Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello!!!!!

Very nice to meet y'all :)

If you haven't read the first work of this series, why are you here? Go do that!

Otherwise you will probably be confused

...

Ah! You're back!

I expect you have read it then... right?

Anyway, I'll have my own ideas but I would love if you guys commented some of yours!

Some rules:

• Has to be fit for the Species AU
• No smut

(more will be added if needed)

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Text

Sasha shot up, her breathing uneven, her heart pounding. She looked around, she was back in her room.  

"Just a nightmare" she whispered.  

After a few more seconds of just sitting there and trying to catch her breath, she got out of bed. For about a week now she had a recurring nightmare, about her parents. She grabbed her cape, the one Braddock and Percy made for her. It was a little too large, but that was alright, she would grow into it. She put it on and climbed up the rope ladder that she installed to get to the trapdoor. When she opened it, the cold wind tugged at her hair. She stood on top of the tower, with only her pajamas and cape to protect her from the cold. Very carefully she sat on the edge of the cape, putting on the hood to protect her ears from the biting cold. She could feel it seeping through her skin, into her bones, even the cape couldn’t fully protect her from the cold winters of Amphibia.  

"Pathetic, why did we have to have a daughter like her?" her parents' words echoed in her mind.  

Sasha shivered, both from the cold and the nightmare. At least the fresh air and the freezing cold grounded her, reminded her that she was at the Dwarf Tower, she wasn't there, in her old house. She looked at the dark forest, somewhere far inside it stood a small house with an attic. She could remember sitting in that attic looking out of the small broken window and wondering what existed outside the house. Now she knew, the world was so large, and she was a part of it, at last.  

"I'm so far away, and yet they still haunt me" whispers Sasha.  

Saying things out loud helps ground her, hearing her voice calms her. She isn't silenced anymore; she can speak freely. After a couple hours of sitting there and watching, she notices the sky slowly brightening. The sun peeks out from the horizon, slowly rising. As the stars start disappearing, Sasha stands up. Everyone will be waking up soon, she should probably get back down before she's noticed. Sasha opens the trapdoor and glances back at the sun. Another day. She goes down the rope ladder and closes the trapdoor. Sasha opens the window in her room, letting some fresh air in. She dresses in her armor and grabs her daggers. She reclips the cape. It's much warmer now, in her winter armor, but still cold. Sasha brushes her hair and touches the dark bags under her eyes. She frowns.  

"Will they... notice? Will it matter if they notice? If they ask, what will I answer?" wonders Sasha, "I suppose I can just say it's the cold"  

She opens the door and heads down the stairs. Dwarfs start coming out of their rooms, they all form somewhat of a line to enter the great hall, where plates are already set, and breakfast is ready. The Dwarfs take their usual places, Sasha sits down next to Percy and Braddock. She tries to keep alert, but she hasn't slept properly in so long, she's tired, so tired, and cold. Sasha glances around the room. Everyone looks tired, Dwarfs are grumbling and muttering, snarling at each other. The cold and the lack of food is making everyone grumpy. She feels someone tap on her shoulder and turns to look at them.  

“Sasha? You look tired,” said Percy.  

“I’m fine” answered Sasha.  

“Are you sure? You need all the rest you can get if you want to stay healthy” pointed out Braddock.  

“I know” mumbled Sasha.  

She was aware that Percy and Braddock said something else, but she wasn’t listening anymore. She knew that the lack of sleep would affect her performance, and she would disappoint Percy, Braddock, and worse of all, Grime. She would get looked down on, and then kicked out, and then her parents would find her and force her to stay with them, and they’ll hate her, and be so disappointed, and call her a failure, and then the Dwarf army would join in, and they would all call her a failure, and they would be right, cause she was a failure.  

Failure.  

Failure.  

Failure  

Fail-  

Something hit the ground with a loud thud. The room was instantly silent. Sasha looked at the plate that hit the ground, the food inside had spilled all over the floor. The silence stretched for another second, and then Sasha heard a battle cry and someone launching at another person. Within seconds the Dwarfs formed a circle around two Dwarfs brawling, Fens and Marsh. It seemed like Marsh had knocked over Fens' plate and she attacked him. Sasha, Percy, and Braddock didn't approach the circle, they all knew what was going to happen. Soon enough, Fens pushed Marsh into another Dwarf, who toppled another two Dwarfs. Now there were five Dwarfs fighting. Like the domino effect, they all crashed into each other, and soon everyone was fighting.  

"Tensions are really high" sighed Percy, lifting his plate off the table when a Dwarf crashed into it.  

"It's the cold" said Braddock, dodging so a cup doesn't hit her.  

"And the lack of food" agrees Percy.  

Sasha finishes eating her food. She looks at all the fighting going on. She might have joined in if she wasn't so tired. Then she spots Grime at the door, he frowns at everyone. No one had noticed him yet, but Sasha knows that once they do, they'll all fall silent. Grime raises a hammer, Sasha presses her ears against her skull and tenses, she watches as Grime brings the hammer down on a metal chest plate. There is a loud bang that echoes through the room. Everything is suddenly silent, not helping the ringing in Sasha's ears. Sasha wishes more than ever that she was back in bed, under a warm blanket, sleeping peacefully. She doesn't hear what Grime says, probably due to her ears still ringing, but she figures that he's telling everyone off.  

"Come on, Grime said we can go" whispers Braddock, tapping Sasha on the shoulder.  

Sasha snaps back into reality, she isn't sure when she zoned out, but by then Grime had already told everyone off and forced everyone who participated in the fight to clean the room. Percy, Braddock, and Sasha were the only ones who left. Sasha glanced back one last time, smirking at Fens, who growls back, and then leaves. It's cold outside, the wind bites at Sasha's cheeks. She pulls the hood tighter around her head and puts on her gloves, they do little to warm her hands. Sasha watches as Percy and Braddock talk to some Dwarfs outside, the ones that changed with the night shift. Sasha strains her ears; she hears Percy filling them up on the fight. Sasha turns away from them and walks through the snow that had fallen two days ago. Sasha sits down on a stone, protected from the freezing wind by a bigger stone. The stone lets the cold seep into her bottom, but she doesn't care. She leans against the larger stone and rests her eyes for a second.  

"Sasha!"  

"Sasha?"  

"SASHA!"  

Sasha jerks awake. Her hand goes instinctually over her dagger. She blinks the sleep from her eyes and scans the small group of Dwarfs who had come outside. Bog waves her over. Sasha forces herself to stand up. Her joints feel stiff, her legs refusing to walk properly, the snow isn't helping much. She's surprised that she hadn't fallen once by the time she makes it over to Bog.  

"Finally, and I thought Canines were supposed to have great hearing" mutters Bog.  

"I'm used to filtering out all the annoying noises" shoots back Sasha.  

The Dwarfs loved to taunt each other, so it became a habit to make witty comebacks right away. Bog raises his hand and tries to knock Sasha's hood down; she doesn't see his hand approaching and dodges purely on instinct.  

"Good to know that the cold didn't make you stiff" says Bog when Sasha growls at him.  

Bog nudges Mire forward, towards Sasha. Sasha steps away from him. She never liked Mire, found him creepy and weird. He always wore a helmet that covered his face, she never saw him taking it off, not even while eating. She didn't mind not seeing his face much, it didn't really matter what his face looked like, she would still be able to recognize his scent. What she didn't like about him was how mysterious he was. There didn't seem to be anyone that knew much about him. All Sasha knew was that he joined the Dwarf Tower with Bog and Fens, but nothing about before that, not even Fens and Bog knew.  

"How about you two go spar, I'll watch, give some feedback" suggested Bog.  

Sasha rolled her eyes. Feedback from Bog just meant shouting and telling them how stupid they were. Still, Sasha follows the two Dwarfs to one of the sparring arenas, which is just a circle made in the ground. Bog sketches the circle again, since it was hidden by the snow. Sasha steps into the arena, Mire stands opposite of her. Sasha grabs her daggers, gripping the handles. Mire holds his spear. Sasha had only fought Mire once before, but she had observed him fighting others many times. She quickly went over the things she knew about his fighting style. He didn't move a lot, relying on his long hands and long spear to stab his opponents before they could reach him. He was strong, she wouldn't be able to escape his grip, but he wasn't agile.  

"Begin!" shouted Bog and hit a metal plate, creating a loud sound.  

Sasha's ears were ringing again, making her head pound. She ignored the pain and launched at Mire, dodging his spear and appearing behind. She jumped onto his back, but he shook her off, rushing at her with his spear. Sasha, who was on the ground, rolled away, and tried jumping up, but it proved harder than she thought. Mire was turning, swinging his spear in her direction. Sasha forced her legs to move and tried dodging, blocking the side of his spear with her dagger. She jumped away, trying to catch her breath. She was tired, her vision was going blurry, and she couldn't think straight. She glanced at Bog, who was grinning at her. Sasha growled and looked back at Mire. The cold wind blew in her face, watering her eyes. She shivered and gripped her daggers tighter. The faster she got over this with, the faster she could rest, at least that's what she hoped would happen.  

"Come on, there must be a way to knock him out" thought Sasha.  

She launched forward again, dodging the tip of his spear and slashing his boot. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to leave a mark on his boot. Mire started turning around, swinging his spear at her. Sasha dodged and jumped away again. She needed to end this quickly, she was out of breath and so, so tired. Sasha forced her legs to move, running forward and this time, jumping up and over his spear and landing on his arms, slicing at his helmet to distract him. Mire stumbled back, tripping and falling. Sasha was about to jump off, but Mire grabbed her suddenly, his grip making it hard to breathe. Mire got up slowly, while Sasha struggled against his grip, trying to find a way out. There was a loud sound, of metal hitting metal and Sasha went limp. It was over, Mire had won. Sasha couldn't even be disappointed in herself; her head was pounding and everything seemed to be spinning. She tried to keep upright and somehow made it to Bog without tripping.   

"And here I thought you'd put up more of a fight" chuckled Bog, "I guess you're all bark no bite"  

His taunting went right over Sasha's mind, which was currently stuffed with cotton. She shivered in the cold, trying to keep herself conscience, but she had been zoning in and out all day, and this fight had not helped. Adrenaline was leaving her body, making her more tired than ever. When she was sure that Bog had stopped speaking, she trudged back to her sitting spot. At least the wind couldn't get her there, even if her body felt stiff sitting on the cold stone. She watched another pair of Dwarfs spar. She loved doing that, analyzing their movements and strategies. She loved to imagine what went through their head, she would think of all the kinds of ways she could use that tactic or win against that tactic.  

"I wonder how I'll fight when I grow up" wondered Sasha, "I won't be small enough to duck under their attacks, I'll be taller than them actually"  

Sasha's mind was drifting away, her eyelids were growing heavier. She closed her eyes, hoping to rest them for a little bit.  

...  

Sasha jolted awake, almost falling off of the stone. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she felt like crying. Sasha jumped off and looked around, she was outside, in front of everyone.  

"Not here, not now" she thought.  

Sasha hurried back inside, shivering from the cold and the nightmare. She almost crashed in Fens on her way inside. She heard Fens say something but didn't hear what she said. Sasha rushed up the stairs until she was in her room. She closed the door and leaned against it, slowly sliding down to the floor. She was tired. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep on that stone, but it was long enough to start dreaming. She wondered if anyone saw it, she hoped not. Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes, she hugged her knees and squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to cry.   

"Weak, pathetic, failure, weak, useless, pathetic, brat, burden, failure, weak, useless, pitiful, pathetic, brat, failure, weak, useless" her parents' words echoed in her mind.  

The voices spoke over each other, getting louder and louder, until that was the only thing that Sasha could hear. She covered her ears with her hands, biting her tongue so she didn't make a noise. The voices didn't stop, they just got louder and louder. Sasha dug her claws into her ears, hoping the pain would distract her, it didn't. She felt like ripping her ears off when someone suddenly knocked on the door. Sasha froze, she forced herself to stand up, no matter how much her legs refused. She grabbed the door handle and hesitated just for a second before opening it. Her heart stopped, the voices fell silent, her body froze. Outside her door was standing none other than Grime.  

"Sasha" he said, looking down on her.  

Sasha looked up at him, hoping her face wasn't giving away her shock and fear. Grime gestured her to follow him. Sasha forced her legs to move and followed him along the corridor. It was awfully silent, with only their footsteps and Sasha's heart beating in her ears. As they entered Grime's room, Grime sat down behind his desk, Sasha sat down on the small chair across from him. Her heartbeat and breathing were speeding up with each passing second.  

"What did I do? Did he see me fighting Mire? Or falling asleep? He must think I'm weak, and pathetic. He must be so disappointed. Why did I have to disappoint him? Why? Why can't I just be good at something? Why can't I make him proud? He must regret letting me join, he must think this was a mistake, he must think I am a mistake" worried Sasha.  

She dug her claws into the chair, trying to ground herself. She felt like more adrenaline was pumping in her blood than when she was fighting Mire. She didn't want to disappoint Grime. She wanted to make him proud. She couldn't read Grime's expression, but she didn't like it.  

"If you want to be part of the Dwarf Army, you have to follow our rules" he said at last.  

"I- I know, I have been doing that" Sasha was surprised at how stable her voice was.  

"You haven't slept properly" Grime frowned, "it's important to follow our schedule, we are a team after all"  

Sasha nodded, unsure of what to say.  

"Why haven't you been sleeping? Do you think you can stay up late and wake up early? Every soldier here knows how important it is to sleep, if you are not well rested, you don't give your one hundred percent, and if you don't give your one hundred percent, then you aren't a good soldier," said Grime.  

Sasha nodded. She looked down at the floor, her ears pointed downward, her tail wrapped around her leg. She was trying to make herself smaller.  

"I will visit you before you go to bed" Grime stood up, heading for the door.  

Sasha stood up as well. Grime opened the door and Sasha walked out, hearing the door close behind her. She wiped her sweating palms on her pants and gulped, looking up and trying to hide the fact that she felt like crying. She walked back outside, determined to show everyone that she wasn't useless, that she wasn't pathetic.  

...  

As the Dwarfs headed back inside. Sasha followed them, dragging her feet and lagging behind. It had been a horrible day, not only had it started snowing, but it also seemed to get colder. Sasha shivered as she headed back up to her room. She made it and changed into her pajamas, hanging her armor and cape to dry. Sasha fell face first into her bed, too tired to do anything. She was going to pass out right there and then, when there was a knock on the door. Sasha was instantly alert again; she had completely forgotten about what Grime had said. She glanced at the door, wondering for a second if pretending that she wasn't in her room was an option. She rolled her eyes at herself, of course it wasn't. She walked over to the door, hand hovering over the door handle.  

"Can I escape out of the window? Unlikely, I'm on the top floor. How about going onto the roof? And then what? Sit in the cold till he finds me?" Sasha shook her head.  

She opened the door and let Grime in. Suddenly, very aware that she was in her pajamas, she reached to grab her cape, but Grime stopped her. He told her to get into bed and then dragged a chair over. Sasha lay very still, her heart beating so loud, she was sure Grime could hear it. Grime sat down on the chair and started speaking. At first, Sasha didn't understand what he was saying, but slowly, his words became clearer. He was telling her a story from his youth. She wasn't sure why, but it was soothing, and anyway, she was too scared to interrupt. As Grime told her about his adventures with his sister Beatrix, who he called annoying, but Sasha could see that he cared about her, Sasha started drifting to sleep.  

...  

Sasha sat up, her heart trying to escape her ribcage. She was in her room, in bed, it was dark. And something was in the room. That someone moved, which caused Sasha to flinch and crawl away, her back hitting the wall. She grabs a dagger she keeps hidden next to the wall and uses it to defend herself.  

"Sasha, breath"  

A familiar voice. Sasha blinks several times, the blurriness clearing, and she finds herself staring at Grime. The memories flood in. She remembers Grime telling her stories and how she started dozing off. Why was he still here? Was he making sure she was sleeping? Did he... care? Sasha shakes her head; it can't be possible.  

"Breath" said Grime, more commanding this time.  

Sasha notices that she's breathing like she had just sprinted across Amphibia. She tries to take deep breaths, tries to calm down, but now that she isn't under attack, her brain has time to think about the nightmare. The voices echoed in her mind again. She brings her knees up to her chest and covers her ears with her hands. It doesn't help, it never does. She opens her eyes to see Grime. She's in front of Grime.  

"No. No, no, no. Stop, stop panicking. Not in front of him. What will he think, seeing me like this?" Sasha lowers her hands and tries to seem calm.  

She still can't catch her breath. Suddenly Grime moves forward. Sasha flinches, gripping the dagger tighter. Grime stops, then slowly extends his hand, gently taking the dagger out of Sasha's hand and pulling her closer to him. Sasha crawls to him. Suddenly she's pulled into a hug. A big, warm hug. Sasha tenses and then relaxes; her breathing slows down. She feels safe in his arms, like nothing can ever hurt her, not when he's holding her. The voices fall silent, and the world is quiet. The only thing she can hear now is Grime's steady heartbeat. She inhales slowly and sighs.  

"Feeling better?" asks Grime after a few minutes.  

Sasha nods but doesn't let go. It's selfish and weak, but she wants to stay like this a little longer, just a little longer. Surprisingly, Grime doesn't let go. Sasha closes her eyes for just a second.  

...  

Sasha opens her eyes slowly. She doesn't remember falling asleep, but she must have at some point. She slowly gets out of bed, it's the first time in a while that she slept through a night. As Sasha slowly remembers what happened, she wonders where Grime went. A small, childish part of her had wished she would wake up and find him sitting close by, just in case she woke up from a nightmare again. Sasha gets out of bed, one night's sleep isn't enough to make up for a week of bad sleep, but it's a start, at least she doesn't feel half dead. Sasha goes to grab her armor and cape and notices a note stuck to her table.  

If you have trouble sleeping again, come and tell me  

~ Captain Grime  

Sasha smiles at the note, she hides it in her desk. As she gets dressed, she can't help but feel excited for the day.  

Chapter Text

Anne:  

"You choose!" says Sasha.  

Anne turns to look at her, a little surprised. Instantly she feels guilty, it isn't the first time that Sasha had let her choose, it has been happening more often with each day, so she shouldn't be this surprised, but she is. It feels... good. Anne smiles.  

"Alright then! I kind of want to just explore? If that's alright with you" she says.  

Sasha and Marcy nod. Anne leads the way as Sasha walks next to her, pushing the wheelchair Marcy is in. It's been a week since their first sleepover, which was followed by five more sleepovers. Over this week, Sasha had been allowed to walk without her cane, Anne finally asked for a new prosthetic, and Marcy had taken her first steps on crutches. Today was their first time visiting the town, which had been slowly rebuilt over the past few weeks. It was still far from finished, but there were already a few shops open. The trio explored the town. Anne led them to the place where the playground they used to visit all the time used to stand. When they made it there, they all stopped.  

"This place... changed," said Marcy.  

"It sure has" sighed Sasha.  

Anne looked at the place with sadness. She had hoped the playground would still be standing, or maybe would have been rebuilt by now. It was a childish wish, there would be no way for the playground to survive, and surely people would have built all the houses before the playground.   

"Come on, maybe we can find a shop that sells food" suggested Anne.   

They walk down familiar streets, yet they are so different. Some houses look similar to how they looked before; others were completely different. They made it to a familiar small blue tent. An Elf stood in the tent, bored. They raised their head and smiled when they saw the trio approaching.  

"Well! If it isn't the Calamity Trio!" said the Elf.  

People had started calling the three of them the Calamity Trio, though Anne wasn't entirely sure why, after all, they had saved Amphibia, not destroyed it. At first, she was a little offended at the title, but soon found out that people didn't mean it in a mean way. In fact, everyone respected them.  

"I'm guessing you want ice cream?" grinned the Elf.  

"Yep! I'll have a chocolate cone," said Anne.  

She glanced at Sasha and Marcy. Neither of them was looking at her or the Elf.  

"And a strawberry cone and a mint chocolate cone" she added.  

The Elf handed her the ice cream. Anne grabbed her chocolate one and then glanced at Sasha. Sasha finally moved, grabbing the other two and handing them to Marcy. They walked away and found a nice place to sit. Anne sat on the edge, Marcy sat in her wheelchair next to Anne, and Sasha sat on her other side. They each ate their ice cream.  

"Thanks for getting me some" whispered Marcy.  

Anne smiled at her, telling her it wasn't a big deal. She was rather happy that she remembered their favorites, though it wasn't hard, since they have been friends for so long. Forgetting their favorite ice cream would have been embarrassing. They chat until they all finish their ice cream. Then they keep exploring the town.  

Sasha:  

"It's good to have a prosthetic again" Anne flexes her prosthetic.  

Sasha smiles at her, happy to see her so happy. When Anne catches her staring, Sasha coughs and tries to think of something to get out of the awkward situation.  

"Want to go test it out?" she asks.  

Anne jumps up and grins at her.  

"Absolutely! Let's go pick up Marcy and head to town" Anne's already at the door.  

Sasha hurries after her.   

...  

They walk through town. Anne excitedly pushes Marcy's wheelchair. Sasha just smiles at her.  

"What do you want to do?" asks Anne.  

Sasha opens her mouth and quickly shuts it. She almost said it. She shrugs, scratching the back of her neck. She feels a pit in her stomach. Guilt starts surrounding her, gripping her arms and legs. Sasha gulps and forces her legs to keep moving, she tries to block out her thoughts, but it's already too late. Negative thoughts start whirling in her mind.  

"Idiot. Always so manipulative. Always choosing. Always forcing them to do things. The war ended, I'm not a leader anymore, there is no need to choose, and yet I'm always trying to force them into something. So stupid, so selfish, so pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic, pathe- Why can't I just be a good friend?" Sasha gripped the edge of her shirt.  

Everything around Sasha reminds her of her past mistakes. They passed the place where the playground was. Sasha remembers forcing Anne and Marcy to play games she liked, even after Anne suggested another one. She remembers forcing Anne to be the chaser, even after she complained that she is always the chaser. Sasha pushes the emotions down. She is aware that Anne and Marcy are talking, but can't hear what they are saying, all she can hear is Anne's voice, telling her that she's a bad friend, who always forced her to do things she didn't want to. Sasha blinks several times, trying to take deep breaths without anyone noticing.  

"Hey! Remember all the cool stuff they had here? And for super cheap too!" Anne pointed at a little building tucked into a corner.  

The roof is still being rebuilt, but Sasha remembers the place perfectly. She remembers forcing Anne to go in there and steal a small music box that didn't even work. It was cheap, they could have just bought it or tried it out inside the shop, but Sasha wanted Anne to steal it. Sasha grips her shirt tighter.  

"Oh yeah" she says.  

She hopes her voice doesn't give away how she feels. She makes sure to turn and look the other way so that if Anne or Marcy look at her, they can't see her tense jaw and the tears building up in her eyes. She blinks the tears away and tries to breathe properly. Her throat hurts, it seems to be burning.   

"Hey look!" Marcy points at a ruined building.  

It's broken down, the walls crumbled so that only the first floor is still standing. The walls are scorched and damaged, there is shattered glass on the ground. It seems like people hadn't reached this building yet.   

"Wow, it used to be so tall, now it's pretty much nothing" says Anne.  

Sasha can't breathe. She remembers the building. It was four stories tall, the tallest in town. It was run by an elderly couple, so sweet, always letting the trio take one more candy each. Sasha remembers forcing Marcy to grab a handful instead of the two the elderly couple allowed each of them. She remembers Marcy feeling horrible, telling her that it's wrong and they should return the candy and apologize. She remembers telling Marcy that the couple will hate her and never allow her into their hotel again, she remembers guilt tripping Marcy into staying silent. Sasha feels like she's drowning. Voices echo in her mind, telling her how bad of a friend she is, how pathetic of a person she is. It's Anne's and Marcy's voices, her parents' voices, Darcy's voice, Sprig's voice. All their voices mix in together, overlapping. Sasha wants to rip her ears off, anything to silence them. She can't even hear what Anne and Marcy are talking about. They'll hate her when they find out she isn't listening. They'll think she's ignoring them on purpose, that she doesn't think they're worth her time.  

"Please don't think that, please" begs Sasha, "I'm trying to listen, I promise. The voices are so loud, but I'm trying to listen, I swear!"  

She wonders if she is actually ignoring them, subconsciously. Maybe some part of her still ignores them, still doesn't care about their opinion, still thinks she's better and they should listen to her. She hates that part of her. She hates her old self. She hates her present self. She hates herself. She hates all of herself. She can't do anything but follow Anne and Marcy while they talk about something. She should join in, add something to the conversation, anything to show them that's she's listening. What if they don't want her to be part of the conversation? What if they think she's trying to make this about herself, or if she's trying to shut them up. What if she is? What if she's subconsciously doing it?  

"Woah, this building is way taller than it used to be" gasps Anne.  

Sasha snaps back into reality, forcing her mind to shut up for a second so she can listen to Anne.  

"They added another two floors!" agrees Marcy.  

"I wonder why" mumbles Sasha.  

She winces at how shaky her voice is, but Marcy and Anne don't seem to notice. They both just agree and try to guess why there are two extra floors. Sasha starts slipping away again, she tries to listen, but it's hard with all the voices in her head. She sees one of the walls of the building. She remembers forcing Anne to join her in spray painting something on that wall. She remembers how worried and scared Anne was of getting caught. She remembers how Anne told her that they shouldn't do that. She remembers telling Anne to shut up, to stop being a baby and suck it up. Sasha's throat burns more. She holds her breath, afraid of a whimper or a sniffle escaping. She holds her breath until her lungs hurt and she feels like passing out, finally she breathes in. Her lungs still hurt, but at least the lack of air makes her lightheaded, making the voices quiet down for a little.  

"Sash?" calls out Anne.  

Sasha glances at her and notices that she has stopped. She shakes her head and jogs up to them.  

"You alright?" Anne looks at her concerned.  

Sasha winces. She doesn't deserve Anne being worried about her.  

"Of course, just got lost in memories" she laughs.  

Anne gives her one last look, before letting it go. They continue to walk down the street. The voices in Sasha's mind start getting louder again. Now, she hears her own voice mixed in. She feels sick. She feels nauseous. She feels like she's wading through honey, trying and struggling to keep up with Anne. She feels like there is a gigantic weight on her shoulders, it's going to crush her, it's going to crush her. Her head hurts, her throat hurts, her chest hurts. The burning in her throat reminds her of the burning over her eye, it reminds her of that dreaded night. The night where she was supposed to protect Anne and Marcy, yet she wasn't able to. She left them, injured. She was the only one to escape. If she had been stronger, they wouldn't have been captured. If she had been a better friend, Marcy wouldn't have felt the need to keep the war a secret from them. If-  

"Sash! Look!" shouts Anne.  

Sasha snaps her head up, her hand going instinctively over her sword.  

"What? What is it?" she asks.  

Anne points at a small tent. An Avian stands under the tent, selling lemonade.  

"We have to try it!" Anne excitedly pushes Marcy towards the tent.  

Sasha pauses for a second and follows.   

"What do you guys want?" asks Anne.  

Sasha shrugs, Marcy looks frightened for a second.  

"Um... extra sugar?" she mumbles.  

Anne gets them all some lemonade, an extra sweet one for Marcy, an extra sour one for herself, and a normal one for Sasha. Sasha pays for the drinks, it's the least she could do. Anne thanks her, which makes Sasha's heart flutter.  

Anne:  

It has been a week and a half since she got her prosthetic. Her birthday would be in another two weeks, she should be excited for that, but instead she's annoyed with Marcy and Sasha. Specifically, Sasha. At first, she had been happy that Sasha let her choose everything, but this was getting out of hand. How was Anne supposed to choose everything? Sasha wouldn't even choose what food to order. Anne didn't want to be the only one choosing, she wanted Sasha's opinion on things.  

"That idiot" she muttered under her breath.  

Anne had called Sasha and Marcy to the hill with the ruined wall. She sat there, waiting for the two. A few minutes later, she saw Sasha pushing Marcy up the hill. Anne frowned at the two.   

"Did we do something wrong?" instantly asked Marcy.  

Anne felt like something pierced her heart. She would have to have a talk with Marcy, tell her that not everything was her fault.  

"Kind of" she sighed.  

Sasha's and Marcy's expressions changed. They both looked frightened.  

"Shit, it's my fault, isn't it? What did I do? Did I force you do to something? Did I choose? Oh Frog, I'm so sorry" Sasha looked like she might faint.  

Anne shook her head, sighing.  

"That's exactly the problem" Sasha looked so frightened, "you aren't choosing anything, you aren't making choices"  

Sasha and Marcy looked confused, they glanced at each other and both shrugged.  

"Look, I understand that you're trying to let me choose things, you're trying to not force me into anything, but that's not what I want" explained Anne.  

Sasha stared at her in confusion.  

"I don't want to always make the choices; I want you guys to choose as well. I want us to communicate and negotiate. I want to hear your opinions, what do you want to do? It shouldn't be just one of us making all the choices, that isn't fair. We should all choose together," said Anne.  

"But... I've forced you into so many things, it's only fair that it's your turn to choose" mumbled Sasha.  

Anne sighs again. She had been feeling a little overwhelmed with constantly making choices. She had always been indecisive, which is probably it took her so long to stand up for herself.  

"But you've changed, you've grown, you're not the same as before" Anne smiled softly, "I can't always choose, sometimes I'll make mistakes, sometimes I'll choose the wrong thing. I want you guys to be able to tell me that I'm wrong"  

Sasha and Marcy both nodded but didn't look entirely convinced.  

"Plus, I don't know all the food you like and don't like. What if I choose something you despise?" pointed out Anne.  

That caused Marcy to giggle.  

"Like if you decide to get me some raw eggs?" she joked.  

Anne looked at her dead serious and nodded. That caused the three of them to burst into laughter. After they all calmed down, Anne poked Sasha's chest.  

"You understand, right?" she asked.  

Sasha paused, then smiled softly.  

"I'll try, though it might take a while" she said.  

That was enough for Anne. As long as Sasha tried, she would be fine with that.  

Chapter Text

Sasha:    

It was June 1. Sasha was panicking.   

"Shit, shit, shit!" she muttered, pacing the room.  

Grime stared at her, confused.  

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked.  

"Anne's birthday is in nine days!" Sasha tugged at her hair.  

Grime stared at her, unimpressed.  

"What! You saw the birthday party she threw me! You literally helped her! How am I supposed to beat that!" waved her arms Sasha.  

Sasha watched as Grime sighed.  

"Come on, I'll help you, before you pull out all your hair" he said.  

Sasha felt like crying and celebrating at the same time. She hugged him quickly and then grabbed her whiteboard, uncapping a marker and glanced back at Grime, who was still shocked from the unexpected hug.  

"Alright, what ideas you got?" asked Sasha.  

There was a moment of silence.  

"Well, let's think about this... who will be at her birthday party?" asked Grime.  

"The Plantars, her parents, me, Marcy" listed Sasha, "most of Wartwood probably"  

"Exactly, which means her birthday will probably be outside. Plus, the Plantars and her parents will probably organize the party, so all you have to do is worry about a present" Grime grabbed the marker she was holding and wrote 'present ideas' on the board.  

Sasha wasn't so sure. Anne had organized her party, she felt like she should also do it. But at the same time, she knew that Grime was right. She wouldn't want to get in the way of Anne's birthday party planning. She should probably talk to the Plantars about the party.   

"So? Any ideas?" asked Grime.  

Sasha shook her head. She had nine days. In nine days, she had to get Anne a present, but what could she get her? Anne had made her breakfast, but Sasha didn't really cook. Anne had done all her work for her, but the war was over, there was no more work that Sasha could do for Anne. Anne gave her a hairclip... Sasha didn't have to do anything big... as long as it was meaningful... Sasha chewed on her bottom lip. What could she give to Anne? What meaningful thing could she get her? Maybe a dagger? Or a sword. Sasha shook her head, that might work for her, but not for Anne.  

"Really? No ideas?" Grime sounded unimpressed, "You know her better than me, what would she like?"  

Sasha scratched her head. She had absolutely no ideas.  

"Alright, how about you start listing everything that comes to mind, and then I'll help you choose" suggested Grime.  

Sasha grabbed the marker and paused for a second. Then she wrote:  

• Sword/dagger 
• Song? 
• Plant 
• Clothes 
• Food? 
• Flowers? 

She stopped writing, having run out of ideas. Grime grabbed the marker and added:  

• Jewelry 
• Accessories 
• Plushies 
• Trinkets 

Sasha nodded, ideas slowly filling her head.   

Marcy:  

Marcy kept her eyes open for blue flowers. She had in mind four different blue flowers that she wanted to gather as a gift for Anne. She wanted to make Anne a beautiful bouquet.   

"Ah! Over there!" Marcy pointed at a flower with long, thin blue petals, "that's the Blue Pincushion!"  

Olivia, who was helping Marcy pick the flowers, leaned down and gathered a few. She handed them to Marcy and then they continued walking through the forest, Yunan pushing the wheelchair and Olivia walking by their side. Marcy glanced at the flowers in her hands. Blue Pincushions symbolized unrequited love, purity, and peace. Marcy had decided to give Anne blue flowers, since that was the color that always reminded Marcy of her. She didn't choose any blue flower, of course, she had chosen them by their symbolism.  

"Ah! The Iris Flower!" Marcy pointed at the ground.  

Olivia picked them up for her and handed them to her. Unlike the Blue Pincushion, the Iris Flower had wide, dark blue petals with a bright yellow stripe in the middle. It too reminded Marcy of Anne. The blue, like her scales, and the yellow, like her bright personality and optimism. The Iris Flower symbolizes hope and faith. They continued to walk through the forest. Marcy kept her eyes open for any blue flowers, hoping they would find them soon. She still needed time to organize the bouquet, as well as dry some flowers to create some accessories.  

"Could you grab some of those Bluebells?" asked Marcy.  

Olivia gathered a handful for her and handed them to her.  

"Did you know Bluebells symbolizes gratitude and everlasting love?" asked Olivia.  

"As well as constancy and humility" added Marcy.  

She heard Olivia and Yunan giggle.  

"Hey kiddo, are you choosing the flowers by meaning?" asked Yunan, "Are you perhaps, trying to send a message?"  

Marcy blushed at that, shaking her head. She squeaked out a quick 'no'. Yunan and Olivia let it go, much to her relief. Marcy twirled the little Bluebells in her hands, they looked like little blue bells hanging from the stem. Of course, she had chosen the flowers by symbolism, but she would rather no one knew, not even Anne. If Anne did ask about their symbolism, Marcy could just play it off as a coincidence.   

"What flowers do we still need to find?" asked Yunan.  

"Hm? Oh, the Hydrangea" mumbled Marcy.  

Once they found the small, blue flower with three or four petals, wider than the Blue Pincushion but thinner than the Iris Flower, they headed back inside. The Hydrangea symbolizes gratitude, heartfelt emotion, understanding, and apology. With all the flowers in her hands, Marcy could leave a message. The Hydrangea would be an apology about the war, an apology about Anne's arm, an apology about everything that Marcy put her through. The Blue Pincushion and Bluebells would tell Anne how much Marcy loved her, how much she wants to tell her, but knows that Anne doesn't like her back like that. The Iris Flower was kind of selfish. It meant hope. Some naive part of Marcy still hoped that there was a chance that the three of them could be together, even if all the evidence pointed against that. Marcy hoped that Anne didn't know flower symbolism, otherwise that could destroy their friendship.  

Sasha:  

The stores were still rather empty, Sasha knew that they would be empty for a while, but she still hoped that there would be something she could find. If she found absolutely nothing, she could sew something together. Sewing was never a skill she expected to have. When she was younger, she had thought of sewing as something old people did to pass time. It was only when she was nine, watching Braddock skillfully patch up her cape and pants after a mission, that she finally understood how useful sewing was. She later learned that most of the Dwarfs knew the basics of sewing, just so they could patch up their clothes and blankets. Even Grime knew how to sew.  

"It is a rather useful skill. You can save money by not buying new clothes" smiled Sasha.  

Another thing sewing was useful for was stitching up wounds. Sure, it was different from sewing clothes, but knowing how to sew made it easier to learn how to stitch up wounds. Sasha finally found a store that actually had things other than food and clothes. She understood why most stores only had those two, they were the priority at the moment. Sasha glanced over the small selection of plushies and other trinkets. She picked out a few keychains and pins. She picked the green turtle pin and the dark purple wish pin, she also chose a keychain with a blue, green, and pink crystal. The colors reminded her of herself, Marcy, and Anne. She hoped that Anne would like it. Her hand subconsciously brushed over the pink hair clip that held a few strands of hair out of her face, she smiled to herself. Sasha grabbed a little pillow shaped like a sausage and then a centipede plushie. The plushie she had been looking for was not there, so she would have to make it herself.  

"It can't be that hard, right? It's not the same as sewing clothes, but it's still sewing..." worried Sasha.  

She bought everything and headed back home. She decided to ask Braddock for some help with making the plushie, since she had much more experience with sewing. Sasha found Braddock quickly but hesitated before approaching her. She was still not the best at asking for help. For a second, she wondered if she could do it herself, then she shook her head. Her sewing skills were sloppier than Braddock's, and this would be different from sewing clothes. More importantly, she wanted the plushie to be perfect. Though realistically, that would never happen, but she hoped that it would at least be acceptable to gift.  

"Braddock!" called out Sasha.  

She jogged up to Braddock. Braddock turned when she heard her name and smiled at Sasha.   

"Could you help me with something? It's about sewing" whispered Sasha.  

She was still embarrassed about asking for help. Much to her relief, Braddock just nodded, seeming to understand that Sasha didn't want others to overhear. On the way to Sasha's room, they stopped to grab some sewing supplies. Once they made it inside, Sasha took out the pillow and plushie out of her bag.  

"What exactly are we sewing?" asked Braddock.  

"W-well... Anne's birthday is coming up... so like..." Sasha shifted from foot to foot nervously.  

"Aww! You're making her a gift!" exclaimed Braddock, she pulled Sasha into a hug, "You're adorable!"  

Sasha flushed with embarrassment, trying to pull away from the hug.  

"N-no I'm not!" she hissed.  

Braddock let go eventually, but not before teasing her a little more. Sasha almost regretted asking for help.  

"Right, so what are we trying to make exactly?" asked Braddock, getting back to the objective.  

"A kill-a-pillar," said Sasha.  

Anne absolutely adored kill-a-pillars, she had two as pets, and Sasha suspected that she would have another once things quieted down a little more. Braddock and Sasha started working. First, they planned what would need to be added to the pillow, which was the body. Then they tried to figure out which part of the centipede plushie they would need to make the kill-a-pillar. Braddock took command, telling Sasha what to cut, where to cut, what to sew, how to sew, and where to sew. Braddock did most of the job, making Sasha feel kind of guilty, but the want for the plushie to look good outweighed the guilt. They added six legs to the pillow and then some ears, as well as some fluff to the face, eyes, and mouth. Sasha made sure the tongue stuck out a little, knowing that Anne found that extra adorable.  

"I must say, this looks better than I thought it would" said Braddock as they were adding the stripes.  

"That's because you're here, I could never make it look this good on my own" complimented Sasha.  

Braddock laughed at that, but Sasha had been completely sincere. They worked late into the night, mostly due to having to restitch some of the legs, since they were loose. Once they were done, Braddock left. Sasha continued to sit at her desk, staring at the plushie. The legs were a little wonky, not entirely lined up. One of the ears was higher than the other and the stripes were a little lopsided. Still, Sasha thought it turned out pretty good, considering neither of them had any experience with sewing plushies. Sasha grabbed the bag that she got at the store. It was a blue and white striped bag. She carefully placed the plushie inside and then placed the keychains and pins on top of the plushie. She smiled. Sasha glanced at her calendar. It had taken her a while to settle on the idea of making a plushie, and another couple days to actually find a store that had anything to make the said plushie. There was now only three days left before Anne's birthday.  

"She's turning 14" mumbled Sasha.  

Fourteen. Already a teenager but still technically a child. The thought made her squirm a little. She didn't like thinking about how young they were, it made her think of all they had gone through. Sasha pushed the thoughts away, stuffing them into a box and pushing it deep inside of her.  

Marcy:  

The letter lies on her table. Olivia had brought it in, telling her Sprig asked to give it to her. Marcy still hadn't touched it. She wasn't sure why. Well, no, that was a lie, she did know why, but it was a stupid reason. She reached out and picked up the letter, turning it over. Her name was written on it in Sprig's handwriting in green marker. It was nothing like all the letters she usually received, which could be divided into two categories, royal letters and letters from Sasha and Anne. Sasha's and Anne's letters were usually just a note with a short message scribbled on it, carried by a dragonfly. Meanwhile royal letters were very different. Royal letters came in a white envelope with a gold seal. The letter would usually be an invitation to a royal ball, party, conference, or meeting, all of which Marcy hated. She hated receiving the letters as well, because there was always a chance her parents wanted to see her privately.  

"It's a letter from Sprig, calm down" Marcy told herself.  

She carefully opened the envelope and took out the letter. It read:  

Dear Marcy Wu,  

You're invited to Anne's birthday party on June 10 in Wartwood, the party starts at 5pm.  

There will be food and fun!  

Marcy smiled. No dress codes, no rules, no list of people she has to memorize the names of. Marcy isn't sure why she was worried. Anne's birthday is in two days, she has her present ready already, all she has to do is choose what to wear. She still doesn't really have anything to wear, but she still struggles to choose. She mixes and matches her outfits until she settles on baggy pants and an oversized long-sleeved shirt. It isn't really fancy, but the shirt is colorful and bright and hopefully party like. Since that took her most of the day, she went to bed.  

...  

Marcy groaned, placing her head on the table. She was trying to figure out how to arrange the flowers she was giving Anne. She had a large pot, thanks to Yunan, where she was going to replant the flowers, but she couldn't decide how they would stand. Should she put Bluebells behind the Iris Flower or the other way around? Should she have the same amount of each flower? Or should the amount depend on their meaning?  

"Why is this so hard"  whined Marcy.  

Anne:  

Tomorrow was her birthday. Her birthday! She was finally turning 14! Anne paced the room, too excited to do anything else. Her parents and the Plantars had thrown her a birthday party, inviting everyone. Anne had never had such a big birthday party. Her birthdays were usually celebrated with family and then with Sasha and Marcy. When she was younger, she used to bring desserts to school to share with her classmates. She had a few friends there, though none of them were close friends, more of... acquaintances. Anne stopped dead on her tracks.  Everyone  was coming. She turned around and flung open her closet, which was still rather empty. She would have new clothes soon enough, hopefully. She grabs a skirt and a crop top with long sleeves. It's nice, comfortable, not too plain but not too fancy either.   

"Alright good" mumbles Anne.  

She wonders if there is anything else she needs, then shakes her head. Her family specifically told her not to worry about anything, so she wasn't going to.  

...  

Anne wakes up slowly. She yawns and stretches, about to go back to sleep when she remembers what day it is. She jumps out of bed, rushing through her morning routine, excited to go find her parents and the Plantars. Once she steps outside, she finds them instantly. Wartwood is once again decorated, though this time with birthday things. As she makes her way to her family, the Wartwood citizens around her wish her a happy birthday. She thanks them and then finally makes it to her family.  

"Anne! Happy birthday!" exclaims Sprig when he notices her.  

Anne thanks him, hugging him tightly. Her parents ruffle her hair lovingly, also wishing her a happy birthday. Polly jumps into her arms, hugging her and then leaning back a little and grinning.  

"Congrats! You're one year closer to death!" she jokes.  

"Polly! Don't joke like that!" scolds her Hop Pop.  

Anne just rolls her eyes. It's still early in the morning, the party only just being set up, but her family decided to give her their presents now.  

"We wouldn't want them to be lost in the sea of presents" explained Bee.  

Anne laughs at that.  

"There isn't going to be a sea of presents, trust me" she snorts.  

Still, they all head back inside to open the presents. Her parents start first, giving her a couple bags, all of which have beautiful dresses and skirts inside. Anne squealed with glee, excited to try them on later. She thanks her parents and opens the next gift, which is from Hop Pop. She takes a box out of the bag he gives her, and when she opens it, she's speechless. Inside are two beautiful rings, a pair of earrings, and a necklace. All of them look expensive.  

"Where did you get these from?" asks Anne, still shocked.  

"Well... I have my ways" chuckled Hop Pop.  

"You didn't steal them, did you?" teases Anne.  

Hop Pop, gasps dramatically, making an offended expression. Anne rolls her eyes.  

"Ever the theater kid" she thinks.  

Next up is Polly's gift, which is a cool add on to her prosthetic that makes her fingers light up. Once again, Anne is absolutely speechless.  

"Did you make this!"  

"Jess and Ally helped me" Polly smiles sheepishly.  

"Still, this is amazing!" Anne gives it a try, watching as her fingers light up.  

After everyone finishes praising Polly, which leaves her flustered and embarrassed. Anne takes Sprig's present. She sees how his eyes light up, he bounces on his feet, impatiently waiting for her to open it. Anne opens the box, taking out a book, as she flips through the pages, which are all blank, it hits her.  

"Oh! It's a journal!" figures out Anne.  

"Yeah, no sh..." Sprig's eyes open wide, "what's"  

Anne looks at him, trying hard not to laugh. Sprig bites his bottom lip and quickly glances at the adults, who don't seem to have noticed.  

"Nice save" whispered Polly.  

Anne has to bite her tongue to not laugh. She thanks them all for their presents and then they all settle down to have breakfast.  

...  

At 4pm, Sasha and Marcy arrived. Sasha had moved back to the Dwarf Tower, which explained why Anne hadn't seen her until 4pm, but Marcy was still living in Wartwood.  

"I thought we would have bumped into each other at one point"  thought Anne,  "she isn't avoiding me, right?"  

Anne shakes her head, it couldn't be. Instead, she smiles and hugs both the girls. Then they headed to her room. Anne opens Marcy's gift first, which is a flowerpot with all kinds of blue flowers. Anne recognizes the Bluebells and the Iris Flower, but the other two flowers are unknown to her.  

"Oh wow! This is so beautiful! Did you pick them yourself?" Anne places the flowerpot on her table.  

"Y-yeah" mumbles Marcy.  

Anne bites the inside of her cheek in thought.  

"I'll have to move it to the kitchen or living room, since I don't have any windows" she says, smelling the flowers.  

She glances at the two flowers she doesn't know the names of.  

"I'll have to get a flower book" she says, more to herself.  

"A-ah! Or I could just tell you!" exclaims Marcy.  

Anne notices her eyes darting around, she looks a little panicked.  

"Oh, yeah, that would be nice" smiles Anne.  

Something in her chest warms at the thought of spending time with Marcy and talking about plants. While she wasn't a plant nerd like Marcy, she did like plants. She hears Sasha cough, which makes her cheeks heat up for some reason, as if she was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to.  

"R-right! Your gift now!" Anne reaches for the bag.  

She looks into it and gasps. She glances up at Sasha.  

"Is this what I think it is?" she reaches inside and takes out the plushie.  

It's a little kill-a-pillar plushie, hand crafted.  

"Oh my Frog!" Anne hugs the plushie, "It's adorable!"  

She places the kill-a-pillar on the table, next to the flowers and then reaches into the bag again, taking out two pins, a turtle and a fish, as well as a keychain. The key chain had blue, pink, and green crystals. She smiles at it, glad that the three agreed that they all had a color that represented them.  

"This is awesome, the best birthday gifts ever," Anne says.  

She pulls both of them into a hug, smiling brightly.  

...  

At 5pm, guests start arriving. At first, it's mostly the people from Wartwood, people Anne knows. They wish her a happy birthday and hand her gifts, which she places on the table specifically made for gifts. She planned to open all of them later. Anne mingles with the people, closely followed by Sasha and Marcy. Sprig was hanging out with Ivy and Maddie; Polly was hanging out with other kids.  

...  

At 5:30, people outside of Wartwood start appearing, mainly the Dwarfs. Anne greets Grime and Beatrix, who slap her on the back, and both give her a large gift. Sasha helps her carry them to the table.  

"Pretty sure they were trying to see who could give you a bigger present" whispered Sasha.  

Anne giggles. The other Dwarfs place their gifts on the table as well. Anne finds Sprig, Ivy, and Maddie in the growing crowd, dragging Sasha and Marcy behind her. The six of them, later joined by Polly and a few younger kids, played a couple rounds of cards. Anne won surprisingly a lot of the rounds. She suspected that they were going easy on her since it was her birthday, but since they were also betting on candy and winning meant more candy, she didn't complain.   

...  

It was 6pm when the other species started arriving. The Reptiles, some of whom Anne knew well, such as classmates and neighbors, and some who she only met at the Resistance. With the arrival of Avians and Canines, it dawned on Anne just how many people were coming. She realized that there weren't only people from the Resistance, who she kind of knew, but also people she had never seen in her life.   

"Anne!" Anne turned around at the sound of her name.  

She saw a group of kids running up to her, about Sprig's age. They surrounded her, bouncing up and down excitedly. They whispered to each other, making Anne confused.  

"Can we have an autograph!" asked a little girl.  

Anne was surprised at the question. She had never,  never had anyone ask her for an autograph.   

"Oh, uh... s-sure, do you have a paper and pen?" she stuttered, still shocked.  

The kids turned out to be prepared. Anne signed about 10 pieces of paper with a blue pen. To her surprise, the kids didn't leave. In fact, there seemed to be more of them. Not only kids were crowding her now, but it was also people of all ages. There were more people asking for autographs and then people started bombarding her with questions.  

"How old are you?"  

"What was it like leading the Rebellion?"  

"You were co-leader, right? Who was the other one?"  

"How did you lose your arm?"  

"Does it hurt?"  

"Are you dating the Canine and Avian?"  

"Why didn't you lead by yourself?"  

"Where were you in the beginning?"  

"Why wasn't it you who formed the Resistance?"  

"I noticed that Sasha did most of the talking"  

Anne's head was spinning, there were too many questions being asked all at once, she couldn't even tell where one question ended, and another began. She was trying to answer as many as possible, but she was quickly getting overwhelmed. She also noticed that all those questions weren't for her, they were for the leader of the Resistance. It dawned on her suddenly, for them, she was just the leader of the Resistance. To this crowd of people, she was the leader of the Resistance, she wasn't a kid, she was the one who lead the Resistance and won the war. Anne gulped, suddenly very aware of all the eyes on her. She wasn't usually uncomfortable in large crowds, but now she was. She desperately looked around for someone she knew, but all these faces were unfamiliar.  

"Alright, calm down, calm down"  repeated Anne.  

She didn't want to disappoint all these people, she was their role model, a hero, a person they knew they could rely on. That didn't make her feel better, the pressure was suddenly unbearable, she was surrounded. She couldn't breathe, it was too stuffed. Why were they all so close? Why were there so many of them? Why were they so loud? Anne smiled at the kid who asked her about how she lost her arm for about the fifth time. She pushed the memories of being captured by Darcy away, now was not the time for that. A paper was shoved in front of her, and she signed it automatically. She wasn't sure why there was still a pen in her hand, she didn't have it in the beginning, she must have forgotten to return it.  

"How come you and the Canine were co-leaders? Aren't you closer to Wartwood?" asked someone.  

Anne glanced around, trying to find the person who asked the question, but with everyone talking over each other, it was impossible.   

"I uh... I" she started.  

She couldn't speak, much less talk. Her throat was scratchy, and her voice came out wobbly. They would notice. Everyone would notice. She could feel their judgement. They must be confused. Why wasn't she answering? She should be answering their questions. Why wasn't she? Why was she so overwhelmed? Suddenly someone placed a hand over her shoulder. The crowd fell silent.  

"Mind if I steal you for a second, the Plantars are looking for you"   

Anne relaxed. A familiar voice, at last. She let Sasha guide her away from the crowd, farther and farther from the party. They made it to the outskirts of the forest, where Marcy was waiting in her wheelchair.  

"Sorry I didn't come sooner; I couldn't get through the crowd" apologized Sasha.  

Anne wanted to tell her that she didn't need to apologize. Anne wanted to thank her, thank her for getting her out of there. She wanted to hug her and hide, away from the world, away from the people, away from the questions and the judgement and the piercing gazes. Yet she couldn't do any of that. Her voice was still stuck in her throat, her body would listen to her. They made it all the way to Marcy, who reached out her hands at Anne. Anne leaned down so Marcy could reach her.  

"Hey, hey, you're alright, it's just us now" she whispered.  

Marcy cupped her cheeks, gently rubbing her cheeks with her thumbs. Anne relaxed into her touch, her eyes clothing. Her breathing slowed down, surprising her, she hadn't noticed how fast she had been breathing. She felt Sasha place her hands on her shoulders, making her notice how tense they were. She relaxed completely, closing her eyes.  

"How about we sit down" suggested Sasha.  

Anne followed her suggestion, plopping down on the ground and leaning back to lay down. She was soon joined by Marcy and Sasha on either side. It was nice, quiet, relaxing.  

"I didn't think so many people would come" mumbled Anne.  

Her voice was hoarse, maybe from speaking so much.  

"Me neither, but I suppose they all wanted to meet the amazing Resistance leader," said Sasha.  

Anne tensed, disliking the title. She thinks she had been called 'Resistance leader' or 'Commander' more than by her own name.  

"Sorry" mumbled Sasha, she must have felt her discomfort.  

"It's alright," said Anne.  

"Is it?" asks Marcy suddenly, "You looked overwhelmed back there"  

Anne wasn't sure how to answer. After a few seconds of silence, Anne noticed Marcy growing more uncomfortable, so she decided to just trust what her heart was telling her to answer.  

"Yeah" she started, "I expected Wartwood, expected the Dwarfs, even the Reptiles, especially classmates and neighbors. But not everyone else. The Resistance members were fine, I knew them at some level. It was everyone else. They all talked to me like I was still Commander, asking me all these questions. I didn't expect that. I thought this would just be a fun birthday party, I didn't think it would turn into a meet and greet. I didn't think so many people would see me as a hero! They all look up to me! They asked me for autographs, can you believe that!"  

Words were tumbling out of her mouth before she could process what she was saying. They just kept coming, until she suddenly cut off, suddenly unable to say anything. Her eyes stung and she tried to blink away the tears.  

"H-hey, hey" Sasha propped herself up on her elbow.  

She took hold of Anne's hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Marcy shifted closer, also propping herself up on her elbow and wiping away a tear that Anne didn't notice had fallen.  

"Sorry, we shouldn't have left you" apologized Marcy.  

Anne shook her head.  

"No, no. Don't apologize. It's not your fault" she mumbled.  

"Still, I should have come sooner, should have noticed that you weren't comfortable sooner" Sasha sat up, playing with Anne's fingers.  

Anne shook her head again.  

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. I don't even know why it affected me so much, I really shouldn't be crying. I don't know why I am. It was just a few questions. I should be honored that so many people look up to me. But I'm not. Why am I not? Why am I crying? I shouldn't be-" a sob interrupts her.  

She sniffles. Untangling her hand from Sasha's to press them into her eyes, trying to stop the tears.  

"Hey, don't do that" scolds Marcy, gently pulling her hands away from her eyes, "you're going to damage your eyes"  

Anne hiccups, more tears running down her face. She sees Sasha and Marcy share a look, and then they both suddenly hug her. Anne feels Sasha's head above her and Marcy's head below her. She feels safe between them. Her sobs and hiccups die down. After a while, long enough for her tears to dry, they all sit up. Anne rubs her eyes, still sniffling. They continue to sit there, until Polly finds them.  

"Anne! Oh Frog, what happened?" she asks.  

Polly runs up to Anne, climbing into her lap and hugging her. Anne almost cries again.  

"N-nothing, just got overwhelmed" mumbled Anne.  

Polly presses her for more answers, so Anne spills everything. By the end of her explanation, Polly has murder in her eyes.  

"Please don't go around killing everyone" she chuckles.  

"No promises" shrugs Polly, getting up.  

"Seriously, Polly, it isn't their fault"  

Polly rolls her eyes.  

"Fine, I won't kill anyone" huffs Polly.  

She leaves and then five minutes later returns with Anne's parents, Hop Pop, and Sprig. By then, Anne isn't sniffling anymore. Sasha still holds her hand and Marcy is still leaning on her. It's grounding and comforting.  

"Anne!" Oum runs up to her, wrapping her in a hug.  

Anne sees Sasha and Marcy lean away, awkwardly looking away. Bee and the Plantars join the hug. They help her to her feet and then talk to her in hushed voices. Anne knows they aren't speaking quiet enough for Sasha not to hear them. One look at Sasha's ears, tells her that she's trying not to listen and ignore them. She makes a mental note to thank her.  

"Would you like us to cancel the party? We can send everyone home" says Bee.  

"Not everyone, Resistance members can stay, and classmates" shrugs Anne.  

Her parents make sure she's sure about it before the family leaves to get rid of all the unwanted guests. Anne stays where she is. She hears Sasha's stand up and turns around to look at her. Sasha smiles at her, making Anne's heart flutter.  

"Come on, your eyes are all puffy" she teases.  

Anne blushes at how close the two are. She chuckles. They both help Marcy into her wheelchair and then stay there for a few more seconds, before heading back. They stick to the outskirts, hoping to go unnoticed. They make it to the Plantars house and quickly head into Anne's room. Anne glances at herself in the mirror, frowning at her red, puffy eyes.   

"Ooh! I know something that might help! A cool, wet cloth or some cucumber slices," said Marcy.  

Sasha was quick to disappear to grab the materials, leaving Anne alone with Marcy. Anne flops down on her bed. She was tired, even though it was only around 8pm. She could hear Marcy rolling closer to the bed. She wondered if she should get up and help her out, but her body didn't want to do anything.  

"Anne?"  

Anne doesn't answer, she isn't ignoring her, but she doesn't know what to say.  

"Help me out?"  

Anne forces herself to sit up, she gets up and reaches out her hands. Marcy had been practicing walking, she was able to stand on her feet for a little, even take a step or two, but needed support. Marcy takes her hands and Anne pulls her up. She must have pulled too hard because Marcy ends up stumbling into her, crashing into her chest. Anne's cheeks heat up, she helps Marcy regain her balance and quickly helps her get onto the bed. Marcy has her head down, so she can't see her expression.   

"Sorry, I shouldn't have pulled so hard" apologizes Anne.  

She isn't sure what else to say. Luckily, Sasha comes down the stairs, saving her from further embarrassing herself. She was carrying with her a plate of cucumber slices and a wet cloth.  

"Sit down" she commands.   

Anne follows her order, sitting down on the bed next to Marcy. Sasha places the plate on the bed and then places one knee on the bed, leaning closer. Anne leans back a little, her stomach knotting and her chest caving in on itself. She suddenly couldn't breathe. Anne closes her eyes when Sasha brings the cloth closer. She relaxes when the cool, wet cloth touches her eye. Sasha gently presses it over her eye. Anne feels the sudden urge to touch Sasha's hand. She's surprised by the urge, but before she can process it, she's interrupted by a loud crunch. Anne and Sasha both turn to look at Marcy, who is holding a cucumber slice. There is a second of silence, before they all break into laughter.  

"Marbles, those are for Anne's eyes, not for eating" Sasha moves the plate further away from Marcy.  

Marcy pouts, which makes Anne's stomach feel weird.  

"Come on, let her have a few slices, I won't need that many anyway" she says.  

Marcy's face lights up and she leans on Anne.  

"Yeah Sashy, Anne won't need that many, let me eat some!" she reaches for another slice.  

Sasha moves the plate further away.  

"No way, you can eat them after we fix up Anne's eyes" she snorts.  

"Alright, alright" huffs Marcy, then turns to Anne, "come on, lay down already. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I get to eat more cucumber slices"  

She pushes Anne down into the mattress. Anne lays there, rolling her eyes at Marcy.  

"Close your eyes" Sasha's hands hover over her face, she's holding two cucumber slices.  

Anne complies and feels the cucumber slices on her eyes.  

"How does it feel?" asks Sasha.  

"Nice" replies Anne.  

They hear another crunch and Anne can't help but smile.  

"Marbles!"  

Anne hears Sasha and Marcy arguing playfully, she also hears something being moved around and scrambling.  

"Come on Sash, give her a slice" grins Anne.  

"Boonchuy! You're supposed to be on my side!" Sasha fakes being offended.  

As the two continue to fight. Anne carefully eats one of the cucumbers and watches them with one eye. When Sasha notices she scowls at her playfully.   

"Not you too" she huffs, placing another slice over her eye.  

Anne grins, a plan forming in her mind. When she feels like Sasha isn't' watching her, she eats the other cucumber, once again watching the two. Sasha notices faster this time, groaning as she places another slice over her eyes. Anne can hear Marcy giggling uncontrollably. She can also hear her chewing a cucumber slice.   

"Stop it! We're gonna run out of cucumbers!" says Sasha, but Anne can hear her trying not to laugh.  

...  

The rest of the nights passed uneventfully, which is exactly what Anne wanted at the moment. Once the party ends and everyone leaves, Anne starts opening all the presents she had received. There are clothes, plants, cooking supplies, jewelry, plushies, and books. Beatrix's and Grime's presents are the biggest. Grime's is a blue guitar while Beatrix's is a giant axe. Anne is certain that her parents won't let her keep it in their house, so she'll have to leave it at the Plantars. As she gets ready for bed, Anne smiles. It certainly didn't start out as a good birthday, probably one of the first even, but it still turned out good. She liked the time she spent with Marcy and Sasha.  

Chapter Text

Sasha walked through town, heading for a small store that was already open. She had taken an interest in baking and needed milk and eggs. She entered the store and noticed a ruckus at the checkout area. A tall Canine was yelling at the cashier. Sasha's heart dropped. The Canine had silver blond hair. Sasha couldn't mistake her scent or voice for anyone else's. It was her mother. Sasha can't breathe. She panics, turning back toward the door, about to get out of there, but something makes her stop.  

"Ma'am, you can't return a-" said the cashier.  

"Shut it! Dumb Elf, I can do whatever I want" growled Sasha's mother.  

Sasha turned around and marched up to the checkout area.  

"Excuse me?" she tapped her mother on the shoulder, "What seems to be the problem here?"  

Sasha's heart hammers in her chest. The hopes her face doesn't give away her panic and worry. Her mother turns slowly, her red eyes piercing Sasha.  

"You" she growls.  

Sasha feels like a small kid again. She tries not to cover, but she can't help stepping away. Her mother seems to tower over her, baring her teeth at her. Sasha tries not to cry, tries not to flee.  

"I'm trying to return this yogurt here, but this idiot Elf isn't letting me" Ms. Waybright's voice was too soft.  

"But ma'am! The yogurt cup is empty!" protests the Elf.  

Sasha's mom turns around slowly. The Elf, a 16-year-old boy by the name of Tomas (it's written on his name tag), covers in fear. Ms. Waybright slams her hands on the desk. Sasha takes a step back, her heart hammering in her chest. She can't breathe properly, can't see straight. Fear grips her, holding her from fleeing or interfering. Sasha regrets coming into the shop, she didn't really need the milk and eggs. Maybe there was another store open? She is about to run away, when her mother leans over the desk and growls at the Elf. The Elf stumbles backwards, hitting a wall.  

"I will rip you to shreds" threatens Ms. Waybright.  

The Elf looks about ready to cry, when Sasha suddenly gets the courage to grab her mother's raised arm, stopping her from attacking the Elf.  

"What do you think you're doing?" snarls her mother.  

"Stopping you" growls back Sasha.  

She can't believe she's actually standing up to her mother. A voice in her head screams at her to run, run far away, to get into a boat and paddle away until she finds some other land. Or maybe start digging her grave, that sounded more realistic. Ms. Waybright attacked Sasha, swiping at her face. Sasha leaped backwards, crashing into a shelf, causing some products to tumble to the floor. Sasha ducked and dodged. The store was too small and packed with shelves to fight inside, plus Sasha didn't want to make a mess. She leaped for the door, but her shoulder was grabbed by her mother. Sasha's armor protects her shoulder, but her mother still pulls her backwards. Her mother sends her flying into the checkout desk. Sasha groans and looks up, her mother towering over her.   

"Shit, why did I think this was a good idea?" wondered Sasha.  

She trembled in fear, tears pricking in her eyes. She braced herself for a slap, a kick, a couple broken bones and new scars. She felt like a little kid again, helpless, useless, weak . Her heart was beating too fast, she couldn't breathe, the adrenaline pumping in her blood made her feel sick. Her mother kicked her in the stomach, Sasha winced. Ms. Waybright grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to raise her head and look her in the face. Sasha blinked away tears, trying not to whimper. She stared her mother in the eyes, completely frozen in place. Then a can of beans hit her mother right in the face. Ms. Waybright let out a cry of pain and let go of Sasha, grabbed her face. Sasha grabbed her head, it hurt, she was sure her mother pulled some hair out.   

"How dare you! I'll tear you to pieces!" roared Ms. Waybright.  

She launched forward, presumably at the Elf, who must have thrown the can. Sasha heard the Elf scream in terror. Before her mother could reach him, she launched at her legs, tackling her to the ground. While her mother was still recovering, Sasha jumped up and shook her head, trying to silence the voices in her head telling her to flee. She glanced at the Elf and gave him a nod. Ms. Waybright got up and Sasha ran to the door, opening it and jumping outside, it would be easier to fight outside. Her mother followed her. There were people outside. Sasha hoped her mother would only focus on her.   

"You son of a bitch!" shouted Ms. Waybright.  

"Wouldn't that make you the bitch?" taunted Sasha.  

She might have looked brave on the outside, but she felt absolutely frightened on the inside. She wondered for a second if she should grab her swords, but decided against it, she didn't want to kill her mother. That idea made her feel sick. Ms. Waybright attacked her again and again, shouting out curse words and slurs and telling her how pathetic and useless and weak she was. Sasha dodged her attacks, but could dodge the words, they pierced her heart, sinking deep into her brain. Sasha noticed people around were stepping away, trying to get out of their way. She saw a few doing the opposite, trying to get closer, she recognized some from the Resistance. Her mother's fist connected with her chest, sending her stumbling backwards.  

"You're in the middle of a fight, idiot! Focus!" internally shouted Sasha at herself.  

She leaped back a little, trying to create distance so she could catch her breath. The hit to the chest had pushed all the air out of her lungs and made breathing hurt.   

"Hanging out with that Reptile and Avian made you weak, just like them" taunted Ms. Waybright, "those two are so stupid, they're even worse than you, and that's something"  

Sasha grabbed Ms. Waybright's arm before it could hit her and dug her claws in.  

"I don't care what you say to me but keep them out of this" snarled Sasha.  

Ms. Waybright pulled her hand away.  

"Hit a nerve?" she grinned.  

This time, Sasha attacked first, anger running through her blood. She clawed her arms, aimed for her face, punched and kicked her. Ms. Waybright just got angrier, shouting more curse words and slurs, but Sasha didn't care, she couldn't hear her anymore. Their fight might have lasted forever, if people from the Resistance base hadn't appeared and hadn't piled on Ms. Waybright. They grabbed her limbs, tied them together and kept her immobile. Sasha was able to land one last hit to her mother's face, leaving one of her eyes black. As Ms. Waybright was being taken away, a couple Resistance members approached Sasha.  

"Are you alright?" one of them asked, a small Avian.  

"Of course she's not, didn't you see the fight?" rolled his eyes the Reptile, "We should get you to a med bay"  

"No need" shook her head, Sasha.  

The Avian and Reptile shrugged and walked away. Sasha turned and left, as the adrenaline wore off, her mind started thinking again.  

"How many people saw that? How many people heard that? Oh Frog... they all heard what she said... they all heard it! They heard everything!" panicked Sasha.  

Her mind was racing now, her eyes twitching, glancing at everyone around her. How many of them heard? How many of them understood? They had made a scene; they made such a large scene. The Resistance members would understand, they all knew Ms. Waybright. Sasha's heart sank. What about everyone else? Some of them know her as the Resistance leader, they just saw her fighting another Canine. What would they think? Would they think she started it? Are they scared of her? They heard what her mother said, did they believe it? Sasha's heart was beating faster again, she couldn't breathe, again. She picked up her pace, trying to get out of town as fast as possible. Once she was on the outskirts of town, she ran. She ran through the forest as fast as possible.  

"Why did this happen? Why did everyone have to see that? Why, why, why?" wanted to scream Sasha.  

She ran faster. Branches scratched her arms, legs, and face. She tripped on a twig and fell, only to jump back up and keep running. She was running like her life depended on it. Her legs ached and her lungs hurt, she couldn't breathe, her throat was burning. Tears blurred her vision. Branches clawed at her hair, at her clothes. Her clothes were getting ripped, there was stuff in her hair. She made it to a river, where she slowed down. She stopped and leaned against a tree, slowly sitting down. For a few moments, there was only the sound of her heart racing, her ragged breathing, and the river. The moment passed.  

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Fuck. Ugh!" Sasha screams internally.  

She felt tears falling down her cheeks. She wipes them away furiously. After the war, she had started crying more, though only ever in private. She didn't want to cry now. She didn't want to show how much that fight affected her. She didn't want to show how scared she was. Her mother's voice rang in her ears. She clawed at them, pulling and sinking her claws into them. Small, quiet whimpers escaped her lips. She hated crying. Crying never fixed anything. All it did was show how weak you are and gives you a headache. Sasha crawled to the river, she wanted to wash her face. When she looked into it, she saw her reflection. Except it was her younger self. Her younger self stared back at her, scowling.  

"Why are you crying? Didn't we promise ourselves we wouldn't cry?" asked young Sasha.  

Sasha didn't say anything, just stared at her reflection.  

"You've become pathetic. We were so strong before. We had everything under control. Now you don't even have Anne and Marcy under control"  

Sasha snarled at her reflection.  

"Don't snarl at me! Those two are literally so easy to manipulate! Now you follow them around like a little ladybug!"  

Sasha swiped at her reflection, distorting it. She leaned away from the river, grabbed her dagger with one hand and her ponytail with the other. With one clean swipe, she cut it off. For a moment, she sat completely frozen, her hands shaking. She had just cut off her hair. Sasha looked at her left hand, she was holding her ponytail. Sasha crawled to the river again, pausing to take a deep breath, and then looked at her reflection again. She stared at her reflection. Her reflection stared back. Her hair, shorter in the back and longer in the front, got in her face, but she didn't care. This... this was the new Sasha. Broken, pathetic, weak... new. Sasha crawled back and sat down against a tree trunk, still clutching the dagger and ponytail. Her ears twitched, she heard footsteps approaching. Sasha tensed, sniffing the air, they were downwind from her. Sasha gripped her dagger harder and peeked out from behind the tree trunk. A figure approached her.  

"Sasha? What are you doing here?"  

It was Grime. Grime had found her. Sasha relaxed for a second, before remembering how she looked.  

"Goodness, what happened to you? What's with your face? Your hair!" Grime gestured to her head; his expression worried.  

Sasha shrank away, trying to hide herself. Grime carefully kneeled in front of her, taking her head into his hands. Sasha winced when his fingers touched her cheek. He was seeing her like this. This was bad, she looked bad, what would he think? She looked pathetic, lying in the forest with her hair on her face. He could probably tell that she had been crying, this was bad, so bad. Sasha wished he would just leave her be. Why did he have to see her like this? Why?  

"You're bleeding" muttered Grime, forcing her to look at him.  

He got up again and told her to wait, before walking away. Sasha obeyed, sitting in that same spot. She relaxed again when he was out of view. For a second, she thought of leaving, that way he couldn't see her again. She could always return later, when she is collected and is on the verge of crying again. And yet she stays. Grime returns soon, he brings a medical kit with him. He opens the kit and slowly starts patching up Sasha's wounds. Somehow, she hadn't even noticed the amount of blood on her face. Her nose was bleeding, her lip was ripped and there were scratches on her cheeks. Her arms were littered with claw marks from her mother and the branches. Her armor and clothes had blood on them, Sasha knew it would take ages to wash off. It would take even longer to get the smell out.   

"What happened to you?" asked Grime.  

Sasha goes over her story in her head. It doesn't sound very good. She went to a store, ran into her mother, fought her, ran away, and cut her hair because she was panicking. Sasha just shrugged, not really in the mood to tell him. Grime seemed to understand that. He just finished patching her up and then just stared at her hair for a few seconds.  

"It's bad, I know" Sasha hates how her voice cracks.  

She shrinks away. Her dagger is on the ground, as well as her ponytail, she had to let go of them so Grime could patch up her hands. Sasha feels tears prick in her eyes again, she sniffles, hating how weak she sounds. Grime places everything back in the medical kit and then stands up. Sasha furiously wipes her eyes. He's going to leave, leave her alone, all alone. She just knows that he's going to leave. Who would want to be around her right now? She's so weak. She looks horrible. She looks like a little kid, like she tried to give herself a haircut and then went playing in the woods and fell out of a tree. She doesn't look like a warrior. She looks like a small kid, helpless, weak, pathetic,  broken .   

"Want me to help fix your haircut?" asks Grime.  

Sasha raises her head slowly. He's holding a pair of scissors, gesturing to her hair. Sasha wipes her tears and nods. Grime tells her to sit away from the tree, so he can walk around her from all sides. She's much taller than him, so even while sitting down, she's a little too tall for him to cut her hair comfortably. So Grime tells her to slouch, so he can see the top of her head. Sasha feels the cold scissors come in contact with her scalp, she tries not to flinch. She can hear him snipping away strands of hair. He runs his hand through her hair, and then walks around to face her, snipping at the hair in front of her hair. Sasha tries to sit as still as ever. It seems like forever when Grime finally steps away.  

"There, all done" he nods, his face very serious.  

Sasha stands up slowly. She steps closer to the river, leaning forward a little so she can look into it. Her reflection looks back at her. She smiles, her reflection smiles. There are bandages all over her face and her hair isn't perfect. It looks kind of weird. It's easy to tell that it wasn't done professionally, but it's not that bad. It's much better than the one she gave herself. Sasha runs her hand through her hair, grinning. It's growing on her.  

"Thanks, dad!" She hugs him.  

The words slip out of her mouth before she can stop them. Her face flushes, she buries her face deeper into Grime's shoulder. She hopes that Grime didn't hear it, but it seems like he had, since he freezes in shock just for a second, before chuckling and returning the hug.  

"Anything for you, kid" he whispers.  

Sasha probably beat her record of crying in one day.  

...  

"Right, promise you won't laugh?" asked Sasha.  

She stood nervously in front of Anne, Marcy, and...  Sprig . She would have preferred just Anne and Marcy, but Sprig just  had  to tag along. Of course, he thought her haircut was going to be horrible. She had both hands on her hood, which was pulled low over her face so they couldn't see her haircut just yet. Anne and Marcy looked excited; Sprig looked ready to make fun of her.  

"It can't be  that  bad" rolled her eyes Anne.  

"Yeah, you look good in anything!" shrugged Marcy.  

Sasha blushed, her heart doing backflips. She coughed, reminding herself that it was just a complement, she didn't have to her so flustered. And in front of Sprig! Her reputation was going to be ruined.  

"Come on already! I don't have all day; I need the rest of the day to tell everyone how bad it looks" snickered Sprig.  

Sasha glared at him. She wanted so badly to pick him up and throw him into the next day. Instead, she got to watch as Anne nudged him, glaring and telling him to be nice.  

"I promise I won't laugh," said Anne.  

"I also promise!" added Marcy.  

They both looked really excited. Sasha glanced at Sprig.  

"I can't promise that-" Anne nudged him hard, "alright, alright! I promise I won't laugh right away; I'll give you like five seconds"  

Sasha sighed; it looked like she wasn't getting a better deal. She would just have to tease and make fun of him in return. Sasha took off her hood, showing her haircut. When she and Grime had gone back to the Dwarf Tower, Braddock had fixed her hair a little more, so it didn't look weird anymore.  

"Oh, wow it looks-" started Sprig.  

He was quickly interrupted by Anne and Marcy, who were both gushing about how good it looked and how soft it looked and if they could touch it. Sasha was a little overwhelmed. She stumbled backwards, laughing, trying to keep them from climbing her to reach her hair. She squatted so they could both reach her hair. She felt Marcy's hands first, gently running through her hair. Her hands were so small and soft, Sasha felt her tail wagging, she tried to control it. Then she felt Anne's hand, it was cold, sending shivers down her spine. Sasha's heart was beating in her ears by then. There were butterflies fluttering in her stomach. As she stood up, her hair slightly messy, she tried desperately to get rid of her blush. Luckily for her, Sprig had already run off.  

"I'm guessing you guys like it" snickered Sasha.  

Anne and Marcy nodded, complementing her again. Sasha could have died happy right there and then.  

...  

Sasha was going through her sleep routine. She had already changed her bandages and brushed her teeth. She really didn't have anything else to do, and yet she continued to stare at herself in the mirror. She grinned.   

"Damn, I look good" she whispered.  

She checked herself out from different angles, grinning at how good her haircut was. She loved it, absolutely adored it, she couldn't be happier for cutting her hair. Her grin faltered a little. The reason for cutting her hair wasn't a good one, running into her mother was never a good memory. And yet... Sasha didn't feel that sad, or even scared. She grinned again, feeling stronger.  

"You don't scare me anymore, I'm not that helpless kid anymore, I have people standing by my side now" thought Sasha.  

She ran her hand through her hand one last time, marveling at how good she looked, before heading to bed.  

Chapter Text

Anne:  

Anne waved to the Plantars and then followed her parents. On the coldest week of the year, all the Reptiles disappeared into the water and hibernated. It happened every year, something that Anne and the Plantars were used to, something everyone was used to. It was only a week, so Anne wasn't going to miss much, so why did she feel so stressed out? It wasn't like the world was going to end in a week. Her mind flashed to Darcy. It took a day, less, it took half a day for everything to start and maybe two days for everyone to know. Anne walked into the water, following her parents to their house.  

"It's not like something is going to happen, everything is peaceful right now" argued Anne.  

She frowned. There were no signs of the war, yet it still happened. She walked into her home, taking off her coat and placing it in a closet. She swam off to her room without a word. She didn't like leaving everyone for a week. She knew nothing would happen, but then again, she never expected the war to happen, no one did. The thought made her stomach churn. She gulps nervously and tries to calm her mind. Nothing was going to happen. The more she repeated it, the more stressed she felt.  

"I need to see them; I need to see them" Anne couldn't breathe.  

She needed to see the Plantars, she needed to see Sasha and Marcy, she needed to see everyone. Anne glanced out the window. It was eerily empty; everyone was getting ready to curl up and sleep for the week. Anne tried to calm her racing heart. She could feel her arm burning, she could smell it, she could see the sword in Marcy's chest. She tossed the blanket that lay over her and watched it slowly drift upwards. She swam to her door, took a deep breath, and carefully opened it. She peeked out into the empty hallway. She carefully swam down it, stopping at her parents' door and listening. She could hear them talking.   

"I should tell them" Anne bites her lip, "but they'll stop me"  

She swims past their door and down the hallway. She'll just spend one more day with the Plantars, less even, she'll be back by evening. Anne puts on her coat and hat; she wraps a scarf around her neck. Anne glances back at her parents' door before opening the door and swimming out. She stays in the shadows, not wanting anyone to see her in case her parents find out she's missing. They'll probably be going to sleep already, they won't even know until next week, or maybe ever, if she can get everyone to stay quiet.  

"It's fine, it's fine" Anne reassures herself.  

Once she makes it to Wartwood, she gets out of the water and jogs to the Plantar's house. The snow crunches under her feet, she shivers when the wind blows into her face. When she finally makes it to the Plantar's house, she flings open the door and quickly closes it behind her. Sprig, who was sitting on the couch, jumps up and runs up to her.  

"Anne! What are you doing here!" he exclaims.  

Anne takes off her jacket and hat and hangs them.  

"Hey there, I'm-"  

She's interrupted by Hop Pop and Polly running out of the kitchen, both shouting out her name in surprise.  

"Did you forget something?" asks Polly.  

"Are you alone? Do your parents know?" asks Hop Pop.  

"It's alright, it's alright! Mom and dad know I'm here; they allowed me to stay till dinner, then I'll go back" lies Anne.  

She's surprised by how easy the lie came, she's even more surprised when the Plantars accept her lie and happily tell her that she's just in time for lunch. They eat lunch together, which is just what Anne needs. It's much colder than she expected, and a nice hot meal really helps. Her anxiety disappears for about two hours, but then returns when she thinks about Sasha and Marcy. She's sure that the Plantars will be fine, since they live in Wartwood and have their basement that they can hide in. She's pretty sure Sasha will be fine, since she's a warrior and lives with the Dwarf Army, but then she remembers the giant energy beam Darcy sent to destroy a tower, and suddenly she isn't so sure anymore. The dark memories threaten to overwhelm her, so Anne tells the Plantars she'll be back for dinner and leaves quickly.  

"They'll be fine" tells herself Anne, "or maybe I should stay for a bit longer?"  

She makes it to Marcy's house first. She knocks and hops from foot to foot, trying to warm herself up. She's wearing a blue turtleneck, a sweater on top of that, and a coat. She's also wearing leggings and her warmest pants. She's wearing a scarf and a hat, but it's still cold. The door opens at last, revealing Yunan.  

"Anne? I thought you left?" Yunan raises an eyebrow.  

"Mom and dad said I could stay a little longer" lies Anne.  

Yunan nods and lets Anne inside.  

"I'll get Marcy" she leaves Anne in the living room.  

Anne stands awkwardly in the house, until Olivia finds her. She tells Olivia the same lie she told everyone else. Olivia doesn't buy it as easily, she's suspicious, but seems to decide against investigating further. Before Olivia can change her mind, Marcy comes out, already dressed. She smiles at Anne, which somehow warms Anne all the way to her toes.  

"I thought you left already; didn't all the other Reptiles leave?" asks Marcy.  

Anne repeats the lie and then the two head towards the Dwarf Tower. None of the Dwarfs question why Anne is still there, much to her relief, but Sasha does. By then, the lie starts feeling real, she's told it to so many people by now, that she can almost believe it herself. They head to town. As they walk around, Anne notices herself dozing off, she grows more tired with each second, her eyelids growing heavier. She blinks several times, shaking her head, trying to wake up a little. It was cold, very cold, but she thought she would last a little longer.  

"You alright?" asks Sasha.  

Anne glances up at her and freezes.  

"Uh... yeah! Yeah... just... um... cold, yeah, just cold" stuttered Anne.  

Sasha takes off her scarf and wraps it over Anne's. Anne blushes at the gesture.  

"T-thank you" she stutters, hoping that Sasha will think it's her teeth chattering from the cold.  

Sasha:  

Marcy throws a snowball at Sasha, which she easily dodges and then turns to look at Marcy, placing a hand over her chest and acting offended.  

"Did you just throw a snowball at me?" she asked dramatically.  

Marcy giggles, throwing another one. Sasha dodges this one as well and crouches to quickly gather a handful of snow.  

"You're going down" she grins.  

Sasha pelts her with snowballs as Marcy laughs and giggles, trying to block them with her hands. Sasha slows down, a little worried that it might have been too much, Marcy is pretty much covered in snow. As she approaches her to check on her, a snowball hits her right in the chest. She stumbles backwards, more out of surprise than the snowball and gasps. She glances at Marcy, who throws a few more snowballs at her, making them from the snow on her lap. Sasha let's all of them hit her, taking a step back from each one as if it actually hurt her.  

"I trusted you, Marcy, how could you!" she dramatically falls back onto the snow.  

They both laugh. Sasha gets up at last, brushing the snow off of her chest. Marcy does the same, removing the snow from her lap. Sasha looks around quickly, remembering that Anne was with them. She finds her sitting on a nearby bench and dozing off. She leans closer to Marcy and lowers her voice.  

"What do you think of ambushing Anne together?" she whispers.  

Marcy muffles her giggles with her hands and nods. They make some snowballs and Sasha pushes Marcy's wheelchair closer. Once they are in throwing distance, Marcy hits Anne right on the head. Anne whips around, eyes wide. They make eye contact and Sasha instantly throws another snowball before Anne can say anything. Anne dodges this one and crouches behind the bench. Sasha abandons Marcy to sneak around the bench. Just as she's about to attack Anne, she gets hit with a snowball right in the face. She stumbles backward, spitting out snow and trying to get snow out of her face. She hears both Anne and Marcy laugh.  

"Oh my Frog! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you in the face" Anne wheezes.  

She helps Sasha get the snow out of her face, and once Sasha's face isn't freezing, she hits Anne with some snow in her face as well.  

"There, now we're even" she grins before helping Anne.  

They laugh, before being interrupted with snowballs hitting their backs. Sasha turns around and gasps at Marcy.  

"How dare you! I thought we were on the same team!" she exclaims.  

"All's fair in love and war" she shrugs.  

Sasha gathers a handful of snow, but before she can even mold them into snowballs, more snowballs are flying at her, she tackles Anne to the ground behind the bench, successfully getting them out of the line of fire, but still covering them in snow.  

"Wow, Waybright, thanks a lot" Anne rolls her eyes, trying to get Sasha off of her.  

Sasha rolls over and swats Anne on the shoulder.  

"At least you didn't get hit in the face with more snow, Boonchuy" she rolls her eyes playfully.  

They both scramble up to peek over the bench. Almost instantly, snowballs are thrown at them. Sasha ducks, but Anne gets hit in the face with more snow.  

"Damn it!" she spits out the snow.  

She doesn't get the rest of the snow out of her face, instead gathers a handful of snow and throws it in the general direction of Marcy. Her shot doesn't land, but at least Sasha's does. She's about to throw another one but has to hide behind the bench again when Marcy starts shooting.   

"Marcy has some really good aim" laughs Anne.  

"I'm more surprised that she hasn't run out of snowballs yet" chuckles Sasha.  

They both start making a small pile of snowballs, planning on overwhelming Marcy by attacking from two different sides of the bench at the same time. When they finish, Anne peeks out to make sure that Marcy is still there. Sasha grabs some snowballs but is stopped by Anne.   

"Uh... she's gone?" Anne points at the empty spot where Marcy sat.  

"Uh... she's gone?" Anne points at the empty spot where Marcy sat.  

They both peek over the bench, confused. She was there just a second ago! Sasha starts tracking the wheelchair tracks on the snow, but she doesn't get to the end, because suddenly they're ambushed with a battle cry and more snowballs. Sasha falls to the ground and rolls under the bench, jumping to her feet on the other side and throwing her own snowballs at Marcy. They end up completely covered in snow, Anne most of all, who wasn't able to escape Marcy's attack. Sasha swipes snow off of her clothes and then shakes herself to make the rest of the snow fall off. She helps Marcy get the snow off of her wheelchair and then they both turn to look to Anne, who is still lying on the ground with her eyes closed.  

"Come on, Anne, you're gonna get sick if you continue laying there" Sasha sticks out her hand to help Anne up.  

Anne's eyes flutter open, she squints at Sasha and then takes her hand. Sasha pulls her up. Anne stumbles into her, mutters an apology and then steps away, swaying a little.   

"Anne? Are you alright?" asks Marcy.  

Sasha also feels worried. She steadies Anne by placing her hands on Anne's shoulders. Anne rubs her eyes and yawns; she looks ready to fall asleep.  

"I'm fine" she mutters, "just a little tired"  

"It's the cold, isn't it, it's making your body sleepy for hibernation" figures out Marcy.  

Sasha feels Anne tense.  

"I-I'm fine! Don't worry! I still have energy!" To prove that, she steps away from Sasha and shows them that she can stand on her own.  

Sasha frowns. She glances at Marcy, who looks just as worried.  

"Come on guys, can we hang out a little longer? Just a little" begs Anne.  

Anne's eyes are large and pleading. Sasha can see the fear in them.  

"I- well-" Sasha isn't sure what to say.  

She can see that Anne is tired and cold from the way she's shivering. Her lips are blue, and her nose is red, she isn't steady on her feet and her teeth are starting to chatter. Sasha wanted to tell her to go home and hibernate, but Anne was so excited to hang out, and her parents allowed her, so surely this was alright? She wants to say no, but she also doesn't want to force Anne into something she doesn't want to do. She looks Anne in the eyes again, she looks scared, scared that Sasha is going to send her home.  

"Alright, but how about we get something warm to drink" suggests Sasha.  

"Ooh! I know a nice coffee shop nearby! They sell some really good hot chocolate!" grins Marcy.  

Anne relaxes a little.  

"Great! Let's go!" she smiles.  

They walk toward the coffee shop, Marcy leading the way. Sasha can still see Anne shivering, her teeth chattering away. Sasha can't help thinking back to how scared she looked. Why was she so scared to go back home? Did something happen? Maybe she just wanted to stay longer. Sasha was about to ask Anne, but the words didn't come out. She wasn't sure how to ask her. It would be awkward, and Anne would probably get defensive. Sasha decided not to ask. If Anne got worse, she would make her go home, but for now, they could drink some hot chocolate and chill. They enter the coffee shop, finding an empty table near the back next to a window. Sasha sits down facing the door so she can see people entering and leaving. Anne and Marcy sit opposite her. Sasha takes off her coat and hat, since it was warm inside, and asks what the other two would like to drink.  

"Peppermint Mocha for me" smiles Marcy.  

Sasha glances at Anne, who is still wearing her coat and has her eyes closed. Marcy nudges her, startling her awake.  

"Huh? What?" she mumbles, rubbing her eyes.  

"What do you want to drink?" asks Marcy.  

"Uh... tea- wait no- coffee" decides Anne.  

Sasha rolls her eyes.  

"You're gonna have to be more specific" she huffs playfully.  

Anne doesn't answer. Her eyes are unfocused. Sasha locks eyes with Marcy, both of them worried. Marcy gently places her hand on Anne's shoulder, making her jerk awake. Anne blinks a few times before her eyes focus again. She glances at Sasha, then at Marcy, then back at Sasha.  

"W-what?" she asks nervously.  

Sasha shakes her head.  

"It's nothing" she hopes her smile is reassuring.  

She goes over to the counter to order their drinks. A Peppermint Mocha for Marcy, a hot chocolate with marshmallows for herself, and a Chestnut Praline Latte for Anne. She pays for the drinks and carries them over to their table. Marcy eagerly grabs her drink and blows on it. Anne has her head on her hand, which is propped up on the windowsill. Sasha sits down and carefully takes a sip of her hot chocolate.  

"Do you think we should take her home?" she whispers.  

Marcy glances at Anne and then back at Sasha.  

"I don't know, I think we should, it's probably not safe for her to hibernate here" she whispers back.  

They continue to talk in hushed voices, until Anne suddenly stirs, waking up with a grumble.  

"Hey there, sleepyhead" teases Sasha.  

Anne reaches out for her coffee, taking a sip and then hissing in pain.  

"Shit, hot!" she hissed.  

"Ah! Careful!" Marcy grabs Anne's hand.  

Sasha can't help but chuckle. Anne glares at her playfully. The three laugh. They talk and drink, though Sasha can see that Anne keeps dozing off, struggling to stay awake. They are just about to leave, when the lights in the coffee shop start flickering. The shop was filled with panicked voices, everyone confused.  

"W-what's happening?" whimpers Marcy.  

The lights flicker one more time before someone finally turns them off. They are left in complete darkness. Sasha looks out the window, confused. It was midday, there should have been sunlight pouring through the large windows, but instead, the windows were covered in snow, blocking out the sunlight. Sasha stands up, looking around the coffee shop. Canines are fine, since they can see well in the dark, but everyone else is panicking. She can see people trying to find some light sources. Sasha turns to Marcy and Anne. Anne is holding Marcy tightly, both of them are trembling. It seems like Anne is trembling from the cold and Marcy is trembling from fear. Sasha's heart aches. She turns to the coffee shop employees, who are frantically trying to calm the crowd and get a light source. It takes a few minutes, but a few candles are lit up at last. The candles gently illuminate the coffee shop.   

"We're stuck!" someone shouts.  

Everyone turns to see a Canine trying to open the door, they push and pull, but the door won't budge.  

"What's going on!"  

"We're snowed in!"  

"How do we get out?"  

"It's getting cold"  

"Let me out!"  

"Calm down!"  

"When did it start snowing?"  

"Calm down everyone!"  

All the shouting is making Sasha feel overwhelmed. She suddenly feels claustrophobic.   

"Sasha?"   

Sasha glances back at Anne and Marcy. Anne is looking up at her, clearly tired. Marcy is still hidden in her chest, trembling. Sasha approaches them, sitting down next to Marcy and placing her hands on her shoulders. She can hear Marcy sniffling. She looks at Anne, who seemed about ready to pass out. Sasha gulps. She has to do something.  

"I'll be right back" she promises.  

She stands up and glances around the coffee shop. More candles are being lit up, people are still talking loudly, crowded around the counter. Sasha knows nothing is going to be done in this chaos, there needs to be order. She silently snarls, cursing all the adults in the room. She climbs onto a table.  

"Listen up, everyone!" she shouts.  

The voices quiet down, everyone turns to look at her. Instantly she can hear them talking to each other in hushed voices, most of them recognize her as the resistance leader.  

"I understand that everyone is scared-" several people start protesting, "ok, ok, not scared, everyone is confused" she rephrases, "we're probably gonna be here for a while, at least until the storm dies down and we can find a way out. While we're all stuck here, we should work together"  

She can see people nodding along. She organizes people in different groups, sending them to find more light sources, blankets, and other materials. She asks the shop manager if there is anywhere they could stay the night. Luckily, there is a hotel right next to them, which is connected to the coffee shop through a door in the backrooms. The hotel has also lost light and heating and are also snowed in. Most of the hotel rooms are empty, so Sasha gets everyone in the coffee shop to break into groups of 3 to 5 and each one of them gets a room. Every group is handed a few candles and some blankets to keep warm. At one point, someone suggests getting out of the window on one of the top floors, but that is quickly shut down. Everyone would rather be inside than out in the storm. Once everyone is settled, Sasha returns to Anne and Marcy.  

"Hey there" she says softly.   

Marcy isn't crying anymore, probably because it isn't that dark anymore. Unfortunately, Anne has passed out again. She still has her arms wrapped protectively around Marcy, with her head resting on top of Marcy's.  

"Come on, there is a room we can stay in" whispered Sasha.  

Marcy gently starts unwrapping Anne's arms, but Anne just clings to her harder. Marcy looks up to Sasha for help. Sasha sighs, she didn't want to wake up Anne, but there was no other way. She gently placed a hand on Anne's shoulder.  

"Anne, come on, wake up" she gently shook her.  

Anne stirred a little, eyes fluttering open. She lifted her head and groaned, rubbing her eyes.  

"What's happening?" she slurred.  

"Sasha got us a room to stay in, it'll be warmer there, probably," said Marcy.  

Anne nodded, but Sasha could see that she was already dozing off. Sasha helped Marcy into her wheelchair and then helped Anne get up. Anne swayed from side to side, heavily leaning into Sasha. Sasha sighed; it was going to be hard to get both of them up the stairs at the same time. Marcy also seemed to understand that, because she offered to wait there while Sasha got Anne upstairs.  

"You sure?" asked Sasha.  

She could probably ask someone to help them.  

"Yeah, it's not like you're going to be gone for long" shrugs Marcy.  

"Right, I'll be right back" promises Sasha.  

She places Anne's arm over her shoulders and her own arm around Anne's waist. They slowly make their way to the staircase and slowly climb it. When they finally make it to the second floor, Anne is out of breath and only half conscious. Sasha bites her lip and then decides that it'll be easier to just carry Anne to the third floor. She carefully scoops her up, making Anne gasp quietly.   

"Sorry" she mutters.  

Anne doesn't say anything, she just snuggles into Sasha's chest and falls back asleep. Sasha tries to calm her rapid heartbeat. She makes it up one more story and goes into the room that she got them, which is luckily already open. She places Anne on the bed and promises her that she'll be back soon. She isn't sure if Anne actually heard her, but she doesn't want to leave Marcy alone any longer. She takes the stairs two at a time, jumping the last four. She's relieved to find Marcy still sitting in her wheelchair by their table. When Sasha approaches her, Marcy looks up and smiles.  

"Come on" says Sasha.  

Once they get to the staircase, Sasha pauses. They have once again run into a problem. She couldn't pick up both Marcy and the wheelchair at the same time. Sasha glanced around, hoping to find someone who could pick up the wheelchair, but everyone had already settled into their rooms, and they were the last ones out there. Before Sasha could do something. Marcy started getting up, balancing on her crutches.   

"Woah, hey, careful!" Sasha reached out but stopped when Marcy shook her head.  

"I'm fine, I practiced at home" she reassured Sasha.  

"W-well, alright, just... be careful" sighed Sasha.  

She picked up the wheelchair and followed Marcy as she hopped up the stairs. It took them a while, and by the end, they were both out of breath, but at least they made it.  

Marcy:  

Sasha opened the door and they both entered. Marcy saw Anne lying on the bed, still in her coat and hat. Sasha was quick to take off her coat and hat, hanging them in the closet. She helped Marcy hang her clothes and then approached Anne, making her sit up.  

"Anne?" she whispered, gently shaking her shoulders.  

Anne was fully unconscious.  

"We should get that jacket off of her and get her under the covers" suggested Marcy.  

Sasha did just that, leaving Anne in a turtleneck and some leggings. Sasha picked her up and placed her on the bed, this time at the top, so her head was on the pillow. Then Sasha covered her with the hotel blanket and one of the blankets that Marcy saw Sasha giving out. Once that was done, they fell into tense silence. Neither of them knew what else to do. Marcy shivered, without her coat and without the heating, it was actually rather chilly.  

"We could probably, um... well... we could..." Sasha gestured at the bed, not meeting Marcy's gaze.  

Marcy blushed at the idea of sharing a bed with Sasha and Anne. Technically they did it before, multiple times, but it was always because one of them would have a nightmare. Then again, sleeping together would safe body heat.   

"S-sure. I- I think that it's a good idea, because, well, you see, we'd be saving body heat and it would be warmer, and Anne looks really cold, and-" rambled Marcy.  

She was interrupted by Sasha chuckling. She glanced at her, and Sasha smiled at her, which made Marcy melt on the inside. Marcy blushed and looked away. They both took off their jackets, which left Marcy in a sweater and leggings, and Sasha in a sport bra and legging shorts. Marcy tries to fight off the blush on her face, but fails, she hopes that Sasha thinks it's from the cold. They get into bed, Marcy on Anne's right and Sasha on Anne's left. Marcy gently takes off Anne's prosthetic and places it on the nightstand. Then she lies down next to Anne. Their hands brush and Marcy is shocked at how cold she is.  

"Goodness, she's freezing" she whispers.  

Marcy turns to her side and cuddles into Anne's side, placing her head on her chest. Anne's scales are cold against Marcy's skin, but she doesn't mind, as long as Anne is warm. Sasha also rolls over, wrapping her arms around both of them and tucking Anne's head under her chin. They lay in the darkness for a while. Marcy wonders if she should say anything but decides against it. Anne's heartbeat, even though it's slowing down in preparation for hibernation, is very comforting. Slowly, Marcy drifts to sleep.  

...  

Marcy is woken up when Sasha suddenly scrambles out of bed. She opens her eyes slowly, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She watches as Sasha quickly pulls on her shirt and grabs one of her swords, creeping towards the door and looking through the hole to see who was outside. Marcy glanced at Anne, who was still asleep. Anne had her arm around Marcy's waist and her brows her furrowed, she gently tugged on Marcy's waist, making butterflies erupt in Marcy's stomach. Marcy takes a few deep breaths and then almost jumps out of her skin when she hears the door opening. She looks over to see that Sasha had opened the door for the Plantars and... Mrs. and Mr. Boonchuy.  

"Oh Frog, they should all be hibernating" winced Marcy.  

She carefully got out of bed and into her wheelchair. Then she pulled the covers over Anne. Oum and Bee quickly took Anne into their arms, checking on her. Marcy could see that they were also tired. She frowned, all three of them should have been asleep long ago, but they were all awake. From their worried expressions, she figured that they must not have known that Anne had left, which meant she had lied to everyone. Marcy gulps nervously, she wonders why Anne would lie about telling her parents, why did she even leave in the first place?  

"Come on, let's get all of you home," says Hop Pop.  

They dress Anne into her coat. Sasha offers to carry Anne since Bee and Oum can hardly stand straight. They agree, reluctantly. Oum pushes Marcy's wheelchair, Sasha carries Anne, Bee and the Plantars lead the way. It must be a strange sight, to see three Reptiles on the coldest week of the year. Once they make it to the Plantar's house, the Reptiles retreat to the basement to hibernate for the rest of the week. Hop Pop invites Marcy and Sasha to stay for dinner, which they both agree to, because it was nice and warm inside and it smelled so good, but most of all, because they were closer to Anne here.  

"She really tricked us all, didn't see" sighs Hop Pop.  

"Yeah, I should have sent her home earlier" mutters Sasha.  

"Why would she do that though? Why did she want to spend one more day with us so badly? Badly enough to put herself in danger?" Marcy thought out loud.  

Silence fell over them as they all got lost in thought. Sprig was the one who broke it.  

"She was scared, I think," he said.  

Marcy remembered the fear in Anne's eyes when Sasha was telling her to go home.  

"Why though? Did she not want to go home?" asked Marcy.  

"I think it wasn't about not wanting to go home, but about wanting to stay," said Sasha.  

Once again, they all fell silent. Before they could continue, dinner was ready, and everyone sat down to eat. After dinner, Marcy finally noticed the time, she almost had a heart attack when she saw how late it was. Sasha and Marcy both left. Sasha dropped Marcy off at her house and then went back to the tower.   

"Marcy! Where were you? We were so worried" Olivia checked her for any injuries.  

"I'm alright, we got stuck in a storm and had to wait it out" she reassured Olivia.  

"Goodness, your hands are freezing" gasped Olivia.  

She helps her out of her clothes and into something more comfortable and then wraps her up in a blanket.   

...  

Marcy lies in bed. She can't fall asleep yet, mostly because of how loud her thoughts are. She can't help but worry about Anne. She hoped that staying out in the cold didn't cause any side effects. There is still the mystery of why Anne even stayed out so late without asking for permission. Marcy bites her lip, worry making her stomach twist. She can't wait for the week to pass and for Anne to wake up, then she can finally ask her.  

Anne:  

Anne rolled over. It was nice and cozy under the blanket, she didn't want to get up yet. Still, she opened her eyes. It took her a second to recognize the Plantars basement walls. It took her another second to notice that she was lying on a large mattress on the floor. She frowned in confusion, rolling onto her back and trying to remember how she got there. She remembered hanging out with Sasha and Marcy, going to a coffee shop, the lights going out, holding Marcy... and...  

"Shoot" she sat up, "Shoot, shoot, shoot"  

She scrambled up. The lights and heating stopped working because of a storm and they were stuck inside the coffee shop, so how in the world was she back at the Plantars? She must have fallen asleep, which meant she had hibernated, which meant she had been out for a week. Her heart sped up. She glanced around, but she was alone in the room. Anne scrambled up the stairs and pushed open the trapdoor, she ran into the living room, which was empty, then into the kitchen, which was not. At the sound of her running in, everyone at the table, which was the Plantars, her parents, Sasha, and Marcy, turned to look at her.  

"Anne!" they all exclaimed at the same time.  

Her parents stood up from the table and approached her.  

"Anne, do you know how much you scared everyone?" her mom scolded her.  

"Why did you run away like that?" asked her dad.  

"Yeah, you could have just waited until after the week" added Sprig.  

Anne's heart was beating in her ears. She reached out and pulled her parents into a hug, tears running down her cheeks. She sobbed into their chests, trembling with each sob. Her parents held her tightly, asking her what was wrong and why was she crying. Anne just shook her head, crying harder. The Plantars also joined the hug, which just made Anne cry harder. They were real, they were alive, they were here, with her. They stayed silent, letting her cry. Her sobs were the only sound for a while, but they died down after a while, replaced with an occasional sniffle and hiccups.  

"Sorry" she mumbled.  

Her mom rubbed her back prompting her to continue.  

"I just... I was scared" she started.  

The words were stuck in her throat. Silence fell over them once again.  

"What were you scared off?" asked Bee.  

"I... I was scared of... I was scared that something would happen" mumbled Anne, "I was scared to lose you, I was scared that something would happen, and I wouldn't be there and-"  

She was interrupted by her own sobs. It took them another few minutes before she could speak again.  

"It's just, the war happened so quickly, less than a day, and I just... I... I don't want to lose you" her voice got quieter at the end, barely above a whisper.  

She felt her mom pull her impossibly closer, hugging her tighter. The others also scooted closer. It was nice, comforting, and warm. Anne breathed in and out slowly, relaxing into their embrace.  

"Well, I'm pretty sure we could have held it together for a week" shrugged Sasha.  

Anne looked up at her. Sasha and Marcy hadn't joined in the hug, they were still at the table. Anne figured that it was because they didn't want to intrude.   

"But-" she was about to argue, but then the others joined in.  

"Technically, she formed the resistance"  

"And we were safe"  

"We were missing for much longer as well"  

Anne sighed.  

"I suppose, still, I'd rather be here just in case" she mumbled.  

Her eye lids were growing heavier with each second. She yawns, rubbing them to try to stay awake.   

"Come on, let's get you back to bed" suggests Hop Pop.  

Anne doesn't argue, but before she goes back to sleep, she pulls Sasha and Marcy into a hug.  

"Sorry" she whispers.  

"For what?" whispers back Sasha.  

"For worrying you guys" explains Anne.  

"It's alright, you were scared" smiled Marcy softly.  

With that, Anne headed back to the basement, this time falling asleep on her bed.  

Chapter Text

Olivia:

Olivia rushed to the throne room. She stopped outside the door and took a deep breath, straightening and mentally preparing herself. As she knocked on the door, she wondered what could have been so urgent that they called her in the middle of the night. She would much rather be in bed, but she would also like to keep her job. When the doors opened, Olivia stepped into the throne room, bowing low before the king and queen. She could feel the tension in the air. 

"You called upon me?" she asked. 

The king gestured at another servant, who approached Olivia and gently gave her a bundle of blankets. Olivia, confused, looked down and almost dropped the bundle, surprised to find herself staring into bright green eyes. It wasn't a bundle of blankets, but an Avian child, about a month old, with a mop of black hair, chubby cheeks, and bright green eyes, wrapped in a blanket. 

“Your job is to take care of the child” he said. 

Olivia was flabbergasted. 

“Pardon me?" said Olivia, "B-but, what about my job?" 

Her job involved lots and lots of paperwork. She had to take care of all the important paperwork for the king and queen. It was a demanding job, there was no way she could take care of a child at the same time. 

“You’re relieved of your old duties, this is now your new job until the child grows old enough, then you can continue your old job,” said the king. 

Olivia was about to argue, there was no way she could take care of a child. She was not a mother, never was, she didn't know how to take care of children. Being an only child meant she never had to take care of children. She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it at the king's piercing gaze. She nodded and quickly left with the child in her hands. Once she made it to her room 

“Sweet child, what are we going to do?” She asks. 

The child looks at her with bright green eyes, not saying a word. Olivia sighs. She was not ready for a child, wasn’t even sure she wanted one. She hasn’t talked to Yunan about marriage or kids. The thought made her blush. Did she want to marry Yunan? Absolutely. Did she want to have kids with her? That one was harder to answer. She was interrupted by a cry. She looked down. True child’s face had gone all read, there were tears in their eyes and their lip quivered. 

“Hush, hush, what is it you want?” Olivia rocked the baby. 

The baby didn’t calm down, arms flailing and legs kicking. Olivia placed her on the bed, unwrapping her from the blanket cocoon. The baby calmed down instantly. 

“You were stuck” figured out Olivia. 

She noticed a note under the baby. She grabbed it and read it. 

Name: Marcy Wu  

Birth Date: January 30  

Gender: female  

Olivia scoffed. She knew about the king’s and queen’s first child, named Darcy. It seemed like the king and queen weren’t the most creative, or maybe they wanted matching names. Olivia rolls her eyes, even if they were siblings, it didn’t mean their names had to have a one letter difference. Olivia places the note on her desk and quickly returns to Marcy. She lays down next to her, gently drying the tear tracks on her cheeks with her thumb. 

“I won’t leave you, Marcy” promises Olivia. 

She was not going to be like the king and queen, abandoning their children, leaving them with servants until they’re old enough to obey without questioning. Olivia brings the child closer, pulling the blanket over them. Sleep takes her soon enough. 

… 

Olivia wakes up to crying. She wants to roll over and hide her head under the pillow, but a sudden kick to her ribs makes her sit up with a jolt. She looks down at the bed, the moon creating just enough light to see a small baby, flailing and crying loudly. Olivia quickly picks her up and gets out of bed, walking around the room. 

“Hush, hush, you’re going to wake everyone up” she whispers.  

She rocks Marcy, but that doesn’t calm her down. Olivia figures that she’s hungry and quickly looks around her room. She sees a bowl or fruit on her desk and relaxes a little. Avian babies are born ready to eat any kind of food, unlike Canines, Dwarfs, Hobbits, and Elves. Olivia sits down on her chair and while holding Marcy with one hand, starts peeling a banana, since it’s the softest fruit she has. She breaks it into small pieces and slowly feeds them to Marcy, who calms down and eagerly chews the banana. After eating half a banana, Marcy snuggles deeper into Olivia's hand and yawns. Olivia can't help but smile. 

"Come on, let's get you to bed" she stands up and carries Marcy to bed. 

They sleep through the rest of the night. 

... 

Olivia wakes up to a knock on her door. She gets up slowly, grumbling as she glances at her clock. Her eyes fly open as she reads the time. 

"I'm late!"  Olivia almost jumps out a bed, but notices the baby in her arms,  "Ah, right, I have a new job now"  

Another knock on the door makes Olivia tense and glances at Marcy, who stirs a little. Not wanting to wake her up, Olivia carefully slips out of bed. She surrounds Marcy with pillows and blankets, so she doesn't fall out of bed and then puts on a cardigan before opening the door. Outside her room stands a servant with their arms full of stuff. Olivia quickly lets the Avian in, helping her place the stuff on the floor next to the door. Before Olivia can ask what any of it is, the Avian rushes out. Olivia stands completely still for a second, but then sighs and goes through the stuff. She finds diapers, baby food, bottles, toys, and pacifiers.  

"At least I won't need to buy any of this" she mumbles. 

Olivia quickly places everything in easy to reach places, so she can get it quickly in case of an emergency. She then climbs back into bed and lays down next to Marcy. Right as she's about to drift off to sleep, Marcy's cries reach her ears. She groans and gets back up, picking up Marcy. 

"What is it you want now?" she asks, already reaching for the baby food. 

After feeding Marcy and getting her a diaper, Olivia decides that it's too late to go back to sleep and instead places Marcy on the carpet, surrounding her with toys. She sits next to her, too worried that she'll hurt herself if she leaves her alone. Marcy reaches for the closest toy, instantly putting it in her mouth and chewing. Olivia panics for a second, but then relaxes. It's a toy specifically made for chewing, so Marcy should be fine. Olivia isn't sure how much time passes, her mind keeps drifting off, worrying about taking care of a child. She notices Marcy enjoying a toy that rattles and makes a mental note to get her more of those. 

"Liv!" the door is flung open. 

The sound of the door hitting the wall is quickly followed by Marcy's crying. Olivia picks her up instantly, whispering sweet nothings and rocking her. She glares up at the intruder, who is naturally Yunan, there is no one else in the world who comes barging into her room and lives to tell the tale. 

"Wait, you have a child!" shouts Yunan. 

Marcy, who had just started calming down, starts crying again. 

"Yunan, will you keep it down!" hisses Olivia, she looks down at Marcy and wipes her tears, "Hush, it's nothing to be scared of, just Yunan being Yunan" 

Yunan is still standing in the doorway, completely frozen. Olivia pays her no mind, prioritizing calming down Marcy first. Onces Marcy is calm and playing again, Olivia turns to look at Yunan. Yunan continues to stare at Marcy. 

"Yunan" says Olivia. 

Yunan's head snaps up to stare at her. 

"She's an Avian" she says, her voice uncomfortably neutral. 

Olivia is taken aback at the tone. She had never heard Yunan sound so... emotionless. Yunan was always so energetic, she had never seen her stay so still for so long, and her expression, it was blank. 

"You could have told me you were having a child" said Yunan. 

She doesn't look angry, she looks hurt. Olivia's brows furrowed in confusion, until it hit her suddenly. She scrambles to get up. 

"Wait, Yunan, this isn't what you think it is" she reaches out to grab Yunan's hand, but Yunan steps away, not looking at her anymore. 

"Really, then what is it" growls Yunan. 

"She isn't my kid, she's the king's and queen's daughter" explains Olivia, "they handed her over to me, telling me to take care of her" 

There is a pause and then Yunan looks over at her, her eyes wide. 

"W-what?" Yunan opens and closes her mouth a couple times before finally finding the words, "b-but- you- they- you have a job! Why did they give you their child?" 

Olivia sighs, explaining how the night went. When she finishes, Yunan looks embarrassed. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have accused you of cheating" she mumbles, cheeks red. 

Olivia laughs, gently cupping her cheeks and kissing her. 

"It's alright, it is a pretty strange scene to see, me, with an unknown child" she chuckles. 

Yunan smiles softly. It's one of her rare smiles, one that is full of love and vulnerability. It makes Olivia's insides melt. She's the only one to ever see these smiles. Their moment is interrupted by Marcy's babbling. They both turn to the child and chuckle. 

"Come on Yunan, let me introduce you" Olivia tugs Yunan's hand.  

They both sit down. Marcy seems to take no notice of Yunan. 

"Yunan, this is Marcy, the king's and queen's daughter" Marcy seems to know her name already, because she looks up at Olivia. 

"Wait, you can't be serious, her name's  Marcy?  That's literally a one letter difference" snorts Yunan. 

Olivia rolls her eyes. 

"I know right, you'd think they would be more creative" she says. 

... 

Olivia plays with Marcy. Yunan had left to bring her some breakfast when she learned that Olivia hadn't eaten anything yet. Olivia had noticed that Yunan seemed hesitant to approach Marcy, hesitant to touch her or even play with her. 

"She probably doesn't want to scare her"  she guesses. 

Olivia kisses Marcy on the head, causing the child to giggle and reach out to Olivia. Olivia picks her up and places her on her lap. Marcy leans forward and bonks her forehead against Olivia's. Olivia leans back, surprised. Marcy giggles. 

"Are you... trying to kiss me back?" she can't help but chuckle. 

Marcy also laughs. 

"I'll teach you once you grow up a little, we don't want you going around bonking your forehead into other people's foreheads, do we?" smiles Olivia. 

Yunan:  

Yunan carries a tray with an omelet and a glass of water. She knocks on Olivia's door with her foot, since her hands are occupied. The door opens and Olivia takes the tray from Yunan, gently kissing her on the cheek and thanking her before turning away to place the tray on the table. Yunan feels her cheeks heat up. She still isn't fully used to the affection, neither of them is, but Olivia seems to be better at giving it than Yunan is. Yunan glances at the little Avian, who is sitting on the carpet, babbling and giggling and playing with a dragonfly plushie. 

"Come in, don't just stand there" Olivia takes her hand. 

She pulls her down to sit down next to Marcy on the carpet. Yunan moves back a little, not wanting to be near the child. It isn't the child's fault, Yunan just doesn't want to scare her, doesn't want to hurt her. She knows she isn't the best at interacting with children, always too rough, too brash, too scary. She doesn't want to scare Marcy, especially when Olivia had taken such a liking to her. Olivia must have sensed her hesitance, because she pulls her closer. 

"Come on, she doesn't bite" teases Olivia. 

"Yeah, but I do" Yunan had meant it to come out in a joking tone, but it came out more in a worried one. 

Yunan cringes inwardly, especially when Olivia frowns at her. Then Olivia's face lights up. Yunan knows that expression, it means Olivia has an idea, one that Yunan will probably not like. 

"Liv, what are you planning?" she asks. 

"Don't worry" Olivia waves her off and then addresses Marcy, "Marcy? Dear, could you look at me?" 

Marcy raises her head, staring at Olivia with bright green eyes.  

"Good, good, come here?" Olivia reaches out her hands. 

Marcy also reaches out her hands, babbling something. Yunan smiles at their interaction. She knows that Olivia thinks she's no good with children, but Yunan would like to argue. Out of the two of them, Olivia had always been more motherly. She might have never had siblings and never thought about having kids, but she was always taking care of all the younger servants, making sure they were eating, making sure they knew they could come to her for any help. Olivia was always more in tune with her emotions, more in tune with other people's emotions. Olivia was much better at comforting and helping. Yunan was a warrior, she didn't know how to comfort and help and take care of. 

"Marcy, look," said Olivia. 

She turned to face Yunan and suddenly leaned in to kiss her forehead. Yunan's eyes opened wide. She hadn't expected a kiss. 

"Alright, your turn now" Olivia lifts Marcy and gently sets her down on Yunan's lap. 

Yunan grabs the child, afraid that she might fall. 

"L-Liv! I don't think this is a good idea! You know I'm not the best at this!" protests Yunan. 

"Just lean down, Yunan, Marcy can't reach" smiles Olivia. 

Yunan follows her order, trying to get her mind to shut up. She closes her eyes when Marcy also leans in and grabs hold of her face. A second later she feels their heads collide as Marcy bonks her forehead against Yunan's. Yunan flinches away, scared that any second now, Marcy will start crying. But Marcy just giggles and babbles something. 

"Calm down, Yunan, she was just giving you a kiss" laughs Olivia. 

It takes Yunan a second to process what Olivia said. 

"She... what?" Yunan asks, dumbfounded. 

"She doesn't know how to kiss yet, so she just bonks her forehead against someone else's" explains Olivia. 

"So... I didn't hurt her?" asks Yunan. 

Olivia's smile falters. Yunan cringes again, she hadn't meant to bring down the mood. She is about to apologize, when Olivia suddenly crawls over to sit next to her and rests her head on her shoulder. 

"No Yunan, you didn't hurt her" she reassures her, "you don't need to worry about hurting or scaring her, you're so gentle with her, and she loves you already" 

"Loves me? How do you know that?" askes Yunan. 

"Just look at her" chuckles Olivia. 

Yunna looks down at Marcy, who has fallen asleep on her lap, gently clutching Yunan's finger. Yunan raises her brows in surprise. Somehow, she hadn't even noticed Marcy falling asleep. She relaxes and smiles, Marcy looks so peaceful. 

"I guess you're right" smiles Yunan. 

"I'm glad we agree on that" Olivia gets up slowly. 

Yunan also gets up and places Marcy on the bed. Olivia surrounds her with pillows and blankets. Yunan makes a mental note to get Marcy a crib. 

"Thank you for being here" whispers Olivia. 

"I didn't do anything" 

"Yes you did" Olivia leans into her, "I was really worried about taking care of her, but I think I can manage it with you" 

Yunan smiles. She's still scared of taking care of Marcy, still scared of hurting or scaring her, but if Olivia believes in her, if Olivia wants her to stay, then she'll stay. 

"In that case, I'll see if I can take this week off" Yunan leans down to kiss Olivia's forehead. 

"Are you sure? You never take weeks off" 

"For you, I'll do anything" 

Yunan blushes at her own words, embarrassed at how sappy she sounds. Luckily for her, Olivia also blushes and hides her head in Yunan's chest. 

... 

Yunan carries the large box over to Olivia's place. She knocks on the door. Usually, she would have just barged in, but she didn't want to startle or wake up Marcy. The door is slowly opened and a tired looking Olivia peeks out. She smiles softly and lets Yunan in, yawning and rubbing her eyes. 

"Woah-" 

Olivia shushes her, pointing at Marcy, who was asleep on the bed. 

"Sorry" whispers Yunan. 

She places the box on the floor and turns to look at Olivia. 

"Damn, Liv, have you been sleeping at all?" she asks. 

Olivia yawns again. 

"Marcy keeps me up, she's so restless" whispers Olivia. 

Yunan nods, glancing at Marcy. She looks down at the box she brought in. 

"It's the crib" she says, "should I start assembling it? Or wait until Marcy wakes up?" 

Olivia doesn't answer. Yunan glances over to find her standing with her eyes closed. Yunan can't help but smile and roll her eyes. She gently takes Olivia's hand and guides her to the bed, helping her lay down next to Marcy. 

"Get some sleep" she whispers. 

Olivia nods and shifts closer to Marcy, gently rubbing her closed fist. Yunan smiles and lays down next to the two. She doesn't fall asleep just yet, instead watching Olivia and Marcy sleep peacefully.  

... 

Yunan must have dozed off, because she wakes up with a jolt because of cries. She sits up rubbing her eyes. She sees Olivia also waking up. Yunan glances down at Marcy and carefully picks her up. 

"Go back to sleep, I'll take care of her" whispers Yunan. 

She takes Marcy into her arms and gets out of bed. Marcy calms down a little, though she's still crying. Yunan carries her over to the table and grabs a bottle, feeding Marcy. Marcy calms down fully, grabbing the bottle with her hands and sucking on it. Yunan can't help but chuckle. 

"You're really loud when you're hungry" she jokes. 

When Marcy finishes the bottle, Yunan smiles at her, tickling her tummy. Marcy smiles back, babbling something. Yunan has to shush her because of how loud she babbles. She glances back at Olivia, who is still asleep. Since Marcy doesn't seem to want to go back to sleep, Yunan decides to take a walk with her. They walk peacefully through the empty hallways. Yunan checks her watch, its lunch time, no wonder no one is around, everyone must be on their lunch break. Yunan doesn't stray far from Olivia's room. In fact, she walks up and down the hall right next to Olivia's door. Marcy continues to babble in her arms. 

"You know, you're the most talkative baby I've ever seen" snorts Yunan. 

Marcy babbles back at her. 

"What? It's true! I've seen other kids, they're all so quiet" shrugs Yunan. 

Marcy blows a raspberry at her. 

"True, true" says Yunan, as if Marcy was actually talking to her, "I'm lucky you aren't as scared of me" 

Yunan continues to talk to Marcy, telling her about her adventures and missions she has been on. Some of them are rather graphic, but Marcy doesn't understand words yet, so Yunan decides that it's fine to tell her. Yunan is halfway through her second story, when she notices that Marcy has fallen asleep. Yunan pauses, smiling. She pushes open the door and carefully places Marcy back on the bed, next to Olivia. She can't help but chuckle when Olivia, still asleep, shifts closer and protectively wraps her arms around Marcy. Marcy grips Olivia's shirt in return.  

"And you think you aren't cut out to take care of her"  thinks Yunan. 

... 

Yunan swipes away beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She had just finished assembling the crib that she had dragged in earlier that day. She places down the instruments and turns to face Olivia and Marcy. 

"There, all done" she says proudly. 

Olivia glances up from where she's sitting on the floor, playing with Marcy. She smiles, making Yunan's heart flutter. 

"We should test it out with something" suggests Olivia. 

"Do you not trust my building skills?" Yunan places her hand on her chest, faking being offended. 

Olivia laughs at her antics. 

"Have you forgotten that chair you assembled?" Olivia reminds her. 

Yunan huffs, rolling her eyes. 

"It was my first time; I've improved a lot since then" argues Yunan. 

Olivia raises an eyebrow. They stare at each other intensely, before both break into laughter. Yunan hears Marcy also laughing, probably since they are laughing. 

"Alright, alright, let's test it before placing Marcy in it" agrees Yunan after they both calm down. 

They place a couple books in the crib, as well as a couple toys. Yunan tries wobbling the crib, but it's sturdy. After another check from Olivia, they remove the books and toys and place Marcy inside. Marcy grabs at the bars and rattles them a little, just like Yunan and Olivia had just done. This causes the two adults to laugh. Then Marcy leans forward and chews on the wood. Yunan rolls her eyes. 

"You're gonna have to try harder to escape, kiddo" she jokes. 

"Please don't teach her how to escape," Olivia shakes her head. 

"Don't worry, I'm sure she can figure it out on her own" grins Yunan. 

Olivia shoves her gently, chuckling at Yunan's dramatic gasp. Yunan smiles at her. She loves making Olivia laugh. When they first became acquaintances, Olivia was always so uptight. It was nice seeing her so relaxed when she was with Yunan. Yunan's thoughts are interrupted by Marcy babbling and making grabby hands at her. 

"Alright, let's get you out of here, kiddo" Yunan picks Marcy up. 

Marcy grabs her face, bonking their foreheads together. Yunan throws her head back, laughing. When she calms down, Marcy also throws her head back, giving Yunan a heart attack, and laughs. 

"Oh Frog, I thought I was gonna drop you for a second" breathes out Yunan, "don't do that" 

Olivia laughs at the two. 

"Look at her, repeating everything you do," she says. 

Yunan smiles at the little Avian in her hands. 

"Come on, let's go back to playing" she grins. 

Chapter Text

Sasha:  

"Sasha!"  

Sasha turns around, surprised to see a Canine jogging up to her. He was taller than her, with ginger hair and freckles. Sasha recognizes him as a member of the Resistance, who she had seen around the base multiple times, but never really interacted with aside from giving out orders.  

"Oh, hi, um..." Sasha racked her head for a name but couldn't find any.  

"Markos" he says, sticking out his hand.  

"Sasha, but you already know that" Sasha shakes his hand.  

Markos smiles, bright and cheerful. Sasha feels a single butterfly flutter in her stomach. She frowns mentally, even though her face is blank. Markos is handsome, that's for sure. He has curly ginger hair, which gets in his large, emerald green eyes.   

"Did you need something?" Sasha asks when Markos doesn't say anything.  

Markos flushes, scratching the back of his neck nervously and stumbling over his words. He pauses, then straightens up and smiles shyly.  

"Would you go on a date with me?" he asks.  

Sasha almost chokes on air.   

"Sure, when and where?" she asks.  

Markos gaps, surprised that Sasha agreed. Sasha is also surprised. She hadn't expected to agree, she wasn't sure why she agreed. Sure, Markos was attractive, he was nice from what little Sasha knew of him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to date him. She hadn't expected him to come up to her and ask her, it must have taken a lot of guts. Sasha respects him for that, for getting straight to the point, instead of beating around the bush like so many others would.  

"Oh! Uh... um... a- a coffee shop opened up this week" stuttered Markos, "I'm free all week, so..."  

"How about Wednesday, 3pm then?" suggests Sasha.  

Markos agrees eagerly, then he runs off. Sasha catches a glimpse of him running up to a group of Canines and high fiving them. She walks off, still feeling confused. She hated it when she said things before her mind fully processed them, which happened way too often. Sasha frowns. She was free on Wednesday, and Markos was attractive, she could definitely give dating him a try, even if it most likely wouldn't last. She isn't quite sure she is ready for an actual long-term relationship; she hadn't ever dated anyone before. She supposes this could be her dipping her toes in, trying out how the water felt, figuring out if she wanted anything more.  

"Frog, this is gonna end badly" she mutters under her breath.  

Marcy:  

"Sorry, I can't, I got a date on Wednesday at 3" shrugs Sasha.  

Marcy chokes on her drink, doubling down and coughing. She feels Anne and Sasha slap her on the back, trying to help her. Once she can breathe again, she looks up at Sasha.  

"You're going on a date?!" she exclaims.  

Her world seems to be spinning.  

"With whom?" asks Anne.  

She's bouncing up and down in her seat, excited. Marcy doesn't feel excited at all, she feels sick in the stomach.  

"Markos from the Resistance, he asked me out, I didn't see a reason to reject him" she shrugs again.  

Marcy is still staring at her, unsure of how to take this information. She always knew that there was no chance Sasha would date her, always knew that she would date someone else, but it still surprised her. She didn't think Sasha would date anyone so soon, she thought she had time. Marcy rolls her eyes at herself internally. She knew she would never end up asking Sasha out. Sasha would ask her out either, so really, Marcy should just move on. It still hurts, a lot.  

"Markos? Doesn't ring a bell" Anne furrows her brows.  

"Canine, ginger hair, green eyes, freckles, taller than me" described Sasha.  

Marcy wondered what she saw in the boy. She couldn't help but think that he didn't deserve Sasha. She frowned at her own thoughts. She was supposed to be happy for Sasha, but instead she was being selfish.  

"Ooh! Where are you going?" asks Anne.  

She seemed to be more excited about the date than Sasha. It gave Marcy a little hope, which was stupid. Sasha wouldn't ever date her, she should be happy, she should be celebrating, instead she felt sick.  

"Some coffee shop that opened up not so long ago" answered Sasha.  

Anne and Sasha continue talking about Sasha's date. Marcy can't focus on their words, she feels like crying and punching herself and hiding under a blanket. She forces herself to breathe in and then out, trying to calm herself. This was Sasha's first ever date. No one ever stayed with the first person they dated, that only happened in books. Except that it did happen, rarely, but it did happen. What if Sasha and Markos ended up together for the rest of their lives? Would Marcy be able to accept Markos? Would she be able to accept their relationship? The thoughts make her sick. She should be accepting, should be cheering for Sasha, should be happy for her. Why was she such a bad friend? Marcy took a sip of her drink and tried to focus on the conversation.  

"-green eyes, I would say emerald green" says Sasha.  

Marcy perks up. She has green eyes. She wouldn't say emerald green, but they were green, nonetheless.  

"Wow! Do you think he'll ask you to another date?" asks Anne.  

Marcy frowns. They were still talking about Markos. Markos had green eyes. Marcy wondered if Sasha liked green eyes. She shook her head, hoping it was stupid.  

Anne:  

Anne curled up in her bed and closed her eyes. She couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She frowned. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Sasha's words were replaying in her head over and over again. She thinks of Markos. From everything that she had gathered, he seemed like a nice dude. She can't help but smile. Sasha was going on a date! She always knew Sasha would be the first to date. She had seen people glancing at Sasha, she was beautiful. The thought made her feel weird. Sasha was beautiful, it was a fact, there was no reason for it to feel weird. Anne frowned. At first, she thought she couldn't sleep because she was excited about Sasha's date, but now, she was starting to doubt that. There was a strange feeling of resentment towards Markos. Which was strange, since she had never met him, hadn't even seen him.  

"Well, no, I suppose I've seen him back at the Resistance" Anne corrects herself.  

She tries to rack her brain for any Canines with ginger hair, green eyes, and freckles, but she can't remember any. Anne rolls over, trying to get rid of the bad feeling. She should be excited; she should be happy. She was happy and excited, so why was she feeling bad all of a sudden? She didn't like Markos, and she didn't even know who he was. Did it even matter? He probably wasn't that great. Why had Sasha agreed to date him? She could be dating someone else. Anne was shocked at her own thoughts. She didn't expect to dislike Markos so much. She didn't expect to dislike the idea of Sasha dating him either. It was strange. She wasn't sure what she was feeling.  

"Is this... jea-" Anne cut off that thought before it could grow.  

She didn't want to think about it. She knew that it would lead down a rabbit hole that would keep her up all night. She rolled over once more and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep before her mind could come up with more stupid reasons for her feelings.  

...  

It has been a week. In that week Sasha had gone on three dates. They hung out after her first two dates. Anne was excited to learn all the new details about her new relationship. Sasha didn't seem as excited. She didn't seem all that impressed by Markos. For some reason, that made Anne happy, which was stupid. Anne chose to ignore those feelings as she and Marcy waited for Sasha to show up.   

"What do you think of Markos?" asked Marcy suddenly.  

For a second Anne wondered if she could read minds.  

"Don't know, seems like a nice dude, but Sasha doesn't seem to be impressed" shrugs Anne.  

She doesn't want to show how much she dislikes him, even without knowing him.  

"Yeah, I don't think they'll last long" agreed Marcy.  

Anne was caught off guard by that, she didn't expect Marcy to be thinking the same thing as her. Before their conversation could continue, they both saw Sasha approaching them. Anne smiled and waved. Sasha waved back. She flopped down into the empty chair and sighed.  

"Was it that bad?" teased Anne.  

"Yeah" groaned Sasha.  

Anne was caught off guard once again. She hadn't expected that. Maybe her strange dislike of Markos wasn't that uncalled for.  

"What happened?" asked Marcy.  

There was a moment of silence.  

"I dumped him" shrugged Sasha.  

"What?" coughed Marcy.  

Anne just gaped at her.  

"Yeah, it was rather messy, he didn't take it well" grimaced Sasha, "we weren't even official yet! This was the third date! He was acting like we had been dating for a year or something!"  

Anne listened as Sasha complained. Markos turned out to be a self-centered asshole, at least from Sasha's description.   

"Really? You described him being all shy and stuff when you first met," said Marcy.  

"I know, he was shy, but today he walked in like a whole new person" grumbled Sasha.  

Anne was silent for a while, listening to the two talk. She was fighting herself on the inside. One side was sad for Sasha, the other one was happy that she wasn't dating Markos anymore. She supposed that both were on the same side, kind of. She was sad since it didn't work out for Sasha, but also happy because she would rather it not work out than Sasha dating some self-centered brat.  

"How about we get some ice cream" she suggests.  

The other two agree. They buy ice cream and start walking around, talking about everything and nothing. Anne pushes away the strange feeling in her chest when Sasha or Marcy smile or laugh, it can't possibly mean anything.  

Chapter Text

Marcy:  

Marcy tapped her fingers on her knees, excited and nervous to see their new house. Yunan and Chuck had built their new house, following Olivia's blueprints. They had been living in the Plantar's basement for a while now, everyone else had already moved out, it was time for them to have their own place as well. Yunan was already at their house, while Olivia and Marcy were making their way there. They left Wartwood and headed towards the Dwarf Tower where Sasha lived. 

"What is it like?" asked Marcy. 

"You'll have to wait and see" smiled Olivia, "we're almost there" 

Marcy fiddled with her fingers; way too excited to stay still. That's when she noticed a cottage hidden behind tree trunks. She leaned forward. As they passed another tree, Marcy finally got a full view of the cottage. It was one story tall with an attic. They entered, greeted by Yunan, who was just as excited to show them the inside. 

"Come on, kiddo" she takes the wheelchair handles. 

There is a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and a single bedroom. They enter the bedroom, which has a bed inside, a desk, a closet, a nightstand, and a bookshelf. There is a window on the opposite wall of the door, the sunlight falling on the desk perfectly. 

"This is your room, it's kinda empty, but once we get all your stuff, it'll fill up quickly" grinned Yunan. 

"Wait, this is my room?" asked Marcy, shocked, "b-but, what about you? Where will you be sleeping?" 

"We'll be taking the couch for now" shrugged Yunan. 

Marcy was about to argue, but Yunan reassured her that it was fine. They explored the rest of the house. The living room had a couch that turned into a bed and a coffee table. The kitchen already had all the things a kitchen would need, with a table in the middle with four chairs. The furniture was there, but it still felt empty, probably because there weren't' any things, no paintings, no books, no plants, nothing to decorate with. It... didn't fully feel like home just yet. 

"Well, I better get going, I wouldn't want them to leave without me" Yunan headed to the door. 

"W-wait, where are you going?" asked Marcy. 

"To the castle! We're going to try to find as many of our things as we can!" announced Yunan. 

Marcy froze. There were going to the castle? She hadn't seen the castle since... the beginning of the war. She had been told that it was destroyed, leaving only ruins. She wondered how it looked, maybe one day she would visit, but not anytime soon, she was still too scared to get close. 

"Anything specific you would like Yunan to look for?" asked Olivia, gently placing her palms on Marcy's shoulders. 

"Uh, well, if you could find my journals, that would be nice," said Marcy. 

With that, Yunan left, leaving Marcy and Olivia in the cottage. Olivia suggested getting some flowers to brighten up the place. They spent the rest of the day picking flowers and organizing them into batches. 

Anne:  

The Plantars, Maddie, Jess, and Ally climbed into the carriage. Anne followed them. Hop Pop was driving, Polly, Jess, and Ally were sitting on one side, Anne, Sasha, and Sprig on the other side. Yunan was sitting at the back, facing away from them, legs dangling over the edge. Polly, Jess, and Ally were going to go through Darcy's stuff. They were hoping to find something useful that they could salvage. Yunan was coming to salvage her, Olivia's, and Marcy's things. Anne and Sasha were also going to try to salvage Marcy's stuff, as well as make sure nothing went wrong. Hop Pop came along to look over them and Sprig came for funnies. As Polly, Jess, and Ally talked about robotics, Anne was talking with Sasha. 

"Not the way I imagined seeing Marcy's room" she said. 

"Yeah, if there is even anything left from her room" agreed Sasha. 

They entered the Avian kingdom, slowly taking everything in. Last time they saw it, it was filled with robots and was a battlefield. Most of the houses on the outskirts were still intact, meanwhile everything close to the castle pretty much didn't exist. The castle itself was in ruins, with only a few towers left standing, though they were crumbling and didn't look safe to enter. Everyone was banned from entering the castle due to the fear of Darcy's things falling into the wrong hands, and it seemed that everyone was following the rule. 

"Well, we'll have to walk from here" Hop Pop stopped the carriage. 

Everyone piled out, staring at the ruins in front of them.  

"Alright... where do we even begin?" ask Jess. 

"I know where Darcy's lab is! Let's go!" Polly runs off. 

Jess and Ally follow her. Hop Pop also runs after them, muttering something about youngsters and their endless energy. That leaves Sprig, Anne, Sasha, and Yunan on their own. Yunan ignores the existence of the three and starts walking towards one of the still standing towers. The three glance at each other and decide to follow her, since she is the only one who knows where Marcy's room is. 

"Where are we going?" asks Sprig. 

"I'll lead you to Marcy's room while I'll go find mine and Liv's things" says Yunan. 

Yunan leads them into the castle. Some of the first floor is intact, holding up a little of the second floor, the third and fourth one doesn't exist at all. They make their way to the second floor and stop at a large cave in. 

"Well... above us would be Marcy's room, but..." Yunan trails off. 

Anne grabs a lantern with fireflies and holds it over the cave in. 

"Welp, good luck" Yunan calls over her shoulder, already leaving, she pauses and calls over her shoulder again, "Marcy asked to find her journals!" 

The three stand in silence, looking up and then down, trying to figure out where to begin. 

"Well... since the third floor where Marcy's room would be, doesn't exist anymore, I'm guessing we go home" shrugs Sprig. 

Anne and Sasha glare at him. 

"Since this caved in, her stuff is probably down there, maybe a few things up here" says Sasha. 

"Yeah, Sprig, stay here, we'll go down there" commands Anne. 

Anne and Sasha try to find a safe way to get down to the first floor again. It includes a lot of jumping from one ruin to another ruin and way too many close calls. Once they are on the ground floor, without any idea of how to get out, they walk around, shining their lanterns around the place. It's dark, due to the top floor blocking out the sun and all the ruins blocking the windows. Anne sets down her lantern picking up small boulders and wall and ceiling ruins. She gets out what seems to be a closet door.  

"Hey Sash! Come help me with this!" she calls over her shoulder. 

Sasha joins her and together they pick up the rubble to find a smashed closet. They grab some clothes, shaking off the dust. They recognize some as things they have seen Marcy in and stuff them into their backpacks. 

"Well, now we know we're on the right track" nods Sasha. 

Anne agrees with her. They go through more of the ruble, picking up books that were either written by Marcy or belonged to her. They placed those in their backpacks as well. They found a bed, and a table, a few pens and pencils which they also picked up, unsure if they were important but deciding not to risk it. They found sketch books and a few plushies, though many of them were ripped or damaged. Still, they tried to gather everything they found. They meet up with Yunan about two hours later, all of them covered in dust and dirt, with the bags overflowing with things, most of them damaged. 

"Have you seen the others?" asks Sprig. 

"Nope, they're probably still down there" answers Yunan. 

They head to Darcy lab, where they find the two Hobbits and two Reptiles. Polly, Jess, and Ally are busy looking at blueprints and notes, while Hop Pop is sitting on a rock, resting.  

"I hope you aren't thinking of rebuilding any of this" growls Sasha. 

Anne can see how on edge she is. She can't blame her; she isn't exactly calm either. The room brings back too many awful memories. 

"Not all of this, but some of it for sure!" says Jess, oblivious to the awkward tension. 

"We can make so many things with these blueprints and notes! It's a goldmine!" adds Ally. 

"Imagine all the things! Communication devices! Robots!" excitedly says Polly. 

The three continue to ramble about the possibilities. Sasha still seems uneasy. 

"Well, better theses three than some evil dude, right?" says Anne. 

Sasha sighs but agrees with her. They grab as many things as they can, carrying them to the carriage and placing them on it. Hop Pop climbs up aboard, Sprig joins him. While the two are guarding the things, everyone else returns to Darcy's lab to grab everything else. They have to go back two more times, once to grab everything, and once to make sure they haven't left anything important behind. With that, everyone else climbs on. Anne leans on Sasha's shoulder, letting out a tired sigh. 

"I just took a shower!" she whined. 

Sasha chuckles, running her hand through her own head. 

"Yeah, we're covered in dust" she agrees. 

Marcy:  

Yunan returns with Anne and Sasha. All of them are covered in dust and dirt, the things they bring with them are also covered in dust. Olivia tells them all to leave the things outside, so they don't bring all the dirt inside. Anne and Sasha leave to take a shower and Olivia sends Yunan to take one too. Marcy and Olivia settle outside, going through their stuff. Marcy finds some of her old clothes, some of them still salvageable. She throws out all the fancy clothes that her parents forced her to wear. Next come her journals. She's delighted to find some of her old journals, though there are two missing. At least her flora and fauna encyclopedias were alive, even though a few pages were missing. Sasha and Anne were also able to find some of her plushies, though she'll have to stitch quite a few of them up. 

"They found so much of my stuff! I'm surprised any of this survived!" grinned Marcy. 

Olivia agreed with her. They dusted everything off, placing everything that could be washed with water and soup in one pile and everything that couldn't was just dusted and wiped. Yunan reappeared, wearing some clean clothes. Her hair was wet and sticking out in all kinds of directions, simply defying gravity.  

"Come on, kiddo, I'll help you drag everything inside" she said, picking up a couple books. 

... 

It's evening already, they had just finished dinner and now Marcy was sitting at her desk, flipping through the pages of her character journal, trying to figure out who was on all the missing pages. Everything had been washed and was hanging to dry. Her journals and a few books were neatly organized on her bookshelf. She flipped through the pages once more, stopping at a random one and reading the character description. This was one of the older ones, from a story that Marcy hadn't been daydreaming about in a while. She smiled at the notes, the story plots slowly making their way to the front of her mind. She already knew this would be her fixation for the next couple days. 

"I never gave you a name, did I" she whispered. 

Marcy grabbed her crutches and slowly made her way to the bookshelf. She was still unsteady on her feet, her right leg completely useless. Marcy gently ran her fingers over the spines of her books, relieved when she found the one she needed. She grabbed the big, heavy book and placed it on her desk. She had been worried that this one was not found and she would have to get another one. It was a book on names, their origin, their meaning, which gender they were mostly used for, a little background. The book was divided into origins, each origin organized alphabetically.  

"Let's see..." Marcy flipped through the pages. 

... 

Marcy yawned, glancing at her clock. It was late, really late. It was 3:56 am. She winced at the time. Marcy straightened up, her back and legs protesting. She stretched before closing the books and carefully making her way to bed. She flopped down on it, blowing out the candle on her desk, leaving her in complete darkness. It was moments like these that she wished she had night vision like Reptiles and Canines did. It would have been so useful, but unfortunately, she didn't. She didn't even have the perks of being an Avian, which was the ability to fly. 

"Nope, nope. Not gonna think about that" Marcy covered her face with her hands, trying to stop the tears. 

She tried thinking of the positive parts. She couldn't feel spicy things, so she couldn't burn her mouth and could eat anything she wanted to. She had great vision.  

"Not night vision though" she reminded herself. 

Before she could spiral into bad thoughts, Marcy turned over and forced herself to think of her stories. She relaxed, coming up with new ideas and plot lines. 

Chapter Text

Sasha wakes up slowly. She opens one eye, then the other. She's met with a mop of black hair and the smell of food. Sasha breathes in deeply, recognizing the smell of pancakes. She rolls over to lay on her back, Marcy moves with her, settling on her chest. Sasha, still half asleep, doesn't even notice what position they're in. It's nothing new, they're at Anne's place having a sleepover, cuddling on the mattress that's on Anne's floor. Except that Anne isn't with them. The haze over Sasha's brain starts clearing.  

"Where's Anne?"  she wonders.  

She raises her head a little and glances around the room, but it's empty. She flops her head back down on the pillow and raises the hand that isn't wrapped around Marcy's waist to gently run her fingers through Marcy's hair. She wonders what time it is. Either Anne woke up really early, or she just went to the bathroom or to drink some water, or Sasha had just woken up late. It could be the last one, she had stayed up rather late, listening to Marcy read. Unfortunately, no matter how sleepy and comfortable she is, she is unable to fall back asleep due to her stomach growling hungrily.  

"Mar-mar?" she whispers, nudging her gently.  

Marcy stirs a little, mumbling something and then snuggling into her chest. Sasha blushes at that, trying to keep her heart from escaping her ribcage. She gently rolls over on her side, carefully taking Marcy's hands off of her. Marcy's eyes flutter open.  

"Sorry" whispers Sasha.  

Marcy grumbles sleepily and then rolls over, tugging the blanket with her. Sasha can't help but chuckle quietly. She gets up, stretches, grabs her clothes, and goes up the stairs. She opens up the trapdoor and heads to the bathroom, brushing her teeth and changing. Sasha returns to Anne's room to place her pajamas into her bag and then glances at the clock on Anne's wall. It reads 8:15. She's surprised Anne's already up, she's usually asleep till 9. Sasha heads back upstairs and peeks into the kitchen, the smell of pancakes making her mouth water. She's surprised to find Anne in the kitchen instead of Hop Pop. She sits down at the table, watching Anne sway from side to side, softly singing a song and flipping pancakes. After a few minutes, Anne turns around, holding a plate with a stack of pancakes, when she sees Sasha, she jumps back and almost drops the plate.  

"Sasha! Frog, you scared me!" shouts Anne.  

Sasha laughs, standing up to help Anne set the table.  

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" apologized Sasha.  

"How long have you been sitting there?" asked Anne.  

"A couple of minutes, I didn't want to interrupt you" answers Sasha.  

They place six plates on the table, as well as six forks and a few teaspoons. Sasha fills the kettle with water and places it on the stove. Anne grabs mugs and once the water boils, they make some tea for themselve. Anne also grabs maple sirup and whipped cream. They each place some pancakes on their own plates. Anne pours maple sirup and whipped cream on hers, while Sasha just adds whipped cream.  

"You're up surprisingly early" says Sasha.  

She takes a bite out of her pancake and almost melts at the taste.  

"This is so good" she says with her mouth full.  

"Thank you! I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to make breakfast" explains Anne.  

They eat and chat for a while, before being joined by Hop Pop, who's surprised that Anne's up this early. Usually, it's just Hop Pop making breakfast and Sasha hanging around. Then they're joined by Polly, who eats quickly and then runs off to meet up with Tess and Ally, shouting something about figuring out Darcy's blueprints over her shoulder before shutting the door. Sprig joins them for a bit, before hopping away to meet up with Ivy and Maddie, something that Anne teases him about. Hop Pop goes back upstairs to do his own thing. At last, Marcy wakes up and joins them.   

"Morning" chirps Anne.  

"Hey there, sleepyhead" teases Sasha.  

Marcy grumbles and sits down at the table, yawning. Anne hands her a mug with coffee that she prepared specifically for when Marcy woke up.  

"Thanks" mumbles Marcy before taking a sip.  

They wait for Marcy to drink at least half the cup, knowing that it's useless to talk to Marcy before she has her coffee.  

"You know, coffee isn't really healthy for kids" points out Anne.  

Sasha listens as Anne and Marcy argue about coffee for the hundredth time. She doesn't ever join the argument, instead enjoying their playful banter. They stop arguing only after Marcy has finished eating her pancakes and Sasha starts collecting the plates to wash them.   

"Ah! Let me wash those" Anne tries taking the plates from her.  

"You made breakfast! No way I'm making you wash dishes as well" argues Sasha.  

She raises the plates out of Anne's reach.  

"Come on, you're my guest!" whines Anne.  

"That didn't stop you from washing the dishes at my house" points out Marcy.  

"Well, technically, I only washed one plate before Olivia shooed me away"   

"Still, you washed a plate"  

While Anne and Marcy argue, Sasha places the plates in the sink and turns on the water, grabbing the sponge.  

"Hey!" exclaims Anne when she hears the water running.  

Sasha flicks some water mixed with dish soap at her.   

"Oh my Frog! Just wash the dishes together" groans Marcy.  

Chapter Text

Anne plays with Marcy's hand, humming a tune. Marcy is busy chatting with Sasha about something. Anne's mind keeps drifting away from the conversation and towards Marcy's ring. It's a simple ring with a blue green seashell on top that spins. Marcy likes to fidget with it. Anne glances down at her own hands, wondering if she should get a ring. It would be harder, since she would have to pierce the webbing around the chosen finger and get a special ring made for Reptiles. Her parents have a ring piercing on their left ring finger for their wedding rings. Her mom also has one on her right middle finger. Anne wonders if she should get one too. 

"Should I get a ring piercing?" she asks out loud. 

It takes her a second to notice the sudden silence. She glances up from where she's lying next to Marcy, still holding one of her hands. Sasha and Marcy are both staring at her in silence. 

"What?" finally asks Sasha. 

"Should I get a ring piercing" repeats Anne. 

There is a pause, before both of them smile. 

"Ooh! Have you chosen a finger!" 

"Are you getting one or multiple?" 

"We should look at rings first!" 

"You're gonna be so cool!" 

Anne is slightly taken aback at their excitement. 

"Woah! Woah! Slow down, I'm not even sure I'm getting it yet" sits up Anne. 

"Why not? If you don't like it, just let it close" shrugs Sasha. 

"Well, yes, but..." she bites her lip. 

Ring piercings hurt, and they need time to heal, she isn't sure she's quite ready yet, she should probably talk to her parents about it first. 

"You don't have to get it right away, we can go look at rings for now, figure out what you want, which finger you're getting pierced" says Marcy. 

Anne nods along. 

"I'm actually planning to get my left ear pierced next Tuesday, if you want to, you can come with me" says Sasha. 

"Well, I dunno, are you sure they know how to do ring piercings? I don't want it to get infected" mumbles Anne. 

"Don't worry, Beatrix got her ear piercings there and she said they do all kinds of piercings" reassured her Sasha. 

... 

"Sure"  

Anne blinks twice, unsure if she heard her mom correctly. 

"You- that's all you're gonna say?" asks Anne. 

"What else am I supposed to say?" her mom raises an eyebrow. 

"Well, I dunno, I just didn't expect you to agree right away, I was expecting to have to bargain or something" shrugs Anne. 

"You'd get a ring piercing at one point or another, might as well have experience" says her mom. 

Anne nods, agreeing with her. She swims out of her parents' bedroom and into her own. She rubs her pointer finger with her thumb. It's exciting to think about there being a ring around it soon. Tuesday is in six days.  

... 

She visits a Reptile ring shop with her parents, browsing through the ring choice. All the rings are made of two pieces, one with two ear wires sticking out, and the other one with two holes that the ear wires go into. Anne glances at her own hand, imagining two tiny holes on either side of her finger. She wonders how much it will hurt. 

... 

She visits another ring shop that has some Reptile ring choices with Sasha and Marcy. Sasha and Marcy bring her some options that they think she will like. Sasha tells her that when she gets her ring piercing, they'll give her a simple ring to wear for a couple weeks while her webbing heals and that she can't take it off, otherwise it'll get infected. Which means they don't actually need to be choosing rings since she won't be able to wear them anytime soon, but Anne still wants to, just so she can stop worrying about the ring piercing for a little bit. 

"How about this one?" asks Marcy. 

She hands her a small, light blue ring, perfect for her finger size. It's shaped like a fish. If Anne looks hard enough, she can make out tiny scales and two blue gems (which are actually glass) for the eyes. 

"Woah! This one's really beautiful" says Sasha. 

Anne agrees with her. 

"Look at this one" Sasha hands her another ring. 

This one is silver, decorated with small seashells of different shades of blue. Anne runs her finger over the seashells, feeling the little designs on the seashells. 

"They're both so beautiful" she says, "I can't choose" 

"Why don't you get both?" suggests Marcy. 

Anne ends up getting both. She carries them home in a little ring box, excited for Tuesday. 

... 

Tuesday comes too quickly and too slowly at the same time. Anne follows Sasha as they walk through the town toward the piercing shop. Marcy is with them as moral support. Anne rubs her pointer finger. She had decided to get the ring piercing on her left pointer finger. 

"Nervous?" asks Marcy. 

Anne nods, her mouth too dry to answer.  

"Don't worry, Sasha wouldn't take you to a bad place" Marcy reassures her. 

Anne nods again. She knows that. She trusts Sasha. She knows that it'll only hurt for a little bit, and then it'll be fine, and as long as she disinfects it every day and makes sure not to take off the ring, it won't get infected. Even if it does, it'll be annoying at most. Still, a pit forms in her stomach. It's like something is pulling her stomach down, or like there's a vacuum in her stomach. She gulps, trying to get rid of the dryness in her mouth. Before she can get herself together, they arrive. Her stomach twists into a knot. 

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to" says Sasha. 

Anne shakes her head. 

"I want to" she assures Sasha. 

No matter how nervous she is, she does truly want to do it. The idea of how cool it would be to have a ring at only 14. She can't wait to show off to all her classmates. 

"Alright then" Sasha pushes open the door and walks in. 

Anne and Marcy follow her. Sasha is getting her piercings first. Anne isn't sure if that's a blessing or a curse. She sits down on the couch with Marcy, watching as the Reptile (she's so glad it's a Reptile), with multiple ring piercings and ear piercings, grabs different tools. Sasha already has a lobe piercing on each of her ears. If Anne remembers correctly, she got those when she was ten.  

"Left ear, right?" asks the Reptile. 

"Yep, two upper earlobe piercings and an industrial piercing" says Sasha. 

Anne watches as the Reptile draws little dots with a marker on Sasha's ear and then hands her a mirror. Once they settle on the placement, the Reptile disinfects all the tools and Sasha's ear, as well as their hands. Then they grab a needle. This is where Anne has to look away. She isn't exactly afraid of needles, but she isn't really comfortable seeing them pierce skin. In the almost complete silence, she hears Sasha inhale sharply. After a few more seconds the Reptile steps away. 

"Are you feeling alright? If you feel lightheaded, don't worry, it's natural" says the Reptile. 

"I'm feeling fine," says Sasha. 

After about a minute, the Reptile finishes all the piercings and Sasha gets up. She's holding a cotton ball to her ear, which already has blood on it. Her stomach twists into a knot once again, but she pushes her nervousness away and sits down on the chair.  

"Ring piercing, right?" asks the Reptile. 

"Y-yeah, this one" Anne raises her left hand, pointing at her pointer finger. 

The Reptile nods and draws two dots on either side of her pointer finger. She asks Anne if the placement is alright or if she would like it higher or lower, Anne says it's alright. Once again, the Reptile disinfects everything. It seems to take them longer than it did with Sasha, though it's probably just Anne's nerves making everything seem too slow. She tries not to fidget so that the Reptile doesn't see how nervous she is. The silence stretches on, until at last, the Reptile grabs the needle. Anne scans the walls, trying to relax her hand. The pain is sudden, making her inhale sharply. She is able to stop herself from flinching, but only because she's afraid that flinching will make the needle tear into her skin and be even more painful. 

"Hold this" the Reptile hands her a cotton ball. 

Anne presses it to her finger. It still hurts a little, but nothing too much. The Reptile goes over the instructions for taking care of the piercings and then hands both Sasha and Anne a bottle of some disinfecting liquid. The three of them leave and start heading towards Wartwood. 

... 

Three days had passed. Sasha had come over daily to help Anne with disinfecting the ring and the piercing. Currently, Anne is lying on the couch, half listening to some argument between Sprig and Polly. She glances at her pointer finger. It's a simple ring made of niobium or something, at least that's what the Reptile told them. Sasha's ear piercings are also made of niobium. There was a bunch of different metal choices that have a high guaranty of not infecting the piercing and Sasha suggested niobium, so that's what Anne went with. It's not a very interesting ring, so decorations or patterns, which is actually good for the healing process.  

"I should clean it again"  decides Anne. 

She gets up from the couch and walks off towards the bathroom. While disinfecting it, she wonders if she should get rings on her prosthetic. It wouldn't hurt, and it wouldn't get infected. Then again, was that a good idea? She wasn't sure. She should probably talk to Maddie and the prosthetic maker. 

... 

Six weeks later, Sasha and Marcy were at her house. The three of them plus Sprig and Polly were crowded in the bathroom. Polly was sitting on Sasha's shoulders and Sprig was standing on a stool. They were all excited for Anne to finally take off the niobium ring and wear one of the rings that they bought. Anne disinfected it first, before gently pulling it apart and out of the holes. She disinfects it again while Sasha disinfects the fish ring that she's about to wear. 

"It's so cool!" says Polly. 

"I know right! I was actually thinking of getting some rings for my prosthetic" says Anne. 

She puts in the ring. 

"Ooh! That would be so cool!" bounces Sprig. 

"You should do it!" agrees Polly. 

"Though you might want to check if that's alright" warns Marcy. 

Anne puts on the second part of the ring, securing it around her finger. She flexes it and grins. 

"It doesn't even hurt!" she exclaims. 

The others compliment her and gush over how cool that is. 

... 

She ends up with two more rings from her mom's collection that her mom let her take. 

Chapter Text

Yunan:  

When Marcy turned five years old, Olivia was told to return to her job. Naturally, there were nannies that would look after Marcy, but neither Olivia nor Yunan wanted strangers around Marcy. They have grown to love the little Avian like their own daughter. Today, Olivia had an urgent meeting to attend and Yunan had to train new recruits. This would be the first time that Marcy would be alone with a nanny. They had chosen a nanny that they liked and had already introduced her to Marcy, but they hadn't left her alone with the nanny just yet.  

"Yunan?" mumbled Marcy, clinging to Yunan's leg.  

Yunan ruffled her hair playfully.  

"What is it?" she asked softly.  

"I'm scared" sniffled Marcy, "I don't want you to go"  

Yunan felt her heart ache. She breathed in and out slowly before answering.  

"Don't worry, kiddo, I'll be back by lunch and then we can take a walk" promised Yunan.  

She didn't want to leave Marcy alone with a nanny either, but she knew that Marcy would feel better if Yunan seemed sure, so she held herself together.  

"Promise?" asked Marcy.  

"Pinky promise" Yunan kneeled down.  

They intertwine their pinkies. There is a knock on the door. Yunan kisses Marcy's forehead and then stands up to open the door. An Avian woman in her thirties is standing outside the door. She smiles first at Yunan and then at Marcy, who is hiding behind Yunan. Yunan lets the Avian in and then gently nudges Marcy towards her.  

"Marcy, meet Abigail, your nanny" she says.  

Abigail kneels down to Marcy's level and waves.  

"Hey there, nice to meet you" she greets Marcy.  

"Hello" mumbles Marcy.  

Yunan glances at the clock, she has to leave right now, otherwise she'll be late, but she doesn't want to leave just yet. Still, if she stays any longer, Marcy will sense her hesitance and won't want to stay with Abigail.  

"Alright, I got to go, kiddo" she ruffles Marcy's hair again, "have fun, listen to Abigail"  

"Bye" sniffles Marcy.  

Yunan leaves and closes the door behind her, pausing for a second, listening for the cries that'll be her excuse for staying. They don't come. Yunan bites the inside of her cheek and then forces herself to leave.   

...  

The new recruits spar with each other, with Yunan watching from the sidelines and barking orders and corrections. She glares at anyone who shows even the slightest attitude towards her. She has a reputation of being hard on the new recruits, and she isn't about to change that. As the day stretches on, Yunan can't help but glance at the clock every now and again. She hates how slowly the day is crawling by, it's frustrating.   

"General Yunan!"  

Yunan rolls her eyes, recognizing the voice. She turns around and glares at a male Avian about a year older than her.  

"General Tai"  

They salute each other. Tai smirks at her, which makes Yunan even more irritated. She had been in the same age group as Tai, so they had been trained together. Naturally, being the only non-Avian in her group and having a farmer background, she was made fun of. It only lasted half a year, then everyone was too scared of her and her violent personality. Yunan never meant to be so violent, to come off as scary, but if that's what she was, she might as well play the role. Tai was one of the only ones who would still make fun of her. He was of a wealthy family with a lot of power and ties to the King and Queen, so naturally he thought he could do anything.  

"What do you want" growled Yunan.  

She had no patience for him. Back when she was a soldier she picked multiple fights with him, for which she got in trouble, but he was always the victim, even when he started them.   

"Now, now, no need to be so aggressive, I'm just here to chat" smirked Tai.  

"I don't have time for small talk, either leave or get on with it" snarled Yunan.  

She was 99% sure that he only got his general title due to his family's power, since he was one of the worst soldiers she had ever known. She was pretty sure that some of her soldiers could be better generals than him.  

"Always so blunt," laughed Tai.  

Yunan ignored him, instead correcting one of the new soldier's punches, explaining how having the thumb on the inside could break it.  

"You should also-" started saying Tai.  

Yunan spun around and pointed her dagger at his throat. Tai leaned back, raising both hands mockingly. They both knew that she wouldn't do anything.  

"How about you go teach your soldiers and leave mine alone" she hissed.  

Tai took a step back and Yunan lowered the dagger. He smirked again.  

"My soldiers already know how to punch properly, probably because I'm a better teacher" he taunted.  

Yunan took a deep breath, trying to contain her anger. She was a general, she couldn't pick fights anymore, no matter how much she wanted to strangle him.   

"Really? Why don't you show-" she was cut off by the bell.  

She turned her head sharply to look at the clock. The bell was a signal that the training was finished, which meant she could go home. The anger she felt instantly evaporated.  

"Never mind" she said, waving him off.  

She sent her soldiers back home and then speed walked towards the castle. She couldn't wait to get to Marcy and hug her. She wanted to know everything that she did today.  

"Hey! Wait! You can't just leave like that!" shouted Tai from where she had left him.  

Yunan flipped him off over her shoulder, not caring about anything in the world except seeing Marcy again.  

...  

Yunan goes to her and Olivia's apartment first, to take a shower and change into some clean clothes, then she heads to Marcy's room. Yunan knocks on the door and then opens it, walking in. She finds Marcy and Abigail on the floor, reading. She smiles at Marcy. Abigail looks up and starts getting up. She grabs her things and leaves.  

"Yunan!" exclaimed Marcy.  

She scrambles up, leaving the book on the floor and running up to hug Yunan. Yunan picks her up and spins around. Marcy giggles and laughs.  

"What have you been up to today?" asks Yunan.  

She gently places Marcy on the bed, sitting down next to her. Marcy starts rambling about everything's that's happened. She's talking so fast that Yunan has a bit of a hard time understanding what she's saying, but she gets most of it. Once Marcy is done, she asks Yunan about her day.  

"Well... nothing exciting, unlike your day" shrugs Yunan, "I trained new recruits all day"  

...  

They have lunch, without Olivia unfortunately, who gets stuck in a meeting and has to miss her lunch break. If Yunan could, she would strangle Olivia's boss for making her skip lunch. Yunan glances over at Marcy, who picks at her food. She can't help but agree. Sometimes the food that the cooks would make was too... extravagant. She would much prefer something simple, like pasta.   

"What do you think of pasta?" asks Yunan.  

Marcy perks up.  

"Pasta! Yay!" she jumps off her chair and runs up to Yunan, tugging her sleeve.  

"I'm guessing that's a yes" laughs Yunan.  

They leave and head to Yunan's and Olivia's apartment. It's a two-bedroom apartment. There is a bedroom and a living room. As well as a kitchenette and a small bathroom. This was where Marcy grew up, before she turned five and the King and Queen ordered her to move out into her own room. She was yet to meet them, much to Yunan's relief. Marcy waits in the living room while Yunan makes pasta in the kitchenette. She isn't the best cook, unlike Olivia, but she can make simple meals, since it was important to know how to cook while in the army, especially when she is sent out on missions.  

"Can we have juice as well?" asks Marcy.  

Yunan glances over her shoulder. Marcy is standing in the doorway. She smiles.  

"Of course, kiddo" she says.  

Olivia:  

Olivia leans back in her chair. There was a stack of paperwork in front of her. This was the stack of paperwork she had just finished looking through and/or signing. The stack of paperwork on her left was the one she still had to go through. Olivia groans and places her head on her desk. After five years of taking care of Marcy, she had forgotten how much time her job required. She glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. There were five more minutes before work ended. Before Marcy, she would have sat there far later than she was supposed to and would have finished all the paperwork. Nowadays, she doesn't stay longer than an hour. Last time she stayed for five minutes before deciding that she would rather be at home with Marcy and Yunan than working.  

"I deserve to leave early, right?"  she asks herself.  

She decides that she does deserve to leave a few minutes early, especially after working overtime for so many years. She quickly grabs her things and exits her office. She notices the surprised faces of her coworkers but ignores them. She knows that rumors about her have spread, she had, after all, disappeared for five years before reappearing again like nothing had happened, but she doesn't care.  

"Olivia! Wait up!"  

Olivia holds back a sigh and turns around, staring at the Avian that approaches her. It was Emily, one of her oldest coworkers, and most annoying. Emily was always one to gossip, especially about Olivia, who liked to keep her personal life private. In fact, her coworkers only found out she was dating Yunan after Emily spread rumors about Olivia dating some random Reptile Olivia had greeted out of politeness at a work party. The rumors were getting out of hand, so Olivia told Emily she was dating Yunan. It wasn't exactly a secret, but Olivia didn't like other people knowing about her personal life.  

"Yes, Emily" she says.  

"You're leaving early? Is the world ending or something?" teases Emily.  

"No" simply answers Olivia.  

She turns back around and starts walking towards the exit again. Much to her annoyance, Emily walks with her.  

"Well then, care to tell what has you in such a hurry to leave?" pries Emily.  

"None of your business" replies Olivia.  

They're almost at the door.  

"Oh come on, can't you tell a friend what-" starts saying Emily.  

Olivia stops abruptly, causing Emily to bump into her. Olivia spins around so they're facing each other.  

"We are not friends" she states, glaring at Emily.  

Emily's eyes widen in shock.  

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go" with that, Olivia turns around and leaves.  

...  

Olivia knocks on the door. She opens it after hearing Yunan shout "come in" from the other side. Peeking inside, she finds Yunan and Marcy on the floor. They're playing with a dragonfly plushie and a beetle plushie, as well as a handful of other creature figurines. Olivia closes the door and joins them on the floor. Marcy smiles at her and hugs her.  

"How was your day? Was the nanny alright?" asked Olivia.  

"Nanny Abigail was great! We had lots and lots of fun! And we read books! And she said that my reading is sooooooo good," said Marcy.  

"That sounds great" smiles Olivia.  

They play for a little longer, before getting up to eat dinner. Per Marcy's request, they head towards Olivia's and Yunan's apartment. Yunan sets the table while Olivia makes a simple meal with ingredients they have in their fridge at the moment. She makes a mental note to go shopping for groceries. After dinner Marcy reminds Yunan of the walk she had promised her. The King and Queen had told them that Marcy wasn't allowed to leave the castle, which was very messed up if you asked Olivia, so they went to one of the many large balconies the castle had. This balcony was the second largest, with a pond and several trees and more than enough space for Marcy to run around and tire herself out. As Marcy explores the fauna around them, Olivia and Yunan sit down on a bench.  

"I didn't expect you to come home so early" confessed Yunan, "usually you stay overtime"  

"I decided that spending time with Marcy is more important" said Olivia, "and they survived without me for five years, surely they can survive with me working healthy hours"  

Yunan took her hand and kissed her on the cheek.  

"I'm glad you want to spend more time with Marcy" she smiles.  

Olivia blushes.  

"Well, enough about me, how was your day?" she asks.  

Yunan's smile disappears, causing Olivia to worry.  

"Tai paid me a visit" growled Yunan.  

"Oh" Olivia squeezed Yunan's hand.  

There was a knock on Olivia's apartment door. She stood up and opened it, letting out a gasp when she saw who it was. Yunan was standing outside her door, blood dripping down her knuckles and forehead. Her lip was ripped, and blood was on her clothes and armor. Olivia ushered her to the bathroom, saving all her questions for later. This wasn't the first time Yunan had appeared at her door, injured. She would show up after doing something stupid and getting injured, but she would always be joking around and telling Olivia that it wasn't as bad as it looked. This time, Yunan was silent, not meeting her gaze.  

"What happened to you?" asked Olivia.  

She took out her first aid kit and started cleaning, disinfecting, and bandaging Yunan's wounds.  

"Tai threw a sharp pebble at me, it hit me in the forehead" explained Yunan, still not looking at Olivia.  

"So you started a fight?" guessed Olivia.  

Yunan nodded.  

"Why didn't you just tell a superior officer? You're going to get into trouble now" sighed Olivia.  

"I would have gotten into trouble anyway; Tai would have blamed me for looking at him wrong or some other shit" growled Yunan.  

Olivia grimaced but couldn't argue. She finished bandaging up one of Yunan's hands and gently kissed it, enjoying the blush on Yunan's cheeks.  

"Still, I would much rather you not pick fights, I don't like seeing you get hurt," said Olivia.  

"I didn't fight him over the pebble" mumbled Yunan.  

She mumbled something else after that, but Olivia didn't hear it.  

"What?" she asked.  

Yunan turned away from her.  

"He insulted you, so I punched him" she mumbled again.  

Olivia's eyes widened and she stopped bandaging Yunan's other hand. She blinked a couple times, unsure if she heard Yunan correctly. Her face caught on fire and her heart fluttered.  

"Y-you fought him... for me?" stuttered Olivia.  

"Of course, Liv" smiled Yunan.  

Olivia looked away, trying to hide her blush.  

"While I do appreciate it, I would much more appreciate you not getting hurt" she mumbled.  

She finished bandaging Yunan's other hand and then cupped her cheek.  

"But thank you" she whispered before kissing her.  

"What did he do? He didn't pick fights, did he?" asked Olivia.  

"Of course not, I wouldn't have fought him either way" Yunan reassured her, "he was just annoying, like usual"  

Olivia squeezed Yunan's hand again.  

"He acts so immaturely" Olivia rolls her eyes.  

"Tell me about it" snorts Yunan.  

Before they could continue complaining about Tai, Marcy runs up to them. She grabs their hands and starts pulling.  

"Come! Come! I want to show you something!" she tugs them after her.  

Olivia and Yunan follow her to the far side of the balcony. Marcy pulls them towards a bush and shows them a little butterfly that had landed on one of the leaves.  

"It's so pretty!" whisper-shouted Marcy.  

"It is" agrees Olivia.  

She smiles at Marcy and then at Yunan.  

Chapter Text

Marcy:  

Marcy is awoken by Olivia and Yunan walking into her room. The first thing she processes is that the ceiling seems to be shaking, though it's hard to tell.   

"Why is the ceiling shaking?"  she wonders.  

She hears Olivia mumbling something about an earthquake. Marcy sits up, rubbing her eyes and noticing that everything around them is shaking. Now that she's more awake, her brain connects the dots. There is an earthquake happening. Olivia sits on her bed and holds her, while Yunan stands in the middle of the room. They are both nervous. The shaking stops after about 10 seconds. There is a moment of silence, then Yunan and Olivia start talking in hushed voices. Marcy figures they aren't going outside, and she has no reason to stay awake, it's still the middle of the night after all, so she lies back down and falls asleep instantly.  

...  

Marcy wakes up in the morning and sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes and yawning, she is surprised to find both Olivia and Yunan sleeping on a mattress on the floor.  

"Olivia? Yunan?" she mumbles.  

They both stir and open their eyes. Olivia stands up and joins Marcy on the bed, while Yunan stays on the floor.  

"Are you alright, dear?" asked Olivia.  

"Yeah" yawned Marcy, "what happened last night?"  

"There was an earthquake around midnight, not a very strong one, but a rather long one" explained Yunan.  

"Oh... I would have probably slept through it if you didn't walk in" joked Marcy.  

There was some truth to it, she had awoken to them walking into the room, and was only awake for the last 10 seconds of the earthquake.  

"It was so long, a full minute I think" worried Olivia.  

Marcy's smile fell. It must have been scary.  

"Yes, well, we're alright now, aren't we?" said Yunan.  

Olivia and Yunan kept talking. Marcy got up and walked out of the room, heading to the bathroom. Before she can get there, she notices a bag on the floor in front of the front door.  

"Olivia and Yunan must have packed some things in case we went outside after the earthquake" she figured out.  

Next to the bag lay a letter. Curious, she limps over and bends down, picking it up. She sits down on the couch and turns over the letter. It looks rather professional, with a stamp and everything. Marcy opens it and finds a document inside. It's a document about the earthquake. Marcy skims through it, gathering the important information. The earthquake happened near the Avian castle and had a magnitude of 5.0. It happened at around 1:30 and lasted about a minute. So far, no buildings collapsed, and no one died, though there were some injured, but mostly because of people panicking and doing stupid things.  

"Phew, thank Frog, nothing collapsed"  thought Marcy.  

She was joined for breakfast by Olivia and Yunan. Olivia was rather stressed about the earthquake, so the three of them stayed inside and played board games. The bag, filled with clothes, some money, documents, and more, continued to sit on the floor next to the door.  

Sasha:    

Sasha awakens with a jolt. She jumps out of bed on instinct and only then realizes that everything around her is shaking. She drops to the ground and crawls under her desk, which is the sturdiest furniture in her room. She sits under it, legs pressed to her chest and hands protecting her head. After what seems like forever, the shaking stops. Sasha peaks out from under the desk and crawls out slowly. It's still dark outside, probably a little after midnight. She grabs her cape and rushes out, joining the Dwarfs as they descend down the staircase in a line. Once they are outside, they get as far away from the tower as possible, huddling in little groups and whispering to each other.   

"Sasha!" calls out Percy.   

Sasha turns around and sees Percy and Braddock running up to her. They're, like everyone else, in their pajamas. The three huddled together.   

"Are you alright? Any injuries?" asks Braddock.   

Sasha shakes her head.   

"Have you seen Grime?" she asks.   

Percy and Braddock shake their heads. Sasha gulps nervously. Their rooms are rather close, she thought she would have bumped into Grime on the way out, but she hadn't. Before panic can set in, she hears Grime's voice calling for their attention. They turn around and find him standing on a boulder so everyone can see him.   

"Alright everyone! We're just gonna do a quick head count!" he explains.   

He goes over everyone's names. Everyone is outside and safe, no one is injured and after a while they make their way back to the castle. Everyone looks out for cracks or debris or anything that will tell them that the tower has been damaged, but there isn't anything. The tower was constructed correctly, and nothing collapsed except a few objects that people had on their desks. Sasha returns to her room and finds that none of her instruments had fallen, much to her relief. The only thing out of place was her blanket, which was on the floor, but she figures out it's because of when she jumped out of bed in a hurry.   

"Well, I suppose I should go back to sleep"  shrugs Sasha.  

She climbs back into bed and lies there for a few minutes. After half an hour, she's finally able to fall asleep.  

Anne:  

Anne walks through Wartwood towards the Plantar's house. She's confused by the empty streets. It's already 12pm, usually the streets are bustling with life at this hour. She knocks on the Plantar's door and is answered by a tired looking Sprig.  

"Anne? What are you doing here?" he asks.  

"Visiting? I do that all the time?" she answers.  

"Yeah, well, I didn't think your parents would let you out after the earthquake" shrugs Sprig.  

He moves back and invites her in.  

"Wait? Earthquake?!" exclaimed Anne.  

Sprig walked over to the kitchen and sat down, Polly and Hop Pop were already at the table.  

"Yeah, didn't you feel the earthquake?"  

"No!"  

"Wait, you didn't feel the earthquake?" asked Polly.  

"No!" repeated Anne.  

She sat down at the table with them.  

"How? Did you sleep though it or something?"   

"Yes! So did mom and dad it seems, because they didn't say anything!" Anne threw her hands up.  

There was a moment of silence, then they all erupted in laughter.  

"Oh my Frog, my first earthquake and I literally slept through it!" wheezed Anne.  

"You would have never known if I hadn't said anything!" cackled Sprig.  

Hop Pop, who had been quiet that whole time until finally he too started chuckling. This caused the other three to start laughing again.  

Marcy:  

Marcy woke up the next day and was visited by Sasha and Anne, who wanted to hang out. Naturally, on their way to the town, Marcy brought up the earthquake.  

"How did you guys go through the earthquake? Did you go outside?" she asked.  

"Oh yeah, I woke up and-"  

"I slept through it" interrupted Anne.  

Marcy choked on air while Sasha just stared at her.  

"I'm sorry, what?" said Marcy after she finally stopped coughing.  

"Yeah, I don't think anyone from my village felt it, I wouldn't have even known if I hadn't visited the Plantars that morning" shrugged Anne.  

"You know what, fair. I would have probably also slept through, the only reason I woke up was because Olivia and Yunan walked into my room" nodded Marcy.  

"What is wrong with you guys?" Sasha threw her hands up in frustration, "I literally jumped out of bed and hid under the bed until it passed and then everyone evacuated the tower and stood outside for like an hour!"  

Anne and Marcy broke into giggles.  

"Marcy, did you even go outside?" asked Sasha desperately.  

"N-no, I actually fell asleep right after it stopped" said Marcy, her voice shaking from laughter.  

Sasha groaned.  

"You guys have no self-preservation" Sasha buried her face in her hands.  

This only caused Anne and Marcy to laugh harder. Sasha glared at them playfully.  

"I mean, it was only a 5.0 magnitude earthquake? And we have a one-story house, so like..." shrugged Marcy.  

She did have a feeling like they should have gone outside, but since Olivia and Yunan didn't do anything, then it must have been ok to stay inside.  

"Yeah, and no one in my village woke up, so it probably didn't even reach us" added Anne.  

Marcy nodded to that, while Sasha rolled her eyes and nudged Anne playfully. As they continue to playfully banter, Marcy can't help but think about how this was the first earthquake she had ever experienced. Well, no, she had experienced one when she was really young, but she doesn't remember that one. Everything she knows about that evening was from Yunan's stories, and she has no idea how true those are. So yeah, this was the first earthquake that she remembered experiencing. Part of her is a little bummed out that she only got to experience the last 10 seconds of it and was half asleep, so she didn't even really remember it. It would have been nice to remember that and maybe use it in a story.  

"Please tell me you at least have an emergency box for natural disasters?" begged Sasha.  

"I actually do!" said Anne.  

Sasha let out a sigh of relief.  

"I don't" confesses Marcy.  

"You don't!" exclaim both Anne and Sasha.  

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" Marcy pouts at Anne, then she addresses both of them, "and anyway, we haven't been living in the new house that long, we still don't have everything figured out"  

They continue playfully arguing about the earthquake.  

Chapter Text

Marcy:    

Snow slowly fell from the sky, covering the ground in a white layer. Marcy pulled the blanket she was bundled in tighter around herself. She took another sip of her hot chocolate, smiling at the familiar taste. Her birthday was coming up in about two weeks. Marcy places her cup on her desk and spins around in her chair. She grabs her cane and moves to sit in her wheelchair, carefully wheeling herself out of her room and into the living room. She finds Olivia in the armchair, reading a book and drinking tea. Olivia looks up when Marcy approaches her and smiles softly.   

"Hi!" smiled Marcy.   

"Hello, have you decided who you want to invite to your birthday?" asked Olivia.   

Marcy nodded excitedly.   

"You and Yunan, naturally, as well as Sasha and Marcy, also Maddie, Ivy, and Sprig, and Polly!" listed Marcy.   

She became close friends with Polly and Maddie, because their interests overlapped. Spending time with those two meant she also spent time with Sprig and Ivy, and they had become friends.   

"Wonderful. We should make invitations for them" suggested Olivia   

"Oh yeah!" agreed Marcy.   

She wrote six invitations, deciding that Olivia and Yunan didn't really need them, since they would be celebrating at home, and they lived in the same house. She invited everyone on January 29, since that was a Sunday, and her actual birthday fell on the 30th, which was a Monday. She sent the invitations out by strapping them to her dragonfly's legs.   

Anne:    

A dragonfly landed on the window, gently tapping the glass. Anne looks up from her book and gets up, opening the window. She tries to remember if the Plantars are waiting on something but doesn't find anything. The dragonfly raises three feet, each one has a letter tied to it. Anne unties all of them and before she can do anything else, the dragonfly flies off towards Ivy's house. Anne unrolls the letters and sees her name written on one of them, Sprig's on the other, and Polly's on the third. She recognizes Marcy's handwriting and smiles excitedly.   

"Sprig! Polly!" she shouts.   

The two Hobbits come running down the stairs. She hands them each a letter and they open it at the same time. Inside, Anne finds a letter.  

Dear    Anne      

You are invited to my birthday party on January 29 at 2pm at my house.  

There was some more information at the bottom that Anne didn't get to read since Polly squealed and Sprig pumped his fists into the air, almost hitting her in the face.  

"Awesome! Birthday party!" shouted Polly.  

Anne and Sprig laughed. The three of them raced upstairs, chanting 'birthday party' over and over again. By the time they made it to Hop Pop's room, his door was open, and he was standing in the doorway, tiredly rubbing his forehead.  

"Yes, you can go" he said before any of them could say anything.  

The siblings whooped and ran back downstairs.  

...  

Anne walked through the shop, looking at what they had to offer. She already grabbed an empty journal, several colorful pens, and a keychain with a sparrow. She wasn't sure if that was enough but wasn't sure what else to get her either. She stopped when she noticed a fidget cube on the shelf. She grabbed it and chewed on the inside of her cheek. She always saw Marcy fidgeting with her fingers, rings, pens, or anything in reach. Plus, it came in green. Anne grabbed the fidget cube and paid for the presents. She returned and placed them on her desk.  

"Now for decorations..." she thought.  

She grabbed a green ribbon, tying it around the journal and tying a bow. She then placed all the gifts into a small birthday themed bag and placed it on her desk. She still had a week before Marcy's birthday, but she liked to be ready, which is how she found herself going through her closet, trying to figure out what to wear.   

Sasha:  

Sasha strummed the strings of her guitar. She hummed and wrote down some notes in her music journal. She was interrupted by a knock on her window. Sasha looked up and recognized Marcy's dragonfly. She opened the window and untied the note from the leg that the dragonfly held up. The dragonfly flew off and Sasha closed the window. She sat down at her desk, opening the letter and reading it.  

"Birthday party? Cool!"  she thought.  

She left the letter on her desk and got dressed. She needed to get a gift and wasn't sure how long it would take to come up with something good. She made a mental list of everything that Marcy liked and that she could give her. Sasha jumped the last couple steps of the staircase and almost crashed into Percy.  

"Sorry!" she apologized.  

"Woah! What's the hurry?" he asks.  

"Marcy birthday! Gotta get her a gift!" grins Sasha.  

Something flashes in Percy's eyes and her grins. Sasha ignores the look, not liking what it might imply. Instead, she heads out to town.  

...  

Sasha puts on her pink pants and pulls her sweater on. She changes her earrings into something that matches her outfit and glances at herself in the mirror. Marcy's gift is currently sitting on her desk. Sasha breathes out and tries to calm her nerves, it's just a birthday party after all. She puts on her coat and grabs the gift, skipping down the staircase and heading outside. She pulls her hood over her head and stuffs her hands into her pocket. It's rather chilly. Before long, she's at Marcy's house. She seems to be the first one. Sasha knocks on the door and waits a couple seconds.  

"I got it, I got it!" she hears Marcy's muffled voice.  

The door flings open and Marcy squeals, pulling Sasha inside. Sasha laughs and hands her the bag.  

"Happy birthday!" she says.  

"Thank you!" Marcy takes the bag from her.  

Sasha takes off her coat and hangs it on the coat rack. She turns back and takes in Marcy's outfit. She's wearing black pants with white stripes and a green, wool sweater. Sasha smiles. Before she can say anything, there is a knock on the door. Marcy opens it excitedly, revealing Anne, Sprig, Polly, Ivy, and Maddie. All of them wished her a happy birthday and handed her gifts of different sizes.  

"Come on, come on! I have so much planned!" excitedly squealed Marcy.  

The Hobbits and Anne take off their coats and hang them on the coat rack. Sasha eyes Anne's outfit. She's wearing turquoise jeans, cuffed, and a yellow hoodie with a turtle pin that Sasha recognizes as the one she gave Anne on her birthday. Warmth spreads through Sasha's chest at the sight of the pin, she gently touches the pink hair clip that Anne had given her on her birthday.  

"Come on you guys!" Marcy grabs Sasha's hands and pulls her toward her room.  

The Hobbits and Anne follow the duo. They enter Marcy's room, to find a stack of board games in the middle of the room.  

"We'll play first, then eat, then play some more, and then cake!" announced Marcy.  

"Ah! Can we open gifts now then?" asks Maddie.  

"Sure!" agrees Marcy.  

They sit down on the carpet, the stack of board games moved to the side. Each one of the guests holds their own gift. Maddie, being the one who suggested it, goes first. She hands Marcy a box neatly wrapped in green, striped wrapping paper. Marcy carefully starts unwrapping it and gasps. She looks up and Maddie in shock.  

"You didn't..." she whispers.  

Sasha glances between them in confusion.  

"I might have pulled a few strings here and there" shrugs Maddie.  

Sasha squints at her in suspicion.  

"That doesn't sound ominous at all" nervously chuckles Sprig.  

"Well, no one died, so..." Maddie shrugs.  

"That's not supposed to-" starts saying Anne.  

She's interrupted by Marcy squealing and tackling Maddie into a hug.  

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"  

Marcy lets go of Maddie and finally pulls the box out of the wrapping paper, showing it to everyone.  

"Look! It's the second chapter of Thetarune! It came out only like a week ago!" Marcy shook the game in excitement.  

"Oh! I think I heard about this one!" said Anne.  

"Me too, I've heard it's good" nodded Sasha.  

"It is! It's the best! Gosh, I'm so excited to play it! But later, gotta open the other gifts first" Marcy places the box on her desk.  

Next, it's Ivy's turn. She gives Marcy a smaller box, surprisingly, it's also wrapped, and really neatly. Then Sasha remembers who Ivy's mom is. She isn't surprised at all anymore; it actually makes a lot of sense. Marcy carefully unwraps the box and finds a set of beautiful paints inside, as well as high quality paint brushes.  

"Woah! These are really good quality; here did you get this? " asked Marcy.  

"My mom helped" answered Ivy.  

Sasha nods, that makes a lot of sense. Marcy places the paints and paintbrushes on her desk. Sprig goes next, he gives her a bag. Marcy reaches into it and carefully takes out everything that was inside. Out come a small wooden sparrow, a couple rings, and a couple pins. Marcy grabs the wooden sparrow first, running her fingers over the wings.  

"This is so cool" she whispers.  

Sasha can't help but lean in a little. She marvels at the details, the feathers, the beak, the eyes.  

"Where did you get this from?" asks Marcy.  

"Actually, I made it" sheepishly grins Sprig, "with Loggle's help of course"  

There was a moment of silence.  

"You did!?" exclaimed both Marcy and Anne.  

Sasha looked at him, impressed.  

"Well, with Loggle's help" repeated Sprig.  

"Still awesome!" said Anne.  

"How come I didn't know about this?" asked Polly.  

After everyone had overcome their shock over Sprig's wooden sparrow, Marcy kept going over the gifts. There were two rings, one was a silver snake, the other was a sparrow face. There were also two pins. One of the pins was a little sparrow and the other was a "my social battery" pin. Marcy oohed at the gifts.  

Marcy:    

Polly's gift was a long box. It wasn't wrapped, so Marcy opened it quickly. Inside she found a new crossbow that could be strapped to her forearm. She gapped at it and slowly took it out of the box. She glanced up and Polly, who was grinning at her excitedly.    

"This is so cool" she said.   

Marcy strapped it to her forearm and pointed it the walls before taking it off.   

"Did you make this?" she asked.   

"Jess and Ally helped" shrugged Polly.   

"Well damn, I didn't know both of my siblings would come with handmade gifts," said Anne.   

Marcy laughed at that. She placed the crossbow back in the box and tucked it under her desk. Anne's gift was next, which was a couple pens, a journal, fidget cube, and sparrow keychain. Marcy couldn't help but notice that a lot of the things she got had been sparrows. She wondered when they all decided that sparrows were her animal. Maybe it was because of Joe Sparrow, yeah that was probably the reason.    

"How did you know I was running out of pages in my journal?" asked Marcy.   

She flipped through the journal, glad at the quality.   

"I, uh, noticed last time you were journaling" sheepishly said Anne.   

She scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment. Marcy pulled her into a hug, smiling wide. She didn't expect anyone to notice, much less actually get her a new one. Honestly, she expected to be gifted a lot of sketchbooks and journals, since she was always seen carrying one around, but she was so glad for all the different gifts she got instead.   

"Alright, I guess I'm last" Sasha handed her a box.   

"Last but not least" said Marcy, nudging her playfully.   

She opened the box, which also wasn't wrapped and took out a long-sleeved button up shirt. It was dark blue, with bright yellow, pale yellow, and white stars and moons and swirls. Marcy brought it closer, feeling the nice texture.    

"This is so beautiful!" she said.    

She leans into Sasha's side. It's a beautiful shirt, one that she's sure she'll be wearing all the time from now on.   

"That's not all" awkwardly coughs Sasha.   

Marcy looks up in surprise. She carefully folds the shirt and places it on her bed, then reaches for the box.   

"There's more?" she asks, curious.   

Inside the box lies a keychain with a green, blue, and pink crystal. Marcy isn't sure how she didn't notice it before; she was probably too focused on the shirt. She picks up the keychain and smiles. She remembers Anne getting the same one. Now all they needed was Sasha to get one and they would be matching.   

"Thank you! All of you" she smiles, "this has probably been the best birthday ever!"   

She pulls Sasha and Maddie into a hug, since they are the closest. She gestures for the others to join the hug and they form a group hug. Since the gift opening took so much time, they don't get to play board games before Yunan calls everyone to get food.    

"Coming!" calls out Marcy, "Come on, we'll play board games after eating!"    

She grabs her cane and Sasha's extended hand. Sasha pulls her up and everyone exits her room and walks into the kitchen. The kitchen table is covered in all kinds of food. There are salads, pizza, sandwiches, and so much more. They all sit down, Marcy at one end, with Sasha on her left and Anne on her right. Sprig and Polly sit on Anne's side, while Ivy and Maddie sit on Sasha's side. Olivia and Yunan don't join them, saying that they'll eat later.    

"This smells so good" Sprig's practically drooling.   

Everyone agrees and digs in.   

...   

With all the food finished, they return to Marcy's room. After several hours of boardgames, party games, and stories, it's time for cake. Olivia brings the cake, candles already lit, while Yunan turns off all the lights. The room, illuminated only by the glow on the candles, falls quiet for a moment, before everyone starts singing happy birthday. Marcy grins as the cake is placed in front of her, with fifteen candles on it. Once the birthday song ends, Marcy leans in, pausing for a moment as she thinks of a good wish. She can't help but think of all the birthdays spent with just Yunan and Olivia in her room, with a smaller cake and two-three presents. This is her first birthday with friends.   

"I wish to spend every day with my friends and family, and that all of them are as happy and awesome as today"  Marcy blows out the candles.   

Everyone cheers and claps. Yunan turns on the lights and Olivia cuts the cake, giving everyone a slice.   

...  

After a few more games, it's already 8pm and everyone starts heading home. Marcy waves from the doorstep at Sasha, who was the last to leave. With everyone gone, she walks back inside and into her room. They helped clean up the room, even though Marcy protested multiple times. She sits down at her desk and glances over all the presents again, it truly is magical.  

...  

Olivia and Yunan knocked on her bedroom door at around 9pm. She lets them in.  

"One last present for the birthday girl" grins Yunan.  

Olivia hands her an envelope. Marcy takes it and then glances up at them in confusion.  

"But you already gave me my gifts? A dagger from Yunan and a necklace from you," said Marcy.  

"Well, we have one more gift," said Olivia.  

"We wanted to give it to you after the party" added Yunan.  

Marcy starts opening the envelope. For some reason she feels nervous, like this envelope defines her whole life. She glances up at Olivia and Yunan again right before taking out the document that was inside the envelope. They smile at her, but she can see how nervous they are. Marcy gulps, wondering what sort of document could be inside this envelope. What kind of gift was a document? She pulls it out and unfolds it. She starts reading it and before she can even read half of the first page, she understands everything.   

"This... this is..." Marcy looks up at them in shock.  

Olivia and Yunan nodded.  

"You don't have to sign it of course, it's up to you" quickly adds Olivia.  

"But we would love to have you as our daughter, legally" says Yunan.  

Marcy's throat burns and her eyes prick as tears pool in her eyes. She sniffles and tries to blink away the tears, but they just flow down her cheeks. Olivia and Yunan look horrified. They stutter, trying to reassure her, trying to tell her that if she doesn't want to, she doesn't need to. Marcy just let's go of her cane and stumbles forward into their arms. Yunan catches her and holds her, so she doesn't fall to the floor. Olivia is by her side, rubbing her back. Marcy just sobs into Yunan's shoulder. They stay like that for a few more minutes before Marcy can speak.  

"I- I-" she hiccups and tries again, "I'm s-so happy, I... I can't believe this!"  

She feels Yunan relax, and Olivia let out a sigh of relief.   

"I love you" whispers Marcy.  

She had said those words before, multiple times, but it feels different now.  

"I love you too" echo Yunan and Olivia.  

They help Marcy to her chair. Marcy places the document on her desk and skims through it quickly. She gets to the last page, where all the signatures are supposed to be. Yunan's and Olivia's signatures are there, as well as the signature of the person who created the document. There is one spot empty. Marcy grins and grabs her pen; she signs the document. For a moment, there is only silence, then Marcy glances at Yunan and Olivia, her legal guardians, her parents, her mothers. Olivia is crying and Yunan is blinking away tears. Marcy grabs them and pulls them into a hug.  

"This is the best birthday ever" she whispers.  

"I'm glad you think so" Yunan ruffles her hair.  

Marcy feels warm inside, she feels complete, like a hole in her heart that she didn't know existed, was suddenly filled. They were her mothers, her family, legally and officially. This was her family, and nothing could tear them apart.  

Chapter Text

Anne:  

This was bad. Anne tapped her fingers on the bench, trying and failing to distract herself from the pain in her stomach. She wasn't sure what was causing it, she had already eaten, she had gone to the bathroom, she drank water. She tried to think of anything she ate that could have caused this but couldn't think of anything. The sharp pain in her stomach had appeared suddenly and out of nowhere.  

"Should I go home?" she wondered but instantly shut that idea down.  

She agreed to hang out with Sasha and Marcy today, they agreed to meet up on the playground they used to play on. For once, Anne had come earlier than the other two and had decided to wait for them on one of the benches. It was then that the pain appeared. At first, it was dull enough to ignore, but it had progressively become stronger. Anne found herself rocking slightly on the bench, one hand over her stomach and the other gripping the bench, trying to distract herself. She tried focusing on something, anything else, but the pain was too much.  

"Is this how period cramps feel like?"  she wonders.  

If this  was  how period cramps felt like, she felt sorry for anyone who experienced periods. She can't imagine going through this pain every single month.   

"Periods are so stupid. You bleed, your head hurts, and your stomach hurts, and you get nauseous and..."  she tries to remember other symptoms of periods,  "and you get mood swings and... other stuff. All that just to tell you that you aren't pregnant!"  

Anne grumbles in frustration and pain, biting her bottom lip.   

"It would be so much better if periods were just one day long, with no blood and no pain. Or even better! How about instead of periods to tell you that you  aren't  pregnant, a sign that tells you when you  are  pregnant! Just a little sign that you can't miss but can hide, something that doesn't hurt and doesn't include blood"   

Anne tries to keep that thought going, hoping it would distract her from the pain, but the pain seems to double. Anne inhales sharply, rocking a little more and trying not to cry. She's grateful that there is hardly anyone outside to see her. She glances around, hoping to see Sasha and Marcy, but they aren't anywhere. Anne bites the bottom of her lip harder, hoping the pain would ease the pain in her stomach. It doesn't.  

Sasha:  

Sasha pushes Marcy's wheelchair as they make it to town. She knows that they are running late but doesn't speed up. Anne is hardly ever on time, and she thinks they could be a few minutes late. When they make it to the playground, Sasha notices Anne on the bench, rocking back and forth ever so slightly. One of her hands is over her stomach and the other is gripping the bench hard. Sasha can smell blood. Her heart drops.  

"Is that Anne?" asks Marcy.  

Sasha doesn't answer her, she just starts pushing the wheelchair harder and walking faster. She makes it to the bench and places a hand on Anne's shoulder. Anne flinches away, somehow, she didn't notice the two approaching.  

"Anne? What's wrong?" asks Sasha.  

Anne opens her mouth, then winces. That's when Sasha notices that she had been biting her lip and had bit down so hard that her lip was bleeding.  

"Oh thank Frog it isn't any serious injury"  Sasha lets out a sigh of relief.  

"Your lip is bleeding!" exclaims Marcy.   

Anne furrows her brows; she licks her lips, and her eyes open wide. Marcy hands her tissue paper. Anne grabs it and presses it to her lips. Sasha sits down next to her; she notices how Anne grips her stomach harder and rocks a little more.   

"Stomachache?" she guesses.  

Anne nods.   

"We should get you home" suggests Marcy.  

Anne shakes her head.  

"Come on Anne, you're clearly in pain" insists Sasha.  

Anne shakes her head again.  

"It's f-fine" she mutters.  

Sasha glances at Marcy, who looks at her, worry evident in her eyes. Sasha sighs.  

"Anne, come on, let's get you home" Sasha stands up and extends her hand to help Anne up.  

"N-no, we were supposed to hang out" forces out Anne.  

"Anne, you're struggling to speak" sighs Sasha.  

"Anna-banana, please?" pleads Marcy.  

Sasha glances at Marcy, who is pouting, her eyes open wide. Sasha can't help but grin, there is no way Anne can say no to that face. She was of course correct. Anne grumbles something into the tissue that she's still holding to her lip and then takes Sasha's outstretched hand. Sasha pulls her up and Anne stumbles into her. Sasha inhales sharply, but Anne just leans into her more, whining. Sasha's heart breaks and flutters at the same time. She pushes Anne back a little and turns around, only to crouch down.  

"Come on, Boonchuy, I'll carry you" says Sasha.  

She expects Anne to protest, but instead, Anne just gets onto her back, clinging to her neck.   

"She must be in so much pain"  frowns Sasha.  

She stands up and adjusts her grip on Anne, in doing so, she jolts Anne suddenly, which causes Anne to gasp in pain and then whine quietly.   

"Shit, sorry" whispers Sasha.  

She turns slowly and glances at Marcy. She winces a little, wondering how she's going to carry Anne and push Marcy's wheelchair. Marcy must have noticed her hesitation because she quickly reassures her.  

"It's alright! I can push myself!" Marcy grabs the wheels and rotates them with her hands.  

The three make their way to Wartwood. It takes longer than Sasha would have liked, she doesn't like the way Anne starts groaning and whining in pain a lot more as they finally make it to Wartwood. She would like to take that pain away from her, but she can't.  

"Just a little farther" whispers Sasha.  

When they make it to the Plantars house, Marcy knocks on the door. After a moment Anne dangles the keys in front of Sasha's face. Marcy is the one who takes them, since Sasha's hands are busy holding Anne. Marcy opens the door and rolls inside. Sasha also walks in, to find the house empty.  

"Where are the Plantars?" asks Marcy.  

Anne mumbles something about them leaving town to visit that Avian Kingdom because of Polly. Sasha doesn't ask her to repeat herself, since it seems that doing anything takes a lot of energy out of the already exhausted Reptile. Sasha carefully makes her way down into Anne's room and she places her onto the bed. Anne rolls over onto her side instantly, curling into a tight ball and clutching her stomach. Sasha wants to say something, but she isn't sure what to do.  

"I'll be back" she promises.  

Sasha walks back upstairs and finds that Marcy had gotten out of her wheelchair and was now limping toward her.  

"How's Anne?" she asks.  

Sasha notices her fidgeting with her rings.  

"We should find her some painkillers" says Sasha.  

"I'll find them, could you fill up a water bottle with hot water?" suggests Marcy.  

Sasha moves to the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle and turning on the hot water. She waits a few moments for it to heat up and then fills up the water bottle. She closes the tap and then fills a cup with drinking water. She grabs the cup and water bottle and returns to Anne's room. Marcy is already there, helping Anne sit up. Sasha places the bottle on the floor and helps Anne take the painkillers with the water. Anne lies back down and Sasha hands her the water bottle.  

"This should ease the pain" she whispers.  

Anne moves the water bottle closer to her stomach and curls around it. Sasha chews on the inside of her cheek. She carefully tugs the blanket from under Anne and then covers her with it.  

Marcy:  

Anne falls asleep soon after taking the painkillers. Marcy and Sasha hang out in the kitchen, not wanting to disturb Anne. Sasha makes Marcy some milk tea. Marcy happily sips on it, while Sasha drinks water.  

"Why didn't you make tea for yourself?" asks Marcy.  

"I prefer water" shrugs Sasha.  

Marcy can't help but chuckle at that. They chat for a while, then move to the couch, reading a book that they found on the bookshelf. Well, Marcy was reading, Sasha was sitting next to her and listening to her read. Marcy enjoyed this, she got to read with Sasha and talk to her about the book, it was fun. There were moments when she still worried about rambling for too long, but Sasha was always there to reassure her that she wasn’t. An hour and a half later, Sasha's head is resting on Marcy's shoulder, which causes a permanent blush on Marcy's cheeks. She's able to focus on the book enough that Sasha doesn't notice how flustered she is.   

"That's such a stupid thing to do" grumbles Sasha.  

"Yeah! It completely contradicts the character development in chapter 6!" agrees Marcy.  

"Maybe it's the demon thingy from chapter 3? Remember how it possessed... what was her name? The green haired one?"  

"Ah! Emily! You might be right, he had been acting really strange, and the demon had been mentioned several-"  

Marcy's cut off when the trap door leading to Anne's room creaks open and reveals Anne. Sasha stands up instantly, while Marcy places the book face down on the table, so they don't lose the page they are on and grabs her cane. Anne stumbles into the living room, her hair a mess. Sasha meets her halfway, stabilizing her. Marcy also gets up and limps over.  

"How are you feeling?" softly asks Sasha.  

"Tired" grumbles Anne.  

"Well how about you go back to sleep?" suggests Marcy.  

Anne shakes her head.  

"I want to sit with you" she mumbles.  

Marcy feels the blush returning to her cheeks.  

"Are you sure? We were just reading" she says.  

"Yeah" yawns Anne.  

They settle on the couch again. Marcy in the middle, Sasha on her left and Anne on her right. Anne sinks into the couch and snuggles into Marcy's side, causing Marcy to blush furiously. She buries her face into the book, hoping the two don't notice how red her face is. Sasha scoots closer as well, throwing her hand over Marcy's and Anne's shoulder. Marcy clears her throat, trying to keep it stable as she starts reading again. She stops mid-sentence and glances at Anne.  

"Are you alright with us continuing from where we stopped? Or should I start from the beginning?" she asks.  

"Nah, it's alright, I've read this one already" mumbles Anne.  

"Alright, don't spoil it" says Sasha.  

Marcy starts reading again.  

...  

Not even 20 minutes later, Anne is asleep, snoring softly. Sasha gets up and disappears, returning with a blanket that she covers Anne with. Then she sits back down, and Marcy continues reading. She reads softer, since Anne is asleep. Sasha's a Canine, so Marcy's sure that she's alright with the volume.  

...  

The door creaks open and Marcy looks up at it. Next to her, Sasha jolts upright. Marcy feels her tense up, ready to spring into action at the sight of any danger. They both relax when they see the Plantars enter, dragging with them a bunch of mechanical parts. Sasha shushes them and points to the sleeping Anne, who grumbles something and snuggles closer to Marcy. The Plantars freeze, not expecting guests. They glance between the trio and then at each other, then they quietly disappear upstairs.  

...  

It's getting late. Marcy yawns and closes the book. Sasha gets up and stretches, then she easily picks up Anne and carries her off to bed. Marcy blushes at that. She grabs her cane and limps over to her wheelchair. She waits for Sasha, then waves goodbye to the Plantars. The two of them head towards Marcy's house first. Sasha drops her off and then heads towards the tower. Marcy has dinner with her moms and then heads to bed.  

Chapter Text

It had come to Sasha's attention that she had gained a nickname from people. She wasn't sure when, but at some point, she had become known as the "Heartstomper". At first, she was a little confused, until Aroon said, "you really are a Heartstomper!" after Sasha broke up with them. Sasha frowned at the memory.  

  Aroon sat across from her. Their scales were lighter than Anne's and she had a large, leaf shaped, yellow tail fin. Tears were running down her face. Sasha winced. Their blue eyes, filled with tears, reminded her too much of Anne. She hated seeing Anne cry. This was one of her messier break ups. She had dated five people before Aroon, all of which lasted only a week or two before Sasha broke up with them.   

"B-but why? What did I do?" hiccupped Aroon.  

"Nothing, I just... don't like you like that" explained Sasha, "I did warn you about this..."  

It was true, after breaking up with five people because she didn't feel anything for them, she had decided to warn Aroon when they asked her out. Aroon had agreed that if they ended up breaking up, they would continue to stay friends.  

"You really are a Heartstomper!" shouted Aroon.  

She stood up and stormed out of the cafe. Sasha winced at the eyes staring at her. She got up and left, heading back home. So far, she had felt little to no emotions for the people that asked her out. The only reason she agreed to date any of them was because she didn't see a reason not to, and she was hoping that it would help her get over Anne and Marcy. Unfortunately, it seemed to do the opposite. Every time she saw them, she couldn't help but wish to go on the dates she went to with other people, but with them.  

"Maybe I should stop dating" grumbled Sasha under her breath.  

She thought about what Aroon said before storming off. Could her break ups be the reason for her new name? Probably, she had dated five different people in four months. Sasha frowned. It wasn't sure fault people kept coming and asking her out.  

Sasha shook her head and continued to walk through the town. That had been a year and a half ago, who cared about Aroon. She made it to the outskirts of the town and to a two-story house.  

Sasha glanced up at the sky, seeing Tai flying towards them. They were an Avian with dark, almost black feathers and brown eyes. They landed gently next to Sasha and smirked at her. Their short black hair reminded Sasha of Marcy.   

"Ready to go?" they asked.  

"Yeah" smiled Sasha.  

Tai was one of the people that Sasha actually had feelings for. In fact, her heart fluttered when Tai grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a store.  

"Come on! I saw something cool here yesterday" excitedly said Tai.  

Their eyes lit up the same way Marcy's did when she rambled about her favorite topic. Sasha pushed those thoughts away. They entered the store and browsed through the shelves. That's when Sasha notices Tai grab a pen and place it in their pocket. Sasha's heart drops. She looks around, wondering if anyone else saw that. She wasn't sure what to do. Should she confront them? She probably should, stealing was bad, even if it was just a pen. She glances over at Tai again, about to approach and confront them, when she sees them slip their hand into the bag of the Reptile next to them and take out their wallet, putting it in their pocket. Sasha growls and stomps up to them.   

"Tai, give that back" she hisses.  

She makes sure that people around them can't hear them. She wants to give Tai a chance before exposing them. Maybe there was a reason.  

"Relax, it's fine, no one saw" whispers Tai.  

Sasha's eyes open wide.  

"No one saw!? What does that matter!? You just stole someone's-" Tai clamps Sasha's mouth with their palm.  

"Are you trying to get us caught?" hisses Tai.  

They look furious.  

"Us? What do you mean us!? I don't steal!" angrily whispers Sasha.  

She's struggling to keep her voice down so no one hears them.  

"Take a chill pill, it's all good fun" shrugs Tai.  

"Good fun!? You just stole someone's wallet and a pen! If you don't give those back right now, I'm telling the owner" threatens Sasha.  

Tai pales, then their face becomes red with anger. They storm off, pushing past the Reptile who had moved down the aisle. In doing so, Sasha sees them slip the wallet they stole back into the Reptile's bag. She breathes out slowly, then remembers the pen. She chases after Tai, who had already walked outside and was now speed walking down the street. Sasha catches up to them and grabs their arm, making them stop.  

"Hey!" they exclaim.  

"The pen" growls Sasha.  

Tai rolls their eyes.  

"It's just a pen" they grumble.  

Sasha scoffs.  

"And? That's still stealing! You can't do that" says Sasha.  

She forces Tai to return the pen and then breaks up with them. She can't date someone who steals, especially not someone who does it for fun.  

"Fine! I don't even like you!" shouts Tai and then runs off.  

Sasha knocks on the door and waits for a few seconds. She knocks again and waits some more. At last, the door is opened by a tall brunette Canine. The Canine glances at Sasha and raises an eyebrow.  

Theodore is a Fox. They have wild, fiery red hair, which reminds Sasha of Anne's hair, always filled with twigs and leaves. Theodore has green eyes like Marcy's. Sasha shakes her head and tries to push those thoughts away. She keeps doing this, comparing her partners to Anne and Marcy. To make things worse, it's not only about their appearance, but also their personality and quirks. For example, Theodore would say random facts are random times, just like Marcy. They would be walking down the street, and Theodore would suddenly say a random fact.  

"Did you know that jellyfish don't have brains?"  

Or  

"If sharks stop moving, they will suffocate because they need water to pass through their gills to breathe. By stopping the water doesn't pass through their gills and they die"  

Or  

"Pineapples have tiny needles, which is why they hurt your mouth when you eat them"  

Today, he was unnaturally quiet. Sasha glanced at him in confusion, trying to figure out what was wrong. She follows his gaze and her eyes land on an Avian boy sitting on a bench across from them. He's facing away from them, but Sasha recognizes him anyway. It's one of Theodore's friends. His name is David, if Sasha isn't mistaken. She feels sadness wash over her. She had noticed how Theodore looks at David, noticed the blushes and the flustered reactions. She had also noticed that David also blushes around Theodore, though much more subtly.  

"Theodore?" she says.  

Theodore snaps out of his trance and sits up straight.  

"Huh? Yes?" he stutters.  

Sasha smiles at him, but it doesn't reach her eyes.  

"I think we should break up" she states.  

Theodore's eyes open wide.  

"W-what?" he squeaks out.  

"I'm not blind, I can see how you look at David"  

"What? No! No, no! I swear I haven't been-"  

"I know" interrupts Sasha, "but you like him, and he likes you"  

Theodore opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens it again.  

"I... I like you too" he mumbles.  

"But it's not the same, is it?"  

Theodore shakes his head sadly.  

"You should ask him out" says Sasha.  

"B-but what about you?" asks Theodore.  

"Well... we just broke up" shrugs Sasha.  

It takes a little more pushing and reassuring before Theodore finally confesses that it's true, he doesn't like Sasha the way he likes David. Their breakup is the least messy one Sasha had ever had, and they agree to stay friends. Two weeks later, Theodore invites her to a cafe and tells her that he had asked David out and now they were happily dating. Sasha's happy for him. She really is. And yet, this breakup hurts the most. It's strange, since Sasha didn't like Theodore romantically. Maybe it's because she broke up with him not because of her feelings, but because of his feelings for someone else.   

"I'm happy for you guys" smiles Sasha.  

She really is, but it still hurts. Luckily, Anne and Marcy take her out for ice cream to ease her pain, even after she says several times that she isn't hurt.  

"I'm Sasha, Lenn's girlfriend" says Sasha.  

The Canine, who Sasha is pretty sure is Lenn's mother, frowns. Still, she steps back and lets Sasha in.  

"He's upstairs" she says.  

Sasha thanks her and climbs up the stairs. She had dated Lenn for three months now, the longest she had ever lasted with anyone. He had been there to celebrate her 16th birthday. Though it was separated from her birthday party with The Dwarfs and Anne and Marcy. She walks up the stairs, glancing at the paintings on the walls. Even though they had dated for three months, she had never been at his house, she had never met his family either. Once upstairs, Sasha pushes the door to the first room slightly and peaks in. Her heart drops. On the bed is sitting Lenn, with a Dog, and they're kissing.  

"What the hell" says Sasha.  

Lenn and the Dog jump away from each other. Lenn looks up at Sasha and freezes. He scrambles up and stumbles towards Sasha.  

"This isn't what is looks like!" he exclaims.  

Sasha pushes him away in disgust.  

"Lenn? Who is she?" asks the Dog.  

They had gotten up and were standing next to Lenn, frowning at Sasha.  

"I can explain! I-" starts saying Lenn.  

Sasha interrupts him.  

"He's cheating on us" she states.  

"No! No! I- I-" tries to say Lenn but he's interrupted again.  

"When I asked you if were ok with me dating multiple people you said no! You said you would only date me! I literally suggested polyamory and you shut it down!" accused the Dog.  

Lenn stuttered and tried to come up with an excuse or an explanation, but Sasha cuts him off.  

"Shut it. It's over" growls Sasha.  

"As if you'll ever find anyone else who'll want to date you!" shouts Lenn.  

Sasha's caught off guard by his sudden outburst. His face is red with anger, and he squeezes his hands into fists.  

"After all, you're the Heartstomper, all your relationships last only a week!" he shouts, then turns to the Dog, "And you, who would want to date you?"   

Sasha growls and raises her hand. She slaps him across the face hard. Lenn stumbles backward, clutching his cheek. Sasha ignores him and turns to the Dog.   

"What's your name?" she asks.   

"Huh? Oh, my name's Milo" says the Dog.   

"I'm Sasha, want to grab some lunch with me?" she asks.   

Milo raises both eyebrows, then glances at Lenn and nods.   

"Sure, but only if I get to choose" they say.   

"As long as you choose something good" rolls her eyes Sasha.   

As they leave the room, Sasha flips Lenn off over her shoulder. He shouts some curses at them that they both ignore. When they're outside, Sasha grins at Milo.  

"Well then, lead the way" she says.   

Milo smiles and pulls Sasha towards the town center. They enter a small restaurant and sit at a table tucked into a corner, away from prying eyes.    

"Aren't you the Resistance leader?" asks Milo.   

"Co-leader" corrects them, Sasha.   

"Right, right" nods Milo, "how long have you been dating Lenn?"   

"About three months"   

"Really? Me too"   

They bond over their mutual ex. Their conversation leads to other places and Sasha learns that Milo is in a band, and they are actually looking for a lead singer who can play guitar because their old lead singer suddenly left the band. Sasha shares some stuff about herself, mostly about music. At the end of the day, Milo kisses her on the cheek and invites her to meet the band they are in.  

...   

"Did you break up with Lenn?" asks Marcy.   

Sasha raises her head from where it was lying on Anne's shoulder. They were having a sleepover at her place.    

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, it's actually kinda a funny story" chuckles Sasha.   

"How?" asks Anne.   

"Turns out he was cheating on me with this Dog. I caught him and we both broke up with him and then went on a date, well I think it's a date, they did kiss me on the cheek" sums up Sasha.   

Anne and Marcy both sit in stunned silence for a moment. Then they beg her for more details so Sasha tells them all she knows about Milo.  

...   

Milo intertwined their fingers. Sasha glances down at her hand, fingers intertwined with Milo's. She smiles at Milo. They have short brown hair that was dyed silver, several silver piercings on their ears and one on their lip. They also have a tooth gap, which Sasha finds adorable. They are slightly shorter than Sasha, which can be said about most people her age.    

"You're gonna love them!" excitedly says Milo.   

They make it to a small house and Milo leads her to the garage. They knock once and then open it. Inside the garage are three people, all of them are Canines. There are two Foxes and a Wolf. Sasha's pretty sure the Foxes are siblings.   

"Milo! Hey!" greets the Wolf.   

He approaches Sasha and shakes her hand.   

"My names Mike, this is Roan and Rowan" says the Wolf.   

"Sasha" introduces herself Sasha.   

Roan and Rowan, two redheaded Foxes who turn out to be twins (not identical), play rhythm guitar and bass guitar, respectively. They both have short, red hair and wear matching outfits. They smile and wave at Sasha. Mike, the Wolf, is a little taller than Sasha, with dark gray hair that has a streak of light blue going through it. He plays the drums. Milo plays the keyboard. They eagerly ask Sasha to play something for her, curious about her music skills. Sasha chooses an original song that she's rather proud of and grabs one of the guitars they have.  

"Damn! You play well!" says Rowan.  

Before long, she's invited to more jam sessions and then gets to learn a song that Milo wrote. It's fun to have friends that have the same interests as her, so it isn't long before she starts to hang out with them outside of jam sessions. She invites them over to the tower and introduces them to Grime, who she isn't afraid to call 'Dad' anymore. She brings baked goods she made herself to the jam sessions and takes Milo on several more dates, though they usually hang out as a group. She learns more about them. Turns out Roan and Rowan are pranksters and troublemakers. Mike is the mom friend, always making sure everyone is taking care of themselves, always making sure everyone feels okay. Milo is actually rather introverted, they do love to hang out with the group, but they also enjoy quiet evenings, snuggling up with someone and drinking tea or reading a book or listening to music, or just sitting in comfortable silence.   

...  

"Sasha! Finally! What took you so long?" asked Rowan.  

"Are you alright? You're usually not this late" worriedly points out Mike.  

"Sorry, sorry, I lost track of time while making muffins" she raises the box she is holding.  

Rowan and Roan instantly appear in front of her and take the box from her, opening it and gasping in delight.  

"You're forgiven," said Roan.  

"But only because of the muffins" added Rowan.  

Sasha rolls her eyes affectionately at them, then she turns to Milo, who's bouncing up and down, excitement radiating from them.  

"Alright, what's the big deal?" asks Sasha.  

"Oh my gosh! Sasha, you aren't going to believe this!" squeals Milo.  

They grab Sasha's hands and tug her into the garage. Roan and Rowan are sitting on a bench, stuffing their faces with muffins. Mike places his hands on Milo's shoulders.  

"Spill it already" he chuckles.  

"Alright, alright, so, remember that restaurant that I took you to? For our first date? Well, they have a stage, and they have people perform up there all the time, and today I saw a poster, which said that they are hosting a talent show and everyone can come! Dancers, singers, bands, anyone!" rambles Milo, "So I thought that we should participate, and everyone else already agrees and now we just need to know if you're coming!"  

It takes Sasha a second to process the information. Once she processes it, excitement starts coursing through her blood.  

"Hell yeah!" she grins.  

Milo whoops and does a little victory dance. Roan and Rowan cheer and Mike grins at her.  

"When is it?" asks Sasha.  

Mike hands her the flier.  

"In two weeks, which should be enough time for us to practice one of our songs to perfection" answers Mike, "the talent show will be from 6pm to 9pm, there will be winners and prizes"  

Sasha grins harder. She's so very excited at the idea that they will be performing in front of an actual crowd. So far, they had only performed for Mike's and Sasha's family.   

...  

Two weeks had flown by in a flash. They stood in line to get registered for the talent show. There were two groups in front of them. Sasha glances at the register paper that Mike is holding. All they had to fill out was their group name, names of all the members, and what their talent is. They had already filled out the last two, but they didn't actually have a group name. Sasha glances up again. Now there is only one group in front of them.  

"How about... I don't know, 'Canines'?" suggests Mike.  

"That's lame" says Roan.  

"Well do you have a better idea?" asks Milo.  

Roan grimaces and shakes her head. Rowan opens his mouth, but then closes it again. Sasha glances up again, the group in front of them is almost done. She racks her brain for band names.   

"How about... 'Heartstompers'?" suggests Milo.  

Sasha's ears perk up at the familiar nickname.  

"'Heartstompers'? Really?" she asks.  

"Ooh! That sounds so cool!" excitedly says Rowan.  

"Yeah! Sounds badass!" agrees Roan.  

"And most of our songs are punk rock love songs" nods Mike.  

Sasha stares at them in shock.  

"You actually want to name our band 'Heartstompers'?" she asks, flabbergasted.  

"If that's okay with you, if you don't like it, we can change it" nervously says Milo.  

Sasha winces, she didn't mean to sound so against the idea.  

"Next!"  

The group in front of them had finished registering and had moved away. Sasha glances at the group. Roan and Rowan couldn't be trusted with registering them, Milo hated talking with strangers, and Mike was busy making sure the redheaded twins didn't mess things up. Sasha sighs and quickly scribbles 'Heartstompers' in the 'Band Name:' blank space. She walks up to the register and hands them the paper.  

"You filled it all out! Great!" says the Reptile.  

Sasha squints at his name tag, which reads Anthony.  

"Ooh! That's a really cool band name" compliments the other Reptile.  

Their name tag reads Kyle.  

"Right, do you need any equipment? Or do you have everything with you?" asks Anthony.  

"We'll need a drum kit and some microphones" answers Sasha.  

Kyle scribbles something down in a notebook. Sasha figures out it's the stuff they need.  

"Alright! Here's your number! Good luck!" says Anthony.  

Sasha takes the little piece of paper and walks away; the others follow her. She glances at the paper; they will be going 12th. Sasha isn't sure how many people will be coming, so she isn't sure if that means they are one of the first or last. They go backstage to leave their instruments there and then scan the crowd for the people they came with. They had all invited someone to come and watch their first performance. Sasha had invited Percy, Braddock, Grime, Anne, and Marcy. She found them sitting at a table close to the stage. Rowan and Roan had invited their older brother. Mike had invited his parents and siblings. Milo had invited their mom. Milo and the twins had also invited some of their friends.   

"Come on, you have to meet them!" The twins pulled Mike and Sasha towards another table.  

They had all met each other's families at one hang out or another, but Sasha hadn't actually met Milo's and the twin's friends. They approach a table in the front but to the side. At the table sit two Reptiles, a Hobbit, and an Avian.  

"This is Liam and Mia," the two Reptiles wave, "this is Luna" the Hobbit looks up from the book they were reading, "and Jules!" Milo points to the Avian.  

Sasha introduces herself and they talk for a few minutes. Sasha can't help but notice the way Milo glances at Mia every now and again. She also doesn't miss the way Milo blushes when Mia leans into them. Strangely enough, Sasha doesn't feel jealous. Maybe it's because she knows that both Milo and she are polyamorous, and they had talked about dating multiple people. Maybe it's something else, but Sasha doesn't dwell on that thought for too long, afraid of what the actual answer might be.  

"Hello!" Kyle's voice echoes through the speakers, "It's so nice to have you all here today for our very first talent show!"  

Kyle and Anthony announce and explain the talent show, as well as how people can win prizes. Then they introduce the first contestants, two Elves who are singing a duet.  

"It's starting!" whispers Roan.  

They all squeeze into the couch and listen to the duet. Sasha can't help but glance at the table where Anne and Marcy are sitting, she promised that she would introduce them to her friends before they went to perform. Once the duet ended, the crowd applauded, and several people whistled. Kyle and Anthony announce the next contestants and before long, they're on the 10th contestant. Sasha gets up, knowing that this is her last chance to introduce her friends to each other before they have to go backstage to prepare for their turn.  

"Guys? I want to introduce you to my friends" she says.  

She drags her bandmates to the table in the middle. Grime notices her first, grinning and waving her over.  

"You know Percy, Braddock, and Grime" she says.  

Her bandmates greet the Dwarfs.  

"But I want to introduce you to my childhood friends!" Anne and Marcy wave.  

They introduce themselves. Milo's and the twin's jaws drop.  

"You're Anne Boonchuy!" gasps Rowan.  

"Um, yeah! The one and only!" awkwardly chuckles Anne.  

"And you're Marcy Wu!" exclaims Roan.  

Marcy sinks in her seat a little, nervously glancing at Sasha.  

"Y-yeah" she mumbles.  

"Oh my Frog! You three are famous!" says Milo.  

They excitedly shake their hands, and they chat for a few more seconds before the 10th contestant makes it on stage.  

"That's our cue to go" whispers Mike.  

The 10th contestant, a Dwarf holding a violin, starts playing. Sasha's bandmates start heading towards the door leading to the backstage. Sasha is about to follow them, but Anne suddenly grabs her arm, pulling her back a little. Sasha looks back at her, confused.  

"Break a leg" whispers Anne.  

"Good luck" says Marcy at the same time.  

Sasha smiles and mouths 'thank you' before hurrying after her bandmates. She finds them backstage, opening their cases and taking out their instruments.  

"What took you so long?" asks Mike.  

"Anne and Marcy wanted to wish me luck" grinned Sasha.  

As the 11th contestant finishes their dance routine, Kyle and Anthony get back on stage. Sasha clutches her guitar a little tighter. There is a pit in her stomach and adrenaline pumping through her body. She glances back at her bandmates. Milo is nervously drumming their fingers, Roan is twirling her hair around her finger while Rowan is doing breathing exercises, Mike is biting his lip and spinning his drumsticks. They're buzzing with nervous energy, but also excitement. Sasha breathes in and out and then glances back at them.  

"Don't worry, we got this" she reassures them.  

They all nod.  

"Put your hands together for the 'Heartstompers!'" Sasha hears Kyle's voice.  

"Let's do this" she mumbles under her breath.  

With those words in mind, she steps onto the stage, where the keyboard, the drum kit, and the microphone stands with microphones are already standing. They quickly make it to their places, Mike and Milo in the back, Rowan and Roan on either side, and Sasha in the middle. There is a moment of silence as they all make sure their microphones are facing in the right direction. Sasha glances back at all her bandmates, they all nod, she nods at Mike, who nods back. Then Sasha turns to face forward again. She sees Grime smiling at her proudly, Percy and Braddock wave at her. Anne and Marcy give her a thumbs up.   

"One, two, three, four!" Mike hits his drumsticks against each other, and they all start playing.  

...  

The song ends and there is a moment of complete silence, then the room erupts into applause. Sasha, sweat dripping down her forehead and neck, breathing heavily, grins harder and glances at her bandmates. They are all equally tired and happy. They all bow and then walk off the stage. They place their instruments into their cases.  

"That was so awesome!" whispers Rowan, so not to disturb the people around them getting ready.  

"I know right! We played perfectly!" excitedly whispers Roan.  

Sasha agrees, they hadn't messed up once! As they exit the backstage area, they are greeted by their families and friends. Sasha gets pulled into a hug by Anne and Marcy.  

"That was amazing!" Anne's eyes are shining.  

Sasha can't help but blush at the compliment.  

"You did great!" adds Marcy.  

Sasha chuckles and nods. Her eyes lock with Grime's, who's standing a little farther away, smiling at her proudly. Sasha's smile somehow grows even wider. She approaches him, grinning.  

"You were great up there" compliments Grime.  

"Thanks dad, I'm really glad you could come" says Sasha.  

"I wouldn't miss this for the end of the world"   

Sasha sits with her family and friends for the next few contestants, they order some food and eat it. Once everyone had performed, Anthony announced that the winner would be announced in half an hour.   

"Are you nervous?" asks Anne.  

The three of them are sitting a little further away from the three Dwarfs.  

"Kinda?" shrugs Sasha, "I do want to win something, but at the same time, I don't really care"  

"Well, I think you did great and if you don't win then the judges are stupid," says Anne.  

Sasha feels her face heat up.  

"Th-thank you" she coughs.  

Anne and Marcy compliment her some more, causing Sasha to become a flustered mess. She feels immense guilt. She shouldn't be feeling these feelings. She's dating Milo and she knows that neither of them like her the way she likes them. Sasha tries to stomp out those feelings, but it's no use, it never was. She just laughs through it, hoping neither of them can notice how flustered she is.  

"And now! The moment you have all been waiting for! The winners for this talent show!" announces Anthony.  

Sasha stands up, her eyes quickly scanning the other tables to find her bandmates. She finds them also scanning the crowd for each other.   

"Gotta go" she whispers.  

Sasha quickly makes her way to Mike, since he's the closest. A moment later Milo appears next to them, quickly followed by Rowan and Roan. Milo grabs Sasha's hand, squeezing it. Sasha squeezes back reassuringly.   

"Do you think we'll win?" asks Rowan.  

There is nervous energy radiating from him. Sasha is surprised to find him so nervous, usually he's laid back, not really caring about the competition. She finds him and Roan glancing back at their brother several times.   

"Oh... they want to impress him"  figures out Sasha.  

She can't help but smile softly. She knows the feeling, the need to make someone proud, the fear of failing and disappointing them. She places a hand on Rowan's shoulder, causing him to look up at her, his hazel eyes opened wide with worry.  

"Don't worry, he'll be proud either way" she whispers.  

Rowan's and Roan's eyes open even wider, this time in shock. They both stutter and then cough.  

"How did you know?" asked Roan.  

Sasha can't help but glance at Grime.  

"I used to worry about the same thing" she confesses, "but I learned that the people who truly love you don't care if you're perfect"  

Before either of the twins can answer, Milo shushes all of them.  

"Their announcing the winners!" they hiss.  

There were seven winners altogether, one for the solo dancers, one for the group dancers, one for the solo singer, one for the duets, one for the group singers, one for the bands, and one for the solo instrument players. Sasha listens as Kyle announces the first three winners. She claps and cheers, wanting to support them. As Anthony takes over the announcement of winners, Sasha's heart speeds up. She glances at her bandmates, who are all staring at Anthony, waiting for the bands winner to be announced.  

"The winner from the bands is..." Anthony stretches out.  

Sasha holds her breath. Her stomach twists in nervousness. She hates how Anthony keeps them guessing.  

"The 'Heartstompers'!" shouts Anthony.  

The crowd erupts into applause and cheers. Sasha can hear Anne's voice. She's also pretty sure she heard Grime shouting 'that's my daughter!', which causes her to tear up a little. Still shocked at the fact that they won, Sasha finds Milo pulling her towards the stage. They quickly climb onto the stage. Kyle places a medal over each of their necks.  

"I knew you guys would win" they whispered.  

Rowan grabs her other hand and then grabs Roan's hand. Mike grabs Milo's other hand as well. They bow at the same time and the crowd cheers, with most people standing. Sasha sees Anne standing with Marcy on her back. Marcy waves and Sasha waves back. As they make their way off the stage, they are instantly greeted by their families and friends. Sasha gets pulled into a crushing hug by Braddock and Percy. Once they let go, Grime approaches her.  

"Congratulations" he says.  

Sasha's smile grows and she leans down to hug him. Grime hugs her back. When they step away from the hug. Sasha is pulled into a group hug by Anne and Marcy. Her breath hitches and her heart almost jumps out of her chest.  

"I knew you would win!" grins Marcy.  

Sasha's smile softens, she still can't quite believe that they had won. She grabs the medal hanging around her neck. It's made out of cheap metal, but it's a medal nonetheless. Sasha glances back at her bandmates. She finds Rowan's and Roan's brother ruffling their hair affectionately. She can't hear what he's saying because the crowd starts cheering for the next winner, but she knows he's proud of them from the way he's smiling. She sees Mike being surrounded by his four siblings, all of them younger than him. His parents are standing a little further away, smiling proudly at him. Sasha sees Milo talking to their mom, Mia and Luna are also there. As the rest of the winners are announced, the night starts coming to a close. There are still a lot of people, celebrating the winners or just being happy for participating.  

"Sasha! Over here!" Sasha raises her head and finds Mike waving her over.  

She glances back at her family and friends.  

"Go on, I know you want to celebrate with them" says Braddock.  

"We can celebrate tomorrow; it's getting late anyway" adds Percy.  

"Yeah! We'll get ice cream tomorrow" says Anne.  

"Okay, I'll hold you to that" grins Sasha.  

She bids them farewell and weaves through the crowd to get to the exit, where the rest of her bandmates are standing.  

"Come on! We have to celebrate our victory!" Cheers Rowan.  

Sasha just smiles and takes Milo's hand.  

Chapter Text

Marcanne. That's what she heard Sprig call Marcy and Anne. She didn't actually hear him calling Marcy and Anne that, what he actually said was "I think Marcanne will win", but she had figured out that it was a ship name for Marcy and Anne.  

"Sashy!" Sasha raises her head and sees Marcy waving at her. 

Anne is also there, pushing her wheelchair. She smiles and meets them halfway.  

"Come on! Let's check out that new cafe" eagerly said Anne. 

The trio made it to a new cafe that was located just around the corner. As they entered the new building, Sasha scanned the place, instantly locating a nice table tucked into a corner that they could claim. She walks over to the table; hearing Anne and Marcy follow her. They sit down at a table and a server appears with two menus. Sasha gets one for herself, while Anne and Marcy share the other one since they are sitting on the same side. Sasha scans the menu, nodding at some of the items on the menu. There is quite a lot of stuff she would like to try. She settles on a sandwich and some water. She looks up, about to ask if the other two are ready to order, but the words die on her tongue. 

"Oh... they're so cute"  smiles Sasha. 

Marcy and Anne are pressed into each other, hunched over the menu so they can both see it. Anne has her hand on Marcy's shoulder and both of them are visibly blushing. She decides to stay quiet for a little longer, not wanting to interrupt their moment. They look like a couple. It makes Sasha's heart ache. She pushes the sadness away, instead she focuses on her annoyance.  

"It's gonna be decades before either of them confesses that they like each other"  she grumbles. 

It's the truth. She had seen them pining over each other for so long, it was tiring, watching them be oblivious to the way they look at each other. She wonders how a person can be this dense. If someone was looking at  her  the way Marcy and Anne were looking at each other, she would definitely notice. How does a person not notice when someone likes them? Surely they would have noticed how the other is always blushing around them, right? 

"Knowing the two of them, Anne probably hasn't even noticed she has a crush on Marcy, and Marcy is probably second guessing everything"  sighs Sasha. 

Sasha glances at the two and frowns. Neither of them is focused on the menu, instead they take turns glancing at each other shyly. Sasha sighs. 

"Alright, I'm ready to order, how about you two?" she asks. 

Both of them sit up straight, moving away from each other and coughing, blushing furiously. Sasha just rolls her eyes.  

"A-ah yes, of, of course" stutters Anne, "I'll get a, um..." 

She quickly scans the menu and Sasha figures out that she hadn't actually been choosing what to eat. 

"I'll have a latte and a cupcake," says Marcy. 

"And I'll have... strawberry boba and pancakes" nods Anne. 

Sasha waves over the server, ordering their food. They chat as they wait for the food, Sasha doesn't miss the way Anne sometimes stares at Marcy for long periods of time, before snapping out of it and glancing back at Sasha, blushing. Sasha can't help but remember Anne's words from back when they were Resistance co-leaders. 

"I can't wait for this to end" grumbles Anne.  

Sasha glances over her shoulder just in time to see Anne flop onto the couch. She grimaces.  

"Tough day?" she asks.  

"Isn't everyday a tough day down here?" shoots back Anne.  

Sasha grimaces more. She walks away from the board, deciding that comforting Anne is more important than getting work done. Sasha sits down at the edge of the couch and carefully places her hand on Anne's shoulder. Anne rolls over onto her side so there is more space for Sasha to sit and so she can look her in the face. Sasha notes the dark circles under her eyes and the tired expression.  

"Something happened? Or just things in general?" asks Sasha.  

Anne sighs.  

"I dunno" she shrugs, "I'm just constantly tired"  

Sasha could relate. It was overwhelming, running a whole rebellion against a monarch, and with the war coming closer with each day, it didn't get much better.  

"I just want this to be over" whines Anne, "I just want to hang out with you and Marcy!"  

"We'll be together soon enough" Sasha reassures her.  

"I miss Marcy" whispers Anne.  

Silence falls between them at the confession. It's not really a secret, everyone knows they miss Marcy, but they rarely say it. It feels like saying it out loud is confessing just how lost they are. Sasha blinks away the tears in her eyes.  

"I miss her too" she says, just as quietly.  

"I miss her rambling, I miss her fluffy hair, I miss going out to get ice cream and laughing when she gets it on her nose" tears run down Anne's eyes.  

Sasha grabs Anne's arms and pulls her up so she's sitting, then she pulls her into a hug.  

"We'll be reunited soon, I promise" she whispers.  

Anne clings to her and cries.  

Their food arrives soon enough, and they share it. Sasha watches as Marcy steals Anne's drink. Anne tries to take it back, but Marcy moves to the edge of the couch, away from her. Anne lunges at her, pinning her to the wall and taking back her drink. They notice the position they're in and both blush at the same time. Anne scootches away, back to her spot. Marcy hides her face in her hands. 

"Can I have some of that too?" asks Sasha. 

Anne just hands her the drink, still too flustered to say anything.  

"Thanks" Sasha takes the drink. 

She takes the sip, watching the two flustered messes. She's unamused. You'd think they would have already gotten together, but no, these two oblivious idiots were too dense to notice the heart eyes the other was making at them. Sasha sighs and hands Anne her drink back.  

Sasha returns to Marcy's room and finds that Anne had woken up as well. She pauses at the door, watching. Anne reaches out and tucks away a stray hair that fell over Marcy's face. She hadn't yet noticed that Sasha was in the room. Sasha stays where she is, not wanting to interrupt the moment. She watches as Anne smiles softly at Marcy. Sasha bites the inside of her cheek. She steps out of the bedroom and back into the living room, trying to fight off the blush on her cheeks. There was no reason for this to affect her.   

"Can't they just get together" she grumbles under her breath.  

After a few more seconds, she turns back around and enters the bedroom again, this time she makes sure that Anne hears her entering. Anne glances up at her and smiles softly, placing a finger to her mouth to tell Sasha to stay quiet. Sasha's heart flutters.  

"When did you wake up?" asks Anne, keeping her voice low.  

"Not that long ago" whispers back Sasha.  

They both exit the bedroom and sit down on the couch. It's still rather early. Sasha's surprised that Anne is even awake. The sun had only just risen, and everyone was still asleep. The world is still quiet, with only a few creatures awake. It's peaceful.  

After they finish their food and drinks, they split the bill and continue exploring the town. It wasn't really exploring, since they had been there countless times. Sasha pushes Marcy's wheelchair and glances between Anne and Marcy. Marcy is rambling about some sort of plant, while Anne is listening, nodding. Sasha lets her mind wander again. 

"Come on! Hurry!" whispers Anne.  

Sasha chuckles and quickens her pace to keep up with Anne. They make it to the hill and sit down against the broken-down wall. It's one of their favorite spots to watch the stars, the sunset or sunrise, or to just chill, away from prying eyes. Anne helps Marcy out of her wheelchair while Sasha unfolds the blanket she was carrying. It was one of their many sleepovers at Anne's, but this time they had made a plan to wake up extra early to watch the sunrise. Sasha sits down next to them and throws the blanket over their shoulders. Marcy yawns, rubbing her eyes.  

"I told you not to stay up so late" chuckles Sasha.  

"But I was just getting to the good part" whined Marcy.  

Sasha's cheeks heated up.  

"You say that about every book you read" Anne nudged her playfully.  

Sasha sees Marcy's cheeks darken. They sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes. It's a warm summer night, but they're only wearing their pajamas, so they scooch closer to each other. Marcy ends up almost sitting on Anne's lap. Sasha can see the dark blush on Anne's cheeks, while Marcy seems to be too sleepy to notice.  

"It's starting!" whispers Anne.  

All three of them glance at the horizon. The sky starts to lighten up a little, turning from black to dark blue to light blue to white to yellow to red. Slowly, the sun peeks out from the horizon, slowly rising into the sky. The stars disappear one by one. Sasha glances to her right and finds that Marcy was now sitting on Anne's lap and Anne was playing with her hair. Sasha feels like a third wheel, she feels awkward, like she's interrupting their moment, but she can't look away. The sun lights up their faces, making them almost shine. Anne's scales reflect the sun, sparkling, while Marcy seems to glow under it.  

"It's really beautiful," says Marcy.  

None of them speak louder than a whisper, as if afraid to break the comfortable quiet of an early morning, when everyone is still asleep.  

"It is" agrees Sasha.  

But she isn't looking at the sunrise, she's looking at the two beautiful girls sitting on her right. That's when she notices that Anne is also not looking at the sunrise. She has her eyes glued to Marcy. There is that pang of guilt in her chest again. She feels like she's intruding on their moment. She looks away, instead admiring the sunrise. She really has to get rid of this stupid crush. How is she supposed to be happy for them when they finally get together when she can't control her own feelings?  

Sasha snaps back to reality just as they make it to the outskirts of the town. Sasha glances around, recognizing the trees around them. It seems like they're heading to Wartwood. Sasha stops suddenly, causing Anne to stumble forward as she tries to stop as well. Her conversation with Marcy is cut off. 

"What is it?" asks Marcy. 

"Hmm? Oh! Sorry" mumbles Sasha, sheepishly. 

She hadn't meant to stop so suddenly. 

"I was just wondering if you guys wanted to do anything else before we go back" she says. 

Marcy hums in thought while Anne glances back at the town. 

"Not really" shrugs Marcy. 

"I actually want to show you something!" suddenly exclaimed Anne, "I almost forgot!" 

She hooks her arm under Sasha's and pulls her towards Wartwood. Sasha grips the handles of the wheelchair tighter. 

"Ooh! What do you want to show us" excitedly asks Marcy. 

"A new place I found, it's really cool!" answered Anne. 

They hurried through the forest. 

Sasha yawns again. They were having a sleepover at her place. Anne was already asleep, spread out on the mattress on the floor. Marcy was writing something in her journal and Sasha was sitting next to her, her head resting on top of Marcy's. Sasha cracks open her eyes and decides that she should go to sleep. She glances at Anne, who is taking up most of the mattress, with the blanket wrapped around her legs. Sasha can't help but smile softly at her. Before Sasha can sit up and drag Marcy to sleep so she doesn't stay up all night, she notices that Marcy is drawing in her journal.   

"Is that... Anne?"  she squints at the drawing.  

It is Anne. Sasha watches as Marcy draws Anne, sleeping. Marcy glances up at Anne and then back at her drawing several times, tweaking some things. That's when Sasha notices all the other drawings in Marcy's journal, they're all of Anne in different poses. She looks really beautiful in those drawings, just how she is in real life. As Sasha admires the drawings, her eyes keep falling on the writing. She tries not to read what Marcy had written, after all, it was her private journal, but she can't help it, she's too curious.   

"Surely it won't hurt... right?" tells herself Sasha.  

Before she can stop herself, she reads a sentence. She rolls her eyes affectionately at the sappy writing. It's all about Anne, how amazing she is, how beautiful she looks, how kind she is. Sasha tears her eyes away from the page, forcing herself to stop reading. She has a feeling that the rest of the writing is also about Anne. Sasha yawns once more and sits up, stretching. Marcy jolts suddenly, quickly closing her journal and placing it next to her.  

"A-ah! You're still awake" she squeaks.  

Sasha can't help but chuckle.  

"Did I startle you?" she asks.  

Marcy nods sheepishly, one hand still placed on the journal.   

"Sorry" whispers Sasha.  

She crawls over to where Anne is lying and flops down on her right. Propping her head up with her hand, she looks at Marcy over Anne.   

"Let's get some sleep" she whispers.  

Marcy quickly stuffs the journal into her bag and crawls over, lying down on Anne's left. Anne instantly rolls over and wraps her arms around Marcy, snuggling into her. Sasha chuckles again, noticing the dark blush on Marcy's cheeks. Sasha turns off the lights and then lies back down, wrapping her arms around Anne's torso, hugging her from behind. She feels Anne's tail wrap itself around one of her legs.  

They don't make it to Wartwood, taking a turn somewhere along the way. Anne slows down when they get further away from Wartwood. Sasha glances around. She had been through this part of the forest before, several times. She wonders what Anne is so excited to show them. She looks around when Anne suddenly stops, tugging her back.  

"Shit" grumbles Anne under her breath. 

"What is it?" asks Sasha. 

"I don't think the wheelchair can get through here..." trails off Anne. 

Sasha glances back forward and winces. There is a stream in front of them that can be crossed by jumping across the stones poking out of the water. Sasha looks farther. It doesn't get better. There are tree roots poking out and boulders in the way.  

"Oh... I... I can stay here; you guys go ahead" Marcy gives them a pained smile. 

Sasha can see the sadness and disappointment in her eyes. 

"No!" exclaims Anne. 

She kneels down and grabs Marcy's hands, making her blush. 

"Either we're all going, or none of us are going" she says seriously. 

Marcy opens her mouth to argue, but Sasha beats her to it. 

"I can carry you" she suggests. 

The other two look up at her. Marcy looks unsure and worried, like she's unsure if she should just stay quiet or argue. Meanwhile Anne's eyes are shining with excitement and she's bouncing up and down a little. 

"You're a genius!" she jumps up and tackles Sasha into a hug. 

Sasha feels her heart skip a beat as she stumbles backward a little from the impact and wraps her arms around Anne. Before she can say or do anything, Anne is already pulling away, eagerly helping Marcy out of her wheelchair. 

"W-wait!" stutters Marcy. 

Sasha and Anne freeze and stare at Marcy. Marcy grips Anne's hands a little tighter and then looks up at Sasha. 

"Are you sure you can carry me? I can just go back home" she mumbles, not meeting Sasha's gaze. 

Sasha sighs, smiling softly. She steps toward her and kneels down. Anne moves away to give her more space. Sasha gently takes Marcy's hands, making her look into her eyes for a second before looking away. 

"I'm sure. One hundred percent. I can carry you there and back, you're like, really light. And I want to see that place together" Sasha says softly. 

Marcy pulls one hand away, hiding her face with it. She peeks out from between her fingers and then sighs. 

"Alright" she mumbles. 

She's smiling softly, which makes butterflies flutter in Sasha's stomach. She turns away so her back is facing Marcy and waits as Anne helps Marcy out of the wheelchair and onto Sasha's back. Sasha makes sure Marcy is holding on tightly before she easily stands up. Marcy is really light. 

"What about the wheelchair?" asks Marcy. 

"We'll leave it here and pick it up on the way back" answers Anne. 

She makes sure to lock the wheels, so the wheelchair doesn't roll off somewhere and then grabs Marcy's cane. 

"Alright, come on!" she steps into the stream, not really caring about getting her feet wet. 

Sasha makes sure her grip on Marcy is secure before she steps forward, onto the first stone. Anne is by her side, making sure that she doesn't slip. Sasha crosses the stream by stepping onto the stones with Marcy on her back, meanwhile Anne just wades through the ankle-deep water next to her. Once they cross the stream, they carefully climb over the boulders and step over the tree roots. Through the whole journey, Anne is on Sasha's left, making sure that she doesn't trip and fall, and if she does, she'll be there to catch her. 

"You guys are gonna love it!" she squeals, excitedly bouncing. 

Sasha laughs. Anne's excitement is contagious, and Sasha finds herself feeling excited as well. Marcy also seems excited, because she's no longer worried about Sasha carrying her and instead is reaching out and picking flowers from tree branches and making flower crowns. 

Sasha steps out onto the beach. It's just her, Anne, and Marcy today.   

"Race you to-" Sasha grabs Anne's hand before she can finish.  

"Nope, you're helping us set up first" says Sasha.  

Anne blushed in embarrassment.  

"R-right" she says sheepishly.  

They walk down the beach, towards a nice spot under a large palm tree. Sasha spreads out the picnic blanket and places their basket on it. Marcy sits down on the blanket, digging her talons into the sand. Sasha also sits down on the blanket.  

"Aren't you going swimming?" asks Anne.  

"A bit later" answers Sasha, "I'm gonna lie here for a little while"  

"Alright then" shrugs Anne.  

She runs towards the sea and jumps in, quickly disappearing underwater. Sasha lies down and stretches out. Even in the shade, she can feel the warmth of the sun. She looks towards her left, where Marcy is sitting, picking up sand and letting it pour through her fingers. They're sitting close enough to the sea that there are many seashells scattered in the sand, which Marcy picks up and places in her bucket. Sasha rolls over and props her head up with her left hand, smiling at Marcy.  

"Find any pretty ones?" she asks.  

Marcy perks up and turns towards Sasha, grabbing a seashell from her bucket.  

"Look at this one!" she hands it to Sasha, "doesn't it remind you of Anne's scales?"  

It does remind Sasha of Anne's scales. It's blue and shiny, sparkling in the sunlight just like Anne's scales. Sasha runs her thumb over the seashell, taking in the texture.  

"It does" she agrees.  

"And look at this one!" Marcy hands her another one.  

This one is also blue, but it's smaller and lighter. Sasha glances into the bucket that Marcy fills with seashells and starts noticing a pattern, they're all some shade of blue.  

"Are you making something?" she asks.  

She watches as Marcy blushes and looks away, nervously fidgeting with her rings.  

"Oh, um... I'm making something for Anne" she mumbles.  

Sasha smirks.  

"Ooh, do tell" she teases.  

Marcy's face turns even redder. Sasha feels a pang in her chest. Oh how she wishes that Marcy would blush because of her, but she's blushing in embarrassment, or possibly because of Anne.   

"I'm going to make her a bracelet, and maybe some rings, I'm not sure yet" says Marcy.  

"I'm sure it'll turn out great" smiles Sasha.  

"I really hope so. I want it to look beautiful, perfect... like her" the last part is mumbled under her breath and Sasha is sure she wasn't supposed to hear that.  

Marcy isn't looking at her. She's looking at the ocean, or more precisely, at Anne. Sasha also looks at the ocean, smiling when she sees Anne shoot out of the water and dive back in. She glances at Marcy, who looks lovestruck, smiling dreamily at Anne. There it is again, that pang in her chest. She looks away, not wanting to see the way Marcy looks at Anne. She tries to stomp out her feelings, tries to focus on the seashells, tries to trace the pattern on the blanket, but her mind just keeps going back to the lovestruck way that Marcy was looking at Anne. She's not jealous, just... sad. Sad that Marcy won't ever look at her that way. Sad that Anne won't ever become a flustered mess because of her. Sad because once they finally get together, she'll be the third wheel.  

"She'll love it" says Sasha.  

After about ten minutes of walking, they make it to a large oak tree. Anne stops in front of it for a second and then kneels down. Sasha notices a hole in the bottom, just large enough to crawl through. Anne glances back at them and grins, before ducking and crawling inside.  

"Woah!" exclaims Marcy. 

She's bouncing from excitement, causing Sasha to almost drop her. Sasha walks up to the tree and kneels down to find Anne sitting inside. She helps Marcy get off Sasha's back and crawl into the tree. Sasha joins them as well. It's a large tree, and its hollow inside, so there is enough space for all of them, and yet Marcy sits on Anne's lap.  

"This is so cool; how did you find this place?" asks Marcy. 

"I was exploring one day, and I tripped and fell-" Sasha snorts and Anne glares at her playfully, " anyway , as I was saying, I tripped and noticed this hole, so I peeked inside because I was curious!" 

They chat for a little while, sitting inside the tree. Sasha can totally imagine having a picnic here.  

"What do you have there?" asks Anne. 

Sasha looks up and sees that Marcy was still holding the flower crowns that she made in her hands. Anne must have only just noticed them. 

"Hm? Oh! I made these for us" blushes Marcy. 

She places one on Anne's head, then one on her own head and then lifts one towards Sasha. Sasha reaches out to grab it. 

"Nuh uh, I have to place it on top of your head" Marcy pulls it out of reach. 

Sasha chuckles and scooches closer and lower her head so Marcy can place it on top of her head. When she feels the crown settle on her head, she straightens and leans against the inside of the tree. 

"When did you even make these?" asks Anne. 

Marcy goes on a ramble about picking flowers from tree branches while on Sasha's back and how surprised she is that Anne hadn't noticed her making the crowns. Sasha glances at Anne and sees how smitten she is. She feels her chest close up and looks away. Once again, she feels like a third wheel. 

"I guess I better get used to this feeling"  she thinks bitterly. 

Chapter Text

Sashanne. That's the ship name Marcy had landed on. She had noticed Anne and Sasha making love eyes at each other and had been trying to make their ship name all day long. She had a full page in her journal filled with possible ship names. She had first come up with 'Sane' then 'Ansha' then she tried to combine their last names but failed to do so. After half a day of breaking her mind on possible ship names, she had finally landed on Sashanne. She was actually quite proud of that one.  

Marcy glanced up from her book to find Sasha sitting next to her with Anne's head on her lap. Anne is already asleep, while Sasha is gently stroking her hair. Marcy finds herself unable to tear her gaze away. Anne looks so peaceful, so relaxed. Guilt bubbles up inside Marcy. Anne used to look this relaxed all the time, now... she's only this relaxed when she's asleep, and even then, not all the time.  

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" mumbles Sasha. 

Marcy inhales sharply and looks up. Panic and fear run through her at the fact that she's been caught staring, but it dies down a little at Sasha's sleepy expression. She's also staring at Anne. Her eyes and smile are so soft. It takes Marcy another second to process Sasha's words. She blushes and clears her throat. 

"I- y-yeah" she stutters. 

She isn't sure what prompted the confession. Maybe it was sleep fogging her brain, or the fact that Sasha looked too sleepy to remember this conversation. 

"I like it when her scales reflect the light" whispers Sasha. 

Marcy wouldn't have heard her say that if it wasn't for the silence of the night. Marcy nods in agreement and then watches Sasha's face. It's as if she's talking to herself, like it's only her and Anne in this room. Marcy forces her gaze away. She feels like she's intruding on their moment. Sasha would probably prefer to be alone with Anne at the moment. Worry clings to Marcy. What if all this time, they had wanted to be alone, but were too nice to tell Marcy to leave. She gnaws on her bottom lip and tries her best to stomp those worries. It can't be true, they had told her countless times that she was welcome, that they wanted her to stay. But old habits die hard and soon Marcy finds herself spiraling. As her thoughts keep getting louder and louder, she suddenly feels something lean into her and something fall on her head. Marcy tenses up and then looks up slowly. Sasha had leaned into her, resting her head on her head. 

"Sashy?" she whispers. 

Sasha doesn't answer. Her breathing is slow, and she isn't stroking Anne's hair anymore. Marcy relaxes slowly, smiling softly. Sasha must have fallen asleep. She glances down at Anne, who is snoring quietly. She turns back to her book. 

The day after Anne came out to them as trans, they met up again. Sasha and Marcy were walking over to the meeting spot. As they rounded the corner, they saw Anne already waiting for them. Marcy inhales sharply at the sight. Anne was wearing a dark blue dress on straps with large pale-yellow stars. Under the dress she was wearing a frilly, white blouse. Marcy's cheeks heated up and her heart fluttered. Anne hadn't noticed them yet, so she allowed herself to admire her looks for a few more seconds before tearing her gaze away to glance up at Sasha. Sasha was also blushing, eyes glued to Anne. 

"She's beautiful" she whispered. 

Marcy hummed in agreement. Sasha flushed even darker, choking on air and taking a second to regain herself. Marcy winced. She wasn't supposed to hear that, was she? Before either of them could say anything else, Anne saw them and waved timidly. They hurried over, not wanting to keep her waiting.  

"H-hi" nervously smiled Anne. 

She kept bunching up the fabric at the bottom of her dress in a nervous manner. 

"Hi" breathed out Sasha, still staring and blushing. 

"W-what do you guys think?" she asked, letting go of the dress. 

"You look beautiful" blurted out Marcy. 

She cringed instantly. 

"Really?" Anne looked down, shuffling from foot to foot. 

"Marbles' right, you look cute," said Sasha. 

Anne blushed, and so did Sasha. Marcy relaxed a little. The attention wasn't on her now. She watched as Anne scratched the back of her neck, nervously smiling and blushing. Sasha was also blushing and smiling softly at Anne. Guilt washed over Marcy suddenly, pulling her under. She felt herself sink further into the guilt, unable to swim upwards.  

"Thank you" mumbled Anne. 

They continued to talk, but Marcy couldn't focus on their conversation. She felt like she was third wheeling. They would probably prefer that she wasn't here with them. She was ruining their day. They could be on a date right now if she wasn't here. The guilt latched on to her, clinging on for the rest of the day and late into the night. 

Sasha squatted so that Marcy and Anne could reach her hair. Marcy touched it first, marveling at the softness. She wasn't sure when or why Sasha got a haircut; Sasha was being all weird and vague about it. Marcy didn't push, sensing that Sasha wasn't comfortable with sharing that information yet. Anne also touched Sasha's hair. Marcy noticed the shiver that ran down Sasha's spine. She grins at that. They both pull away after a few seconds, allowing Sasha to stand up. She's blushing and trying to fix her hair, which is messy because of Anne and Marcy. 

"I'm guessing you guys like it" she snickers. 

"Yes!" exclaimed Anne. 

She bounces up and down, excitement radiating from her. 

"It's so soft and it looks so good on you!" she compliments Sasha. 

Sasha blushes a shade darker, trying to hide her face with her hands. 

"O-oh! T-thank you!" she stutters. 

"You look so beautiful"  

"You look amazing!" 

Sasha blushes more at their compliments. Marcy smiles and takes a second to take in Sasha's new look. She blushes. Sasha really does look very beautiful. The short haircut suits her. Not only that, but she also looks a lot more comfortable with the new haircut. Marcy glances over at Anne to find her staring at Sasha too. There's a light blush dusting her cheeks and she has a goofy smile on her face. Marcy glances at Sasha, who's still blushing at the compliments. Marcy's heart clenches at the lovey dovey eyes they make at each other when they think the other isn't looking. She forces her gaze away. Her smile falters a little. She knows she should just be happy for them, but it's hard to be happy for them when she likes them. It's useless to try to bury these feelings, they just keep coming back. 

"Come on, don't be ungrateful" tells herself Marcy. 

She already has everything she will ever need. She doesn't want to ruin their relationship with her feelings. She'll just have to bottle them up and watch as the two of them finally confess and start dating. 

Marcy enters the coffee shop. She finds that she has come first, like usual. She hated coming late, her anxiety wouldn't let her, which is why she always came early. She chooses a booth all the way in the back, away from prying eyes. She sits on the couch facing away from the people in the coffee shop. This way she's less likely to catch someone's gaze while mindlessly staring into space. And also, Sasha likes to sit on the opposite couch so she can see everyone who walks in and out of the coffee shop. As Marcy waits for the other two, she takes out her sketchbook from her brown messenger bag with way too many pins. She doodles for a few minutes, then starts sketching Sasha and Anne. She draws little hearts around them. 

"What are you drawing?" 

Marcy almost jumps out of her skin, quickly looking up at the person speaking and shutting her sketchbook at the same time. It's Anne and Sasha. Of course it's Anne and Sasha. 

"N-nothing!" she stutters. 

She can only pray that they either didn't see her sketch or didn't recognize that it was them. 

"Jesus Anne, don't scare her like that, she could have had a heart attack" laughs Sasha. 

She nudges Anne and slides into the couch opposite Marcy. 

"E-exactly!" agrees Marcy. 

She scooches over so that Anne has space to sit. Anne sits down next to her and chuckles. 

"Sorry" she smiles apologetically. 

Marcy mumbles a quick 'it's ok' and looks away. She can't get rid of the blush on her cheeks. She's incredibly lucky that the two didn't seem to see her drawing. Maybe someday she could show them these drawings, when they- Marcy cuts off that thought before it gets too far. It's never going to happen. They'll never start dating her. Never. She should stop fantasizing. This wasn't some book or fanfic. This was real life. She looks up now that her face has cooled down and regrets it instantly. Sasha is talking about this camping trip that Grime is taking her on. Meanwhile, Anne has her elbows on the table, propping up her head as she stares with that lovesick gaze and lovesick smile and nods along every now and again. 

"I think he's been trying to do all these father-daughter activities since I got my haircut" chuckles Sasha. 

Anne laughs at that. She's blushing lightly. Marcy also chuckles, but her mind isn't really on the conversation.  

"Like, last week, he wanted to-" 

"Drinks for... Sasha?" calls out the barista. 

Sasha cuts off and springs up. 

"One sec" she says. 

She walks over to the counter, collecting three drinks. Marcy smiles softly at that. She hadn't ordered a drink for herself. But it seems like Sasha had ordered one for her. The gesture makes Marcy's heart ache. 

"I think your sketch of Sasha is really good" suddenly says Anne. 

Marcy's expression morphs into one of pure horror. 

"W-what?" she squeaks. 

"Don't worry, I didn't see anything else" chuckles Anne. 

Marcy breathes out slowly. Trying to calm herself. It was fine. She just saw a sketch of Sasha. Thank Frog she didn't see the sketch of herself. 

"I think you drew her perfectly. She had the same beauty as she does in real life," continued Anne. 

Marcy blushes. 

"O-oh, um... thank you" she mumbles, unsure of what to answer. 

Anne is still lovingly staring at Sasha as she makes her way back to the table. Marcy's smile falters a little. She spends the rest of their hangout trying to avoid seeing the gazes that the other two throw at each other. 

Sasha was talking about her new partner. Marcy nodded along, trying to listen, but it was painful. The more she listened, the more she noticed how similar Sasha's partner was to Anne. Sasha had compared their scales to Anne's, had compared their eyes to Anne's, had compared their messy hair to Anne's. She had even compared their personality to Anne's. Marcy noticed a pattern. 

"Sounds a lot like Anne" she interrupts. 

Sasha freezes, her eyes widening. 

"N-no they don't, w-what are you talking about?" Sasha looks anywhere but at her. 

Marcy is caught off guard at the sudden defensiveness. She raises her hands to appear harmless. 

"Woah, woah! Chill! I didn't mean anything by that" she said. 

"R-right" nodded Sasha. 

There was a moment of silence. Sasha scratched the back of her neck, running her hand through her hair nervously. Marcy rocked back and forth, hating the awkward silence. She hadn't meant to make Sasha feel attacked, she had just pointed out something she thought was obvious. Slowly, the realization came to her. Sasha knew that her new partner had a resemblance to Anne, both physically and personality vise. Marcy's eyes widened as things started click into place. Sasha was dating people like Anne because she couldn't get over her.  

Marcy and Anne were standing on the sidelines. Well Anne was standing; Marcy was sitting in her wheelchair. They were watching Sasha spar with a Dwarf. His name was Milo if Marcy wasn't mistaken. She watched Milo launch at Sasha. Sasha dodged and tried to trip him, but he jumped over her foot and landed a punch to her chest, sending her stumbling back. Milo rushed her again, jumping and raising his wooden weapon to attack. Sasha, still unbalanced from the punch to her chest, leans backward into a bridge and then flips onto her arms, kicking Milo in the chest in the process. He lands hard, while Sasha flips back onto her legs and grabs him into a chokehold. There are a few seconds of struggling before Milo taps her arm twice and she releases him. They're both out of breath, sweaty, and tired. Braddock hands both of them water bottles, which they happily take. 

"Why must she look so hot while sparring?!" silently shouts Marcy. 

She feels hot. She looks away, trying to fight off the blush on her cheeks. When she looks up at Anne, she finds her just as flustered. Not only that, but she also looks confused and frightened. Marcy watches as Anne grabs her cheeks, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She looks up from the ground, sees Sasha, blushes, and looks back at the ground. She hides her face with her hands, grumbling about feelings into them. 

"Does she... not know she has a crush on Sasha?" wonders Marcy. 

That would explain the confusion on her face. Marcy doesn't get to ponder on that any longer, because Sasha approaches them and Anne looks up from her hands, looking both in love and frightened at the same time. 

"Hi!" says Marcy. 

She hopes that she can buy Anne some time to collect herself. 

"Hey, did you wait for long?" asks Sasha. 

The smile she gives Marcy makes butterflies flutter in her stomach. 

"No, no, we just got here" lies Marcy. 

They had been there for about 15 minutes. But Marcy was sure that neither of them minded waiting. 

"You were awesome out there" Marcy nods at the sparring grounds. 

Sasha looks over her shoulder and ducks her head sheepishly. 

"Oh that, it wasn't- it- that was-" Sasha stumbles over her words before pausing and taking a breath, "thank you" 

Marcy smiles at her and the smile she receives makes her want to melt right there and then. While she takes a second to compose herself, Sasha turns to Anne and tilts her head, confusion clear on her face. 

"Boonchuy? You alright?" she asks. 

Anne straightens, inhaling sharply. Marcy can see that she's still blushing. 

"Huh? Oh! Y-yeah, of course, w-why wouldn't I be?" nervously laughs Anne. 

"Right..." Sasha squints at her but lets it go, "What did you guys want?" 

"We just wanted to know if you want to go to town with us," said Marcy. 

"Sure, let me just take a quick shower" grins Sasha, "I'll meet you there" 

"Ok!" Marcy waves as Sasha jogs back towards the tower. 

She turns around to Anne. Who is staring at Sasha jogging away. Confusion is still all over her face. Marcy gently tugs at her sleeve, making her look at her. 

"You alright?" she asks. 

Anne's sky-blue eyes stare into Marcy's emerald, green ones. Marcy can see the uncertainty, the storm of emotions hidden behind those pretty blue eyes. She pushes the thoughts about how pretty Anne is to the back of her mind and focuses on helping Anne. 

"I... yeah" Anne gives her a reassuring smile. 

It scares Marcy, how real that smile looks. If she hadn't seen the fear and confusion on her face a second earlier, she would have believed her. Thought appears in her mind. How many of these fake smiles had she already missed? She pushes that thought to the back of her mind as well. She can worry about that later. 

"You sure? You look..." Marcy was struggling to word it in a way that won't make Anne defensive, "confused? Unsure?" 

Anne's smile faltered. Her eyes darted between Marcy and the tower. 

"I... I think I..." Anne struggled with the words for a few more seconds. 

Marcy gently took her hand in her own and squeezed reassuringly. It felt bad to see them like each other but not her, but no matter how heartbroken that made her, she still wanted them to be happy. If making them happy required the sacrifice of her happiness, then... she was willing to sacrifice it.  

"It's alright, I won't judge" promises Marcy. 

Anne's smile finally disappears. She looks into Marcy's eyes for a moment, before dropping her gaze to the ground again. She looks conflicted. 

"I don't think I'm ready yet" she whispers. 

"That's alright, take your time, I'll be there when you need me" smiles Marcy. 

Anne gives her a small smile in return. There is still a storm of emotion hidden behind those beautiful blue eyes, but at least she doesn't look as scared anymore.  

"Come on, let's get some ice cream" suggests Marcy. 

Anne's face lights up a little. They start walking towards the town. As they walk, Marcy can't help but think about the day Anne will be ready to talk about her feelings for Sasha. Just the idea of that conversation makes Marcy's heart ache. She wants them to be happy, even if it means not being with them, but it still hurts. She'll just have to learn to live with these feelings. 

Chapter Text

Sacharcy. First try! Anne grinned, satisfied with the ship name. She watched the two oblivious fools somehow miss each other's blushes and stares. Part of her wanted to just tell them to kiss, the other wanted them to figure it out on their own. She knew you couldn't rush something as delicate as this. Plus, it would be so satisfying when they finally got together on their own.    

Anne found herself drifting off to sleep again. She struggled to keep her eyes open, wanting to stay awake a little longer. She couldn't figure out why she always fell asleep first yet couldn't wake up first. The mattress on the floor had never seemed comfier. Her hand was tired of holding her head, she just wanted to lay down without falling asleep instantly.   

"Annie, you can hardly keep your eyes open" giggles Marcy.   

Anne opens her eyes and stares up at her.    

"Sorry" she mumbles.   

She sits up, rubbing her eyes, trying and failing to wake up.   

"Go to sleep, Boonchuy" smiles Sasha.   

Anne, too tired to protest, flops back down on the mattress, letting her body sink into it. She's comfortable, but not quite asleep yet. She's not sure how long she lies there, somewhere between asleep and awake, but it must be a while, because when she opens one eye, she finds that Sasha is sitting next to Marcy, listening to her read and dozing off. Anne's eyelids are heavy, closing on their own, but she forces them to open each time. She isn't sleeping anyway; she might as well watch while she can. She can't hear Marcy reading, but she can see her mouth moving.    

"She's pretty"  thinks Anne's sleep deprived brain.   

She's not sure if the 'she' is Marcy or Sasha, because they're both really pretty. Marcy with her mop of messy black hair and emerald green eyes and dimples, or Sasha with her soft, short blond hair and soft pink eyes and freckles. Frog, she loves those freckles. Is that a weird thought to have? Is thinking that your best friends are pretty weird? Surely it isn't. A lot of people think that their best friends are pretty. A lot of people get lost in their best friends' eyes. A lot of people-   

"Could you reread that part?" asks Sasha.   

Her voice is quiet and tired. She's clearly falling asleep.   

"Oh sure!" says Marcy, going back a couple sentences.   

Anne watches the way Sasha listens more closely. It's clear that she's fighting sleep so she can stay awake a little longer and listen to Marcy read. Anne smiles at that. It's just so cute! The way Sasha listens and asks questions. The way she shows  and  tells Marcy that she's listening, and she's interested. Anne can't wait until they become a couple. She just might die from this amount of adorableness. Her romance loving heart can't take this!   

Anne strolls through town, happily humming a song as she makes her way to the little coffee shop around the corner. She can't wait to try all the seasonal drinks. As she turns the corner, she finds that Marcy and Sasha are standing outside the coffee shop. From where she's standing, she can see that Marcy is blushing, looking anywhere but at Sasha. Anne pauses, taking a few steps back so she's more out of view. She wants to watch what they'll do. She can't hear their conversation from where she's standing, but she can see the lovesick eyes Marcy gives Sasha. Her spying is caught off when they enter the coffee shop. After a few seconds, Anne sighs and follows them inside. Sasha glances at her as soon as she enters, smiling brightly at her. Anne isn't sure why her stomach feels like that.   

"Hey, Boonchuy" Sasha greets her.   

Marcy raises her head and also smiles at Anne. Her stomach feels even weirder.   

"Anna-banana! You're finally here!" She pulls Anne closer.   

They choose their drinks, order, and then go back outside with their drinks. It's a bright, sunny day, so they decide to have their drinks outside. As they walk through town, looking at all the window displaces of shops. Anne notices that Marcy is actually looking more at Sasha than at the displaces. Anne smirks at the lovesick eyes and smile Marcy gives Sasha. Now if only Sasha could have seen them.   

"Maybe someday" she mutters under her breath.   

Anne tries to set them up on a date. Multiple times. But each time they invite her along. Sometimes Anne just wants to slap some sense into both of them. This is her third time trying to set them up on a date this week, and it's only Tuesday!   

"I heard this new diner is pretty good" she says.  

"Oh! I've heard they make really good pancakes!" excitedly bounces Marcy.  

"I think you guys should try it out" she says.  

At this point, this isn't even a hint, more of a suggestion, but she's tired of these oblivious fools missing all her hints.  

"Yeah! We can go all together tomorrow!" grins Marcy.  

For some reason Anne's heart both falls and flutters. She understands the fall, afterall, she's disappointed that Marcy still  somehow managed to add her into the outing, when it was supposed to be just her and Sasha. What she doesn't understand is why her heart fluttered. Does she want to go with them? Well yes, of course she does, they're her best friends, but she's trying to set them up on date.  

"I don't think I can, I got a fishing trip with Dad tomorrow" Sasha gives them an apologetic look.  

Marcy deflates at that, but tries to hide her disappointment behind a smile, which Anne easily sees through.  

"How about Friday instead?" suggests Sasha.  

"Sure! I'm free on Friday!" perks up Marcy.  

Anne gets an idea.  

"Ah, sorry, I'm busy Friday" lies Anne, "but you can go without me! I'll just go with you next time"  

Now both Marcy and Sasha look disappointed, which really surprises and confuses Anne. Don't they want to spend time alone? Without having Anne third wheeling?   

"But it won't be fun without you" whines Marcy.  

Anne feels her face heat up and her heart rate speeds up. She's confused at these sudden feelings but shoves them into the back of her mind for later.  

"I- well-" tries to argue Anne, but the look on Sasha's and Marcy's faces makes her stop, "alright" she gives in.  

"Yay!" exclaims Marcy.  

...  

Anne orders scrambled eggs with sausages and tea, Sasha orders a milkshake and a brownie, Marcy orders pancakes and some coffee. Anne stuffs some scrambled eggs into her mouth. She's still a little sour that she failed to set her two best friends on a date, again,  but she's also really happy to get to spend time with them. She looks up from her plate and finds Sasha blushing and smiling softly, eyes glued to Marcy. Anne glances to her left and can't help but smile as well. Marcy is drawing a smiley face on her pancakes using maple syrup and the berries that came along with the pancakes. She's really focused, her tongue sticking out a little and her brows furrowed in concentration.   

"Look! It's you!" Marcy turns the plate around so Sasha can see.  

Sasha snaps out of her trance and looks at the plate. Anne is surprised at how recognizable the drawing is, considering Marcy used maple syrup and berries and drew on pancakes. She can easily tell that it's Sasha by the toothy grin, Wolf ears, and hair.  

"Woah! Damn Marcy! This is really good!" exclaims Sasha.  

Anne agrees with her. She glances at Marcy and finds her blushing and trying to hide it with her hands.  

"O-oh! Th-thanks!" stutters Marcy.  

Sasha doesn't seem to notice how flustered Marcy is, continuing to compliment the creation. Anne rolls her eyes affectionately at them. They're both so cute. For some reason, her heart aches. Her smile falters at the sudden sadness. She's confused at the sadness. She's supposed to be happy for them, right? There isn't anything sad happening, this is what she wanted, right?  

Anne sits on the floor in Marcy's room in the Resistance base. Marcy is sitting next to her, head on her shoulder. Sasha is sitting on the other side, unable to lean on anything comfortably because of her back. Sasha carefully scooches towards them and gently takes Marcy's face into her hands. Marcy jolts back into reality, face instantly growing red. Her eyes are wide open, staring at Sasha as she leans in. Anne's eyes also open wide. She watches as Marcy slowing leans in, mouth opening just a little.  

"Are they going to kiss?"  she wonders.  

She panics for a second, not sure what to do. Wouldn't it be awkward with her in the room? Should she come up with an excuse to leave? Or should she just leave? Should she look away? Should she-  

"Sorry" whispers Sasha.  

All the panic about them kissing is gone in an instance when Anne hears Sasha apologize. She looks at her in confusion and finally notices her expression. She looks guilty and sad.  

"W-what?" stutters Marcy.  

Her face is still bright red and Anne can also see disappointment in her eyes. She cringes slightly. Marcy must have thought that Sasha was going to kiss her.  

"I didn't mean to hurt you" mumbles Sasha.  

Anne can see tears pool in her eyes. She gently runs her thumb over the scar on Marcy's cheek. The dots start to connect in Anne's mind. That scar on Marcy's cheek was Sasha's work, and she must be feeling guilty over hurting Marcy.  

"O-oh, it's alright, I know you didn't mean to" shrugs Marcy.  

Anne can still see the disappointment in her eyes. Part of her wants Sasha to just kiss Marcy already. Or even better! Kiss the scar to make it 'all better'! That would be so romantic!  

"Yeah, but still, sorry" mumbles Sasha.  

"I forgive you" says Marcy.  

Sasha smiles softly. Marcy blushes more. They both just stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Anne is once again panicking about ruining the moment. She sees the way Marcy leans in just a little. Suddenly Sasha's face becomes bright red, and she lets go of Marcy's face, leaning back and coughing awkwardly. Marcy looks away, blinking away tears. Anne wants to facepalm but forces herself to just pat Marcy's shoulder in a comforting manner.  

Anne helps Marcy out of her wheelchair and onto the grass. Sasha is already lying down on the grass. Marcy lies down next to her, and Anne lies down on her other side. They stare up at the night sky, littered with countless stars. Anne loves staring up at the night sky. It's beautiful, and she loves it when Sasha and Marcy point out different star constellations.  

"Look! Insula cancer!" Marcy points at the sky.  

Anne follows her finger, squinting at the sky.  

"Where?" she asks.  

Unlike her friends, she doesn't really know how different constellations look like, much less how to find them.  

"See those two bright stars?" asks Marcy.  

Anne nods.  

"Look a little below them and you can see the body"  

"Oh yeah! I see it!" grins Anne.  

"Did you know that the Insula cancer is actually-"  

Anne listens to Marcy ramble about the history of the constellation, getting sidetracked along the way to just the history of constellations in general. Anne rolls over on her side and props her head up with her arm, smiling at Marcy. In doing so, she can see Sasha. Her eyes fall on the Wolf and she notices that Sasha isn't looking at the stars, or even at the sky. She's looking right at Marcy, smiling softly and making love eyes at her. In the darkness, Anne can just make out her blush. Something about the way Sasha looks in the gentle moonlight and how relaxed she looks makes Anne flustered. She drops her head back on the grass and blushes, suddenly overwhelmed with all these new emotions. She's been shoving these emotions into the back of her mind for a while now. Maybe over a year. She kept telling herself that she'll deal with them later, but she never gets the chance. Now, the emotions spill out.  

"Why must feelings be so confusion"  she wants to whine.   

It isn't only Sasha that makes her feel like this, but also Marcy. Especially when she rambles about something she likes, looking cute and having that sparkle in her eyes. She glances over at Marcy, who's still rambling, making large gestures with her arms. In doing so she accidentally hits Sasha, making her chuckle affectionately. Marcy blushes and apologizes before giggling. Sasha also dissolves into laughter, and Anne can't help but join in. They both look so cute at the moment. The foreign feelings resurface to the front of Anne's mind. She rolls onto her back and stares at the sky, trying to figure out what the hell these emotions are. She knows that it's Sasha and Marcy causing them but isn't sure why.   

"What can cause an increase in heart rate, feeling hot, feeling flustered, blushing, having thoughts of kissing your best- wait, kissing?"  Anne's mind comes to the screeching halt.  

The pieces start falling into place. Her eyes open wide as the dots finally connect. She has a crush on Sasha and Marcy. She has a crush on her two best friends. She has a crush on her two best friends who are in love with each other. Oh Frog. She's doomed. Anne wants to cry and celebrate at the same time. On one hand, she has a crush, no, she has two crushes! She's never had a crush before! It was exhilarating, it was awesome! She finally found out that yes, she could have crushes, something she's been worried about for a while. But at the same time, she had a crush. A crush on her two best friends. Who had crushes on each other. This was horrible! How is she supposed to get them together when her own feelings get in the way?   

"They like each other, not me...."  her heart sinks.  

They like each other, not her. They like  each other , not  her. Tears threaten to spill from her eyes. She blinks them away. Of course she had to have a crush on the two people who she knew for sure didn't like her back and instead liked someone else. A lump forms in her throat and her nose burns. She blinks furiously. It's all too much, the realization of her feelings, the realization that they will never be returned. Tears rolled down the side of her head. She lets them fall, hoping that Marcy and Sasha won't notice because of the dark. Unfortunately, while she might have been able to hide the tears in the dark, she couldn't hide the sniffle. Suddenly both Marcy and Sasha were on alert, sitting up and looking at her worriedly.  

"Boonchuy? Are you crying?" asks Sasha.  

She scooches over, gently swiping a tear with her thumb.  

"What's wrong?" asks Marcy.  

She gently grabs the hand closer to her, which just so happens to be Anne's prosthetic. Marcy notices this and instead rests her hand on Anne's shoulder.  

"It's nothing, don't worry," Anne says.  

Her voice is watery and not at all persuasive. In fact, Sasha and Marcy just look more worried.  

"Was it something I said?" Marcy nervously tugs at her hair.  

Anne shakes her head. She hates making Marcy think it's her fault.  

"Was it something we did?" presses Sasha.  

They were both so worried, so scared of doing the wrong thing. It makes Anne cry harder, sobs escaping her lips and making her body shake. Anne raises her left hand and covers her face with it, embarrassed. She shouldn't be crying over something so stupid. Except it's not stupid. She wants them to be together and happy, but she also wants to be with them. But that'll ruin everything they have.   

"Hey, hey, it's going to be alright, we're here for you" whispers Sasha.  

"Sashy's right, we're here for you, no matter what" agrees Marcy.   

They both pull Anne into a sitting position and pull her into a hug. Anne finds herself in between them, with both of them holding her tightly.  

"Th-thanks" she mumbles.  

She can feel Sasha gently rubbing circles on her back while Marcy plays with loose strands of her hair. Maybe she'll be able to control these feelings. Maybe she can just be happy watching from the sidelines while their relationship blossoms. Maybe she can be content. Maybe she'll find someone else. Something in the back of her mind whispers that it won't happen, but she chooses to ignore that.  

It's hard to watch them being all cute now that she's aware of her feelings. After much thought, she decided that she had these feelings around the time the war started, and they had only grown over the years. She watches as Sasha shows Marcy how to play one of her guitars. She places her fingers on the strings and tells her to strum the strings with her other hand. Anne is sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed the other two are sitting on.  

"Here, let me help you" says Sasha.  

She positions herself right behind Marcy, with her legs on either side of Marcy's and her hands on Marcy's hands. Anne smiles softly at the blush on Marcy's cheeks.  

"A-ah! O-ok" stutters Marcy.  

With Sasha's guiding hands, Marcy plays a couple notes. She turns her head to look at Sasha, excitement radiation off of her. Sasha praises her, which makes Marcy blush harder but also puff out her chest. Sasha chuckles at that, but she's also blushing. Her blush darkens when Marcy leans back into her. Anne watches as Sasha gently rests her head on Marcy's shoulder. Anne looks away from them and back at the book in her hands. She isn't really reading it, it's just an excuse to hide her face whenever their cuteness makes her blush, which is pretty much all the time, but neither of them seem to notice.  

"Good, good" praises Sasha, showing Marcy a couple more notes.  

"I think my fingers are too short for this" chuckles Marcy.  

Anne looked up to see that Marcy had turned around so she could look at Sasha and they were now staring into each other's eyes. Anne's heart aches with longing.  

"W-would you like to try the, uh... drums? Maybe?" suggests Sasha.  

She breaks eye contact with Marcy and slowly gets up. Anne figures out that she's flustered from their staring match.   

"You have a drum kit?" asks Marcy.  

"No, but Mike has one in his garage, and I'm sure he won't mind you trying" answers Sasha, "you can come with us next jam session"  

"Sure!" agrees Marcy.  

There is a moment of silence while Sasha places her guitar back in its case. Marcy is staring at her with pure love in her eyes. Anne tears her gaze away and back at Sasha, who turns back around and catches Marcy staring. They both blush and look away. Marcy hides her face with her hands, while Sasha pretends that there is something else she has to do with her guitar. Anne feels her nose burning once again. She tries to stomp out the tears before they can spill.   

"D-do you guys want to uh... get something to eat?" asks Sasha.  

"Sure, how about that diner we tried a couple months ago?" suggests Anne.  

They both agree. The trio leaves Sasha's room and go down the stairs, waving goodbye to the Dwarfs on their way. As they walk to the diner, a cold breeze makes Marcy shiver. Anne notices this and is about to take off her sweater, but Sasha beats her to it, taking off her jacket and placing it on Marcy's shoulders. Marcy's face goes bright red in seconds.  

"A-ah! Are you sure? Won't you get cold?" asks Marcy.  

"It's fine, I'm not cold, you look like you need it more" shrugs Sasha.  

Marcy smiles sweetly at her, which makes Sasha blush. Marcy snuggles into the jacket, pulling it tighter around herself. It's way too large on her, hanging all the way to her knees, with the sleeves hiding her hands easily. Anne blushes and looks away. Marcy looks so cute in the jacket; it makes Anne's heart race and makes her want to kiss her. She glances at Sasha to see that she has the same reaction.   

"It's warm" mumbles Marcy, more to herself.  

"G-glad you like it" Sasha stumbles over her words, "you look good in it"  

Sasha's eyes widen as she adds that quick sentence and Anne figures that she hadn't meant to say that out loud. Marcy blushes and nervously tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear.  

"Th-thank you, you looked good in it too" she mumbles.  

Anne has to look away so she can calm her racing heart. Why must both of them be so adorable and pretty and sweet? She was going to get diabetes from watching them. She doesn't even have to look to know that both of them are blushing at the moment, probably looking away as they try and fail to hide their blushing. If only she could cause those blushes. If only they would look like that at her. If only she was able to show how much she likes them. If only- no. No, no, no. Anne shakes her head. She shouldn't be wishing for these things. She should be happy for the two of them. So what if she can't be with them, as long as they are happy, she can be happy too.  

Chapter Text

Sasha:  

"I think we need to talk"  

Sasha looks up from the sheet of paper she was writing lyrics and notes on. Milo looks serious. Sasha places her guitar down and turns around fully, giving Milo her full attention.  

"I think we should break up" Milo rushes it out in one breath.  

It takes Sasha a second to process what Milo just said.  

"W-what?" asks Sasha.  

She was confused. She thought they were doing great, the best relationship she had been in so far. Had she done something wrong? She can't think of anything that she had done to make Milo want to break up with her.  

"You like Anne and Marcy" states Milo.  

Sasha's eyes widen. They couldn't, they wouldn't  think that she was cheating, right? No, no this must be a misunderstanding. She can fix this.  

"What?! No! I like you; I would never cheat! They're just my friends! I'm sorry if I'm not spending enough time with you, I swear I wasn't-" she rushes to fix this misunderstanding.  

"No, no! I'm not accusing you of cheating!" Milo looks shocked at the thought.  

"But then why do you want to break up?" asks Sasha.  

It hurts. She doesn't think anyone had ever broken up with her. It has always been her who would end the relationship, on good terms or on bad terms, but it had always been her.   

"You like Anne and Marcy. And I'm not mad, I just want you to be happy" smiles Milo.  

"But I can't be with them"  

"But I like you too!" Sasha reaches out to take their hands into hers.  

"But it's not the same way, is it?" Milo just smiles softly.  

Sasha opens her mouth to protest, but the look Milo gives her makes her stop. She doesn't want to lie to them, and she can tell that nothing will change Milo's mind.   

"I'm sorry" is the only thing she can say.  

"Don't be" Milo gently caresses her face, "I think our relationship had always been more platonic than anything else"  

It's true. They rarely went on dates, preferring to hang out with the rest of their bandmates, Milo's friends, Sasha's friends, or any combination of the three groups. If they did go on dates, it would be more of them just hanging out as friends. They didn't kiss, they rarely held hands, and they didn't do all the usual romantic things couples do that Sasha oh so desperately wanted to do with Anne and Marcy.  

"I suppose you're right" agrees Sasha.  

"I'll be honest. I've stopped thinking of you as my girlfriend in my head for like... four, three months? I've been referring to you as my best friend in my head" confesses Milo.  

Sasha would be lying if she said she doesn't do the same thing. Calling Milo her partner had never felt exactly right but calling them her best friend did. She liked being friends with Milo. In fact, she preferred the idea of being friends with them much more than being romantic partners.  

"Honestly, same" she chuckles.  

"So, you agree that we should break up and just be besties?" asks Milo.  

"Of course," smiles Sasha.  

It still hurts a little, not because Milo just broke up with her, but because this is the first time someone has broken up with  her , not the other way around. But she's also happy that they both agreed to become best friends, she's much more comfortable with that.  

"Alright! Now that that's settled, let's discuss the plan for getting you together with Anne and Marcy!" Milo claps their hands together.  

Of course they would try to set them up with Anne and Marcy as soon as they broke up. Sasha wasn't sure what else she was expecting.  

"They like each other, I don't want to ruin our friendship" sighs Sasha.  

Milo stares at her for a second, then blinks twice.  

"Are you serious?" they ask.  

"Yeah?" answers Sasha.  

Milo just stares at her for a few more seconds before turning around and taking a deep breath, they turn back around and place their hands on either side of Sasha's head.  

"I'm going to give you a second to go find your last brain cell and figure out how to use it, then we can have this conversation" they say through gritted teeth.  

"Hey!" Sasha fakes being offended.  

"How are you this oblivious?" asks Milo, "How do you keep missing all the large, brightly colored,  shining  signs that are pointing at the fact that both of them like you too!"  

"What signs?" huffs Sasha in frustration, "Have you seen the way they look at each other? The way they blush and get all flustered? They don't do that around me"  

Milo buries their head in their hands and just groans in frustration. They stay like this for a couple more seconds before tiredly looking up at her.  

"This is gonna take a while" they groan.  

Anne:  

Anne trudges back home after a tiring game of tennis. She was tired and sweaty. The first thing she does is drop her bag on the floor and hang her jacket before flopping down on the couch in the Plantar's living room. She wants to disappear into the couch, melt into it, become one with it. It's not really the tennis session that caused the exhaustion. Don't get her wrong, she is physically exhausted, but she's always tired after tennis practice. Today, she was emotionally exhausted. Ever since she finally understood her strange feelings for Sasha and Marcy, she couldn't get them out of her head. Actually, scratch that. She couldn't stop noticing  how much they were on her mind. It was like there was a specific part of her mind that constantly thought of the two, she just never noticed before.  

"Anne? That you?" called out Sprig from his room upstairs.  

Anne lets out a tired groan, which is muffled by the couch her face is currently buried in. There is a moment of silence before she can hear footsteps coming down the stairs and into the living room.  

"You alright?" asks Sprig.  

Anne lets out another groan.  

"Long session?"  

This time Anne nods a little. Sprig walks away. She can hear something happening in the kitchen before Sprig returns and pokes her gently. Anne turns her head so she's looking at him and sees that he's holding a mug. After a second, Anne pushes herself up into a sitting position and gratefully takes the mug that Sprig hands her. It's orange juice.  

"Thanks" she mumbles before taking a long sip.  

"Did something happen? You're not usually this tired" says Sprig.  

Anne stays silent for a couple seconds, using the excuse that she's currently drinking the juice. She decides that Sprig is probably the best person she can tell her feelings to. He'll be honest, but gentle.  

"I like Sasha and Marcy" she confesses.  

There is a moment of silence. Anne glances at Sprig to see him looking at her confused.  

"Ok... anything I don't know of   that's bothering you?" he asks.  

Anne chokes on her drink and takes a couple seconds to cough, placing the mug on the couch so she doesn't spill it.  

"You knew!" she exclaims.  

"Was I not supposed to?"   

"Yes- no- I don't know!" Anne throws her hands up in frustration, "How did you find out?"  

"It... wasn't exactly a secret? Doesn't everybody know? You've been crushing on them for like two years at least" shrugs Sprig.  

Anne opens and closes her mouth, unable to say anything. Was she that obvious? Oh Frog, did Sasha and Marcy know? It must have been so awkward for them!  

"W-what gave it away?" she asks.  

"You mean other then the looks and smiles you give them? The way you blush around them? The way you just kinda melt when you see them? How you're always talking about how amazing and pretty they are?" deadpans Sprig.  

"I- I-" Anne tries to defend herself but finds nothing.  

She buries her head in her hands and groans.  

"I only figured it out like a couple months ago" she mumbles.  

Silence.  

"I'm not sure why I'm surprised" sighs Sprig.  

Anne looks up, offended but also agreeing with him.  

"It's my first crush! Can you blame me!" she grumbles.  

They sit for a few seconds in silence as Anne picks up her drink again and takes a couple sips. She should really take a shower after this conversation; she doesn't like how her clothes and hair stick to her.  

"So... when are you planning to confess?" asks Sprig.  

Anne flushes bright red as she stumbles over her words.  

"Are you gonna do like a big gesture? Privately or publicly? I think they'll appreciate it if you do it privately. Oh! I could help if you want-" starts rambling Sprig before she can say anything.  

"W-wait! Slow down! Who says I'm going to confess!" cries out Anne.  

Sprig looks at her and blinks several times.  

"Is that not why you told me you like them? To get my help for the confession?" he asks, genuinely confused.  

"No! Why would I confess that I like them!?"  

"...to start dating? How else are you supposed to do that?"  

"But they don't like me back!"  

Silence.  

"...what?"  

"They don't like me back, they like each other, I'm not gonna ruin our friendship because of these stupid feelings, I want them to be happy"  

"How are you this oblivious?"  

Marcy:  

Was Anne avoiding them? That could be the only explanation why she suddenly wanted them to hang out alone, without her. But why? Marcy was lying on the carpet in her room, fidgeting with the fidget cube Anne gave her on her birthday. Her mind was going a mile a minute.  

"Did I do something to make her stop wanting to hang out with us?" she asks out loud.  

Marcy finds that it's easier to organize her thoughts by saying them out loud. She does it a lot whenever her thoughts get too loud, but only in the privacy of her room. Other people would think it's weird if they saw her talking to herself.  

"I mean, why else would she suggest the me and Sasha hang out without her?"  

Marcy had noticed that Anne had suggested to them several hangout ideas that didn't include her. She would also say she was busy whenever one of them tried to invite her along. Busy with tennis, busy with family stuff, busy with homework, busy with something! The excuses had become less and less convincing and vaguer. Marcy worried that she didn't want to hang out with them anymore. Maybe she didn't want to be friends anymore. The thought made her queasy. Was Anne bored of them? Did she find better people to hang out with?  

"I understand not wanting to hang out with me, especially after what I did..."   

The room seems to close in on her. Her chest burns and it gets hard to breathe. She grabs at the carpet trying to ground herself.  

"It's fine, it's ok, it's fine, it's ok"  

She whispers the words over and over again, while trying to lock all the unwanted memories in a box in the back of her mind. She places the box in another box and wraps it in chains, locking it before sitting on it so nothing escapes. She takes a couple more deep breaths and goes back to fidgeting with the fidget cube in her hands. When she's sure that the dark memories won't escape and drag her underwater, she goes back to the problem at hand.  

"But... why would she want to stop hanging out with Sasha?"  

Sasha was awesome. Sasha had grown and changed over the years. Sasha had become such a good person. She was a great listener and always asked questions. She was reliable. She was kind and understanding. Plus, Anne liked her! And Sasha liked her back! Then why the hell were they growing apart? Marcy was sure that Anne still had a crush on Sasha and vice versa. Maybe there was a bigger picture that Marcy was missing? Maybe Anne wasn't avoiding both of them, maybe she was avoiding only her. The thought hurt. A lot. But it sounded plausible. Maybe this was a plan, to slowly leave Marcy. Once Anne wasn't in their friend group anymore, Sasha would start slowly growing further away from Marcy as well. Her breathing picked up again, becoming shallower.   

"N-no, no, stop, it's fine, you're ok, they wouldn't do that"  

Marcy whispered, hoping her own voice would ground her. It helped, but she was still panicking.  

"It's fine, it's fine, I'll just, I'll ask her! I'll invite her to hang out with me and Sasha and I'll ask them, and everything will be fine"  

Her breathing slowed down.  

"Maybe they're secretly dating and are trying to get some alone time so they can go on dates"  

That thought makes her calm down more.  

"Maybe they don't want to stop being friends, they just want to spend more time as a couple"  

That sounds right. That sounds correct. They just want some alone time, without Marcy third wheeling the whole time. It made sense.   

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine"  

So what if her heart hurt when she thought of them going on dates without her? At least they still wanted to be her friend.  

"It's fine"  

Sasha:  

"Are you sure?"   

"For the billionth time, yes! They like you just as much as you like them!"  

Sasha still wasn't fully convinced. Would she notice that Anne and Marcy had a crush on her? She wasn't that oblivious, right?   

"But... what if they don't?" she asked.  

Her voice came out much more vulnerable and quieter than she meant it to be. She winced at her own vulnerability.  

"They do" Milo says it like it's a fact.  

They place their hands on Sasha's shoulders and squeeze reassuringly. Sasha glances at them and then looks away. She's still scared. She doesn't want to lose her best friends.   

"And if they don't, I'll take you out and buy you anything you want" says Milow before quickly adding, "as long as it's in my price range"  

Sasha cracks a smile at that.  

"Alright, I suppose I have to try, otherwise I'll never know" she gives in.  

"Yes! Finally! It was so painful to watch the three of you pining at each other and being oblivious fools" exclaims Milo.  

Sasha rolls her eyes.  

"Ok, ok, I get it, I'll tell them, but only on one condition"  

If she was going to have to risk it all, she wasn't going to be the only one. She wasn't blind, well ok, maybe she was kinda blind, but only to her own love life. She could see the way Milo stared at Mia, and vice versa. If she was going to shoot her shot at dating the two people she had liked for who knows how long, so would Milo.   

"You tell Mia that you like her" smirks Sasha.  

Milo's smile falls instantly. Sadness takes over their whole body, making them become smaller and lose all their confidence.  

"Ah... I don't think that's a good idea" they mumble.  

"Why not? She likes you back"   

"I don't think that's true"  

Sasha sighs. Suddenly she understands what Milo must have felt when she denied that Anne and Marcy liked her back. Is this what they had felt?   

"Frog, I must be attracted to oblivious people only" she huffs.  

"Hey! I can say the same to you!"  

"Look, just trust me on this one, Mia likes you just as much as you like her" says Sasha.  

"How would you know? You couldn't even see the giant crushes Anne and Marcy have on you" grumbles Milo.  

Sasha knows that they aren't actually angry or annoyed, they're just deflecting. They're using anger and annoyance to hide their fear and sadness. They're similar in this way. Both hiding behind anger because it's easier than confronting their actual problems and emotions.  

"Come on, if I'm asking Anne and Marcy out, you have to ask Mia out" says Sasha.  

"And if she says no?" mumbles Milo.  

"Then I'll buy you anything you want as long as it's in my price range" Sasha repeats what Milo told her.  

"I suppose I've been needing a new keyboard for a while now" gives in Milo.  

They smile slightly at her, and Sasha smiles back at them. They're both still nervous and scared, but maybe it won't be so bad. Even if Sasha loses her two best friends, she still has her bandmates. She knows they won't let her drown, they'll be there for her through the whole thing, and she can say the same about herself. She'll be there the whole way for Milo.  

"Deal?" asks Sasha.  

"Deal" Milo shakes her hand.  

Anne:  

"Alright, so let's say, hypothetically, they like me, what am-"  

"Not hypothetically" interrupts Sprig.  

Anne glares at him.  

" Like I was saying,  let's say they  do  like me, what am I supposed to do with that?" asks Anne.  

Sprig facepalms.  

"Ask them out of course! Go on a date!" exclaims Sprig.  

"And if they say no?" she asks, her voice so quiet, Sprig almost doesn't hear her.  

"They won't" promises Sprig.  

"But what if they do!" cries out Anne in distress, "I don't want to lose my best friends!"  

"Anne, I'm getting cavities from watching the three of you interact" deadpans Sprig.  

"B-but-"  

"How about we ask Polly" suggests Sprig.  

Anne agrees. If there is anyone who will give her the blunt truth, it's Polly. They walk up the stairs and knock on Polly's door. After a second, the door is opened, and Polly pokes her head out.  

"Whatcha need?" she asks impatiently.  

"Anne doesn't believe that Sasha and Marcy like her" says Sprig.  

Polly looks up at Anne, an unimpressed expression on her face.  

"W-what!" Anne feels attacked and offended by the expression.  

"How dense are you?" sighs Polly, "Have you seen the looks they give you? Pretty much everyone knows you three like each other, except the three of you"  

"Wait what? Everyone?" panics Anne.  

"Yeah, we've known for like a year minimum" shrugs Polly.  

"W-what! B-but- I-  I  only figured out my feelings like a couple months ago!" stutters Anne.  

"Yeah, well you have the tendency to catch on slowly" Polly shrugs again and then closes her door before Anne can protest.  

"Is that true?" she asks Sprig.  

"Yep"  

"Shit"  

Sprig nods.  

"Oh Frog. I'm never gonna live this down, am I?"  

Sprig nods again.  

"How come no one told me!"   

"We underestimated how dense you are" answers Sprig.  

It takes Anne the rest of the day to process everything that has been said to her. Lying in bed that night she decides that she has to risk it. If so many people think that Sasha and Marcy like her back, then it must be true, right? She tries to calm her racing heart at the thought of confessing to Sasha and Marcy. She tries to calm herself by reminding herself that if things go badly, she'll always have Sprig and Polly on her side, they won't let her fall.   

Marcy:  

Marcy spun around in her wheelchair, excitement radiation from her. Anne had invited her and Sasha to hang out tomorrow! This had been the first time Anne had invited  them instead of the opposite way in like two months. Marcy stopped spinning and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, waiting for the room to stop spinning. She takes a deep breath and gets up, limping to her closet. She wants to wear something nice. She wants this hangout to be perfect. This might be her last chance to convince Anne and Sasha not to leave her.  

"No, not stop thinking like that, they aren't leaving you, they just want you to stop third wheeling" Marcy tells herself.  

She shakes her head and then tries to choose what to wear. She goes for a white button up, a dark green vest, and brown pants. She places it on her desk and then limps around her wheelchair and flops down on her bed. She leans her cane against the side of her bed and then allows her body to fall back. She lies in silence for a while, unable to get her smile off of her face. As the lies, contemplating on what to say tomorrow, it suddenly occurs to her that Anne looked nervous when inviting them to hang out. Suddenly, Marcy feels nervous. Why was Anne suddenly inviting them to hang out? Was something happening?  

"They're probably just going to announce that they're dating" tells herself Marcy.  

Unfortunately, her mind won't shut up. At all. It's loud and every thought wants to be heard. Marcy grabs at the comforter neatly spread on her bed. Her mind starts producing all these scenarios. Every possible reason for why Anne wanted to hang out with her and Sasha is running through her head. Most of them are bad reasons.  

"What if she wants to stop being friends? Or what if they're moving away? Or like-"  

Marcy shuts her mouth and tries to take deep breaths. It's fine. Anne probably just wanted to hang out. Maybe she had some free time and decided she wanted to hang out. Maybe this was just a bump in the road and now they were going back to normal. Or maybe they hated her.   

"No, shh, stop"   

Tears rolled down the side of Marcy's head, falling on the comforter and making it wet.  

...  

Marcy waves goodbye to her mothers and heads over to the agreed meeting spot. It's not far and Anne said she wanted to talk, so Marcy decided not to take her wheelchair. Over the last three years, she has improved a lot. Nowadays she mostly walked everywhere, with the help of her cane of course, but if it was a long journey, she would take her wheelchair. She could walk, but she got tired easily. She made it to the meeting spot, early as always, her anxiety wouldn't let her be late. It was the middle of October, so the weather was tricky. She was happy that she decided to grab her dark green jacket at the last second, because it was actually quite chilly in the shade, especially with the light breeze. Or maybe it was just her. She usually ran colder than most people (except Reptiles) ever after the... incident. A shiver ran down Marcy's spine, not because of the cold. Her chest suddenly felt hot, burning hot.   

"Shit, please not now" she whispered.  

It was always harder to keep the dark thoughts at bay whenever she felt nervous or was overthinking, which was exactly how she was feeling at the moment. She was very nervous about meeting up with Anne and Sasha and couldn't help but overthink everything.  

"It'll be fine, get yourself together, they're gonna be here any second"   

She takes a few deep breaths and sits down on a nearby log, not trusting her legs to keep her upright at the moment. Maybe she should have taken her wheelchair.  

"No, no, it's fine" mumbled Marcy, "you can do this, you won't let the past ruin the present or future, right? Right"  

Before she can fully gather herself, she hears footsteps approaching her. She looks up just in time to see Anne walk out from behind a tree. She's wearing light blue jeans and a yellow hoodie. She looks cute. Marcy blushes. She quickly grabs her cane and stands up, meeting Anne halfway.  

"Hi" nervously says Anne.  

Marcy is caught off guard at the sudden shyness.  

"Oh! H-hi! Hey, um... h-how are you?" she stumbles over her words.  

This causes Anne to laugh, but not in a mean way like all the kids back at the castle did, but in a sweet way.  

"I'm alright, how about you?" says Anne.  

"I'm... glad we are hanging out again" answers Marcy.  

Anne's smile falls. Marcy notices this right away. Her mind goes into panic mode.  

"W-wait no! I- I didn't mean- I know you're busy- I just-" backtracks Marcy.  

"No, no! It's my fault" says Anne, she plays with her ring nervously, "I'm sorry that I haven't been around recently"  

"It's alright, you were busy" smiles Marcy.  

"Not really" mumbles Anne.  

Marcy's smile falls. So, it was true. Anne wasn't busy, she was avoiding them. Avoiding  her.  What had she done? Where did she mess up? Could she still fix-  

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" shouts Sasha.  

They both look up at Sasha, who jogs up to them, slightly out of breath. She's wearing soft pink pants and a pink sweater of a different shade.  

"It's alright, I just got here" smiles Anne.  

"Yeah, me too" mumbles Marcy.  

"Hey, what's wrong?" asks Sasha.  

She gently cups Marcy's face to make her look up at her. Marcy forces a smile. She should have known Sasha would instantly notice that something was wrong.  

"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry" she lies.  

Sasha doesn't quite look convinced, but she lets it go when Marcy gently removes her hands from her face. If she wasn't so preoccupied with panicking and overthinking, she would have been a blushing mess by now.  

"Ok, if you say so" Sasha steps back and then looks at Anne, "What did you want to talk about?"  

Anne freezes, her eyes widen and dart between Sasha and Marcy for a second before settling on the ground.  

"Oh, right, I, um... I was- I wanted to... I've been- you- it's-" Anne struggles to find the correct words before pausing, taking a deep breath, and starting over, "I'm really sorry that I haven't been hanging out with you guys a lot for the past couple months, I was... struggling with something I have only recently discovered"  

Marcy's brain went into overdrive. What could Anne mean by that? What was she struggling with that she only recently discovered? Oh Frog, was she moving? Was she going back to live in the ocean forever? Did she make new friends and figure out she would rather hang out with them than with her? Was she  dying?!   

"Y-you see, I- I've been... having these..." she pauses to take a deep breath, "...feelings"  

Oh. Oh, she was going to confess her love to Sasha. That made sense. This is why she had been avoiding them, she must have been struggling with understanding her feelings and needed time. Or maybe she had been so overwhelmed by everything. Or maybe she needed time to process those feelings. That made sense. But then why would she need Marcy to be here? Maybe as emotional support? Or maybe she would confess and then tell Marcy that they would like to spend some time alone without her third wheeling. Ah, that would make sense. Marcy's heart clenched. It hurt. A lot. She didn't want to be here to witness the confession. Could she leave? No, Anne invited her here for a reason. She would have to stay. It was going to be alright; she could get through this; she could pretend to be happy for them.   

"You guys are great. You're both amazing and I love being able to call you my best friends, but..." trailed of Anne.  

All of Marcy's thoughts of Anne confessing her love to Sasha were suddenly replaced with pure panic. Anne must not want to be friends with them anymore. She must have found better people. People who didn't backstab and lie and manipulate. Marcy's heart rate picked up and her breathing became shallower. This was worse, so much worse. At least if Anne and Sasha got together, they would still stay friends. Maybe they'd hang out less, but they'd still be friends. But it seems like Anne doesn't want to be-

"I like you!"  

Chapter Text

Anne:  

"What did you want to talk about?" asks Sasha.  

Anne freezes, her eyes widen and dart between Sasha and Marcy for a second before settling on the ground. She nervously bites her lip, fidgeting with her ring.  

"Oh, right, I, um... I was- I wanted to... I've been- you- it's-" Anne stutters.  

She winces at herself. She had practiced at home in front of the mirror and with Sprig's help, yet actually saying what she wanted to say was harder than she thought. She pauses and takes a second to collect herself. She has to trust Sprig. She takes a deep breath and decides to take it slow, one step at a time.  

"I'm really sorry that I haven't been hanging out with you guys a lot for the past couple months, I was... struggling with something I have only recently discovered" she says.  

She really is sorry about not hanging out with them, for making up excuses and saying that she's busy. She hates lying to them, hates how easy it can be at times. She's really sorry, especially after seeing the heartbroken expression on Marcy's face when she said that she had been avoiding them. Frog, she hadn't even thought about how this was affecting them. Marcy was probably overthinking things. She hoped neither of them thought she didn't want to be friends anymore, that would be horrible.  

"Y-you see, I- I've been... having these..." she pauses to take a deep breath, "...feelings"  

Here comes the hard part, actually telling the other two about her feelings. Her mind is going a mile a minute. She tugs at the loose strands of her hair; her gaze glued to the ground. She doesn't want to see their expressions, not right now.   

"You guys are great. You're both amazing and I love being able to call you my best friends, but..." trailed of Anne.    

The words are right there. All she has to say is 'I want to be something more' or 'I like you'. That's all she has to say. The words are right on the edge of her tongue, and yet her mouth won't open. She can't make a sound. Her throat is dry and suddenly the only thing she can hear is her own racing heartbeat. She takes a shaky breath, but the words just won't come out. Doubt starts clouding her mind. What if Sprig is wrong? What if they don't like her like that? She can still backtrack. She can still salvage this. She can continue being best friends with them. She doesn't have to ruin everything. She can-  

"I like you!"  

Anne's mind goes blank. She raises her head slowly and just stares at Sasha. Sasha's eyes dart between the two of them.  

"Both of you" she says much quieter.  

Marcy's head snapped upward, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. Anne's mind finally starts working again. Thousands of thoughts run through her head, but only one of them comes out of her mouth.  

"What?" she asks.  

Sasha drops her head, ears drooping as she shuffles from foot to foot.  

"I- I understand if- if you don't like me like that, I just- I wanted to get it off my chest. I swear it doesn't have to change anything! We can still be-" Sasha glances at Marcy and cuts off suddenly.   

Anne watches as Sasha's face goes from sadness to panic in a millisecond. Confused, she also looks at Marcy. Her mind goes blank for the second time in five minutes. Marcy is standing very still, staring at Sasha, with tears running down her cheeks.  

"Shit, wait, I- I'm sorry! I shouldn't have- I won't-" Sasha stumbles over her words as she backtracks.  

"H-huh?" is the only thing Marcy says.  

Anne's body acts before her mind can. Suddenly she's standing right next to Marcy.  

"Don't cry, please" begs Sasha.  

Anne can see tears pooling in her eyes as well. Marcy seems confused by her words. She raises her hand and touches her cheek, looking surprised to find it wet with tears.  

"Oh..." she says, "oh, I'm sorry, I..."  

She tries to wipe away her tears with her hand.   

Sasha:  

She messed up. She messed up so badly. She should never have listened to Milo. Look at what she caused! Marcy is crying, Anne probably hates her, she's the worst. Why did she think this was a good idea? She shouldn't have interrupted Anne. Anne was going to tell them something important, but Sasha just had to interrupt her! She hadn't meant to do that, but the confession just sort of flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. She should have just held her mouth closed. She ruined everything. She watches helplessly as Anne helps Marcy sit down on a log. She stands awkwardly in her spot, unsure of what to do. She wants to comfort Marcy, but she already ruined their friendship, she doesn't want to ruin it more.  

"I'm sorry" she repeats, "I shouldn't have said that I should have kept it to myself. I... I understand if you hate me..."  

She should never have confessed. She could have just continued being friends with them. Why did she always have to go and ruin everything! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Tears rolled down her cheeks. She hates crying. She shouldn't be crying, but she can't stop. She just destroyed everything she had. She can only hope that Milo has it going better.  

"What!?" "No!"  

Sasha looks up from the ground at them in surprise.  

"I would never hate you," says Anne.  

Her cheeks flush red.  

"I... I actually like you, too. Both of you" she confesses.  

Sasha freezes. It can't be. She must have misheard that. She must-  

"You like me?" asks Marcy.  

She looks so shocked, like that thought never occurred to her.  

"Y-yes, this is what I wanted to tell you guys today" mumbles Anne.  

"Oh" is the only thing Sasha can say.   

She feels relieved that Anne likes her back. Not only that, but they both like Marcy as well! Her mood falls when she thinks of Marcy. Did she ruin her friendship with Marcy?  

"W-why- why would you l-like me?" asks Marcy.  

Sasha falls to her knees in front of Marcy, gently taking her hands, stopping her from wiping her tears.  

"What do you mean why?" she laughs, "You're amazing!"  

"Sasha's right, why wouldn't we like you? You're smart"  

"Cute"  

"Funny"  

"Kind"  

"Pretty"  

They take turns saying what they like about Marcy. They could have gone on for much longer, but Marcy covers both their mouths with each of her hands. Her face is bright red, and it makes Sasha smile. She can't believe that she just causes that blush.  

"O-okay! Ok, I get it" she mumbles and then smiles, "I like the two of you, too"   

Sasha's whole body relaxes. Milo was right. They like her, the same way she likes them.  

"Would you go on a date with me!" suddenly rushes out Anne.  

She's blushing, looking at them nervously.  

"Of course we will, right Mar-mar?" Sasha glances back at her.  

Marcy smiles, wiping away the tears.  

"I'd love to go on a date with you two"   

She pulls them into a hug. Sasha's face flushes red, and her first instinct is to hide it, but then she reminds herself that they just all confessed to each other, there was no need to hide her feelings from them anymore.  

Marcy:  

They like her. They like her the same way she likes them. They aren't leaving her. Marcy can't help but start crying again, this time sobs make her body shake. Sasha and Anne instantly pull away from the hug, each one caressing one cheek.  

"H-hey, hey, what's wrong?" asks Anne.  

She looks so worried.  

"I just- I- I can't believe- I'm just- happy" she says in between sobs.  

Anne and Sasha carefully swipe away a few tears. Sasha's also crying, so Marcy raises her hand and swipes away a few tears. This makes Sasha laugh.  

"Frog, we're a mess" laughs Anne.  

She pulls them into another hug. Marcy rests her head on Sasha's shoulder and clings to her arm with one hand, while her other arm is wrapped around Anne's waist. She can feel Sasha's hand rubbing soothing circles on her back, while Anne plays with her hair. It's nice. She was so worried about them not being friends anymore, but it turns out she didn't have to worry about that. They were now dating! She can't believe she's dating her two best friends. How did this even happen? The tears stop after a few minutes and eventually they pull apart.  

"I'm taking you two on a date tomorrow" says Anne.  

Marcy blushes at that. She can't help but get excited. She's going on a date with her two best friends! Who she's now dating!  

"I can't wait" smiles Sasha.  

"Where are we going?" asks Marcy.  

"I was thinking to some cafe?" suggests Anne.  

"I'd love that" says Sasha.  

Marcy leans into Anne's side and gently grabs Sasha's arm, playing with it. Sasha is crouching before them, resting her head on Anne's knees. Marcy can't get rid of the smile on her face, and she doesn't want to.  

"Alright, it's decided then. I'll pick you up at 12 tomorrow" announces Anne.  

The other two agree and they sit in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company.  

...  

Marcy lies in bed that night, unable to sleep. She's excited for tomorrow, but also nervous. Really nervous. Her stomach twists into a knock and she hugs her pillow tighter. She can't help but overthink. What if they don't actually like her and this is all a dream? Or worse, a prank. They wouldn't do that, right? Of course not, Anne and Sasha would never prank her like that. But what if tomorrow they decide that they don't want to date her?  

"Don't be ridiculous, why would they ask you out if they don't want to date you?" whispers Marcy.  

Right. But what if they change their mind during or after the date? What if they decide that they don't want to date her? What if they see that she isn't a great person they think she is? What if they get bored of her? Her mind just won't shut up. She hates her mind at moments like this. She knows she's overthinking, but she can't stop. She ends up awake for most of the night, falling asleep only when the sun slowly rises.  

Sasha:  

The first thing Sasha does when she gets home is go up to her room and scream into her pillow. She still can't believe it's happening. It feels like a dream! She's going on a date with her two best friends! Two best friends who like her! Romantically! She dances around her room. Nothing can dampen her mood. She feels like she's floating!  

"Oh my Frog! It's gonna be the best date ever!" she cheers.  

She can't help but bounce around her room. After a few more minutes of fantasizing about the date, she stops and tries to calm down. But she's too excited for tomorrow! She doesn't think she'll be able to go to sleep at all. She decides to use all her energy to choose the perfect outfit. After going through her whole closet, with clothes lying around her whole room and still no outfit, she decides that instead of choosing the perfect outfit, she'll eliminate all the things she can't wear. She gets rid of the dresses and skirts, since it's too cold for that. Her shorts also go back in the closet.  

"Let's see... I'll need a jacket..." mumbles Sasha.  

She settled on a pair of light brown jeans, a white top and a maroon leather jacket. She cuffs the jeans and the jacket and sets them on her chair, so they're ready for tomorrow. She places the rest of her clothes back into her closet and glances at her watch, which reads 12:35. Sasha winces. She should not be awake at the moment. She had been so distracted with choosing her outfit and daydreaming that she hadn't noticed the time, at all! She hurries to get through her nighttime routine and then curls up under her blanket. She can't fall asleep just yet, there is too much excitement running through her right now.  

...  

Sasha wakes up slowly. She doesn't remember falling asleep, but it must have been pretty late since she's still tired. Her first thought is to go back to sleep, but first, she rolls over to check the time. The clock reads 10:45. Sasha groans. She has to get up, otherwise her whole schedule will be- Sasha shoots up, scrambling out of her bed as she remembers that she has a date today. She glances at the clock again and panics. She hadn't set an alarm because she was used to waking up early, but she must have stayed up really late if she slept till almost 11. She rushes to the bathroom, quickly taking a shower.   

"Shit, shit, shit" runs through her head.  

She's lucky that she has short hair now, it dries so much faster! She eats breakfast, ignoring the confused looks of the Dwarfs as she rushes past them with her hair still slightly wet and messy. She runs back up and gets dressed. Then she runs back into the bathroom, doing her makeup and styling her hair, which is almost fully dry by then. She glances at the bathroom clock, which reads 11:48. She winces as she steps back, checking herself out in the mirror. She went with some pretty simple makeup, just some eyeshadow and eyeliner, as well as lipstick. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. It's interrupted by a rapid knocking on the bathroom door, which startles her.  

"Sasha? You alright? You've been in there for a while!" shouts Braddock through the door.  

Sasha takes one last look in the mirror and then opens the door, smiling nervously at Braddock.  

"Sorry, I was getting ready" she says sheepishly.  

Braddock looks her up and down and smiles, a little confused.  

"Are you going on a date?" she jokes.  

"Yes actually!" excitedly says Sasha, bouncing up and down.  

"Ah! Really? With whom?" asks Braddock.  

"Marcy and Anne" answers Sasha.  

The grin that splits on Braddock's face shines so brightly that Sasha's sure she'll go blind if she looks directly at it.  

"Oh my Frog! Finally!" she squeals.  

Sasha blushes as the words 'finally'. She wonders how many people knew that she had a crush on Marcy and Anne.  

"Percy! I won the bet!" she shouts over her shoulder.  

Sasha looks at her, confused.  

"Were you betting on my love life?" she asks, slightly offended.  

"Oh the whole tower has been, I'm the only one who said that you'd date both of them, most people bet on Anne" shrugs Braddock.  

Sasha opens her mouth, then closes it, unsure of what to say.  

"Sasha! You're dates here!" Sasha hears someone shout from the bottom of the stairs.  

She glances at the clock, which reads 11:58.   

"Shit, sorry, gotta go!" she shouts over her shoulder as she rushes down the stairs, taking them two at a time.  

She jumps the last four and skids to a stop right at the entrance, coming face to face with Anne. Anne looks up at her and blushes. Sasha can hear her breath hitch.  

"H-hey" nervously smiles Sasha.  

"You're really beautiful" mumbles Anne.  

Sasha flushes bright red at that. Anne seems to process her words and goes even redder.  

"N-not that you aren't normally beautiful!" she adds, "You're beautiful all the time! I just meant that you look- you always look- right now you're-"  

Sasha laughs at her rambling and shuts her up by grabbing her hand.  

"Come on Boonchuy, we don't want to be late to pick up Marcy, you know how she hates being late" she says.  

Anne just shuts her mouth and lets Sasha pull her along, face still bright red. They walk in silence for a little while. Sasha can't help but replay Anne's words in her mind. It makes her feel all warm and light. She can't help but bounce a little. She glances at Anne, admiring her. She's wearing blue jeans and a yellow sweater. Her hair is held up in a ponytail with a yellow scrunchie.  

"You look really pretty today" she says.  

As soon as the words leave her mouth, she blushes. Anne looks up at her in surprise and smiles nervously, playing with a loose strand of hair.  

"Th-thank you" she mumbles.  

They continue the rest of the way in comfortable silence. Both of them too overwhelmed with the fact that they're currently on a date, holding hands , to say anything. Sasha glances down at their intertwined fingers and silently squeals. She was just so happy she could probably fly!  

Anne:  

Anne couldn't stop thinking about the fact that they were holding hands! She hoped she wasn't holding Sasha's hand in a weird way. Oh Frog, what if she was? No, no calm down, it's fine! She remembers holding hands with Sasha and Marcy a lot when they were younger, so it shouldn't be affecting her so much. But it was the first time they were holding hands on a date! This was their first date!  

"AHHHHH!!!!!" screamed Anne's mind.  

She wondered if Sasha could hear her racing heart. She takes a peek at Sasha, only to find her already staring at her. They both blush and look away.  

"Ah, wait, you're dating now, you don't have to hide your feelings" Anne reminds herself.  

She looks back at Sasha and leans into her side, smiling sweetly at her when she looks at her. She really likes seeing Sasha blush, especially at her. She looks so adorable! Anne was pretty sure she would die from cuteness overload today. Oh well, she didn't mind dying this way. They make it to Marcy's house at last. Sasha knocks on the door, and it's almost instantly opened by Marcy. Anne blushes as soon as her eyes land on her. Marcy is wearing a white turtleneck and dark green overalls that have several pins on them, Anne recognizes some as pins she had given to Marcy on her birthday.  

"H-hi!" squeaks Marcy, blushing.  

"Hey" smiles Sasha.  

Anne waves shyly, not trusting her mouth to say the correct thing. Marcy looks over her shoulder and waves at her mothers, before stepping out the door. She has a messenger bag with her as well, which no doubt has her sketchbook and journal.  

"You look cute today" says Anne.  

She blushes. She hadn't meant to say that. Mentally she can't help but cringe. She had done the same thing when she first saw Sasha! Frog dammit! She glances at Marcy's expression and relaxes when she sees how flustered the Avian is.  

"O-oh, thank you" mumbles Marcy.  

They stand awkwardly for a couple seconds, before Sasha reaches out. Marcy glances at her hand, then at her. She blushes and timidly takes her hand. Anne has to look away because they're so cute it hurts, but in a good way. The three of them, holding hands, slowly make their way to town. Anne couldn't be happier if she tried.  

Chapter Text

Marcy:  

Oh Frog, oh frog, oh frog. She was on a date with Anne and Sasha. She was on a  date  with Anne  and  Sasha. This couldn't be real. No way. She must be dreaming.  

"Oh my Frog I'm on a date with Anne and Sasha! How did I get here???"  panicked Marcy.  

She keeps glancing at her hand, the one that is currently holding Sasha's. She blushes and looks away, trying to calm her racing heart. They make it to the diner and sit at a table tucked into a corner. Marcy and Anne sit on one side, while Sasha sits on the opposite side. A waiter appears right as they sit down, and hands them three menus. Sasha thanks them and then opens her menu. Marcy is busy admiring Sasha. She looks so beautiful. She glances at Anne, only to find her staring at her. She blushes and looks away.  

"Hey, don't hide your cute face from me" pouts Anne.  

Marcy buries her face into her hands. She's pretty sure she might explode right now.  

"Shit, Boonchuy, when did you learn to flirt?" asks Sasha.  

Marcy can tell just from her voice that Sasha is also blushing. She peeks out from between her fingers and then quickly picks up the menu, hiding her face behind it. She takes a couple breaths to hopefully calm down a little and then starts looking through the menu. She ate breakfast not that long ago, so she decided to go with something light.  

"Marbles?" calls out Sasha.  

Marcy raises her head and looks at Sasha nervously.  

"Yeah?" she asks.  

"Ready to order?" asks Sasha.  

It only now registers that Sasha and Anne had been talking about their orders. She nods and places her menu back on the table.  

"I'll get a latte and a cheesecake" says Marcy.  

"That's all?" asks Anne.  

"I ate breakfast not so long ago" explained Marcy.  

Sasha calls over a waiter and orders their food and drinks. While they wait for their food and drinks to be made, they chat. Sasha tells them about a recent jam session she had with her band and tells them a little about a new song they've been writing. Anne talks about how Polly found some blueprints in the castle ruins, as well as a few devices that she's been trying to understand. Marcy talks a little about her new story.  

"Isn't this like your 15th one?" teases Anne.  

Marcy squints as she tries to remember all her ‘work in progress’s.   

"I think I have closer to 25 of them" she mumbles.  

"Yikes! That's a lot!" exclaims Sasha.  

"I know, but I can't stop coming up with new ones" whines Marcy.  

Anne:  

The drinks come first. A latte for Marcy, a chocolate milkshake for Sasha, and a mocha for Anne. She usually drinks juice or tea, but she hadn't slept well last night, so she needs the caffeine. Though technically tea also has caffeine in it.  

"Can I take a sip?" asks Marcy, eyeing her mocha.  

Anne chuckles and pushes her drink towards her. While Marcy takes a small sip, she swipes Sasha's milkshake.  

"Hey!" exclaims Sasha.  

She tries to take her drink back, but Anne leans all the way back into the couch and takes a long sip while staring directly at Sasha. She hands the milkshake back, grinning. Sasha rolls her eyes at the Reptile affectionately. Anne tries to grab her own drink, only to find that it's gone. She glances at Marcy, but only finds the latte next to her.   

"Looking for your drink?" teases Sasha.  

Anne glances at her and sees her holding her drink.  

"Come on, Sash, give it back" says Anne.  

"Nuh-uh, no can do" Sasha shakes her head.  

"You can have some of mine" Marcy points to her latte.  

"No thanks, too bitter" Anne wrinkles her nose.  

"Your loss" shrugs Marcy, taking a long sip of her drink.  

Anne shakes her head affectionately at Marcy. She doesn't understand how Marcy can drink something so bitter. There is a moment of silence as their food arrives. Sasha has ordered an omelet with sausages, Marcy got her cheesecake, and Anne has waffles. Sasha digs in right away. Anne figures out that she hadn't had breakfast. Anne takes a bite out of her waffles. After a few seconds of silence while they eat, Anne notices that Marcy hadn't touched her cheesecake yet. She looks nervous. Anne tries to think of a way to make this date less awkward. She remembers her mothers’ advice. 'Communication is key, find something to talk about, you already know them well, what do they like to talk about?' they had told her.  

"Want to play 20 questions?" she asks.  

Marcy's face perks up. Sasha glances from her plate and shrugs.  

"Ok, how about I go first" she pauses as she tries to find an interesting question she can ask, something she doesn't know about them yet, "what chores do you enjoy, hate, and don't mind?"  

Marcy's brows furrow as she thinks.  

"I think... there isn't really a chore I enjoy, but I don't mind laundry and watering plants, and I hate ironing and washing dishes" she wrinkles her nose at the last part.  

"Really? Why?" asks Sasha.  

"Ironing is hard, and I don't like the texture of the food left on the plates, and it's all wet as well" she shudders at the thought.  

Anne can't help but chuckle at her reaction.   

"I enjoy ironing and doing the laundry, I don't mind doing the dishes, sweeping, and dusting, but I hate washing the floors and windows" says Sasha.  

"I guess when we live together, we can divide the chores so that we only get things we like or don't mind"  a voice in the back of Anne's mind says.  

Wait. Living together??? Where did this come from??? This is their first date! For Frog's sake, get your head on straight, you can't be having these thoughts on a  first  date! Anne blushes at her own thoughts. She had never had thoughts like this before.   

"You have chores you  enjoy  doing?" Marcy looks baffled.  

"I find ironing calming" shrugs Sasha, then she turns to look at Anne, "how about you Anne?"  

Anne straightens her back. Did she have to answer her own questions? Well, that would help them not to repeat them. She quickly goes over all the chores she does at home.  

"I also don't have chores I enjoy, unless you count cooking as a chore, in which case I do. I'm ok with doing the dishes, washing floors, dusting, but I despise ironing and doing the laundry" answers Anne.  

"Really? You both hate ironing? Weirdos" teases Sasha affectionately.  

"Hey! It's two against one, maybe you're the weirdo for liking it" points out Marcy.  

Sasha chuckles at that, which makes butterflies flutter on Anne's stomach. She wonders if she'll always feel flustered around them.  

"I doubt it. Anyway, it's your turn to ask" says Sasha.  

Marcy doesn't even hesitate.  

"What's your favorite weather?" she asks.  

Anne doesn't hesitate either.  

"I love it when it rains! Doesn't matter if it's a drizzle or a rainstorm or a thunderstorm! I love going out and being in the rain or sitting inside with a cup of tea and listening to the sound of it. I really like watching lightning and then counting the seconds between it and the thunder" she answers.  

"I like it when it's snowing. It's cold and beautiful, and I like the sound when you step on fresh snow" says Sasha.  

"I like cloudy days, when it's cool enough to wear a hoodie and the sun isn't constantly in your face" says Marcy.  

Anne makes sure to file that information for later. If she ever plans a date outside, she'll have to take their weather preferences into account.  

"Ok, my turn" Sasha pauses and then grins, "what skill or ability have you always wanted to learn and why haven't you"  

"Flying" whispers Marcy.  

Anne's thoughts come to a screeching halt. She hears Sasha choke on her drink. She looks at Marcy, unsure of how to respond. Marcy shrinks into herself, her single wing covering her body as she strokes the feathers in a nervous manner. Anne can't help but feel guilty. If she had just been faster, she could have saved her the pain. She could have stopped her from getting stabbed. The spot where her right hand meets the prosthetic burns.  

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the mood" mumbles Marcy.  

Her voice wavers and cracks, like she's about to cry. Anne reaches out but pauses. She knows that Marcy sometimes gets overwhelmed when touched.  

"Hey, hey, it's ok, you didn't ruin anything" whispers Sasha.  

She reaches across the table, laying her hand, palm up, on the table. Marcy slowly raises one hand and grabs Sasha's. Their fingers instantly intertwine.  

"Can I hug you?" asks Anne.  

Marcy gives a small nod. Anne carefully and slowly wraps her arms around Marcy's torso, so that she has time to pull away. Marcy doesn't pull away, instead she leans into Anne's side and hides her face in Anne's shoulder.  

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that" apologizes Sasha.  

Marcy shakes her head.  

"N-not your fault" she sniffles.  

Her voice is muffled by Anne's shoulder, but by the ways Sasha's ears twitch, Anne figures that she heard her. Anne glances back, scanning the diner. Outside of the people who work here, there is only one other group of customers, who are sitting on the other side of the diner and are facing away from the trio. Anne turns back and gently strokes Marcy's hair.  

"I think my answer would be... solving a Rubic's cube" says Anne, in hopes of lifting the mood, "I haven't been able to do it because no one would teach me, and I could never follow those books that teach this stuff"  

"I know how to solve a Rubic's cube" mumbles Marcy, shifting a little in Anne's arms so her voice isn't as muffled by Anne's shoulder, "I could teach you if you want"  

Anne smiles. Seems like her plan worked.  

"I would really like that" she plants a small kiss on Marcy's head.  

She does it without thinking, and as soon as she leans back, her brain catches up to what she just did and goes straight into panic mode. Blood rushes to her face as she panics. Was that too soon? Should she be taking things more slowly? Did she make things uncomfortable for the other two? Oh Frog, did she ruin everything? Her thoughts come to a stop when she hears Marcy giggle. She looks down to find her blushing and smiling, clearly flustered. All of Anne's panic melts away in an instant.  

"I've always wanted to learn to learn to juggle" says Sasha from across the table, "I can do the one where you have three balls and you make them go in a circle, but I wanted to learn the one clowns do"  

"Ooh! Cool! Why haven't you?" asks Anne.  

"I've never had the time or patience, but I think now that I'm not constantly thinking about training and proving myself, I think I could give it another try" answers Sasha.  

"I..." Marcy trails off.  

Anne and Sasha glance at each other than back at Marcy. They both stay silent, hoping that she will continue.  

"I've always wanted to learn how to start a campfire" mumbles Marcy.  

"That's a useful skill" nods Anne.  

"Why haven't you been able to?" asks Sasha.  

"Well... I've never been camping before" shrugs Marcy.  

Anne tries not to think about how Marcy was pretty much imprisoned in the castle for the longest time.  

"We should go camping someday! I could teach you how to start a campfire" grins Sasha.  

Marcy perks up at the suggestion.  

"Oh! That would be awesome!" She leans away from Anne and bounces excitedly.  

"Do you want to continue the game?" asks Anne.  

The other two both say yes, which means it's now Anne's turn again. She tries to think of something interesting but safe to ask. What kind of question is least likely to cause a bad memory to appear? Ah, she could go with the classic.  

"When did you start having a crush on each other?" she grins.  

Both girls blush at the question. After a pause, Sasha goes first.  

"I've had a crush on you since we were... ten I think" she confesses.  

"Since we were ten!? That long ago!?" Anne is bewildered.  

"Y-yeah, you're the reason I figured out I was bi and then figured out I liked Marcy as well" nervously chuckles Sasha and then glances at Marcy, "I liked you from probably around the same time, but I only realized it after Anne came out"  

Anne takes a second to process that information. Sasha had a crush on her since she was ten. She had been aware of that crush since she was ten. That was six years ago. She had dealt with this crush for six years without letting Anne know??? How???  

"Damn! And you kept it hidden for that long?" says Anne, still shocked.  

"Wow, I've had a crush on you two since we were twelve," says Marcy.  

Anne chokes on air and takes a couple seconds to gather herself.  

"Since we were twelve????" she repeats.  

"Y-yeah? Why are you so shocked?" asks Marcy.  

"I've only figured out I had a crush on you guys like three months ago!" Anne throws her hands in the air.