Greetings and I bid you welcome to the third and final fanfiction contribution of mine to Sasharcy Week!
Let me say right off the bat that this one was my favorite to work on and I've actually had to general idea for it since at least a month or so ago, and I'm so happy to be able to finally have the chance in writing and sharing it with the world.
That's all I'll say for an intro, so enjoy!
"And I still can't get the image of you falling off the cliff and into the river out of my head! Man, talk about classic!"
"You just have to keep bringing that up again, don't you? I was totally taken off guard by you distracting me until that big galoot Grime came from behind!"
"Oh, so you are admitting that a mere human girl bested a decorated general!"
"Don't get too cocky now, kid! Remember we still have that little sparring session tomorrow and we'll really see who's better then in a fair and even contest!"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
And after a comically exaggerated stare down, hearty laughter was shared between Sasha and Yunan. It was a means among others between the former rivals turned unlikely friends to pass the time away while dinner was being prepared.
Less amused comparatively speaking was Olivia, who was sitting not too far from where she was trying to take in a spot of reading. The rambunctiousness of the pair eventually made her sit up and head away from them over towards the kitchen where Grime was busy finishing things up for the evening's meal.
"Ugh, those two just never seem to talk about anything else," she grumbled. "It's almost always war, battles, weapons and reminiscing about their confrontation. I'm mean, it's not totally unexpected with Yunan having known her for most of my life, but still…"
"Oh, I think it's actually kind of delightful if you ask me. Better talking about it in a spirited manner out of respect for each other rather than wanting to slice the other to bits in malicious intent, yes?" Grime said following a laugh. "By the way as an aside, me and Sasha totally came out on top that time."
"Yes, yes, apparently so. I've heard it enough times from her and you for that matter." Olivia said with a roll of the eyes.
It may make for an unusual dynamic, but despite prior differences, especially Sasha and Grime's attempted takeover of Newtopia being chief among them, everyone managed to make things work in their current arrangement. Having a king revealing his true intentions of multi-world conquest and using a girl as a vessel for an ancient AI can certainly unite even the most unlikely of forces.
Conspicuous by her absence in the immediate vicinity of this ragtag group living under the same roof though was that aforementioned girl Marcy. Ever since a daring and miraculous rescue mission lead by the other four managed to successfully free her from captivity and bring her back to Wartwood for safe refuge days earlier, she'd been relatively closed off and quiet aside from the occasional "hello" or briefest of small talks about anything other than all the traumatizing experiences she went through.
Though everyone else figured it'd be best to give her time to eventually open up on her own, Sasha grew both increasingly impatient and very worried with how her friend was holding up. Even when dinnertime approached Marcy had her portion brought over to her as she opted not to join with everyone else and it was assumed tonight would be no different.
With that in mind, Sasha decided to head on over where Marcy was to at the very least inform her things were almost ready while thinking it possibly wouldn't hurt to try asking again if she might finally be ready to actually join everybody else.
"Hey Mar-Mar, grub's just about done, so-"
But she would pause in the middle of speaking right as she was going down the stairs to the basement where Anne used to stay in to see Marcy laying on the bed sideways facing away and in a fetal position.
It was a sight that didn't assuage Sasha's worries any better. Usually in the last few days whenever she checked up on her friend, at least Marcy would try to give the appearance of being in decent enough spirits through her body language, posture and whatnot. But this on the other hand looked decidedly more concerning.
"Marcy?" Sasha addressed her softly.
There was no response.
Sasha reached the bottom of the stairs and began carefully approaching Marcy.
"So, uh…feeling up to joining us tonight?"
Again, no response.
She sat down on the edge of the bed and even that didn't elicit so much as a flinch from Marcy. It was being right next to her friend that also made her realize again that her self-isolation was so significant that she hadn't changed out of the pajamas she's being wearing since the day of being brought back to Wartwood.
Sighing, Sasha placed a hand on Marcy's shoulder.
"Listen, Marcy...I'll admit that I've agreed with the others at first that you should be given all the time you need before opening yourself up, and I still do think that for the most part…"
She paused and took a couple of seconds to softly run her fingers through Marcy's hair.
"But I have to confess that I don't know how much longer I can take this. I know it has to be really hard to even so much as think about all that you've been through, but I'm just hoping you'll be willing to open up sooner rather than later. It's only going to hurt you more the longer you keep yourself closed off like this and…and it...it really hurts me so much to see you this way too…"
Sasha's voice cracked as she was finishing up speaking and even felt her eyes watering up. Nothing really was more painful now than being so constantly worried about Marcy's wellbeing and her near refusal to say anything. But at the same time Sasha understood that she can't coax anything out of Marcy unless the latter was willing to do so on her own volition.
"Okay, well, I'll be sure to bring your food down to you when it's ready."
With another sigh, Sasha patted Marcy's shoulder and looked to leave her friend alone once again.
That is, until she felt a hand reaching around and eventually it grabbing a hold of her wrist.
"Huh?"
Sasha looked back and was frankly surprised when she saw Marcy being the one holding her wrist. Not only that, the latter ever so gradually began to roll over and sit up. She then lifted her head up to show Sasha a look of utter sadness unlike fewer the former has seen before.
"Marcy…?"
If Sasha had any further thoughts to say, they were cut off when Marcy suddenly threw her arms around her friend, bury her face into the blonde's shoulder and started sobbing very rapidly.
To say Sasha was totally taken off guard by all of this would be an understatement. But even with the suddenness of it all, she shook it off and instinctively put her arms around Marcy in a firm embrace.
The sounds of Marcy's sobbing echoed throughout and it drew the attention of Olivia, Yunan and Grime. They all headed over and peered into the basement to check in on things to see the two girls hugging each other.
Sasha happened to see the amphibious trio looking on and though appreciative of their concern, she gave them a solemn look and made a gesture with her head that suggested she had things at hand and wished for some privacy, which the three ultimately obliged and shut the door to the basement behind them.
With that, Sasha returned her full attention towards Marcy whose crying continued unabated. She made a quick adjustment by pulling herself and Marcy closer to the center of the bed before then laying down across it and resumed holding the latter close to her.
In an unusual way, witnessing Marcy completely breaking down like this was a relief for Sasha. For as much as it was heartbreaking to see and hear her friend sobbing uncontrollably, the other side of it in her mind was that it was good for Marcy to finally let herself go after bottling in so much of this for several days. She must've wanted to do something like this for a while now and just needed the right time and outlet to do so, something that Sasha was very much willing to help out with at the moment.
At one point, Sasha began sensing that Marcy was perhaps trying to say something in between her sobbing, but it was utterly indecipherable. But instead Sasha tried gently shushing her while also softly rubbing her back. For now at least it was assumed to be the best for her to just simply let everything out and then go from there.
Finally after many minutes had passed, Marcy's sobbing appeared to be subsiding. Nevertheless, Sasha chose to give her as much additional time as needed in order for her to fully calm down.
When she did feel like that time came, Sasha sat up from the bed and helped Marcy do the same. They pulled away a little and looked at one another. Shortly after that though, the very next thing Marcy couldn't help but train her sights over to was the sizable stain on Sasha's shirt that resulted from the sheer amount of tears she had cried out.
"I'm...I'm...I'm sorry…" Marcy softly uttered through some sniffling.
"Huh? What, for this?" Sasha said as she looked down at the stain. "Hey, don't worry about it."
"Not just that...for everything…" Marcy said, feeling another smaller batch of tears coming out of her eyes. "And I'm sorry, Sasha, but I don't think I'm still ready to talk about...about…"
She wouldn't be able to finish her thought as she started to weep again, albeit much more softly than before.
"Hey, it's okay, Marcy," Sasha assured her, cupping her face and having their foreheads touch. "Like I said, you should take all the time you need until you're ready."
"But didn't you say…"
"Yes, I know I also said that I wish you'd talk about it sooner than later, but that's you're decision to make not mine."
Sasha took a brief moment to wipe away some tears off of Marcy's face.
"And no matter how long it takes for you to be ready, don't ever be afraid to cry if you need to and I'm always prepared to be there if you need someone by your side when doing so."
For the first time since being rescued, Marcy showed a little flash of a smile. It might've not been much, but it filled Sasha's heart with so much relief and happiness to see any sort of improvement in her friend's mood in comparison to previous days.
"Okay, um...I guess with that, I'll leave you alone again and I'll bring you down your food once it's ready as I've said before."
But as Sasha was scooting off the bed and about stand up, once again she felt Marcy grab on to her wrist.
"Actually...would it be all right if you had a fifth member join alongside for dinner tonight at last?" Marcy wondered.
Hearing that brought a very warm smile across Sasha's face.
"I think that would be very wonderful."
Smiling again in return, Marcy moved her hand down to grab Sasha's own and was helped along with both of them heading on up to join with the others.
"Wait, one more thing…" Marcy said.
Sasha turned her head back over and by then, Marcy cupped her face and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you so much, Sasha, for...well, everything you've done for me. From rescuing me to what you've done just now, it means the whole world."
A blush formed across Marcy's face as she also turned away a bit thinking that kiss on the cheek might've been a little bit too much perhaps.
But she didn't have to worry at all when Sasha ever so gently turned her head back, cupped both her cheeks and placed a similarly loving kiss right on her forehead.
"Anything for you, Mar-Mar. You mean the world to me too." Sasha said ever so sincerely.
As she felt like she was on the verge of tears once more, only this time in pure happiness, Marcy flung her arms around Sasha again, something the blonde girl was all too ready in returning the favor firmly.
Though it could still take a while for Marcy to fully recover physically, mentally and emotionally from all she had endured in addition to feeling comfortable discussing the subject matter in any capacity, it was still a relief beyond words for Sasha that she was at least gradually opening up to some degree. Any little steps forward that the friend who meant so much to her was able to take in recovering was something she cherished in every way and of course was going to be by her side to help out in any way she can all the way through.
And there we go! I'm so happy with how this one turned out and I'm glad this week gave me the opportunity to produce it after only thinking about it for quite a while.
Before we wrap things up, the first thing I'll mention is to give a huge thank you to /jojo_bearoo for organizing this amazing event in the first place. It's been such a joy to witness and take part in!
The other thing is that this one's actually going to be a two-parter. At first I thought about combining what I had in mind for the second part into this one, but then I figured it'd work better as a separate chapter. That and I just wanted to be sure to get this first part done and posted before the week was over. I should be able to get the second part up and ready within the next few days or at the very least before the year is over, so stay tuned!
Okay, thanks again for your time in reading this and until that second part comes along, take care and I'll see you around!