She grimaced at the thought and shook her head, pressing forward even harder.
Cake wasn't far behind. She had wanted to take the lead, use her superior size and strength to barge her way through it all, but Fionna was clearly in a mood to hack and slash some things mercilessly. And in that sort of mood, it was probably best that she not be the one fighting the comb-toothed mushroom beasts that were scampering after them.
"Fionna!" Cake shouted as she tail-whipped the leading mushroom, "Do we even know where we're going here?"
"Anywhere but back there," she replied, biting her lip and slicing through a large fallen tree limb.
Cake flipped herself around, running backwards for a moment to kick a pursuing beast. "You know she's eventually gonna catch up with us...".
"Shut up."
Cake didn't push the issue any farther, focusing instead on keeping behind Fionna and fending off gnashing mushrooms. She sighed and tried to focus on something else. Mushroom beasts were an annoyance, but not a particularly difficult enemy, so in times like these Cake had discovered that the ability to think about her place in the universe and how it came to pass that she'd gotten into the mess she was presently in was a useful one to have mastered.
Fionna had other thoughts, though. Quite a lot of them, in fact. Her brain had never quite recovered from the whirlpool of confusion that had sprung up after Ice Queen's kiss. The cold feeling still haunted her lips, like a sensation she might never forget, even if she wanted to.
...or didn't.
"Butts!" she cursed as she tripped, falling face first into a patch of thistle. She angrily righted herself, chewing up the leaves she'd gathered in her mouth and swallowing them. "I hate this forest! Ugh, remind to puke those leaves back on it later!"
"Sure baby," Cake called, wriggling furiously from under a tangle of snarling mushrooms. "Little busy right now though!"
Fionna growled and looked down to see a parasite of her own gnawing her ankle. She raised her sword and plunged it hard into the creature's skull, then swung it in a hard overhead arc, casting the beast into the distance. She spun around and did the same for the ones pinning Cake down.
"Phew, thanks girl," she said, brushing herself off. "We better get outta these thickets. The shroomies don't like open spaces, so we can probs get em off our tails if we take it out past this foresty part."
Fionna nodded, kicking another crawler away as it scrambled up past her. She placed her sword between her teeth and clambered up the nearest tree. Oof. Glob, I feel so out of shape. Adventure, that's what I've been missing...not sitting around eating pancakes and donuts. Ugh.
With some difficulty, she hoisted herself atop a mossy branch and stood to full height before sliding her way down the length of it, hopping off and grabbing a hanging vine at the end. She swung and weaved her way between the trunks and beneath the branches, carrying herself on the strength of the vines and her own split-second thinking.
I really don't understand what's going on with me right now, she thought. I don't know what emotion I'm supposed to be feeling. Still feels kinda like hate, but also...embarrassment? Humiliation? It feels like I'm surrendering to her. Like I've given up on defending myself. Like I let myself lose a battle...
...but there's something else too! There's a...a rightness to it. It feels...right. Like it was a battle I was supposed to lose? I don't understand! What is there to gain from losing a brain battle with that stupid witch? I HATE being humiliated like that!
Ugh, why did she kiss me again? I can still feel it on my lips...she's a scar. She's like a scar I carry...like a scar I can't stop poking at though...a scar I'm supposed to have? IT JUST DOESN'T ADD UP!
She very abruptly realized she'd just run out of vines as she flailed her way through the air, landing in a tangled heap in the middle of an open grass field. She groaned loudly and sorted herself out.
No broken bones. No missing teeth. A few scrapes and bruises. Cuts on her arms and legs. Nothing missing or seriously damaged, though. Good.
And no little mushroom maniacs trying to gnaw off her toes. Very good.
Cake came tumbling after, tossing away a particularly stubborn foe latched tightly to her tail. She hustled over to help Fionna to her feet.
"Whew, we made it," she said, stretching her limbs overhead. "Fi, you alright?"
Fionna paused before answering. "Huh? Yeah, fine...", she mumbled, pulling twigs from her hair. She took a moment to view their new surroundings.
In the ebbing orange light of a late sunset, sparse trees sprung up here or there, very inconsistent in size. They had reached their distant mountain destination; the ground here was sloped, with thick grass surrounding the bottom, thinning out into rocky crags near the summit.
Cake look out at the sunset and frowned. "Guess we're pullin an all nighter, huh? Maybe we should just start a fire, then. Heh. Kinda ironic. Startin' a fire, searchin' for the prince of fire...ya know...ironic...".
Fionna half-smiled, then dropped it as she rolled two fallen logs from the forest edge into the grassy clearing. She sat with her chin cradled in hand as Cake brought forth an offering of dead branches and a pair of white rocks.
"...boy, she musta shook you up somethin' fierce," said Cake as she clacked the stones together to make sparks. "You alright, Silent Knight?
A sigh. "You were there Cake, you heard everything."
"Yeah...". The spark caught on a patch of dead grass and a tiny cinder took form, slowly growing its way into a tiny flame. "Sounds like we might need to settle our butts in for some sisterly bonding time."
Fionna remained silent and shrugged, not lifting her head from its resting place. The fire rose a little higher, bringing some semblance of life to the otherwise dull-looking scene.
"...and what better way to bond than two girls campin' out under the stars together, tellin' secrets and swappin' stories?" Cake put on a friendly smile and cuddled up beside her sister.
Fionna turned to look. There was something innately calming about Cake's familiar, goofy grin. Something that never failed to cheer her up. She cracked into a full smile and put her free arm around her, bringing that warm, hairy body close. "Been a while since we had one of these, hasn't it?"
"Ha, you're tellin' me!" Cake chuckled. "Last time I remember, it was you tellin' me you'd been bit by a monkey and thought you were gonna turn into one, but turned out it was just 'cause you finally noticed the hair growin' in your pits!"
Fionna giggled, finally pulling herself loose from her chin-rest position. "Is that any worse than the time Monochromicorn went on vacay with the prince and you couldn't sleep cause you missed his hoof-tapping? You made me tap my wooden clogs against the wall saying Grod-knows-what every night for like a week!"
"Oh now, don't bring THAT up," Cake groaned. "I got over that right quick, and you know it! 'Sides, you try havin' a boyfriend disappear for a week with no way to talk to him 'til he gets back! It's hard, Fi! It's hard."
Fionna's smile faded away slowly. "Yeahhh...". The same dejected, tired look returned.
"Ooh, maybe that was the wrong way to take this train of thought," Cake said, taking her hand. "Ice Queen still gettin' to ya?"
"I guess...".
"You guess? You guess what?"
A deep sigh. "I don't know. I really don't know. I've never really had an emotion like this before."
"Like what kind of emotion?" Cake persisted, leaning against her.
"I. DON'T. KNOW."
Cake grabbed Fionna's cheeks and pulled her head down to eye level. "Then let's figure it out, booger-brain! Talk to me."
Looking down in those gleaming blue eyes, Fionna cracked and smiled, running her fingernails along Cake's back. Things were never quite so difficult when she had Cake to talk to.
She took a slow, deep breath, then exhaled slow and loud. "...okay."
"Good," Cake purred, thoroughly enjoying the attention she was getting. "Now let's talk about that Ice Queen."
"Okay."
"Tell me about her, Fi. You hate her, I know, but tell me about what you're thinkin' right now. Tell me how you feel."
The fire snapped and popped as Fionna stared. Somehow the sight and sensation of fire wasn't exactly calming anymore. She could still feel the scars left from her enoucnter with Flame Prince, despite them now being completely healed. They still burned under her skin.
"Are you scared of her, Fionna? Does she freak you out?"
She barely shook her head, unable to look away from the slow burn of the fire.
"Good," Cake replied, putting up her fists. "Cause I was gonna remind you that she's no threat! You just proved all you gotta do is snitch her crown and beat her down, and you could even kill her if ya needed to! You got NO REASON to be afraid!"
"Cake, you know I never I kill people." There was a certain monotony, a certain distraction in her voice.
"So you're gonna let her live, even though she bugs the skunk outta ya? I sure hope ya got a method for that madness...".
For a few seconds her mouth was open, but words remained suppressed. Until "...there has to be one." finally squeaked its way out. "I mean...I wish I knew exactly what it was, but it has to be there."
Arms crossed, Cake frowned and continued. "Well, is there somethin' we're not lookin' at here? Is there somethin' missin'? ...did she do somethin' other than just kiss ya?"
"Ew, no."
"You'd better not be lyin' to me, buttercup."
"Cake. Seriously. All she's done is kiss me. On the lips. Like three or four different times. Maybe one of those was a dream...".
Cake sat up and turned to face her, straddling the log. "You had a makeout dream about her too?!"
"Shut up, that was a bad night."
For a moment Cake looked stern and ready to scold, but she noticeably restrained herself and instead sighed. "Okay, then. Let's just focus on the kisses. The real ones, I mean."
"Cake, I don't wanna talk romance right now. If we do, you'll start talking about kangaroos and unicorns again like you always do...".
A huff in response. "This is different, Fi. For one thing, this is two kangaroos with no unicorns in sight. But more importantly, we gotta talk about what these liplocks are doin' to your mind."
Fionna groaned and put her head in her hands.
"...alright, FINE, no kangaroos, I promise," Cake said, sliding back into her former position, leaning against Fionna. "But we really gotta talk about this romancin' jazz if you wanna get some sense made of the situtation."
"I hate romance," she mumbled.
"Yeah, we already established that."
"Yeah, okay. Right. So...Ice Queen kissed me. Now what?"
"We gotta expand on that. Tell me what it felt like."
"Cold."
Cake thumped Fionna on the back of the head. "Details, ya lump! What'd you feel inside?"
Her face sunk deeper as she curled up tighter. "I don't know. A-a lot of things! But they were all happening at the same time, so it was like all one really big emotion made from a schlop of little ones. I don't know what that's called!"
"You're gonna have to do better than that, lovergirl! Describe it all! Elaborate!"
She moaned and grabbed the ears of her hat, pulling them down to knee level. "Okay, jeez. So...it felt like...I was mad that she kissed me. And I was embarrassed too, 'cause she did it right in front of you! Um, I was shocked, 'cause I wasn't expecting it...but...when I think about it now...it almost feels like I WAS expecting it. Like it was supposed to happen. Does that even make sense?"
Cake licked her lips. "Not one bit."
"That's where I'm at right now, Cake," Fionna said, tossing her hands in the air. "This kiss, the last kiss, the one before that...when I look back on them, they all felt...right. Like that was just what happened next and it was all sort of okie dokie because of it. It's like the universe meant for it to happen, and I knew it, but I was still mad about it...?"
"That's stupid," Cake responded, scratching behind her ear. "But I'm pretty sure I can see what that means...and I don't like it one bit."
"Why, what do you think it means?" Fionna brought herself up to an upright position.
Silence reigned for a moment as Cake stood up and paced her way to other side of the fire. She slowly turned back to Fionna. "Fionna...do you LIKE that feeling you get when Ice Queen kisses you?"
"What? WHAT? Are you even serious with that? Do I LIKE it? What kind of...that's completely...so very...uhm...".
A switch clicked in her mind. Rusty gears creaked and groaned to life as dormant, subtle thoughts she hadn't been thinking about thinking suddenly flowed, carrying the subconscious to the conscious. Two and two finally equalled four. She sat dumbfounded for a few moments as the answer slowly seeped in.
"...I...well, I might not be, like...allergic to them...".
Cake looked at her plainly. "...just say it."
Fionna opened her mouth to protest, but thought and logic had taken over her brain now. She revisited that familiar boiling, buzzing sensation she got from each kiss, and involuntarily shivered with a certain excitement. Even now, that same tingling feeling danced over her lips.
Turning her head, her eyes were met with Cake's, inches away. "Say it, Fionna."
She deflated and put her head back in her hands. "...okay. So maybe I like it when she kisses me...".
And that was it. She was still there after she'd said it. The world didn't come to an apocalyptic end. Her head didn't explode. The tingling feeling lingered.
And there was Cake, tail twitching silently. "So you like gettin' kisses, but you still hate her. That about right?"
"...I think so."
A sigh. "But why?"
"I told you, I don't know!" Fionna wailed. "It's like...we get so angry at each other, and every time we get angry, we get emotional. It's almost like a battle of emotions, like which of us can out-feelings the other person! And with each swipe of the sword, I get more and more crazy emotional...I get so riled up and confused! She turns on that mad-embarrassed-crazy feeling every time she eggs me on until it feels like I'm BEGGING for her to just put an end to it! It's a battle, Cake! A battle I keep losing! She gets me so worked up, then moves in for a freakin' smooch and suddenly it's like...the most amazing thing ever! It's like the whole kiss and make up after a you've had a fight thing, only when you kiss and make up, that means the fight is over and you've lost! And that part makes me even MADDER! I seriously don't know how the plop to react to this!"
She buried her face in her lap, wrapping her fingers around her knees. Cake looked into the fire, shaking her head in full disapproval. "Fionna...I don't like admittin' this, but Ice Queen is totally right. What you're feelin' right now isn't even hate at all."
She pulled Fionna's head up, donning a grave expression. "It's so the opposite of hate...isn't it?"
"Oh no, I hate her alright," Fionna argued. "All the nasty things she does are completely not okay by my justice code! She kidnaps innocent sheeple, she stalks me like a maniac, she wants to KILL Flame Prince, she keeps playing the creepy 'I love you' game with me, even after I've made it super clear that I don't feel the same way-".
"But you DO feel the same way, Fionna!" Cake interrupted, hands on Fionna's cheeks. "You so totally do! You're just not admitting it!"
"Bluhhh, no! No, No, NO! I can't be in love with her! It's so wrong! Totally buttcrack wrong!"
"Get a hold of yourself, ya twerp!" Cake shouted, smacking her across the face.
She froze in place, completely stunned. "...I...okay...okay, I'm better now."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure...yeah...no...no, I'm totally not sure. Not at all! It's way super complicated, and I just...you're right, I admit it...I like being kissed. Even by her. Especially by her! It feels amazing, Cake...it explodes my brain, it's so good! It's like...uh, it's like...a steamy sauna in my soul, and lightning in my bones, and delicious freezing ice cream on my lips! I've just never felt that way before, and I...I legit love that feeling...".
Cake hung her head and grunted. "Not good, baby. Not good at all."
"BUT...".
"Butt?"
Fionna took a deep breath and exhaled. "But I can't legit love someone like her. She's completely wrong. She's a self-serving ice witch maniac. Kissin' be pooched, I just can't love her! I won't! She's evil! She's EVIL, and I'm righteous! Seriously, it just can't ever work!"
For a few minutes there was nothing but the crackle and snap of the fire to be heard. The sun had given up the stage and let the moon take center spotlight for the night, with the stars as its backup dancers. Cake slowly sat back down, back to the log. Her face fell into a disappointed frown. She opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind and crossed her arms instead.
Fionna shifted her gaze from the moon back to the fire. Flame Prince was still out here somewhere, and she still had no idea what to do once she confronted him. She had assumed she could distract him long enough for Ice Queen to launch a surprise attack from behind, maybe knock him out, then carry him back to the Fire Kingdom and...ask the Flame Queen to lock him back up? That didn't seem like a particularly viable option, now that she thought about it. No other plans were springing to mind, though. And there was NO WAY she'd let the other queen kill him. Maybe that was her only option...to just wait for things to play out and make her decision when she came to that branch in the tree...
She sighed, heavy and loud. "Man, I hate romance."
Cake craned her head back and half-smiled. "You always have, Fi. You always have."
Leaning back and looking up into the star-studded stage overhead, Fionna pushed her tangled tuft of hair into place and relaxed, probably for the first time since they'd begun the journey that morning. "I don't even know why it's all of a sudden the most important thing ever."
"Well baby, I don't either. Just know that if it's important to you, it's important to me too, okay?
Fionna closed her eyes and smiled. "Thanks, Mo-thanks, Cake."
She wrapped an arm around Fionna's shoulder. "Sisters for life, girl!"
"Heh, yeah."
The perfect moment of sisterly bonding Cake had been planning took place right then and there. The stars, the fire, the emotions, it all flowed together in perfect, pristine harmony. A moment that would forever remain locked in both hers and Fionna's vault of treasured memories forever.
"I'm kinda hungry though," Fionna added.
"Aww come on, seriously? You just killed the moment, Fionna!"
"Sorry. But I am."
"How can you be though? You ate like five meals in one go today!"
"I dunno, I just get hungry."
"Yeah, well you're GONNA just get fat if you aren't careful!"
"Am not. Anyway, you think there's any good game hunting out here?"
"You serious right now, Fionna?"
"I think I hear something moving in the bushes."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"No, I'm listening to the bushes. Maybe it's one of those giant bunnies."
"My butt it is, it's probably just a mushroom monster."
"No," said the creature, emerging from the bush and standing to full height. "It's just me. Sorry."
Fionna picked up a branch from the fire and held it overhead. The firelight danced and reflected the dozens of glittering sparkles that formed the Ice Queen's hair. She stood among the thick brush with a tired, apprehensive look on her face.
"...how long were you there?" Fionna asked suspiciously.
"Just now making my way past here," the Queen replied. "I'll just go around you guys, I guess...".
She turned to follow the border of the woods up the side of the mountain. Judging from the tatters and tears in her tank top and shorts, Fionna assumed the mushroom beasts had likely gotten to her as well.
Well butts, she thought.
"...Ice Queen, wait."
She paused and turned her head. Cake put her hands on hips and glared at Fionna.
Fionna took a short breath, then scooted to one side of the log and patted the other side with her hand. "Just sit down."
Hesitantly, Ice Queen turned full body, glancing back and forth between her company. Cake retained her frown, while Fionna remained relaxed. She stared expectantly.
"So...Flame Prince..." Fionna prompted, again gesturing to the seat beside her. Ice Queen nodded slowly and took it.
Still suspicious, Cake took a seat next to the fire, the low light passing dramatic shadows across her face.
"Right," Fionna said, trying to remain cool and collected, "Are we close?"
Ice Queen nodded, reaching into her pocket. "Very close. He's probably hiding out right on this mountain."
"What's in the pocket, Queenie?" Cake asked.
Ice Queen ran a hand across her forehead, wiping the sweat-melt away, and produced a pearl-shaped gem no bigger than a marble. "Flame Shield," she said with a grin. "I've got two more, should you both want to use one."
"Ooh, cool." Fionna held out her hand, but Cake pushed it away.
"Nuh-uh. Me first. You know I still got no trust for this old witch."
Ice Queen responded with a shrug and placed the pearl in Cake's hand. "It may be best to save it for when we actually find Flame Prince, though."
Cake sat back down with a grunt. The queen handed Fionna the last pearl, placing her own back in her pocket. She looked upward to the summit of the mountain.
"He's likely up there," she said, pointing. "Up near the mouth of the volcano."
"Huh? This is a volcano?"
"Oh yeah," Cake realized. "This IS a volcano, isn't it? I almost forgot where we were. People even tell stories about this place!"
"Stories?" Fionna asked, a curious grin springing forth.
"Oh sure," Cake said, loosening up. "Legend says this place more than just some dumb mountain. There's some old folk tales floatin' around that say it's actually alive!"
"Naw!"
"Oh, I'm bein' for totes serious, girl! The whole mountain is a giant monster lyin' belly-up, and it spends most of the time sleepin'. But he ate a fire goddess a long long time ago, so there's always a buncha hot nasties bubblin' around in his guts! And when his tummy gets all kinds of upset, he starts pukin' lava all over the place and fartin' out the biggest smoke clouds you ever saw!"
"Ha! That's rad," Fionna said with a clap. "Totally gross, but rad!"
"Kinda spooky, if you ask me," said Ice Queen, flapping the neckline of her tank top and leaning away from the fire.
"Spooky? Really, Ice Queen?" Cake raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"All fire is spooky to an Ice Queen," she replied, panting. "Why do you think I'm in such a mood to get rid of this Flame Prince?"
Fionna looked away, rubbing her arm silently.
"So you're still set on destroyin' him?" Cake asked, running her fingers over the gem she'd received. "As opposed to say, imprisonin' or scarin' him off?"
"Well I WANT to," the queen ventured, "But I have a strong suspicion that Fionna simply won't let me. She must just lov-er, care about him too much."
Fionna flicked a small twig into the bonfire and shook her head. "It's not about me anymore. I know we gotta stop Flame Prince, my feelings about him aside. He's gone from being this cool hot kid in a jar to being a dangerous hothead doin' all kinds of scar damage all over the place. It's not safe no more. He totally ashed up the Tent Kingdom, burned holes in the forest, and he even threatened to melt the whole Candy Kingdom! He's a fire hazard now, and we gotta put him down while we have the chance."
A moment drifted past, followed by a sigh. "...no mention of what he did to me and MY kingdom, I see..." Ice Queen said, again wiping the melt from her forehead and trailing the hand down to her chest. Fionna glanced away, cheeks radiating bright pink.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean...I just figured, uh, y'know...including you cause you're sitting right here and...yeah...".
"It's understandable, I suppose," the queen admitted, bitterly. "Anyway, that just does nothing but help prove my theory about why Flame Prince attacked the Ice Kingdom in the first place."
"What theory?"
Pushing the loose hair from her face and re-pulling it all into a ponytail, Ice Queen took a deep breath and continued flapping her neckline to keep cool. "From what I understand, he's still very innocent, and probably didn't so much attack as just burn like the fiery candle he is. He probably wandered into the Ice Kingdom after you fainted, looking for a place to be alone. And he probably figured that since no one seemed to live there, and no one cared about the place, he might have assumed no one would miss it even if it were gone...".
Fionna bit her lip and stole a quick glance back at the queen. "Ice Queen...don't say that, I don't think that's true...".
"Why shouldn't it be?" she replied, reclining all the way back so that her head touched the ground behind them. "No one's going to care if the Ice Kingdom gets melted, no one ever goes there anyway. No one's going to care that the Ice Queen's stupid penguins are scared, they're just nuisances anyway. No one's going to miss the Ice Queen if she gets melted, she's just a creep, a weirdo, a stalker, a nightmare, and an all around waste of life. Isn't that what you said, Fionna?"
"Well...I...yeah, but...you make me sound like such a bad guy when YOU say it...I agree with that stuff, you're an evil butt bump, but even YOU don't deserve...to die...".
Ice Queen stared blankly at the stars overhead. "...so you wouldn't have killed me back there?"
Her face a red tomato, Fionna paused to think before settling on "...I can't kill people. Not even my mortal enemy."
There was a tsk of disapproval from Cake's general direction.
"Heh, can't live with me, can't live without me, eh?" Ice Queen said, now flapping the hem of her tank top.
"Oh I can live without you," Fionna muttered, unable to resist glancing over at the queen's exposed navel. " I just can't kill you."
"That's right, you can't," she replied with a hinted smirk, then followed with a reluctant "...but Flame Prince can."
Fionna sighed and hung her head. "That's why we're out here, Icy. We're here to put out the fire I never meant to start. I bombed it up, so I gotta clean it up and restore my hero's honor!"
"Way to go, baby!" Cake shouted, clapping. "Rock that responsibility!"
The Queen remained quiet a little longer. She frowned, then finally spoke: "How did it come to this, Fionna? How did that accursed Flame Prince know how to get to my domain?"
"Huh?" Fionna cocked her head and looked down, but turned away when her eyes met Ice Queen's. "Well, I'm pretty sure he would've just flown up there. I mean, he totally flies, right?"
Ice Queen pulled herself back up to a sitting position and stretched forward. "Yes, but who told him which way to go? Couldn't have been Gumball, that babe is a complete wimp and was probably hiding behind his gigantic palace door from the moment he set eyes on him."
"Um, actually-"
"And the only people who have even had contact with him are you, me, Cake, and Gumball, right?"
"...yeah...what exactly are getting at here, Queenie?
She pulled herself completely upright, looming tall beside Fionna. She bent at the waist and asked plaintively, "Fionna, did you send the Flame Prince to destroy me?"
Fionna looked up into a pair of weary, suspicious eyes. "...um...".
"I knew it!" She shouted, her finger aimed squarely at Fionna's nose. "YOU can't kill me, but you're not above sending some other sap to do your dirty work for you!"
Fionna jumped to her feet and stood on top of the log for better height. "Hey, it wasn't my fault! I just wanted to show him around the land cause he asked me if I would! I can't help that he's made of fire, and everything burns or melts wherever he puts his feet! It's his problem, not mine!"
"No, I can see it all now!" Ice Queen went on, pacing as she continued her accusation. "You're disgusted with me for my behavior, which I'll forgive, but you don't want to kill me because you have your pristine code of shining honor you have to follow. So you get around it by making friends with someone you KNOW will prove harmful to me and me SPECIFICALLY. Good, so now I can't pester you as long as your friend is around and therefore I can't cheese you off! BUT THAT ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU! You want me out of your life for all time, so you never have to worry about me mucking your gunk up again! So you casually tell him about a place he can stay that isn't your highly-combustible treehouse. A place where no one will care if he's just being himself, because there's nothing out there to care about! And that's how you planned to get rid of me without sullying your good hero's name!"
"That's a lie, Ice Queen!" Fionna rebutted, grabbing the queen by her cold shoulders. "I never meant for it to go this far! So okay, maybe I did want to cause you some damage, get you off my back for a while, but I never wanted to KILL you! I don't WANT you dead!"
"And why not?" Ice Queen growled as she threw Fionna's hands off of her. "What use do you have for me alive?"
"I...I can't...I want..." Fionna sputtered, struggling with hand motions. That familiar emotion was rising again. "I just...kind of...need you...to be alive...".
The queen blinked, taken aback. "You...need me?"
Fionna cast her gaze around the area, desperately searching for words to follow up with. Her mind was getting cloudy again. All thoughts were leading to another kiss. Her eyes moved from the fire to her feet to a very judgmental Cake and back to the queen. "...I...kind of need you...uh, to stop Flame Prince. Whatever's necessary. I'm helping you, remember? As your hero."
A pause. The queen spoke in a much calmer voice. "...as my hero. Yes. Of course."
The tension in the air dissolved slowly. Cake took a step down from red alert to amber and sat back down. Taking in a deep breath, Fionna stepped down off the log. "So...we're okay now?"
Ice Queen nodded. "I vote we camp here for the night, try to get back on track in the morning."
The three of them exchanged nods, a consensus reached. Fionna yawned and stretched her arms. She placed her hands on her lower back and arched her spine, pushing her chest out. Ice Queen fought back a snort, trying hard not to stare at the breasts being pushed toward her face. She masked it with "So...should we be discussing strategies before we sleep?"
"I dunno about you, but I think I've had about all the talk I can stand for one night," Cake replied. "We should just sleep."
"Fine by me, I suppose," the queen agreed.
"And don't you even think about cuddlin' up all cozy with Fionna."
"Relax, I know she doesn't want that. I'm not stupid, Cupcake."
"You better STOP calling me that, Ice Queen, I swear in the name of the Almighty Everything Burrito!"
Ice Queen shrugged and turned to Fionna. "So where are you sleeping then, tomboy?"
Fionna didn't respond. She wasn't even looking her in the eye. She seemed to be staring right through the queen, who was now wondering if the girl was developing x-ray vision and tried subtly to fix her clothes.
"Fionna? You listening to me?"
"Use Flame Shield. NOW." She pointed.
Ice Queen slowly turned to see Flame Prince himself hovering behind her, surrounded by several spinning halos of fire. His hair burned brightly, standing tall as its glow mingled with that of the campfire. His usual naive expression was gone. In it's place was a glaring frown of resentment.
Two large fireballs appeared in his hands.
"...oh."