Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a tiring day at the mall. Anne was downright exhausted. Hop Pop was covered in chlorine, Sprig had destroyed the entirety of the art exhibits and Polly had almost gotten squashed by that rampage of angry moms.

Worst of all, Anne still feels a little guilty about throwing them in blind like that. She really took their protection in Amphibia for granted. At least she knows better now.

Anne and the Plantars decided to call Mrs. Boonchuy to come pick them up a bit early. 

“How was your day?" she asks as they start driving.

Anne sighs, sinking into the front seat beside her mother. “I’d say it was educational.”

“Very educational!” Sprig, sitting in the middle of the back, leans forward between the two Thai women. “We had a lot of fun!”

Polly, still annoyed over the day's shenanigans, speaks up against her brother. “Says you! Your world's weird Anne.”

“It’s cool!”

“Weird!”

“Cool!”

“Weird!”

The youngest Plantars continue fighting. Eventually Hop Pop shooshes them. Anne gives her mom an apologetic look which is met with a smile. Oum waves her hand in a “it’s fine” motion. Anne smiles back. 

They arrive at the house where Hop Pop is given his much needed shower. Mr. Boonchuy is already cooking in the kitchen when they get back, and dinner is served soon after.

“Thanks dad," Anne says in between mouthfuls. “This is really good!”

“Ya, thanks Mr. B!” Polly jumps up from her chair with her plate, swinging the dishwasher open as she does, neatly depositing her plate inside. “My belly was rumbling!" she yawns as she hops back up to the table. 

Anne chuckles as she finishes and gathers up the rest of the plates, sliding them into the already open dishwasher. She picks up Polly and places her in her hair.

“I think we’re all a bit tired from today. Why don’t we all turn in early?”

Anne’s question is met with nods from around the table.

“Sounds like a plan," Bee says as he shoos the four of them up the stairs. Half an hour later, their teeth are brushed and pjs have been donned. They curl into Anne’s bed together as Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy turn out the lights.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Everything is calm for an hour or two. Until it isn’t.

Light fills the room in bursts. Anne blinks her eyes open. She turns her head from the pile of frogs to the clock by the side of her bed. 11:00 pm. She brushes it off as light from a party across the street or something of the like.

She does a double take when the room is lit again. She opens her eyes in time to see sparks of blue, mixed in with bits of green and pink. It keeps sparking, then the sparks form a glowing circle in the middle of Anne’s room.

She quickly wakes the Plantars as what is clearly a portal continues to form.

“What is that?!” yells Hop Pop over the wind the portal is making.

“It’s a portal!” Anne yells back. “Like the ones the box makes!”

Her heart leaps in her chest. What if Sasha or Marcy got the box back? Or what if Andrias is sending another bot their way? They lost the last one. What would they do if another showed up?

Her fears do not come to light however as a quiet voice adds to the roar of the wind. Quickly, Anne realises it’s someone yelling. It gets louder and louder, becoming a full on scream. As the noise reaches its peak, a figure flies out of the portal, slamming into the wall next to her desk where her bookshelf lived a few days prior.

Anne reaches over and flips on her light as the portal flickers out, closing behind the body laying in the corner of her room. As the bulbs in her fan blink on, the figure is bathed in light. 

Delicate brown curls, streaked with blue, cover the face of the tall creature. Small flowers and vines weave through the hair that is pulled into two small buns atop the figure’s head, paired with a braid wrapping just in front. Both of these have since fallen with the impact, coming loose and joining the rest of their curls that lay beneath.

The figure lifts their head, sweeping bangs to the side. A groan comes from them as they lift a sore arm. Large brown eyes take in the room, finally landing on Anne and she can see blue in the depths of the irises. 

When they make eye contact, they bolt up in surprise, revealing even more dark skin and worn features. The figure, who is most definitely human, finally speaks.

“WHAT THE FROG IS GOING ON?!”

It’s at this moment that Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy burst into the room.  

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

“Anne, honey, what’s wrong?!” Bee exclaims as the door slams open. “We heard shouting!" he’s carrying an old baseball bat that was in a donation box in their room. 

“Th-th-they fell through a p-portal! L-like the one that s-sent us here!” Anne stutters, pointing at said person who is in the process of taking in their surroundings. 

“Whaaaaaaa?" they practically whisper. They then turn their attention to the others in the room. “Um… hi? Do you mind putting down the bat?”

The rest of the room’s occupants are startled at the words from the person. 

“I- yes! Yes I do mind! What are you doing in my daughter’s bedroom?!”

“Well if I’m being honest, I’m not quite sure," they take another look around the room. “It seems like the good ol’ portal express got my ticket wrong. I was planning on being in the throne room in Newtopia castle right now. Not 10 steps to the left and X number of years backwards from where I started.”

There’s a beat of confusion before Anne speaks up. 

“What?”

“The portal shot me out in the wrong place," they move to stand up, groaning as they do so. “And quite possibly, time”

“Oh.”

It’s clear to see now, without the mass of hair in front, that the person is wearing Amphibian armour. Hop Pop seems to realise this as well as Mrs. B rushes over to help the person up. 

“Hold on! You’re from Amphibia!”

“Not quite HP.”

“YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”

The figure startles and winces at the loud tone. Oum takes both of their hands after shooshing the old frog. 

It’s easy to see the resemblance between her and the new arrival when Oum is right next to them. The skin tone is almost spot on, their hair a few shades lighter than the older woman. Oum pauses, brushing a lock of hair behind an ear. She glances between the form standing beside her and her daughter now sitting up on the bed.

“Do you know who we are dear?” she asks softly to the figure. They shake their head a bit to clear it. They look back up at Mrs. B.

“Yes," they answer.

“What are the names of the ones on the bed?" she continues in a calm tone, trying to not overwhelm the human. 

“Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop." They leave out Anne’s name. They lock eyes with her again. It’s strange. Anne feels like she’s seen that face before. 

“And what about the fourth one?" The figure inhales sharply. They stare at her for a good 10 seconds before speaking. 

“Are you Anne? Anne Boonchuy?” Anne nods her head. 

“Ya, that’s me. Who are you?" Again, there’s a beat. 

“Anne Boonchuy," the figure replies. Confused, Anne repeats her question. 

“Yes. That’s my name. What is yours?" That seems to snap them out of whatever daze they’re in. Their eyes widen as they speak more firmly. 

“No. You don’t understand. My name is Anne Boonchuy. I’m you, but from the future? To be honest, I have no clue. This has never happened before," the future Anne lets go of Mrs. Boonchuy and walks to the centre of the room, addressing them all. 

“The portal freaked out and I ended up here. I think the music box sent me back in time.”

Chapter Text

Anne is confused, to say the least. One minute, she’s in her bedroom with Sasha and Marcy, stepping through the portal to Newtopia’s castle. The next, she’s thrown against a wall only a few feet away from where she started. The weird thing, other than the portal freaking out and shooting her out in the wrong place, is the room itself. 

The room’s walls, while still their pretty purple shade, are covered in old posters. The Thai flags across her door are the only ones that remain, missing the ones from Sasha’s German and Slavic heritage and Marcy’s Taiwanese. 

Gone is the queen sized bed with amphibian themed sheets made by Olivia herself. In their place is Anne’s childhood bed she had until she was fifteen. Come to think of it, her room looks like it did before they redid it after her fifteenth birthday. 

That’s when she sees the Plantars, but younger? And to top it all off, a face she hasn’t seen in 5 years sitting on her bed. 

“WHAT THE FROG IS GOING ON?!”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Hop Pop’s shouting startles Anne. He’s always had a loud voice. After everything that’s happened, she’s more sensitive to loud noises. If Sasha were here, she’d pull Anne to her and cover her ears. He’d then glare at whoever was shouting or pick Anne up and carry her away from the sound. Marcy would often help too, either by fishing noise cancelling headphones out of their gigantic bag they carried everywhere, or help Anne with some breathing exercises. 

It’s weird not having them by her side. Even weirder dealing with younger versions of people she holds dear. The longer she stands there, the more she’s convinced. The music box sent her back in time. However, the looks that the others give her shake her confidence.

“At least, that’s the most reasonable explanation. It could be a number of things," she starts to pace back and forth as she continues.

“But the possibility of time travel is very high. After all, there were murals of the three of us in Amphibia long before we were sent there. That might just be something Mother knows. I doubt it though. And Marcy gave us that speech about the different uses of the-” She keeps pacing back and forth, eventually switching her mumbling from English into another language that none of them can understand.

The others stare at her. Younger Anne finally pipes up.

“Um, excuse me. We can’t understand you," she waves her hand trying to catch the girl’s attention. It does and she gives a sheepish smile.

“Oh! Sorry," the older Anne smiles back softly. “Force of habit I picked up from Mar-Mar," she realises what she just said a second too late.

“But-” the younger Anne pauses. “I don’t have that habit yet. I know I don’t.”

Shit shit shit shit shit. Me and my big mouth!

“And if you’re from the future, I picked it up in the future. If you picked it up from Marcy, that means she’s still…” Her younger counterpart freezes. 

Why would she-

“She’s still what, Anne?”

Oh right. Parents might not know yet.

“Oh nothing!" the older Anne replies quickly. “We just weren’t on great terms when the portal split us up. Unless I’m getting the time wrong here and you’re like 16 or something.”

“Nope. I’m a little under 13 ½.” 

“Cool. How long have you been back here? Or what did you do today?”

Sprig jumps on her head. “Anne took us to the mall! She was trying to help us get used to her world," he shifts and lets out a sound of discomfort. “Why’s your head pokey?” 

Oh right. “Ya, you might wanna stay clear of the thorns.”

“Thorns?”

“Ya. There is quite the variety of foliage in my hair. Hold on a sec," Older Anne lifts him a bit above her head. Her family members watch as the streaks of blue in her hair start to glow. Sprig sees first hand the retraction of the sharper greenery back into his much older sister’s head.

“COOL!!!" he says as she sets him back down. “They just went back in your head!" he parts her hair to try and find them. “Howwwwwwww?!”

“What just happened?” Oum asks with confusion clear on her face. 

“Just a little trick I picked up from my time in Amphibia," they don’t know about my- our powers yet. You have to be smart about what you say, Anne. “No big deal! Maybe we should continue this discussion downstairs?”

“Sure,” her younger counterpart says as she swings her legs out from under her covers. “Let's go. And Dad?”

“Yes?”

She glares at him. “Put down the bat," Anne’s never seen that look outside of a mirror before. She chuckles. Younger Anne lifts Polly onto her head and walks out of her room. She’s soon followed by the others.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

They all sit down in the living room. Bee is still giving older Anne the side eye. 

“Alright! First things first," the younger girl starts. “You say you're from the future. How far in the future?”

That’s easy enough.

If I’m correct, it’s still the same day, just not the same year. We’re in like early to mid November, right?”

“Yep.”

“Great. So that means I’m…” she does some quick mental math. “From 5 years in the future. I’m about 18 ½ currently.” Sprig looks on with awe. 

“You look so cool! When did you get this cool armour? When did you dye your hair? Why are there more plants in your hair? Do we look this cool when we’re older too?!" he rapid fires questions at the older Anne. Hop Pop steps in, pulling him away from her. 

“Calm down boy. Give her some room," he turns to her. “But on that note, ARE YOU STILL A PLANTAR?! DO YOU STILL HELP OUT AT THE FARM?! DO MY ACTING DREAMS COME TRUE?!" The older Anne bursts out laughing. 

“One question at a time! I’ll answer what I can," she wipes a joyful tear from her eye. 

“First of all, thank you, Sprig. I’m flattered that you think I’m cool. You also look pretty cool in the future.”

Sprig fist pumps the air. 

“I didn’t dye my hair. The blue just appeared over time. The plants are complicated. Like I said, I picked up a little trick in Amphibia," she gives the Plantars and her younger self a sneaky wink. She addresses Hop Pop next. 

“I still help out at the farm. Mostly on weekends. Also, I sort of lied when I said my name is Anne Boonchuy. My last name has changed since, well,” she gestures to the other Anne.

“What is it now?" she asks. 

“Anne Savisa Boonchuy-Plantar. I’m officially part of the family.” Sprig gasps. 

“Really? How? Are you Hop Pop’s daughter or granddaughter?”

“Granddaughter. I’m officially your big sister!” Polly jumps up next to her. 

“Anne’s our sister? Awesome!”

“Well the older Anne is at least,” Sprig adds. “When do you get adopted?”

“A few years after the war. When I’m 15.”

“War?" Everyone turns to Oum, who has a horrified look on her face. She addresses her younger daughter. “Anne, is there a war happening? Or one that will happen in the future?” 

Ohhhhhhh crap. Did I just screw over my younger self?

The younger Anne looks to her older self for guidance. She turns to her parents. “At this point in time, we’re not sure, but she will know," she gestures to her older self.

“Ya, Anne knows better than us. Well, the older Anne. Futuranne? What do we call you?” 

Thank you Sprig. You might not realise it but you just saved my life, probably. 

“It’s probably a good idea to find a nickname for me. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. I need to find Sasha and Marcy so we can get home.”

The younger Anne agrees. “While I really want to ask about those two right now, it would be easier for one of us to use a nickname. What about Savisa? Just use our middle name.”

“Too suspicious if we talk to other people. I’m planning on sticking with you guys until I can get back to my time, which might not be for a while. If I pose as your sister, which I can do if that works for everyone. Does it?” Nods go around the table. “Great. If I pose as your sister, it would be too weird for your middle name to be my first name.”

“Then what should we call you?” Sprig asks. “Do you have any nicknames from your time?”

Older Anne thinks for a while. She rests her head on her hand. A few petals shake loose from her hair and land on the table. She perks up. 

Of course!

“What about Blossom? It’s a nickname from my time. Locals gave it to me due to, well,” she gestures at her hair. Not a complete lie, but not the full truth either.

Anne smiles. “Blossom it is! It suits you.”

“It does," Bee adds. “Now, back to what we were discussing,”

Oh no oh no oh no. Olms have mercy. 

Luckily, she gets an interruption right on time. 

“Hello? Anne? Marcy? Are you there?” Sasha’s voice rings through her head. She holds up a finger as a smile spreads across her face. 

“Yep! I hear you loud and clear, Sash.”

“Oh thank frog.”

“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?!”

Blossom turns back to Anne. She’s clutching her head and pulling her hair in a panic. Blossom runs over to her, making Anne’s grip loosen enough to pull her hands away. The rest of the family gives them some space.

“Anne?” Blossom speaks softly. “Could you hear that too?” Anne nods. “Okay. That’s very interesting. I’m gonna do it again. I promise it’s nothing bad.” 

“O-okay." Blossom holds onto Anne’s hands and locks eyes with her. 

“Alright, let’s try this again.”

Chapter Text

Anne inhales sharply. Blossom rubs her knuckles with her thumb, never breaking eye contact. 

“Before I say anything else, to the younger counterparts of Sasha, Marcy, and Anne, you can calm down. This is the way the older three communicate when we’re far apart.”

“Oh. That makes sense," Anne says out loud. The other occupants in the room are puzzled. Blossom ignores them.

“To those who don’t know me, my name’s Blossom, I’m the older Anne. We thought it would be easier to use a nickname for me.”

Sasha’s voice adds to hers. 

“That’s actually a really good idea. Thanks Blossom. I’m the older Sasha, but if we’re using those nicknames, you can call me Sea. Marcy would be Flame, but she has yet to respond.”

Speak of the devil. Marcy, or Flame rather, speaks up. 

“Well sorry for being kind of busy here. If I’m correct and you both showed up with your younger counterparts as well, then you know where I am right now.”

“Where would she be?” Anne asks. 

“Long story. You’ll find out later." Anne only needs to think for a moment to put the pieces together. 

“She’s in the castle, isn’t she?” Blossom pauses. Luckily, Sea saves her again.

“Shit. Flame, you need to get out of there now, unless there’s anything you can do for her.”

“There is not. I’m so sorry Marcy. We’ll be back for you, I promise. Sea, are you in Wartwood?”

“I am. Jump down here. Try to not let them see you.”

“Already on it. I'm getting to a window now so I can find out where I am. This would also be easier if both of you, Blossom as well I mean, could turn on your powers for a tiny bit.”

Blossom joins back in on the conversation, ignoring the questions from the others in the room. Anne responds to them with a “Not now.”

“I’ll power up for a second, but my parents are going to ask questions. I don't think they want me out of their sight right now.”

“Shit.”

“Sea! There are children on the line!”

“Sorry, Flame.”

Anne bursts out laughing. “I’m not a baby! I’m 13!” Blossom chuckles too, relaying Anne’s words through the link.

“Anne says that they’re not babies because they’re 13,” Sea responds immediately.

“Yes, babies, children.”

“Foetus," Flame adds with a chuckle.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but yes. Small children who are heavily traumatised.”

“We aren’t that traumatised," Anne replies with a humph. 

“You are. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“What do you mean by that?!” Mr. B says, angrily. It’s getting really annoying picking up bits of conversation with no explanation. “Children their age shouldn’t have trauma! Not if they have stable lives and living conditions!” Blossom turns to her dad, finally acknowledging the presence of the others in the room.

“When you get transported to a different world where your life's on the line every single day , you tend to get into some pretty traumatising situations," she stands up from beside Anne. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to do something to help my Marcy, or Flame as we’re calling her, and I can’t have the two of you seeing. Anne and the Plantars are free to watch, but I’m going to head to another room. I’m trusting you to not peek.”

“Why would we not be allowed to see?” Mrs. B asks.

“Because Flame’s made me and Sea, or Sasha, watch “The Butterfly Effect” enough times to know you shouldn’t mess with the past. This is more than a few harmless questions. The others already know how I’m able to do what I’m about to. You don’t. Not yet anyway."

“Blossom we gotta do this now,”  Flame’s voice cuts through her thoughts.

“Almost ready. Stay hidden for now Flame," Blossom speaks out loud again. “I need to go right now. Stay here. If the others wanna come along, they can. Bye," with that, she runs up the stairs to Anne’s bedroom. The Plantars follow her. Anne stays behind for a second, turning to her parents.

“Please stay here. We don’t know much yet, but I trust her," she dashes after the rest of her family.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Anne arrives at her room just in time for Blossom to violently pull her in before the door slams shut. Blossom locks the door and then pauses, turning around to face the others. 

“This is going to be weird, but I need you to trust me," she closes her eyes, pinches her thumbs and index fingers together, then presses them to each other. As her hands pull apart, there is a blue, glowing line floating between her fingers. 

The line snaps as she pulls her hands further apart, coating her fingers in blue. The blue streaks in her hair start to glow as well. Blossom waves her hands in the direction of the walls, ceiling and floor, the blue shimmering out from her fingertips and painting them the same vibrant shade.

She lets her hands rest, closing her eyes. “I’m ready when you are Flame.”

“‘Bout time! I’m very scared of getting caught here.”

“Flame, I’m in the middle of Wartwood. I’m ready to catch you.”

“Great. I need you both to power up in 3… 2… 1…”

Blossom lifts her hands over her heart. Her hair glows even brighter. The lights are still off from before, so the glow from Blossom lights up the entire space. 

At 0, Blossom opens her hands from her chest, eyes shooting open with them, glowing a fierce blue. Her hair bursts with blue light and plants start to grow from it rapidly, forming leaves and branches. A shimmer form of a dress made of leaves and flowers floats around her, not fully forming. Her feet lift gently off the ground.

“Woahhhhhh!" the others gasp. Anne feels a ghost of her power flare up as well, sensing the energy from the older trio along with her own. 

Flame’s voice rings in Blossom and Anne’s minds. “Got it! Thank you! Sea, I’m on my way.”

“Be careful Flame," Blossom says both mentally and out loud. Her voice is layered and distorted. 

“I am, I promise. Heads up!” Just as she finishes the sentence, Anne feels a burst of power, stronger than before, enough to make her fumble as if she had been hit in the chest. Sea responds immediately. 

“I see you! Can you see me?”

“Yep! Falling into your arms is always fun! Especially from 200ft off the ground!" she giggles. 

“Wait, WHAT?!” Anne asks with a shout. “What is going on?” Blossom chuckles. 

“Can one of you relay the image to us? Anne’s a little confused,” she asks. Flame chirps back excitedly. 

“Sure thing! Sending my sight your way!” Anne is about to ask what that means when her vision goes blue. 

The Plantars watch Anne’s eyes flash the same shade as Blossom’s. They slowly fade from the bright blue to teal. 

Anne’s vision changes too. Where her room and family were, now she can see trees and swampland, tinged in teal. Below her, she can just make out the houses and monuments of Wartwood rapidly approaching. Needless to say, it scares her. 

“What’s going on?!” Anne asks, concerned. Blossom drifts over to her and takes Anne’s hands. 

“Don’t worry. You’re seeing through Flame’s eyes. You’re not actually plummeting to the ground at a rapid pace," Blossom chuckles.

“BUT YOUR MARCY IS?!" Hop Pop shouts. Blossom winces. She accidentally projects her discomfort.

“Ow," Flame, concerned, speaks up while continuing her descent.

“Everything ok Blossom?”

“Loud," is the only response she gives. Anne turns towards the direction of her grandfather’s voice.

“Hop Pop, you can’t yell around her. She’s sensitive to it.”

“Oh! Sorry!” Blossom gives him a warm smile.

“It’s alright HP. You didn’t know. I’m more sensitive to it now than when I was younger. Anne, can you see anyone else yet?”

Anne focuses back on the vision that encompasses her sight. As she, or Flame rather, keeps getting closer to the ground, Anne can make out a few figures down below. She recognises some of the Wartwood residents, such as Wally, the Sundews, the Flours and Toadstool. They are joined by a good portion of the community. She can also make out the form of Grime and…

Oh my frog! Is that Sasha? she thinks to herself. 

The blonde is easily spotted with the quickly diminishing distance, Standing just in front of them all is a person she doesn’t recognise. They look human though, with a similar skin tone, if not a bit more tan from the sun, to Sasha’s. Their arms are outstretched towards Flame.

“Blossom,” Anne grabs the attention of the older girl. “Is that Sea? The other human on the ground?”

“Yep! Oh! This next part is fun. Watch!”

As the ground gets closer and closer, Anne’s instinct is to shy away and shut her eyes, but she listens to Blossom's advice, watching intently. When Flame is close to 20 ft. off the ground, Sea crouches and leaps, meeting and catching her in the air. She lands back on the ground with a thump and a small grunt. Anne can hear the townsfolk gasp and clap at the impressive display.

“Safe!” Flame’s voice rings out loud and through the mental link. She does a fist pump in the air as she’s set down. Anne assumes Flame curtsies when her eyeline shifts down to her feet for a second. 

When she straightens again, Anne finally gets a good look at Sea. Her hair is cut short, just brushing her shoulders in the back. The front remains long, framing her face with bangs. Sea has obviously stopped bleaching and straightening their hair, instead letting their brown roots grow in. Only the tips are blonde now, with pink streaks that emulate Blossom’s running through her hair. Her natural waves are even more prominent with her hair down.

She’s wearing toad style armour with a bit of Newtopian flair, complete with a heron headpiece that pulls back her bangs. A semi translucent skirt wraps around and leaves a space open at the front for better mobility. Black leggings cover her legs and disappear into red and blue boots. Bracers protect her arms and a cape hangs off her shoulders, connected by the one eye symbol. 

Freckles dot their skin. Their naturally blue, left eye is visible instead of being hidden by a brown contact. Their other eye is a milky white with a pinkish hue. Three long scars cross over the eye, responsible for its colouring. 

That mark shakes Anne to her core. Her own that she left on Sasha’s right cheek is still visible, but paltry compared to the slashes over her eye.  

Behind Sea, stands a speechless Sasha, staring at Flame. She looks a bit beat up, but not injured, thankfully. Anne isn’t sure how she feels about Sasha just yet. Through Flame’s sight, and now apparent hearing, Anne catches the conversation they start. 

“Are you ok? Did anything hurt you?” Sea moves to Flame and takes her hands, brushing her wind swept bangs out of her eyes. 

“I’m fine Sea. Even though Blossom took forever…”

Blossom sends a “Sorry!" through the link. 

Sea chuckles, moving closer to Flame. Her mouth moves, speaking syllables that Anne can’t understand. That same language Blossom was rambling in earlier. The next thing she knows, her vision is back in her room. She turns to Blossom, who’s eyes haven’t lost their added green hue from Flame. She can still see what’s happening. 

It only lasts a second before Anne’s vision returns to the town. Gasps are going around and Sea is looking softly into Flame’s eyes. Sasha’s face is beet red, eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. 

“What happened?” Anne asks to the room. Sasha partially answers her question, even though she can’t hear Anne.

“WHAT WAS THAT?! DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST… JUST-” Sea finishes for her.

“Ya, we kissed. What of it?” 

It takes Anne a second, while Sasha keeps fumbling over her words, for the comment to sink in. Sea and Flame… just kissed. Each other. In front of Sasha. While Blossom could still see through Flame’s eyes.

What is their relationship like in the future? Anne knew she had a crush on both Sasha and Marcy. Did Blossom tell them? Would Anne tell them?

“Blossom?” 

“Yes?”

“Did Flame let you see that part on purpose?" she asks, tentatively. 

“They did.”

“… Why?”

Blossom stays silent for a moment. 

“You’ll figure it out.”

Not the answer Anne’s looking for, but an answer nonetheless. She doesn’t want to figure it out. She wants to be told now. She keeps her mouth shut anyway. Instead, she focuses on Sasha, who’s calmed down from her fumbling, but still seems to be having a small gay panic. 

“Alright. I… I’ll ask you about that later. Are you alright?” Flame chuckles. 

“Just peachy! We’ve done this tons of times. Sea hasn’t dropped me yet!”

“LIES!” echoes Blossom’s voice. “You have missed her before and she landed in the lake!" there’s a pause. 

“Ok but that was before we had practiced a lo-”

“And then got attacked by Amphibia leeches.”

“I THOUGHT WE AGREED TO NEVER DISCUSS THAT!”

They were getting quite a few weird looks from the locals. Sea chuckles.

“We have a mental link with both Annes. Our Anne is being cheeky.”

Most of the residents just shrug and go back to what they were doing. It’s at this moment that Maddie and Ivy run up to the pair.

“So you can talk to Anne? Is she alright? Is Sprig alright?" Ivy asks with concern written all over her features. Sea leans down to ruffle her hat.

“We can. Your boyfriend is fine," she sends a silent “He is, right?” Blossom and Anne’s way.

“He is. She has no need to worry”

“Great.”

Maddie pipes up after her. “What about Marcy? The younger one? Is she alright?” Sea’s expression saddens. Anne can hear an intake of breath from Flame as well. She sighs before responding.

“She’s… alright. Not great, but she’s alive.” Maddie lets out a breath of relief, as does Sasha. Flame then looks up at the sky. “It’s quite late. We should all be going to bed. That includes those of us who are listening from earth.”

“Alright then. Sleep well. With the others being able to tap into this, I don’t think we should trance," Blossom replies through the link. Sea pipes in after her. 

“Agreed. We’ll be in touch. Stay safe.”

“I will. And I’ll keep an eye on Anne and the Plantars. Goodnight.”

Responses come from the three humans in Amphibia before Flame cuts the link. Anne’s vision returns to normal. She and the Plantars see Blossom land back on the ground, hair fading back to its natural brown. 

This time though, it’s lacking the steaks of blue throughout, as well as the majority of the flora in her hair. Thin vines and small flowers are the only things that remain from the grand amount of species that were previously adorning her head. She stumbles a bit as well. This does not go unnoticed by the group. 

“Where’d the blue go?” Sprig asks the older girl. Blossom’s eyes widen for a moment before processing what the boy is asking. 

“Using my powers like that tires me out, so they show less afterwards. The blue won’t be back for a while. I’m gonna try to hide it from my parents as well.” The others nod their heads in acknowledgment. Blossom waves her hand towards the wall and the blue shimmer coating the room disappears. She steps over to the door and opens it. 

“Now if I’m correct, you were all in bed when I fell through the portal," Blossom says as she turns back to them. 

“Yep.”

“We were indeed.”

“Ya.”

“It woke us up," the other four people in the room respond. She gives them a nod. 

“Then I’m going to give Mom and Dad the all clear and set myself up in the guest room for the night,” Blossom walks out of the room and back down the stairs. The others follow her.

“Everything’s been taken care of. Can I sleep in the guest room for now?” she addresses Bee and Oum. They exchange a look.

“Fine," Oum says as she stands from the couch. “I can let you borrow some of my pyjamas. They will probably fit you better than any of Anne’s,” she huffs as she marches past Blossom. It’s easy to tell that the older Boonchuys still don’t trust her. Blossom doesn’t blame them. 

Soon enough, they are all tucking in for the night, now with an added guest. Unbeknownst to the rest of the household, Blossom doesn’t sleep well. She stares at the ceiling for hours. She falls asleep for an hour between 4 and 5 and decides to face the day after that. The others wake up to a warm breakfast the next morning, courtesy of a girl from the future.

Chapter Text

It’s been a hectic few days for Sasha. Since Marcy got… since Anne… since Newtopia, a lot has happened. She decided to stay and fight for the town Anne calls home, started planning the resistance, made backup plans for attacks. It’s been a lot to say the least. 

She’s been sleeping in the barn with the snails each night, but at least she can step inside the house now. It’s weird being back here after everything that’s happened. A good look in the mirror confirmed it, her roots are finally growing back in. 

It’s times like these that Sasha wishes that bleach existed in Amphibia. Hair straighteners too. The humidity is making her hair puff up like there’s no tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe she’ll like having her natural hair back instead of faking it for her mother.

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by Grime knocking on the bathroom door.

“Sasha, it’s almost nightfall. We need to turn the lights out soon.” Sasha sighs and opens the door, having just finished her nightly routine. 

“Alright. I’m gonna hit the hay then. Literally," she steps past Grime to head for the front door. She is stopped however when she feels a large, rough hand grab her arm.

“You will be going to sleep, but you’re doing so here. With Andrias sending more soldiers, It’s better and safer if we stay in the house.” Sasha stutters, trying to come up with an excuse to not stay in the house. She doesn’t want to sleep in Anne’s room and the only bedroom left is the squea- is Sprig’s. “You won’t need to sleep in Anne’s room. We can set up something for you where I’m sleeping, or we can throw a few blankets on the couch.”

Sasha sighs. “Fine. But I’m sleeping on the couch. I won’t catch a wink if I’m in the same room as your snoring.”

Grime chuckles and lets Sasha go. She walks to the couch and proceeds to flop face first into the cushions. She takes an extra moment to remove her swords and any daggers that might stab her in the night as well as the contact from her left eye. 

The small house is bathed in darkness as Grime blows out the remaining lanterns and turns off the mushrooms. With the combined exhaustion from the previous few days, Sasha is out like a light. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Sasha has been sleeping for a good 4 hours before she’s woken by the sudden light show in the room. She reluctantly opens her eyes to see a circle of pink light just to the side of the couch. Sparks of green and blue break up the fuchsia. Even half asleep and groggy, her mind connects the dots. 

That’s a portal. ANDRIAS HAS THE BOX!

Suddenly very awake, Sasha jumps up, grabbing her swords as she stands in front of the portal, ready for whatever comes through. 

She gets concerned when screaming starts from inside the portal, getting louder by the second. Just as she thinks it can’t get any louder, something flies out of the portal and hits her square on the chest. 

Sasha goes flying, the thing from the portal following her. She loses her grip on her swords as they tumble over the table. Sasha’s momentum finally stops as she feels the weight shift off her chest. Landing on the hard floor, she feels another body (? Yep! That’s definitely a body. Warm too.) land, hovering overtop of her.

Sasha opens her eyes for the first time after the tumble, locking onto a pair of eyes staring into her own. One a beautiful blue with pink sparks throughout , the other a creamy white. A set of three slashes, scarred over with time, sit across the right side of their face. Short brown hair, tipped with blond and streaked with pink, hangs in curtains on either side of Sasha’s face, cutting her sight off from the rest of the world.

The figure startles and rolls off of Sasha, then hops to their feet and turns to offer her a hand. 

“Terribly sorry for that," a rough, but comforting voice says. “Portals can’t be trusted sometimes," they chuckle and their laugh is deep and hearty. Their smile is soft, familiar too. 

Sasha accepts the hand and stands up. She’s about to ask the person a question when the glowshrooms come on at full force. Grime’s voice rings through the room. 

“Get away from my dau- Lieutenant, foul creature.” Sasha can see him on the stairs. He’s wielding Barrel’s hammer. Sasha then looks back at her partial assailant. 

Their smile has dropped. They don’t look angry, only surprised. With the lights on, Sasha is no longer cast in darkness. Does this person know her? They look vaguely familiar. They have the same mole underneath their eye that she does. 

“Did you not hear me?! Get away from her, beast!” Grime yells. The person shakes their head, spins around and speaks to him. 

“You can chill, Pops. Everything’s fi- ok, what is going on?!" they throw their arms in the air. Grime grunts as he descends the stairs. 

“I could be asking you the same thing," he glares at them. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” 

They pause. “You don’t know who I am?" it’s hard to tell from behind the figure, but it sounds like they’re crying slightly. 

“I’ve never seen you in my life. Trust me. I would remember a human with a scar over their eye," they tense, then sigh and sit down on the couch. Sasha steps over to her swords and sheaths them. The figure looks up at the pair. 

“My name is Sasha Waybright. I know you won’t believe me because that’s her name too,” they say, pointing to Sasha, “but it’s true. I was on my way to Newtopia castle with Anne and Marcy, but the portal freaked out and spit me out here. If I had to guess, I’m in the past.” Sasha stares at them for a moment. 

“Ya right," Grime scoffs. “Who are you really?”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Fine. If you really are me, tell me something only I would know,” Sasha says as she crosses her arms and glares down at her maybe double. The other Sasha sighs. Then fixes the younger Sasha with a hard stare. 

“Your full name is Alexandra Elizabeth Waybright, but you use Sasha instead because your mother uses Alexandra and Alex exclusively and you hate her. You secretly blame yourself for your parents splitting up and feel like you need to be in constant control, else you lose another important part of your life. 

“You don’t know how to feel about Cathleen because she’s an amazing mom and you like her more than your own, but you feel guilty because she’s not your bio mom. You also want Grime to stop skirting around calling you his daughter because you want him to replace your mother as your third parent. 

“You’ve had a crush on both Anne and Marcy since you were 10. You went all preppy Regina George, because “she/her” never felt quite right and you thought it was because you weren’t feminine enough. You’ve been having a gender crisis since you joined the army and started being more “masculine”. You-”

“OKAY POINT PROVEN!” Sasha finally cuts in. Grime gives her a look. 

“Do you really see me as a father figure?" the older Sasha smirks. The younger stutters. 

“I- uhhhhhhhh- yes? Yes. I do." Grime squeals and gives Sasha a big hug. 

“I’ve been thinking of you as my daughter for ages now, but I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Awwwww, Grimesy! Thank you!" The two of them hug. “I wouldn’t have felt uncomfortable. I’d love to be your daughter, even if it’s not official.”

“We’ll then,” Grime smiles, “I have the best daughter in the world and her name is Sasha Waybright!” All three start to laugh, reminding the newly made father and daughter that there is indeed still a third person in the room.

“I’m assuming you had a similar conversation with your Grime at some point," Grime addresses the older Sasha. 

“I did, but later on. I didn’t have an older me come in and tell me about my insecurities. Nowadays, I’m your daughter by law and then some.”

“What do you mean by ‘and then some?’” Sasha asks. 

“You’ll find out soon enough," her older counterpart sighs and stands up. “Now, I think we should try to track down the two ladies who were travelling with me.”

Oh! Of course! “Right! You travelled here with Anne and Marcy.”

“I did indeed," she heads to the door. “I’m going to look in town. Mind if you tag along so I don’t get attacked?”

Ah. Good point. The townsfolk will freak out if they see her without us. 

“No we don’t. Let’s go.” Sasha grabs the rest of her daggers and heads out with Grime and her older counterpart. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

They head into town, still filled with adults at this time of night. There are a few kids there as well, surprisingly. Sasha jogs ahead of the other two and immediately gets swarmed by townsfolk. 

“Why were there lights on at the Plantar’s house?”

“Is there an attack coming?”

“Where’s Grime?”

“Should we get to our battle stations?!”

Sasha struggles to calm the swarm before someone shouts above the crowd. 

“WHO’S THAT WITH GRIME?!”

Grime and the older Sasha have just come into view. Older Sasha has a very intimidating silhouette, Sasha notes. Chaos starts as the question echoes out. Sasha gets fed up and with a strength she hasn’t felt in a long time, shouts above the noise. 

“QUIET!”

The entire town goes silent. Sasha breathes before continuing. 

“A portal was opened at the Plantar residence. We originally thought it was a robot from Andrias, but instead, it was her," she gestures to the older girl next to Grime.

“Her name is Sasha. She’s me, but from the future. Her Anne and Marcy were trying to take a portal to Newtopia with her, but the portal freaked out and threw her out here." Older Sasha puts her hand on Sasha’s shoulder, speaking to the crowd after her. 

“Whenever we take the portal together, we often end up in similar places. Has anyone seen any similar lights or other humans around?”

The crowd murmurs, but they come up empty. The older duo hasn’t been spotted. 

“Where could they be?” Sasha asks. She looks up to the older girl. 

“I have an idea. Hold on," she closes her eyes and the steaks of pink in her hair start to glow. Suddenly, Sasha hears her older counterpart’s voice in her own head. 

“Hello? Anne? Marcy? Are you there?”

Sasha jumps and the elder woman puts a hand on her shoulder. 

“You good?" she says out loud. Sasha shakes her head to clear it.

“Ya. I just thought I heard you talking in my-” she gets cut off as another voice speaks into her mind.

“Yep! I hear you loud and clear, Sash," the older Sasha sighs out relief, sending a message back.

“Oh thank frog.” Sasha stares at her older self. Her mouth isn’t moving and yet Sasha can hear her speaking. Older Sasha looks down at her again, perplection across her face. 

“Can you hear that?” Sasha nods her head slowly. Older Sasha sucks in a breath.

“Wow. Ok. That’s… something." Just then, the second voice re-enters Sasha’s head.

“Alright, let’s try this again.” Sasha doesn’t flinch this time, but is still perplexed. The voice pauses before continuing. 

“Before I say anything else, to the younger counterparts of Sasha, Marcy, and Anne, you can calm down. This is the way the older three communicate when we’re far apart.”

Ohhhhhhhhhhh. That makes sense. Sasha relaxes a bit. 

“To those who don’t know me, my name’s Blossom, I’m the older Anne. We thought it would be easier to use a nickname for me.”

Sasha’s elder counterpart chuckles. “Of course," she says. “Clever girl, Blossom.” Sasha watches her close her eyes and prepares for a deeper version of her own voice in her head again. 

“That’s actually a really good idea. Thanks Blossom. I’m the older Sasha, but if we’re using those nicknames, you can call me Sea. Marcy would be Flame, but she has yet to respond.”

Marcy’s alive?! How is she-

“Well sorry for being kind of busy here. If I’m correct and you both showed up with your younger counterparts as well, then you know where I am right now.”

She’s in the castle. Ohhhhhh…

“Shit. Flame, you need to get out of there now, unless there’s anything you can do for her.”

Sasha listens in horror as Flame decides to leave Marcy behind. How could they do that?! It’s unfair. If you can save her, you should. 

Then Sea is running to the front of the town and Sasha is running behind her, the rest of the town following. What in the world does Sea mean by ‘catching Flame’?! Blossom is being slow. Flame could get caught. Finally, Blossom is ready. 

“‘Bout time! I’m very scared of getting caught here.”

“Flame, I’m in the middle of Wartwood. I’m ready to catch you.”

“Great. I need you both to power up in 3… 2… 1…”

Sea lifts her hands to her opposite shoulders, holding her elbows up. The pink streaks start to glow brighter. At the end of Flame’s countdown, Sea sweeps her arms down and out to her sides. 

Her body lifts off the ground, hair floating higher as her body is painted with swirls of fuchsia. She suddenly drops back to the ground and looks up. 

“Be careful Flame.”

“I am, I promise. Heads up!”

Just then, Sasha feels a surge of energy and a bright green flash appears in the sky. 

“I see you! Can you see me?” Sea sends out. 

“Yep! Falling into your arms is always fun! Especially from 200ft off the ground!” 

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Sasha watches as Flame falls closer and closer to the ground. Apparently Anne and Blossom can see through her eyes as she’s falling. 

Then, when she’s about 20 ft from the hard earth, Sea runs and jumps, a burst of her powers helping her catch Flame. 

“Safe!” Sasha can hear Flame say both out loud and in her head. She has a feeling it’s something she’ll have to get used to. 

The frogs cheer and clap at the display. Flame curtsies as she dismounts from Sea’s arms. Sasha gets a good look at her. 

Her armour is of Newtopian make, but more sturdy. The breastplate is metal instead of leather, reminiscent of the one that flamboyant, pink, newt general was wearing when she came after Sasha and Grime. Studded shoulder pads come off of it. A long sleeve shirt covers Flame’s exposed arms and belly. The sleeves disappear into fingerless gloves. 

A clasp decorated with the symbol of Amphibia holds her cape together. A studded belt with a shell for a clasp divides the long sleeve and her knee length skirt. Boots with fur around the top edge complete the outfit.

As Sasha’s eyes track back up, she takes on Flame’s face and hair. Where Marcy has always kept her hair short, Flame’s raven locks are long and cascade down her back. Long curtain bangs swoop at the front, while the rest is tied into a ponytail with a green scrunchie. Her signature hair clip pulls back her bangs on one side. 

Like Sea, Flame has streaks in her hair, this time green instead of pink, and the same shade can be seen within her irises. 

Then, Flame and Sea start chatting out loud. Sasha steps closer to hear the conversation. She’s confused at first, until she realises they’re speaking in a different language. 

Suddenly, Flame’s hair dims ever so slightly, and Sea leans closer into Flame’s space. Flame leans up to meet Sea and the two kiss. 

What. The. Fuck. 

Why are they kissing?! Sasha knows she has a crush on both Anne and Marcy, but she’s done so much. She doesn’t deserve them. 

The two older humans separate and Flame takes a glance at Sasha. 

‘That’s it!’

“WHAT WAS THAT?! DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST… JUST-” Sea cuts Sasha off. 

“Ya, we kissed. What of it?” 

Sasha stands stunned for a moment. Why is Sea so nonchalant about it?! Finally, Sasha regains enough composure to change the subject. 

“Alright. I… I’ll ask you about that later. Are you alright?” Flame chuckles at her fumbling. 

“Just peachy! We’ve done this tons of times. Sea hasn’t dropped me yet!”

With that, Sasha checks out of the conversation. Grime taps her shoulder and she finally looks around. Frogs all around her are staring at the new arrivals. Two children come running through the crowd to Flame and Sea. 

Sasha catches onto a question about Marcy. Her Marcy. Both Flame and Sea look sombre for a moment. 

“She’s… alright. Not great, but she’s alive," Flame responds. Sasha sighs in relief. Marcy’s alive. Her Marcy is alive. Yet for some reason, Flame didn’t get her while she was in the castle!

Sasha puts it aside for later. Flame speaks up again.

“It’s quite late. We should all be going to bed. That includes those of us who are listening from earth.” Sasha doesn’t know what time it is. Her phone died months ago. She decides to trust Flame’s judgement.

Blossom says something about trancing? What the hell is that? The others say their goodbyes and the connection goes silent. Maybe now she can get a word in with Flame and Sea.

“So,” she starts. “How’d you get from the castle to here that quickly?" she directs the question towards Flame.

“Oh! I just teleported," chirps Flame. 

“Teleported?!” Sasha exclaims. 

“Oh right! You aren’t able to do that yet. Not even Anne can," she chuckles lightly. “It’s something we can do with our powers.”

“Like the blue powers Anne has?”

“Precisely! Now, come on. We should be getting to sleep," Flame starts skipping towards the Plantar residence. She gets about 10 ft. from them before she falls flat on her face. 

“Flame!” Sea jogs over. “Are you alright?”

“Does the clumsiness ever go away?” Sasha deadpans. Flame laughs. 

“Kinda? I don’t trip a lot anymore and I’m not as oblivious. The falling usually happens because…” she grunts as she flips over onto her butt. Her legs don’t seem to move with the movement, like they’re asleep. “… my legs give out on me," she finishes the sentence. 

Flame leans forward and grabs each leg one at a time and moves them in front of her. Sea leans down next to her. 

“They fully gone?” Flame nods. 

“I felt them going before we got through the portal. I was counting on being able to relax at the castle, but then I got super stressed because the castle’s evil now and I’m even more tired.”

“Okie dokie,” Sea slides her arms under Flame and picks her up in a bridal carry. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Sasha stares for a moment before sighing and following the two towards the farm. Grime follows behind. 

When they get to the house, Sea turns to the father and daughter duo. “Don’t suppose you have any rooms free?” Sasha shakes her head. 

“Anne’s room is still the way it was left before Newtopia and I don’t think you want to sleep in Sprig’s.”

“‘Kay. We’ll take the barn then. See you in the morning," with that, Sea carries Flame into the barn and closes the door behind them. 

“Welp,” Grime sighs. “I’m going to bed. You should do the same.” Sasha gently nods her head, still staring at the barn door. 

Grime reaches up to her arm and gently pulls her along, back towards the house. He helps Sasha pull off her swords and tucks her in under the blanket on the couch. 

As Sasha drifts off, the last thing she thinks is, ‘I hope Anne and Marcy are ok. We’ll figure this out tomorrow.’ before the darkness takes her.

Chapter Text

Anne wakes up to the sound of humming. It’s faint and far away, but she can still hear it. It isn’t what wakes her up however. That honour is given to Sprig, who has smacked her in the face with his tongue while sleeping.  

Sighing, Anne throws the covers off her body and tiptoes out of the room, making sure to not wake her frog family.

Once outside her door, she can hear the humming clearer. It’s coming from downstairs. Anne carefully makes her way down. 

When she's about halfway down the stairs, the humming switches to soft singing. Still following the same tune, like you just remembered the words and you can’t help but say them out loud. 

The lyrics themselves are, well, complete gibberish. Anne can’t understand a word. At first, she thinks it’s her mom singing, but the song isn’t in Thai. 

Slipping into the living room and peaking through the kitchen doorway, Anne finds the source. Blossom is moving gracefully around the kitchen, movements making it look like she’s dancing. She turns to the side and Anne watches her mouth form the sounds she’s hearing. 

It’s the same language that she heard Blossom, Flame and Sea all speaking last night. Somehow, it’s even more musical. The language itself sounds like singing. Intonation on the words creating a melody. But this, this is like an angel singing. Sweet as honey and light as air. 

Blossom’s voice drifts lower as she sings, hitting notes that Anne can’t, ones that her dad can. Did Blossom’s voice drop that much? Anne’s been planning to go on hormones when she turns 14. Does she not? Did Blossom not?

Her train of thought is broken when Blossom catches her eye and stops singing. She chuckles and beckons Anne into the kitchen. 

“Good morning!" she says. “Sleep well?”

“Well enough," Anne replies. She leans over Blossom’s shoulder to look at what she’s cooking. “Whatcha making?”

“Just some scrambled eggs and toast. I’m putting cricket legs in the Plantars’," she looks at Anne. “Would you like some?” Anne considers it for a moment. 

“Y’know what? Sure. They add a nice crunch.”

“Right? I still can’t get Mom and Dad to try them," Blossom laughs. “It’s silly really. I know Hop Pop’s cooking sucks, but mine is great! Bugs give you extra nutrients and add a whole new texture and flavour to every dish!” Anne looks up at her. 

“You’re really passionate about cooking." Blossom grins. 

“I guess it runs in the family," both of them chuckle. “I still help Mom and Dad out at the restaurant when I have the time. It’s a bit harder, now that I’m in University.”

Anne pauses. She totally forgot. Blossom’s 18. She’s out of High school. 

“I always thought I would drop out before making it to uni," Anne says. “I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

“I get it. I felt the same way. But Amphibia gave me a passion and an interest. Plus an appreciation for farming. I’m studying herpetology now. The study of amphibians.”

“Oh! Cool!” Anne says. “Are there a lot of differences between Earth amphibians and Amphibia amphibians?”

“Yes. For instance, did you know that Earth tadpoles grow their legs before their arms?” 

Anne looks up in surprise. “WHAT?! That makes no sense!”

Blossom cackles joyfully. “I know right? It’s so weird.”

The two girls laugh for a while. Anne decides to switch the conversation once they’ve calmed down a bit. 

“I have a question," Anne says. “Well, a few really.” 

Blossom glances her way. “Shoot.”

Anne thinks for a moment on how to word her query. “First, what song were you singing?”

“An old amphibian folk song. It’s about travelling and missing home.”

Oh. Of course. Blossom must be missing her timeline. 

“Ok. Second question. What language is it in?”

“Ancient Amphibian. Y’know the runes that Marcy kept seeing around the temples? It’s the spoken version of that.”

That’s cool. Anne didn’t know there was a way to speak it. She thought it was just their alphabet. 

“How’d you learn it?”

“Someone close to Flame taught us. All three of us know it now. We’re the only humans to know it. Most amphibians don’t know it these days.”

“Why’s that?”

“Andrias squashed a lot of the culture when he became king. It’s been coming back slowly. Court dancing is a thing again. There’s a lot more folk dancing too. Songs and dances that were lost are being brought back thanks to books in the Royal Library and old recordings on old world technology.

“Even so, a lot of people still don’t know what the songs mean. They just know how to sing them. Some are in English, or Modern Amphibian. Whatever you want to call it. Some are in a mix of both. A lot of the more religious songs are bilingual.”

Blossom talks as she finishes one of the eggs. She takes a second to pop two pieces of bread in the toaster before cracking another egg into a bowl, mixing in spices and cricket legs. 

“Religious songs? Is there an Amphibian god?” Anne asks. Blossom nods. 

“Deity, actually. They made the stones. They have many names. The Deity, our Great Liege, the Guardian, etc. They/them pronouns. Super nice. Really likes music and dance. It’s why we sing and dance to pray to them. It’s also why the language is so musical.”

“Cooooooooolllllll," Anne says in wonder. “Having a GNC holy person sounds dope.”

“It is. Flame and Sea were both really excited when they found out that the Deity uses they/them. It gave them more confidence to try out different pronouns," that makes Anne pause. She’s been using she/her for the two of them the whole time. Has she been using the wrong pronouns?

“What pronouns do they use now?”

“Flame is Enby and uses she/they with no preference. Sea’s Gender-fluid and uses she/they/he. Most of the time they don’t have a preference, but every once and a while he’ll ask us to use a specific set.” 

The toast pops as Blossom finishes the sentence. “Mind buttering that for me? You can keep asking questions." Anne nods and grabs a knife from the drawer, plopping the pieces of toast into a cutting board, sliding in new slices of bread to replace them and turning the toaster on. As she butters the bread, she asks the question she got side tracked from. 

“Do you ever go on hormones? To, y’know, help with transitioning?”

She feels small and shy, like she’s 7 again, explaining to Sasha that she wasn’t born a girl. That her parents realised her disdain for being male when she was 2 and helped her transition early on. 

“Yes," Blossom says. She leans over and puts a comforting hand on Anne’s shoulder. “They’re a bit different. I’m assuming you noticed my voice has dropped when I was singing?” Anne nods. “That’s because I’m taking the frog version of HRT. It only affects my voice a bit. Mostly, it’s for stuff like preventing facial hair and giving me breasts. I’m around an Alto-Tenor singing range nowadays.”

Anne perks up at that. Blossom sounds happy. Maybe there’s something that makes it better than the human equivalent. 

“Why use an amphibian version?” Anne asks. 

“Because I have to. Human hormones would make me sick. A lot of human medicine does. Besides,” she turns to Anne as she sets the bowl of egg down. 

“Amphibia’s definition of gender is really chill. Almost no one is homophobic there. A lot of kids get to go on hormones early if they want to, just because of the nature of them. Your body doesn’t signify your gender.”

“That’s really cool," Anne says, before taking the new pieces of today that have popped and repeating her previous motions. “Wait. Why does human medicine make you sick?”

Blossom chuckles. “ Wellllllll… my powers may have changed my genetics a little bit." Anne looks at her expectantly. Blossom sighs. “I’m half frog. Officially related to the Plantars and all that Jazz.”

Anne’s jaw drops. “How? What? Huhhhh?????” Blossom laughs as she pours the egg mixture into the pan. 

“Our powers get wackier after the war. Our DNA changes to accommodate them. Now we’re half and half. There’s a word for it in ancient amphibian. Well, like a base word and then something you can add to specify. In English, the root is spelt, M-I-X-T-A-N-U-S. Pronouncing anything in ancient amphibian is hard when you don’t know how.”

Anne smiles. “Try me." Blossom smiles back. 

“Ok. It’s pronounced mEx-tan-ohs. The I is pronounced like an E, tan is pronounced with… kinda like a British accent? Between an O and an A. The last syllable is just like saying the letter O and throwing an S on the end.”

Anne tries a few times before finally getting the pronunciation. “Nice work! The intonation that goes along with it is ‘do-re-do’ if we’re using human singing technique. If you add on the prefix, which is ‘ra’ for us, it would be ‘do-re-mi-re’” Anne tries again, this time getting it down perfectly. 

Blossom continues to teach Anne some basic words as they make breakfast. When the others come downstairs, they find the two singing in the kitchen, grinning like idiots. 

Breakfast is brought out and the residents of the Boonchuy household prepare for the day ahead.

Chapter Text

It’s been two days since Blossom was thrown through the portal and into the past. Her parents have still been giving her the cold shoulder, but they’ve started talking with her more. 

Sprig has been acting… bold since this morning. That’s the only way Blossom can describe it. Memories from years ago flood her brain. Sprig wanted to be part of the family. He went to lengths to get there. The conversation over breakfast reminds her well.

Blossom walks in just as her mom is dousing a flame from Sprig eating hot sauce. Anne lets out a nervous laugh before Oum retreats from the kitchen. Anne grabs her brother and pulls him over to the table. Blossom sits with them.

“Dude, What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

The conversation continues from there. Blossom’s been slowly getting used to seeing moments of her life replayed from a different perspective, but she’s not quite there yet. She puts a comforting arm around Sprig when he starts to tear up. 

“Don’t worry about it, man. Being a guest around here is so much better," Anne says. “Being family just means chores, responsibilities and getting yelled at when you mess up." Blossom pipes in after that.

“She’s right. Trust me, you’ll find your place here. It takes time. Have patience." Soon, Polly is bragging about her new legs again. Then mom is calling them to go to the restaurant. 

Luckily, they call Blossom’s name too. She’s ecstatic. She runs upstairs to her guest room to get ready. With the burst of excitement, she decides to braid her hair.

Blossom weaves her fingers through her curls until her signature braid crown sits atop her head. She secures it with vines before braiding the rest into a bun, securing that as well, and adding a few flowers for good measure. 

When she’s done, Blossom looks in the mirror. The sight that greets her isn’t what she expects. Her hair is done perfectly, not a strand out of place, but her face looks tired. Rightfully so! She hasn’t slept over 2-3 hours in the past few days, not to mention that suppressing her powers takes a lot out of her. 

Blossom is well aware that it’s bad for her. She knows it could harm her, or that it could harm others. She’s had too many lectures to forget. 

Speaking of lectures, as she’s about to leave the guest room that she’s temporarily moved into, Blossom feels a presence in the back of her head. 

“Heart. You know better than this," the voice echoes inside her head. 

Fuck. Her. She has places to be!

“ I don’t have time for this right now," she sighs and tries to move for the door. Another thought stops her. 

“You can either sit down and listen, or I’ll pull you into a trance. I’m sure your family will be concerned when they hear your body crash to the floor.”

“Ugh! FINE!" she sits on her bed in a humph. “Just make it quick.”

“Trust me, I will. You know by now this will end in disaster if you keep it up. Without Wit or Strength, you could harm those around you, as well as yourself.”

“I don’t have a choice though, do I? If my parents find out I have powers, it’ll fuck with the timeline. I thought we were trying to avoid that," the voice in her head sighs. 

“We are, but you need to be careful.”

“Do you have a better option?" there’s a pause. 

“No.”

“That’s what I thought," there’s another pause. 

“I’ll just get more sleep. I won’t break ‘til we return to Amphibia. It’s only if I have it off for a year that it will kill me.”

“You won’t be able to sleep properly. Your body won’t let you without support.”

“I’ll try my fucking hardest, then. Marce and Sash can yell at me later.”

“Fair enough.”

“Wait, can Anne hear this?”

“No. It’s just the two of us.”

“Alright. Will you… will you say hi to them for me? Tell them I miss them? Sasha and Marcy?”

“For sure. Reach out anytime. I’ll let you go now.”

“Ok. Thanks Guardian," Blossom can’t see her Deity, but she can almost feel them smile.

“Be safe," they say, before she feels their consciousness leave her mind. 

Blossom sighs and stands up. She checks herself one more time in the mirror before walking out and sliding down the bannister. 

She climbs into the back of the car with Anne and Sprig and they pull out of the driveway and towards Thai Go. She smiles. Maybe today will be alright after all. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

It was not alright after all. Ned is, for lack of a better term, obsessive. The Thai Go recipes have been in the Boonchuy family for generations. They aren’t given to people outside of the family. 

Seriously, Oum should have just offered the delivery man job from the start, but then he wouldn’t learn his lesson, nor would Sprig. Blossom sighs and steps out from the kitchen, ready to set the tables for the day. 

“Wow! Did you get new staff?” Ned says. 

Ohhhhh right. Girl from the future. This is going to be awkward.  

Blossom turns towards Ned. She gives him a smile before setting what she’s carrying down on the counter. 

“Oh! Right! Ned, meet my sister, Blossom! Sis, meet Ned," Anne introduces the two. 

“Sister, eh?” Ned says, reaching out a hand for a shake. “Where have you been hiding?” 

Blossom shakes his hand. Then, using her best Thai accent, she responds. “I’ve been living with our family in Bangkok. I don’t visit much.”

Ned looks slightly surprised, as do the rest of her family. Blossom can’t blame them. Anne doesn’t have a Thai accent yet. Leave it to Blossom to tell a convincing lie. 

The story they came up with is something like this: Oum and Bee had Blossom when they were younger and, with the stress of living in a new country, they decided to let her aunt and uncle in Bangkok take care of her.

She visits every so often to see her parents and sister, but it’s often hard during the school year. She’s taking a year before university to spend with her family in America. 

All it means is, Blossom has to fake being raised in Bangkok by her homophobic aunt. Lovely. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet ya,” Ned says. 

“You too," Blossom picks up the plates and cutlery from the counter and starts setting the tables. 

She overhears her mom refusing to give him the recipes, along with the explanation for Anne. Blossom chuckles when the man outside collapses onto the floor. Oum, Anne, and Sprig all look at her. 

“Oh! Sorry. I just forgot that happened. It’s kinda funny when you look back on it," she turns around to face them. “But ya. It’s been hurting business," Oum nods.

“It’s been weeks, and he still hasn’t budged. Oh, well. I better start the khao pad," she leaves for the kitchen. Sprig makes a comment about he could be like the son she never had, if he gets rid of the food truck. When Anne leaves, he looks to Blossom. 

She sighs. “Go. I’m not going to stop you." With that, Sprig rolls off the table and onto the floor, letting out an ‘Ow’. 

“But try not to get hurt," Blossom calls as he scuttles away to find a disguise. 

‘Welp,’ she thinks. ‘Here we go again.’

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･ 

It has been one hell of a day. Sprig almost got yelled at, but Oum turned it on Anne and Blossom! She was not expecting that. At least she knows her parents respect her as their daughter. Blossom suddenly understands how Sprig’s been feeling all day.

Blossom realises that Sprig is about to start the truck up when Ned walks in through the door. She dashes around the back and sneaks into the back of the truck before Anne comes out with the trash. She’d rather keep an eye on her wacky siblings in case something goes wrong.

Soon enough, Anne is climbing into the truck, and Sprig kicks the stick into drive. The truck starts to move and soon they’re barreling down the road. Anne switches spots with Sprig and grabs onto the wheel. 

“Okay, I’ve never driven a car, but I have driven Bessie. And played 900 hours of Super Wario Carts," Anne says, before swerving to the side at Sprig’s yell. She tries to hit the brakes, but they seem to be busted. When Sprig tries to slow the car, he loses his grip and goes flying backwards. Blossom catches him.

“Blossom?” he asks in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you don’t get yourselves killed," she slides Sprig back into his seat as they crush a ramp made of garbage. Then, they hit the turtle and Blossom goes tumbling around in the back, banging off the cupboards and floor. 

“Scheiße!” Blossom shouts. Anne turns back to look at her as they crash through a tv. 

“Why do you know German?!” 

“Sea taught me. Worry about that later! Look to your left!” Anne turns her head in time to see the skate park sign. She asks Sprig to help her make the turn. Blossom grabs onto him when he’s almost pulled from the truck.

Blossom is holding onto the seats for dear life as they crash through the skate park. Finally, they land off to the side. All three breathe a sigh of relief. 

“I don’t believe it," Anne says. Sprig joins in.

“We…”

“...did it!" they say together. Blossom cheers with them. Then the back door opens. Oum is mad, Ned is confused, and Sprig defends them both. He’s learned his lesson. They both have. Blossom helps Anne out of the truck. Ned drives away before Blossom can call a tow truck, knowing that the brakes aren’t working.

At the end of the day, they go home and relax, and Sprig, this Sprig, is officially part of the family. As she lies in bed that night, Blossom can’t help but smile. 

‘Don’t worry, my loves. We’ll be alright.’ It’s her last thought before she drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Blossom opens her eyes slowly. She yawns and rolls over, looking at her clock. 

5:30 shines bright in the dim lighting. The sun isn’t up yet, but the moon no longer casts light through the window.

‘About 5 hours,’ Blossom thinks. ‘Not too shabby, considering.’ She pulls the covers to the side and sits up.

Blossom quietly slides off her bed and stretches. She rubs her eyes and reaches over to switch the light on. As soon as the room is bathed in light, she turns right back around and makes her bed.  

Feeling too lazy to change this early, the young goddess smooths out her fleece pyjamas and pats down her hair. 

She hits the light switch off as she grabs her phone and exits the room. As she walks past Anne’s room, she hears whimpering and sniffles. 

Blossom peaks her head in. She sees Anne thrashing in her bed, crying quietly. She’s still asleep. 

‘Nightmare,’ Blossom’s brain supplies. She sneaks into the room, making sure not to step on the Plantars while heading to the bed.

Once there, she slides under the covers and pulls Anne to her chest. Blossom strokes Anne’s curls, and she starts to calm down.

Slowly, Anne opens her eyes. "Blossom?" she questions. "What- what are you doing here?"

"You had a nightmare," Blossom responds, still stroking Anne’s head. "I wanted to make sure you were ok."

Anne looks up at Blossom before pushing her head into Blossom’s chest.

"Thank you," she says, muffled due to her position. Blossom smiles. She presses a kiss to the top of the young girl’s head. 

"You’re welcome. Do you want to talk about it?" she asks gently. She hears Anne sigh. She mumbles something. "What was that, darling?" Blossom asks. Anne lifts her head just enough for her words to be audible.

"Marcy and Sasha. In Newtopia." 

Blossom’s breath hitches. For her, the chaos and betrayals of Newtopia happened years ago. She’s had time and therapy to help her deal with the trauma. Anne, on the other hand, only experienced it less than a month ago. 

Blossom squeezes Anne a little tighter.

"You’ll be ok. You’ll all be ok. You’ll make it through this," she whispers. Now she starts to cry. Anne holds in tighter.

"Can you stay with me? ‘Til the morning?" Anne asks. Blossom nods. 

"Yes. Let’s try and get back to sleep," Blossom shifts further down on the bed. She lays her head down on Anne’s pillow and pulls the younger girl onto her chest. 

Soon, the two girls fall fast asleep.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

It’s 9:00 when Oum shakes the two of them awake. Blossom feels refreshed.

The two join the rest of their family for breakfast. As they’re cleaning up, Bee pulls Blossom aside.

"Do you mind helping me out at the restaurant today?" he asks her. "I’m not going right away, but Oum’s taking Anne to a dentist appointment, and I’d be on my own."

Blossom nods. "Sure." 

Not long after that, the family is relaxing in the backyard. Blossom hears destructive sounds from inside the house, but chalks it up to Domino being Domino.

Anne angrily throws her magazine onto the ground. "Really? Science Mag Monthly? Not one article on interdimensional portals? There's absolutely nothing! What science do you even do?"

Blossom giggles as Hop Pop tells Anne to relax and promptly spit takes on Polly when he finds out they’ve been here for a week.

Blossom decides to pipe up. "More like a week and a half."

Hop Pop spit takes again and tells the story of… Cousin Stanley. 

Blossom can’t help but laugh at the tale she’s heard many times by now. If the Plantars are confused by the older girl cackling in the corner, they don’t say anything. Eventually, Oum comes out to grab Anne for her dentist appointment.

"You have been missing for five months, and I have a feeling you haven't been brushing," her mom scolds.

"She hasn’t!" Blossom calls from across the backyard. Anne squawks at the betrayal.

With Blossom and Bee going to Thai Go, the Plantars offer to take Domino to the vet. 

Bee hands Polly a flip phone for emergencies, and Anne gives them the address.

Blossom watches Oum throw Anne in the back of the van and drive off. Bee hands Blossom a spare helmet.

"Are you comfortable riding on the back of the scooter?" he asks. Blossom nods. 

"I’ll be fine, Dad. Let’s go," she hops on the back of the scooter, and the two take off towards Thai Go. Blossom wraps her arms around Bee’s middle and leans against him. She got over 8 hours of sleep last night, but her body is still fighting itself, keeping her powers suppressed.

"Don’t fall asleep back there," Bee says. 

Blossom chuckles. "I won’t."

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Blossom and Bee open Thai Go and set up in the back, waiting to start cooking. Eventually, customers start to filter through. Blossom helps at the tables, taking orders and delivering the food. Familiar faces make her duck back into the kitchen, avoiding questions. Bee will swap out with her until they leave.

There are moments, however, where both are in the kitchen at the same time. They don’t speak much at first. Bee and Oum are still wary of Blossom. They know she’s hiding things from them.

As Blossom is cooking, her lack of energy makes the control over the vines in her hair waver, making her hair fall loose. Blossom lets out a squeak of surprise and tries to shake her curls back over her shoulders. She can’t stop cooking to tie it back up.

Thankfully, just before her hair falls into the fire, Blossom feels hands on her neck, sweeping the hair off her shoulders and behind her. She feels a slight tug as someone ties it off into a ponytail.

"No hair in the food," Bee says from behind her.

Blossom smiles. "Thanks. The plants in my hair usually hold it up fine, but they’ve been... weaker lately." She transfers the now-cooked food onto a side tray. Setting the cookware down, Blossom turns back towards her dad.

Bee looks… tense. Blossom knows that he wants to talk about her. What she knows and what’s to come.

He finally breaks the tension, "I know Oum and I haven’t been the most trusting of you. I’m sorry for that. It’s just…"

"I’m not telling you a lot," Blossom finishes for him. Bee nods. 

"We know you’ve been keeping things from us. We want to know what’s going on. We want to help," Bee steps up to her and rests his hands on Blossom’s shoulders.

"And I wish I could tell you," Blossom looks over his shoulder, not meeting his eyes. "But I can’t. I can’t warn you of the future."

Bee slides his hand over her cheek and lifts her eyes to his. "Then tell us what you can. What’s going on in Amphibia? Is there a war coming? Why weren’t we allowed to see you help Flame?"

Blossom looks up at him, about to respond, but Bee cuts her off, his face darkening with concern.

"Why do you look so tired? Have you been sleeping?"

Blossom feels tears prick her eyes. "Not really. Not well anyway." Bee wraps her into a hug. She finally breaks.

"I’m so stressed and worried, and I feel so alone," Blossom cries into his shoulder. "I want to tell you. I want to show you. I don’t want Anne to have to go through what I went through. But I can’t. "

Bee holds her as her tears stain his shoulder. He smooths Blossom’s hair and kisses the top of her head.

"Who’s saying you can’t tell us?" Bee asks. 

Blossom sighs into his shoulder before lifting her head. "The Guardian. My Deity. They’re the one who sent us here," Blossom huffs. "I don’t even really know what I’m supposed to be doing here! They’ve been so vague.

"All I know is that there are differences between my timeline and this one. I need to make sure that everything goes as it’s supposed to."

Bee continues to hold her. "Well, that deity of yours sounds like a bit of a jerk." Blossom laughs. She can feel the Guardian’s annoyance. "I really hope they don’t smite me for that."

"I should."

Blossom snaps her head to the ceiling. "No! No smiting!" Bee looks at her with a touch of fear.

"Fine."

Blossom sighs. "They won’t."

Bee looks at her with apprehension. "Were they going to?" Blossom lifts up one of her hands in a so-so motion. Bee laughs. 

"I was going to say that I’m here for you. As are the others. Am I right to say that you’re missing your timeline?"

Blossom nods. "I do. I miss my life. I miss the farm, I miss my classes, and I miss the older versions of you, mom, and the Plantars." 

"And your girls? Sea and Flame?" Bee asks. Blossom flushes. 

"Ya. This is the longest I’ve gone without talking to them in ages. We’re always so close or able to text and call. Now, I can’t reach them. I-" she tears up again. "I’m not used to sleeping alone. I miss them so much."

That last comment gives Bee pause. "Do you usually sleep with Sea and Flame?" Blossom freezes in his grasp. She switches to Ancient Amphibian. " Fuck. " 

Bee chuckles. "I don’t know what you’re saying exactly, but that sounded like a swear to me." Blossom hisses under her breath. "To be honest, Oum and I have a bet going on which one Anne will end up with."

Blossoming sighs. "Don’t tell Anne. She knows Flame and Sea are an item, but I don’t think she knows I’m a part of it yet."

Bee strokes her head. "I won’t," he says. "Your secret is safe with me. And, I’m sorry."

"For what?" Blossom asks.

"We haven’t been seeing your side of the picture. We’re worried about Anne, but we haven’t been taking your feelings into consideration. If you ever need to talk, please don’t hesitate."

Blossom pauses. She looks up at her father and smiles. She nuzzles into his shoulder as she lets out a series of chirps, trills, and the occasional purr. 

"Thank you, Pau ja," sh e says. Bee holds her even tighter.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

About half an hour after the emotional conversation, Bee’s phone rings. The two Boonchuys are already closing up shop for the day.

Blossom overhears something about Domino and shawarma, and...

‘Oh my frog, they lost the cat.’

Blossom finished closing up at breakneck speed, or at least the fastest she can go without the full use of her powers.

Soon, she’s hopping on the back of the scooter with Bee. They zip off towards the shawarma place closest to the vet. Sure enough, the Plantars are outside with a newly caged Domino.

Bee pulls over and calls out to the Plantars. "Time to go, frogs. Come on!"

Blossom makes room for them to hop on. She takes Domino and Polly into her lap, shifts Sprig into her hair, and has Hop Pop sit behind her. 

"Thanks for bailing us out, guys," Sprig says. 

Polly chimes in, "Yeah. You’re real lifesavers."

Bee smiles at the Plantars. "Don’t mention it. We were already heading back for the day."

Hop Pop sighs. "Once again we inconvenience you. How you must resent us freeloaders!"

That makes Bee pause. "What? Freeloaders?" He pulls over to the side of the road for a moment. "You three took my daughter into your home when she needed it most. You kept her fed and safe for five months, just out of the kindness of your heart. You will never owe us anything. Ever."

"Wow... I…" Hop Pop sniffles, "don't what to say. Thank you."

"Are you kidding? Thank YOU." Mr. B says, before starting the bike back up. 

Blossom joins in on the conversation as they start driving home. "You’ve done more than you could ever know. You took in a girl from another world, helped her come out of her shell, taught her responsibility, and helped her out of the dark place she was in." The Plantars all look at Blossom, and she can see her dad perk up as well.  

"I felt really bad about myself before Amphibia. I wasn’t confident or brave. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. You changed that. I know Anne feels the same.

"I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re part of my family." All the Plantars are crying by the end of Blossom’s speech. 

Soon, they reach the house and hop off the bike. After parking it safely, the family heads inside, deciding to chill in the living room after an eventful day.

Eventually, Oum and Anne come back from the dentist.

"Anne! You’re back! Everything went great with Domino," Sprig exclaims, jumping up from the couch. Blossom suddenly remembers what is going on.

Sure enough, Anne is LOOPY. "You guys are everywhere. Ok?"

"Eh?" Polly says, confused.

Oum sighs as she walks in behind her daughter. "Eight cavities and a whole lot of cricket legs." Hop Pop perks up at the mention of cricket legs.

"Ooh! Cricket legs? Did you save us any?" he gets out before Anne grabs his face.

"Listen, Domino is not just a cat. She’s the alpha and omega. An interdimensional being beyond all time and space," she says in a mysterious tone.

"Whoa, what’s that now?"

"Do me next! Do me next!"

"Hey. Do you guys actually wanna keep her occupied for a bit? Because that'd be super helpful," Mr. B says as he and Oum run up the stairs. "Thanks!"

Hop Pop tries to get Anne to let go of his face, to no avail. Blossom takes pity on him.   

"Anne," she says softly, putting a hand on either shoulder. "What did you dream about while you were out?"

Anne’s eyes open even wider. "A big Dominooooooo," she lets go of Hop Pop and falls into Blossom. "My baby precious! She was so BIG! She said that I’m fun to watch."  

Blossom is just barely keeping herself from laughing. She very carefully picks Anne up like a baby koala and sways back and forth. "Ya? Why don’t you go talk to her again? Why don’t you take a nap?"

She feels Anne nod against her shoulder. 30 seconds later, she’s out like a light. Blossom envies her a bit. "I’m gonna take Anne upstairs," Blossom whispers to the Plantars. They nod. 

The two girls ascend the stairs and make their way to Anne’s room. Blossom lays her down in bed and tucks her in.

She goes back downstairs to find the Plantars watching TV. With a pang of longing for her versions of them, Blossom sits with the Plantars.

When she falls asleep as well, leaning her head on the couch, they let her sleep. Bee comes down and carries her to bed.

Blossom gets her first good sleep since she travelled to the past. Hopefully, their good luck continues. For now, both versions of Anne Boonchuy sleep soundly, recharging for the days ahead.

Chapter Text

The days pass by in a flash. Blossom wakes up early, checks on Anne, then goes downstairs. More often than not, she finds her younger counterpart awake with her computer. Blossom’s attempts to get her to sleep are for naught. A nudge from the Guardian reminds her that Anne needs to be tired. 

So, days go by, and Anne barely sleeps. One morning finds Anne awake as usual, looking over forums and watching videos, trying to find a way back to Amphibia. 

That is, until Oum calls her down for breakfast. Anne reluctantly joins the rest of her family downstairs. Everyone is already up and eating breakfast while watching Primistle Manor. 

Anne sits down on the couch next to the Plantars. Sprig takes in his sister’s tired form. “Whoa. Someone didn’t sleep.”

Anne shakes her head. “Nope.” 

Hop Pop sighs and looks at his granddaughter. “Anne, you have to take care of yourself.”

Anne scoffs. “Why?” Blossom slides over with Anne’s food. Anne points at her. “Blossom hasn’t been sleeping! I’ve seen her up early every morning. She’s fine!”

Blossom freezes for a moment before sitting down with the rest of the Plantars. “I have different reasons for not sleeping.”

Sprig gives her a questioning glance. “What reasons would those be?”

“Oh, please forgive me for having the sleep schedule of a university student that works on a farm," Blossom deadpans. “I always wake up early.” 

Anne groans. “At least I’m doing something. I spent all night researching ways to get you guys home, and possibly the night before that.”

Oum comes over and ruffles Anne’s hair. “You? Researching? Who are you and what happened to my daughter?”

“Har har. So I was thinking. What if there’s a second Calamity Box here on Earth? So I mapped out every thrift store in a 50-mile radius and if we leave right now-” Anne is cut off by her little sister,

“Pass. Primistle Manor isn’t gonna binge itself-” who in turn, is cut off by Hop Pop. 

“EVERYONE QUIET! Lord Frankerton is confessing his love for Lady Franklin!”

As the rest of the family cheers over the on screen confession, or laughs, in Blossom’s case, Anne rolls her eyes and slumps. 

“Why does it feel like I'm the only one trying to find a way back to Amphibia?” she sighs. 

Sprig slides up to his sister. “Anne, we have been trying. But, it's okay to take a day off to recharge every now and then.”

Blossom rests a hand on Anne’s shoulder. “He’s right, you know. Overworking yourself isn’t healthy.”

Anne shakes off the hand. “There’s no time, you guys. Come on. Let's get back to research.”

Oum chooses that moment to come over and turn off the TV. “Since you seem to enjoy research so much now, what if you all spent a day at the museum and wrote a report? You have a lot of makeup schoolwork to do.”

Everyone’s attention turns to a stack of school textbooks, caked with dust from disuse. “OH! DO WE HAVE TO?!” Anne, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop exclaim together. 

Mrs. B stands her ground. “Yes. I'm also cleaning the house. There’s slime everywhere and I’m not pointing fingers, but I need you all out of the way.” With a glance around, it’s clear the house is quite dirty. Oum has a point. 

“Gross, Anne,” Polly accuses. Blossom laughs. 

“Alright," Anne groans. “Guess we’re going to the museum.”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Blossom stares out the window from the passenger seat. Oum is driving them to the museum. Blossom’s excited to see Jan, but she also knows the Cloak-bot will show up tonight. 

If Flame were here, that fight would be over in a flash, what with the bot being an older model. 

But they’re not here and there’s nothing Blossom can do about it. Instead, she rolls down the window and lets the wind blow through her hair. 

She’s given up on tying her hair up with vines. They keep falling out. If she focuses, Blossom can attack something with a sharp vine without activating her full powers. It’s just tricky. 

It’s officially been two weeks since she got here. Releasing her powers is dangerous now. A couple more weeks and she’ll be damaging herself when and if she stops suppressing her powers. 

She banishes the thought from her head, instead focusing on the wind whipping through her curls. Finally, Blossom’s eyes land on the museum and she gets excited. Her younger counterpart may be dreading this, but the museum has held a special place in her heart for a while now. 

They pull up in front of the museum and Oum opens the back door automatically. “I’ll pick you up at 6. Have fun! But also learn!”

The teenager and frogs in the back groan. Blossom squeals and jumps out of the car. “[[Thank you mom!]]” she calls in Thai. Oum looks impressed as her elder daughter turns away to hustle the others out of the car. 

Blossom slips into her Thai accent now that they’re in public. “Come on!" she ushers her family out of their seats. “Let’s get inside!”

The others look at her, puzzled. “How are you this excited?" her brother asks. 

Blossom chuckles. “Sprig, I’m training to be a doctor and scientist. History like this is right up my alley.”

This makes Oum perk up. “Doctor and scientist?!”

Blossom nods. “Not for humans though. I’m training to be a herpetologist. It’s the study of amphibians.”

Oum smiles. “Anyways,” Blossom drums the top of the door. “We should get going," her comrades climb out the back of the van and follow Blossom inside the building. 

The first thing the quintet sees is the dinosaur exhibit. “Whoa!” Sprig says, pointing at a dinosaur sculpture. “Looks like you guys used to have a monster problem too.”

Blossom chuckles. She gives short explanations to anything her youngest siblings and Hop Pop ask about. Soon, the group moves to a room detailing Earth’s solar system. 

Polly and Sprig ooh and ah at the displays. The group heads to a globe of the Earth. Anne yawns and leans on her older sister.

Hop Pop looks confused. “Wait, your people think the world is round?!”

Blossom grins. “You know that Amphibia is also a globe, right?”

“SAY WHAAAAATTTT?!” 

Polly hops over to a display of cavemen. “Wow. I like these guys. They get it.”

“See? We can have a fun one-off just like we did in Amphibia," Hop Pop says. He turns to see Anne on her computer. “Anne? Anne?”

Blossom nudges her. “What?” Anne says while closing her computer.

“You got to take a break from all this research!" he says.

“Don't worry, HP. I'm fine, I'm fine," she waves her hand in his direction dismissively

“Burning yourself out isn't going to help us get home to Amphibia.”

Anne rolls her eyes, but they widen when they spot something across the room. “Amphibia.”

“Yeah? That’s what I said.”

“No. Look!” Anne grabs him and points towards a vase in the middle of the room. The other three turn towards her discovery. 

“Call me crazy,” Sprig says as they inspect the vase, “but that looks like…”

“One of us,” Polly finishes for him. 

“Sure is!” Blossom smiles. 

“I don’t believe it," Anne says. “Could this be the clue we’ve been looking for?”

Just then, Anne startles as a hand lands on both her and Blossom’s shoulders. “Didn’t expect to see frogs in here, eh?”

The sisters spin around to see a woman with dark skin and hair tied high in a bun. Blossom smiles wide while Anne pulls her in front of the Plantars. 

“Ah! What? Frogs? Huh?” Anne babbles. The woman stares at her confused and Blossom smacks her palm into her forehead. 

“Oh, You’re talking about the pot," Anne smiles sheepishly. 

“Sure! What did you think I was talking about?” she shrugs and points towards herself with her thumb. “Name's Dr. Jan. I'm a curator here and an avid lover of all things ancient,” she leans in and winks at Hop Pop.

Blossom chuckles as Hop Pop misses the meaning of Jan’s comment.

Jan walks over to the pot the group was looking at. “So, staring at this pot, eh? Interesting, isn't it?” she wraps her arms around Anne and Blossom’s shoulders, pulling them close. “The frog here is depicted in a very unconventional fashion, bipedal. Oh! It must have been some kind of deity.”

“Huh. You don’t say,” Anne says.

Blossom murmurs, “Girl wishes she was a deity," over to the Plantars. Polly cackles. Jan ignores the tadpole and continues her thought.

“Maybe it’s a frog-shaped alien, right? From another dimension,” Dr. Jan smiles. The three original Plantars all sweat nervously and try to brush off Jan's comment.

“Sorry, sorry,” she says, laughing a little. “I’m really into cryptids. You know, UFOs and stuff,” she gestures to her UFO earrings.

“Those earrings are beautiful, Dr. Jan,” Blossom says.

“Oh! Why thank you! Anyway, you got any other questions?" she sets her hands on her hips.

“Do you know anything about portals to-” Sprig starts to ask before Anne covers his mouth through the mask.

“Nope, not at all. Actually, I hate history and museums. Yuck," she says, grinning sheepishly. Blossom glares at her.

Jan frowns. “Oh, that’s too bad. And kind of insulting." Anne at least has the decency to look sorry for what she just said.

“Nong sau,” Blossom says with a very pointed look at her younger counterpart, “Apologise. That was very rude of you to say.”

Anne looks at Dr. Jan. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Jan says with a smile. “If you change your mind, just holler, ‘Dr. Jan!’ and I’ll fly in like an information superhero," she strikes a superhero pose. Everyone but Blossom looks lost. The oldest sister gives Jan a thumbs up. Jan winks at her before saying, “Dr. Jan away!” and backing out of the room while making explosion noises.

Blossom smiles. Even before landing in the past, she’d been so busy with school work that she hadn’t had time to visit the museum. “Hold on," she says to her family. “I’m gonna go talk to Jan quickly. Don’t worry, I won’t give anything away.”

Anne sighs before nodding. Blossom runs after Jan, just barely catching Sprig start to berate his older sister.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

“Hey, Dr. Jan, wait up!” Blossom calls as she spots the older woman.

Jan turns around and smiles. “Why, hello again! I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name last time," she reaches out a hand to shake.

Blossom takes it. “I’m Blossom. I’m so sorry about my sister, Anne. We both are fascinated by amphibians, but she often gets teased for it in school.”

Jan sighs and nods her head. “It’s perfectly alright. If I’m honest, I had a feeling that was the case. My classmates used to give me a hard time as well. I don’t understand why so many kids think that being knowledgeable is bad.”

“Same here,” says Blossom. “I’m studying herpetology at university, but some of my family still sees it as a disappointment. Like, ‘Sure you’ll get a doctorate, but you won’t be a real doctor.’ you know?”

“Oh, I feel ya,” Jan says as the pair walk together towards her office. “All I can say is, never give up on your dreams. My partner and I are both in STEM, and while it may be hard, especially as a black, lesbian woman and a non-binary person, we still love our work. We wouldn’t have gotten this far if we didn’t believe in ourselves and each other.”

Jan sets a hand on Blossom’s shoulder. “I wish you the best of luck. You and your family are quite interesting, if I might say.”

“Thank you. And, I can’t tell you much, but you’re going to want to stay late tonight," Blossom winks at Jan. “I promise, it’ll be worth your while." With that, Blossom smiles and heads back to her family. 

She walks in just as Hop Pop says, “...what are we going to do? Rob the museum?” he rolls his eyes. A sly smile comes across Anne’s face. Blossom pinches the bridge of her nose.

“That, HP,” Anne says, “is exactly what we’re going to do.”

Chapter Text

It’s completely fair to say that Blossom hates the plan, even if she came up with the same one many years ago. The five of them have congregated in Anne’s room to discuss how they’re going to steal the pot. 

“Come on, Blossom. You must know something about what will work," Anne complains. 

“No can do," Blossom responds. “My knowledge may change your actions, and we’re trying to keep as close to the original timeline as possible.”

Anne grumbles and goes to continue with the plan. Just before she can resume, Oum pops her head into the room.

They all pause. “Are you all okay in here?” Oum asks.

“All good! Just finishing that report!” Anne smiles. 

From behind her, Blossom puts a finger to her lips, signalling for Oum to drop it.

“Don’t believe you, but okay," Oum backs out of the room and closes the door. The three original Plantars from the present breathe a sigh of relief. Only then do they see Anne passed out on Blossom’s shoulder.

“Anne!” Sprig shouts, waking her up.

“Huh? Where was I? Oh yeah," she shakes awake. “We did way more dangerous stuff in Amphibia. At least nothing here is gonna spit acid at us.”

Polly squints suspiciously. “That you know of.”

Blossom sighs. “Nothing here is going to spit acid at us.”

Polly huffs, but trusts her eldest sister. Anne smiles and walks over to her closet. “Come on, guys. If you don't break a few rules for this, how are we ever gonna get back?”

The other four share a look before relenting. “So,” Sprig asks, “what’s the plan?”

Anne smiles and takes out a few black articles of clothing from her closet, throwing them on the floor. Sprig, Hop Pop and Polly all grab for pieces that catch their eye. 

Blossom patiently waits while Anne rummages further into her closet. When she resurfaces, she has a melancholy look on her face. 

“I’m sorry, Bloss. Nothing in here is your size.”

Blossom chuckles. “I had a feeling. Don’t worry about it.”

Sprig and Polly start to protest, worried their eldest sister won’t be able to join them. A voice in Blossom’s thoughts interrupts them. 

“Check your room, Heart," the Guardian sounds almost mischievous. Blossom smiles and ruffles the heads of her youngest siblings. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back," she stands and slips out of the door. Taking a deep breath, Blossom taps into her knight guard training. 

‘Thank you Marce,’ she thinks to herself as she sneaks her way onto the ceiling, using her frog biology to stick and crawl to her room. 

After making sure her parents are out of her line of sight, she drops down and slips into her room, closing the door behind her. 

After flicking the overhead light on, Blossom spies a very neatly folded pile of black fabric on her bed and a set of black Doc Martens on the floor beside it. 

She gently lifts the first item on the pile, letting a familiar black, cropped, tank top unfold in her hands. The neck extends to a few centimetres below her chin and there’s a heart cut out right below the collar bones.

This is one of her favourite shirts… from her time. Except in black instead of navy blue.

With excitement, Blossom sets down the shirt and reaches for the next item. She pulls a soft, zip-up hoodie from the pile. This article she knows as well. The cut cinches in at her waist before fanning out slightly near her hips. When she turns the cuffs inside out, there are little embroidered stars in green and pink. Similar stars in her own blue line the inside of the hood.

Continuing on, Blossom finds a pair of stretchy jeans. The material gives her the mobility she needs while still being strong enough to not tear with the fighting she is sure to encounter.

The final piece is small. A singular glove that reaches to her mid bicep. The fingers and palms are made of a slightly different fabric, thin enough that she can interact with her phone and stick to surfaces.

The time traveller wipes a few tears of joy from her eyes. Clothes. Something so simple, but so important to her. “Thank you, my Liege," she mutters into her hands that clutch the glove.

“You are more than welcome," Blossom can hear the smile in their voice. “There are more clothes in your closet and dresser. For now, get dressed. Best to not keep your siblings and grandfather waiting.”

Blossom chuckles with pure joy, letting the warmth of the actions wash over her. With new determination, she changes out of Oum’s donations into the new clothes, pulling the glove onto her left hand as soon as she can.

Like magic, the sensory issues she’s been pushing down for the past two weeks disappear. 

Once ready, she flicks the light back off and peeks her head out of her doorway. Seeing no one, she repeats her previous actions and sneaks her way back into her sister’s room. 

As she walks in she snags a back scrunchie from Anne’s shelf. Her family smiles back at her, sending approving glances towards her outfit. 

“Alright then," Blossom smiles. “Let’s rob a museum!”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Luckily for the five of them, Blossom knows how to drive. And has her licence. Sorry, Anne, but as the incident with Ned’s truck revealed, Bessie experience isn’t gonna cut it. 

Blossom sneakily snags the keys to the van and quietly backs them out of the driveway. It’s simple magic, muting their sound. Even easier than weaving vines through her hair. 

That being said, Blossom drops it as soon as they’re around the corner. Any light glow that started to form is terminated as quickly as it appeared. 

It doesn’t take long for them to near the museum. Blossom parks a few blocks away and the quintet of Plantars sneak their way to the entrance. 

A pair of cops stand outside the door, blocking their path. Anne hums. “First, we gotta distract the guards. Hop Pop?”

“On it," the old frog smirks and quickly changes clothes. Now disguised as a cat, he steals a shoe from one of the cops and sends them on a wild goose chase. Or frog chase if you will. 

Meanwhile, the others run up to the front door. Blossom easily lifts Polly into a duct which she uses to get inside and open the doors for the rest of them.  

“Sup, fools?" the young pollywog smirks. 

As they sneak inside, Sprig jumps up to take out the cameras. It’s then that Blossom realises something very important. 

‘That’s how the cloak-bot found us. Sprig was seen.’

Blossom sighs and starts a mental timer in her head, estimating how much time they have until the big, metal douchebag makes its appearance. 

Hop Pop rejoins them, back in his previous outfit. “Those guards got tired of chasing me and stopped at a coffee shop. We got a good 20 minutes.”

“Nicely done," Anne says. “Now, all we have to do is… is…” Before the girl can finish her sentence, she falls asleep. Blossom catches her as she plummets to the ground. Polly slaps her awake. “Right. Sorry. Let’s do this thing.”

As Anne moves ahead, her family share worried looks with each other. Blossom leans down and whispers to the three frogs. “I know it looks bad now, but everything will turn out okay.”

Her family smiles as they join Anne in the room where the vase sits. “Eugh. That’s a lot of lasers," Anne comments as they look at the cross crossing beams. 

“Don’t worry,” Polly says, confidently. “I got this," she approaches the lasers, a determined look in her eyes…

And proceeds to walk under all the beams. 

…

So maybe being short has its perks. 

Polly reaches the case and easily frees the vase, and starts to walk back to her family with the stolen object. 

“Wow! That was easy,” Sprig says. 

Anne sighs. “This isn’t a movie, Sprig. N-”

Blossom cuts her off. “But the tropes exist for a reason! Duck!”

The family collectively shields themselves as the cloak-bot breaks through the skylight. 

The bot lands directly in the middle of the lasers, triggering the alarm. “Not you again!” Anne groans. 

The cloak-bot smiles before lunging at the group. They all scream and Polly books it back to her family, throwing the pot into Anne’s open bag. 

“ GO GO GO!” Blossom puts herself between the bot and the rest of her family while ushering them out of the room. 

The five Plantars scatter. Anne makes a mad scramble to find a hiding spot, sneaking into a sarcophagus before the cloak-bot finds her and sends her running again. 

Polly throws a sting ball from where she has congregated with her brother and grandfather. The bot catches it and sends it flying back at the three frogs, knocking them over. 

As her siblings and grandfather run around in a panic, Blossom takes off towards a very specific display. It doesn’t take long for her to grab two well made swords. 

Just as Hop Pop drops a guillotine onto the bot’s arm, Blossom calls out to her younger counterpart. “Anne! Catch!”

The young calamity warrior catches the tossed blade deftly, following her older sister out of the room. 

Hop Pop catches up with them as the bot writhes in pain from its severed arm. “How’re we gonna stop this thing?" he asks. 

Anne glances up to the skeleton of a pterodactyl that’s suspended from the ceiling. “I think I just got an idea.”

After a quick discussion, the three frogs jump up on top of the skeleton, Sprig waiting with a knife. 

Blossom joins Anne down below, facing off against the bot. “Hey, can opener, wanna fight? I'm all yours!” Anne goads. 

The bot stalls, switching its focus from the younger girl to Blossom. Suddenly, it speaks, voice crackling and robotic. 

But this time, Anne can’t understand it. 

This time, it’s not speaking English. 

“ Parvus Cor, tam infirma, tam fragilis. Tua potentia consumit te omni momento servas eam captivum. ”

It sounds so wrong. Anne recognizes the language as Ancient Amphibian, but the sing-song tone that graces Blossom’s words is lost in the bot’s speech. 

Anne looks to Blossom, who looks surprised, before scowling at the bot. 

“ Tu scis nihil virtutis meae," Blossom’s tone darkens. A song of warning. 

With that, the bot lunges. The two girls fight tooth and nail as their family cuts the ropes above. Anne and Blossom put up a good fight, but the bot manages to disarm both of them and throw them to the floor. 

“ Any last words?" it asks. 

Anne smirks. “You’re history!" she gives the signal to the family above, causing them to jump and collapse the skeleton onto the bot. Blossom pulls Anne away before the rubble can bury them too. 

The family congregates once again, bringing each other into a giant hug.

“Don’t worry, guys," Anne says. “We got it.”

The entire family relaxes, though, Blossom can’t help but feel like she’s forgetting something. 

Her worries come to fruition when the cloak-bot bursts out of the rubble. 

“No, you’re history!" it laughs maliciously. Just as the bot is about to move on the family, Dr. Jan and the two guards from earlier burst through the doors. 

As the guards yell, the cloak-bot freaks out and escapes through yet another skylight. 

Blossom easily slides in front of her family as the attention focuses back on them. She locks eyes with Dr. Jan, and the woman’s eyes turn from surprise to understanding. 

“I-- I can't believe I forgot! Mitchell, Rodney, this has been a terrible misunderstanding," she scrambles for a story and manages to pull through. “These are... performers rehearsing an exciting historical reenactment of some kind. We'll clean this mess up tomorrow. You two can go home. I'll take it from here.”

The guards sigh in relief and bid the doctor goodnight. Anne immediately tries to cover up the debacle. “Oh, heeey, Dr. Jan. Sooo, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this," she grins nervously. 

Dr. Jan whirls on them with a huge smile on her face. “And I can't wait to hear it. Frog aliens? Robots? Spill it, kid! This is a dream come true!”

Anne and the frogs look surprised, but Blossom just smiles. “See?" she says in her Thai accent. “I told you.”

Anne turns to her older sister. “You! You knew about this!”

Blossom bursts out laughing and endures the shoves from her siblings. 

Jan brings them back into her office, letting them explain on the way over. They leave out certain details, like Blossom’s… everything. “Wow. Sounds like you've been through a lot. I see why you're in such a rush for answers, but why the heist? Why didn't you just ask me?” Jan smiles at the troupe. 

Anne groans through tired eyes. “Uuhh... made sense earlier. If I'm honest, I'm sort of running on empty right now.”

“She hasn’t slept in days,” Sprig rats out his sister. 

Jan frowns. “Well, that's no good. Here, look at this," she shows them a little display case filled with dust. 

“Back when I was younger, I would stay up for days on a dig. I couldn't go home knowing we were so close. One time I got sloppy with a dynamite charge and well, this was a Triceratops.

All of the Plantars shudder. Anne thinks the words over in her head. “I get it. So what you're saying is if I keep this up I may do more harm than good?”

“Exactly," Blossom says, ruffling Anne’s hair. “You’re pretty awesome for a teenager your age, but you still need energy," her smile saddens a tiny bit. “Also, I know your train of thought. You’re still weary of trusting others after what happened with Sash and Marce. And that’s okay! 

“It’ll take time for you to be able to trust others easily again, but please, try. Some of your closest bonds and allies here require trust for you to make that bond happen," Blossom rubs Anne’s shoulder and the younger girl leans in for a hug. 

Dr. Jan smiles. “Your sister is a wise one. Here. I'll make you a deal. I'll keep your secret and help you research this artefact if you go home and get some sleep.”

Anne sighs. “Deal. Thanks, Dr. Jan." Blossom sags in relief. “Real quick. Before we go, do you have a black light? I wanna check and see if this baby has any secret codes on it.”

Jan looks surprised. “Black light?" she laughs and leads them to the door. “Go sleep. Take a day off. The world will still be spinning tomorrow.”

Four of the five Plantars start walking towards the front while Blossom hangs back. “Just saying, don’t knock it till you try it," she smirks at Jan before catching up with her family. 

“So…” she drawls, “what did we learn today?”

“Sleep is important," Anne groans. 

“That’s right!” Blossom smiles. “Now everyone back to the car!”

It's a quick drive back home and the five of them easily sneak their way back into the house. Blossom helps a very sleepy Anne get ready for bed and all five of them crowd into Anne’s room. 

Anne latches onto her older sister like a koala, trapping her in the younger girl’s room. Blossom doesn’t mind in the slightest. 

Soon, all five of the Plantars are fast asleep, finally resting after a crazy week. 

And if Dr. Jan takes Blossom’s advice and uses a black light, well, that’s for the two of them to know.

Chapter Text

Wartwood has been… somewhat quiet for a while now. Even so, Sasha is on edge. The threat of Andrias is still a dark aura hanging over the town. The citizens expect her to have a plan to lead them. They brought out the ceremonial helmet and everything. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s stressful. It’s scary. 

And it doesn’t help that she has a future version of herself and her crush flirting all the time!

Sea is very helpful in aiding Sasha’s training and finalising plans, but it’s incredibly embarrassing. Flame has a habit of popping in randomly and just hanging off of their partner. 

That’s another thing Sasha has to wrap her head around. Flame uses she/they and identifies as non-binary, while Sea is gender-fluid and uses any pronouns. 

Having confirmation of her inner feelings is great for Sasha, but still quite odd to think about. Grime asked her if she wanted to try out all pronouns as well, which she tentatively agreed to. Sea and Flame also start to mix he and they into their speech when referring to Sasha. 

She (they, he) likes it. 

It feels right. 

Gender confirmation aside, Sasha has started noticing things about Flame. Sea is easy to read due to Sasha and them, y’know, being the same person, but it’s taking a little while to figure the green enby out. 

Some things are normal; there are ways he can see their relation to his Marcy. The almost unending enthusiasm. The love of video games and TV shows. The endless rants about anything that strikes their fancy (which fill Sasha with so much joy). 

However, some of Flame’s tendencies are too strange to truly understand. 

So, Sasha makes a list. 

1. Flame uses their powers more than Sea
2. She can read minds?
3. Flame tends to space out
4. Their legs have a habit of collapsing
5. They’ve become much more comfortable with stimming, unlike Marcy, who still hides it
6. She tries to not mention Marcy at all

That last one is particularly frustrating. Over the course of the weeks the two have been here, Sasha has tried again and again to get any tidbit of information on Marcy. Every time, she’s shot down. 

The conversations go something like this:

“Can you please tell me anything about Marcy?” Sasha pleads. “I just want to know if she’s okay.”

Flame’s usual smile and exuberance shut down. “No. You’ll find out when you're ready.”

Any time Sasha goes to Sea, his response is always, “It’s not my place to tell. Go ask Flame.”

And so the cycle continues, getting Sasha absolutely nowhere. 

But today, today is different. Because today, Flame is different. They’re cold and calculating, at most resting a hand on Sea’s shoulder, when they usually never let go of the girl. 

Their vibrant streaks of green are dim. Eyes warm, not in a sense of personality, but in colour. Hair hangs limply in their face, stringy and black. Gone are the skirt, chest plate, and cape. Instead, basic blacks dress their form. Long sleeves and pants; barely any skin is shown.

Sea notices it and says nothing. 

Wartwood notices it and says nothing. 

Sasha notices it and says something. 

“Hey, Flame," she calls out to the young adult during a spare moment. They’re in the Plantars’ basement. Flame is sitting on the bed, barely looking up as Sasha descends the stairs. 

“Yes?" they say, voice slightly deeper than normal, monotone, dark. 

“What’s up with Marcy?”

Flame visibly stiffens. “None of your concern.”

Sasha frowns. “Actually, it’s all of my concern. One of my best friends got stabbed through the chest, and you won’t tell me if she’s okay!”

“She’ll live.”

“That’s not enough!”

Flame clenches their fists and stands from the bed. “Sasha, I cannot tell you more than that. You’re not even supposed to know that she’s alive, let alone her current state.”

“Well then fuck those rules!” Sasha is yelling now, face-to-face with the older warrior. Pink swirls in the depths of her irises “How would you feel?! How would you feel if someone you love and care about was lying dead at your feet? How would you feel if you knew that somehow, they were okay and you had ABANDONED THEM?!”

That catches Flame’s attention. “What?”

Sasha chokes on his words, pink tears rolling down his face. “I-I left them. I was there, I was right there, and I…” he hiccups a sob. “Marcy is trapped and alone because I didn’t save her.”

Flame pauses, staring at Sasha. They’re both silent for a moment. Then, Flame speaks. 

“I would be sad. I’d feel guilty. I’m not tapping into your emotions at the moment. You have a right to feel them," they pause again. “I, as I am, know it will be okay. It is not your fault.”

“But-”

“No," Flame cuts the young commander off. “If you had taken Marcy then and there, she wouldn’t have made it to Wartwood. Understand, your actions were correct at that moment.”

Sasha stills and waits. Not for Flame to keep talking. The older warrior is clearly done. No, she pauses to process. 

Marcy would be dead. 

In the moment before, Sasha was so mad. Betrayed by her friend from childhood for sending her to a world far from her own. 

Sasha has a family that she left behind. A mom and dad, three siblings, with more on the way. Her last year of middle school. 

I did it for us. 

“Why?" she finally asks. “Why did you do it? Send us here? Lie?”

Flame stares at Sasha with wide eyes. They fill with panic before just… going empty. 

…

And then GREEN reignites, all throughout her hair and body, and those eyes shine. 

“Because I was scared," she says. “My parents… how much have I told you about my family?”

Sasha shrugs, wiping tacky tears from his eyes. “Your parents are strict. Super not great with your autism. You have two older sisters, both of whom we have heard tales of, but never met due to playdates at your place being a no go . The rest of your family is either really bitchy or in Taiwan.”

Flame drums her fingers on her arm. “Sounds about right. So, long story very short, my parents had high expectations for my sisters and me growing up. So much so that when my eldest sister Zara became an actor instead of a doctor or lawyer, they basically cut ties.”

“Yeesh,” Sasha winces. 

“Ya. It sucks. A lot. I’m fine with where I am now, living with my middle sibling and all, but it was really hard growing up. When my… when the Wus kicked Ally out, I was left alone. 

“I snuck off to see her often. It’s why I tried to stay out of the house as much as I could. When I found out I was moving away, it was just… too much.”

“You would have been alone with… how bad were your parents? How bad are Marcy’s parents now?” Sasha asks, joining Flame as she sits back down. 

Flame takes a deep breath. “Neglectful, for sure. Passively abusive with how they handled my autism. Physically abusive when I wasn’t up to their standards.”

Sasha just stares. “I had no idea it was that bad.”

“Ya," Flame sighs. “I know you’re going through something similar with Alina.” 

Sasha hums conformation. Her relationship with her birth mother has always been horrible. After her parents split, she went to live with her dad and, later, stepmom. 

Sasha dreaded weekends when Alina would drag her to the woman’s mansion. If Sasha had to be a Waybright, the most the awful woman could do was try to mold Sasha into the perfect little Northwest she was supposed to be. 

Sasha is knocked out of her spiral by Flame’s arm being thrown around her shoulder. “Relax. You’re safe now. We’re here." The younger girl all but melts into the older’s arms, burying her face in their shoulder.

“Marcy will be fine. Tell you what. I’m not allowed to interfere, but I can sneak in and check on her. Would that be alright?” Flame asks. 

Sasha nods from his hiding spot. 

“Alright then," Flame smiles. The pair sit there until Sea grabs them for dinner. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

“Are you sure about this?” Sea asks, worried. 

“Yes, I’m sure. And we’ll be fine. You know that," Flame kisses her partner on the lips. “Now, we’re gonna go break into a castle. Wish us luck!”

Sea chuckles. “Bonfortuna, amica mea.”

Flame raises an eyebrow and points to one of their extra eyes that is slowly opening to glare at Sea. 

The pink calamity warrior sighs. “Et bonfortuna to your idiot brother.”

Flame smiles and gives him a quick kiss before disappearing in a swirl of green.  

When they reappear, Flame is perched in the forest, high in the treetops. She can see the looming shadow of the castle in the sky. 

“So, how are we going about this?” a dark voice, dripping with black and orange, echoes inside Flame’s mind. 

“You can feel in there, right?” Flame asks them. The voice confirms. “Then get us in there, someplace where little you can’t see.”

“Affirmative. May I take control temporarily?" he asks. Flame nods and melts into the back for her headspace, letting their presence take the forefront. 

There’s a second swirl of power, different from the previous one that stemmed from Flame. In moments, the body is transported inside the castle. 

Flame takes stock of where they are as the body is handed back over. They’re deep in Amphibia Castle, out of sight of the Core. Flame dims her glow and skitters around in the ceiling, avoiding anything that might tip the castle’s residents off to their presence. 

Eventually, Flame makes it to the chamber Marcy’s being held in. “Hey. Can you distract the Core? I want to get close to her.”

“Of course.”

Flame feels the dark presence reach out towards the Core’s consciousness. One of her extra eyes starts to peek open, luckily hidden under her hair. 

“You have ten minutes. Make them count.”

“Thank you.”

The calamity warrior hops down from her hiding place and walks up to Marcy’s tank. 

“Marcy~” she knocks on the metaphorical door to the girl’s mind. “Can I talk to you? Are you awake?”

The young girl slowly cracks her eyes open. She blinks blearily, trying to get her vision to focus for the first time in weeks. 

Marcy finally focuses on the figure in front of her and perks up, moving a hand towards the glass that holds her. 

Flame matches the hand on the glass and smiles at her younger counterpart. “There you are. How are you feeling?” 

Marcy looks confused, trying to understand how to respond. “Do you feel my presence in your mind? That little green energy? It should be pretty close to the surface, not deep in your soul," Flame guides her.

Marcy closes her eyes and eventually nods. “Good. Send your thoughts directly to it. Imagine a tether for the thoughts to travel through.” 

Marcy struggles before-

“Am I doing this right?” a young voice, quite similar to her own, echoes in Flame’s head. 

“Yes!” Flame exclaims. “Nice work, mini me. How are you holding up in there?”

Marcy’s eyes well up with tears that bubble to the surface of her container. “It’s so cold. I just want to go home.”

Flame frowns and sends feelings of comfort through the link. “I know. I wish I could take you back, but I can’t. I’m so sorry, Marcy.”

She locks eyes with the young girl. “I have about 7 minutes left before they realise I’m here. Can I come hold you?”

March nods her head furiously. After getting the okay, Flame hops up and into the tank. She’s still in basic blacks, luckily fireproof and water resistant. 

She switches her breathing and joins her younger self, pulling her close in a hug. Marcy immediately latches on to the older woman. 

“Thank you.” Marcy sends. 

Flame runs her fingers through Marcy’s short hair. “You’re welcome. I’m sorry to say that you have a lot of bad stuff ahead of you, but you’ll be okay.”

Marcy looks up at her and Flame smiles. “You are so strong, Marcy. You are amazing and beautiful and smart. You will make it through this. Believe in yourself and know that we will be waiting for you once everything is over.”

Marcy nods and tucks back into Flame, an ironic comparison to Sasha earlier in the day. 

Eventually, a voice cuts through the quiet of Flame’s mind. “Time to go, Flame.”

Marcy is asleep in her arms. Flame presses a gentle kiss on her head before letting her power whisk her away, leaving a bit of fire and warmth with the teenager. 

Flame reappears in the Plantars’ basement. Sea is lying down, eyes closed and hair a glow. 

After willing themself dry, Flame slips in beside their partner and joins him in the trance they share. 

And Sea holds Flame close as she cries tears for wounds long scarred over. For a girl who went through hell. For a girl who is about to, and they can do nothing to stop it. 

Flame is cold again the next day. Sasha says nothing after getting an update on how the visit went. The town goes about as normal. 

And Flame, the true Flame, relaxes in her own mind, letting the stress and overstimulation wash over her. In the meantime, her brother takes charge, leading their shared body through the day. 

He hides in plain sight. 

And no one notices any difference.

Chapter Text

The house is bustling, even though it’s early in the morning. Blossom pays no mind to her younger siblings and grandfather as she helps her parents load the car. 

A restlessness kept her up last night. Swirls of orange and green invading her dreams. She knows it’s Flame and Night doing their thing, but something about it feels worrying, wrong. 

She sends a message through the Guardian and gets the all clear, but something is still eating away at her. 

‘Maybe it’s your powers slowly consuming you,’ echoes through her subconscious. She can’t tell if it’s one of her own thoughts or the calamity essence itself. Whatever it is, it’s a nice change from the constant cycle in the back of her mind. 

Trapped

Wanting

Waiting

Let us out

Free us

Consuming

Take

Grasp

Pain

Pushing

Cracking

SAVE US

RECLAIM US

LET GO

BLUEBLUEBLUEBLUE

HEART

Blossom snaps out of her day dreaming as Bee hands her another stack of platters. 

It’s… concerning to say the least. 

She hears the excitement emanating from inside the house and sees it run through the ground when Anne sees the car being filled. 

Oum shushes her as she whines and protests. “We really need to get to the museum.”

Blossom pulls her aside. “Hey, I know you aren’t super thrilled about this, but I promise you’ll have fun.”

“But what about Dr. Jan?” Anne protests. 

“Dr. Jan can wait. Spend some time reconnecting to the Thai Temple after your disappearance.”

Anne grumbles before snapping her head towards rustling in the bushes. Two SJMS students with cameras startle and run off. 

“What was that all about?” Bee asks. 

“Ugh," Anne rolls her eyes. “Nosy gossip bloggers from the school paper trying to get an exclusive photo of “the girl who went missing”.”

Bee perks up. “Oh! Well I got some photos they can use! Here's you eating spaghetti when you were two. Oh! And here's you when you were-”

Anne tries to cover her dad’s phone but Blossom stops her. “I haven’t seen those in forever! I have some from right after the name change.”

She pulls out her own phone, showing a picture of a four year old Anne. Her hair is still in the process of growing out and she’s wearing a giant, purple, princess dress. 

Anne covers her face as blush rises in her cheeks. “If we’re going to go, can we just go?”

Blossom and Bee laugh and usher the family into the now packed car. 

Oum takes the wheel and Bee takes up the passenger seat. The others pile in behind them. 

Blossom checks out of the conversation, trying to get a bit of sleep. After 10 minutes of failed attempts, she decides to try something different. 

The three calamity warriors have tried to describe the feeling of their powers before, but it’s difficult. The essence  shows itself as a feeling and just pure colour. 

Blue

Blue

Blue

Blossom can always feel it at the back of her mind as a sort of buzz, but it’s truly centred on her heart. It’s not so much a thought as a separate consciousness that’s merged with Blossom’s own. 

She leans her head back and focuses on it, careful to not let it show on her person. Letting a projection of her soul intersect with the magic, she reaches a hand out to it. 

Ever so gently, it swirls up Blossom’s arm. Both the warrior and her magic inhale at once, connecting for the first time in weeks, despite the barriers and chains still keeping it from surrounding her in her entirety. 

From there, Blossom reaches out to the others like her. The older counterparts of witnewtgreen and strengthtoadpink are considerably closer than the younger owners, but all four are still incredibly distant. 

She sends assurancecomfortlovesoon to Sea and Flame, who respond back immediately with their own messages, and trustpeacecareapology to Sasha, Marcy and…

Confusion

Worry

Fear

BlueBlueBlue

Heart

A sharp shake of her shoulder breaks Blossom's connection. Anne glares at her from the seat to her right. 

“ What was that?!" she whispers, anger and fear swirling across her features. 

“ Sorry," Blossom whispers back. “ Just trying to get my powers to settle.”

Anne sighs and the cesspool of sadness drains from her features. 

The car comes to a slow stop as they arrive in the parking lot. Everyone gets out and runs to set up the stand. 

Bee struggles with a particularly heavy container holding a lot of their cooking utensils. Blossom swoops in and takes it from him. 

“I’ve got it, Pau Ja. Don’t worry," she slips into her Thai accent now that they’re at the temple. 

“I keep forgetting you’re ridiculously strong," Bee mutters as his eldest daughter carries the container effortlessly. 

“Wow!” Sprig says as they walk through the temple grounds. “Is this you, Anne?" he points to a picture of her in a traditional outfit and sticking her tongue out at the camera. 

“Yep," Anne sighs. “I've been coming here since I was a kid. It seems cool at first, but believe me, it gets old quick.”

Blossom smiles and runs a finger over the picture. “That can be true, but there’s something about this place that will always feel like a sort of home.”

Anne pauses at that before scoffing and turning away. The family starts to set up their stall. Anne grumbles through the whole process. 

Oum walks up to Anne and yanks her hair back in a ponytail before throwing a Thai Go hat on top. “You're on sample duty today," she hands Anne a tray of barbecue skewers. “Now stand out in the open where everyone can see you.”

The mother then turns to her eldest child. “You know the story. Just try to stay inconspicuous," Blossom gives her a thumbs up before ducking around the counter. 

She watches fondly as the Ba train swarms her younger self. However, after Anne is fussed over, Ba-Med notices Blossom standing at the counter. The older woman pulls her comrades over to Blossom to give her the same treatment.

“Hello darling!” Ba-Med exclaims. Blossom looks to Anne with slight panic in her eyes, but the younger girl ignores her in favour of their amphibian relatives. 

“Hello!” Blossom smiles, panicking on the inside. “Can I get anything for you?”

“Yes, but first, what’s your name darling? We haven’t seen you here before," Ba-Med asks. 

“Uhh…” Blossom stutters. 

Papu holds a hand up. “Wait," she says. She turns her head and shouts, “Oum!”

The woman in question pokes her head out from behind the stand. “Yes?”

“[[Can we take this one for a bit?]]” Papu asks in Thai. Blossom mouthed ‘no’ to her mother, but Oum just chuckles. 

“[[Go ahead. She needs to socialize.]]” Oum smiles and replaces Blossom at the stand as Papu grabs the time traveller’s hand. 

The Ba train pulls her away and past the rest of her family. Anne catches her eyes and Blossom glares daggers at her younger self. Anne just smiles and shrugs. 

Ba-Med seats Blossom on a nearby bench and repeats her question. “So, who are you?”

Blossom sighs. “My name is Blossom. Blossom Boonchuy," she finally responds. 

“ AND SHE SPEAKS THAI!” Anne shouts from across the space. Blossom looks at Anne with murderous intent. While Anne is laughing, the Plantars scatter. 

“[[You speak Thai?]]” one of the other Ba’s asks. Blossom nods. 

“[[And a Boonchuy! How are you related to Oum and Bee?]]” another asks. 

“[[I mean…]]” Blossom shrinks a bit, “[[I’m their daughter?]]” she explains her fibbed story, and luckily, the Ba’s believe it. After a while, Blossom is finally freed from their questioning.

As she heads back to the stall, she spots a random girl in place of Anne. ‘Right. I tried to ditch.’ Blossom walks up to the stand-in Anne, (stand-Anne? Stand-inne?) and takes a 5 dollar bill out of her wallet. She offers it out to the girl. “Apologies for my sister. You can go back to whatever you were doing.”

The girl takes the bill and thanks Blossom. The time traveler takes the hat and tray back to the stall before spinning on her heel and speeding towards the parking lot. 

As she runs, she catches glimpses of her family. Sprig playing Sepak Takraw, Hop Pop participating in Khon Dancing, and Polly showing off her fluency in Thai. 

‘I’m glad they’re having fun,’ Blossom smiles. She finally makes it to the parking lot, catching the end of Oum’s sentence.

“-ouldn’t wait one hour?" she asks. 

Anne rolls her eyes. “Look, I already said hi to everyone. Now I have to get to the museum so I can get my interdimensional fa-friends home. It's super important," she stutters on the word ‘friends’. 

Oum doesn’t look impressed. “So is this! We owe so much to this community. Why-”

“No. You owe so much to this community. You and dad. I owe so much to the people of Amphibia. They-” Anne starts to tear up, “they saved my life, and I saved theirs.”

Blossom walks up behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder. Anne pulls the older girl closer. Blossom reaches her free hand to Oum, who leans into Blossom’s reach. 

“Mae ja, please understand, Amphibia was… is…” Blossom starts but the words don’t finish the path from her brain and out her vocal cords. 

Anne finishes for her. “Wonderful? The- the best time of my life? Obviously there were some hard times, but Mom it was magical. Literally. I finally felt like… like me.” 

Blossom nods as Anne speaks and Oum takes it all in. The woman stills, and then her face melts into a gentle smile. “You found your people.”

Both versions of her daughter sigh in relief, knowing she understands. Oum shifts closer to be under Blossom’s arm. “I get it. The reason I have all these dishes is because everyone here cooked us meals and took care of me and dad for all those months you were gone.

“This,” she gestures around, “is my place, my people, and they care about you too." Anne burrows her face into Blossom

“Ohhhhh, I feel like such a jerk," she grumbles. 

Oum chuckles good naturedly. “They were worried about you and us. The community ran our store here and sent us the money. Even helped out at the restaurant. And never asked for anything in return.”

“That’s really cool," Anne says. 

“It is pretty cool.”

“It’s super cool!” Blossom adds, and all three women laugh. 

Just as they’re separating to head back towards the market, a buzzing catches Blossom’s ears. She whips her head around as small dragonfly drones cloud the sky above the temple grounds. 

“Huh? What are those things?” Oum asks. Blossom blanches and grabs the two women beside her by the hands. 

“Bad news. Bad news bears. Bears so bad that we need to run back to the others now.”

She ignores the questions from the other two Boonchuys as they collectively run back into the temple. 

“Whoa! Drones!” Anne says once they get back into the temple grounds proper. “They must be from the robot!”

“What robot?”

Anne fumbles at her mother’s reply. “Uuuuh, the robot is the name of the gossip blog those girls from school run! They uh, must have sent the drones to take more photos of me!”

“Doesn’t matter," Blossom interrupts, pushing Oum in the direction of the doors. “Just tell everyone they have to take cover.”

“Yeah. We got this!” Anne fist bumps Blossom and the two run into the fray. 

It doesn’t take long for the Plantars to join them in the fight. Surprisingly, the members of the Thai temple are also behind them. 

“Mom! I told you to tell everyone to take cover!” Anne exclaims. 

“This is our temple and our home," Oum stands triumphant. “When one of us is under threat, we all are.”

Ba-Med runs up next to her and shakes her fist at the drones. “Yeah, be gone,  Saint James Middle School paparazzi!”

Various cheers from the other community members arise as they swarm to help. 

Polly orders them forward with a megaphone as the drones start to wreck the temple grounds. Various foods and cooking supplies are thrown at the dragonfly-like annoyances. 

One of the Khon dancers launches Hop Pop into the air, where he smashes his mask on a drone, his glasses and nose coming off with it. Sprig and his new friends work together to kick a ball at another.

Anne and Blossom go back to back, smacking away the bots with serving trays. Bee tries to do the same, but only manages to piss them off. With his two eldest daughters preoccupied, it’s up to Sprig and Polly to help him. 

“Sprig!" shouts the tadpole, “Kick me!" He does just that, the impact causing both of their disguises to come flying off. Polly destroys the bot with a brutal kick before landing in Blossom’s arms. The time traveller decks one more bot in the face with her right hand. 

All five of them breathe heavily as the last of the drones come crashing down behind them. With one final boom, the crowd erupts in cheers, only to be silenced quite rapidly when they turn their eyes on the now revealed Plantars. 

Anne freaks out and tries to cover up the obvious frog aliens, but she’s stopped by the members of the Thai Temple. Anne, at a loss for words, politely bows and presses her palms together in a wai while thanking her community. The other Plantars do the same. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Anne spends the rest of her hour helping clean up the robot remnants. Blossom is pulled over by Oum to have her fist checked for injuries. 

“Mae ja, I’m fine. Polly kicked one of those things and you don’t see her getting checked out," Blossom grumbles. 

“Oh trust me, I’m checking her leg as well, tiny little thing," Oum says. “She had leverage and sent it away. You punched a hole through yours!”

Blossom sighs. Oum runs her thumb over the girl’s knuckles, not even finding a scratch. “Odd," she mumbles. “Fine, you can go. Help Anne clean up.”

The time traveller bolts as soon as she can. “Thanks mom, bye mom!” Oum sighs and goes to grab her youngest child. 

A little while later, she joins the two versions of her eldest daughter as they sweep up metal shards and other machinery. 

She turns over a mostly complete head of one of the deceased bots. Man, middle school equipment is really advanced these days," she says as she tosses the head into the trash bin they’ve been using. “Well, hour's up. You're probably itching to get out of here.”

Anne looks around at her family and community laughing together. “Actually, I think I’d like to stay a bit longer.”

Blossom smiles. “See, I told you.”

Anne sighs. “Yeah, rub it in, why don’t you," they both laugh, before being cut off by the honk of a truck pulling up nearby. 

Quickly parking the vehicle, Dr. Jan motions the girls over. Anne looks surprised. “Dr. Jan?”

“Sorry guys!" the museum curator says as she runs to her trunk. “This couldn’t wait, it’s just too dang exciting!" she retrieves the pot from her truck, ushers the Plantars over under a shady tree and pulls out a black light. 

As she flicks it on, familiar writing appears on the back. Ancient Amphibian text. “It’s written in some kind of ancient language. If only we could read it.” Jan hums dejectedly. 

“Wait…” Anne says as she reaches for a copied piece of paper in her pocket. “I copied the Amphibian alphabet from Marcy’s journal. It says-”

“ Quaerite matrem olms, ducet vos ad fata vestra," Blossom interrupts in the sing-song tone Anne has come to familiarize with Ancient Amphibian. They all turn their heads to her. “What?" she asks. 

“In English?” Anne asks. 

“Oh," Blossom facepalms. “Seek the Mother of Olms, she will guide you to your destiny.”

The others gasp… before Anne asks, “That do anything for anyone?" The Plantars shake their heads as Jan clicks off her flashlight. 

Blossom sighs. “She’s an ancient and important figure in Amphibian culture.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh," the others chorus. 

“So how are we going to find her?” Anne asks. 

Blossom smirks. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Chapter Text

At this point, Blossom knows having a normal day is wishful thinking. Take today, for instance. Blossom and Bee are coming home from the post office when the girl hears shouts from inside the garage. 

She manages to push both of them out of the way just in time, saving the new controller her dad has been holding like a newborn baby since picking it up. 

Blossom’s reflexes have gotten slightly better with the recent nudging of her powers. Blue pulls her towards the garage, like a fishing line hooked in her soul. 

She arrives in time to see Anne offering an old toy that Blossom had long forgotten about to Polly. The bear, understandably, freaks the pollywog out. 

“I eat eyes…” Teddy Lumpkins croaks. The others gasp in shock before the bear continues. “...cream. I eat ice cream.”

Everyone sighs in relief. Polly jumps up and smacks the bear out of Anne’s hands. “How dare you?! Frobo can’t be replaced!" she protests. Blossom chooses this moment to step in.

“Hey, hey. I think we should all take a breath," she lifts Polly into her arms. “Polly, we all know that Frobo is important to you, we do. But you can’t hurt yourself or others in the process of getting him back. Alright?”

The pollywog grumbles and buries her tiny head into Blossom’s chest. Hop Pop shakes his head. “Blossom is right, Polly. Creepy bears aside, don’t work on Frobo," he crosses his arms across his chest.

Polly sighs. “Maybe you guys are right." Blossom ruffles her bow as the others relax. “Hey Anne, can I borrow your laptop?”

Anne shrugs. “I don’t see why not.” 

Just before letting her baby sister down, Blossom whispers, “Have fun,” in her ear, and Polly grins. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

A few hours later, Polly finishes cleaning up the garage and hops up on the chair set at the workbench. “Eeh. I forbid you. It's dangerous," she mocks. “The look on their faces was pretty funny, though, huh, Frobes?”

She turns to her best friend, only to be met with his still broken-down body. Polly frowns, but despite her earlier failure, she’s confident in her ability to repair her friend. 

“I just need to educate myself. Anne did say you can learn anything you want on the Internet. And Blossom told me to have fun with this," she opens her sister’s laptop. “Fasten your seat belt, Frobes. We're going in.”

It takes the pollywog two hours of various internet searches before she finds something that fits the criteria she’s looking for. The title of the video reads, “We Built a Panda Robot !? (EXTREME)”. Polly reads out the description of the channel. “‘IT Gals. Just two girlfriends who really love robots’. Coooool!”

She hastily clicks on the video. And another. And another. Soon Polly is decked out in mechanic gear and following along with the IT Gals’ step-by-step tutorials. 

“All right,” Jess says. “It's time for today's topic: Souls. Do robots have them?”

Pandatron screeches, and Ally pats him on the head. “It is our belief that anything with memories has a soul.”

“And boy. Do robots have memory, am I right?” Jess bats her eyelashes at her girlfriend, who snorts in response. Polly chuckles too and smiles as she adds the finishing touches onto Frobo.

“Interesting query, ladies, but I think I'm just about finished," she triumphantly presses the red start-up button in her hands. There’s a beat, and then…!

Nothing happens.

“Aughhhhh! Why aren't you turning on?” Polly screams, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She lets out a hiss of breath to calm down before narrowing her eyes in determination. “It's time to call in the big guns.”

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Someone raps on the door to the garage. Polly jumps, worried about someone seeing her project. Her worries are quickly settled when a voice calls, “Polly, it’s Blossom. Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” Polly calls. The door swings open only enough for the time traveller to sneak in and close it behind her.

“Damn. I forgot how quick you caught on to this stuff," she says, staring up at Frobo.

“Does future me like robots too?” Polly asks, jumping up onto her sister’s shoulder.

“Of course!” Blossom smiles. “She’s an absolute genius, just like someone I know," she runs her hand over Polly’s head. The pollywog giggles. “My Polly has made so many amazing discoveries and innovations for Amphibia and beyond. She even helped make my-” Blossom stops abruptly.

“Your what?” Polly questions.

“Nothing," Blossom says. Polly gives her a look, and Blossom sighs. “Spoilers. Stuff you guys can’t know yet.” Polly huffs.

“Whatever. I was about to call these girls I found online," she says as she hops over to her earlier spot at the workbench. “He won’t turn on, so I want a second opinion.”

“Oh! The IT Gals!” Blossom smiles fondly. “I absolutely adore those guys. One of them’s actually really close to the family. Have fun!" the elder sister starts to exit as Polly sets up the video call. “And Polly, try to be safe. I know you want him back ASAP, but don’t hurt yourself in the process," she kisses her baby sister on the head and slips back out of the garage. 

Polly cracks a smile as she hits the call button. It doesn’t take long for two faces to pop up on the screen. Jess and Ally look just like they do in the videos, smiling and eccentric in the best way possible. 

They both greet her, and Polly waves back. “Uuh... hi. My name's Polly. Big fan," she rubs the back of her head shyly. “Long story short, I have a bit of a robotics issue.”

The girlfriends both push towards the screen as they notice Frobo in the background. “Oh my gosh!” Ally exclaims. 

Jess leans on her. “Is that a robot?” Pandatron screeches again, but Ally pushes him out of the way. “Tell us everything.”

Polly explains her dilemma to the couple, and they give her a fix. She just needs a high-voltage battery. Polly smirks, already thinking about the next step when they stop her. 

“Oh. But Polly, I definitely wouldn't turn him on in your garage," Ally’s face turns serious, almost worried. 

Jess nods beside her. “Heck. We can actually help you rent a space. It'll take a couple of weeks, but we-”

Polly cuts her off, words streaming out in a rush. “Thanks, girls. I'll take that into consideration. Bye!" she abruptly ends the call, leaving two concerned tech nerds hanging on the other end. 

Polly makes quick work of tearing the battery out of Teddy Lumpkins, ignoring his concerning audio. After the battery is placed in, she decides to go get her family. 

She slides into the living room where Anne, Blossom, Sprig, and Hop Pop are all watching the second Space Wars movie. 

“I did it! I fixed him!” Polly cheers. 

The family members of the current time period all snap their heads to her. “You what?!”

“Nice!” Blossom gives her a thumbs up. Hop Pop glares at her. “What? She was gonna find a way to do it anyway.”

“Didn't I forbid you from working on him?" Hop Pop asks his youngest granddaughter. “It's way too dangerous for you to be messing around with things you don't understand.”

Sprig and Anne give similar statements of concern. Blossom sees Polly’s eyes start to fill with tears and steps in. “Hold on, guys. Think about this for a second. Don’t discount Polly because of one mistake. Besides, there are a lot more people here on Earth who know about robotics than there are in Amphibia," she kneels down to Polly and takes her little hands. “We might not want to turn him on right now, though. Maybe we should get a professional eye on it first.”

Polly considers for a moment before she’s shocked out of her train of thought by Blossom’s hands tightening, the right, uncovered hand being just shy of painful in its grasp. Polly looks up to see her sister’s eyes clouded over. 

“Blossom?” Polly asks, concerned. Blossom eventually shakes out of her stupor and locks eyes with Polly again.

“Sorry," she sighs. “No matter what, I can’t stop you. Do what you feel is right," her hands release Polly, and she winks at her. 

Polly nods and wipes the tears from her eyes. She turns to the other three members of her family. “I don’t care what you say. I’m not leaving him dead," with that, she turns on her stubby heel and runs to the garage. 

Anne, Hop Pop, and Sprig run after her, Blossom following for a bit before diverting to run out the front door. As they’re running, Bee’s cheers can be heard upstairs as he finishes his 10-hour boss battle. 

Polly locks the door as she makes it into the garage. The others protest from the other side as Polly runs to her robotic buddy. “I ain’t waiting another second to see my best friend again.”

She triumphantly presses the button in her hand. As Frobo starts to turn on, electricity crackles throughout the house, shorting everything out. 

When Frobo’s weirdly blue eyes open, Polly hops up onto him. “Startup engaged," the robot croaks. “Model number F0-R1. Factory settings restored.”

Polly taps on one of his eyes. “Frobo? Is that you? It’s me, Polly!”

“Username not recognized. Will now attempt to make contact with headquarters. A higher vantage point is necessary.” Polly barely has time to question her friend’s weird demeanor before his thrusters start and rocket them into the sky. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Blossom throws on her shoes the quickest she’s ever done and races outside. Just as the front door slams behind her, she sees an electric scooter pull up with two familiar, albeit younger, people riding on it. 

“Hey,” Jess says, “do you know Polly? Little kid? Has a tail? Built a crazy robot?”

Blossom nods. “Ya, she’s my sister. But-” she stops as she hears the thrusters start from the garage. “Heads up!” she says as she covers her ears. 

Not a second later, Polly and Frobo rocket out of the garage and start to climb higher and higher into the sky. “Oh my gosh!" the IT Gals yell in unison. It’s at this point that the other three Plantars come running out, the two amphibians in their disguises.

They all watch in horror as Frobo’s boosters malfunction and the pair plummets towards the ground. “Blossom!” Anne shouts. “Do something! Catch her!” Blossom nods and throws open the gate to the garden in the back.

Blossom knows that, hopefully, Frobo will come online in time to save Polly. Even so, Blossom starts to sneakily bend and weave the branches of the tree into more of a net. It takes a lot out of her, but it’s worth it. The time traveller is proven correct when Frobo puts Polly inside his washing machine body. The tree does slow their descent considerably before the added branches break off.

In the end, Frobo and Polly end up in a comparatively smaller crater than the first time round, though the robot is still smashed to bits. The onlookers all run up to the wreckage, Sprig reaching in to pull his baby sister out. “She’s okay!" he shouts as he gathers her in his arms.

They all sigh in relief. “Oh, thank frog!" Hop Pop exclaims as he drops to the ground. Polly looks over to the decapitated head of her best friend before whimpering and burying her face in her brother’s sweater. “You guys were right. I was so impatient with bringing him back to life that I killed him all over again," she sobs, and the others reach in to comfort her.

Blossom breaks from the group and smooths a hand over Frobo’s head. The robot slowly opens his eyes, and she smiles. “Hey Sprig, can you come over here? Polly should see this.”

Sprig gives her a questioning look before following her request. As soon as Frobo sees his friend, he croaks out, “Po-Polly.”

The tadpole looks up from where she’s nuzzled into her brother and gasps. “Frobo!" she exclaims as she jumps out of Sprig’s arms. “You big, lovable lug! I'll fix you right this time and be slow and careful. No matter how much I miss ya.”

The others ‘awwwww’ at the duo before the IT Gals approach Polly and start speaking technical jargon with her. “Wow. Polly really got into this computer stuff, huh?” Anne says. Hop Pop mentions the internet and cat videos, and suddenly Blossom has lost her eldest siblings and grandfather.

She sighs and makes her way over to the currently (probably always) saner group of people. “Sorry to interrupt.”

Polly, Ally, and Jess all turn to her. Polly smiles and launches herself at Blossom. “Thank you!" she says as she hugs her sister tightly. Blossom laughs and hugs her back. 

“You’re welcome, but I didn't do much," she says. “You’re the one who remade him. I just cheered you on.”

“Exactly.” Jess says. “Support is sometimes the best way of helping," Blossom’s smile grows wider. Ally leans on her girlfriend and hugs her from the side. 

“Oh! That reminds me," Blossom says. She shifts Polly into her left, gloved arm and extends her right to Ally. “I’m Blossom. You already know this rascal. Our brother and sister back there are Anne and Sprig and our grandpa, Hop Pop.”

Just as Blossom is saying this, Bee bursts out of the house and screams, “Ah! The backyard!”

“And that is our dad, Bee," she continues. Ally shakes her hand, Jess shaking it after. Blossom’s face turns somber. “We… we know Marcy.”

Polly looks up at Blossom with confusion on her face. Anne also picks up on the conversation and listens in. 

Ally’s face falls. “You know… how?”

Anne steps over. “She’s been my friend since diapers. Do you know her?” Ally nods slowly, looking over Anne like she’s seen a ghost. 

“Anne, this is Marcy’s sister, Ally. The one who Marcy sometimes went to visit after school," Blossom says softly. Anne’s expression flips to one of understanding. She steps up to Ally and wraps the older girl in a hug.

“She talked about you a lot. Said she wanted to be as smart and brave as you someday," Anne huffs as Ally squeezes her tighter. “She’s okay. I know where she is, and she’s okay. We’re working on getting her back here.”

Ally sobs in relief, and Jess joins the hug, soon followed by Blossom and Polly. “Thank you," she mutters. 

Blossom doesn’t have the heart to tell either of them what is truly happening with Marcy. So instead, she simply says,

“Always.”

And just like that, they are one step closer to home.

Chapter Text

Anne has been doing a lot of thinking lately. After coming back from Amphibia, she’s felt different. More responsible, more willing, more driven. Her parents keep telling her how mature she’s getting. 

Yet all that’s looping in her head is the lies she keeps telling, flooding her parents’ perception of her five months away with fairytale versions of the gruesome truth. 

It stings. It really stings. 

I’mabaddaughterI’mabaddaughterthey’llhatemethey’llhateme they’llhateme

Anne is tired of it. So, she pulls Blossom aside to get her opinion. “What do I do?”

“About lying to them about Amphibia?" her older self asks. 

“Yes. And not telling them about the robot, and my powers, and everything else.”

Blossom sets a hand on Anne’s shoulder. Anne leans into the touch and is eventually pulled into a hug. “Tell them.”

She makes it sound so simple. “They’ll hate me.”

“No, they won’t," Blossom strokes her sister’s hair. “They love you no matter what. The sooner you tell them, the sooner they'll be able to help you.”

Anne sighs. “Okay.”

So that leads her here. She’s pulled Sprig into the kitchen to give herself one last pep talk before facing the music. 

She watches Frobo and Blossom jolt just as she’s walking in, but pays them no mind. She’s too stressed. She takes her place in the centre of the room, facing her parents on the couch. 

Anne wrings her hands together. “Mom, Dad, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Bee and Oum turn to her. Oum goes to speak but is cut off by Blossom. “Wait, guys-”

“Blossom," Oum chastises. “Let your sister speak. What is it, sweetie?”

Locking eyes with Blossom’s panicked ones, Anne stutters, “Uh… actually,”

“Sorry, you can tell them later," Blossom grabs her sister and pulls her close to the rest of the family. “GET DOWN!”

The cloak-bot, with its newly pieced-together arm, punches through the front of the Boonchuy residence. The family ducks just in time to avoid the glass flying from the now broken window.  

In one swift motion, Blossom picks up all three of her siblings and herds her parents and grandpa up the staircase, covering them as they go. 

Anne stays slightly behind as well, shouting, “Go! Go! Go!" to her family members. Blossom eventually throws her into a fireman's carry and takes the stairs two at a time. 

“Quick!” Oum shouts. “Into my workout room!" they all file into a room that none of them have touched since their arrival back to earth. 

Once everyone is in, Blossom, with Anne still over her shoulder, slams the door shut and locks it. Only then does she set her sister down. 

“Okay," Anne sighs as she regains her footing. “We can hide in here while… uhhhh…” Her jaw drops open as she takes in the room around her. 

Every wall, every shelf, every surface in the room is covered with Anne. Pictures and models and everything her parents have kept from her achievements over the years. 

(Blossom notices a paper on the back of the door that she hadn’t seen in her time. Anne probably won’t see it now. Oum cleared out this room days after the debacle they’re about to get into. 

The paper reads ‘Anne Away 89 Days’. That’s not even three months. Oum lost hope. 

Oum stopped counting.)

“Mom, this is not a workout room!” Anne shouts. 

“Yes, it is," Oum says calmly. “When I thought you ran away, it’s where I worked out all my stress.”

“Wait,” Anne spies one of the mannequins across the room and walks over to it, “why is this one dressed like a doctor?”

“A mom can dream, can’t she?” Oum replies indignantly. 

“Wrong kind of doctor," Blossom comments and Oum mouths, ‘Sorry, I’ll fix it’ right before the cloak-bot breaks through the floor and into the room. Everyone smacks themselves against one of the walls to avoid falling into the hole. 

“Multiple Anne Boonchuy’s confirmed," it croaks as it scans the room. Luckily, it is unable to tell between the real Anne and the models of her. 

“It’s after you?!” Oum says, both she and Bee stand with looks of shock on their faces. Blossom makes a ‘cut it out’ motion with her hand moving across her neck. 

When the cloak-bot strikes, it luckily hits the doctor mannequin next to Anne instead of the girl herself. It bursts through the wall and onto the front lawn, where it pummels the model into the ground. 

Oum and Bee run to the opening to watch, and Anne chuckles nervously. “Ok. Maybe there’s a couple of things I haven’t told you guys.”

“Let’s talk about it in the car," Blossom says sternly as she once again throws Anne over her shoulder and corrals her family into their minivan. 

Anne shouts an indignant, “Would you put me down!" as she’s tossed around. 

Bee takes the wheel with Oum sliding in beside him. Hop Pop, Polly, and Sprig all crowd into one seat, leaving Anne in the middle and Blossom on the other side. Bee doesn’t even wait for them to be buckled in before tearing down the road. 

Unfortunately, the cloak-bot sees their departure from the house and follows quickly behind. “Honey,” Oum says, turning to Anne in the back seat, “why is there a robot chasing us?”

Anne turns from where she’s kneeling, looking out the window. “Well, the thing is, and I was totally gonna tell you, the King of Amphibia kinda has it out for us," she smiles, clearly panicked.

Sprig very helpfully adds, “She punched him in the face!” Anne lets out a noise of desperation and defeat while Blossom cackles.

“Heck yeah we did! And there’s a lot more to come for that filius lacerti," the notes used in the Ancient Amphibian Blossom throws in there at the end sound a lot like a descending minor third, or ‘Na-na na-na boo boo’. Bee and Oum are clearly not impressed. 

Bee almost hits a pedestrian while looking back at his daughters, but manages to swerve just in time. Polly hops up on his shoulder and grips onto him tightly. “Can’t this robo-snail go any faster?”

“I'm sorry,” he says, gripping the steering wheel, “I'm not used to running for my life from a crazy robot!”

Hop Pop nods empathetically, “I know just how you feel, Mr. B. Why, the first time that robot attacked us-”

“This isn’t the first time?!” 

Anne glares at her grandfather. “You’re not helping!” Blossom wheezes, clearly delighting in the chaos.

“What are we at now? Three times? Oh, no, it’s four. Those dragonfly drones were sent by this guy too," the older sister grins. Anne sends her a death glare too, and Bee just sighs.

The robot starts to gain on them, and Anne spies two tennis rackets and a ball in one of the bags in the car. “Hey, Bloss,” she says, tossing her counterpart a racket, “you wanna double up against this guy?”

Blossom catches the racket and nods. “Always," they both jump into the trunk and lift the door up. Anne serves the ball, and the girls start playing tennis with the cloak-bot. 

Bee peeks a look back and hisses. “Oof. Your backhand is looking pretty rusty.” 

Both versions of his eldest child groan at the same time. “Dad!”

Eventually, the cloak-bot gets fed up with the match and dodges the ball, instead pulling out the nail gun it attached to itself and starts firing. Blossom quickly closes the trunk, and they all scream as nails are embedded into the back and ceiling of the car.

Bee and Oum start to debate which freeway Bee should take at the next split, which you know, is smart when you’re driving in LA, but they really don’t have time right now. “Take the 210!" she yells. Bee nods and skids into the left lane.

The cloak-bot ends up trying to intercept them, but Bee’s face hardens as he accelerates, running over the bot and continuing to drive. “All right, Dad!” Anne cheers. “That was awesome! Can you take me for driving lessons sometime?”

The car pulls under a small bridge and all the occupants quiet. “Did we lose it?” Oum whispers. 

Bee is about to respond when Blossom puts a hand on his shoulder. “Not yet. Get ready.”

Just as she finishes saying that, the cloak-bot drops from above. Bee throws the car into reverse and backs into and through a locked gate. They burst into a junkyard and quickly exit the car, finding a pile of trash to hide behind. 

Anne breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, guys. I think we're safe for now.”

“ANNE SAVISA BOONCHUY!” Oum says, clearly angry. “What is going on?!”

Anne turns to her parents, sheepish and confused. Blossom stills beside her. “What do you mean? There’s a giant robot trying to kill us. I thought that was clear.”

Oum scowls. “Yes! But why, Anne? Why? Is there something you want to tell us?" She shoots a look at Blossom. “That either of you want to tell us?”

“Mom!” Anne says, exasperated. “Take it easy!”

Bee lays a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Honey, maybe we should hear them out.”

“No!” Oum shrugs the hand off. “She’s lying to us! You’ve done something, haven’t you?! That’s why that thing is after us!” Oum starts to crowd her space.

Anne holds her hands up in front of her. “It’s complicated!”

“I knew it! We were wrong about you," Oum narrows her eyes. “You’re still the same irresponsible little girl who used to cut class." Blossom throws her ungloved arm in front of Anne.

“Mae ja, that’s enough," she says.

“No!” Oum tries to move Blossom’s hand, but it won’t budge. Oum sighs. “When are you going to grow up? When are you going to stop getting in trouble? When are you going to be responsible, like Blossom? When, Anne? When?”

“I DON’T KNOW, OKAY?!” 

Everyone freezes. Anne turns her head away from her family. 

“I don't know when I'll be the daughter you want me to be. And I'm sorry," she wipes a tear from her eye. “It's true. I did lie. But I did it to protect the people I really care about.”

They all look at the Plantars. Hop Pop waves sheepishly.

Anne squares her shoulders and locks eyes with her parents. “I've learned so much from you two in these past few weeks. I finally appreciate how much you've done for me. Now I'm asking for your help," she steps in front of Blossom and takes Oum’s hands. “Please. I can’t do this without you.”

Blossom locks eyes with Bee. He smiles and nods, setting a hand on the eldest’s shoulder. “We’re with you. Right, Oum?”

Oum looks off to the side. “I don't know. Isn't it all just too much?”

Blossom is about to respond when a ‘clang’ is heard. They all duck behind a pile of junk as the cloak-bot gets closer to them. Sprig looks between everyone. “So, is there a plan? I’m really hoping for a plan.”

Anne looks around the junkyard and spies a few miscellaneous items. Ones similar to those that Oum used to make the mannequins. “Hey, Mom. Feel like putting your artistic skills to use?”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

The bot paces around the yard, flipping over cars, punching through piles, anything to find the girl. Anything to find Anne Boonchuy . 

Suddenly, there! It revs up its chainsaw leg and runs her through. A basketball and a mop roll away. Another fake. 10 minutes left. It must find the girl. It must find Anne Boonchuy .

“Hey, metalhead! Lookin’ for me?”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

By the time the cloak-bot has found the first fake Anne, Oum has set up a dozen more. “Whoa, mama! You work fast!” Polly says. 

“It’s all about rhythm, baby," Oum says as she tips another mannequin up. Blossom notices that Oum has found a few items that are used to make longer hair. She’s made a few to look like Blossom. 

The cloak-bot gets fed up with the multiple copies and pulls out its nail gun. All the fake Annes are quickly decimated. 

Blossom and Anne take that as their cue. “Now, guys!" they shout in unison. 

Bee, Polly, Sprig, and Hop Pop all hop out and start smacking the bot with sticks and poles they’ve found around the yard. The bot spins around rapidly, knocking the Plantars off. 

Anne and Blossom run in from opposite sides and manage to hold off the bot for a bit, but Anne eventually fumbles and falls. 

The cloak-bot takes this opportunity to grab the girl by the ankle and hold her aloft. Blossom tries to free her, but is similarly knocked away and hoisted up by her throat. 

“ Parvus Cor, tam infirma, tam fragilis. Tua potentia consumit te omni momento servas eam captivum," it croaks. 

Blossom looks unimpressed. “Wow. The same line twice. News flash, Correxi ut, dipshit!”

Blossom keeps her right hand near her throat and puts the other further up the bot’s arm. Her eyes and hair start to glow blue. Faintly, but it’s there. Anne watches in awe as her sister activates her powers for the first time in ages.

Slowly but surely, roots and vines and leaves and flowers wrap in and around the cloak-bot, bursting through its machinery and anchoring it to the ground. 

Similar flowers and vines start to weave their way through Blossom’s hair. Anne watches her face as the plant life starts to overtake the cloak-bot. She’s clearly struggling, a pained look painted over her features. 

The growth is slowing down and Blossom is looking more and more hurt by the second. Anne can feel the echo of her powers, and they’re bursting, writhing, trying to break free, but Blossom is holding the brunt of them back. 

At that moment, Oum runs up behind the bot. “Hey, robot!" she yells as she heaves a sledgehammer with her.

“Leave my daughters alone!”

Oum smashes the hammer into the bot’s head and he lets go of both his captives. Quite literally rooted in place, he can do nothing as Oum keeps whamming the hammer into him and Anne runs him through with the pole of a ‘dead end’ sign from behind.

Blossom grunts as she picks herself up off the ground, still glowing, and grabs a spare pipe from the ground. She stumbles to her feet and bashes the bot repeatedly until it finally goes down. 

There’s a pause as everyone lets out a collective sigh. Then Anne smiles and laughs. “Wow, Mom! Good arm!" she drops her sign and starts walking to her mom. 

“You too," Oum smiles and runs to hug her daughter. Hop Pop is about to comment on the ferocity of the Boonchuy women and Bee’s lack of surprise, but never gets the chance. 

Because there’s one member of their family who hasn’t said anything. Anne turns to extend an arm to her sister, but Blossom is staring vacantly at the ground. 

“Bloss?” Anne asks, starting to walk towards her. Before she can reach her, Blossom collapses on the ground. Something that doesn’t feel like Blossom, some other external or internal force, flips the girl on her back, staring at the sky. 

And

She

Screams

Sharp and piercing, eyes and hair igniting cerulean as she spasms on the ground. Everyone tries to run to her, but a bubble of energy keeps everyone out. Everyone except Anne. 

As Anne pushes forward, voices enter her head. 

“Blossom? Are you okay?” Flame’s voice feels like sharp sparks popping and crackling in her brain. 

“Blossom! Come in! BLOSSOM!” Sea’s voice is like a tsunami drowning all other thoughts with its power. All that’s left is the need to get to Blossom. 

The writhing power rushes over Anne in waves as she kneels beside Blossom. “C’mon, Bloss," she says. “Let me help.”

Anne takes Blossom’s hand and inhales the waves of blue clamouring to be set free. She transfers just enough to herself to abate the effects on her sister. 

Blossom is able to come back to herself as the cloak-bot starts counting down to self-destruction. The sisters lock eyes and Blossom squeezes the younger’s hand. 

“Your turn," she says and smiles. Anne nods and stands, finally letting her powers loose for the first time since the grocery store debacle. 

“Not on my watch," Anne growls. Every member of her family watches as she hops forward and kicks the remainder of the bot’s body into the night sky, where it explodes harmlessly. 

Anne lands back on her feet from where she’s floated slightly off the ground. Immediately she stumbles. 

“Anne?” Oum whispers, approaching her daughter. 

Bee looks on in awe. “What was that?!”

Anne turns to look at her family. “Gosh, guys," she starts to tilt more and more. 

“Catch her," Blossom says quietly from the ground. Sprig hears her and nods. 

“I have so much…” Anne’s eyes roll back in her head as the last of the blue leaves her, “to tell you.” 

With that, she fully collapses and falls into Sprig’s arms. Blossom sighs from where she is still lying on the ground. Bee kneels beside her. “Need a hand?”

Blossom laughs and immediately winces as the movement makes her muscles very mad. “More like two arms to carry me. I…” she tries to get her right arm underneath her to push herself up, but her shoulder gives out, and she goes pitching backwards once again. “I can’t get up.”

Bee nods and scoops up his daughter into a bridal carry with only a bit of difficulty. “Wow! Dad!” Blossom shrieks in surprise. 

“I’m still in my 40s right now, kiddo. Don’t worry about me," he says as they start walking to the car. Blossom sighs and tucks her head into her dad’s neck. Oum follows close behind.

Bee slides Blossom into the passenger seat and buckles her in before she can protest. Oum slides into the back, still holding a passed-out Anne. As they start driving, Hop Pop decides to speak up. “Honestly, Mrs. Boonchuy, Anne has just been trying to-”

Oum holds a hand up. “Protect you three. I get it now. And whatever it is you guys need to do, we’ll do it together," she wraps the Plantars in a hug.

Bee huffs. “Aw. The driver always gets left out of the group hug. Can you guys just imagine I’m there?” 

Blossom chuckles and lifts her sore arm to slide around her dad’s shoulders. He smiles and lifts a hand to squeeze her hand. Eventually, Blossom passes out as well, and the Boonchuy-Plantar family has a pleasant trip home.

Chapter Text

Anne wakes up bright and early the next day, feeling more rejuvenated than she has in a while. Her muscles are a bit sore, but the good kind of sore — similar to the kind she gets after a hard tennis match. She slips out of bed, grabs some clothes, and gets ready for the day.

By the time Anne gets downstairs, with her hair freshly done and clothes smoothed out, everyone is already eating breakfast. 

Everyone except Blossom.

“Good morning, Anne!” Oum stands to hug her daughter and give her a kiss on the head. Anne giggles and hugs her back.

“Morning, Mom. Morning, guys,” she says as she takes her seat at the table. “Has anyone seen Blossom yet?”

Her family shakes their heads. “Nope,” Sprig says. “We thought she was getting ready. She’s usually up before all of us," Anne frowns. She stands, planning to go upstairs to find her older sister, when a thump echoes from the staircase.

Anne peeks her head around the corner and sees Blossom leaning heavily against the wall, taking the stairs very slowly. Anne rushes up and throws Blossom’s other arm over her shoulders.

“Thanks," Blossom groans. They slowly make their way down the steps and to the kitchen table. Blossom slumps into her seat when they finally get there.

Bee places his hand over his eldest daughter’s. “Blossom? Are you okay?”

The girl in question chuckles weakly. “No. Everything hurts," her head falls onto her dad’s shoulder. “I pushed myself too far last night. This is the price I pay for it.”

Anne looks at her suspiciously. “But you did way more than that on the first night you were here. Why-” she freezes and turns her head very slowly to look at her parents.

“Is that why we couldn’t follow you that night?” Oum asks calmly. 

Blossom sighs. “Yep. You didn’t know about Anne’s powers yet. I couldn’t spoil that for you,” she switches her gaze to Anne. “To answer your question, I’ve been keeping my powers under lock and key for a while now.”

Anne looks at her with wide eyes. “That’s why your powers weren’t settling.”

“They did, a bit," Blossom pulls her phone out from her pocket and opens her photo app. She scrolls back three weeks to the last photo from her timeline. 

The photo is of Blossom, Sea and Flame all smiling at the camera. They’re in Blossom’s room and look like they’re finishing packing up before heading off to Newtopia, as they’re all in their armour. 

The most interesting part of the photo is Blossom. The girl that sits in front of them has a slight blue tint over the bottom half of her irises and only a few colourful flowers and leaves in her hair. 

Blossom in the photo couldn’t be more different. The blue in her eyes shines bright and pure, matching the gorgeous, glowing streaks of teal in her hair. Like when they first met her, Blossom’s hair is home to dozens of leaves and flowers and vines and colour. Her smile shines like the sun, bright and blinding. 

“We found out pretty soon after unlocking our full abilities, that they can never really be contained. We got in so much trouble for having coloured streaks in our hair at school, but we couldn’t really get rid of them.”

Blossom pauses and takes a deep breath. “Flame tried, though. She was desperate to get rid of the physical parts, because her parents were outraged that their daughter had green hair.

“She would suppress her powers at home and let them out at school or our places. It hurt a lot, and she was miserable all the time because she was dealing with the side effects of having her powers suppressed.

The family looks at Blossom sadly. Anne frowns and reaches for a bit of the power in her, trying to sooth Blossom through it. “But she was able to let go, right? To go back to normal?”

“That’s the thing," Blossom says, sending a pulse of thanks back to her sister. “As soon as we start suppressing our powers, we’re ticking time bombs. The buildup of excess energy just grows and grows, until…” Blossom mimics an explosion with her voice and hands.

Sprig looks very concerned. “Is that what happened to you?”

Blossom shakes her head. “Nope. I’m still actively suppressing my powers. I’ve been trying to still access some of it, but it’s difficult. I overexerted myself last night by pulling too much power while still trying to keep most of it under lock and key.”

“And it didn’t like that, I guess,” Polly comments. Blossom laughs and shakes her head. 

“So then why don’t you just let go?” Anne asks. “If it’s hurting you so much to keep it prisoner, why not let it out? All of us know now.”

Blossom once again explodes her hands. “I’ve been holding them for too long. A few days is nothing. A few weeks is a hospital trip. Not only do I not technically exist in this world, but human healthcare won’t have what I need.”

“Then how do we fix this?” Oum rubs her daughter’s shoulder. 

“We can’t really. The only way to minimize the damage is if Sea and Flame are there to cancel out the worst of the overload. We’re gonna have to wait till we get to Amphibia,” she sighs. “Oh, the pros and cons of being a goddess,” she lays her head down on the table. 

“Goddess?!" Hop Pop exclaims. “What do you mean, goddess?!" The others look equally flabbergasted, especially Anne. 

Blossom groans and flips open the voice memos on her phone, choosing one and letting it play. 

Lady Olivia’s voice echoes through the speaker. “And with that, I am proud to present to you, the saviours of our realm and many realms beyond:

“Marcy Wu, Goddess of Wit and Lady of the Flame,

“Sasha Waybright, Goddess of Strength and Lady of the Sea,

“And Anne Boonchuy, Goddess of Heart and Lady of the Blossom. 

“May they guide us and protect us for many years to come.”

The recording ends as cheers start to erupt from the crowd below. The Boonchuy-Plantars all look gobsmacked as they process the new information given. 

“So, Anne’s a goddess,” Sprig says quietly. 

“Not yet, but soon," Blossom replies. 

Anne turns to her older counterpart. “ You’re a goddess. HOLY SHIT WE’RE GONNA BE GODDESSES.”

None of the adults chastise Anne for swearing. They feel it’s justified. Blossom just laughs. 

“Welcome to our life, sis. Since when have we been normal?”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Days pass as Blossom slowly regains her strength. Anne and the Plantars wind up in more crazy hijinks while she stays mostly house or restaurant-bound. One of the most notable occurrences happens on the same day as that exciting conversation. 

“Blossom, get in the car!” Oum yells from the front of the restaurant. “We need to go, now!”

“Let me guess,” the time traveller groans as she follows the instructions, “secret government agents?”

Oum whips her head towards her daughter as she passes by. “How did you-” Blossom gives her a look. “Right. Time travel. Not sure why I’m surprised at this point.”

They all hop in the car and Bee starts to drive. Oum scrambles to call Anne, and panics when she doesn’t pick up.

“I have a feeling she’s still in the movie," Blossom says. Oum swears under her breath.

Bee groans as he watches Mr. X’s car cruise further and further away. “We’re going to lose him in the traffic!”

Oum rolls her eyes. “That’s because you drive like an old man! Move over!”

Blossom holds on for dear life as Oum knocks the car onto its right set of wheels, dodging around the other cars as the edge of the roof skids against the concrete barrier. Finally, they pass X and land right in front of him, cutting him off.

Their victory is short lived however, as X’s car extends upwards and passes over the Boonchuy’s car. Oum and Bee gawk as Mr. X speeds into the distance. Oum turns in her seat to look at an equally surprised Blossom. 

“Did you know he would do that?!” she interrogates. Blossom shrugs and stutters. “Blossom!”

“I forgot his car could do that, yes, but I was also IN A MOVIE the first time ‘round!” Blossom shrieks. “Get off my dick!”

Oum’s chastising, “Language!” is mostly lost under Bee’s “You still have yours?”

To which Blossom aptly responds by kicking the back of his seat with an incredulous “Pau Ja!” as they speed off after X.

After all of that, Bee quickly pulls over to the shoulder so Oum can properly swap into the driver’s seat. As they start up again — dangerously close to excessive speeding — Bee calls Anne and it finally goes through.

Bee tries to put Anne on speaker, but accidentally calls the girls’ grandmother. Blossom ducks in the back seat as the video call boots up. 

Anne gracefully responds to the elder woman’s questioning, “Oh, hi, Grandma. Yeah, I just had a sandwich,” before addressing the car’s occupants again. “Mom, Dad, Bloss, just stay in the car where it's safe. We'll meet you outside,” she signs off before hanging up.

Blossom swears in Ancient Amphibian before leaning forward again. “She’s gonna need our help, even if she thinks she doesn’t.”

“Speaking from experience?” Bee chuckles. Blossom rolls her eyes. Oum finally pulls into the parking lot, spotting Jenny blocking the exit. 

“How do we get them out?” she sighs. “They're cornered.”

Bee thinks for a second before exclaiming, “I have an idea. Not only how to get them out, but to deal with these agents too.” 

Blossom’s eyes light up. “To the pet store?”

“To the pet store!” Bee high fives her as Oum steps on the gas and both passengers lurch to the side. “Honey, take it easy!”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

It doesn’t take long to grab the frogs from the pet shop and get back to the movie theatre. After that, Oum and Bee fry the power while a slightly less sore Blossom shimmies into the vent and grabs her siblings and grandfather. 

“Thanks Blossom!” Anne says as she climbs out onto the concrete. 

“Oh, this wasn’t me,” Blossom smiles. “This was all Mom and Dad.”

Anne looks at her parents in wonder. “I don’t believe it. Dad, Mom, how did you…”

“Well,” Oum chuckles, “parents have a special set of skills.”

They fill the theatre goers in on their plan and Anne apologizes for misjudging her parents. All is forgiven… even after the tracker on Hop Pop is revealed. 

Welp. That’s the Boonchuy-Plantar family for you. 

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

A couple of days later, Blossom walks into Anne’s room just in time to see Hop Pop and Polly put a mud crown on Sprig’s head. 

They sing Froggy Little Birthday to him while Blossom hums along from the doorway. Anne looks shocked. 

“Sprig, I had no idea it was your birthday!” she exclaims. 

Sprig tries to wave her off, “Neh. Don’t worry about it. I don’t think I ever mentioned it.”

Anne grabs onto him and starts shaking him. Blossom giggles as he walks into the room. “Felix natalis, Fraterana,” she says, ruffling his hair sticking out of the crown. 

Anne pauses for a second to try and translate the words, something she’s been getting better at. “Happy something… happy birthday?”

Blossom nods. “There are other ways to say it, but yes. Do you know the last part? Fraterana?”

“Well, rana is frog,” she continues. “And frater sounds like a family word. Brother?”

“Brother frog?” Polly adds. 

Blossom nods again. “Basically, ya. My froggy brother and sister. Fraterana et Sororana mea.” 

Sprig gives her a hug and she returns it, pecking him on the cheek. “Anyways,” Polly interrupts, “reflection time!”

“Reflect?” Anne asks. 

“On his life up to this point,” Hop Pop explains as Sprig hops up to the window. 

He finishes quickly and goes to leave with his grandfather and baby sister. Anne stops him and convinces him to join her for an earth-style birthday. 

Blossom sighs, remembering what this specific day entailed for her and her own Sprig. 

For most of the day, she stays in her room and Anne’s for use of the sewing machine. She politely asks for the fabric and other materials she needs from the Guardian, who is happy to provide. The only catch is that she has to keep them company for a bit. 

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Blossom asks. 

“You, mostly. I don’t truly have a favourite out of the three of you, but I’ve known you the longest.”

Blossom hums. “Coincidence.”

“You’re the Heart. You make connections. You stitch people together in the weave of fate. It was no mere coincidence.”

“If you say so.” There’s a lull in the conversation as Blossom focuses on a specific line of stitches. “I’m feeling better than I was, if I’m being honest. After the whole ordeal with the bot, I’ve had a better grip on… well,” she extends a hand, managing to shoot a vine from it to grab a pair of scissors just out of range. 

“That is good! Hopefully your control of your powers will lessen the impact on your body when they are released.”

“It better!” Blossom huffs. “We’re in the middle of a war. I don’t have time to be injured.”

“Might I remind you that you are not the one leading the war this time around. You have other responsibilities.”

“Pray tell.”

“Setting the timeline straight. Andri ass as you call him is even more in line with that moniker than he was in your timeline.”

Blossom sits bolt upright. This is the first bit of information the Guardian has leaked about why the goddesses have been thrown into the past.

“Elaborate.”

“I will be contacting Wit and her brother very soon. Their counterpart is in more danger than you all anticipate. This also puts Anne in a dangerous position further down the line.”

Suddenly, it clicks.

“Flame saved my life by keeping her stone.”

“Correct.”

“They saved themself by doing what they did on the moon.”

“Correct.”

“Andrias is going to kill Marcy, or the Core is. And that will kill Anne.”

There’s a long pause. Blossom realises that she’s clutching tightly to the fabric in her hands, heartbeat rapid, breathing laboured.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the Guardian speaks.

“Correct.”

Blossom immediately drops everything and goes to stand, trying to get out, trying to do something.

“Heart.”

But what can she do? This entire time she’s been walking the same path she herself followed. She’s been hoping that Anne won’t suffer all the same scars she has. Maybe they can save her that pain.

“Heart.”

What can she do? What can she do?! She, Flame and Sea barely made it out alive. That was with Andrias feeling guilty. That was with Andrias resisting. That was with Andrias saving Flame’s memories. Now what? She can’t fight in Anne’s place. She doesn’t know what the faex is going on with Marcy and Sasha because she’s stuck on Earth!

“Heart!”

Quid illa facere? Quid illa facere? Quid illa facere? Illa est defectum. Illa est defectum. Illa est defectum. Illa non potest respirare. Illa non potest respirare. Illa non potest respirare!

“HEART!”

“Illa non potest respirare!”

“Well shit. Okay, sleepy time.”

Blossom doesn’t hear the concerned shouts from her family as they catch the end of her panic attack. She also doesn’t see them as her eyes go white and she crumples to the floor.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Waking up in the void is never fun.

Okay, that’s a lie. Sometimes it’s quite peaceful and pretty. When you land on one of the islands and can relax in the grass, then it can be nice.

But waking up floating in the middle of the starscape is disconcerting. Blossom has been here before, but this is one of the first times it has actually helped instead of being an inconvenience.

“There you are. Back with me, Heart?”

Blossom sighs. “I guess so.”

“That’s the first time one of those has gotten that bad.”

“Normally I have my girlfriends to calm me down.”

“True.”

They both quiet for a minute, letting Blossom’s brain reboot in the endless galaxy around her. When her breathing fully steadies, Blossom feels a large, fluffy body fly up behind her. She looks up into the eyes of the Guardian in their giant Domino form.

They lean down and nuzzle the young goddess, who giggles slightly on response.

“You are not a failure. You are strong. You will make it through this.”

Blossom just nods as she feels her deity start to send her back to the mortal plane.

“Oh, and those scarves? Make two.”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Blossom comes to consciousness surrounded by her family. Anne, Sprig and Bee are still out, leaving her mother, grandfather, and baby sister spread around her.

“Blossom!” Oum exclaims as soon as the girl opens her eyes.

“Hi, Mae ja.” Blossom says softly. The three of them cling onto her tightly. “I’m okay, just a little freak out.”

Polly looks up indignantly. “That wasn’t little! You passed out!”

Blossom waves her off and goes to stand, only wobbling a little. Hop Pop passes her a cup of water which she greedily chugs. Frog DNA. Gotta keep hydrated.

She eventually convinces them to let her be so she can finish her sewing project before the others get home. She manages to make two matching red handkerchiefs. They both have intricate embroidery on them, thanks to the speed at which her right hand can stitch and a bit of preparation she’s been doing in her spare time — both before and after getting transported here.

Blossom’s Sprig, her true Fraterana, lost his classic red handkerchief during his last expedition. He was devastated. Now she’s made one to replace it.

And hopefully Anne’s Sprig likes his too.

Blossom sends the first one off with the Guardian, having them transport it to their original timeline. 

She doesn’t get to see Sprig cry as he opens the gift from his missing sister. She doesn’t see him run to show the others, proof that the trio is alive.

But she gets to see this Sprig smile.

And she gets to call Bee to come home early instead of leaving him waiting at the hot air balloon park.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Sprig has become a local superhero. No one in his family is impressed. Blossom almost forgets about the whole ordeal — more focussed on the new information she’s gleaned from the Guardian — but remembers very clearly when she hears Polly shout, “You're never gonna solve systemic societal problems with a sock on your head!” from Anne’s bedroom window. That earns a cackle from the oldest Plantar sibling.

Things continue to escalate over the next couple of days, and Blossom really doesn’t want to deal with it. So she makes an escape plan.

“Hey Polly,” she calls upstairs, “wanna go visit Ally and Jess?” She pulls out her phone to call the pair.

“YES!” echoes from upstairs just as the call picks up.

“Hello?” Ally’s voice responds.

“My brother’s doing something dumb, and I want to be out of the house when it explodes in his face. Mind if I bring Polly over?” Blossom sips at her coffee as a pitter patter of feet are heard upstairs.

Ally gives the all clear and hangs up just as Polly slams into Blossom’s back, fully outfitted and ready to go.

“Hey Mom, can I borrow your bike?” the elder girl calls, already heading towards the garage with a feral pollywog on her shoulder.

“Sure! But what do you need-”

“Okay, thanks, bye!”

Blossom doesn’t waste any time snatching up Oum’s helmet, along with the new one gotten recently for Polly. The little mechanic hops into the front basket just before Blossom tears out of the garage.

“Wow, sis! You’re fast!”

“Years of practice, baby!”

Unfortunately, Polly left Anne’s computer open on an article of the elusive Frog Man. Anne’s indignant “SPRIG!” echoes through the whole neighbourhood.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Ally and Jess’s place is always a good time. Blossom is quite familiar with it in her timeline. Here, she gets to be an equal level of young adult to the girlfriends. 

Part way through the afternoon, Jess is walking Polly through the last few steps of finishing up a red panda version of Pandatron when Ally pulls Blossom aside.

“So, I know your family is looking into the whole ‘Marcy is missing’ situation. Any news on that whole,” she waves her hands around, “thing?”

Blossom sighs and looks down. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she says, “I’ve learned some new information. It’s not… great.”

Ally tenses up. “Is she okay?”

Blossom thinks for a while about how to explain this. She chooses the formal route. “I cannot be fully upfront with all the circumstances in relation to Marcy’s disappearance. There are a significant number of government officials trying to incarcerate us, so the less you are aware of the better.” She lifts her head, locking eyes with Ally, “Do you want me to tell you what I can?”

Ally nods furiously.

“Alright then,” she clears her throat. “On June 6th, 2019, my younger sister, Anne Bounchuy and her two best friends, Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu went missing. Through a series of mysterious circumstances while the girls were unconscious, they all ended up in different places, miles from anywhere they had ever known. Anne woke up in the woods surrounding a small farming town and was taken in by a local family called the Plantars.” She gestures a hand to Polly and Ally nods along.

“Sasha was found outside a fairly corrupt military base and spent a number of weeks imprisoned before managing to convince the Captain to release her and let her join their unit. Marcy, luckily, ended up in the wealthiest city in their area. She almost immediately fell down a very long flight of stairs and broke her leg, but the local government was willing to help patch her up. The leader of the government, Andrias, also promised to help her find her companions and a way back home.

“After a number of months, the three girls were all able to reunite. They were ready to be sent home, but — and I won’t go into too much detail — Andrias refused to send them back. He had… vastly ulterior motives. Very long story short, a fight occurred, and Marcy was able to send Anne and the Plantars back to LA, right before being grievously injured.

“There are some people we trust back in- back there that are taking care of Sasha and trying their best to help Marcy. However, the circumstances are complicated.”

Ally’s jaw tightens. “How bad are Marcy’s injuries? Is there any way she can be helped?”

“Extreme. Andrias still has her. On top of the fact that he has been sending assassins after Anne, he has full power to do with Marcy as he pleases,” she takes a shaky breath. “And getting her out of her current situation is almost impossible, given that his medical technology is one of the only things keeping Marcy alive.”

There’s a clang from across the workshop. Blossom abruptly turns her head to the noise, only to find Polly staring back at her. Jess is standing beside her, clutching a hand over her mouth.

“Is Marcy going to die?” Polly asks in a quiet voice.

Blossom immediately speedwalks over to her sister and picks her up, holding her to her chest. “No. We won’t let it. I won’t let it.”

“But we’re not there!” Polly sobs. “We can’t help until we get back home!”

“Flame and Sea are still there, and I know for a fact that Flame has been managing to check on Marcy,” Blossom runs a hand over the pollywog’s head. Behind her, Jess is holding Ally tightly.

There’s a pause as Polly sniffles. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? That’s what’s different,” she whispers. Blossom sighs and gives a small nod.

She turns towards the couple. “I have to stress that this information cannot leave this room. I don’t even want our family to know the full extent of what is happening yet, as it is something myself and my partners are actively working to prevent.”

Ally lets out a shaky exhale. “Okay. But you’ll get her back, right?”

Blossom nods, and finally, a grin graces her lips. “I promise. And besides,” she looks at her sister and nuzzles her head, “I’m not doing this on my own.”

When she and Polly get home, the pollywog is tuckered out and Sprig is back from the end of his escapades. He’s thrown aside the costume, especially after being scolded by Anne.

As Blossom puts Polly to bed, she lets a few tears spill from her eyes.

Because she knows that dimensions away, in Newtopia Castle, things are stirring.

And Marcy Wu doesn’t have much time left.

Chapter Text

“Wit.”

Flame startles awake. Or not awake, per se. She’s not in the waking world, but instead sitting in a green field, surrounded by a sea of endless stars. She knows this place — the Guardian’s realm.

But why am I here?

A groan emerges from her right. With a quick turn of their head, Flame spies another body lying on the ground beside them. The resemblance between the two is uncanny, but of course it is. Flame reaches over and shakes the other figure. They try to swat her hands away, but she’s persistent. Finally, the figure sits up to be face-to-face with Flame. 

Their face shape and build matches Flame’s identically. The major differences between the two are their hair — Flame’s hanging down their back while her companion’s is cut short — and their attire — each of them sporting their own sets of armour. The other glaring detail makes itself apparent when the doppelganger opens all ten of his orange eyes. Flame quickly realizes she only has two at her disposal currently.

“Hello there, Newton twins.”

The brother and sister duo snap their heads to the starscape in front of them. Slowly, two giant paws grip onto the edge of their island, followed by a huge black and white cat head. Each of their eyes and the centre of their brow sports the visage of a calamity gem. 

“Guardian! Hey!” Flame jumps slightly, but smiles. “What’s up?”

“And why am I here?” her twin complains. “I understand bringing Flame here, but I have no business with the stones of calamity,” their ten eyes narrow in sync. Flame reaches over and gently socks him in the arm, to which he responds with a grunt.

“Be nice,” she hisses.

“Do not fret, Wit. I am not offended,” the Guardian’s head tilts — an ear flicking slightly with it. “I have called you both here to discuss your younger counterparts.”

The twins exchange a look. “What about them?” Flame asks cautiously.

The Guardian sighs, a heavy thing that echoes in the space around them. “Young Wit’s time of mental freedom is coming to a close. Soon, the Core — as you call it — will take her body hostage. I… suggest you be there when her future parentage attempts to free her.”

“Why?” the ten-eyed brother asks. “Are they going to come close to escaping with her?”

The Guardian shakes their head. “Perhaps a bit more than in your original timeline, but nothing too drastic. No, I am worried about the king. He is even more of a puppet than the one you know of.”

Flame bites her lip. “So, Andrias is even more of… well,”

“An ass?”

“Yes, thank you. But that doesn’t change the fact that we want to keep the monarchy in the dark about our existence.” 

“I believe it is now required. Do not reveal the full extent of your abilities, and you will be perfectly fine. Besides, the king is likely to have some knowledge of your existence, considering Heart’s presence while her junior had a cloak-bot trying to assassinate her.”

“But-” the twins go to argue in unison, but are cut off once more.

“Wit. Night. Listen to my words. You must attend.”

Both twins hang their heads in silence. Finally, Night speaks. “I’m assuming we cannot save Mom and Mama.”

“No.”

“Worth a shot,” he mutters.

“Is there anything else we should know?” Flame asks, shuffling over to lean on Night.

“Be prepared to intercede if events go in an unplanned direction. Also, Heart has been informed of the events that are about to transpire.”

Flame stands abruptly. “You told Blossom?! Is she okay? Her powers keep freaking out and she isn’t responding!”

The Guardian starts to raise a giant paw over the duo. “Good luck.”

Flame and Night both protest as they scramble away from the looming appendage. Their pleas to not send them back go unanswered and the Guardian’s paw slams down upon them, cutting off their screams as their souls are transported back to their bodies.

The Guardian shakes their fluffy head.

“Always with the theatrics. Well,” they turn to the open sea of stars in front of them, peering through them to look upon the mortal realm.

“Let us see how this unfolds.”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Once again, Flame awakes with a start. Except this time, she actually wakes up. The other eight eyes on her head snap open as well, accompanied by Night taking over the body to let out a feral scream of rage. It echoes through their new room, a conveniently large cave within the network of tunnels under Wartwood. 

They specifically chose a room quite separated from the rest of the resistance for this specific reason, but someone must have heard that. Sea certainly did. She jumps awake, immediately in a defensive pose, dagger snatched from the bedside table. She relaxes when her eyes land on Flame’s body — two eyes glowing green, the rest glowing orange, and clawed hands gripping their multicoloured hair like a lifeline.

Sea sighs, replaces the dagger, and turns on the glowshrooms in the room. “Good morning, you two.” She does a little salsa step as she asks, “Are we keeping things all mixed right now, or is one of you gonna front fully? Cuz I’m sure Sasha’s gonna come running in any second now.”

The body glares at Sea for a second before fully dropping their head into their hands. Moments later, green fire explodes from them in a one-foot radius before Flame lifts her head back up. She tucks her knees up to her chest and rests her cheek on them. “Morning, baby,” she hums, face still contorted in a frown, but only bearing her normal pair of eyes.

Sea kneels down behind her, tucking loose raven and green hairs behind her ear. “Do you want to tell me what that was about?” they ask, kissing the top of their partner’s head.

“Night and I need to go watch Marcy get taken over by the Core today,” Flame laments, flopping onto Sea. “And apparently the Guardian told Blossom before they told us, so she’s alive, I guess?”

Sea’s face goes through about 10 different expressions before bluescreening altogether. Flame nods at the justified reaction. While Sea processes, Flame hears a set of steps running at breakneck speed towards their room.

Sasha slides in without fanfare and takes in the scene before them. “Uhhhhh… everything alright?”

Flame once again groans and extricates themself from underneath Sea as the latter starts to literally melt into a pink, gloopy liquid. Sasha looks on, concerned as their older counterpart flattens slightly on the bed, mostly watching his hair splay everywhere . 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

“Don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine,” Flame says as she drags a hand down her face. “Sorry, I just got news that I need to go supervise the lesbian newts in their treasonous endeavors.” She walks towards her chest of clothes and pulls out underclothes for both herself and Sea.

Sasha cocks her head to the side. “From who?”

“The Guardian. Oh, also,” they spin on their heel, closing the chest behind them. “Blossom’s alive. Guardian apparently talked to her. Hopefully she’s not like, super injured, but at least we know she’s conscious.”

Sasha perks up. “Oh, yeah! That weird pulse the other day came from her, right?”

For the past week, the three of them have been getting small nudges of blue in their souls. It surprised Sasha at first, considering he gave up his calamity powers at the third temple, but Flame hypothesized that the presence of the future three was drawing out the energies from the stones once more.

This all culminated a few days prior when Blossom’s powers surged suddenly, filling the assembled Calamity Warriors’ heads with the feeling of vines restricting their minds in a defence mechanism. Flame and Sea tried to reach out to their third for answers, but got no response. Blossom has been completely MIA since then, but Anne’s powers have been slowly strengthening as the weeks press on.

It didn’t help that Andrias’ forces attacked mere hours later, forcing the entirety of Wartwood underground.

Flame nods. “Yep,” they huff, turning their gaze to the floor. “That kind of explosion, that isn’t supposed to happen. It only happens if…”

Sasha curves her back to the side to lock eyes with Flame. “If what?”

“If we do something stupid,” Flame hisses. They snap their gaze to Sasha, realising the way that came out. “Sorry, I am zero percent mad at you. I’m just stressed.”

Sasha just shrugs. “I know, don’t worry.” She rocks back on her heels before spinning and walking to the door. She pauses in the doorframe to speak over her shoulder to Flame. “I’ll see you at breakfast, and if I don’t, best of luck.”

With that, she swings the door closed behind her, leaving the couple alone.

“Was that the kid?” a less melty Sea asks from their bed.

“Yep! Now,” Flame throws Sea’s clothes at him, “get dressed. We’ve got work to do.”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Lady Olivia is outraged. Her entire life, she’s been working her tail off, trying to keep the lands of Amphibia healthy and thriving. It’s her sacred duty, her oath. Now, to be told to finish tearing it all to shreds? This has all gone too far.  

Yunan seems to agree, considering the look they shared when eavesdropping on the king’s conversation. The general trails behind her as she voices her grievances aloud.

“Lady Olivia!” 

It’s at this moment she realizes she may have been speaking against the king a little too loudly.

“If you’re going to talk treason…” Yunan looms over Lady Olivia, making the smaller newt cower backwards. She’s afraid that Yunan is about to shout out her misdoings, but Yunan simply snatches up the lady and carries her to a secluded hallway.

“I insist that you do it in private!” the general hisses. Luckily, she walks away to check for onlookers before she notices Olivia’s blush.

“You’re dang right he’s gone too far, and based on whatever we just witnessed,” she gestures, referring to the scene of Andrias talking to himself, “Andrias is losing it. I, for one, will not serve a mad king,” she growls.

“Agreed,” Olivia responds, straightening her translucent shawl. “But we can’t take him down alone.” She turns to look out the window, contemplating. “We need someone clever, someone who understands strategy, someone like... Marcy Wu.”

Yunan immediately tries to veto the idea. Not only had they both seen what happened on that fateful day of betrayal, but it’s well known that Marcy is being held under the castle, supposedly guarded. 

Yunan whispers in Olivia’s ear as the lady walks out of their hidden alcove, “There’s even a rumor she’s being guarded by a horrible monster.”

“A monster?” Olivia chuckles and pokes her in the breastplate. “Don’t tell me the great General Yunan is scared of some ridiculous rumour.”

Just as Yunan is about to reply, a voice speaks from behind them, “She’s right, you know.” Both newts whirl around, suddenly on the defensive. Yunan shifts in front of Olivia.

“Show yourself!” the general commands, unsheathing her blades.

A sigh echoes from further in the hallway, before something tucked between the coral fixtures decorating the ceiling alights green. First, it’s just streaks of the colour, but they shift as the figure’s head turns towards the pair, and two eyes glow with the same colour as they open.

The figure flips out of their position, landing in a crouch on the floor. They slowly straighten, revealing the face of a ravenette human, decorated in Newtopian armour. It almost looks like…

Olivia steps out from behind Yunan. “Marcy?” she whispers in disbelief.

“Not quite, Lady Olivia,” Not-Marcy grins. She’s taller. Her hair is longer. Her voice is deeper. “Well, I mean, technically yes,” she says as she steps towards the pair. “I am Marcy, but from like… five years in the future.”

Both newts’ jaws drop in pure shock. “I’m sorry, what now?” Yunan asks.

Not-Marcy cackles, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh my Liege, I’ve missed you two.” She passes them and peeks out into the corridor, continuing onwards when she sees the coast is clear.

“I’ll explain on the way to Marcy, but for now,” she turns back to the pair and gestures for them to follow her. “Call me Flame.”

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

Flame knows the castle like the back of her hand. She’s spent over five years of her life living here. Every secret passage, every hallway, every room, everything has been explored by the great Marcy “Flame” Newton. They took a specific interest in the castle’s inner workings, especially after it was revealed that Andrias had buried so much Newtopian and Amphibian history beneath the shining stone and coral.

Flame was 14 when Olivia was crowned the new Queen of Amphibia. They were made the Princess mere months later when Olivia and Yunan adopted them. Of course, a change in title meant a change in rooms, something that was very welcome after the discovery that the room’s former occupant was in fact the original wielder of the strength gem, Leif.

Yeahhhhhhhh. Flame noped out of that one real quick. But she still knows how to get to the room, so she sneaks. And sneaks, and sneaksssss… there’s guards. Damn it.

Olivia and Yunan peek around the corner of the hallway to get a good look at their predicament, their heads stacking under Flame’s. “We'll never get past them,” Olivia curses.

Yunan chuckles. “Well, not with that attitude, we won’t.” Olivia tries to question her, but the general already has her gathered to her chest before she can complain. Yunan turns back to Flame and whispers, “Follow my lead.”

Yunan jumps and uses her blades to swing across the ceiling, bypassing all the bots below. Flame follows quickly, skittering across the ceiling. They all drop down once they're out of sight, safely past the guarded hallway. 

“And that’s how it’s done,” Yunan chuffs.

Olivia screeches indignantly from the pink newt’s arms. “Would you put me down already?!” She is promptly dropped and caught inches from the floor by Flame. The Calamity Warrior rights the younger version of her mama and waves a hand to smooth out the lady’s hair.

As they keep walking, Yunan turns to Flame. “How could you stick to the ceiling like that?” she asks.

Flame presses the tips of their ungloved fingers together and slowly pulls them apart, displaying the sticky residue. “I’m part newt thanks to my powers. Scampering across surfaces like that was one of the first things I practiced when my new genes kicked in.”

Olivia hums beside her. “So, how does one travel back in time five years?”

“The box can do some really wacky- get against the wall,” they hiss suddenly. They slam an arm across the two newts, pinning them to the wall across from Marcy’s room.

Yunan tries to protest, but Flame lifts her other hand to press a finger to her lips. She then points upward. The newts follow her finger to the wall above them. Emerging from the stonework, a bright orange eye glares, surveying the hall. Olivia slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. They stand there, glued to the wall for the next minute or so, until the eye loses interest and melts back into the wall.

All three of the Newtopians assembled let out a collective breath. Flame drops her arm and — after checking for any remaining eyes — leads the other two into Marcy’s room.

As soon as the door is safely closed behind them, Yunan’s head snaps to Flame. “What was that?!”  

The colour in Flame’s eyes and hair flickers momentarily as she breathes heavily. Eventually, they shake their head and answer Yunan’s question. “The thing that’s guarding Marcy. We were being too loud.”

Olivia pats them on the arm before walking over to the trapdoor, opening it for her companions. 

“Ooh! Ominous. After you, m’ladies,” Yunan steps aside, letting Olivia and Flame lead the way. She grabs Marcy’s crossbow before descending after them. Olivia and Yunan grab torches as they descend, but Flame opts to light a small green fire in her palm. 

“What’s with the powers, by the way?” Yunan asks as they spiral downwards.

“My calamity powers, the ones from the gems within the box,” Flame explains. They let the small spark travel up and down their arms. “We each represent a value and an element. I’m intellect — or Wit more specifically — and fire.”

“And your other human companions?” Olivia inquires.

“Anne is Heart and earth. Sasha is Strength and water.” She returns the fire to her palms. “We’re calling them Blossom and Sea for ease of communication.”

Eventually, they reach the bottom of the winding staircase, entering what looks like a garden of sorts. “Whoa,” Yunan breathes. “You knew this was down here?” she asks Olivia.

The lady steps further into the space. “Sort of. Even I was strictly forbidden to come down here,” she says as she strokes one of the leaves, “but I did sneak down a few times as a girl.” She turns back to Flame. “I’m assuming you’ve been down here before?”

Flame nods as they look around. “I was kept down here for some time, but never really got to see it. I searched down here afterwards. Most of the flora is still down here in my time, but the fauna has been released.”

“Fauna?” Yunan questions, just as a roar sounds further in the room. “Ah! What is-”

“Don’t worry!” Olivia intercedes. “It’s harmless.”

A moss giant leans into the light of the fires the trio carry. A pink flower sprouts within its fur-like foliage. It offers it to Yunan.

“Take it,” Olivia instructs. “It’s a friendship offering.”

Yunan accepts it and thanks the Mossman. The creature then turns to Flame, eyes locked onto the small blaze in her palm. She walks closer to it, extending her hand. The Mossman reaches its own forward to meet hers.

The two women beside them expect the fire to hurt the creature, but it does the opposite. As their hands connect, Flame’s green fire sweeps gently over the Mossman, fizzling away detritus and revealing a brighter coat of moss.

The Mossman grumbles something at Flame, but they sigh and shake their head. “I’m sorry, Blossom is the one who can understand you.”

The Mossman grumbles again and brings Flame’s hand to its forehead. Flame lets out a soft, “Oh,” before closing her eyes. Olivia and Yunan watch as Flame’s hair brightens slightly, undulating in a non-existent wind.

Flame enters the mind of the Mossman, experiencing its emotions, its thoughts, and its dreams. Thank you, it communicates. Flame sends back her own words of acceptance and apology. She then disconnects, and the Mossman ushers them further in, gesturing to a school of Shadowfish leading them along a safe path.

Flame takes the flower gifted to Yunan and helps secure it in the newt’s hair. As if it’s suddenly remembered, the Mossman tugs on Flame’s hair and opens its arms widely. It repeats the motion, going from a small ball to a big gesture. 

“What is it saying?” Yunan asks.

“It wants me to do this,” Flame says before letting out a breath. The newts and other creatures around her watch as her hair ignites in green fire. It floats slightly, defying gravity and flickering about. Olivia jumps slightly.

“Won’t that catch things on fire?” she asks, concerned.

Flame shakes her head. “I’m good at controlling it. It doesn’t actually hurt if I don’t want it to, see?” She takes Olivia’s free hand and waves it through the flames. All Olivia feels is a pleasant warmth and the tingle of magic surrounding her fingertips.

Olivia retracts her hand, slightly mesmerized. The trio bids goodbye to the Mossman and continues forward, following the translucent, ghostly fish.

“What is this place exactly?” Yunan asks as they walk.

Olivia’s mouth sets into a frown. “I think it's where our ancestors kept all their otherworldly prisoners.” 

Flame nods and Yunan stiffens. “Delightful,” she responds.

Flame watches the pair as they walk through the garden. Her own mom and mama are much more comfortable around each other than these two are. Of course, that’s something that’s come with years of being happily married. Night voices his amusement in the back of their mind as the twins watch the two bicker. Flame rarely saw them interact before they got together. She was a little preoccupied with helping the king. And after the war concluded, the two had already agreed to pursue something more than friendship.

As they walk, the teenager delights in the various creatures attracted to her burning locks. Flame may not be the goddess in charge of flora and fauna, but all the elements work together. One cannot exist without the other. Some forests must be burned to bloom.

They finally reach the giant rolling door. “This is it,” Olivia says, tossing her torch into one of the two large braziers on either side of the door. Yunan quickly follows her example. Flame extinguishes her hair as she approaches the door. 

They run their hand over the carvings. Eight newts, their necks and heads emerging from a circle in the centre. Each is in perspective, one orange eye staring at the viewer. The very centre of the door displays another orange eye, opening horizontally. 

‘Only eight?’ Flame asks her brother.

Night hums within their mind, moving the hand examining the door to press over the central eye. ‘The door was made when we were small.’

‘Are you represented here?’

Night simply taps the central eye. Flame sighs and drops the hand. “C’mon,” she says, positioning herself at the side of the door. “Let’s get this open.”

“No going back now,” Olivia sighs as both she and Yunan join Flame in pushing the door open.

Both of the older women gasp as the room in front of them is revealed. Marcy hangs suspended in a tank full of green liquid. Tubes are attached to her limbs in multiple different places, accompanied by a respirator covering the lower half of her face.

They all enter the room, and Flame tries her hardest to ignore the dozens of orange eyes that suddenly open all over the walls. The last time Flame was here, Night was able to make it seem like there was no one intruding in the room, but that isn’t possible this time around.

Very suddenly — as Flame’s stress grows — about a dozen different voices fill her mind, Night’s among them. They all whisper reassurances. Never overlapping with each other. Never overwhelming. Just comforting.

Yunan reaches in and pulls Marcy out of the tank, detaching the tubes from the girl’s legs as she does so. Flame refuses to acknowledge that a plaque labeled host has been added to Marcy’s tank since she was last here. She also ignores the fact that the girl is now outfitted in the core’s armour instead of the medical suit she previously wore. She helps the newts pull the remaining tubes off of Marcy’s arms.

It isn’t until Flame removes the breathing apparatus from Marcy’s face that the girl starts to wake. She blearily coughs and blinks her eyes open. “Sashy, Anne?”

Flame’s heart breaks a little. They remember this somewhat, some subconscious part of their mind associating pink and blue with her best friends. Yunan goes to shake and slap Marcy awake, but Flame stops her.

Olivia lays an “I ♥ Newtopia” blanket over Marcy’s shoulders and comedically produces a teacup and teapot from somewhere in her skirt. Flame knows firsthand just how much obscene stuff one can fit in the pockets of those skirts. She’s fit a whole armada of efts into her own for a very intense game of hide-and-seek.

“Marcy, it’s Olivia, General Yunan, and…” she trails off as she looks at Flame. “Does she know you?”

Flame nods from where she’s kneeling at level with Marcy. “Hey, Parva Flamma. Remember me?”

Marcy locks eyes with Flame, and some of the drowsiness clears from them. “Flame?” she whispers. The older teenager nods and almost immediately gets an armful of thirteen-year-old. “I didn’t know if you were just a dream. I’ve been hearing you.”

Flame has been sending small snippets of conversation to the caged girl throughout the week since she visited. Marcy has been responding back as best she can, when she’s coherent that is.

Flame hugs the girl tightly, knocking the teacup out of Marcy’s hand and burying their face into her hair. They press little kisses into the raven locks. Eventually, the duo stands up and Flame swings one of Marcy’s arms around their shoulders. Yunan takes her other side and Olivia walks beside them. 

It doesn’t take long for the eyes to start tracking them and generating a virtual image around them. Olivia’s mother appears first.

“Faex,” Flame curses as Olivia abandons their quartet.

“Mother,” Olivia breathes in disbelief, “is that you?”

“Olivia. The sky! The trees!” the visage of Flame’s long-deceased grandmother looks around at the fake landscape. “How could you let this happen?” Olivia tries to protest, but is soon overwhelmed by the polluted monstrosity before her.

Flame suddenly takes Marcy’s full weight as Yunan steps in front of them, unsheathing her blades. “What is this witchcraft?!”

Marcy quickly notices where the pixels end near the ceiling. “Oh,” she snaps with her free hand, “it’s a projection. Y’know like… VR.”

Yunan looks back at her with confusion. “Vrrrr?”

“Virtual reality — a technological illusion,” Flame explains. “It’s meant to trick us, even if it isn’t real.”

Marcy warns Yunan to not freak out as a tornado starts up beside them. Yunan scoffs. “Oh, please. Nothing scares the great GENERAL YUNAN! SCOURGE OF THE SANDWARS! DEFEATER OF- oh no.”

And suddenly the two versions of Marcy have lost the general to a terrifying herd of Grubhogs. Marcy grips Flame tighter. “Don’t leave me, please.”

“I will definitely try,” Flame says. “But I’m warning you now, you might see some of my worst fears as well.”

It’s at that moment that a tornado surrounds the girls. When it clears, they’re standing in the tiled halls of SJMS. “Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.” Marcy whispers, folding in on herself and into the protection of Flame’s breastplate. 

The projections of Anne and Sasha at the end of the hall turn around slowly. “How could you, Mar-Mar?” the fake Anne says.

“You betrayed us,” adds the fake Sasha.

Marcy tries to walk forward, pulling out of Flame’s grasp, but soon collapsing to the ground. Flame catches her as she plummets. “No! I know what I did was super dumb,” she sobs. “I'm so sorry.”

The falsities laugh. “It’s too late,” they say as they combine into a two-headed, four-armed beast. “We want nothing to do with you. Ever again.”

Marcy collapses further into Flame’s chest and the warrior holds her as she sobs. Defiantly, they raise their chin towards the amalgamation. “That’s not true!” they shout up at it. “Anne and Sasha love us. You are not them.”

The monster looks taken aback, as does Marcy. The monster flickers between Anne and Sasha, and Blossom and Sea.

“It’s not going to work,” Flame laughs. “Sea made out with me this morning!”

Marcy jolts in her hold. Somewhere around the room, Olivia and Yunan have both heard Flame’s exclamation and shouted, “WHAT?!”

The projection in front of them looks dumbfounded for a second, before it grins maniacally. The beast shifts back to Anne and Sasha as a new tornado starts up around it and the two green girls. 

“Shit,” Flame hisses. “Guess it’s my turn.” Marcy holds her tighter as the halls of SJMS fade around them. 

When the dust clears, Marcy’s monster is still there, but the space around them is covered in dark, sickly vines. A body emerges out of them, dripping in blue . 

Marcy gasps as the body raises its head, teal liquid pouring out of its mouth, ears, and empty eye sockets. “Is that Blossom?” she asks. Flame nods, breath catching in her throat. 

“You left me!” the fake Blossom screeches, the lower half of its body is ensnared in the vines, legs being torn as it claws its way towards the pair sitting on the ground. “I was alone! I couldn’t show anyone on Earth! This is your fault!”

Flame sits there frozen, staring at this version of one of the loves of her life. Flame has experienced firsthand what power suppression can do to a person, but this. 

This is gruesome. This is horrifying. Is this really happening? Is Blossom really hurt like this? It’s Flame’s fault. Everything is her faul-”

“These eyes are making the nightmare, guys!” Yunan shouts from across the room, knocking Flame out of her spiral. 

Marcy squeezes her older self and looks around. “Eyes?” She spots one on the wall, and it immediately hides itself. “That must be where all these things are being projected from! Guys, take out the eyes!”

The other three nod and start attacking the orbs. Olivia kicks the ones projecting her mother. Yunan slashes through dozens around her. Marcy and Flame work together to smash the ones around them, taking out the horrible versions of their loved ones.

Marcy trips over herself at one point and smashes a bunch on impact with the wall. Flame laughs and helps her up.

Finally, there are only two eyes left, high above and out of reach of the assembled fighters. Marcy points them out, only for an amalgamation of all their nightmares to form in front of them, blocking the path to the offending ocular devices.

Yunan unclips Marcy’s crossbow from her belt, throwing it to the girl. “Marcy! Here! Catch!” Marcy easily catches the crossbow and slides it onto her arm.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about.” Marcy grins. Beside her, Flame reaches under her cape, pulling out a little contraption that folds out into a Real Ass Goddamn Bow. She waves a hand, using some of her magic to string it quickly. 

A green arrow materializes as Flame draws the string back. Marcy notches her own bolt, a bit of her own green energy feeding into it. The two girls fire simultaneously, piercing through the image and destroying the two eyes in a burst of green light.

With that last attack, the projections fade around them, leaving the quartet in the dark chamber once more. They all cheer — Flame and Marcy grabbing each other in a hug while Yunan lifts Olivia and spins her around. As Yunan sets down the lady, she coughs into her fist.

“Ahem, I’m not normally one for teamwork, but uh,” Yunan gives a thumbs-up, “good job out there, everyone. Very nice hustle.” 

Olivia immediately socks her in the arm and calls her a goof. Flame looks on fondly. This is closer to how her moms are. Yunan — Mom — has always had this boisterous exterior, but is really just a big softy on the inside. Marcy notices her older self’s reaction and similarly catalogues the interaction between the two newts.

After a few moments, Marcy chuckles and goes to move towards the door — “We make a good team, huh. Now let’s get out of here,” — but almost immediately trips. Flame catches her before she face-plants. “Sorry, I might need some help.”

Yunan takes Marcy’s other side once again. As they walk, the three original residents of this timeline don’t notice the presence of something more lurking in the shadows, but none of them miss the gigantic shiver that runs through Flame, stopping their trek momentarily. 

The Calamity Warrior picks up their feet once more, but there's something different about them. When Marcy peeks over to look them in the eye, the warrior’s eyes are clouded white, irises swirling between a weirdly warm brown and a bright green. Green-tinted tears pool slightly at the corners of their eyes. Their jaw is set firmly.

Olivia walks over to her, placing a hand on Flame’s spare shoulder. “Flame, are you alright?” She gets a sigh in response. “Can you look at me?” Olivia asks.

Instead of turning her head to Olivia, Flame looks at Marcy. The younger girl sees the regret and fear in those multicoloured eyes. Flame opens her mouth like it’s a herculean effort. All she says is, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Marcy tries to question, but doesn’t get to finish her query. As they reach the bottom of the stairs, a giant blue hand knocks all four of them to the floor.

“Leaving so soon? But we have so much to discuss!” King Andrias says as he descends the last few steps of the staircase.

Olivia is the first to speak up. “But how did you-”

“Simple,” Andrias interrupts. “We’ve been watching you the whole time,” he says, gesturing to his crown. An orange eye opens horizontally in the very centre of it, the same kind Yunan, Olivia, and Flame avoided earlier. The same colours as the ones creating those ghastly projections. Flame grips Marcy tightly to her as the eye shows itself.

“Though, before we move on with the festivities, one of you stands out from the others.” Andrias kneels down and lifts Flame’s chin with one massive finger. “I was told by my cloak-bot that little Anne had an older counterpart with her, someone who possessed vast swaths of calamity energy. I didn’t know the other two received new allies as well. Tell me child-”

Flame slaps Andrias’ hand away. “I am not a child,” they protest. “And I refuse to be referred to as such by you, you flebilis excusatio pro rege!”

There’s a lengthy pause. “How do you know that language?” Andrias asks, darkly.

Flame smirks. “Take a guess, you filius lacerti,” they taunt. Somewhere, the Guardian laughs, noting that both Flame and Blossom have now referred to the corrupt king in the same way.

Andrias growls and rubs the space between his eyes. “You will obviously be no help. Let’s move on, shall we?” The eye on his crown squints as if it is laughing, before disappearing as a large mechanical monster drops down from the ceiling.

Flame knows this beast well, and positions herself between it and Marcy on instinct. Perfectly spherical, with six long, cylindrical almost tentacle-like arms, each with a set of three razor-sharp claws at the end. Ten orange eyes open across the front of its main body. The screech it lets out pierces the eardrums of the four prone figures. 

“What the heck is that?” Marcy asks as the beast settles. With Flame blocking its path to Marcy, it merely waits for things to progress.

“Well,” Andrias chuckles, “I could be the one to tell you, or your new friend can.” He steps closer to the group. “What was it they called you? Flame? I would think the wielder of the strength gem would have a fire theme.”

Flame huffs out a sarcastic laugh. “You’d think.” She sighs and looks at her three companions. “This is the Core, a collection of Amphibia’s greatest minds.” Andrias smirks and Flame sneers back. “At least, some would say that. Half the people saved in that thing are narcissistic bastards who only got in there because of their relation to the crown.” She turns back to the Core and shouts, “Like Aldrich, for example!”

Olivia gasps from behind her, easily recognising the name of the former king. Andrias growls. “It would do you well to not run my father’s name through the mud, young warrior. You must know what we have planned for the girl you are so desperate to protect.”

Flame’s face immediately jumps from righteous defiance to angered shame. Andrias smiles. “So you do know! Excellent.”

“She has no responsibility for my actions,” Flame grits out. Marcy looks at them with deep concern.

“Agreed,” Andrias sighs, “but knowing how little your master — I can only assume — enjoys toying with changing an already constructed fate, and how little time she has left without support,” he leans in close to Flame’s ear, “you know what must be done.”

The Core shifts, taking enough weight off of one arm to be able to move it freely, should the opportunity present itself. Yunan and Olivia try to ask what the king means. What’s going to happen? What does Flame need to do? But Flame tunes it all out.

Night speaks up within her mind. “I hate it too, Flame, but it’s either give her up, or she dies.”

“I know,” Flame sighs. “It doesn’t make this any worse.”

With a heavy heart, Flame turns back to Marcy and hugs her tightly. The teenager returns the hug with trembling fingers, her blood circulation already slowing as her heart continues to get closer to failing with each passing second. “I’m so, so sorry for this, my darling,” Flame whispers in Marcy’s ear.

Marcy gives her a questioning look as they pull away from each other, before Flame scoops Marcy up in a bridal carry. The child looks confused momentarily, until Flame stands up.

And carries Marcy to the Core.

Marcy immediately tries to wriggle out of Flame’s grip, screaming “Let me go!” as they walk, but her dying body stands no chance. Olivia and Yunan try to grab them, but Andrias blocks the pair of newts from interfering.

As they approach, the iris in the floor opens, revealing a set of stairs leading up to a coral chair. Flame walks up the steps and gently sets her younger self in the seat. Comparatively, a much gentler alternative to the Core grabbing Marcy by the face. 

Marcy still struggles as the cuffs close around her wrists and ankles. “How could you?!” Marcy screams, tears streaming down her face. “I trusted you! You were here to comfort me, and now you betray me too?!”

Flame gently grabs Marcy’s hands, kneeling in front of her. “I’m sorry, Marcy. It was the only way to keep you safe.”

“This is what you call safe?!” Yunan yells.

Olivia tugs on Andrias’ boot, the only place she can reach. “What are you doing, Andrias?!” She’s quickly shaken off.

Marcy continues to struggle, but her movements are losing steam with each passing second. “Let me go!” she protests one last time.

Andrias just shakes his head. “I wish I could. But my lord craves a host. And it wanted the best, the smartest, the only one who could beat me at flipwart.” All the remaining colour drains from Marcy’s face. Andrias leans in closer to her and Flame. “Honestly, Marcy, I like you. Always have. I begged the Core to consider an alternative host, but... alas.”

Andrias’ smile cools as tubes shoot out, attaching to sockets on the arms and legs of Marcy’s armour. “What? What is this?” Her gaze is drawn upwards as a helmet begins to lower from the ceiling. 

Flame stands and gives one last kiss to Marcy’s forehead. “Hold onto me.” Marcy looks at them, terror in her eyes. She clasps Flame’s hands tightly. “This is going to hurt, but everything is going to be okay,” Flame whispers. “We’re coming back for you. I promise.”

Flame gives the girl’s hands one last squeeze before the helmet lowers completely onto her head. Flame scrunches her eyes closed as Marcy screams, fire erupting around them as code flows into the new host’s sulfhemoglobin-overfilled blood. 

But… something feels off. The Guardian’s warning from before rings in Flame’s mind.

Be prepared to intercede if events go in an unplanned direction.

Yet, nothing out of the ordinary has happened so far. The Guardian’s warnings are never devoid of reason. Flame grows ever more confused,  until she realizes the process has been going on for a little too long. Another voice slices into the back of her mind.

“Flame!” Night practically screams. “Give me control. It’s trying to fully override her.”

Flame gasps and immediately lets go of the body’s reins. If Night is right, the Core is trying to fully expel Marcy’s memories and personality from the get-go instead of having it be a multi-step process. 

Now fronting, Night grips Marcy’s hands tighter and focuses on the code racing through her. The body’s extra eyes begin to open as all the green fades slightly from their hair. Andrias, Olivia, and Yunan watch as the code displayed on the core glitches.

When its screens eventually go dark, Night sags along with both the Core’s original structure and the body of its new host. 

Andrias, suspicious of the glitch in the code, still steps forward to join his master. “The time has finally come for the Core to lead us to our destiny. But what destiny, you ask? Well, I suppose I should let it speak for itself.” He steps aside, presenting the two teenage bodies. The one in the coral throne slowly starts to jerk. Flame and Night’s body — now shared equally between the two of them — slowly starts to rouse as well, glaring at the helmet covering the face of their younger self. The Core finally settles upwards, and ten orange eyes crack open across the front of the headpiece.

The smile that graces its features is unsettling. When it speaks, Marcy’s voice emerges, but it’s layered with the voices of the core, speaking in unison. 

“Why, hello there.”

It jerks its head down slightly to look at the teenager at their feet. It scowls.

“Why have you stopped us from achieving full control, young one? You hold a part of us in you as well, do you not?”

It reaches for the twins as the cuffs unlatch, but they jump backwards, landing in front of Andrias. He gasps as he notices the multiple orange eyes dotting their forehead.

Night just sighs and rolls their eyes. “Like we always like to say,” he smirks, “always wait to calibrate.”

The Core growls and tries to move from their seat, but stumbles, collapsing at the foot of the coral chair. In an endeavour to not get trapped in the Newtopian castle, Flame urges them along. Night turns back one last time to lock eyes with Olivia and Yunan. 

“We’re sorry,” he says, “but this is not the end.”

With that, the twins give one last sarcastic salute to Andrias as he tries to grab them, before disappearing in a flash of green and orange light.

･ ──•⋅⊰∙∘⟡⊰⋆:🐸:⋆⊱⟡∘∙⊱⋅•── ･

The twins appear in the room they share with Sea and almost immediately collapse on the floor. They’re close enough to lean their head against the footboard of their ramshackle bed.

There are no tears. There are no big emotions. Just quiet. 

At some point, Sea comes in, sensing Flame’s energy signature in close proximity once more. The twins are fully dissociated, even when Sea lowers down into their eyeline. When that inspires no reaction, Sea grabs a naturally scented candle from their pack and lights it, adding a more grounding sensation to the space.

After a few minutes, Flame starts to resurface, reaching out a small tether of her powers to Sea. The pink warrior responds in kind. It’s only when Flame’s green highlights fully return to their vibrant colour and her eyes focus on her partner that Sea speaks. “Hey, firecracker. Feeling better?”

Flame sighs and wraps herself around Sea. “That sucked.” Sea runs a hand through Flame’s hair as she continues to speak. “I needed to give her to it! It was either that or have it snatch her, which, from experience, hurt like hell. At least I got to hold her hands through the whole…” she waves her hand in the air, not really wanting to finish her sentence. 

Sea just nods. “Did anything go wrong?” 

Flame sighs and nods. “When the Core took control of me, it did it in stages. Initial introduction of code and data, calibration of the body, and then wiping the host’s memories.” She slides down into Sea’s lap, locking eyes with him. “This time, it tried to do it all at once. Night needed to stop it.”

Sea jerks in surprise. “Does that mean they know about Night?” Flame nods. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“What are we going to do?”

Flame shrugs and lifts up to claim Sea’s lips with her own. “There isn’t much we can do. We hope for the best. The Resistance isn’t going to meet them until the final battles anyways.”

Sea connects their foreheads and chuckles. “You’re right. You’re always right.” He starts to stand, lifting Flame with him. “Now, c’mon. We have some stuff to do, if you’re up to it.”

Flame nods and takes his hand. They spare one more back into the room, processing everything that’s transpired since this morning. Sea gives them another little tug, and they follow, waving the door closed behind them.

And somewhere,

Deep in the mind of the core,

A 13 year old girl starts to wake up.