Chapter 3: Sharing Stories

Toad and Ana laid on their beanbag, sleeping through the night soundly. There was no alarm clock to wake them up, however, so Ana woke before Toad. Daylight was just beginning to show up outside. Ana yawned, her ponytails of orange hair flopping down behind her head. She then gazed at Toad, who was still sleeping.

He's pretty... cute like this... A faint pink blush formed on her cheeks. She turned away, not wanting it to grow into something noticeable. She sat on the beanbag for a minute, looking at the broadening daylight, filtering through the window. I think the fireplace's light is better. She turned the handle to close the blinds, allowing the fireplace's warm glow to dominate once again. She looked at Toad again, his form illuminated by the orange heat of the fire. This time, she visibly blushed, her face turning pink, and looked away again. Minutes passed, Ana laying down once again next to him, looking up at the ceiling. Finally, she heard an audible yawn, and moved away, as Toad stretched out and sunk into the beanbag.

"Good morning..." He yawned again, and turned to where she was. "Ana." he finished, and smiled at her. She smiled back, trying to make the blush fade away from her cheeks, which surprisingly worked.

"Morning, Toad."

"I see you're..." He stood up. "up early."

"Yeah. I'm pretty much the early bird. I always wake up before Kat. And I mean always. Seriously, she's the sleepyhead between us." Toad chuckled.

"So what should we do?" Toad asked.

"Well, we should probably get dressed first..." Ana looked out the window, to see the restrooms boarded up. "What? Oh no!"

"What?" Toad rushed to her and looked out the window himself. There was a sign next to the door. It read:

Pipes are frozen up in both restrooms. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and will try to fix the problem as soon as possible.

~Snowpoint Lodge Management

"So what do we do?" Toad asked, turning to Ana.

"We're not using the porta-potty to change." Ana affirmed. "We just aren't."

"Yeah, I knew that already." Toad agreed, and cringed. "But what are we gonna use, then?"

"I don't know..." Ana answered, looking away and trying to think up a solution.

"How about we just look away from each other and change in here?" Toad asked. Ana blushed, though Toad didn't see, but she knew it was the only option, at least at the moment.

"Yeah... but you have to promise not to look."

"I promise." Toad assured.

"Pinky promise?" Ana held out her pinky finger, and they both giggled.

"Pinky promise." He shook his pinky finger with hers, and they turned away from each other and changed into their new clothes. However, when Ana was finished, she turned around and saw Toad still putting on his vest. He slipped it on before Ana could get a clear view. That was close... she thought, blushing a bit as Toad walked over.

"So, when's Kat coming?" he asked casually.

"I don't know, to be honest. She comes whenever she feels like it mostly. It's her personality." Ana explained.

"Alright. How about we go downstairs and get some breakfast, huh?" Toad smiled and took Ana's hand. And nodded and smiled as they both walked out of their room and down the stairs. They walked to see a buffet with scrambled eggs, pancakes, chorizo, and the like. They both got two pancakes and drizzled syrup over them. Toad got a pat of butter and some bacon to go along with it, while Ana did not. They both sat down, and Toad saw Ana's plate.

"That seems like a... pretty small meal there." he said, and Ana stood up.

"How many pancakes are there?"

"Two."

"Whoopsies!" She walked to the buffet and got something. When she came back, her stack was a bit taller. "I meant to get three."

"Oh." Toad smiled. "That makes sense." They ate up in silence for a few seconds, cutting the pancakes and diving in.

"So where did you come from?" Toad asked.

"We came from Diamond City." Ana replied.

"Where's that?" Toad followed up, as a fellow climber passed behind him.

"It's in Warioware Incorporated." Ana followed back. "It was a two day walk from there to here. And Kat was bugging me the entire time."

"Wait, two days? And you walked?" Toad asked, incredulous. "Why didn't you ask your parent-"

"Our parents are dead." Ana interrupted, calmly.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry..." Toad moved away. "Is that a... touchy subject?"

"Kinda. We lost them in a ninja ambush when we were just babies. We were terribly at war with a rival clan then... And since we were babies, we didn't even know that they were gone until someone picked us up and cared for us... Naturally, when we found out about two years later, we broke away from them and decided to live on our own... Cause we're ninjas. We can take care of ourselves way better than you might think." Ana explained.

"I understand..." Toad trailed off, moving closer to her. "That must be a living hell for you."

"I don't normally tell this to anyone but my closest friends..." Ana admitted. "I think I can trust you."

"Thank you..." Toad smiled warmly, picked up his chair, put it down next to Ana's, and sat in it. "And you can trust me with anything. I swear I won't tell a soul. Servant's honor." He saluted, and a giggle escaped from Ana. Then as if on cue, the door to the lodge opened, and they turned to look. They heard a voice. For Ana, a very familiar voice.

"I heard everything."

To be continued...