Chapter Text
‘How did we get like this..?’
That was the question Anne asked herself that fateful day in the Amphibian wilderness, as her chipped iron sword clashed against the brilliant pink of her erstwhile friend Sasha’s own blade.
Abstractly, it referred to the general state of their relationship, how it had ended up in such a dark place that it was even possible for them to be like this, in an actual fight with actual, pointy swords, when just four months ago, they were drinking smoothies together and hanging out as best friends did. It would probably take a career psychologist to fully unpack the years of slights, mistreatment, and slowly building tension that had allowed them to reach such a low point. No doubt therapy would be involved as well, though Anne personally felt it was Sasha who would benefit the most from such a thing (fully aware that Sasha would bite her head off if she even suggested it).
More literally, it referred to the here and now of them battling against one another across the muddy terrain of the wilds, leaving a trail of sliced branches and footprints in the soft ground as Anne beat a fighting retreat from the enraged blonde.
The day had started off simply enough for the one-shoed girl. She was on her way back to Wartwood with the Plantars to retrieve the Calamity Box, having left her friend Marcy behind in Newtopia. It left a hole in her heart for them to be separated once more, but she knew they’d meet again, and soon, they’d have all the time in the world to hang out once they were back home. For now, Anne just wanted to savor her time with the Plantars, however much of it she had left...
Somewhere around late morning, Hop Pop mentioned going hunting to ensure they’d have the food to make it back. Anne had jumped at the chance, eager to prove all she had learned after her disastrous last outing, when her entire adopted family had almost perished to the jaws and stinger of a scorpileo.
Sprig had gone with her, and after a short walk, they decided to split up to cover more ground in the hopes of bringing back double the food.
Alone, Anne ventured deep into the wilderness, making sure to pay attention to where she was so that she could make her way back to the fa-wagon (ugh, she couldn’t believe she’d actually called it that). She also kept an eye out for potential threats, having developed a certain weariness for the dangers of Amphibia after so many close calls, both at Wartwood, and on the way to Newtopia.
Of all the things she could’ve run into, giant spiders and massive, frog-eating weasels, she never expected to find Sasha out here...
It was as she pushed through a collection of massive ferns into a clearing that she caught sight of the other girl standing just a few paces away... and Sasha caught sight of her.
Judging by the bow and arrow currently knocked and pointed at her chest, Anne surmised that Sasha was out here for the same reason she was. Her mind boggled at the odds even as they locked eyes, and Anne saw a shock in those blue orbs that was no doubt reflected in her own brown pair. Amphibia was a big place, and Anne couldn’t even begin to imagine the luck needed for them to not only be in the same region, but to meet up in the exact same place as well. It would’ve seemed absurd if it wasn’t actually happening to her at that moment.
Sasha was wearing the same armor she’d worn back at the tower, only missing a pauldron and without the cloak she’d had before… before their fight. She lowered the bow slowly as Anne breathed out a quiet. “Sasha..?”
The younger girl released a silent sigh of relief at that, not that she’d thought the blonde would actually shoot her or anything…
For a moment, they stared at each other, as Anne’s mind raced with all the things she wanted to say, had wanted to say since the tower... I’m so glad you’re okay! Why did you let go? I found Marcy! Where did you go? How could you try to hurt my friends like that? Are you… are you sorry?
Slowly, the bow slipped out of Sasha’s hands, thunking wetly into the dirt below. Anne stared at it for a second, then looked up at the blonde questioningly, frowning with concern at the strange look growing on her face…
“Are… are you okay?”
At those words, a delighted, half-deranged smile started to grace Sasha’s lips as she pulled out her custom-made sword. “Oh Anne…” She crooned. “I’ve never felt better…”
Stomach twisting, Anne managed to unsheathe her own, much less cool-looking blade and dig her heels into the soft ground, just in time to block Sasha’s first blow as the other girl leered menacingly at her from between their crossed swords. She spared a brief thought to thank the combat-trainer/criminal mastermind Tritonio for his reflex training before she was engrossed in the fight as Sasha pulled back for another harsh strike.
That was how Anne had ended up here, backing away quickly through sharp branches and sticky leaves as Sasha swung and sliced at her with wild abandon, growing frustration on her face as Anne either blocked or refused to engage each time.
“Wha- what is wrong with you?!” She gasped at the blonde, narrowly avoiding falling on her butt as her heel caught on a large tree root.
That just seemed to enrage Sasha more, her lips curling into a snarl as she stepped over the root with contemptuous ease, as if to mock Anne’s own lack of grace. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me?!” She let out a guttural battle cry as she swung her blade in a wide arc, just barely missing Anne as it sunk into the trunk of the tree and remained there, even as Sasha tried to leverage the hilt to pull it free.
Anne knew she should take advantage of this opportunity, though whether that meant running away or striking back, she wasn’t quite sure. Instead, throwing aside all common sense, she tried one last time to convince Sasha to stop fighting…
“Look, Sash, you don’t have to do this! I just… I care about you, and I want us to be friends again. Just please… stop.”
She poured her very heart and soul into the words, and for a moment, it seemed to have an effect on the blonde. Blue eyes widened slightly, barely restrained emotion shimmering within as she stopped struggling with her sword. Then, like it had never existed, the moment passed, and Sasha fixed her with a piercing glare. “Okay, fine. You want us to be friends again? Say you’re sorry for betraying me back at the tower, and come back to camp with me. End. Of. Discussion.”
Anne was shaking her head at the ultimatum even before she spoke her denial. “That’s not going to happen. I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I will never apologize for standing up to you and protecting my friends. I regret a lot of what happened there, but I don’t regret that. And I’m not going to abandon the Plantars! Not for anything!”
At the mention of her adopted frog family, Sasha seemed to lose whatever restraint she had left, ripping her blade from the trunk with a visceral growl as she lunged forward once more. Unlike before however, Anne met her head on, determined to not let Sasha push her around. Not anymore.
Even as her own anger grew, Anne was shocked to see a flash of a grin on the blonde’s face as they clashed, advantage ebbing and flowing as they ended up in a clearing, a different one from where they’d found each other. She wasn’t sure how she’d expected the other girl to react to her newfound courage, but that definitely wasn’t it! As Sasha’s attacks grew more energetic, Anne couldn’t help but wonder if this was what she’d wanted all along, a proper battle…
‘Oh Sasha… what have you been up to..?’
Training, as far as Anne could tell, from Sasha’s noticeably improved skills. While Anne had been traveling to Newtopia, Sasha had clearly been busy in her own way. ‘Training… for what? For this? To beat me? I knew she wouldn’t take her loss well, but-’
She was forced to put that thought on hold as her left foot slipped out from under her, arms swinging as she just managed to right herself in time for Sasha’s next swing, a shock running up her bones at the force behind it.
That was a problem which hadn’t been present at their last fight. It had been raining heavily all throughout the previous night, and it was clear the ground here had gorged heavily on it, becoming soft and mushy, and rendering it almost impossible to get a good footing. It was likely the one thing keeping their duel somewhat equal, an obstacle that even Sasha’s relentless skill couldn’t seem to surmount, as she slipped and slid just as much as Anne.
Breathing heavily, Sasha stood a few feet away from her, pink sword raised and ready. She looked about as exhausted as Anne felt, but she raised her own blade resolutely in challenge, ready for their next clash.
Sasha took the first step, Anne following as they charged each other, ready to meet head-on as they swung their swords…
At that moment, disaster struck, for both of them. As their blades met, the force of the impact, combined with the slick mud underfoot, caused them both to lose their footing as they stumbled back from each other. Anne heard Sasha yelp, too preoccupied to look over at the other girl as she desperately tried to correct her footing. In her panic, the grip of her right hand loosened, as she felt more than saw her blade leave her hands, accidently throwing it away in her scrambling as she finally managed to find a somewhat steady foothold.
Icey horror growing in her stomach, Anne looked over to Sasha, fearing herself helpless. To her surprise, the blonde was unarmed as well, looking quite perturbed as she held her arms out to steady herself. They’d both managed to lose their weapons in the confusion!
Thinking quickly, Anne chanced a second’s glance around her, knowing that if she could find her sword first, she could force Sasha to stop this insanity…
It was a second too many.
At the sound of rapid, squelching footsteps, Anne turned back to the blonde, just in time to have the breath forced out of her lungs as Sasha straight-up tackled her to the ground, sending up a large spray of mud as she made impact with the earth.
And so their battle went from a somewhat-dignified duel of swords, to a messy brawl in the mud as Anne struggled against the older girl desperately.
Right away, it was clear that Sasha was the stronger of the two, not that Anne was surprised. It had been that way for years now. Of course, having spent three months doing hard labor on the Plantar Family Farm, she had been building her strength quite well, enough to put up a decent fight against the blonde at least.
For long minutes, they squirmed and rolled on the ground, grappling and grunting in frustration as they tried to overcome each other, far beyond words at this point. By now Anne was absolutely covered in mud, and Sasha wasn’t much better off. It was in her hair, sticking the curls together in thick clumps. It smeared against her skin wherever it was exposed, and soaked through her school uniform, an absolutely disgusting feeling that made her long for the shower Sasha had somehow managed to set up at Toad Tower. She couldn’t really afford to think about it though, knowing that being filthy would be the least of her problems if she allowed Sasha to beat her…
Finally, she found an opportunity to end the stalemate, and she took it, pushing Sasha away as she managed to stand up on shaking feet.
Before Anne could do anything, like run away, or find her sword, or even try to pin Sasha down, the blonde was reaching up for her, pulling her down by her arm before she could even complete a single step, apparently determined to continue their confrontation on the ground.
She landed atop Sasha in a heap, forcing the other girl flat on her back as Anne barely managed to catch herself by her elbows in the mud, stopping just short of cracking their skulls together. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep them from smushing their faces together, noses crushing against each other, and wild eyes staring directly into their opposite number. What really stole Anne’s attention though, was the position of her lips, or rather… their lips…
‘I… uh… what… that’s…’
Anne’s brain was officially short-circuiting as she felt Sasha’s lips pressed tightly against her own. Even though it was an accident, even though it wasn’t technically a real kiss, that didn’t stop her mind from going into overdrive as it tried to process the unfamiliar sensation.
Despite herself, Anne couldn’t help but acknowledge how soft Sasha’s lip were… not that she’d expected anything different… not that she’d ever thought about it before, either! Definitely not! Not in a million years..!
Just as Anne realized that maybe she should pull away before Sasha got any ideas, she found their positions reversed as she was thrown roughly onto her back, staring up at bright blue eyes that seemed torn between shock, horror, and pure unbridled indignation at what had just occurred. “What was that?!” The blonde hissed, seemingly forgetting about their battle for the moment.
Anne blinked slowly for a moment, unable to reconcile the Sasha she knew, angry and confidant and above-it-all, with the blushing mess staring down at her. She couldn’t recall having ever seen her this flustered before, not that she could blame her, y’know, considering the circumstances.
“Well?! Are you gonna explain yourself you little weirdo?! I-you… you can’t just do that…”
“He- hey! It’s not like I wanted to do that!” Anne replied defensively, having trouble believing the sheer difference between this interaction and the fight they’d just been in. “You were the one who pulled me down on top of you! Great plan Sash!”
The blonde didn’t take kindly to the sarcasm, or the reflection of blame. She started to splutter in denial, but Anne was long since past caring about that, just wanting to get away from this increasingly embarrassing situation. She started to struggle again, and Sasha once more moved to grapple her, seemingly more from instinct than anything else as she continued to expound upon every reason why what had just happened was entirely Anne’s fault and not at all a result of her own actions...
As Anne struggled to push Sasha off of her, she saw an opportunity to put Sasha off-balance as the other girl planted a hand into the mud by her head, clearly looking for a better position to keep her in place…
The second Anne got an arm loose, she lashed out, the slick mud aiding her as she shoved Sasha’s hand out from under her...
Unfortunately, her action had an unintended consequence. Namely that, with no hand to hold her up, Sasha flopped down on Anne, faces smashing together again. Like fate itself was working to humiliate them, their lips were soon pressed up against one another once again, as Anne screamed internally at her horrible luck.
Sasha sat up quickly, reacting much more promptly than Anne had, much to her mixed relief/mortification.
“Now who’s the weirdo?!” Anne spat out, deciding that the best way to avoid the embarrassment was by pushing it on someone else.
“Still you!” Sasha insisted lamely. “That was definitely your fault!”
Wrapped up in her own shame/humiliation, Anne barely noticed Sasha’s rather strange reaction to their accidental smooch. Where before, the blonde had been clearly mortified and outraged, this time, she seemed rather… curious?
Suddenly, that look shifted to determination, and Anne had just enough time to feel a nervous twinge in her stomach before Sasha was lunging back down, moving quicker than a striking snake as she pinned Anne’s lips with her own, and leaving no doubts as to the intentionality of her move.
Immediately, Anne’s eyes widened in shock, and she froze as once again, their lips were pressed together. Only this time, there was no mistaking the shifting of Sasha’s lips as they moved against her own. Sasha… Sasha was kissing her!
She should’ve been repulsed by the move… she should’ve pushed the blonde away, and told her off...she should’ve done a lot of things…
But she didn’t.
In spite of all the embarrassment she’d felt, the fact that they’d been fighting just a few minutes before, or that they were both covered in mud… Anne couldn’t deny how nice it felt to have Sasha kissing her like this. After all of the chaos of the past few months… the unfamiliar world, the traveling she’d done… the fight they’d had, almost a month ago now… kissing Sasha felt like coming home. Like, despite everything, they still had something…
Releasing a contented sigh against those pink lips, Anne brought her arms up to Sasha’s hips, eager to cradle the other girl as she fully reciprocated the kiss…
...Only for Sasha to grab her wrists with her own hands, pinning them down firmly as the kiss grew rougher, more… possessive…
...And suddenly, Anne’s contentment and happiness were replaced with ire and outrage.
She just couldn’t believe the other girl. That even with something as sacred and innocent as a kiss, Sasha just couldn’t help but take control, dominating her like she had with everything else in their lives until that point. It was utterly infuriating, and in a split second, Anne decided that she wouldn’t stand for it. Not this time.
She bided her time, knowing she wouldn’t be able to do anything with her hands pinned like they were. Eventually, Sasha lessened her grip, seemingly assured of her surrender as the kiss continued. Anne tried not to let on to her true intentions as she continued moving her lips against the other girl’s smoothly. Suddenly, in a single, smooth motion that she would pat herself on the back for if she wasn’t already preoccupied, Sasha was on her back, with Anne bearing her down into the mud.
Anne couldn’t help it. She smirked into the kiss, even as the other girl’s armor pressed uncomfortably against her ribs. It was just too satisfying, to know that she’d gotten one up on her friend, who’d always seemed so invincible...
Sasha didn’t like that. Not one bit.
As Anne held her down, Sasha growled against her lips in frustration. Actually. Growled!
It would’ve been ridiculous if it didn’t make Anne’s blood boil like nothing ever had before, and she struggled to keep the blonde pinned, eventually losing her grip as they rolled once again…
And that was how it went for a bit, like some surreal continuation of their previous struggle. Anne couldn’t deny that this was a much more pleasant battle though, even if they were getting increasingly covered in mud the longer they continued. She didn’t care. All that mattered to her now was winning… whatever winning meant when your ‘contest’ was literally just making out.
Sadly, humans do need oxygen to survive, and so they eventually had to break the kiss, falling back from where they’d been kneeling in the mud together, both held up on shaky arms as they stared at each other in an undisguised mixture of shock and awe.
Breathing heavily, Anne’s mind was once again cluttered with everything she wanted to say and do. She wanted to ask what this meant for them… she wanted to pull Sasha into another kiss until they determined the winner… trapped by indecision, all she could do was gaze upon Sasha’s flushed, mud-covered face, and Sasha did the same to her, both of them just watching each other for one minute… two...
Suddenly, the silence was broken, but not by either of them. Anne could hear voices in the distance, calling out… calling out Sasha’s name… ‘Toads…’
She couldn’t stay here, and so she stood on shivering legs, spotting a glint in the mud that turned out to be her wayward sword. At that moment, she couldn’t help but be glad she lost the dang thing…
With her weapon back in its place, Anne turned back to Sasha. The blonde had yet to move from her position on the ground, simply staring at her as she stared back. On the tip of Anne’s tongue was a request… please, come back with me…
She knew though, that Sasha wouldn’t do it. Not yet at least.
Making her way to the edge of the clearing as she tried to work out the way back in her head, Anne chanced one last look back as she left. Sasha was still there, not even trying to stop her as the voices drew near… Anne left through the underbrush as those voices suddenly called out in greeting to the blonde, moving quietly so as to avoid detection…
Anne returned to the Plantars with no food, drenched head-to-toe in mud and aching all over from her ordeal. She made up a quick story about an accident, a fall down a hill that explained her current state to her adopted family. It was a sting to her pride, but she’d take the playful mockery and teasing of Sprig and Polly over the reactions she’d get if they found out what she’d really been up to out there.
In a way, it was an accident… a crazy, implausible, embarrassing, utterly thrilling accident that is…
As she splashed water from a pail on her face, trying to clear the worst of the filth from her skin, Anne couldn’t help but think of Sasha, hoping that their next encounter would be under much cleaner circumstances…
And there would be a next encounter if Anne had anything to say about it. They had a score to settle, and Anne was determined to be the winner for once...