"Wow, Anne, you had quite the adventure just to get here," Marcy said, watching Anne scroll through her phone's pictures.
" You don't know the half of it, Marcy but it was all worth it because I finally found you," Anne said teary-eyed hugging Marcy
" I'm glad you found me too," she said hugging Anne.
" I just wish Sasha could have been more understanding about the situation we're in."
" I'm sure she was just trying to do what she thought was best. From what you told me she did miss you and so she probably misses me too. We just have to be in a better situation to talk to her. I mean being on top of a tower surrounded by the bad guys is pretty fun and cool in JRPG storytelling but I don't think it translates well into real life."
" It was hard Marcy. I thought I lost her when she let go. I'm just glad Grime was there to catch her but what if we pulled her up. We could have talked more, maybe I could have convinced her to do the right thing then all of us could be working together to find a way home."
" What has happened happened Anne, nothing you could do can change that but maybe this is good for her. She can see that you can no longer be pushed around plus next time you do see her I'll be there too." Marcy said, placing her hand on top of Anne's hand.
" Yeah Yeah, you're right Marcy." Anne said standing up "Wow I feel a whole lot better about this now thanks Mar-Mar."
" Hey, that's what friends are for Anne-banana". Marcy said giving her little finger guns
The two sat there laughing and sharing more stories of their hijinks in Amphibia before hearing the city bells ring. The two watched as the other inhabitants packed up their stalls and closed up shops before heading back to their presumed homes.
"What's going on, Marcy, some sort of curfew?" Anne asked, looking around.
"Yeah, the King issued it for Midtown and Hightown residents since the ants started attacking but since we stopped that whole ordeal he's probably gonna call an end for it," Marcy answered getting up from the fountain.
"Hey, Anne!" Sprig yelled hopping over to Her and Marcy "Hop-Pop sent me to get you. He said something about a curfew and not causing any trouble."
" Dang alright, Sprig give me a moment to say bye."
" Well umm it doesn't necessarily have to end, you could spend the night with me at the castle," Mary said looking down and blushing.
"It's tempting Marcy I want to I really do but I'm sure the Planters want me to stick around them. Just for another night since the whole Sasha thing."
" Oh umm well okay then. I guess I'll be going then I'll see you tomorrow then." Marcy said walking away.
"Wait!" Sprig yelled, stopping Marcy. "Anne I think you should go with her."
"Really?" Marcy asked.
"Seriously Sprig?" Anne questioned
"I mean you haven't seen your friend in so long it's a good chance for you to catch up and she did save my life so she's obviously not evil"
"Wow Sprig that's very mature of you to say and I'm sure it has nothing to do with my bunk being the biggest one."
" Well now that you mention it." He said with a smile.
" Alright, then Sprig go tell Hop-Pop I'll be staying at the castle with Marcy tonight."
"Yes! I have so much to show." Marcy said with glee grabbing Anne's hand and running towards the castle.
" Make sure you tell Hop-Pop Sprig!" Anne yelled before disappearing off in the distance.
"Like I would forget something like ohhh that's a weird-looking butterfly." Sprig said before chasing after it.
"Oh my gosh, Marcy you been living here the whole time?" Anne asked, admiring Marcy's room.
"Yeah, the King and Lady Olivia have been very nice to me ever since I got here. They even gave me a room with a view." She told her opening the door to her balcony overlooking Newtopia
"The city looks so beautiful," Anne said, stepping out onto the balcony.
" You know I would look out there every night hoping that you two would just show up the box in hand and we could go home together."
" I know what you mean Mar-Mar every one of my silly adventures with the Planters I hoped I would just find you and Sasha. I found Sasha just not the way I wanted it to be maybe if I did just listen to her we could have all been together now." Anne said as tears welled up in her eyes.
" Hey don't talk like that Anne. You did what was right, you defended the family and friends that treated you as their own Sasha was in the wrong not you. Like I said before what happened has happened no point to dwell on it. Now c'mon no more mopey Anne it's a sleepover."
" Thanks again Marcy for cheering me up. I don't mean to be such a downer," she said, wiping away her tears.
" It's alright Anne but I got something that might help cheer you up. How would you like a nice refreshing hot shower?" Marcy asked, causing Anne's eyes lit up at that proposition.
" You have a shower with hot water?"
"Yep, a little something I set up works like a charm."
" SHOW ME," Anne said gripping Marcy's shoulders
" Right this way Anne," Marcy said, guiding her to the bathroom.
Marcy led her down the hallway until she came to the proper door. Opening the door Anne was greeted with the most beautiful sight she had seen in all of Amphibia, an actual working shower alongside some other modern pleasures of life.
" You have an actual toilet here and soap," Anne said, taking the bar of soap and smelling it.
" Yeah, the King kinda let me renovate this part of the castle. So enjoy the taste of modern life again." Marcy told her.
" Oh I will," Anne said as she started taking her clothes off.
" Have fun, Anne I'm gonna go get the room ready for the sleepover," Marcy told her taking off to her room.
"Let's see I got some snacks, the video game is loaded up, I got enough pillows for the ultimate cushion and I got Anne some pajamas because I knew she didn't bring hers. Not bad Marcy not bad at all now all I gotta do is wait for Anne." she told herself.
"That was amazing. I really needed that Marcy." Anne said, walking in wearing a robe and wrapping a towel around her hair.
"Glad you enjoyed it. Oh, I got some pajamas for you to wear." Marcy said gesturing to the bed.
" Thanks, Mar-Mar completely forgot to grab my stuff." Anne said, grabbing the pajamas "Uh do I just change here?"
"Yeah, I'll just turn around," Marcy said, turning her back to Anne giving her some privacy.
" Alright I'm good now," Anne said tossing her robe and towel away.
" Good now the fun can begin with Super Kart Racers 4 Deluxe edition," Marcy said jumping into bed.
" Yeah the fun of getting your butt kicked," Anne said jumping onto the empty next to Marcy.
" Oh, it's on Anne," Marcy said starting up the game.
One intense gaming session later full of ups and downs wins and loses. The girls had finally decided to end it on one final race winner takes all hardest course default Karts,default racers and no items only true skill.
"Alright, Mar-Mar final round so let's make this more interesting," Anne said with a smile.
" Whatcha thinking Anne-banana?"
" Let's make a bet if I win the race you gotta ask out your crush when we get back home."
" W-W-What," Marcy said, flustered feeling her cheeks get warmer by the second "Anne there's no way I can do something like that."
" Oh c'mon Marcy what happened to that girl earlier who was brimming with confidence. If you can jump into the mouth of a giant ant then you can totally ask out your crush."
"F-F-Fine but if I win let's see uh you gotta run down the hall naked no wait that one stinks. Urgh Anne you know I'm not good at thinking up bets.I'll just do yours if I win you gotta ask out your crush."
"Deal," Anne said picking up her controller
"Deal," Sasha said, picking up her controller.
The race of Marcy's life had started off pretty well for her pulling off a speed boost start leaving Anne behind and staying in first place for the first lap but that didn't last long as the race track changed causing her to lose her momentum. Anne took the second lap with Marcy right behind her and catching up quickly. Marcy saw her opportunity to pass Anne when a sharp turn appeared using her knowledge of racing animes she started to drift around the corner getting the edge on Anne even knocking her off the map. She had this in the bag she thought as she came upon the final stretch of road and Anne was still behind her or she thought. Out of nowhere Anne's kart had popped out from under Marcy and knocked her out of the way leaving Anne as the winner of the race and the bet.
"Whoooo! I'm the ultimate kart racer!" Anne yelled
"B-B-But how? I knocked you off the track." Marcy asked, baffled by Anne's victory.
"You knocked me off but right into a shortcut," Anne said, doing a victory dance.
Marcy brought her knees to her chest and brought her head down to her knees. She really didn't want to do the bet but they both agreed to it so now she had to suffer the consequences even if she didn't like it.
"Oh, Mar-Mar you don't have to do the bet if you don't want to," Anne said hugging the sad little Marcy ball.
"Mmmm," Marcy grumbled.
"Hey, I got the new season of Suspicious Island we can watch."
"Mmmm," Marcy grumbled again picking up her head.
"I knew that would get you," Anne said, loading up the show on her phone.
After a couple of episodes of Suspicious Island, Marcy felt a little bit better but she still had a pit in her stomach. She knew what she had to do to get rid of it but this could change the way Anne sees her or worse make Anne hate her. She did lose her bet but she didn't need to go back to Earth to ask her crush out when she was already right here with her.
"Hey Anne," Marcy said resting her head on Anne's shoulder
"Hey Mar-Mar," Anne said back
"Can we talk for a moment?"
"Always," Anne said, pausing her phone and sitting up. "What's on your mind."
"It's about the bet we had."
"Oh just forget about Mar-Mar I didn't mean to put you on the spot with that."
" No Anne I agreed to it but it's not that I don't want to, it's just I wanna tell my crush how I feel here because she's not on Earth she's here," Marcy said blushing a bright red.
" O-M-G I knew it, Marcy," Anne said, grabbing Marcy's hands.
" Y-Y-You did."
" You've been crushing on Sasha for the longest time."
" Sasha I don't have a." She said before getting cut off by Anne.
" This is perfect. If you tell her how you feel there is no way she can say no to us."
"No Anne I don't have a crush on Sasha." Marcy tried to say but was ignored by Anne's frantic talking.
"You two would be so cute together. That means I would be the third wheel, maybe we should get a fourth friend so it doesn't feel acquired."
"ANNE!" Marcy yelled.
"Yeah," Anne said before she felt the soft lips of her friends against hers.
It was Marcy's first kiss and she hoped she didn't mess this up because this could determine it all for her. They stayed lips together for what felt like forever before she finally pulled away.
" It's you dumb-dumb I like you, Anne," Marcy told her blushing a bright red.
Anne just sat there dumbfounded at what just happened. She had just been kissed by her best friend who just also just confessed that she liked her; it was a lot to take in all at once. The silence in the room felt like an eternity to Marcy. She just wanted Anne to say something even if it was a simple yes or no anything would do. The silence was too much for her to bear; she had to speak.
"Anne it's okay if you don't feel the same way I would understand. I'll tell the servants to set up a guest bed if you don't want to stay in here after that." Marcy said getting up from the bed but feeling a tug on her shirt.
"Marcy."
"Yeah." She said turning around and being pulled back down into a kiss. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before Anne pulled away this time.
" You don't have to do that. I wanna stay here with you Mar-Mar because well I like you to dummy" she said pulling her into a hug.
"Oh Anne," Marcy said, returning the hug, feeling tears begin to roll down her cheeks.
" Hey, no need to cry now."
" I can't help it, I'm just so happy."
" I know Marcy but you're gonna drown me in tears if you cry anymore," Anne told her as she let out a chuckle.
"I'm sorry," Marcy said, pulling away from the hug and wiping away her tears before letting out a yawn. "Today really was an exciting day"
"You're telling me giants ants have nothing on your best friend confessing she likes you." She said slipping into bed with Marcy.
"Anne."
"What. You are my best friend or would you rather I say, girlfriend."
Marcy blushed at that last statement hiding her head under her covers. Anne stuck her head under the covers to try and get her out only to get another quick peck on the lips.
" Goodnight Anne," Marcy said with a smile.
" Goodnight Marcy." She said, holding Marcy's hand and feeling Marcy gently squeeze back before falling asleep.