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.

Anne took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh swamp air as she stepped out of the portal and into Wartwood for the first time in 10 years. That smell... she'd forgotten what it was like to live in a world without cars or factories. Nothing but swamplands, forests, and lush jungles for as far as the eye could see.

She'd been deposited right on the edge of the town square, just as the statue of herself was being unveiled. Scanning the crowd, she saw him; Sprig. Her best friend. He looked much the same as he did when she last saw him, but his hair was longer and sticking out from under his cap, and he'd adopted a red bandana that he wore around his neck.

Polly was there too, but she was no longer a pollywog. She'd grown into a frog at last with a full head of wild orange hair, with her signature bow and wearing a set of dirty overalls.

Anne hung back at first, watching the ceremony unfold. She chuckled at the sight of Sprig getting tackled by Ivy, before the two got up and ran away from the ceremony... straight towards Anne.

Both skidded to a halt upon seeing her, their eyes widening.

"Anne...?" Sprig gasped in disbelief.

Anne wanted to say something to him, to tell him how much she'd missed him, but a lump was caught in her throat. For Sprig, it'd been three months. For Anne, it was ten agonizing years. To see him again, her best friend, after years of longing... she had no words.

Anne fell to her knees, scooped up Sprig in her arms, and hugged him like she'd never hugged him before.

Spring flung his arms around her neck and cried into her shoulder. The rest of the crowd had come over to seeing; in the background, she heard Wally shouting at the top of his voice "Anne's back! She's here, look!"

Anne paid him no mind at first, but eventually broke away from Sprig as to greet all of her old friends. Hop-Pop and Polly were overjoyed to see her, throwing themselves on top of her and enveloping her in a hug. They had no idea how long she'd dreamed of this moment.

Then there was One-Eyed Wally, Loggle (who was no longer buff) Mrs. Croaker, Toady, Mayor Toadstool, Ivy, Maddie and her sisters (all of whom had sprouted legs) Captain Grime, and Lady Olivia. General Yunnan gave her a respectful bow and welcomed her back.

"What happened?"

"How did you get back?"

"Did you make a new music box?"

"Are you here to stay?"

"Settle down, everyone!" Hop-Pop shouted over the crowd. "Just give her some space."

"Hey, H.P," Anne greeted wearily.

"Hello, Anne," said Hop-Pop, taking her hand in his. "It's been far too long."

"You have no idea," Anne replied.

It was a short walk back to the Plantar's farm. The townsfolk were hanging out their windows to catch a glimpse of Anne, throwing flowers down on the streets as she walked by, bidding her welcome back back to their little town.

Once back at the farm, Anne filled the Plantars in on everything that happened.

"Ten years?" Hop-Pop echoed after Anne finished his story. "You traveled all the way back in time just to visit us?"

Anne nodded. "I'm not here for a visit, Hop-Pop. I'm here to stay."

"Of course... I said you'd always be welcome here," Hop-Pop recollected. "And you can have your old room, just like I said. Sprig?"

"On it!" Sprig replied eagerly.

Anne followed Sprig down into the basement, which had been newly refurbished. It was still as junky as ever, but Sprig had decked out the walls with pictures and mementos from their many adventures. Anne's old bed remained in a corner, untouched. It seemed Sprig had left in there on purpose, holding out hope that his friend would come back one day.

Anne sat down on the bed, and Sprig followed suite. She still couldn't believe this was happening.

"I can't believe you're back," said Sprig. "I hoped you'd find a way... I thought maybe Terri could build another portal..."

"Mr. X confiscated all of Terri's research," Anne told him. "I was never gonna be able to get back that way. Even if I could, I would've come back from my own time. You guys might've been long gone by then..."

"Has it really been ten years for you?" Sprig asked. Anne nodded.

"I wanted to come back right away, you know," Anne confessed. " I thought I could move on at first, but every day that went by, it just... it hurt, more and more, and I didn't know what to do."

"My mom got me this medication that was supposed to help with depression," Anne went on. "Really powerful stuff too, but it didn't help the pain. After I graduated college, I got a job at the aquarium. Made a big frog exhibit, just so I could feel a little bit closer to you, and to Amphibia... but it was never enough."

"Yesterday, Sasha and Marcy visited me for my birthday," Anne continued. "They knew something wasn't right. They helped me to contact the Guardian of the Stones, asked him to take me back to Amphibia... and now here I am."

"Sasha and Marcy didn't come with you?" Sprig inquired.

"No," Anne answered. "They have their own lives, Sprig. This world was never as special to them as it is to me. I had to come back... and it's been far too long."

"What about you?" Anne asked Sprig. "How have you and Ivy been doing?"

"Oh..." Sprig replied nervously. "We're doing okay, but... we're not dating anymore."

"What? Why!?" Anne demanded.

"I was wreck after you left," Sprig confessed. "Ivy tried her best to cheer me up, but... I think she was a little bit jealous of what you and I had. She may have been my girlfriend, but I never felt as close to her as I did to you. We're still friends, though."

"I'm sorry," said Anne.

"It's alright," Sprig assured her. "I knew it probably wouldn't last... and she's still been a really good friend to me all these months you've been gone."

"Speaking of..." said Anne. "Now that I'm back, do you want to get straight to planning our next adventure?"

"You bet!" Sprig replied excitedly. "It's funny, Ivy just told me that Grime told her that they discovered a whole new continent across the sea! Untouched by frogs, toads, or newts!"

"That said..." Sprig went on. "I was thinking we could try something else, first. For old time's sake.

That night, Anne and Sprig stepped outside shortly after sunset. Hop-Pop had thrown Anne a big "Welcome Home!" party, and cooked dinner with all of Anne's favorites from her time in Amphibia. Now that dinner was concluded and most of the town had retired, Sprig led Anne up to the hill overlooking the Plantar's farm.

There, they found a low rock wall atop the hill with a solitary candle perched on the edge. Sprig produced a match and lit the candle before sitting down with a couple of books he'd had tucked under his arm. He offered one of the leather-bound tomes to Anne, which she happily accepted.

The two friends passed the rest of the night reading by candlelight in their favorite spot, just as they had when Anne first came to Amphibia all those years ago.

Sprig fell asleep within an hour, leaning against Anne as he often did. Anne blew out the candle and leaned back, putting her hands behind her head to look up at the clear night sky. The blood moon had partially reformed, casting a dull red glow over the village as it drifted across the night sky... and Anne began to realize that she was tired. She hadn't got a decent night's sleep in 10 years. But she was hesitant to fall asleep just then... she was terrified that if she allowed herself to sleep, she would wake to find herself back in her apartment. Just the thought of it was unbearable.

But Anne could never have stayed up all night. She eventually closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep... and when she woke, she was still on the hilltop with Sprig by her side. Giant dragonflies flew overhead, and Anne could see people- mostly frogs, and some toads and newts- riding on snail-back down the main road leading out of town.

And Anne, despite having her back up against a rock wall all night, felt like she'd gotten the best night's sleep she'd had in ten years.

By the end of the week, Anne had settled back into her daily routine with the Plantars. Helping out around the farm, taking the produce to the market and running various errands for Hop-Pop. Having felt like she'd been sleepwalking through life for the better part of a decade, even just doing these menial chores felt oddly refreshing.

Of course, it wasn't long before Anne and Sprig started getting into trouble again. They mostly explored the woods beyond Wartwood as they'd done dozens of times. When they tired of that, they retreated to the safety of the house and watched Suspicion Island together on Anne's old phone, the one she'd given to Sprig a lifetime ago. Grime was still busy preparing an expedition to the unknown lands across the sea; it would be some time before they were all ready to set sail. For now, Anne was content just to be back in the humble country lifestyle of Amphibia that she'd yearned for, and to have her best friend back. It was more than enough.

Sasha eventually came back to Amphibia as well, and this time she was here to stay. Grime was overjoyed to see her again, crushing Sasha in a one-armed bear hug as soon as she appeared in Wartwood. Sasha was all too eager to return to the fold and help plan the upcoming expedition.

When asked about Marcy, Sasha assured Anne that she too would come around eventually.

"Marcy's still a little confused about all this," Sasha explained to Anne one evening as they washed dishes in Hop-Pop's kitchen. "I told her that this isn't living in fantasy; this living, plain and simple. Although I think she might be nervous about seeing Andrias again..."

"Andrias has changed," Anne told her. "And I'm sure he'd be happy to see her again. She was the only real friend he had in over a thousand years."

"If need be, I'll run back to Earth and have a talk with her," Sasha insisted. "Your Guardian friend doesn't seem to mind shuttling people back and forth."

"What about your life, Sasha?" Anne asked. "You were doing some real good in the world. You got your psych degree, you were helping kids with their emotional baggage... and you were probably the best person for it."

"And I'm glad I had the opportunity to do that," Sasha replied, taking Anne's hand in hers. "But I've thought long and hard about this. I've lived my life to the fullest these last ten years, and now I want to be here for you."

Anne and Sasha embraced. Slowly but surely, Anne's once close-knit circle of friends was coming back together. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world, to be young again, to have her friends and family after years and years of trying to force herself to live a normal life. Sasha had her back, and Frog willing, Marcy would be joining them again soon.

It all felt too good to be true. Sometimes Anne wondered if this was all a dream, or if she'd been jacked into some sort of crazy computer simulation.

But no; this was the real deal.

Anne had finally found peace in Amphibia. At long last, she'd found her way home, to the world she loved, and the friends and family she cherished more than anything.

And she would never take this life for granted ever again.

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.