Chapter Text
A crackle and a flash of blue, and Marcy steps from the Amphibian fall to Earth’s summer. The sun shines brightly through the high windows of the government facility the secondary Earth portal is housed in, and Marcy holds a hand up against the glare. Terri, hair a little shorter and a little bluer, waves from where she’s typing away at a computer. Marcy grins and waves back.
“And tell me again why we couldn’t just use the Plantars’ portal?” Grime grumbles, his one arm gripping a large bag slung over his shoulder.
Marcy shrugs. “Well, it was just a little easier, y’know? This portal is closer to Anne’s aquarium, ‘cause the Plantars’ portal opens up at her house and we’re going there later, anyway, and it would be kinda silly to just go there, the aquarium, and back. Also, it’s easier for Sasha to pick us up here.”
“And, quite frankly,” Olivia says, pulling at Yunan’s arm to keep her from running off into the scientific equipment scattered around, “Anne’s parents are certain to have all the party preparations under control. They don’t need us running around underfoot. Yunan, dear, don’t touch that.”
~~~
Sasha is waiting for the four of them outside the building, leaning against her red convertible.
“Sasha!” Marcy squeals, waving the arm that isn’t holding Anne’s present enthusiastically. Sasha looks up from her phone and beams.
“Mars!” She opens her arms for a hug, and Marcy’s rushing forward to meet her ‘cause she hasn’t seen Sasha in forever, and- she trips on her shoelaces and falls flat on her face. Whoops.
“I’m okay!” Marcy grins as Yunan grabs her arm and helps her up.
“Damn, kid, that was an impressive bellyflop! Ten outta ten.”
“I try!” Marcy chirps, back on her feet again, and Sasha rolls her eyes.
“Same old Marcy. C’mere, you.” She tugs her into a hug, and Marcy presses her cheek against the worn leather of Sasha’s jacket, fingers tapping at the patch on the shoulder. Sasha’s had that jacket for years, at this point, and it’s comforting. Familiar. A reminder that they’re all still here after everything, ten years later.
They pull back, and Sasha slings her arm over Marcy’s shoulder, nodding at the others. “Hey, guys. You got the thing, Dad?”
Grime puts his bad down on the concrete and nods at it. “Yes. The blacksmiths just finished it yesterday. Should be all set to go.”
“Cool.” Sasha grins. “All right. Everybody in. The aquarium isn’t too far away, but I want to get there sooner than later, ‘kay? Mars, you, Olivia, and Yunan can take the back. Dad, you’ve got shotgun.”
Marcy shoots Sasha a questioning look as they all pile in, and Olivia asks the question Marcy’s been thinking.
“Blacksmith? It better not be another sword, Doctor.”
Sasha shrugs as she hits the ignition, smiling sheepishly. “Nah, not a sword. Also not for me. It’s Anne’s birthday present.”
“Anne does tend to lose swords,” Marcy muses from the backseat, thinking about all the swords Anne’s… misplaced over the years.
“So not a sword,” Sasha reiterates, pulling out onto the street. “I was thinking about how Anne’s old breastplate— y’know, the one she fought Andrias in— doesn’t fit her anymore, but she still gets into trouble, right?”
Marcy nods along. “Like the kill-a-moths.”
“Like the kill-a-moths.” Sasha nods back. “Seriously, how does she keep adopting those things?”
“They are quite cute,” Grime muses, and Sasha punches his shoulder.
“Yeah, but not helping, man.
“But anyway,” Sasha continues quickly, “have you guys heard what Anne’s doing lately?”
“Yes, and I love it!” Marcy squeals. “It’s so exciting! She was actually in Newtopia a few months ago to get references for the newts’ set-up. I’m so excited to see how it turned out!”
Yunan frowns. “She’s… rebuilding Newtopia?”
“Wait, I didn’t tell you guys?” Marcy gapes at her. Whoops. “Anne got to design the new amphibian section of her aquarium! I was talking to her, and she decided to base the main sections off of places in Amphibia— Newtopia for the newts, Proteus for the olms, Toad Tower for the toads and Wartwood for the frogs. I know she was working on it last I talked with her, but that was a couple weeks ago.”
Yunan tips her head. “You know, it’s still weird that she’s studying small versions of us.”
Marcy considers that, and nods. “Yeah, I’d feel weird too if you guys started studying tiny, non-sentient humans.”
“Yeah, that’s enough of that.” Sasha interrupts from the driver’s seat before Marcy gets a real chance to get into the idea of Amphibia humans. “Anyway, Mars, how’s your webcomic going? I read a couple of chapters and it is awesome.”
“Aw, thanks! It’s going great! I’ve got the next few chapters all plotted out and there is a doozy of a plot point coming up, but how have you been doing, Sash? How are the kids?”
Sasha laughs. “The kids are great. Using my experiences to help them with their emotional baggage has actually been really productive.”
“Emotional baggage,” Grime grumbles, and Sasha blows a raspberry.
“Whatever. We’re almost there.”
“The Aquarium of the Pacific, I presume?” Olivia asks, glances at a sign on the side of the road as they pass by. Sasha does a finger gun.
“Yup. It’s a cool place. I used to go when I was younger, but I haven’t been in a while.”
“I haven’t really been anywhere in LA for a while,” Marcy says. “I’ve mostly just been to my parents’ house to visit, but that’s it. And I don’t go there too often, either.”
Olivia’s small hand rubs her back, and Marcy smiles at her gratefully.
“But, that said,” Marcy shrugs, “I think it’ll be nice to see everybody in one place again. Life’s been…”
“Hectic?” Sasha fills in, and laughs. “Tell me about it.”
From the passenger seat, Grime groans loudly. “The ten-year anniversary of Andrias’ defeat is coming up, as you most likely know. And with that comes preparations.”
“Toad Tower is throwing an all-out feast-slash-fighting competition,” Sasha tacks on.
“Oh, yeah, we’re doing something like that, too!” Marcy nods, and Yunan grins.
“There’s a week-long celebration planned, with some feats of strength. I’m hoping to participate.”
Olivia rolls her eyes.
“Unfortunately. Yunan’s been going on and on about this for months. She’s even roped Polly Plantar into it. They’ve been insufferable about it.”
Marcy remembers these conversations, and snorts. She doesn’t see the Plantars much, with living in Newtopia and all, but she’s always liked Polly. Smart and violent: a winning combinations.
“Hey, speaking of Polly,” Sasha says, and flicks her turn signal on. “Anne told me a couple weeks ago that she’s currently trying to get into MIT, if you can believe it.”
“She’s what?”
~~~
They must look so weird, Marcy thinks, and giggles. Two humans, two newts, and a toad standing in the vaulted entryway of the aquarium, holding an assortment of gifts and looking so out of place. Yunan is holding a single frog balloon.
The aquarium’s front desk workers give them a couple of weird looks when they ask where the amphibian wing is (it’s not every day, after all, you see talking amphibians from another world, making their reactions completely understandable), but don’t ask any questions other than whether or not they’re just here to pick up Ms. Boonchuy-Plantar, or actually visiting the aquarium. They’ll have to pay the entrance fee if the second one is the case.
It’s near the shark tanks, they’re told, and are then allowed to troop off down one of the tank-lined hallways without incident, for which Marcy is grateful. Having security called on them would be… an issue, but she guesses that they see enough of talking frogs at the aquarium for this sort of thing to be weird, at the most.
They turn a corner, and their little group is met with a large sign declaring “Get Lost in Amphibia!” in a cheerful font.
Marcy gapes.
Anne’s gone all out. The entire room is themed around Amphibia, from the sculpted tanks to the little decorations above the door. (Is that Mother Olm?)
Information on the specimens are laid out on friendly little signs, with enough decorations to keep kids interested, and to actually inform more mature visitors. Tanks are at all levels, with step-stools for shorter people, and plenty of interactive tidbits.
There also seems to be a prevailing theme of green, blue, and pink.
“Hey, Dad,” Sasha snorts, elbowing Grime. “Look.” She points to the toad exhibit, which features a stylized toad on the front with a scar over its right eye.
“Is this supposed to be Newtopia?” Olivia wonders, peering at the newt habitat.
“Oh, and Wartwood!” Yunan exclaims, pointing over the wall, which, yeah, looks like it’s themed around the little town, with little house-shaped display cases for the frogs.
And in front of the biggest case, with a little stump-house marked with a curlicue P, is the birthday girl herself.
Anne— older, taller, and happy— is presenting a frog to a group of children. Marcy scoots closer.
“And this little fella,” Anne is saying, holding her little froggy pal out to the kids, “is a pink South American tree frog.” The kids all oooooh, and Anne laughs. “Yeah, isn’t he cool? This species was just discovered a few years ago, and we were able to bring a few of these guys here due to our involvement in the discovery. They’re very friendly, but are quite poisonous! Don’t eat one, kids; neither this guy or you will be very happy.”
The kids (and Marcy) laugh, and one of the kids raises a hand.
“Yeah?” Anne points to the kid with her free hand.
“What’s his name?” the kid asks, and Anne smiles softly.
“I actually named him after a dear friend of mine. His name is-“
“Sprig Junior!”
A pink blur jumps down from somewhere above everyone— probably the fake tree in the middle of the room, because why wouldn’t there be a tree in an amphibian exhibit that also serves as a good hiding place— and Sprig lands next to Anne, hands raised victoriously. The kids all gasp, then cheer.
“Dude, no; it’s Sprig the Second.”
Sprig shrugs. “But doesn’t Sprig Junior sound better?”
“It would if you wanted to be Sprig Senior.”
Sprig makes a face, and Anne nods. “That’s what I thought.”
“All right, everyone; please say goodbye to Ms. Anne and her friend!” the harried-looking teacher interjects, and the kids all groan, but still wave to Anne and Sprig as they leave.
“Bye, Frog Lady!” one kid chirps, and Anne laughs as she waves back.
Sprig finally notices them as the kids clear out.
“Hey, you guys made it!” he cheers, and Anne looks up.
“Sasha! Marcy!”
“Anne!” Marcy squeals, and Anne laughs as she stows Sprig the… something back in his habitat.
“It’s great to see you guys!” Anne grins, and Marcy darts in for a hug, careful of her own feet and the present slung over her arm.
“It’s been too long!” Marcy agrees, and pulls back.
“‘Sup, Doc?” Sasha goes in for a hug next, and Anne snorts.
“Eh, not just yet. We can’t all finish our doctoral programs early, Dr. Waybright.”
“But she will be, soon!” Sprig cheers, leaping up onto Anne’s shoulders. “Just another year! First Plantar with a doctorate; can you believe it?”
“You guys,” Anne groans, but she’s grinning. Everyone laughs, and starts filing out of the room, back towards the aquarium’s entrance, Sprig chattering to everybody about the aquarium’s exhibits as they pass by. The other amphibians look on with interest as he explains some of the differences between Amphibian aquatic creatures and the Earth ones on display.
They wave to the workers at the front desk as they pass, and, as they finally exit the big doors, Marcy turns.
“Hey, Anne?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy birthday.”
Anne grins. “Thanks, Marce. I think this one’s gonna be a good one.”
Fin
