Author's Notes: I began writing this the night of the series finale as my way of coping with the avalanche of emotions that came after. Spoilers abound for "The Hardest Thing", but I assume that if you clicked on this, you've already seen the finale and are hurting just as much as I am. I hope this takes away some of the pain.

The little island with it's tiny one-room house was something that Anne could only vaguely recall from a dream. Ten years ago, the Guardian of the Stones brought her hear after her death. It asked to take up it's mantle as the new guardian.

She'd refused. It sent her back to the land of the living with three shards of the Calamity Stones, with just enough energy to send herself, Sasha, and Marcy home.

The day after, Anne found herself in a very dark place. The conflict raged within her for 10 long years as she pondered if she could've stayed. Being away from Sprig, the Plantars, and the world she'd fallen in love with hurt more than she could possible imagine. She tried to let go... she tried to move on. But the pain was too much. Modern medicine couldn't heal the hole in her heart, the hole left from leaving her true home behind.

She started the World of Frogs exhibit at the aquarium to feel closer to the world she loved. But it was never enough.

Anne tried to bury her feelings, but when Sasha and Marcy returned, she couldn't keep it in any longer. Sasha found out that she was barely keeping it together, and offered to help however she could. With Sasha's advice, she spoke to the Guardian of the Stones in her mind's eye as she lie in bed, willing her voice to reach out across the cosmos in the desperate hope that it would take her home.

The Guardian, it seemed, had answered. And now here she was... and she wasn't alone.

"Anne? Anne wake up!"

Anne rolled over to see that Sasha and Marcy were there with her. Except, they were no longer adults, but had reverted to their 13-year old selves. Sasha wore the same leather armor and fur cape as the last time they'd foot in Amphibia. Like, Marcy was dressed in her ranger outfit, and Anne in her old school uniform and gold breastplate... and missing a shoe too boot.

What's more, Anne felt different. The medication that she'd been taking for the last 10 years was gone from her system, and Anne could feel her youthful energy had returned to her.

"Sasha?" Anne said as she allowed her old friend to pull her to her feet. "What happened?"

"I was going to ask you that," Sasha replied. "What is this place?"

"You stand in my domain, Sasha Waybright," said a booming a voice.

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy all looked up and beheld a colossal black-and-white three-eyed cat, with the Calamity Stones set into it's eyes. Anne had only seen this creature once before in her lifetime, and often wondered if it was just a dream. But here it stood, as real as Anne and her friends. The Guardian of the Stones.

"It has been many mortal years since you and I last spoke, Anne Boonchuy," it said to her.

"You..." Anne replied breathlessly. "What's going on? How am I here? Why are we all thirteen again?"

"I have heard your voice calling out across the void for the last decade," the Guardian elaborated. "But it was faint. Your words, indiscernible."

"It was that medication you were taking, Anne," Sasha explained. "Those pills were clouding your mind, keeping you from contacting him."

"Then how am I here now?" Anne inquired.

"Your friends helped," said the Guardian. "But let us skip the pleasantries; you wish to return to the realm of Amphibia."

"I... I do!" Anne affirmed. "I've wanted to go back ever since I left."

"I thought as much," the Guardian replied. "You have suffered a great deal since you returned home. Mortal medicine can heal the body and mind... but not the soul now, can it?"

"No..." said Anne, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "Can you... can you send me back?"

"Indeed. You're already halfway there, Anne Boonchuy," it said.

"What do you mean?"

"I've restored you to your youthful form," the Guardian elaborated further. "But not solely to mend the physical and mental scars of this past decade. The denizens of Amphibia, three turns of the moon after you departed, held at a ceremony in your honor... and you wouldn't want to be late."

"You're sending us back in time?" Marcy asked with shock.

"I already have brought you back in time," the Guardian corrected. "All that remains is for you to step through the void, and you will know Amphibia, in all it's natural splendor once more."

With that, it's eyes began to glow, and a portal appeared behind them on the edge of the island. Through it, Anne could see Wartwood, and all it's people... her friends, her family, gathered around a statue of her 13-year old self.

"They're waiting for you," he said.

"Wait," said Sasha. She turned to face Anne.

"As much as I'd love to go on another adventure, I have a life back on Earth," Sasha told Anne. "I can't just walk away from that."

"Neither can I," Marcy chimed in.

"But you, Anne..." Sasha went on. "You should go. Amphibia is part of you. You gave it your best shot, but I know you'll never be truly happy unless can be with the people you love most."

"Thanks, Sash..." said Anne. "But what about you? Will I ever see you again?"

"The way will always be open, should you change your mind, Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu," the Guardian assured them. "Should you choose to return to Amphibia, you need only ask."

Sasha and Marcy nodded in affirmation. Anne hugged them one last time; she wished they could come with her, but Anne understood that they had their own lives to get back to. Amphibia had always meant so much more to Anne than it had to her childhood friends. They'd helped her to find a way back. For now, that was enough.

"Tell Grime I said 'hello'," Sasha implored as she let Anne go.

A second portal opened at the opposite edge of the island, and through it Anne could see her now-empty Los Angeles apartment. Sasha and Marcy approached this portal, transforming back into their 23-year old selves as they drew closer. The two woman cast one last look back at their friend, who smiled.

Sasha and Marcy watched as Anne stepped through the portal back to Amphibia. Satisfied, they turned on their heels and took the plunge through the portal back to Earth.

When Sasha awoke, it was to find herself right back in Anne's apartment, next to her bed. The bed was now empty, as Anne was gone from this world.

The two women spent the rest of the day packing up Anne's things. Sasha would drive it all over to her parent's house and explain to them what happened. Perhaps Mrs. Boonchuy could finally be at ease, knowing that her daughter was finally back where she was happy after watching her wither away this past decade.

Sasha wondered for a moment if she should follow Anne back to Amphibia. As much as she loved her work with kids, a day hadn't gone by when she hadn't missed Grime and everyone in Wartwood.

Maybe one day, she thought as she carried boxes full of Anne's possessions down to her car. For now, it was enough that Anne could finally be happy.

Author's Notes: I will be uploading all 3 chapters of this fic at the same time, so no need to worry about the cliffhanger.

Though I enjoyed the finale, I have to say I was completely heartbroken by the end... and a little disappointed. I wanted the girls to stay in Amphibia permanently so badly, or at least have the means to travel between worlds before the end credits rolled. Sadly, we got neither.

Anne was willing to give her life to save the world she loved, and I hate that she had to leave it forever. She said it all the way back in Season 2: "I feel at home in a place that shouldn't be real". Amphibia is her home. She found happiness there, and friendship, and family. It's cruel and unfair to Anne and the people she left behind that she should be cut off from going back to Amphibia ever again.