It had been a day since they returned from the Temple of Heart, and Anne was feeling pretty good. Two stones were charged up, and now she had attained her Super Form. Anne was starting to wonder if Luz had received her Final Form yet. She hoped not, otherwise she was going to lose the race.
Currently, the Thai teen was in the woods, dressed in her swimsuit and trunks, practicing her Muay Thai. After getting back from the temple, Anne had felt stronger, and now that she had some time to think about it, this power was strangely similar to the power she had when she fought against Lich, and again when she fought the first chimera fallen back in Newtopia.
Huh, maybe my Super Form was trying to break loose and was having a hard time coming out. Guess I needed to go to the temple in order to have it unlocked, thought Anne.
She was actually kind of giddy about the whole thing, only one more stone was left before they had the box fully charged and ready to go. Of course, their return to Earth would probably not be long. Anne had put some thought into it over the past few weeks and decided that it would be better if they popped back to Earth, ensured their parents that they were not dead or anything, and then hop back to Amphibia in order to continue their fight against The Night and its Fallen.
Now that presented its own problems as well. How long was their battle with The Night going to last? They had no idea where it was, or how it was able to create these Fallen. If they knew exactly where it was, then they could attack it head on and be done with it. But rarely does the final boss reveal itself that easily, heck, for all Anne knew, The Night was watching them right now, from some extradimensional in-between space where it could see but not interact.
Anne shivered at the thought of The Night watching them like a stalker. Better not be peeping on us.
The Thai teen threw a few punches in the air, followed up by an elbow strike, into a backhand, and followed up by an uppercut. Anne continued her combo by sweeping the ground with her right foot, and then lunging forward with a knee strike. She landed on her left foot and twirled around into a spinning roundhouse with her right leg before bringing it back down and reentering her ready stance. Anne took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, remembering her instructor's words of "Jai yen yen," to have patience and a cool heart.
So much has happened to her since all three of them were transported to Amphibia. She knew she was no longer the same person she was upon arriving here, that much was obvious to her. As amazing as it was, it also kind of worried her. Would her parents accept the kind of person she was now? Some nights Anne's mind plagued her with worries about what her parents would think of her when they found out she and Marcy were dating each other. Would they make her break up with Marcy? Would they disown her? Anne had to admit, she kind of wished she had talked to her parents about things like this, because now she was riddled with these little fears.
It was not as if her parents did not love her, she knew that much. But it was the unknown that scared her, it was that same unknown that almost made her not take the plunge of kissing Marcy for the first time, something that she will never regret. But what would this do for them going forward? Even if her parents were okay with it, what would the Wu's think? They struck her as kind of traditional, but more along the lines of, they don't mind it when it's happening to someone else's kid but might blow a gasket if it was there's.
Ugh, maybe we really should take a detour to the Demon Realm for a bit?
Anne threw another kick but stopped when she heard rustling from the trees behind her. She whirled around and got into a ready stance, but relaxed when she saw Marcy walking out from the bushes.
"Hey, Anne," Marcy greeted.
"Oh, hey, Mar-Mar, what's up? What's with the outfit?" Anne asked.
Marcy was wearing her school swimsuit again, but in much the same way as Anne had, she put on some shorts over it. She even wrapped her hands and feet and had a headband around her forehead to keep her hair out of her eyes.
"Um…I was wondering, do you think you could give me a lesson?" Marcy asked.
"You…You want to learn Muay Thai?"
"I figured it would be more beneficial to me if I did know some actual hand-to-hand combat. I might not always be able to use my bows, or my arm mounted crossbow. And if that happens, I want to be able to use my fists and to fight back when I have to," Marcy explained.
Anne smirked as she put her hands on her hips. "Oh? Is that so? And it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see me work out up close?"
Marcy blushed as she averted her gaze a bit. "Well…that's unavoidable, and you know, something I wouldn't mind seeing."
"I'm starting to understand what your type is now, you like athletic girls, don't ya? That's so cliché, Marbles," Anne chuckled.
"Oh, and it's not cliché for a sportsy girl to fall for a nerdy girl?"
Anne opened her mouth to retort, but it died in about a second. "Touché. Alright then, let's get started."
Anne began their lesson with having Marcy do some warmups, it went about as well as you would expect. Marcy was doing pushups, and while her physical strength had improved since becoming a Rider, the strain she was showing proved that she really was more equipped for agility and precision. After that, a few jumping jacks, and some stretching, Marcy had already worked up a sweat and was panting.
"Great, now we start for real," said Anne.
"G…Great…!"
Anne began showing Marcy some beginner moves, basic punches and kicks. She watched as Marcy got into her stance and frowned a bit. "Hold on, you need to widen your stance a bit more."
"Huh, it's not wide enough?" she asked.
"No, case in point." Anne rushed Marcy, pushing her a little.
The teen genius fell onto her back in a matter of seconds. "Ow…"
"You need a firm stance before anything." Anne offered Marcy a hand up, which she accepted and was brought back to her feet. "Now, do what I do."
Anne got into her stance slowly, letting Marcy see the placement of her arms, legs, and body. Marcy nodded and mimicked Anne's stance. When she did, Anne got out of hers and began to examine Marcy's.
"Hmm…you're right foot's little too far back, bring it a little closer in." Anne nudged the foot with her own, making Marcy blush when she felt their feet touch. "There, now raise your arms up a bit." Anne got behind Marcy and placed her hands under Marcy's arms, pushing them up a bit. "Good."
Marcy was starting to get fidgety, having Anne touch her bare skin like this was a bit overwhelming.
"Most importantly, you have to relax. Stay loose, and don't lock up your joints, otherwise you won't be able to react as fast as you should, and it makes it easier to not tear or break something."
"O-Okay…I didn't know you paid that much attention when you took those classes," said Marcy.
Anne chuckled. "Honestly, neither did I. It wasn't 'til all this Fallen fighting my lessons started flooding back to me, like muscle memory. And of course, some of the training sessions I've had with Felicia teaching me Frog Kata really helps, too. Anyway, let's start with a basic three punch combo. Remember, don't extend all the way or you'll hurt your elbows."
Anne showed Marcy the combo, a couple of jabs and into a straight punch. Marcy did as Anne showed, prompting Anne to correct her. "Okay, not bad, but you need to lead with your hips more."
"M-My what?!" Marcy squeaked.
"When you throw a straight punch, you need to put your body into it. The power comes from the hips. Watch my hip movements."
Marcy gulped, watching as Anne cocked back her right fist and watched as her hips moved with her, and then when she threw the punch, she witnessed how her hip rolled with the punch.
"See the difference?"
"Y-Yeah, I can see."
"Good, now after you're done drooling, show me what I did."
Marcy's face went bright red as she wiped her mouth and realized that she was not drooling, which only made it worse.
"You were so checking me out just now," Anne teased.
"You're the one who told me to watch your hips! So, I did!" Marcy shot back.
"Okay, cool, so you should be able to do what I showed you. Unless you were just ogling me and not really paying attention," Anne teased again.
Marcy was getting a bit annoyed, but she bit her tongue on that and got back into her stance. Determined to prove Anne wrong. The Chinese girl threw two jabs and then, just like Anne showed her, threw her straight punch, putting her hips into the punch as she did. Marcy had to admit, she could definitely tell a world of difference compared to her first attempt.
"Whoa, that really does make a difference!" Marcy exclaimed.
"That's what I'm talking about."
"Told ya I wasn't just ogling you."
"So, you admit that you were, good, so long as you're paying attention, Mar-Mar," said Anne.
Marcy spluttered as she tried to come back at Anne, but she had her, she just admitted to ogling her. "You get some kind of sick kick out of doing this to me, don't you?"
"A little, yes."
Marcy rolled her eyes but smiled anyway as they continued the lesson. About thirty minutes in, Anne began showing Marcy some simple combos she could do, they spent the next ten minutes letting Marcy memorize the combos and practice them. It was one thing to know them, another thing to commit them to muscle memory. A full hour passed by, and Anne decided that they should take a break.
Anne and Marcy sat up against a tree, panting a bit from the work out. The Thai girl popped open a water bottle she had brought with her and drank some of the contents, afterwards, she handed it over to Marcy, who eagerly accepted it and gulped some down.
"Heh, I'm surprised you didn't make a big deal about just having an indirect kiss with me," said Anne.
"We've literally kissed on the lips more than once, an indirect one is no big deal," Marcy replied.
Anne chuckled. "Yeah, you're right."
The two girls sat in silence for a bit, just listening to the sounds of the forest around them. Marcy glanced over at her girlfriend, noticing that she seemed to have a troubled look.
"Hey, Anne, what's going on?" Marcy asked.
"…I don't know, I guess I've just been thinking a lot lately. We're almost close to having the music box charged up, and…I'm just trying to figure out what happens after we get back to Earth," Anne admitted.
Marcy gulped. "O-Oh…like what?"
"Well, the most important thing besides what to do about The Night and the Fallen, us."
"Us…?" Marcy started to get worried. "You don't want to break up after we get back, do you?"
Anne's eyes flew wide open as she turned to Marcy and retorted, "No! No, Mar-Mar, I don't want that! And that's part of why I've been thinking so hard after the last temple. I know I don't want that; I like what we have, and I don't want to break that up. But I know we're going to have to face our parents about this."
Marcy twiddled her thumbs nervously. She wanted to put Anne's mind at ease, what with the proposal from King Andrias about continuing their adventures. Maybe now was the right time to tell her? If Anne was this worried about the two of them possibly being separated, perhaps she would be open to the idea of staying in Amphibia, or just multiverse hopping to continue fighting evil as Riders? Anne might be even more onboard about the idea if she told her that her parents were planning to move them out of state, they would be separated by hundreds of miles.
I know there are ways to keep in touch. The internet, texting, calling, but that doesn't work for what we have now! Long distance relationships rarely, if at all, work out for any couple. Life happens, and Anne might fall in love with someone else…or Anne might start to think that what we started here in Amphibia was just something that was better left in Amphibia, that it was too hard to continue our relationship back home…
"Anne…if you're parents said we couldn't be together, what would you do?" Marcy asked.
Anne was honestly caught off guard by that question, it stunned her. It was a thought that plagued her like the others, her parents' rejection of their relationship. It was always in the back of her head, always something she knew that she would need to confront them about. Anne started to feel scared as she hugged her legs closer to her chest. She loved her parents, as strict as her mom could be, she loved her and missed her. She could already hear what they were probably going to say to rationalize why they were a couple.
"Anne, you had a traumatic experience, and you and Marcy developed a relationship so that you could cope and survive in that world. But now you're back home, you are safe. You don't need to keep this up."
"You're mother is right, Anne. It's not healthy to keep clinging onto Marcy, or for her to cling onto you. We'll get you two some therapy to help you get through this."
This isn't something that was born of trauma! Anne argued. I like Marcy, I love her! And she loves me!
Marcy could see that her question was upsetting Anne, so she scooted closer and hugged her. "I'm sorry, I know you love your parents very much. Honestly, I love them, too. They're really fun. Especially your dad, he's a total gamer!"
Anne smiled a bit. "Yeah, of course you two would hit it off."
"Anne…"
"Yeah?"
"…We'll figure it out together. I promise things will work out," said Marcy.
Anne smiled at Marcy and leaned into her. "Yeah, we've come this far together, right?"
"Yeah."
Not yet…I don't want to give Anne false hope. We need the box to be fully charged first. But at least she might be open to the idea if she's this worried about being apart from me.
Anne sighed as she slowly broke away from Marcy's embrace. "Okay, I'm feeling less anxious now. Let's look into getting things ready for the last temple."
Marcy nodded. "Great, I've almost got the coordinates for it, won't even take me an hour."
"Wow, that was fast," Anne remarked.
"I know, strangely, this last one's not that hard to track down. That also makes me worry that this one might be more dangerous."
Anne stood up, with Marcy doing the same. "Then I guess we better go and prepare for it."
"Great!"
The couple began heading back to the Plantar farm, and as they did Marcy whistled conspiratorially.
"Hey, Anne, since this last temple's probably going to be a doozy, I think we can agree that you probably need some new gear, right?" Marcy asked.
Anne recalled her normal attire, more specifically her un-shoed right foot, with a sock that was looking a bit raggedy from all their adventures.
"Fair point."
"Good! 'Cause I put in a request for Newtopia's best armorer to come here tomorrow to give you a whole new look!"
"New look," as in…a makeover…NNOOOOOO!
The battle had been glorious, but not lengthy as she expected. The King of Amphibia and his forces were no match for Sasha and her Kamen Rider powers, along with the army of toads that she and Grime commanded. Together they swept through the city, like a tidal wave of power that swallowed up everything, and within little less than a day they had seized control of Newtopia
The city was currently in lockdown, as there were some newts who protested the new toad regime, but one look at Sasha as Bellona, and the resistance within the city had come to a halt. The poison that she had made came in handy, it managed to keep Anne and Marcy from using their own Kamen Rider powers, and thanks to that, this takeover went a lot smoother. As much as she wanted to teach that frog family a lesson, Sasha knew she would lose any leverage or chance of convincing Anne to come back to her if she had them executed, so for now, they were locked up, far from where Anne and Marcy were. If she wanted any chance of getting them to listen to her, then Sasha needed to be alone with them.
For now, King Andrias was being held in a cell. Grime and the other Toad Lords were going to have a discussion on whether or not he should be executed. Such a thing would severely decrease the morale of the remaining Newtopian forces within the city, and those stationed abroad. But given that the kingdom relied mostly on the toads to keep order in the land, it was a safe bet that those stations were already taken over. Much to their surprise, Sasha threw in her two cents about the matter, deciding not to execute him. Otherwise, they might turn him into something worse, a martyr. And if that happened, the frogs and newts in Amphibia would most definitely resist and keep resisting. But if Andrias stayed alive, then they had leverage over the citizens.
Well, Sasha just voiced her opinion, either way she was going to rule over this world, it was a guaranteed thing. Sasha had made some extra vials of the poison before she made her little trek down to the dungeon. When Sasha arrived, she found two toads guarding the cell where Marcy and Anne were being held. The two toads saluted her, and she saluted them back.
"Give me ten minutes, I want to speak with them alone," said Sasha.
The two toads nodded and left the area, when Sasha was sure she heard the door close she unlocked the cell and entered. Anne was slumped up against the wall, standing and glaring at her defiantly, while Marcy was sitting down in a corner, and she looked afraid.
"Hey girls, sorry about all this, I just needed you two out of the way until this all got sorted out," said Sasha.
"What…What did you do…to the…the Plantars?" Anne asked.
"They're safe, Anne, I promise. They're in a cell far from here," Sasha assured.
"How…How can I believe you! You…You tricked me, again…!"
Sasha sighed. "I know it'll be hard to rebuild the trust we had, but now that the toads have pretty much taken control of everything, we can start living like we want."
"How you want us to live…" Anne corrected.
"Sasha…You…How could you do this…?" Marcy asked.
"I did this for US! I don't want us to be hating or hurting each other! You think I like having to put you two in here?! Do you think I enjoy having to poison you?! I don't! I just want things to be better!" Sasha retorted.
Sasha walked up to Anne; the Thai girl's mind was still too foggy to put up any real resistance. But she tried. As soon as Sasha got closer, she threw a right punch, in her mind it may have been moving fast, but in reality, it was moving really slow. Sasha easily grabbed Anne's wrist and stopped the punch before it could make contact and pinned that arm against the wall. Anne tried to punch with her left fist, but Sasha just pinned that one against the wall, too.
"L-Let…me…go!"
"Never, Anne. I won't let go this time, not you, or Marcy. I've finally figured myself out, and now I know that I want more than just friendship," said Sasha.
"What else…could you possibly…want from me…?!"
"Your lips."
Sasha silenced any further words from Anne as she pressed her lips against Anne's. It took a moment before Anne finally realized what Sasha was doing, she tried to fight back, she struggled and groaned in protest, but Sasha only pressed her body against Anne, pinning her to the wall as she deepened the kiss. Anne eventually stopped resisting, not because she liked it, but because she knew in her current state there was nothing she could do to stop this. Sasha broke the kiss and panted, her face red with desire.
"I want you, Anne, all of you. I want you and Marcy at my side, as more than just my friends. I want you as my girlfriends."
"You can't…seriously…expect me…to fall in love with you…after everything…you've done!" Anne shot back.
"I can, and you will. I'll give you everything, Anne. A place at my side, and someone who will care for you and love you." Sasha glanced to Marcy and said, "Mar-Mar, everything I'm saying to Anne, it goes for you, too. I want you both."
"Marcy's…not going to–!"
"Do you mean it…?"
Anne slowly turned her head towards Marcy and saw a look that made her heart sink. Marcy looked happy, she looked genuinely happy to hear that from Sasha.
"I do, Mar-Mar, I want you. We'll rule as queens here," said Sasha.
Marcy managed to rise to her feet and walked over to them. Sasha let go of Anne and met Marcy halfway. She brought the nerd girl into her arms and proceeded to kiss her just as passionately as he did Anne, making sure that both knew how serious she was. When they broke the kiss, Marcy looked up at her with a dopey grin.
"I want to…be with you, Sasha," said Marcy.
"You promise to be my good girl? And not make me have to use this?" Sasha reached into the pouch on her belt and produced a syringe filled with the poison.
"Of course…I promise…you'll never…have to use that…on me," Marcy assured.
"Marcy…!" Anne exclaimed.
"See, Anne, Marcy knows what's up. I promise things will be different."
"No!"
Sasha sighed. "Okay."
The blonde girl rushed over to Anne and pinned her against the wall again, and with a quick maneuver, she threw Anne against the floor. Sasha took out the syringe and tried to inject Anne in the neck, but she was making it difficult.
"Stop struggling, Anne! I don't want to accidentally hit something important! Ah, screw this."
Sasha pressed down on Anne's right arm and stabbed the needle into her upper arm, quickly injecting her with the poison. Anne's thrashing lessened as the poison entered her system.
"You'll be like this for a bit longer, Anne. I don't want to have to keep doing this to you, but I will if you don't shape up." Sasha stood up and reached out to Marcy. "C'mon, Marcy, let's head up."
Marcy walked over to Sasha and took her hand as she led her out of the cell. Leaving Anne behind.
There was another Sasha watching this all unfold, like a spectator. The scene flashed forward, now showing an older Sasha sitting upon the throne of Amphibia. Her hair had been let down, and she was wearing more regal looking armor. If she had to guess, she was at least in her twenties. Marcy was at her side, dressed in a rather cute outfit, but what disturbed Sasha was the fact that Marcy was wearing a collar like some kind of pet.
"What the hell is that?"
"Bring her here," said older Sasha.
The doors to the throne room opened and a toad guard came in, with a chain in his left hand, and on the other end of that chain was Anne, also older. She had a collar around her neck and was dressed in raggedy clothes. Young Sasha could also see some bruises and scars on her friend's body, someone had hurt her.
"What the hell happened to her?!" Sasha ran up to the older Anne as she was brought to the foot of the throne. "Anne what happened to you?! Who did this to you?!"
"Why do you have to be so stubborn, Boonchuy? You've been scorning me for close to ten years now, Anne. Marcy learned to shape up, and she's enjoying her new life, aren't you?"
"Yes, mistress," Marcy replied happily.
Young Sasha blushed. "MISTRESS?! WHAT KIND OF KINKY CRAP IS THAT?!"
Older Anne was about to say something, but it looked like the effort alone was tiring.
Older Sasha walked down from her throne and said, "The poison's done a real number on you, huh? You can barely talk, and you have a hard time thinking. But you still manage to hang onto that hate."
Older Sasha grinned evilly as she took Anne's chin into her right hand.
"Well, you know what? I'm okay with that. I have an obedient pet girlfriend. I have a kingdom that's mine to control. There's no one in this world stronger than me. And you, well, you're pretty much just my toy at this point, Anne. Something for me to play with however I like, a living doll." Older Sasha swiftly moved her hand behind Anne's head as she took a fistful of her hair. "You'll break eventually, Anne. And when that happens, I'll remake you into the perfect, obedient pet!"
Young Sasha shook her head at this, she heard those words coming from her mouth, but that's not what she wanted. She did not want any of that. She wanted Marcy and Anne to love her, not to have them become…this.
"Stop it…STOP IT THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANT!"
Older Sasha threw Anne to the floor, and then, unexpectedly, she looked in younger Sasha's direction. "Isn't it? Don't you want to control them? Don't you want them to do as you say? Then this is the only way it will happen. The only way to keep them at your side is to make them yours, by any means necessary."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I'M NOT A MONSTER! I'M NOT LIKE THAT?!"
Older Sasha laughed mockingly at her younger self. "Wake up and smell the swamp gas, Waybright! This is you! I AM YOU! This is what you've really wanted deep down in your heart! And it's the very thing you look forward to on the day everything goes down!"
Younger Sasha had tears in her eyes as she furrowed her brow. She unsheathed her sword and ran for her older self and in the next moment…
"NOOOOO!" Sasha screamed as she bolted upright in her bed.
The young teen panted, sweat dripping down her face and making her clothes stick to her skin. In her right hand she held a dagger that she had hidden under her pillow. When she looked at her hand, she saw that it was shaking, Sasha dropped the knife and gripped her right wrist with her left hand, but the shaking was still happening.
Sasha threw off the blankets and rushed into the bathroom, turning on the faucet, and splashing water in her face as she looked at herself in the mirror. For a moment, the image of her older self appeared in the reflection, grinning at her sinisterly. Sasha punched the mirror, shattering it to pieces and cutting up her hand a little. The stinging pain was a good distraction, but that's all it was.
"I'm not like that…I'm not some monster…I just want to be with them…I want us to be together…" Sasha began to cry as she slowly fell to her knees. "What's so wrong about that…? Why can't I keep the people I care about together…?"
Unbeknownst to Sasha, Grime had heard her screaming and rushed to her bedroom. He stood outside her bedroom door and heard what she said. It really did seem as if something happened to Sasha before she came to Amphibia. From a tactical perspective, he had to nip this in the bud before their plans were fully in motion, otherwise Sasha could end up doing something she might regret.
Grime knocked at the door and said, "Lieutenant, are you alright? I heard screaming."
Sasha's eyes widened and hurriedly wiped her face, splashing more water onto it, but hissing when the water touched the cuts. "Y-Yeah! All good, Grimesy!"
"…I'm coming in."
"W-What?! No! Don't come in here! I…I…I'm changing!"
"Something that means absolutely nothing to me."
Sasha face palmed herself, she was a human, and he was a toad, what did it matter if he did? At most it was like seeing an animal in their fur as far as he was concerned.
Grime opened the door and Sasha rushed into the room but paused when she saw Grime now standing in the doorway. The former toad captain looked at Sasha's hand, and then glanced over to the bathroom and noticed the mirror was shattered.
"G-Grime I…I…"
"Let's get that cleaned up, Lieutenant. We don't need those cuts getting infected," said Grime in a neutral tone.
Sasha felt like protesting, but she was too emotionally exhausted to fight it. She walked over to her bed and sat down while Grime collected the first aid kit in the bathroom and cleaned up some of the glass. Once he had, he walked back into the room and knelt in front of her as he went to work.
"It's not my place to ask, what happened in your world is your business, but if it's going to affect the mission, I think I need to know," said Grime.
"It won't, I'll be over this by the morning, I promise."
"Forgive me, but given what I see here, I'm not inclined to trust your own assessment of the matter. Tell me, Lieutenant, what's eating at you? And don't tell me it's only Anne and Marcy, you wouldn't be acting up this much over just them," said Grime.
Sasha remained quiet for a solid minute, but Grime made no push for her to speak. The blonde teen sighed and said, "My parents divorced…"
Grime briefly paused his wrapping of Sasha's hand, but then went back to it. "I'm listening."
"It happened right before I got into middle school…everything was great…at least I thought so. But looking back, I think my mom and dad were slowly falling out of love…When they finally told me what was happening, I was…upset…I'm still upset about it…"
Sasha eyes started to water a bit.
"I didn't really understand why, I mean…was it something I did? Something I didn't do? Was there something I could've said or done to keep our family together?! I…I don't know anymore…! Everything was decided without anyone telling me, I was told I was going to live with my Mom. It's not like I hate her, I love both my parents, which was why I didn't understand why we couldn't still be together! So many things were happening around me, and not one part of it was anything I could control!"
Grime nodded as he listened, he was starting to get a clearer picture of Sasha now.
"That's why I love having Anne and Marcy, they're the one thing I can count on, the two people I love and care about most who will stay by my side! Have I been controlling, manipulative, and aggressive at times towards them? Yes, okay, I admit it! But I did it for their own good! I did it so that we could stay together and never be apart! That way things never needed to change!…At least that's the way they were until we came here…Anne…Anne fought me…she defied me…And now I hear they have Kamen Rider powers and are saving the world together! It's like they're getting further and further away from me, and I can't catch up to them! And soon…"
Sasha placed her face into her left hand as she sobbed.
"I can't lose them, Grime! I can't! I don't know what I'll do if that happens! I had a nightmare! It was one where we won and took over Amphibia, but the me in that nightmare didn't love Anne and Marcy, she used them. Treated Marcy like a pet, and Anne as some kind of slave toy! That's not me! That's not what I want from them!"
Grime finished his work and looked at Sasha with his glowing eye and asked, "Then tell me, Lieutenant, what is it that you want?"
"I want to rule this world with you, but I also want my friends!" Sasha exclaimed.
Grime sighed as he sat next to her. "Like I said, Sasha, every dream has its price. You know as well as I do, when we start this, Anne and Marcy may very well never forgive you for what we do."
Sasha shuddered. "Please don't say that…"
"It's a possibility, and one that you need to prepare yourself for. But…" Grime gingerly raised his left hand and patted Sasha on the shoulder. "If all else fails, just know that you will always have me at your side. I owe you for teaching me how to become a better leader, and I owe you for dragging me out of my wallow of self-pity, and reminding me of the warrior I once was, and still am! You have earned my loyalty, Lieutenant, and I will follow you into any battle. I don't know if that will give you any comfort but – Whoa now!"
Suddenly, Sasha threw her arms around Grime and hugged him fiercely. Grime held his arms up awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable with what was happening right now. Also, he was not completely sure as to what he should do. The former tower captain slowly lowered his right hand and patted her on the pack.
"Um…yes…well, there, there, Lieutenant."
Sasha, realizing what she was doing, quickly released Grime. "Uh, wow, sorry about that. I…I don't know why I did that."
"Ahem, it's fine, Lieutenant," said Grime, awkwardly.
The former tower captain got up from the bed and headed to the door.
"Best try and get some sleep, we have much to do in the morning."
"I will…thanks, Captain."
Grime glanced over his shoulder and said, "Goodnight, Sasha," before closing the door.
For some reason, Sasha felt a little better. She had never discussed her parent's divorce with anyone, let alone about how it made her feel. Heck, not even Anne and Marcy knew how she felt. Mostly because she kept it to herself, she was Sasha Waybright, she as the strong one of their group, and more or less the queen bee of Saint James Middle School, she could not show weakness. If she did, then that would signal to the rest of the popular crowd that she was easy pickings, and if that was the case, then they'd go after Anne and Marcy without restraint or fear of consequences.
Sasha laid back down on her bed and sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. I won't become that…it'll all work out, it has to…