!" Anne said.

"I like it!"

"Come on slow-pokes! We're waiting!" Sasha's voice called out.

"Coming!" Anne called back.

The two then began walking.

"So uh… how are we gonna tell her about… well… us?" Marcy asked.

"I… Don't know… but we'll figure it out." Anne said as she took Marcy's hand. "Together."

After meeting up with Sasha, the rest of the temple went by easily… well, they almost got crushed by a giant rock monster in spandex, but that's besides the point.

Now, the group was getting ready to welcome Sasha and Grime for a dinner party… but to Anne and Marcy, it was more than that.

Not only was this a chance to reconnect with their best friend… it was also when they were planning on telling her about their new relationship.

"I'm nervous… I'm really, REALLY nervous!" Marcy said, her legs shaking.

"Marcemallow, relax." Anne said. "This is Sasha we're talking about! Even if we've had some rough spots recently, she'll be supportive!"

"I know I know… it's just… I never told her I was bi and… I'm worried about what she'll think about that." Marcy explained.

"You told me yourself Marcy… she already had a hunch about me! What, did she not like the idea of that?" Anne asked.

"No no… she honestly didn't really care. She said you could like whoever you want." Marcy explained.

"So the same should go for you. Don't worry about it." Anne said.

"Ok… thanks Anne…" Marcy said with a smile. "So uh… you look really good in that dress."

This caused Anne to blush. "Thanks… you do too."

"Hehehe…"

At that moment, they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Well… here we go."

"Seriously, this food is good!" Sasha said as she took a bite out of her grilled Radish.

"Gotta give it to Hop Pop! He knows his way around the kitchen!" Polly said.

"Wait, didn't we go on, like, multiple adventures because Hop Pop was a terrible cook?" Anne whispered to Sprig.

"A broken clock is right twice a day Anne." Marcy pointed out.

"I guess…"

"So, Marcy, Anne… what's new with you two?" Sasha suddenly asked.

"Oh! Uh… well, here's the thing… Something happened a while back that we were meaning to tell you and…" Anne started, feeling very nervous.

"Ok…? And that is?"

"Uh… well… you see…" Anne stuttered out, before turning to Marcy with a look that screamed "Help me!"

"Well, when we met up in Newtopia… uh…"

Sasha's look caused her to freeze up.

Deciding that a rescue was in order, Hop Pop spoke up.

"Soooo… who wants to play a rousing game of drawzadoodle?!"

Grime, who also really wanted to escape the awkward situation, slammed his fists onto the table, crushing it.

"I LOVE DRAWZADOODLE!"

"IT'S A TREE!" Sasha shouted after everyone was not only getting the answer horribly wrong, but also kinda insulting her and digging up old wounds.

"AH-AH-AH! No talksies while you drawsies! Ten minutes in the shame corner!" Hop Pop said before pointing to said corner.

Sasha then began to scream as she lifted up the billboard.

"WHOA!" Marcy shouted. "Sasha calm down!"

"But…"

"Please, let's just… talk this out, ok?" Marcy requested.

She really, REALLY needed tonight to go well. Things were still rough between Sasha and Anne, and this was the perfect opportunity to fix it. Starting a fight would only cause issues.

"Ugh… fine…" Sasha said as she put the billboard down. "Just kinda peeved that they were… you know… bringing up that day."

"Yeah well, you did kinda try to kill them… hard for them to forgive and forget after that…" Anne pointed out.

"… I know…" Sasha said as she looked to the side.

This, actually caught everyone off guard… even Grime.

"… Hey, how's about I take the next turn!" Marcy offered.

"Yeah, sounds good." Anne said.

"Ok! Here I go!" Marcy said as she excitingly went over to the bowl filled with prompts and grabbed one.

The prompt though, caused her to blush.

'WHO PUT THIS IN HERE?!'

"Marbles? You good?" Anne asked.

"O-oh! Y-yeah! Uh…" Marcy said. "Sorry, the prompt just kinda caught me off guard is all."

"Well, get on with it! I'm super curious now!" Sasha said.

"Ok…"

And so, Marcy got drawing.

It was simple enough, two people, sitting at a dinner table… kissing.

"Uh… a romantic dinner?" Sasha asked.

"Two warriors locked in eternal combat? … Using their faces as weapons?" Grime asked.

"Uh… you have to use names for the people… just saying." Marcy pointed out.

"No Talking!" Sasha shouted.

"No no… I'd say that was necessary!" Hop Pop pointed out with a smug look on his face.

'IT WAS YOOOOOOOOU!' Marcy thought, realizing that it was Hop Pop that put the prompt in there.

Her very angry face that she was making at Hop Pop made everyone concerned though.

"… Oh no…" Anne said, realizing what it might be.

"Anne? What's up?" Sasha asked.

"Uh… well… you see…"

Then, salvation came in a very unexpected manner.

A giant cake with lava chocolate… and killer hornets.

Thankfully, the three girls were able to work together, and managed to defeat the hornets, just as the lava cooled.

"Whoo! Go team!" Anne shouted as she went over and hugged Sasha.

"Good thinking Anne." Sasha said as she put her dagger away.

"Yeah, and… MARCY!" Anne shouted.

There was one hornet left, and it was seconds away from stinging Marcy in the back.

"Huh… AH!"

Anne acted without thinking, and charged at the hornet, with a spare singer in her hand.

She then leapt up and manage to pierce the hornet's shell, incapacitating it just in time.

Breathing heavily, Anne went over to Marcy to check on her.

"Marcy! Are you alright?!" Anne asked, voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine, thanks to you!" Marcy said.

Then, she kissed Anne on the cheek. "My hero."

"Hehehe…"

Then, Anne pulled Marcy in for a hug.

"I'm sorry… WHAT?!"

Anne and Marcy's eyes shot open as they looked over at Sasha, who was staring at them in shock.

"… I forgot she was here…" Marcy pointed out.

"… Me too…"

"Did I miss something here?!" She asked the two.

"Uh… so… remember how we were trying to tell you something before?" Marcy asked.

"Yeah?"

"Well… we're dating now…" Anne explained.

…

…

…

"Well then… I wasn't expecting that." Grime said.

Sasha didn't say anything, and just walked over to the two of them, and looked them dead in the eyes.

Both girls swallowed thickly.

"… ABOUT DANG TIME YOU DORKS!" Sasha shouted as she pulled them in for a hug. "I've been rooting for you two to get together for so long!"

"Wait, what?!" Anne asked.

"You knew?!" Marcy asked.

"Yeaaahh~" Sasha said. "You two weren't exactly subtle about it."

"But wait, I thought you only knew that Anne liked girls! What about…?" Marcy asked as she pointed to herself.

"Marcy, every time Anne had tennis practice, you were pretty much drooling over how good she looked out there." Sasha pointed out.

Anne had never seen Marcy that red before.

"And as for you Anne…" Sasha said. "Do you remember when Marcy's parents got us to convince her to try some sports?"

"Uh… yeah? They said she could use the exercise and a good extracurricular activity." Anne remembered. "Why?"

"Well…"

Two Months before Anne's birthday, Earth

"Come on Sash… Anne… do I really have to do this?" Marcy asked as she was being dragged to the locker room.

"Yeah! Come on Marcy! You'll love tennis! And besides, we'd be on the same team!" Anne pointed out. "Now come on, let's get you a uniform and we can get to practicing!"

"Ok…"

Before long, Anne was on the tennis court, in uniform, and waiting for Marcy to come out.

"You think she bailed on us?" Sasha asked.

"No way! Marcy wouldn't do that… would she?" Anne asked.

"She really didn't want to do this." Sasha said. "I wouldn't put it past her to ditch us and go study or something."

'Then again, this would be a good excuse to see Anne in her uniform… she might take it.' Sasha thought.

"Hey! Sorry I took so long… I may or may not of had a bit of trouble getting this thing on." Marcy's voice called over.

When Anne looked over, she was speechless.

'Oh wow… she… looks really good in that.' Anne thought.

"Bout time you dork! Now, go out there and show us what you got!" Sasha said supportively.

"O-ok!"

The next hour or so was spent trying desperately to get Marcy to be able to return the tennis ball over the net.

Turns out, Marcy's clumsiness carried over to sports, as every time she looked like she was about to return the ball just fine, she tripped over her own two feet, and fell flat on her face, resulting in Anne quickly rushing over and checking on her.

Every other time, she either completely missed, didn't put enough power into it, sent the ball right into the net, or just plain got hit in the face.

Eventually, after several scrapes and bruises were littered all over Marcy's arms and legs, they decided to call it quits.

"Sorry girls… I don't think tennis is for me…" Marcy pointed out.

"Yeah, it's not for everyone… ok! Let's try something else tomorrow!" Anne said.

"I'd… rather not…"

"Come on Marcy, maybe we'll find something you'll like!" Sasha said, trying to pep her up.

"I dunno guys…"

"We'll be here to help you Mar-Mar, don't forget that!" Anne pointed out.

Marcy smiled at that. Having those two around really would help.

"Ok… we'll try a couple more sports."

"Great! I'll come up with some ideas and we'll try one tomorrow!" Anne said.

"Ok… I'm gonna go and return this uniform, so I'll be right back."

And with that, Marcy began running back to the school, while Anne watched.

'She may have fumbled a lot out there… but dang did she look good… wait, why am I thinking like this?' Anne thought, her face turning slightly red.

Sasha noticed this, but didn't think anything of it.

The Next Day

"…"

Anne just stood there in silence, and stared at Marcy once again, who was now wearing a track and field uniform.

"Ok Mar-Mar, let's see how fast you can run!" Sasha said, holding a stopwatch. "Ready… set… GO!"

Marcy then went to try and run… but tripped over her own feet right at the starting line.

"Uh… can I try that again?" Marcy asked from the ground.

"Ugh… Anne, give her some tips!" Sasha said before noticing something was up with her friend. "Uh… you good?"

"H-huh?! Yeah! I'm fine!" Anne said, voice wavering.

"You sure about that? You look really red… and you're sweating." Sasha pointed out.

"Huh?! Oh yeah! Just uh… really hot out here! Yeah! Whoo!" Anne said, fanning herself with her hand.

Sasha was unconvinced, and simply took out her phone, and opened the weather app.

It was only 40 degrees out.

"Uh…huh… Anyways, Marcy, running tips, go help." Sasha said.

"Yes! Of course!" Anne said as she ran over to help Marcy.

The rest of the week was spent having Marcy try a multitude of sports.

She tried softball…

"AH!" Marcy screamed as she covered her head as a fly ball landed several feet to her right.

Golf…

Marcy swung the golf club, only for the club to fly out of her hands.

"Dang, the club went farther than the ball…" Sasha pointed out.

"Not helping!" Anne said, her face once again a bright red.

And even basketball…

Marcy took her best shot, and actually managed to get the ball in the basket!

"WHOO! I DID IT!" Marcy cheered.

"Way to go Marcy!" Anne cheered with her.

"Yeah, it's great that she got it in but uh…" Sasha said before pointing at the tiny, preschooler level basketball hoop. "Shouldn't we try a… taller basket?"

"Hey, it took her a whole hour to get one basket! Let her have this!" Anne pointed out.

"Alright fine, geez."

Nothing seemed to be a good fit for Marcy. Eventually, they finally relented, and gave up on it all.

Thankfully, Marcy's parents were just grateful that they got their daughter to try, and while they were disappointed that she wouldn't be joining any teams, they were glad she at least tried.

That being said, now Sasha had something else to worry about. Just what in the world was going on with Anne that entire time?

Every time Marcy would try a new sport, Anne started acting really… really weird. Her face would get red, she would start sweating, and, after a couple of days, she sometimes completely lost the ability to speak complete sentences.

Deciding to question the girl about it alone, she decided to go over to her place.

"Oh hey Sasha, what can I do for you?" Ms. Boonchuy asked the blond.

"I wanted to ask Anne about something involving school, so I thought I'd come over." Sasha explained.

Not a complete lie.

"Oh, well she's in her room… say, did something happen between her and Marcy?" Ms. Boonchuy asked.

"No…? Why?"

"Well, she's been acting really funny lately, and I keep hearing her mention Marcy's name from her room." Ms. Boonchuy explained.

"Hmmm no, but I'll ask her about it." Sasha said.

"Thank you."

And with that, Sasha made her way up the stairs, and to Anne's room.

Before she opened the door though, she heard Anne talking to herself.

"Ok… seriously, why do I keep thinking like this?" Anne asked herself. "Every time I see Marcy now, I get like this!"

"Oh…?"

"I mean, sure, she looks AMAZING in all of those uniforms… and she's really smart… and funny… and pretty… and… uh oh." Anne said as she came to a realization.

"I… I have a crush on Marcy…" Anne said, as if everything finally made sense.

'Oh wow… wasn't expecting that…' Sasha thought, then smiled. 'Guess Marcy would love to know about this.'

After thinking for a bit though, she decided to leave them alone about it for a while.

That being said, that didn't mean she wasn't going to have fun with this.

Back to Present

"Wait… you thought I looked great in those uniforms?" Marcy asked.

"DUH! You looked amazing in those!" Anne pointed out. "But… was I really that obvious?"

"Yeah you were! Anne, you were the very definition of a lesbian disaster that week!" Sasha pointed out. "And that is putting it lightly."

Anne's face turned red, she certainly did not know about that.

Then… she realized something.

"Wait a minute… the week after that…"

A few days after Sasha's visit

Anne was doing some stretches, getting ready for a big tennis match that day.

If she won this game, she would be able to move on to a championship match a couple of weeks later after all!

"Hey Anne!" She heard Sasha call over.

Anne looked over to see her friend, donning her cheerleader uniform.

"Hey Sash! What's with the uniform?" Anne asked.

"Well… we thought you could use your own cheering squad!" Sasha explained.

"Oh! Thanks Sa-… wait… we?"

At that moment, she heard Marcy's voice.

"Sasha… is this really necessary?"

"Of course it is! Can't call yourself a cheerleader if you aren't looking the part!" Sasha explained.

'Oh… oh no…'

Marcy walked into view, and Anne could feel the heat rising to her face.

'OH NO SHE LOOKS SO GOOD!'

"Uh… good luck Anne…" Marcy said, shyly shaking a pair of pompoms while she was wearing her own cheerleader uniform.

"Uh… y-yeah! Thanks!" Anne said. "I'm uh… gonna go get some water!"

And with that, she ran away.

Sasha just looked to her left to see a completely full water bottle with Anne's stuff.

And she just laughed to herself.

Later that day, Anne was on fire on the tennis court, the heat she felt on her face made it almost seem literal… though there were a couple of times when she was a bit distracted, and got a tennis ball to said face.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE?!" Anne accused.

"Welp, guilty as charged!" Sasha said with a shrug.

Marcy just stayed silent during all of this.

"Still… I'm really happy for you two, I really am." Sasha said.

"Aww Sasha…" Marcy said as she pulled the other two humans in for a hug.

"Just make sure I'm invited to the wedding!" Sasha commanded.

"SASHA!"

The Next Night

After the dinner finished, the Plantars quickly called Chuck over to grow some tulips… as well as fixing the house of course.

The next day was spent preparing and competing in a town wide battle of the bands. The three girls absolutely killed it, but Grime surprised everyone with a beautiful harp performance, and absolutely obliterated the competition.

So now, Marcy was packing her things from the fwagon. They were planning on leaving for Newtopia in the morning, so bringing as much stuff as she could was needed.

"Hey Mar-Mar." Sasha's voice said from behind her.

"Yeah Sash- whoa!"

Marcy was caught off guard when Sasha threw Marcy's dress from the night before at her.

"Get changed and come with me." Sasha commanded.

"O…Kay?"

Marcy complied, and before long, they were going to a hill that overlooked the Plantars farm.

When they got there, they saw Anne, who was also in the dress she wore the night before, and she was being led by Polly.

Then, they saw the table.

"Polly? Sasha? What's going on?" Anne asked.

"Well…" Polly said before clapping her flippers.

At that moment, Sprig and Grime both came out in tuxes, and Sprig began playing on his violin.

"We know that the two of you wanted to have your first date home… but we wanted your last night in Wartwood to be something special." Hop Pop said as he came up to the group. "So, we all worked together, and got this ready for you!"

"I… begrudgingly agreed to assist them. Why do you think my performance was a whole three hours long?" Grime asked. "Oh, and I also helped get what was needed for the food."

"The food?" Anne asked.

Sasha then brought over a rather large plate, covered by a cloche.

When she set it on the table, she took the metal object off to reveal…

"A pizza?!" Anne asked.

"Not the most romantic thing in the world… but it's earth food." Sasha pointed out.

"You guys…" Anne said as she started tearing up, and the Plantars came up and began to hug her… Sprig stopped playing briefly for the hug.

"Thank you so much you guys…" Marcy said. "Surprised you helped out though Sash!"

"Yeah well, like I said, I've been rooting for you guys for a while." Sasha said. "And… this is to make up for how much of a jerk I've been."

Marcy smiled widely at this. "Thanks Sash."

"Now come on, enjoy." Sasha said as she took Grime and most of the Plantars with her.

Anne smiled at them, and looked at Sprig, who stayed behind to continue playing.

Anne and Marcy then sat down and began to enjoy a nice dinner…

Little did they know though.

"Nice work, they completely bought it." Grime whispered to Sasha when the Plantars were out of earshot.

"Psh, they were like putty in my hand." Sasha said.

"After that, there should no longer be any doubt left in their minds… we'll get in the castle easily now." Grime pointed out. "Then, the kingdom shall be ours!"

Sasha just smiled at Grime as he turned and walked away…

But then… she looked to the duo on the hill… and her smile wavered.

End of Chapter 6

This is it folks, the calm before the storm. Next chapter we are covering True Colors… and you already know that things are about to get real and very… very depressing.

OH MAMA GET READY FOR SOME TRAUMA!

See you next time for True Colors!