Once Anne makes the decision to get a souvenir from Amphibia for her mum, due to not knowing who to buy his for, Leo makes it his goal to make sure she can get hers.

...

...

Anne, Leo, and the whole Plantar family had assembled within Newtopia center, they were perched right at the docks where all of the shops seemed to be located, lining up every street they stepped towards, each one just as unique as the other.

Not like Leo could tell which from which, he mainly noted whatever one had on specific name attached to it, there was one with a big, green frog marketed right at the front of it flailing its arms around.

On the other hand, Anne was reveling in every part of it, treating it as if it were just like one of the duplex malls, she'd spend hours just window shopping with Marcy and Sasha, although it was usually those two who ended up buying something.

Hop Pop and the others didn't pay her any mind, whenever she rambled about anything from back home, they'd usually tune it out on the fact that they had no clue what she was talking about.

As he purchased yet another cup of coffee, the older frog sat them all down on a bench nearby, "If you are talking about buying Anne, I think now no better of a time to buy some souvenirs!"

Just as all of their eyes lit up, the thought of whatever the royal credit card could buy them twinkled right in front of them, "...For two coppers or less," And just as quickly the glass ceiling was shattered before their eyes.

"What!" Polly yelled out in outrage, her flippers slapping the ruined drawstring back in her grandparent's face.

Although Leo wasn't too bothered by the fact, he didn't really have a good sense of money, to begin with, even he could see that there was a much easier solution, "Don't we have unlimited money? This seems a little tedious Hop Pop.."

"No, you kids need to understand that a souvenir is only meaningful if it's spent with your own money.."

"This isn't our money though," Leo murmured lowly, getting purposefully ignored by the orange frog.

Polly had already vanished, hopping over to the nearest store, a look of bloodlust filling her eyes, "She's fine...probably," Hop Pop drew his eyes to her shadow through the store window, gulping as he did.

Now that the three of them were left alone, Sprig was already up and ready, already having a vague what he was going to buy and who for, "Who are you gonna buy for Anne?" The frog asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, just my mum.."

That took both Sprig and Leo off guard, despite how long they'd spent with her, it was rare that she would bring up either one of her parents so casually.

"What would you buy her?" Leo drolled out a question.

"Dunno yet but considering I'm gonna be missing for a little while longer, I think the least I can do is bring her back a gift.."

"Yeah, that makes sense..." Sprig replied, now holding onto a bamboo staff that he had seemingly purchased for two coppers.

Anne herself was confused, whirring her head around to see where he could've possibly got it from, "When did you, how did you?"

Sprig simply shrugged his shoulders, "Don't sweat on the small stuff Anne, all that matters is that I've got my gift sorted, it even makes a cool whistling sound, listen!" As he swung it, Anne just about ducked whilst Leo reacted quickly, catching and then pulling it off his hands.

'Leo really does have some reflexes...'

"Try not to break what you've just bought," Leo grumbled, letting his grip go of it, almost causing Sprig to stumble back off the bench, "So, where do you wanna start Anne?"

Not expecting such an intense stare, Anne scooted up the seat a little, "W-Well, usually whenever my mum gave me my allowance it wasn't much anyway, so the best place is a thrift store."

"No clue what that is but sure...Sprig don't swing that!" On instinct, Leo droned out his voice a decibel high enough to stop the frog, forced to yank him back before he could smash all of the vases to pieces.

"Let's just get going.." said Leo, already tired and the day hadn't even started yet.


Leo stared at the shelves filled from top to bottom with antique designs of all sorts, most of them didn't interest him in any facet, not in the sense that he'd want to keep a hold of any way or hand over to anyone else.

As he accidentally slapped the bag of copper coins in his pocket, Leo was once again reminded that he too was supposed to buy a souvenir.

Who or what was the two main questions he was left blank on, sure keeping something from both Newtopia and Amphibia to hold as a memento of his time here, the idea of that seemed nice but buying it for himself wasn't something he wanted.

And buying for someone else seemed just as pointless, whether it was for Anne, Sprig, Polly, or even Hop Pop he could do that at any time, Anne had her parents who would possibly never see anything from Amphibia, even Ivy – who wouldn't have a real opportunity to visit Newtopia.

Besides, he had the journal where he'd been making plenty of anecdotes about his time in Wartwood, his journey to Newtopia, and his time within the city's walls, that was all the memory he needed.

Part of him had a cynical thought to get something for Sasha, although it was laughable for multiple reasons, he could only reason that it could be for saving him, General Yunan.

Yet he drew a blank once more.

It was a tad annoying how lost he'd been feeling lately, to the point that he felt as if someone had it out for him.

Sprig was busy leaping up and down the aisles, sweeping the staff he'd bought about relentlessly. Anne seemed to be shuffling about the lower shelves, Leo couldn't infer why, from what she'd said her mum wouldn't be interested in any pens or ink.

"Anne? What are looking for, something for your mum?"

Almost spilling the ink pot, she was holding onto, Anne jerked her head back to him, "Y-Yeah, I'm just a little lost on what it should be. I mean it has to be special, it's a gift for my mum from another world!"

It was weird, to Leo it looked like she was trying to change the subject.

Before he could pick into the subject, Sprig swung down from the light ahead, "Well, you said she likes antiques, butterflies, and teas, right?" The pink frog listed off all of her mums' interests that she'd told them, "What about this box of herbal tea?"

"Mm, too boring. If I got tea from a world filled with talking frogs, I wouldn't be too impressed," Anne brushed aside.

"This dead butterfly?" Leo suggested, only getting grim looks from the two.

Anne listened to them list off a plethora of ideas, but none of them seemed right. If it was going to be for her mum then she had to make sure it was perfect, to make up for all the lost time, the fact that she'd gone missing for who knows how long.

If it wasn't perfect then it wouldn't make the cut, not in a situation like this.

Then, as if the store itself had answered her beckoning pleas, she spotted a poster selling everything she could possibly want in a souvenir for her mum.

"A butterfly decorated teapot, and it's an antique made by a renowned artist in Newtopia! Anne this is the perfect gift for your mum!"

Anne couldn't agree more, she was locked on getting the teapot even if meant spending well beyond the two coppers Hop Pop had offered her.

"Sorry but it's not for sale," From the other side of the room, the shopkeeper seemed to be eavesdropping on them.

"What no!" Acting on pure instinct, the bush-haired girl rushed to the counter, "I'll pay 50, no 500. I will pay you 90,000 coppers!"

"Anne, you have two coppers.." Sprig was quickly shushed; the teenage girl was clearly trying her own desperate attempt at haggling.

Leo and Anne made eye contact for a moment, with the former slowly unsheathing his sword from his back, getting a furious look from her as she rapidly shook her head.

"Fine, how can we get it then?" Leo made sure to glance at the floor, it was a bad habit for sure, but if he looked straight at the newt, he was sure he'd just end up cowering behind the desk.

"It's at our annual smash and mash, if you win it then you can get that teapot!" Without any hesitation, Anne snatched the pen from out of his hands writing her and Sprig down for it.

"I'm winning that derby no matter what!"

"Hah! Fat chance that's happening, not when I'm taking part," Appearing behind them was a menacing-looking newt, with scars tattered all across her body, her tail especially being bandaged and wounded.

If Leo wasn't intimidated, he would've been impressed.

Poking out from her shoulder was a small blue pollywog, who didn't seem that much older than Polly, give or take a few months, "Hey mum, how do you write winner?"

"Oh, just put your name down, sweetie. Trust me, Priscilla the Killer is gonna win that derby just like she has for the past twenty years!"

Anne didn't have much else to say, forced to watch as the newt wrote her name down and left the shop, a cocky grin still wiped along her face

Slightly unnerved, Leo took the paper it his hands, "I'll sign up as well, I'll be by myself, but it gives us a better chance at winning, especially considering who was up against," Anne's eyes were fixated on Leo's hands as he wrote down his name surprisingly neatly, it was strange considering how little he still remembered.

His eyes were so tranquil as he wrote something as simple as his name, like pools of blood that had become ever still.

"That's that, we should probably get ready right?" Leo quirked, passing the sheet back to the newt and glancing over to Anne, who seemed to be locked onto the pen in his hands.

He wasn't why she was, but it made him nervous nonetheless, ever since his outing with Hop Pop he'd become incredibly more aware of her.

That was part of the reason he wanted to help because he cared about Anne. And if getting that teapot meant participating in a derby esc shopping cart brawl then so be it.

If he couldn't come up with anything to do for his souvenir, then he'd do anything within his power to make sure she could get hers, especially since it wasn't for any selfish desire, Anne genially wanted to get a gift her mum would remember.

And Leo wanted to respect that at the very least, he had no memory of his own parents if he even had any and if he did then what were they thinking of him now?

He didn't want to think on that now, he'd get nowhere if did anyway, it was a fruitless thought that had no end for him.

For now, he'd focus on helping Anne, it at least gave him some purpose for the day, to take his mind away from what was really eating away at him, that he couldn't make a decision to stick to both Amphibia or Earth.

So, what good would a memento for it be if he didn't know where he belonged in the first place?


The trio found themselves outside the barrier pertaining to the smash-and-mash arena, a whole crowd of people were already in a skirmish just for a cart, going so far as the smash them into one another or bash them just as fiercely into the metal.

"Is the cart really that important?" Leo questioned, getting his answer upon witnessing Anne sniffing one of them, even going so far as to lick the handle, determining it as nothing more than above average.

"If you get a bad cart then that ruins how you ride, if the wheels are too loose or the handle is too rigid or doesn't fit in properly, all of it as to be just perfect!"

Leo just shrugged in response; he wasn't planning to go so far as to taste the cart, but he could at least make sure it wouldn't fall apart if he were to use it, "If that newt's planning to win then I doubt she's not willing to go all out.." He mumbled to himself, lightly kicking at the front wheels, testing for security.

Anne on the other hand was taking notice of Priscilla, who had already picked out a cart along with her daughter, "Relax Pearl, I've been winning the derby for the past twenty years, one lanky creature and her squirt of a frog ain't gonna change that!"

"That's not what I'm worried about, it's your tail, it still isn't better since your last derby!"

"Ah, so what. I don't need my tail to win, I can beat anyone here without it!" Despite Priscilla's own confidence, her daughter didn't seem all too convinced.

Leo took notice of it as well, making a note for later, if there was anything he could exploit in this match then he'd be sure to do so, he was getting Anne that teapot no matter what.

They all converged around the ring of the arena, most of them were teams of two, slightly irking Leo a bit, as much as he wanted to help, he was at a clear disadvantage, especially considering who they seemed to be up against.

It wasn't just Priscilla, there were toads of all sizes, staring at him without an ounce of fear in their eyes, boring straight through his own.

"Don't worry, we've got this! Even Hop Pop's cheering us on!" Anne gestured over to the orange frog, leaning over a chair in pure ecstasy, "...Actually, never mind I don't know what that is."

"He's definitely cheering on something," Leo said abruptly.

Taking his entire sword sheath from the strap attached around his back, Leo got it at the ready, he was sure that using an actual sword in the event wouldn't be allowed, so he settled for an unsheathed blade.

Sprig was the same, holding the bamboo staff outwards prepping for anyone who aimed for them.

Anne revved the cart as if she was shifting its gears, shooting a snarl Priscilla having it returned by the newt, who was all the more ready.

It wasn't as if she was directly planning to abuse what she heard from the scarred newt, but if the situation arose that she could use it to win, then she wouldn't waste it.

The teapot was the only souvenir she wanted, nothing else seemed as if were fit for her mum, for all the time the two of them had been separated nothing else seemed right, Anne hoped it would make up for all the lost time.

She had to.

Just like that, the bell was rung and the circled group each set off after one another, whilst at a severe disadvantage Leo did his best to combat them all, having to both pushes aside any on comers whilst also keeping the shopping cart alive.

He quickly came to the realization that using his unsheathed katana wasn't so far out of the realm of possibility and his way of fighting seemed childlike compared to the giant maces other toads were using.

Two carts were rushing Anne and Sprig, and the pink frog had managed to both parry and seemingly blast away the duo.

Without any space to intervene though, the two bullfrogs furiously swung their bats around smashing them downwards toward them both.

Leo cut in as they did, using the cart as more of a battering ram, swinging it off the ground and right in the toads' hard shoulders, sending them spiraling out of bounds leaving only three of them remaining.

"Alright, it's just us and-" Leo quickly interjected, feeling his body scrunch up as both he and the cart skidded along the rails enclosing the arena. Quickly recovering, Leo ground his shoe against the spinning wheels putting it to an immediate halt.

Leo picked himself up and watched in shock as Anne and Priscilla were both driving straight through the golden barriers; the commentator simply brushed it aside as part of the experience.

"Here I've trying to stay within the boundaries..." Leo sighed, following soon after them, "...Games in Amphibia make no sense."

Anne kept up her own strength as she shoved both her and Sprig's entire weight into Priscilla, it didn't seem like she was planning to budge either way, Anne felt the same forcing herself back just as hard.

Leo had only now just caught up with them all, rolling alongside the shopping cart as if it were a scooter, struggling to keep his balance as he moved.

Now that the three of them were engaged with one another, Leo was taking it upon himself to close in on Prisicilla's left whilst Anne prioritized her right, the two of them boxing her in.

She shook them off before they could even realize, although it seemed she was definitely starting to feel pressured, creating some distance between them both, "You runts think you can team up to beat me, don't think you can win that easily mop top, you two frosty.."

"..Mop top!?" Anne exclaimed.

"Frosty?" Leo sounded a lot more confused at the insult than hurt.

"I think it's the white hair," Sprig pointed out, Leo gapped his mouth in the shape of an 'o' as a marking of understanding.

They run into each other once more, bouncing straight off each other they skirted away from one another, "Go!" Anne yelled, seemingly to herself.

Leo followed soon after, the three were once again interlocked in a heated fight charging ever forward through the crowd of newts, all of them separating as they did.

That was until they parted to the point that Polly was now right in the headway of their assault, she only took notice of the fact at the worst time, her snail chauffeur had tucked inside of his shell, too scared to move an inch.

"NOT THE BABY!" They all screamed in unison.

Leo came to a quick stop, managing to maneuver himself out of the way and into one of the barriers. Anne was quick on her feet as well, smashing her foot into the cart as she lifted it upwards, carrying her and Sprig right overhead.

Priscilla wasn't as lucky, having to act on instinct, "I have to use my tail!" She cried out, despite her daughters pleas she wrapped a bandaged and wounded tail around the nearest pole using it as the only way to slow herself down coming to a stop at just the right second.

Polly exhaled in relief as it just barely stopped in front of her, "Yeah, I wasn't worried..." She shuddered, slowly inching her bucket away along with the snail attached to it.

Squinting his eyes, Leo took action, Prisicilla was pretty much out of the brawl already, he only need to land a few final blows to seal the deal.

Anne seemed somewhat hesitant to move, going to ask whether Priscilla was alright. Leo had done so without any need for questions, barrelling straight into the cart with all the might he had, the newt had barely any time to react, flailing around as she tried to get back up on her feet.

"Wait, my mums' tail! She's hurt!" Pearl attempted to reason with him, but Leo refused to listen. Not because he was choosing to it was simply that his eyes were set completely on winning, he wasn't taking into account that Priscilla could barely stand anymore.

He was only focused on winning whatever way he could, he had to make sure Anne could earn that teapot so she could share it with her mum, so it could be an actual souvenir they could appreciate together.

If he couldn't then she deserved that much and more, that was the least he wanted to bring for her, because he was too cowardly and indecisive on his own future to do so.

Without any kind of realization, Leo slammed them and the cart straight back into the guard rails around the derby, knocking Priscilla off of it and over to the ground.

"Leo, that's enough!" Before he could go any further than he already had, Leo finally let go of the cart in front of him, shaking off the uncertain chill down his back, "..S-Sorry, I was just trying to get the teapot."

Yet again, it was as if a switch had been flipped that reacted directly with his emotions, given how little he showed them it felt as if his body and mind reacted whenever he felt strongly about something.

But he didn't want anything like this to happen, it was practically against his will.

"It's okay dude, you didn't go too overboard, but it might have been a little too far. I want to win as well, but not like this," Anne intervened, patting him lightly on the shoulder, even she could see through the static state of his eyes, that he looked guilty over what he'd done.

That didn't seem all too important to the commentator who handed it over to Leo, declaring him as the official winner, without any thought he handed it back to Anne making his way over to Priscilla.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to go so far, I wasn't thinking properly," He helped the newt back onto her feet, shadowing his eyes behind his face once again.

It was a sad feeling, but he'd gotten awfully used to hiding them behind his hair.

"Don't sweat it, kid, that's the whole point of this thing, I was gonna do the same thing to you anyway," Priscilla faked a smile behind the obvious pain using her tail had caused, "But hey, you won, so appreciate it, the newt who made that...was one of a kind."

"One of a kind?" Anne briefly thought back to the poster inside the thrift store, it was describing the teapot perfectly.

"Yeah, she was the kind of newt who encouraged you to follow your dreams, even if they weren't exactly what she wanted, she'd still listen to you despite what you had to say, even cutting the crusts off your sandwich because she knew you didn't like em'."

Anne glanced between Priscilla and the teapot; it was pretty obvious to conclude the thought that was running through her mind, "Was the artist, your mum?"

Pausing, Prisicilla's face twisted with grief, "Yeah," She uttered sadly.

She could somewhat relate to that feeling, missing someone that you can't see to the point that you would try anything to capture some memory of them.

It was almost ironic how much Anne felt the same way, the teapot was supposed to be a memento, something for her to keep for her mum but also herself so that she could remember, even if was just within an item that reminded Anne of her.

She couldn't rob Priscilla of that feeling, "You know, I was planning to give this to my mum, but I feel as if you deserve it much more than I do.."

"No, I couldn't."

"I insist, really," Anne wasn't planning to take no for an answer, handing it over to her. Once she had, Pearl popped out from behind her mum's shoulder, "Thank you for giving this to us, you don't know how much this means to us."

She plucked away the blue butterfly pin attached around her ribbon, handing it over to her, "It's not exactly an antique but I made it with all the effort I could, so I want you to have it.."

Anne felt as if she could cry, gladly accepting it, "Thank you, it's really one of a kind."

Leo once again felt useless, like he'd pushed his own problems onto a situation so he could choose to ignore it because he was completely clueless on how to deal with it himself, he didn't know how he was supposed to feel.

Frustrated, upset, or even angry, he didn't have any real souvenir to share with anyone or one that he felt he should resonate with himself.


It was late, later than Leo liked to be awake – but what was he supposed to do when he was being repeatedly shaken as he attempted to sleep?

Once he had, he was almost startled to see Anne staring directly at him through the darkness, knocking him off the bed and the too the floor.

"Sorry dude, I know you're a heavy sleeper but seriously.." Anne murmured, sitting him back up so they were facing each other, "I've got something to show you so try to wake up a little."

Leo did his best to try and stay awake, although he didn't want to fully wake his body up, it was still late, and it was still late so he still needed enough sleep, "What is it? This is really the time for this Anne.."

All of a sudden, a pen was abruptly shoved right in his face, it was anything particularly fancy he could see that much in the darkness. As the moonlight peered through the windows facing the bed, Leo could better make out the engraving along it, a simple Lilypad in a golden hue.

"What's this for?" He spoke lowly, trying not to wake anyone up. Anne gently cupped it in his hands, "I was so busy trying to get something for my mum I didn't realize that you hadn't planned to get anything."

Blinking at her words, Leo stared at the pen perplexed, he wasn't even aware that she was making a note of that, "..I wasn't sure what kind of souvenir I wanted," He tried to play it off as a joke, but he quickly realized he wasn't suited for that.

Anne giggled nonetheless, even if she hadn't found it all that funny, "That's like you. B-But, I wanted to get something for you, so you could at least have a memento to remember Newtopia by, you're always writing in your journal, aren't you?"

"I didn't get you anything though," Leo admonished, feeling a tad upset that he hadn't thought to do so, he was agitated to buy something for Anne, Sprig, or anyone else that he thought was a selfish way out.

But there was no reason for him to think that.

"You've already helped me a lot Leo, I don't want anything in return I just wanted to do this for you, you know," Anne smiled, although Leo could make out the blush dusted over her face.

Taking the pen into his hands, Leo yet again felt the same feeling he'd felt before swelling up within his chest – it was always whenever he was around Anne that it happened, but he still wasn't sure why, "Thanks. I appreciate it, really."

"No problem...I just wanted to show that I appreciate you, really, I do," Anne smiled gently at him, making her way back to the window, holding onto the butterfly pin, lightly scratching it.

"I'm sure your mum will like that as a gift," Leo was able to smile back, it wasn't forced or fake, it was genuine.

Anne took some solace in what he said, opening the sliding doors as she stepped onto the balcony, staring up at the blood-red moon above, "Yeah, I hope she will."

Without much else to say, Leo got back into the bed, listening in as Sprig woke himself up, meeting Anne outside.

Leo had wanted to say something else, but chose against it, as much as he wanted to do whatever he could for Anne, there wasn't anything he could say right now.

As much as it sounded awful to him, it wasn't his place. But he wanted it to be, at some point he wanted to be that kind of person.

...

I actually really enjoyed how this chapter turned out so I hope you did as well, I focus a lot on Leo within this story so I tried to give Anne some focus within this chapter as well.

Of course, this mainly focused on how indecisive Leo is, not sure where he belongs, which is something I've been trying to build off of with certain chapters so I hope you don't find me bringing it up as a plot point too repetitive, it is a big part of his character not sure who he is.

Only two chapters left of the Newtopia arc, the next one will focus on the Sleepover to end all sleepovers so look forward to it, I have an idea of what I wanna do with Leo and Polly's relationship in that one.