It's been five days since the tax toads came to Wartwood and a lot has happened since then. Wally gave Anne Sasha's old spelling book, and when she realized that not only was her friend found, but nearby, she cried tears of joy and hugged her frog family so tightly they had trouble breathing.

"We have to send a message to Toad Tower right away!" Anne said excitedly as she let go of the Plantars.

"I'm not sure how useful that'll be," Hop Pop said regretfully. "Those toads will probably burn any letter we send instead of reading it."

"Then we'll get the mayor to send it!" said Sprig. "If it comes from him, the toads will have to read it!

"Yeah!" said Polly.

"Well I'm not sure if—" Hop Pop got cut off as the kids ran upstairs and wrote a message as fast as they could.

When the letter was finished, the Plantar kids rushed over to Mayor Toadstool's office, but he assured them sending a letter to the toads wasn't necessary as he had already done so and he should get a response soon. Sure enough, a messenger bat arrived the next day, confirming Sasha was living at the tower under Captain Grime's custody. After a few more letter exchanges, it was agreed that Grime and a few other toads would bring Sasha to Wartwood and she would stay there for at least a few days until the Amphibaversary party, which would now be a combination of the parties planned for both girls.

And now, after nearly a year of separation and anxious waiting, Anne and Sasha would meet again.

"I can't believe I'm gonna see Sasha again!" said Anne. "I'm so excited!"

Anne sat outside the Plantar home with her frog siblings and Ivy.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" asked Sprig. "What if the toads lied and they really came to capture you, Anne?"

"If it's a trap then I'll whup 'em all with Ol' Doris here," said Polly, holding a rolling pin."

"Yeah!" Ivy agreed. "We'll ambush them so hard they'll forget why they even came here."

"Yeah," said Sprig. "Maybe I'm worrying over nothing, but if there is trouble we'll always have your back."

"Thanks, everyone," said Anne. "I don't know what I'd do without you. If I never get back to Earth, then I'd be happy living here in Wartwood for the rest of my life."

The frogs all gave Anne a big, long hug.

"You'll always be a Wartwoodian, Anne," said Sprig. "Whether you live here forever or not."

Yet again Anne shed happy tears.

"The toads are comiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing agaaaaaaaaaaain!"

Just like before, Wally was the first one to notice the approaching wagon. It was larger than the one that came earlier in the week and the spider looked stronger, which made sense since the captain of the tower was coming. Most Wartwood residents gathered in the center of town, wanting to see another human. Ivy went over to where her mother was standing while Anne, Sprig, and Polly went over to Hop Pop, who was out shopping.

Mayor Toadstool and Toadie walked toward the front of the crowd, figuring that things would go best if they greeted the guests. They could tell from Grime's letters that Bog was right—the captain had gone soft—but the townsfolk are still scared of him.

The wagon passed the town entrance and pulled over against the stone wall, coming to a stop. Some faint talking could be heard for about a minute before the door opened and three toads stepped out: first Braddock, then Percy who was already wearing a party hat, and lastly Grime who closed the door. So far there was no sign of Sasha.

Grime stepped forward and stood in front of Toadstool. "Mayor."

Toadstool nodded. "Captain."

Grime nodded in return. "Is your human here?"

Toadstool briefly glanced back toward the crowd and looked at Anne. "Yes. Is yours?"

Grime looked at where Toadstool glanced before answering. "Yes." He opened the wagon door and out walked a human girl with dark blonde hair clad in bronze armor.

"Sasha!"

The blonde girl looked out toward the crowd to find the source of the voice, a voice she hadn't heard in nearly a year and thought she might never hear again. "Anne!"

Both girls sprinted toward each other and tackled each other in a massive hug. They held onto each other as if they would disappear if they let go.

"It's you! It's really you!" said Sasha,

"It feels like I'm dreaming, but now finally you're here!" said Anne.

"When I heard you were even here, I thought it might be too good to be true. But it's not!" Sasha hugged even harder than before. A little too hard, in fact.

Anne coughed. "This is pretty tight, Sash…"

Sasha immediately let go. "Oh! Sorry." She had a remorseful expression on her face. "I've got super strength now. Must be music box magic or something."

"I'm a bit stronger than usual, too," said Anne as both girls stood up. "Also, I can do this." She closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them they glowed a brilliant blue. She lifted her hands and small blue flames appeared above them.

Sasha gasped in awe. "That's so cool!"

"How the frog did you do that, Anne!?"

Anne turned around and saw her frog family had closed the distance between them. She shrugged. "I just concentrate… I guess. I practiced it when no one was looking 'cause I didn't want to scare anyone."

"We'd never be scared of you, Anne," said Sprig.

"Yeah!" said Polly. "That was awesome!"

"So who are the frogs?" asked Sasha.

"Oh yeah, these are the Plantars!" Anne pointed to each of her Froggy family members as she introduced them. "That's Sprig. He's the best big brother anyone can ask for and I can always count on him to protect me from danger." Sprig smiled. "This is Polly. She's pure chaos and she could probably beat all the toads in the tower in a fight."

Sasha smirked. "Is that a challenge!"

Polly raised Ol' Doris and replied with a smirk of her own. "Bring it on, sister!"

Hop Pop immediately put Polly's arm down. "Polly Petunia Plantar, you are not fighting any toads!"

"Fine…" Polly grumbled. She'd figure out a way to battle the toads behind his back.

"And this is Grandpa-hop!" said Anne. "Also known as Hop Pop, also known as Hopediah. He's a farmer! I've been living in his house for a year— it's really cozy."

"Well, shucks. Thanks, Anne."

Anne smiled even more. "You're welcome!"

"Those are some neat frogs you've got there, Anne," said Sasha.

"They're awesome," said Anne. "So, you've been living with the toad captain?"

"Yeah, he's the best!" She turned back to where the other toads were. "Dad! Come here so Anne can meet you!"

"Captain Grime is your dad!?" asked Hop Pop incredulously. "But he's the cruelest toad soldier in Amphibia!"

"That's not who I am anymore," said the captain, who had approached the group. "Let's just say Sasha has softened my once stone heart." Grime looked at his adopted daughter with pride.

The Plantars seemed doubtful, but Anne could tell he was genuine. "Nice to meet you," she said, offering a hand.

Grime carefully accepted it. "It's nice to meet you too, Anne Boonchuy."

"And just as she's helped me, it seems I have helped her as well. I've gathered that her previous guardians were less than adequate."

The Plantars looked at Sasha in concern while Anne simply looked down knowing Grime was right. The toad didn't notice, though. "Sasha, why don't you and Anne spend some time catching up? I'm sure you've got a lot more to talk about."

"Yeah!" said Anne. She grabbed Sasha's hand. "Come on, I'll show you the farm!"

And with that they were off.

Grime started talking with the Plantars and he managed to hit it off pretty well. It turned out he and Polly have a lot in common. Hop Pop even enjoyed explaining some farming techniques to the toad captain.

Meanwhile, Sprig walked away and headed toward the rest of the crowd, who were conversing with Percy and Braddock. He mostly just wandered around for a while before Ivy found him and noticed his glum mood.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

"I don't know," Sprig admitted. "I guess not."

"Are you a little jealous that Anne has a new friend?"

Sprig sighed, looking ashamed. "Maybe a little. I guess I'm afraid that Anne will just leave me behind now that she's finding her old friends. And I know that won't happen! She said it won't! So why am I thinking it will?"

"I guess we don't always think clearly when we're afraid," said Ivy. "I used to be afraid of what people would think of my bushy hair. Then I met Anne and she had no problems having messed up bushy hair and I realized I was all worked up over nothing. I know your situation is way different, but you're also all worked up over nothing. Anne will never forget you or stop being your sister just because Sasha's here. Who knows? You and Sasha might even get along."

Sprig wiped the tears that had been looking in his eyes. "Thanks, Ivy. I really needed to hear that." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"And here's the room I share with Sprig." Anne pointed to both sides of the bedroom. "That's his hammock over there and my mattress over here. It doesn't look that great but it's really comfy."

"You don't have your own room?" asked Sasha.

"Yeah, at first we shared a room 'cause I was too afraid to sleep in the basement alone, but I like it here with Sprig so I stayed."

In another world, Sasha might've been jealous that Anne has such a close bond with someone else, but not here, where she's younger and not spiteful. "It's sweet that you found such a nice family," she said as she sat down next to Anne on her mattress.

"And you did too!" said Anne happily.

"Yeah, Grime's right. He's been much better to me than those two back on Earth." Suddenly Sasha's happy tone was replaced with a bitter one. "They're probably happy I'm gone." She turned away from Anne, not wanting her friend to see her brewing tears.

Anne frowned. "Your parents aren't the best but I don't think they're that bad."

Sasha only shrugged. "Maybe." She looked back at Anne. "Is it wrong that I'm not sure I want to go back to Earth?"

Anne thought about not for a moment. "I don't know. The Plantars are my family and I never wanna say goodbye to them, but I also want to get back to Mom and Dad.

"Yeah, your parents are cool," said Sasha.

Eventually Anne decided to broach the major subject the girls haven't mentioned yet. "Have you heard anything about Marcy?"

Sasha sadly shook her head. "Nothing. I'm worried something happened to her."

"Yeah, me too."

Anne and Sasha knew this world was far too dangerous for humans their age, and knew they were incredibly fortunate to have both found amphibians who kept them safe. There's a good chance Marcy found safety too, but considering she's definitely the least equipped of the three to handle surviving alone in the wilderness, thinking about the alternative isn't very comforting. They decide to talk about something else.

"You look so different," said Sasha.

Anne looked back in surprise. "Me? Look at you! I'm taller and I've got some leaves in my hair, but you're wearing a suit of armor!"

Sasha smiled. "Yeah, I'm a toad warrior now. And I'm really good at sword training." Her smile weakened a little. "Just training, though. I haven't left the tower before today."

Anne. "I bet the toads don't want you to get hurt."

"Yeah…"

"Will more toads come for the party?" Anne thought it was weird that only 3 showed up today.

"Yep. They'll be here," said Sasha. "Wartwood has more space for partying than the tower. I think…"

"Do you think everything will be fine?" asked Anne. "Grandpa-hop says frogs and toads don't get along, but I don't understand why."

Sasha shrugged again. "Grime said it's been like that for 900 years."

A determined look appeared on Anne's face. "Well maybe we can change things!"

Sasha smiled. When Anne was determined to do something she'd try her hardest to accomplish her goal. "Maybe we can."

This chapter was originally split into two parts: first the Anne & Sasha reunion and then it would jump ahead a few days to the Amphibaversary party, but the first part ended up being long enough that making the party the next chapter made more sense.