Work Text:
Marcy made the Rule of Three.
If something happened once, it was an accident. If something happened twice, it was a pattern. If something happened three times...
If something happened three times, it was her own fault.
It was her fault she couldn't run away from it fast enough, or that she couldn't hide it. It was her own fault if she let them hurt her. Her own fault if she wasn't strong enough to fight back or stand up for herself. That's why Sasha thought she was easy to push around, right? It's why Anne could dismiss her ideas and intrests so easily, right? Its why she was so weak to Andrias. Thats what she meant by her rule of three. It happened three times.
Sasha.
Anne.
Andrias.
Her. Own. Fault. Marcy let the nightmares happen. The core made sure of it. Darcy's presence never left. She saw the flecks of orange littered in her once chocolate brown eyes. She saw the shards of broken green too, and those were the worst. Her scar, a constant reminder she ignored her rule, and ended up paying the price. All because she couldn't let her friends go. How childish was that? She was the reason for Sasha's scars. For Anne's constant nightmares and pacing the house looking for Sprig, before remembering and breaking down. It was all her fault. She was a stupid child, and now even more of a stupid adult.
Marcy sat up. The orange eyes in her mind ever present as she dragged in ragged breath after ragged breath. She looked to her left, and her right. Two sleeping figures. Because she ignored the rule of three. They forgave her, but she didn't deserve them. Not after what she did. Before she could wake the pair, she slipped out the bottom of the bed and out of the room. Walking down the hall and taking a sharp turn into her office, she threw herself into her work. She could have a panic attack later. Tears didn't pay bills. Cowards, didn't pay bills. Rejects. Taking the back of her wrist she scrubbed the tears out of her eyes. After everything she did, she didn't deserve to cry. As her pen hit her tablet, she drew Maddie. She missed the frog. She missed her home. She was on Earth with Anne and Sasha. Her mum and dad. So WHY did she still feel so fucking empty? WHY did she miss Amphibia so much? WHY DID SHE CARE? Amphibia was the cause of all their problems. Did she deserve to go back because she was the problem? Because thats where their problems should be burried and forgotten?
Marcy shook her head. She knew that wasn't true. Neither Anne nor Sasha had forgotten their time in Amphibia. Both making things that reminded them of their other home. Marcy continued to doodle, and by the time the sun was rising through the blinds in her office, Maddie, Olivia, Yunan, Grime, and the Plantars had been drawn. There were words scrawled on the page. Ones that haunted her mind all the time when she thought about Amphibia too much.
"That's the thing about friends isn't it. The more you love them, the more it hurts when they go."
Shoving herself away from her desk and work, she stood up, dropping into the sensory swing Sasha had put up for her. Curling into a ball inside it, she slowly rocked herself with her foot as memories flooded her head.
One night in Newtopia, Marcy had woken up in a fit of tears because she had a nightmare about her father. Little to her knowledge, Yunan and Olivia slept in chairs outside of her bedroom for the whole first week of her living there, and the pair had heard her cries. They had come into her room quietly, and offered hugs and soft ressurances. Olivia wasn't strong enough to lift the human back then, but Yunan was, and she had lift Marcy into her arms and paced her room gently as Olivia sang lullabies on her bed. It had helped Marcy sleep many nights there, and even when they stopped sleeping outside her room, she knew their room was two down the hall and to the left. Before she left Amphibia, she had begged Olivia to record herself singing one night, while Yunan held and rocked her around her room.
Taking out her phone, the recording was still there. Pressing play, it began. Her newt parents came to life, and Olivia's soft singing hit her ears. Something Marcy hadn't noticed, was Yunan's soft reassurances that were just barely audible over Olivia's singing. After some time, Marcy could hear her own soft snoring, and saw the fond look Olivia and Yunan shared. Yunan laid Marcy gently on the bed, and Olivia kept singing softly as Yunan joined the pair. The small family stayed together for a few moments longer, the newts taking in their human daughter. Protecting her.
About twenty minutes later, Lady Olivia picked up Marcy's phone, bringing it over to herself and Yunan, without waking the sleeping thirteen year old. Marcy had never watched the video, almost completely forgetting about it after moving away and being an adult. Oliva and Yunan's smiles filled the screen.
"Hello Master Marcy." Olivia had begun.
"Hey Kid!" Yunan added in.
Their voices stung her heart, fresh tears making their way into her eyes.
"You asked Yunan and I to record the next time we sang to you for whenever the event arose, that we were not together. So we decided to leave you this little note. You are so wise, Master Marcy. So kind. Funny. Brilliant. Loyal. You deserve the best in this world, and in your own." Olivia looked away, her own tears brimming over. At this, Yunan took over.
"Kid, you're going places. Dang good places. I don't think any of us would be surprised if you ran your world some day. Liv and I know you aren't going to be with us forever. You do have a life to go back to, and your own world to grow up in, but we want you to know, you will ALWAYS be part of our family. We love you Marcy." Yunan turned the phone to Olivia, who was nodding and doing her best to hide her tears.
"And Marcy," Yunan used her real name, so Marcy knew it was serious. Yunan wrapped an arm around her sleeping past self and Olivia, who also wrapped around her thirteen year old frame.
"We're so frogging proud of you." Yunan looked so proud of herself for swearing around Olivia and not getting into trouble, but then Olivia's gloved hand smacked her arm lightly.
"GENERAL! LANGUAGE!" Olivia cleared her throat. "But yeah. Yunan is right. We are proud of you. We always will be."
The video ended with her newt moms laughing softly and hugging her tight.
Amphibia wasn't an all bad thing. Amphibia gave her, Anne, and Sasha all homes. Families. Friends. An adventure. Now that she wasn't running from something, she was running towards it.
One thing was on Marcy's mind.
Getting them home to their other families. Even if it was just for a visit. Her newt moms deserved to see the girl she had grown to be. The person. The art she made and who she was living as. More importantly,
Her girls deserved it.