Chapter Text
Sasha stared at the clock on the wall, propped up in a chair next to his friend's hospital bed.
It's been three days since Andrias was defeated, along with the night. Sasha ached all over, which wasn't a surprise to her.
It didn't take her long to get over the initial shock of the battle, but she often found herself on edge.
She decided to make it a part of her routine with Anne to come and visit Marcy and talk to her. It wasn't easy for Sasha, clearly. She couldn't help but feel guilty every time she laid her eyes on Marcy's unconscious body.
Anne told her that speaking to a comatose patient could be helpful to speed their recovery, so here she was.
He was waiting for Anne to return meanwhile. She'd left to get supplies in order to plan out their next steps back to Amphibia.
Amphibia. The world she left behind.
She missed it.
Earth was recently feeling like a foreign place itself.
He really felt out of place, which really put a weight on his shoulders.
"That clock's annoying, huh, Marcy?"
Sasha finally asked, her voice echoing in the white hospital room.
"No need to answer, I already know what you're gonna say," Sasha "interrupted" her, then suddenly felt her cheeks flush.
She felt just a tad bit crazy.
"Sorry, I know I shouldn't ask questions. Well, I'll just tell you how everything's gone so far!"
Sasha brushed her hair back while thinking, finding it more comfortable when it's down.
"Anne and I tried to spend the night together in her room for the first night, but it was far too awkward for me to stay, so... I took my stuff and slept on the couch. It's kinda hard to sleep in the same room that you used to when you spent so many months away, made so many mistakes, and finally came back and was let in with open arms. Just makes me feel a little selfish, haha! But uh, Mrs. Boonchuy is really nice to me. Super strict though! She's a good mother. Mr. Boonchuy is much the same, just a bit goofier. He's such a dork! But a lovable, dad-like dork."
Sasha stared off into the distance. The feeling of her hair cascading down her shoulders wasn't uncomfortable, quite the contrary, it gave her a feeling of grounding. She rarely ever let it down, so it was a change.
Change.
Right.
Sasha hated change.
It made him feel that he didn't have control. He felt that he was at the mercy of whoever was causing the change. He hated when he sensed a change in his mother's voice. He hated when he was forced to change little things about himself because his father told him to. He hated change altogether.
But there's was a good kind of change, wasn't there?
The kind of change that Sasha feared, whether she liked it or not.
Changing for the better.
It shouldn't be scary, yet Sasha still bounced her leg nervously whenever she thought of it. It was intimidating, really. Would becoming a better person just make her feel worse? Or when she realizes that it isn't so bad, it all falls apart and she'll be right back where she started?
He thought back to his parents.
Where were they? Should he tell them that he's back? Or should he just stay in hiding forever?
None of these questions helped, they only made his nerves worse.
Sasha has always known where she'd lived and she could probably get there with her eyes closed, but when she sees it again, will it look foreign?
Will it look like the home she grew up in?
She didn't know if that was for the better or for the worst.
Before her thoughts could get any further, the gentle sound of a door shutting distracted her.
"Hey, Sasha."
Anne Boonchuy, her best friend.
Ex-best friend?
Friend?
Nothing?
None at all?
"You okay?"
Sasha rubbed her forehead, stressed.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm just... Out of it."
Anne only dismissed her with a hand and a shake of her head, "No worries, I get it."
The kind girl shuffled over to Sasha and sat down in the chair next to his, carrying a notebook, "Thank you for waiting! I got caught up in this whole thing with Sprig and Domino... It was difficult," Anne laughed, "anyways, I got a notebook to write down our plans and I brought Marcy's phone plus her journal. The phone wasn't really necessary, but I thought about charging it here for her, just in case if she wakes up."
"That's thoughtful."
"Good thing her bag survived throughout the battle, though it did fall off when Andrias... Y'know..." Anne trailed off.
"When he threw me?" Sasha continued.
"Yeah, I guess that's the only reason why it didn't get turned to absolute dust, huh?"
"S'pose so, anyways, the plan?"
Sasha held her hand out, waiting for Anne to place the notebook in it but dropped her arm when she noticed Anne wasn't budging.
"Sasha, we have to talk first, about everything. I think we should discuss it in front of Marcy, just... No fighting. I think she deserves to know but let's not stress her out."
"Well, you're definitely stressing me out..." Sasha muttered.
"Hey, I don't wanna have this conversation either!" Anne sighed, "first, ground rules. No more manipulating, no more lying, and if one of us doesn't want to do something that you want us to, we don't have to. Any questions?"
"Um- No? I mean- No. No questions," Sasha awkwardly messed with the white strings in the rips of his jeans.
"And keep in mind that even if you may not be the same person as before, I don't have to trust you. You literally manipulated me since the age of 6 or something."
"Yeah, I know," Sasha felt small in comparison. A proper punishment, isn't it?
"And this doesn't really mean we're friends again, but it's a start. Clear?"
Sasha couldn't tell if she was relieved or guilty, but it made her stomach turn.
"Clear."
"Alright, those are my boundaries! What about yours?"
Sasha froze, a little dumbfounded.
"Mine?"
"Mhm!"
Anne sat there patiently, one leg crossed over another with a small smile on her face.
She was dressed in blue, Sasha noted, distracted by the sudden observation.
Anne always looked nice in blue.
"Sasha?"
She shook her head, groaning.
"Sorry, again, I got distracted. What was the question?"
"Your boundaries? What are they?"
Why did Anne have to be so patient with her? Sasha shifted away, growing upset. Was this an act of pity? Did Anne pity her?
"Why do you care?" Sasha grumbled.
"I don't need to have a reason to care about your needs, Sasha."
"I don't know," She brushed her hair out of her face, "I'm not sure how to set any."
"That's not good for you, Sash."
Sasha couldn't help but laugh.
"No kidding? It's not like that's the whole point," Sasha ran her hand down her face, frustrated, "sorry, I shouldn't be sarcastic. You're just trying to help."
"Well, I'm not a professional, obviously, but I'm here for you. Have you considered therapy?" Anne spoke gently.
Why was she so gentle?
Better yet, what kind of question was that?
"Therapy? Don't only... You know... Crazy people do that?"
"One, Sasha that's rude. Two, nope! You don't have to be "crazy" to get support. That's honestly why a lot of people struggle daily."
"Oh."
Sasha bit her thumb in thought.
"Okay, yeah, I guess that makes sense."
"I can't convince you to go, but I think it'll both do us great. I haven't gotten it yet but my mom convinced me with "you may not feel better, but you'll have the right steps and tools to help manage it," and honestly? It really helped."
"That's... Really reassuring, actually. Thanks, Anne," Sasha smiled.
Anne smiled back, "Hey, it's no problem! Anyways, now that that's settled," she handed a notebook to the blond, "I got some information."
Sasha grabbed a pen from a counter next to a sink and a glove dispenser and opened to the first page, "Go for it."
"Okay, so," She opened to a page in Marcy's book, "Marcy wrote here that the gems have to do with our traits. Strength and heart allowed us to open the void portal because of your perseverance and my need to get rid of those two. Our powers also seem to be connected to our emotions. However, while Marcy's still in that coma, I don't think we're going to be able to open a portal to Amphibia just yet."
"What do you think would happen if one of us combined our powers with Marcy's?" Sasha asked after she finished writing her notes.
"Marcy wrote that she has the power of Wit, which makes sense why she called herself that during the fight. I think- and this is just an idea - that we could open variations of that banishing portal with Marcy's abilities. I mean, she has the brainy powers, so."
"So, with our powers, we can make more uncontrollable, powerful portals... Would mixing one of ours with Marcy's create a stable, focused portal?"
"That's the main theory, I guess."
Sasha wrote down as much as she could about their discussion and exhaled when she finished.
"This... Is a lot," Sasha muttered.
"Hey," Anne reached over and carefully placed a hand on her arm, "we'll be okay. I promise."
Sasha put her cold hand over Anne's warm one with gratitude, "Thank you, Anne."
"Of course," she carefully took her hand off of Sasha's shoulder, "let's go home, my mom said she's gonna make us Pad see ew! I think she's been extra nice recently to make up for the whole battle thing, to be honest."
Sasha and Anne giggled whole-heartedly at her comment.
"Makes sense! I've always loved your mom's cooking so whatever she makes, I don't mind," Sasha stood from her chair, shutting the notebook.
"Wait 'til she starts scolding you about every little thing," Anne teased, getting up as well.
"Can't wait," Sasha nudged her playfully.
Anne placed her notebooks and various other things into her bag, taking out a charger for Marcy's phone.
"Outlet?" Anne questioned, looking around the room.
"Hold on, I got it," Sasha took the charger, walked meticulously to the right side of Marcy's bed, and inserted the charger into a port by the wall and a counter.
"Oh, thanks! Here," Anne delicately handed Marcy's phone over to the blond and watched as she plugged the phone in.
Sasha nodded, placing the phone (and the pen she had) down onto the table, and walked back over to her.
Anne gave her a quick grin before pacing over to Marcy, hovering over the bed.
"See you tomorrow, Mar-Mar, we love you!" she lovingly ran her fingers through their hair.
"Yeah, wake up soon nerd," Sasha crossed her arms, trying to keep her appearance.
"Pssh, shut up!" Anne threw a fake punch at Sasha's arm, "c'mon, you goof, let's go. Marcy needs her rest."
"Alright, bye, Marcy!" Sasha waved goodbye, despite knowing Marcy couldn't see.
"Bye, Marcy!" Anne echoed, giving the bed a gentle pat before walking over to the door and opening it, "hurry up, dude!"
"Ugh, coming!" Sasha sighed, exiting out the door with Anne trailing behind her.
The next morning, Sasha woke up to Anne violently shaking him.
"Woah! What the hell?" He pushed himself up, taking Anne's hands into his own.
"I just had an idea that may or may not be immoral!" Anne exclaimed.
"Did you even sleep?" He let go of her hands and rubbed his eyes, suppressing a yawn.
"Here and there, but that can wait! So," Anne stood from the couch and began pacing, "remember how you awoke my powers by touching my hand while yours were activated?"
"Uhh...Yeah," Sasha swung her legs over and let them dangle off the couch.
"Well, I know Marcy's in a coma right now, but I was thinking, maybe she doesn't have to be conscious to use her powers. I mean, Marcy can probably hear us, right? So, she'll know to charge her intent into opening a portal to Amphibia!"
Sasha sat there for a few moments, speechless.
"Anne, she's literally in the hospital right now. We don't even know if people saw us open that portal or fight Wit, we can't risk another person knowing what we know."
"We both ended up in that dead-end, I'm sure nobody saw, but yeah... You're right. Man, I need to sleep," Anne sighed and sat down on the couch.
"Totally, you sound insane. Like, I'm pretty sure later when you get some sleep, you're gonna be like," Sasha made air quotes with her fingers, "noo I don't wanna bother Marcy while she's in a coma, never mind!"
"Don't mock me, that makes you homophobic," Anne teased.
"I'm... Literally a lesbian."
"Not anymore, I'm taking away your lesbianism."
"Okay, lesbian."
"A duo of queers, huh?" Anne snickered.
"Yeah, we are," Sasha laughed.
"No way, really?" Anne sarcastically said.
"Enoughhh, go take a nap, Anne. Could I use the bathroom?" Sasha asked, standing from the couch.
"Sash, you don't gotta ask."
"I'm going to anyway! It's called 'I'm trying to be polite!'" Sasha replied, "now, if you'll excuse me..."
The blond walked out of the living room, took her towel (which was kindly gifted to her by Mrs. Boonchuy), and made her way to the bathroom.
Anne watched her lock the door and laid back on the couch.
It was different having Sasha live with her.
Not bad.
But just... a little strange.
He had a long way to go before Anne could truly trust him again. Thus far, however, he's done a fairly good job. As much as she was wary to admit it, there was no denying that Sasha had changed for the better, or so she hopes.
He was trying, and that mattered to Anne.
They both had a lot to plan for, but that could wait.
She really needs a nap.
Her eyes closed and before she knew it, she was out like a light.