Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Enough!” Sasha called out, silencing those around her, and prompting the Toad Soldiers to step aside, allowing her to speak. “Anne, what’re you doing?” she spoke to her friend as she began approaching. “Are you really gonna risk your life for these talking Frogs?” she asked incredulously. “We don’t even belong here. Don’t you wanna get back Home? See your Family?”.

“Yeah, but-” Anne began, but was quickly cut off.

“Then put your sword down, now. End. Of. Discussion.” Sasha instructed, squinting her eyes into a glare. Anne was briefly stunned by those words, and glanced around anxiously. It seemed for a moment that she was going to listen, but just as quickly as it had wavered, her resolve quickly returned; she tightened her grip on the handle of her weapon & shot the Blonde a glare of her own.

“No Sasha” she stated defiantly. Sasha’s own eyes quickly widened in surprise; Huh, weird, that usually worked. Unfortunately, failure to get Anne to listen to her now was not an option; if only there was some other way she could get her to-

…

…There was something she could try… of course, Anne would surely refuse to ever speak to her again if she actually did it for real - as would Marcy when she inevitably heard about it - but it should hopefully be alright if she only threatened to do it, right? Either way, she needed to resort to drastic measures.

“Oh I think that’d be the wise choice for you right now Anne. ‘Cause if you don’t…” Sasha began before leaning in closer, speaking just barely loud enough for Anne to hear her. “I’ll tell everyone here exactly who you really are” she stated coldly. And just like that, Anne’s usual submissive demeanour that Sasha was used to quickly returned, along with a look of genuine, visceral, terror.

“Y-you wouldn’t” Anne quietly stammered as she quickly glanced to the sides, trying to look at the Frog family behind her.

“You’re right, I won’t… as long as you do as I say, Andy”. Anne visibly flinched at hearing that name, and finally relented, turning her eyes to the ground as she lowered her blade. “There we go, that’s my Girl” Sasha said encouragingly, now that Anne was listening to her.

“There, now that wasn’t so hard, was i-?” she continued, before being interrupted by a glob of mud splatting right into her face. “What the heck!?” she exclaimed as everyone around them gasped in shock.

Her attention was quickly drawn down to the young pink Frog that now stood between the two Humans, still holding a freshly-fired slingshot.

“For someone who’s Anne’s ‘Best Friend’, you sure don’t know her very well!” he exclaimed. “She’s brave! She’s smart! And most of all, she’s not going to be pushed around by a Bully like you!” he continued as he readied another shot.

“Ugh, I think I’ve had enough of you, squeaky toy” Sasha said as she wiped her face clean before pulling out her own sword, preparing to strike the annoying little Frog. But before she could hit her target, her blade was blocked by Anne’s, who had stepped in front to protect him. “Anne? What are you doing!?” Sasha questioned.

“Something I should’ve done a long time ago; standing up to you!” she replied before shoving her back & deflecting Sasha’s sword to the side. With some distance between them, Anne took a moment to look back at Sprig. “Thanks for believing in me Sprig” she said with a grateful smile.

“Spranne against the world” he replied with his own smile.

It had been a few hours since they’d arrived back home the next morning. After settling back home & having Breakfast, Anne had retreated to her room in the Basement to have some time alone. The fight that had occurred between her & Sasha was clearly still weighing on her… but Sprig had a hunch that there was something more to it than just that.

When they were all grouped together on the roof of Toad Tower, before the actual fight between them had started, Sprig had noticed Sasha whispering something to Anne. He hadn’t heard exactly what was said, but given her terrified reaction, it was surely a threat of some kind to get her to back down. He did, however, pick up the last thing she’d said, something that had made Anne visibly flinch. It was a name.

‘Andy’.

After quietly bringing it up with his Grandfather & younger Sister, they both confirmed they’d heard the same thing. The fact that it was similar to Anne’s own name didn’t go over their heads, but regardless, none of them had a clue what that name could possibly have to do with whatever had previously been said by Sasha, nor why it made Anne react that way.

Whatever the reason, it was surely still weighing on her though, alongside everything else she’d been through. So after some time, they decided to head down and try to talk to her about it. As much as she likely wouldn’t want to, they wanted to help her, and they couldn’t do that until they knew what exactly the issue was.

“Anne?” Sprig said as he opened the hatch, being the first to peer down. Anne was sitting on the edge of her bed, head down as she was deep in thought about something, though she perked up at his voice & watched as the 3 of them came down.

“How ya doing kiddo?” Hopediah asked as they stopped in front of her.

“You feeling alright?” Polly added. Anne stared at them blankly for a moment before turning her head away.

“I’m fine” she answered quietly.

“…Anne, listen, we understand if ya don’t wanna talk about this, but, there’s somethin’ we noticed back while we were on the roof of the Tower” Hopediah began. This got her attention again.

“We noticed that, at some point before your actual fight began, there was something Sasha had whispered to you” Sprig explained. Anne’s expression & body language understandably turned more apprehensive at that, but she didn’t make any attempt to stop them, so they continued.

“We didn’t hear much of what was said, but based on your reaction, it must’ve been some kinda threat. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so scared” Polly said. It was unusual for the Pollywog to say such a thing with a tone of concern rather than amusement, but now clearly wasn’t the time to mock people for their weaknesses.

“...We… did kinda hear one thing though” Hopediah clarified. Anne’s eyes quickly widened & her whole body tensed up.

“It was something she’d said just afterward” Polly added. Anne quickly started shrinking in on herself, pulling her knees up to her chest as she refused to look any of them in the eye.

“She mentioned a name… someone called ‘Andy’” Sprig finished. Anne squeezed her eyes shut, wishing more than anything that she could just disappear right now.

“…Ya don’t have ta tell us what the threat was about. But can ya at least tell us who this ‘Andy’ is to ya? We’re just curious” Hopediah asked. Anne was silent for a few moments, but eventually took in a deep breath to try and relax herself before opening her eyes, though still not meeting any of their gazes.

“…He’s no one” she muttered, just barely loud enough to hear. Of course, no one thought for even a second that that was the truth.

“Is he your Brother or something?” Polly suggested.

“Hm, that would make sense, especially if you were Twins; ‘Andy & Anne’ has a good ring to it” Sprig noted, scratching his chin in thought. That had gotten Anne to look at them, though it was only to stare at Sprig with half-lidded eyes.

“I already told you, I’m an only-child” she stated.

“Oh, right” Sprig realised.

“Alright, so if he’s not a relative, then who is he?” Hopediah said. Oh he’s more than a relative, Anne thought to herself bitterly. She was silent for a few moments as she stared down at the floor, before closing her eyes & sighing again. When her eyes returned to them, she had the most serious look on her face that they’d ever seen.

“Can you guys promise me that you will not tell another soul about this? That unless I give you explicit permission to tell someone else about it on my behalf, you will take this information. To. Your. Graves?” she questioned.

“Is it really that serious?” Polly asked incredulously.

“Sasha’s threat was that she would tell everyone there about it if I didn’t comply; does that answer your question?” Anne said, rhetorically raising an eyebrow at the end. Polly didn’t respond, but she seemed to understand and gave a serious & affirmative nod.

“You have my word; I will not tell anyone without your permission” Sprig said, putting a hand to his chest & waving the other to the side for emphasis at the mention of ‘anyone’.

“Same here; if it’s makin’ ya feel this way Anne, then it must be a pretty serious secret” Hopediah agreed.

“Hoookay, here goes. So the truth is…” Anne said as she mentally prepared to say it. “That ‘Andy’…” she spoke that name with a hint of bitterness, making her resentment clear. “I-is actually…”. The Plantars were on the edges of their metaphorical seats as she hesitated. But eventually, she squinted her eyes shut as she finally got the words out.

“…My legal name…”.

She slowly opened one eye to see their reactions. They were… all pretty confused.

“Huh, so, ‘Anne’ is just a nickname?” Sprig questioned.

“Not quite” Anne said, shaking her head. “It’s the name I prefer to go by; the name that… feels right” she tried to explain. “Back home, Sasha & Marcy were the only people I'd ever told about it, and thus, the only ones I'd ever felt comfortable openly being ‘Anne’ around. I’m just so… terrified of what others might think of me if they find out”.

“Even your parents?” Polly asked.

“Especially my parents” she answered. “But… when I got zapped here to Amphibia, and subsequently met you guys, I was already presenting as ‘Anne’ at the time, and so I've been able to just continuously stay that way this entire time without anyone suspecting otherwise, which is an opportunity I could not be happier for” she said with a bittersweet smile.

“I'm glad you're happy Anne, but what’s wrong with openly using a different name in your world? Is it frowned upon? Does the name ‘Anne’ specifically have negative connotations behind it?” Hopediah asked.

“I-it’s not just about the name; it's about why I prefer it over my legal one” Anne clarified before sighing. “...I’m, not explaining this very well, am I?”.

“Not really” Sprig said, scratching the back of his head guiltily.

“Nope” Polly agreed.

“Yeah, ya lost me” Hopediah shrugged. They all wanted to help & understand her, but right now, she just wasn't making any sense to them.

“Ok, let's just… start over” she suggested before putting a hand to her chin as she thought about how to word it. “…Have any of you… ever felt like… you were… born in the wrong body?” she eventually said.

“Not particularly, we’re all perfectly fine bein’ Frogs” Hopediah said with a shrug. “Why? Are there other intelligent species’ in your world that ya could’ve been born as instead?”.

“No, that’s not what I-… I meant more to do with… like…” Anne gulped anxiously before continuing. “Gender…?”. With that one missing piece of the puzzle, it took Sprig only another moment to connect the dots, his eyes widening at the realisation.

“Wait a sec- Anne, are you saying that you’re-?” he began to ask, but was quickly cut off by Anne finishing his sentence.

“That I’m not a real Girl? Yep, ya got me! Haha!” she confirmed, poorly masking her discomfort with a forced laugh & smile as she raised her hands in a playful surrender. The remaining Plantars quickly matched Sprig’s shocked expression at that revelation.

“So… you were born a Boy, but you feel like you were supposed to be a Girl?” Polly summarised. Anne’s forced smile faded as she nodded despondently in confirmation. Suddenly, Anne’s actions from a little over a Month ago, when she had tried to make Polly act more girly, started to make a little more sense; had she been projecting her own insecurities onto her?

“I see, so that’s why your legal name is so… Boyish… I-I thought for a moment there that maybe Humans just had different Gender norms with names, but that actually explains your disdain for it” Hopediah said.

“It’s called… being ‘Transgender’ - or just ‘Trans’ for short” Anne explained, answering the unspoken question. “I-I dunno about here in Amphibia, but it’s not a super common thing back home, and there’s a fair bit of… hate, toward people who’re like that… hence why I’ve been keeping it a secret”. The Frogs all nodded in understanding; that explained her fear of Sasha exposing her earlier.

“I won’t bore you with all the details, but it was some time when I was 10 that I’d started to realise that being ‘Andy Boonchuy, Son of Oum & Bee Boonchuy’ just didn’t feel right” she began to recall. “I eventually confided in my two best friends about my problem; it was Marcy who did all the research & helped me figure out what it was, and when Sasha let me try on some of her clothes, I just… I’d never felt so ‘right’ before” Anne said, another smile grazing her lips as she reminisced on those days.

“We eventually fell into a bit of a system, or routine; at home & School, I’d continue to act as ‘Andy’. But when the 3 of us would hang out together, we'd make sure to go to an area where no one would recognise me, and I'd quickly find a place to change so I could comfortably be ‘Anne’ for a while.

“On Weekends, or any time we'd be dressed casually, Sasha would bring a set of her own clothes for me to wear, but for after School, she actually let me keep these ones for myself” She began to tug on the sides of her shirt & skirt, bringing attention to the School Uniform she currently wore.

“Of course, I would also give them back to her on Fridays so she could have them washed at her place in time to be returned to me by Monday. Otherwise, I always kept them hidden at the bottom of my bag, where no one would find them. In fact, my actual Uniform is currently in their place right now” she added, lightly using her foot to nudge her bag where it was leaning against the side of her bed.

“So, yeah, that’s everything. And, I’m sorry… for lying to you all this time” she said, looking dejected.

“Huh? About what?” Hopediah said. He & his Grandkids had been lost in thought for the last minute, only taking in Anne’s words & nothing else, but that last statement had snapped them back to reality.

“Y’know, about… being a real Girl” she said with a shrug.

“What!? What the heck are you talking about Anne!? Of course you’re a real Girl!” Sprig exclaimed.

“N-no, I’m not; I-I’m just some gross weirdo Boy putting on an act and trying to be something he’s not!” Anne started to argue, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. “You guys don’t have much frame of reference for Humans, but I don’t look like a Girl should”. She anxiously crossed her arms over her chest to clutch her shoulders. “A-and I don’t have… what Girls should have…”. She squeezed her knees together in shame.

“T-this isn’t even my real voice!” she exclaimed, briefly falling silent before speaking again more quietly. “…This is my real voice”. Try as they might, the Plantars simply couldn’t hide how taken aback they were by how different & more masculine her natural voice sounded compared to what they were used to. Sure, it still sounded like it could believably come from the same person, but it was still pretty jarring.

Polly in particular noted how similar it sounded to that of ‘The Bronze Knight’ from that ‘Raven Home’ show that Anne herself had shown them recently, but she kept that thought to herself; that was not something Anne needed to hear right now. Despite his brief shock, Sprig shook his head & argued back anyway.

“Who cares about all that stuff?” Sprig exclaimed, jumping up onto her lap & grabbing her face to force her to look him in the eye. “All that should really matter is how you feel! If you say you’re a Girl, then you are a Girl! And no amount of bad thoughts trying to tell you otherwise will ever change that!” Sprig insisted, putting emphasis on ‘bad thoughts’ by knocking lightly on her forehead, causing her to flinch slightly.

“Sprig’s right Anne; I may have only known you for, what, 2 Months now? But I can definitely say for certain that you’re among the most feminine & lady-like individuals I’ve ever met!” Hopediah agreed.

“Yeah! You'll always be our sister, Anne, no matter what!” Polly exclaimed, raising both flippers in the air. “And if anyone tries to tell you otherwise, I'll punch ‘em right in their ugly faces!” she added with an aggressive yell, clenching one of said flippers into a fist.

Anne’s wide eyes darted between each of them. Despite the subject being seemingly foreign to them before this conversation, and how little time they'd really known each other in the grand scheme of things, they were still supporting her & affirming her Gender, nor did they think she was weird or gross for it. When her face scrunched up and her tears really started to flow, Sprig thought for a second that they’d somehow upset her further, but those worries were put at ease when she suddenly pulled him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, all of you” she muttered shakily. When Hopediah & Polly smiled & approached, Anne briefly opened her arms to let them in too, making it a group hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Anne’s tears subsided, and Sprig broke the silence.

“So, do you think when you get home, you’ll try telling your parents about it?” he said.

“Absolutely not” Anne stated quickly & bluntly, pulling out of the hug but keeping her hands on his shoulders.

“Why not? I know ya said there’re some hurtful people back home, but surely that don’t include your own parents?” Hopediah said.

“No, of course not… But, I mean, they’ve known me longer than even I can remember! What am I supposed to say; ‘Hey Mom & Dad, turns out I’m not at all the person you thought I was for the last 13 years of your lives! Good luck adjusting to having a Daughter rather than a Son!’. I can’t do that to them after everything they’ve done for me!” she ranted, her anxiety increasing gradually as she went on.

“Anne, I-I think ya may be overreacting, just try ta calm down” Hopediah said. Anne did as he said, stopping to take a deep breath.

“You’re right, you’re right. I just… I just can’t do it. I can’t tell ‘em. Not now, anyway, but… maybe someday, when I feel ready” she relented. With that, the four of them fell into another relatively comfortable silence, which was once again, broken by Sprig.

“Also, this is a little off-topic, but I gotta say, Anne, you do a really good job at altering your voice” Sprig said.

“Yeah, I never would’ve suspected that wasn’t your natural voice! How’d you get so good?” Polly agreed.

“A lot of voice training, that’s how” she answered, remembering the countless hours she’d spent practising, with help from Marcy.

“Hmmm, how good would you say you are at… Imitations?” Sprig suggested, smiling mischievously as he briefly copied Polly’s voice on that last word. Anne's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then matched his smile before answering.

“I dunno - you tell me” she said, copying both Sprig’s and Polly’s voices respectively. Both Frog children gasped with glee.

“Aw heck yeah!” Polly exclaimed in Sprig’s voice.

“Oh Frog, not another one” Hopediah said with an exasperated sigh, putting a hand to his forehead.

Chapter Text

More than a week had passed since that talk about Anne’s Gender Identity, and with the Mountain Pass now clear & open, the Plantars had very quickly begun their journey to Newtopia. They’d just recently got out of their latest escapade, which had involved being tricked by the renowned Theatre Director, Renee Frodgers, into helping with a Bank robbery, and were now nearing the end of their trek through the Dry Swamp.

Right now, Sprig was staring at the Desert scenery through the window by the table, Polly was floating lazily in her bucket with her eyes closed (not actually asleep), and Anne was slouching on the couch, fanning herself off from the heat with some sheets of paper. After some time, their attention was suddenly drawn to the voice of Hopediah, calling out from the driver's seat above.

“Heads up kids, we’re nearly outta the Dry Swamp!” he called down to them, being able to see the first signs of greener climate over the horizon ahead.

“Ugh, finally; the sooner we’re out of this sweltering heat, the better!” Anne exclaimed. Glancing over to her, Sprig could see that despite her complaints, she was still wearing that one black Hoodie he'd seen her wearing a few times in the past.

“If you're so hot, why don't you just take off your Hoodie?” he questioned, which also got Polly’s attention. Anne let out a small sigh/groan of frustration before answering.

“I know, but unfortunately, no matter how bothersome the heat gets, my Dysphoria is downright unbearable right now…” she said plainly. Sprig & Polly glanced at each other as if checking to see if the other had any idea what she was talking about.

“…What's a ‘Dysphoria’?” Polly eventually asked. Anne looked briefly stunned by that question, like she’d just now realised what she’d said.

“Oh, w-well um…” she began glancing around uneasily as she thought about how to respond. They’d only spoken about this topic once before, and that was over a week ago now, so while she knew that they already knew, she still found it difficult to bring up again.

“O-on its own, ‘Dysphoria’ means, like, a feeling of… dissatisfaction with how things are” she began to explain, recalling the definition Marcy had given when she asked the same thing.

“Oh… so, this trip isn't fun for you so far?” Sprig said, sounding a little disappointed. ‘And what does that have to do with the Hoodie?’ went unsaid.

“No no, I am having fun! It's actually got nothing to do with the trip. It's more to do with worries about… h-how well I ‘Pass’” she tried to explain, starting to wring her hands with unease by the end.

“‘Pass’?” Sprig questioned.

“A-as in how well I, uh…” Anne had to pause momentarily to figure out how to word her explanation best. “Well, to say that I don’t ‘Pass’, means that people can tell that I’m not exactly… y’know…”. Anne could practically see the gears turning in Sprig’s head before he finally made the connection.

“Oooh, so it’s to do with you being… uh… w-what did you say it was called again? ‘Chainsgender’?” he said. Anne laughed softly before answering; not only was Sprig’s misremembering of the word amusing, but hearing the Frogs bring it up themselves so casually since they’d last spoken about it was also reassuring & helped to settle her worries, and so she was able to relax a little.

“‘Transgender’. But yes, it is” she corrected. “Basically, ‘Dysphoria’ - or specifically ‘Body Dysphoria’ - is when I become hyper-aware of my… less feminine features…” she explained, rubbing her arm uncomfortably as she said that last part.

“Haven't we been over this? Why does it matter what other people think? You’re perfectly fine ‘n’ Girly the way you are!” Polly questioned incredulously.

“I-it's not just that, Polly, it's more like…”. Anne thought for a moment about how to explain it in a way she would understand. “Well, think of it this way; you can't wait for the day your legs grow in, right?”. The Pollywog nodded, unsure where she was going with this.

“Now imagine if you went your entire life waiting for that to happen, but… they just never come; that wouldn't feel right, would it? Like something you should have is just, y’know, missing”. Polly’s eyes widened with a look of horrific understanding.

“And on top of that, imagine that your tail never goes away either, so now you're also stuck with something that feels wrong & out of place, like it shouldn't be there” Anne continued.

“Ok, ok, I get it!” Polly exclaimed, really not wanting to think further of that kind of future.

“Dang… So, that's what ‘Dysphoria’ feels like for you, Anne?” Sprig asked.

“Yep. The feeling never really goes away completely, to be honest, but it's fairly easy for me to just ignore most of the time. Sometimes though, like today, it kinda just flares up more than usual for no particular reason” Anne explained with a shrug at the end.

“I see. And that Hoodie helps with that?” Polly said.

“Yep; it helps mitigate those feelings by obscuring & concealing whatever features are bothering me, which can vary from person to person, but for me, it’s usually my broad shoulders & my shorter hair” she explained, first wrapping her arms around herself to grip said shoulders, then lifting her hood to tug on a strand of said hair. “Of course I could grow the hair out, but I don’t wanna risk arousing suspicion from my parents” she muttered a little more quietly.

Sprig & Polly glanced at each other, looking a little… perplexed.

“But… don’t Sasha & Marcy have those features as well?” Sprig questioned.

“...Waddaya mean?” Anne asked, unsure what they were talking about.

“Here, can I see that one picture of the three of you?” Sprig said, reaching his hand over to her. Anne wasted no time as she dispensed the photo from her pocket, handing it over to him. He looked over it for only a moment before turning it back to face her & pointing to each of the other two Girls in the scene.

“Yeah, see? Your shoulders aren’t any wider than Sasha’s, and Marcy’s hair is even shorter than yours!” he pointed out.

“…Huh… I never realised…” Anne admitted, taking the picture back to stare at it. It was strange; it wasn’t that she hadn’t recognised that they each had broader shoulders or shorter hair, but she’d never made that connection with her own unwanted physical features for some reason. And not once had she ever thought they looked any less feminine for them.

“So, if other Human Girls can have those features too, then why does it matter if you have them?” Polly questioned.

“Heck, you just said yourself that you didn’t notice they had them, so why would anyone else notice them on you?” Sprig added.

“…I, guess that’s true…” Anne said contemplatively.

“You’re right that we don’t have much frame of reference for what Human Girls should look like compared to Human Boys, but from what we’ve seen so far of Sasha & Marcy…” Sprig began to assure her.

“We’d say you ‘Pass’ pretty darn well!” Polly finished for him. Anne smiled gratefully at the two of them.

“Thanks guys…”. She then turned her eyes down, staring at her Hoodie as she dwelled on their words. A single chat like this on its own certainly wasn’t going to completely ‘cure’ her of her Dysphoria, but… she didat least feel a newfound sense of courage & self-confidence. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try taking the Hoodie off for a little while, at least until they were out of the heat of the Dry Swamp.

“Y’know, I actually feel a little better now… maybe I don’t really need this” she said as she flipped her hood off before cautiously unzipping the front of the Hoodie. The younger Frogs smiled at the sight of their adopted sister metaphorically - and sorta literally - coming out of her shell thanks to their encouragement.

“Aaah, that’s better; maybe now the last leg of the Dry Swamp won’t be so bad” she said, relaxing & leaning further into the couch again to relish in the coolness of the open air on her skin.

“Uh, I think you’re a bit late to that Anne” Sprig said, pointing to the window, where it could be seen that they were already out of the Desert.

“...Frog dangit!” Anne exclaimed in frustration.

After forcing Sprig to go down Quarrelers Pass with Polly, Anne offered to let him choose a movie for the two of them to watch together on her Phone. After about a minute of scrolling, she was mildly surprised by what he chose; From Pointe to Poppin’ .

On the one hand, it was one of her favourite movies due to the familiar subject matter, and she’d love to watch it again. But on the other hand… she tended to get really emotional while watching it for the same reason, and she wasn’t sure she wanted Sprig to see her in tears over it. But she had said he could choose what to watch, and she couldn’t think of an excuse to change her mind, so she relented.

Not even halfway through, Anne could already feel the tears she was holding back threatening to spill down her cheeks. Lucky for her, Sprig was too engrossed in the movie to notice. Only once they reached the ending, where Mariah had gotten her mother to accept her passion for hip-hop, did Anne allow her feelings to show a little more clearly. Crying now shouldn’t be too weird, should it? She reasoned.

“So, that was ‘From Pointe to Poppin’” she spoke up once the credits came rolling.

“Talk about an emotional roller coaster!” Sprig praised the film.

“It sure was…” Anne said bittersweetly. Now that he wasn’t distracted by the movie, Sprig finally picked up on the mild tone of sadness in her voice, prompting him to turn to her with a look of concern.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine” she said unconvincingly as she quickly tried to wipe away her remaining tears. Sprig looked back at the Phone screen for a moment.

“...You relate to her, huh? To Mariah?” he deduced. Anne looked at him for only a few seconds before relenting, letting out a dejected sigh.

“...Yeah. I really wish it were as easy for me as she had it at the end, but… Real Life’s just a little more complicated than movies make it out to be…” she explained forlornly, pulling her knees up to her chest & resting her chin atop them. After a few seconds of silence, Anne felt Sprig place a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey. it’ll be ok. Just… be honest with them, and I’m sure they’ll accept & support you” he assured her with a soft reassuring smile. Anne shot back a thankful smile of her own.

“Thanks dude. I can only hope so” she replied.

Before any more words could be spoken, there was a sudden & heavy jolt that shot through the Fwagon, which sent Sprig tumbling over the edge of the top bunk bed, down to the ground below.

“Sprig! You alright buddy?” Anne exclaimed, quickly crawling over to peer over the edge to check he was ok. He looked a little dazed, laying on the ground while tangled in the blanket he’d had wrapped around himself, but he was otherwise unharmed. “What the heck is going on out there?” Anne wondered aloud as she turned her attention up toward the ceiling hatch.

“Sooo, Wallium” Anne said, bending down to the Turquoise Frog’s eye level to glare at him suspiciously. “What’s going on here?” she questioned, jabbing a finger to his chest & causing him to back up a little. “I thought you were a fun-loving tramp, not some little rich boy” she continued, gesturing to the grand room they were in for emphasis.

“The truth is, I live like a bum in Wartwood because… Well, it’s what I love!” Wally began to explain. “This life may look nice, but there’s so many rules! And if my family knew the real me, well, they’d disown me for sure!” he went on, looking down forlornly as he said that last part, & sliding against the wall into a sitting position.

Anne’s eyes widened at that. While her own parents would certainly never go as far as actually disowning her over it, she knew she could relate to his situation, right down to living a ‘secret life’ as her true self.

However, she also found herself thinking back to just earlier, when Sprig had tried to support & motivate her when she was dwelling on her own situation. Maybe she could be that supporting voice for Wally? After all, he’d unknowingly helped her to partially get over her worries about what others thought of her.

“Just be honest with them; tell them the truth & I’m sure they’ll support you” she said, almost repeating what Sprig had told her as she sat down across from him. Wally simply groaned sadly as he lifted a nearby floorboard to pull out an accordion to start playing.

“It’s just too risky Anne… I have to hide these around the house or I’d lose my mind” he said.

“What about that time you told me not to care what people think about you?”.

“This is different; this is my family we’re talking about”. She couldn’t argue with him there, but she wasn’t going to give up either.

“I… I still think you should just be honest with them. I mean, what do you have to lose?”. Wally got back to his feet at that.

“Well come with me & I’ll show you” he said simply, before promptly walking face-first into the wall, causing him to fall back onto his rear. “Meant to do that” he insisted.

“Yeah yeah, of course” she replied, not buying it for even a second, but going along with it anyway. Following that, the two both stood back to their feet, the shorter individual leading the taller one out of the room.

Before long, they’d made their way across the Ribbiton Mansion & into the Stables outside. From there, Wally introduced Anne to his personal steed, a Blue Ladybug named ‘Fiddle Leaf’, whom he’d been riding since he was a Tadpole. He went on to explain how if his father found out about his secret life, and really did disown him, then he’d have to leave her behind. Anne really pitied his situation.

“Well if you’re not gonna tell ‘em, then what are you gonna do?” she asked while he closed Fiddle Leaf back into her Stable.

“Well, maybe if they could see how happy I was, livin’ in Wartwood, they’d understand & accept me for who I am!” he replied, even lifting his own mood with the spontaneous idea, if only for a few seconds. “Guugh, who’m I kidding… well I’d better get ready for dinner” he said before turning on his heel & heading back out of the Stables.

Anne, however, didn’t immediately follow, being too busy contemplating the fact that she in fact had the power to turn that little impromptu idea of his into a reality, in the form of her Phone, which she was now staring down at in her hands. Before she could go after him to suggest her plan to him, however, she was interrupted by the Plantars quickly running in through the same doors, heading straight toward her.

“Hey, where’ve you guys been?” she asked.

“Around” Hopediah said blankly while Sprig simply groaned.

“Rich people are messed up” Polly vaguely elaborated.

Anne took one more look at her Phone, then in the direction Wally had gone, eventually opting to return the device to her pocket. She could propose her plan to him later; in the meantime, she could put together a compilation video of all sorts of moments she’d already recorded of him, then show it to him privately for feedback, and then the two of them could present it to his Dad. And if he didn’t like the plan for whatever reason, she’d respect his wishes & delete it.

After finding their way to the Dining Hall, Anne had made sure to find a spot to sit right next to Wally (thankfully they didn’t have assigned seats), intending to be able to quietly share her plan to him. Unfortunately, his Dad had sat down on the opposite side of him; it would be too risky to try and talk to him about it now with Wigbert in such close proximity.

So instead, she opted to pull her Phone out to continue the work she’d done so far on the video, making sure to plug her earphones in so no one would hear. They were only going to be staying for the one night, so she needed to get it done by at least tonight so that there’d be time to show Wigbert the next morning (assuming Wally would allow it of course).

Hopediah picked up on her lack of awareness as she became engrossed in her Phone, and considered getting her to pay more attention, but none of the richer Frogs around the table seemed to be taking any notice of her behaviour (except Wally, who did briefly glance at her), likely still believing her to be some kind of tamed exotic Beast; the fact that she was actually sitting at the table & not causing a ruckus was impressive enough in their eyes. So he decided not to pay her any mind either.

While she was oblivious to her surroundings, Sprig took a moment to look around the table, quickly noticing that besides himself & his sisters, there was only one other kid their age present, sitting on the opposite side of the table. She looked to be a little younger than himself, was Green in colour with Blonde hair, and dressed in a similar outfit to all the other rich Frogs. Though rather than focusing on eating or chatting, like the adults, she was just staring curiously… at Anne.

Eventually, she turned toward the older Frog on her right - presumably her Mother - and began whispering something to her, though Sprig couldn’t hear it over the idle chatter around the table. The talk didn’t last long, with the Mother briefly glancing up at Anne before nodding in confirmation at something, prompting her Daughter to smile & stand up from her seat, circling around the table to Wally, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Hm? What’s wrong Penny?” he asked quietly.

“Is that the Beast you tamed in Wartwood?” she asked, pointing to Anne.

“O-oh, um… you could say that, yes” he answered nervously. He was already more than aware by now that Anne was more person than Beast, but he didn’t want to risk anyone figuring out what he was really getting up to around there, so he figured he should go along with everyone’s assumptions. “Her name’s ‘Anne’, a-and the Plantars there take care of her when I’m not around” he half-lied.

“Wooow, she’s so big” Penny said, looking up at the Human’s taller frame in awe. “What’s that she’s looking at?” she added, pointing to the device in Anne’s hands.

“That’s one of her most prized possessions. She calls it a ‘Phone’” Wally explained. Penny gasped softly at that & turned to him with wide eyes.

“She calls it that? You mean she can talk!?” she whisper-shouted in surprise.

“Yeah, she’s quite smart, and friendly too” he confirmed, as he tried to return to eating his dinner. When he glanced back, however, he quickly became concerned when he saw Penny stepping closer to Anne, reaching a hand out to her. “W-wait, Penny, I don’t think you should!-” he quickly tried to warn her, but he wasn’t quick enough before she tapped Anne on the elbow.

The sudden physical contact startled Anne from her concentration, causing her to flinch so badly she threw her Phone up into the air. As it came back down, her attempts to quickly catch it only resulted in poorly juggling & tossing it around. During this, Penny, who had shrunk back in fear, quickly took the opportunity to dart back around the table, hiding behind her Mother’s seat.

Shortly after that, one final swipe sent the Phone flying toward Wigbert. It looked as though it would hit him in the face, but it was thankfully stopped, or at least slowed, in midair by the resistance of the earphone cable going taut. The downside was that this also yanked the jack out in the process, meaning the audio was left playing out loud as it landed before him.

“Hm? What’s this?” he said as he squinted down at the screen. Anne froze up as the montage began playing. She knew she should do something to stop him from seeing it, but they were so far apart currently that she couldn’t decide the best way to do so without seeming suspicious anyway, leaving her in a sort of decision paralysis. Wally on the other hand, who was also closer, reacted a little quicker (once he recognised what was on the screen from his angle, at least).

“I-uh- that’s nothing, Father! Don’t worry ‘bout it!” he quickly stammered as he reached over to snatch the Phone back & pause it.

But it was too late, Wigbert had already seen enough. He quickly began berating his son for his behaviour outside of Ribbitvale, even threatening to ban him from ever leaving the Town again. In response, Wally rang the Family Challenge Gong, and the two quickly agreed on a game of Beast Polo to settle the dispute.

Following that, they huffed at each other before turning to exit the room in opposite directions, Wigbert standing from his chair & Wally hopping back off the table. The scowl never left Wally’s face, even as he placed Anne’s Phone into her hand as he passed by. The Human quickly glanced back & forth between the two anxiously before standing from her own seat to go after Wally.

“Wally, wait! I can explain!” she called out to him. He groaned in frustration before replying.

“Why did you do that?” he demanded to know as he pushed the doors open.

“It was an accident, I swear!” she tried to defend herself.

“I know that. I mean why did you make that video in the first place?” he amended.

“Well, you said earlier that ‘I wish they could see me in Wartwood’, so I figured-”.

“I didn’t actually mean it!” he answered back, cutting her off.

“Look, I just wanted to help you be proud of who you are” she said as she stopped in front of him, crouching down to put a hand on his shoulder. “What can I do to fix this?”.

“You know what, Anne?” Wally said before swatting her hand away. “You've done enough already. I've got to face the music, on my own” he declared dramatically, pulling out another accordion to play as he made his way past her.

Anne could only groan & bury her face in her hands. How could this have gotten so out of hand? She was quickly stirred from her thoughts, however, when she heard a meek voice nearby.

“Why’s Wally in trouble?”. Anne lifted her head & looked back the other way, spotting a younger Frog peering from the doors she & Wally had just come through. Anne vaguely remembered seeing her sitting with them at the Dinner table.

“Oh, uh… He's not been completely honest about what he's been getting up to out in Wartwood, and his Dad saw some evidence of that on my Phone” Anne summarised as the young Girl approached. She stared at Anne the whole time as she spoke. Upon the Human finishing, she quietly muttered something about ‘wow, she can talk’ under her breath, before looking away apologetically.

“S-sorry for making you throw it” she said.

“Huh? Oh, that was you?” Anne questioned, recalling how something had poked her elbow right before all of that happened. The Girl nodded in confirmation, still not meeting her eyes. “I see, I hadn't realised… But, don't worry about it; I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted that would happen. You’re all good” Anne told her before patting her head & ruffling her hair slightly.

The Girl’s eyes quickly darted up, locking onto Anne’s hand. At first, the Human thought she was making her uncomfortable with the contact, but when she tried pulling away, the Girl suddenly grabbed it with both of her own hands, carefully holding it out in front of her face & flipping it around to look at with curious eyes.

Anne couldn’t help but smile at her behaviour as she shifted from her squatting position to sit down properly, finding her curiosity & fascination with Humans adorable. She reminded her a lot of Marcy.

“…And you are…?” Anne spoke up, which seemed to snap the Girl out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh! Right, excuse me” she said before beginning to introduce herself. “I’m-” she was interrupted, however, by an older voice ringing out from behind her, though what they had to say still answered Anne’s question.

“Penelope Croaksevelt! What are you doing?”. The Girl - ‘Penelope’ supposedly - flinched & spun around to see her Mother approaching them.

“It’s alright ma’am, she’s not botheri-” Anne tried to assure her, but the older Woman ignored her, instead simply grabbing Penelope by the arm as she passed by, leading her away as Anne’s hand slipped out of her grasp.

“Don’t get so close to that thing while it’s unattended, it could be venomous!” she scolded her child.

“But Mom, she’s really nice!” Penelope insisted, but her words fell on deaf ears.

…

…Right, Anne was still prone to forgetting that in Amphibia, most people’s first assumption is that she’s some kind of animal rather than a person. But as nice as a distraction it was to talk to someone like Penelope, Anne knew she had to focus on the issue at hand; helping Wally.

The broken reins for the Fwagon had been repaired by the next morning, and so the Plantars would soon be heading off to continue their journey to Newtopia. Before that, however, Anne had one more thing she wanted to talk to Wally about. But after some time of checking random doors & finding no sign of him (instead finding increasingly stranger occurrences behind each one), she eventually ran into another familiar face instead.

“Oh hey Anne!” Penny called out as she ran up to her. “I saw you & Wally in the Beast Polo game yesterday, you did really great out there!” she praised the Human.

“Hey Penelope, I’m glad you liked it. Speaking of Wally though, would you happen to know where he is? I need to talk to him about something before we go later today” Anne asked.

“I prefer to go by ‘Penny’, actually, but also yeah, he said he was going to the stables. I can show you the way if you want” the young Frog offered. It occurred to Anne that she couldn’t in fact remember the way there from here, so she saw no reason to turn down the offer.

“Alright Penny, lead the way”.

As they walked together, Penny spoke more about how fun it was to watch her & Wally compete against the latter’s Dad. Eventually, Penny asked how Wally had tamed her in the first place, at which point Anne had to awkwardly explain that no one had tamed her, and that she was only friends with him. Penny was surprised that despite her qualification to compete in Beast Polo as Wally’s steed, she was apparently more person than Beast. But given her fluent speech capabilities, it wasn’t that hard for the young Frog to wrap her head around it.

It only took another minute after that for them to reach the stables. Inside, they found Wally sitting on a bench within Fiddle Leaf’s pen, playing his accordion.

“Hey Wally! Anne was looking for you” Penny called out to him, prompting him to stop his accordion-playing & look over to them.

“Ah, hello ladies; what did you need Anne?” he greeted.

“Hey Wally, there’s just… something I needed to tell you before we leave later today…” she explained before awkwardly glancing at Penny. “Sorry Penny, but you think you could give us some space for a minute? It’s kind of a private matter” she explained. Thankfully, the younger Frog was understanding & didn’t argue.

“Sure, I can do that. My Mom’s probably wondering where I am right now anyway. See you guys later!” she said with a wave as she began leaving the stables. Anne watched her leave until she was out of sight.

“So, I see you’ve met my Goddaughter, eh?” Wally said, eliciting a surprised look from Anne as she turned back to him. “Yep, I was surprised too when her Mother offered me the role about 9 Years ago. Couldn’t ask for a better Godchild though, she’s a riot to have around!… Enough about that though, what’s this you wanted to talk about?”.

“Right, so to start with… I just wanted to say I’m sorry again for accidentally outing you to your Dad yesterday” Anne said apologetically.

“It’s alright, I know ya had good intentions, and it worked out alright in the end anyway” Wally assured her.

“Ok. But, I still feel like I owe you an explanation on why I felt the need to try and help in the first place…” she said uneasily as she entered the pen.

“Oh? And why’s that?” Wally wondered, moving aside to make room for Anne to sit next to him. He also sat up straighter himself & placed his accordion down by his side to show he was listening.

“Ok, so basically the reason I felt the need to try and help you is… because… I have kind of a similar thing going on back home… so I can empathise with the idea of worrying what your parents might think of ‘the real you’. But… I also started to wonder ‘If I can get Wally’s family to accept him, then maybe I can get mine to accept me!’.

“But I knew we wouldn’t be here for very long, so my plan was to try and get as much done on the video as I could before today, and show it to you in private first when I had the chance, to see what you thought of both the video and the idea in general in general. And if you said no to it all, I was perfectly fine with just deleting it… I’m sorry, again, that he saw it before I had that chance”.

“Hmm, I suppose that does make more sense then… So, what was your secret, if ya don’t mind me askin’?” Wally said. Anne’s voice lowered to more of a whisper as she responded.

“Yeah, I was planning on telling you about that too. But you’ve gotta understand, you’re probably the only person outside of my Best Friends & the Plantars that I’m willing to trust with this information, so do not tell anyone, please” she whispered to him.

“Alright, you have my word” he whispered back with a resolute nod. She took a deep breath before continuing.

“So, the truth is… I’m what’s known in my world as ‘Transgender’... I was… born as a Boy” she revealed, finding herself unable to look at him. The Frog looked confused at first, but quickly raised his eyebrows in a mix of surprise & understanding at the clarification, before saying something that completely threw Anne for a loop.

“Ah, so you’re like Penny!” he said, still keeping to a whisper. The Human quickly whipped her head around to face him, looking completely & utterly dumbfounded.

“WHAT!? That’s actually a thing here!? A-a-and Penny’s-?” she blurted out. Given her louder response, Wally spoke up a little more as well.

“Well, it's not particularly common, or even well known in most parts of Amphibia, but yes some Frogs are capable of changing their Gender too, and double-yes, Penny is one of ‘em” he confirmed. “Up until her 5th Birthday, her name was originally ‘Pendrel Croaksevelt’, though she still preferred to go by the nickname ‘Penny’ anyway. But when she first announced her decision, her Mother let her change it to ‘Penelope’ instead”. When he looked back to Anne, her eyes were half-squinted under her knitted brows, like she was deep in thought. 

“Hold on, you mean they can, like… change-change their Gender?” she questioned.

“…Is that not a thing Humans can do?” he guessed.

“No, I-I only identify as a Girl. I’m still… physically Male” she clarified, glancing away & scratching the back of her neck. Wally raised his eyebrows in surprise at that. Ah, that made more sense. He understood now why she was fretting so much over this. “…Do you think that’s weird?” she asked hesitantly.

“What? Of course not! Why would I think that?” he exclaimed.

“W-well, there’s just… a lot of people back home who do find that sort of thing odd. Some even find it… repulsive…” she explained. Wally’s expression shifted from general confusion to a mix of dumbfoundedness & even a tiny bit of betrayal.

“Anne. You know that I of all people would never think that of you; we’ve spoken plenty before about my philosophy of not carin’ what others think” he stated. “I won’t lie, I’ve never heard of a Frog who can’t naturally switch Genders wanting to do so, but I would never find someone like that weird, let alone repulsive” he further assured her. Anne smiled & let out a relaxed sigh at the reassurance.

“Yeah, I know, I know. That’s why I’m trusting you enough to tell you in the first place. I guess I was still just a little paranoid though… Thanks for understanding”. Wally smiled softly & nodded.

“Any time Anne” he said with sincerity. “...And you said that your parents don’t know about it either, huh? So, yer used to livin’ as a Lass in secret?” he added.

“Yep; they have no idea. I’m just, really scared about how they might react. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re great people, and plenty accepting & non-judgemental, but… there’s still that innate fear that they might not feel that way if it’s about their kid…” she explained. Wally could only nod in understanding again; he knew that feeling all too well. “Until I came to Amphibia, I only ever presented as ‘Anne’ around Sasha & Marcy, which would only really last a few hours a day… So, I guess that’s a plus to being stuck here” she went on, her melancholic frown curling up into more of a smile.

Just then, Fiddle Leaf stood up from where she was laying on the ground, walking around them to sit by Anne’s side of the bench. Anne herself felt compelled to pat her head, which the Ladybug seemed to enjoy, leaning into the touch. When she moved her hand down to scratch under her chin, however, Fiddle Leaf suddenly pinched the skin on the side of her hand between her pincers.

“Ow! She bit me!” Anne recoiled, grasping her hand. It thankfully hadn’t drawn blood, but it still left visible indentations in her skin, near the base of her thumb. Wally laughed softly before speaking up.

“Doncha worry, she’s not venomous or anything” he assured her.

“Oh, ok…” Anne calmed down a little, but still cautiously held her bitten hand close to her chest. “Has she ever bitten you before?” she asked.

“Nope; she only ever does that to Women Frogs”. That piece of info elicited a double take from the Human.

“W-what? Wait, so you mean she-”.

“Yep; just about every stablehand here who happens to be Female has been bitten by her at least once; even Penny, after she transitioned. So regardless of what you’re considered as back home, even Fiddle Leaf recognises ya as a proper Girl!” Wally confirmed.

“...Huh, well how ‘bout that…” she muttered, staring down at the bite mark. Despite the residual pain she still felt, a smile crept its way up her lips. Never in her life did Anne ever think she’d feel Gender Euphoria from being bitten by a Ladybug… yet here she was. Though, she couldn’t shake the feeling she was forgetting somethi-

“Oh shoot, we’re supposed to be leaving soon! Hop Pop’s probably wondering where I am!” Anne said as she quickly got to her feet.

“Wait up, I’ll come see you off too!” Wally said as he grabbed his accordion & followed her out of Fiddle Leaf’s pen, making sure to shut the gate behind them.

It didn’t take them long to circle around to the front of the Ribbiton Mansion, where the Fwagon could be seen, parked along the front driveway. Hopediah was tending to Bessie at the front, while Polly was sitting up on top in the drivers seat, and Sprig was leaning against the side, idly kicking pebbles across the pavement. As they neared, he was the first to notice them.

“She’s here!” he called out, prompting Hopediah to turn to face them.

“Anne, there ya are! I was starting to consider sendin’ Sprig out to look for ya” he said.

“Sorry Hop Pop, I just needed to talk to Wally about one last thing before we left” Anne said, gesturing to the Turquoise Frog in question next to her.

“Alright, well hop in, we need to get goin’ soon” he told her before hopping up on top of the Fwagon to join Polly in the driver’s seat.

“We already grabbed your bag for you Anne, it’s inside!” the Pollywog in question added. Sprig led the way, opening the side door to head inside as Anne followed close behind.

Once the door was shut behind her, Hopediah wasted no time before whipping the reins to get Bessie moving. Glancing back, he saw that Wally had now joined his Father, plus a handful of other rich Frogs they’d met during their stay, at the front steps to the Mansion, as they all waved them off.

“See ya back in Wartwood Wally!” he called as he & Polly each gave a wave of their own, though his was only for a moment before he turned his attention back to the road. Following this, the roof hatch opened up as Sprig climbed through to do the same. Anne also poked her upper body through, though she was a little surprised to see someone else she recognised among the crowd.

“Bye Anne! I hope we meet again sometime!” Penny called out.

“Same to you Penny, it was nice meeting you!” Anne replied. They all continued to wave for a few more seconds until they began nearing the front gates to the main road, before settling down & turning back ahead. They were comfortably silent for a few seconds, until Anne decided to ask something.

“So… when were you guys gonna tell me that Transgender Frogs are apparently a thing?”. The Frogs visibly tensed at that.

“…Ah, right, that” Polly spoke up first.

“So that’s what you were talkin’ to Wally about, huh?” Hopediah asked, glancing back to the Human Girl, who nodded in response. “Well uh, you see Anne…” he struggled to find the right words.

“I-it's not that we didn't notice the similarities” Sprig ended up beginning to explain. “But… that's more to do with Frogs who can actually fully switch Genders whenever they want. The way you described it, like the part about being ‘born in the wrong body’, made it pretty clear that isn't something Humans are capable of”.

“Yeah, so it just… didn’t seem necessary to bring it up at the time” Hopediah added.

“Yeah, that’s true, and it’s fine anyway” she said with a shrug. “But, it still would’ve been good to know that that sort of thing is more normalised here than on Earth, even if it’s not exactly the same thing” she added.

“Sorry about that” Polly said.

“It's ok, just please tell me about things like that in the future, ok?” Anne requested.

“Will do” Hopediah said with a nod.

“We'll try to keep that in mind” Sprig agreed.

Over in Newtopia, Marcy was having another chat with the King of Amphibia over a game of Flipwart. She couldn’t recall what led the conversation down the way it did, but she soon found herself telling him more about herself & her friends, and the… imperfections in the relationships between themselves & each of their respective parents.

“As for my parents, they’ve always been a bit… ignorant, in regards to my Autism. It’s like they don’t understand that my brain just works differently to neurotypical people, and that I struggle more with things that come as second nature to them” Marcy ranted. “And instead of actually listening to me, or even doing their own research on it to try to understand me better, they’d rather brush it off & act like I’m just… I dunno…” she trailed off.

“Is that so? I’m sorry to hear that” Andrias replied.

“Anne’s probably got the best relationship with her parents out of all 3 of us - to be honest, I’ve always kinda envied her a little for that - but even they don’t know about her being- uh…” Marcy went on, only to quickly cut herself off as her eyes went wide at the realisation of what she was about to say. Shoot, that was close, she nearly outed Anne.

“Hm? Being what?” Andrias said, lifting his head. He’d been fairly engrossed in their game for the most part - not that he wasn’t listening to her at all - but that little slip-up had caught more of his attention.

“N-nevermind, it’s nothing, don’t worry about” she quickly tried to back-pedal, shaking her head.

“It sure doesn’t sound like ‘nothing’” the King commented, unconvinced.

“It’s not important, just forget I said anything” she insisted.

“C’mon Marcy, you know you can tell me anything; there’s no need to be so secreti-” he pressed on, trying to get her to elaborate, but was unexpectedly cut off as Marcy put both hands down on the table before her (not quite slamming them, but it was still an abrupt action).

“With all due respect, Your Highness, it is not my secret to tell” she began in an uncharacteristically formal & serious tone while keeping her head down, hiding her eyes under her hair. “Anne has only ever trusted me & Sasha with that information, and she made us both promise to never tell anyone else out of her own fears of what others may think of her for it. Knowing you, I have no doubt you’d still respect her all the same, but I’d still be breaking my promise. It’s already bad enough that I’m telling you this much, so can we please just drop it?”.

Andrias stared down at her in surprise. For the time they’d known each other, Marcy had always called him by his first name, so if she was actively calling him by that title, she must be very serious about this.

Additionally, she’d also always been pretty loose-lipped about pretty much everything so far, so the fact she was being so defensive about this piece of information, whatever it was… he was certainly intrigued to say the least, even on the off chance it could turn out to be something completely meaningless to him.

But he also couldn’t risk coming off as too invasive, lest she lose trust in him, so he had to respect her wishes.

“...Very well Marcy” he replied quietly as they resumed their game of Flipwart. They fell into a bit of silence after that. They both knew this was unusual for their meetings, considering how talkative Marcy usually was But after that near slip-up, she didn’t feel like talking much more for today.

Instead, Marcy thought back on what she’d been telling everyone in Newtopia so far regarding Anne’s Gender Identity; Back when she first landed here, after being taken into the Hospital to treat her broken leg from falling down those stairs, it had hit her that she was going to need to ask for help in finding her friends, which meant she needed to decide between describing ‘Anne’ or ‘Andy’’.

The Girl in question had been presenting as Anne at the time when they got zapped to this world, but it was also possible she could’ve found time to change back to Andy for one reason or another before encountering civilization. And Marcy knew that if she described the incorrect one from whoever eventually showed their face in Newtopia, things could potentially get awkward for her Friend. Even if she knew for sure that Amphibians had no problems with Transgender individuals (she was still yet to figure that out), she didn’t want to put Anne into a situation where she had to explain herself.

In the end, she’d ultimately decided on calling her ‘Anne’. After all, the whole point of coming here to Amphibia was so they could live happily & free from the restrictions of their lives on Earth. And for Anne, that would logically include being able to live openly as her preferred Gender. She could only hope she made the right choice.

“Here’s me & Domino 2; she tried to eat us. Here’s me & Sprig by the Lake; there was a Snake that tried to eat us. Oh, here’s us running from a Centipede that-” Anne said as she scrolled through the photos of her time in Frog Valley on her Phone.

“Lemme guess, tried to eat you?” Marcy finished for her.

“How did you know?” Anne said with a mock gasp.

Marcy was glad to see Anne again after missing her & Sasha for over 2 Months. Not only was she happy to be reunited with her longest Best Friend, but she was also relieved to have confirmation that she had made the correct choice when describing her as Anne to the Newtopians. In fact, she figured she should ask about that too, so she quickly glanced over at the Plantars, who were currently unloading their Wagon (or ‘Fwagon’, as she’d heard them call it), double-checking that they were far enough away that they shouldn’t be able to hear them.

“Hey, so, I didn’t wanna bring this up in front of them-” she started, gesturing to the Frogs & prompting Anne to pause her scrolling. “But, I take it things have been going well in regards to your Gender Identity?” she asked in a low voice. A big smile came across Anne’s face as she began speaking.

“Oh it's been great! The most I could manage back home, as you know, was like, a few Hours a day. But now, since I don't have to worry about running into anyone who'd recognise me (besides you or Sasha), I haven't even stopped presenting as a Girl since we got here!” she began to rant giddily. “Amphibians have no frame of reference for what Human Girls should look like either, so they have no reason to suspect or doubt me. It is just such a relief to finally be surrounded by people who only know me as Anne” she went on.

“That’s great to hear, I’m so happy for you Anne” Marcy said with a smile of her own as she put an arm around her Friend’s shoulder for a side-hug. ‘I’m glad I could give you this opportunity’ went unsaid. “And uh… do they know yet, or should I continue to avoid talking about it around them?” she asked, gesturing to the Frogs again.

“They didn't for a while, but the truth did come out eventually, just before we set off to come here actually. Thankfully, even though the concept is… semi-unheard of to them-”.

“‘Semi’?” Marcy questioned with a raised eyebrow, noticing her specific choice of words.

“Yeah, turns out there's a similar concept here, but it's more about Frogs who are apparently capable of physically changing Gender whenever they want. No one who isn't capable of that has ever been known to have that desire though” Anne explained. Ah, of course, Marcy had forgotten that was a thing with some Earth Frogs.

“As I was saying; despite it being new to them, they’ve still been super supportive about it. E-even when I had a bit of a… self-deprecating outburst… they still stuck with me & assured me I was a real Girl no matter what” Anne continued, her eyes beginning to well up with bittersweet tears toward the end. Marcy briefly frowned at the mention of her outburst, feeling concerned for her friend, but it quickly turned to a grateful smile at the following explanation.

“That’s because you are a real Girl Anne, and you always have been; no matter what a bunch of small-minded Transphobes, Bigots, or TERFs have to say about it” she said as she wrapped her other arm around her, pulling Anne into a proper hug. “I’m glad you found a place where you’re accepted for who you are” she added. Anne’s tears quickly turned to quiet sobs as she hugged Marcy back tightly, though the ravenette could feel that she was still smiling against her neck.

“Hey, uh, Marcy?” Sprig spoke up after they watched Anne disappear around the corner, leaving them standing before the Museum as she took the Puzzle-gram they were trying to solve with her. Marcy turned her head over to him with a ‘hm?’ of acknowledgement. “There’s uh, something I wanted to ask you about… For starters, just fyi, Anne has already told the three of us about how she’s ‘Transgender’” he explained.

“Oh, yeah, she already mentioned that to me just earlier while we were sitting by that fountain. I actually wanted to thank you guys for being so understanding about it with her; I was admittedly a little worried for her, about the possibility that Amphibia would be less accepting about that sort of thing than Earth, so it’s good to know she at least found some good people” Marcy said.

“Yeah, no problem. I was gonna ask though; she said you did a lot of research on the subject to help her, right? Are there any tips you could share with us on how we could make her more comfortable?” Sprig asked. Marcy rubbed her chin as she thought.

“Hmm… Well, it mostly comes down to just making sure she feels like she’s being seen as her preferred Gender, rather than what she was assigned as at birth. But she also told me earlier about how she already feels plenty comfortable & accepted around you guys, so I’d say just keep doing whatever you’re doing now” she explained, ending off with a shrug.

“Alright, that’s good to know…” Sprig said with a relieved sigh. And just when they thought they were going to fall into an awkward silence, he suddenly thought of something else to talk about. “Hey, can I see your Crossbow arm?” he asked.

“I don’t see why not!” Marcy replied enthusiastically, showing off said Crossbow.

Compared to the trip to Newtopia, the journey back to Wartwood was surprisingly uneventful. Aside from when Sprig & Polly got impatient & tried to drive the Fwagon the rest of the way themselves in the Night while Anne & Hopediah were trying to sleep. Other than that, it wasn’t much longer until they were nearing the Town’s entry archway.

Mrs Croaker had already seen them coming, and had promptly rung the bell to alert everyone to their arrival. As they pulled to a stop in the middle of the crowd, they quickly began trading greetings & pleasantries with those who welcomed them back, but one particular Frog stood out among them.

“Well, if it isn’t the Plantars!” Wally said as he approached the family in question. “Funny running into you lot while I was off visiting me Family back in me old Hometown - which was in no way anywhere near Ribbitvale - eh?” he added, briefly whispering the part about Ribbitvale through gritted teeth so only they would hear as he lightly nudged Anne with his elbow.

“Riiiight, yeah, it was real nice getting to know your Dad” Anne played along after glancing around at the crowd.

“Yep, and on that note, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that a certain somebody else actually came back with me!”. Upon saying that, a familiar Blonde-haired Green-skinned Frog suddenly jumped out from behind him, landing atop his head to reach closer to Anne’s height.

“Hiya Anne!” Penny greeted.

“Penny! Oh my Frog, it’s good to see you again!” Anne replied, her eyes widening at the pleasantly surprising sight of her. While it should’ve been expected, all things considered, it was still a bit jarring seeing the once prim & proper dress she previously wore had been traded for a much more raggedy & dusty shirt & skirt combo, similar in style to what Wally was usually known for wearing. Even her usually-tied hair was loose & messy.

“Yup, she really wanted to come & see you again after you came by back then, as well as just to see what it’s like where I’ve been living” Wally began to explain as he grabbed the young Frog, lowering her back to the ground in front of him. “So she went & managed to get permission from her Mum to be able to tag along with me, at least this once. And, well, being my Goddaughter ‘n’ all, you know I couldn’t say no”. He then leaned in a little closer to whisper one last thing. “And remember; while there is a resemblance, she is in no way related to or associated with any rich and/or famous Frog families”.

“Whatever you say, Wallium” Polly said from nearby with a mischievous grin. Wally only cleared his throat awkwardly in response before walking away, tipping his hat over his eyes with one hand & pulling Penny along with him with the other.

“See ya later Anne!” she said as she waved goodbye to Anne, who responded with a wave of her own.

During the Plantars’ Welcome-Back Party, while awaiting the arrival of the Chicka-lisk to dispose of the fake Gifts, each of the Plantars had split off from each other (except Anne & Polly who had stuck together) to chat with different Wartwoodians about what they’d gotten up to both in Newtopia, and on the way there; Hopediah was with Stumpy who was at the grill, Sprig was sat at a table with Ivy, and Anne & Polly were chatting with Sylvia by the front of the restaurant.

When it seemed like the 3 women had run out of things to say, their attention was drawn to the all-too-familiar sound of an accordion being played nearby. Looking back past where Sylvia was standing, they saw Wally hopping between each foot while playing a song for Penny, who was happily clapping her hands along to the rhythm.

“I tell ya, that Wally has always been so secretive about where he used to live before coming here” Sylvia began. “All we know is that he likes to randomly disappear without warning a few weeks every now & then while the Mountain Pass is open, apparently to go visit them, but we never hear anything about where he grew up, or what his folks are like; we didn’t even know he had a Goddaughter until he came back with her in tow just a few weeks ago”. Sylvia’s eyebrows then perked up as she thought of something.

“Say, he mentioned earlier today that you ran into him by coincidence during your trip, didn’t he?” she asked, looking back to the Human. “What were they like? Where abouts did they live?”. Anne glanced around as she took a sip of her drink, thinking about how to answer without spoiling the truth.

“Weeeell, he certainly takes after his Dad” she began.

“He likes to play the Jug” Polly elaborated.

“Yeah. Dunno if he has any other relatives though” Anne went on. None of that was technically a lie. “As for the location… it’s even more of a backwater town than Wartwood. I-I can’t even remember the name of the place” she added.

“Hmm… I also can’t help but notice, that Penny really reminds me a lot of Penelope Croaksevelt” Sylvia added, looking back to the young Frog in question. “The shiny Blonde hair, the bright Green skin; Heck, even their names are similar!”.

“Uhh, yeah, I guess I can see the resemblance” Anne agreed vaguely, scratching the back of her head.

“Yeah… but there’s no way it actually is her, right?” Sylvia said before beginning to laugh. “Could you even imagine? Wally, local vagrant of Wartwood, being chosen to be the Godfather of the Heir to the Croaksevelt Mint. How ridiculous would that be?” she continued, snorting at the thought. Anne, who was in the middle of raising her cup to her lips to take another sip, froze for a moment.

“Heir to the what-now?” she questioned, snapping her eyes back to Sylvia.

“The Croaksevelt Mint; it’s owned by Penelope’s Mother, Dolores Croaksevelt. More than half the Coppers circulating around Amphibia today were made there” Sylvia explained.

“Huh… Well I’ll be danged” Anne commented as she looked back to Wally & Penny, who were now dancing around in circles with their elbows linked, while the former continued to play his accordion.

“...It’s a lot slower than last time” Anne commented as the Blue Gem regained colour at an anticlimactically slow pace.

“Sorry, this thing’s pretty old” Valeriana replied, gesturing to her Staff.

“Ah! No, no, no. I get it. No problem” Anne assured her, waving it off.

“…Do you want, uh, something to read or…?” the Newt suggested.

“Seriously, it's fine” Anne insisted. They fell into a bit of silence after that as they waited for the Gem to charge, but there was something else nagging at the back of Anne’s mind, and she had to bring it up. “Hey, so uh… If you know, like, a lot about me or whatever, does that mean you also know that I’m-?” she began.

“That you are Transgender? Yes, I am aware of that fact” Valeriana finished for her. So that’s another person to add to the list of people who know.

“R-right… So, why did you not bring that up when we were fighting over the Box?” Anne asked, anxiously rubbing her arm.

“Hm? Why vould I do that? ” Valeriana questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, you were accusing me of lying about a bunch of stuff… wouldn’t it’ve been fitting to… bring that up?” Valeriana stared at her with half-lidded eyes, sighing before answering.

“If you’re referring to the idea that you’re ‘lying about being a real Girl’; you simply aren’t. No one besides you gets to decide who or vhat you are, so if you say you’re a Girl, then you are one. Not even I get to say otherwise”. A smile briefly flashed across Anne’s face at the reassurance, but it didn’t last long.

“Well, yeah, but… I have also been lying to my parents about it to an extent…” she pointed out.

“While I do personally believe you have nothing to fear in regards to how they’ll react, there’s also no shame in remaining in the closet either; You tell them when you’re ready to”.

“Huh… you are surprisingly down-to-earth about all this for someone your age- er, no offence” Anne said, though Valeriana waved off her concern.

“I’ve been around for a long time, Anne. As I told you back in the Bizarre Bazaar; I’ve seen & heard it all. Hardly anything concerns me anymore, least of all someone who’s Gender Identity doesn’t align with vhat they were born as” she explained.

Before Anne could reply, she was suddenly alerted by the familiar sounds of Marcy & the Plantars’ screams echoing around them from below. She quickly darted over to the edge of the platform they were stood on & peered over the edge, but she couldn’t see them through the clouds.

“Oh no! They’re in trouble! What if it’s another avalanche!?” she exclaimed in a panic. Quickly glancing back at the Gem, she saw that it was nearing about 90% charge. “Uh, that looks charged enough, let’s go!” she said before plucking it out & returning it to the Box before hurriedly putting it away in her bag.

“Sendmeback!Sendmeback!Sendmeback!” she began frantically repeating as she hopped between each foot. Valeriana silently complied with her request, grabbing her Staff & spinning it around before swirling it in front of the Human Girl, causing her to vanish.

Anne & Sprig were hard at work loading boxes up onto the Fwagon in preparation for the upcoming trip to the Third Temple, when Marcy approached.

“Hey Anne, so I know you’re busy helping with, well, this” she began, gesturing to what they were doing.

“Yep” Anne replied as she continued to focus on loading up crates as Sprig passed them to her.

“But I couldn’t help but notice you’re kinda in need of some new gear”. Anne briefly paused to look down at her shoeless foot, of which the sock was becoming so worn out that her toe was already beginning to poke through a hole.

“...Fair” she responded plainly before resuming work, only mildly curious where her friend was going with this.

“Good, because I already Fly-mailed Newtopia’s best Armorer, & he’s on his way right now to give you a whole new look!” Marcy announced. Anne suddenly froze at that revelation, dropping the crate Sprig had just passed to her & spilling its contents (Shurikens. Lots & lots of shurikens) all over the ground.

“Hold up, did you just say 'new look’?” she questioned, turning to face Marcy.

“Yup” she responded, smiling.

“So you mean we’ll get to do runway modelling again?” Anne continued, now expressing more excitement as she smiled too.

“You betcha!” Marcy confirmed with a thumbs up.

“Yes! It’s been ages since we’ve done that! You’re the best Marcy!” Anne exclaimed, briefly throwing her arms up in celebration before stepping over to hug Marcy. “No problem Anne” she replied before they eventually split up & returned to their jobs.

“What’s this about ‘runway modelling’?” Sprig questioned.

“It’s a sort of activity we started doing about 2 years ago, during sleepovers at Sasha’s place - usually when her parents were already asleep” Anne began to explain. “Basically, Sasha would go through her wardrobe & pick out different outfits for me to try on, and Marcy would ‘commentate’ as I stepped out to show them off, much like with actual runway models. It did wonders for my self-esteem & helping me to feel like a real Girl, so I’m looking forward to being able to do it again”.

“I see. Why specifically Sasha’s place though? Doesn’t Marcy have outfits for you to try on at her place?” Sprig noted.

“Eeh, we did try it at her place once, but she doesn’t have a lot that looks good on me, it turns out. She did convince me to let her give me a haircut instead, but that ended up being a huge mistake”. Anne briefly shuddered as she thought back on that memory. “…I’m sure this Armorer she’s called in knows what he’s doing though” she added optimistically.

Once Bernardo, the Newtopian Armorer, arrived, his assistant quickly got to work on equipping Anne with an assortment of different outfits at his instruction. As she tried on each one, however, ranging from Barbarian, to Sorceress, to a whole bunch of different Bug-based armours, Anne’s optimism only dwindled. Unlike their previous sessions back home - the ones with Sasha’s clothes anyway - none of these outfits seemed to suit her. And unfortunately, Marcy’s encouragement wasn’t doing much to remedy that either.

“How ‘bout this one Anne? Doesn’t it just make you feel ready to charge head-on into an epic quest?”. Anne’s current outfit was an over-the-top set of golden armour with blue trims.

“I-I dunno Mar-mar, I'm just not feeling it with any of these. I mean, this one's just really restricting; I can barely move my arms or legs. I think I'm better off just sticking with my usual clothes, they've worked fine for me so far” Anne explained.

“Whaaat? But our adventure here's almost over; don't you wanna try & role-play at least a little before we go home?” Marcy said. No, she really wasn't interested in any of that.

Before Anne could properly reply, they were interrupted by a loud crashing sound outside. Everyone quickly rushed out to see what was going on, but Anne struggled to follow due to the uncomfortable armour, and wound up tripping & falling in the front doorway (she would later find out the noise was Bessie breaking free from the Barn, in order to put out a fire that would’ve set off a crate of Boom Shrooms, blowing up the Fwagon with Hopediah & Polly inside).

“Help. Please” she spoke up with a groan after already missing all the action.

“Anne!” Marcy exclaimed upon realising she was there.

“Are you okay?” Sprig added with equal concern as the two of them rushed over to help her, practically having to dig her out of the heavy & restricting armour. By the time she was able to sit up, the only piece that remained was the chestplate. Anne stared down at it as they helped her to stand up. It was golden & had the Amphibian crest in the centre. Without the excess armour, it was rather plain & simple, and yet it felt…

“This is… Perfect!” she exclaimed, throwing both arms up into the air. Marcy ignored her statement & instead grabbed her face, going into a series of concerned questions.

“Are you okay? Did you hit your head? Are you crazy now?”. Anne simply waved off her concerns.

“I think the reason I don't want a new look is because…” Anne began as she walked over toward Frobo, using his shiny metal exterior as a mirror to see herself. “I'm finally happy with who I see in the mirror right now. So no matter what I put on, I just wanna see the same me looking back” she explained, smiling at her reflection. Marcy & the Plantars all smiled at her proudly, knowing full well what she was really referring to.

“So, what do you guys think?” she added, looking back to everyone else. Marcy, Sprig, & even Bernardo each gave their own agreements & approvals of the look.

“Man, Sash, I can’t get over your armour; it totally suits you!” Marcy complimented Sasha, who was sat across the Dinner table from her.

“I know, right? Way better than that dorky Medieval School Play we were in” Sasha began. “And those dresses of yours look great too! Especially yours Anne, you look gorgeous” she added. Anne seemed oddly stunned by that statement.

“Oh, th-thanks Sasha, I’m… glad you think so” she responded in a strangely despondent tone as she glanced off to the side.

Sasha was confused for a moment, wondering why Anne seemed so down all of a sudden, but when the realisation hit her, it hit her like a freight train. Of course, she’s remembering when she’d threatened to out her in front of everyone. Shoot, did she think Sasha no longer saw her as a real Girl? If so, it made her feel awful.

“R-right… I’m sorry about that by the way. I mean, it’s not like I was actually gonna-” she tried to apologise.

“It’s fine Sasha, it’s no biggie” Anne interrupted, seeming to raise her spirits a little more, but Sasha could tell it was forced & that she just didn’t want to talk about it.

Sasha also noticed Sprig reach a hand over to pat Anne’s arm to comfort her, before shooting the Blonde a death glare. Alright, so Anne must’ve already come out to them at some point. Good for her, she supposed.

Marcy, meanwhile, briefly glanced back & forth between her 2 Best Friends, a look of confusion & concern marking her features. Yet she hasn’t told Marcy about the incident yet. That was… good, she didn’t need to know that Sasha had nearly crossed that line.

“Am I missing something? What is it you two are talking about?” Grime spoke up, prompting Sasha to flinch as she remembered he was present.

“None of your concern Grime” the Blonde quickly blurted out, refusing to look at him. The Toad raised an eyebrow at her for a moment before shrugging & resuming eating. Sensing a rising tension, Hopediah decided to speak up & change the subject.

“Say, um, who's up for a rousing game of Drawsidoodle?” he suggested. Grime abruptly stood up at that, surprising the old Frog, & even eliciting a raised eyebrow from Sasha.

“I LOVE Drawsidoodle!” he exclaimed loudly as he smashed both fists onto the table, practically breaking it in half & sending everyone flying away.

“Alright Anne, I think I’m just about ready; are you gonna be much longer? The Battle of the Bands is starting in just 20 minutes” Marcy asked from her side of the privacy screen in the Plantar home Basement, while adjusting her Butterfly antenna headband.

“I uh, y-yeah, I’m almost done. Just… need another minute…” came Anne’s reply. Marcy, however, quickly picked up on the anxiety in her tone.

“...Anne? Is everything alright?” she asked tentatively.

“...No, not really…” Anne admitted, knowing there was no point in dodging the question. Before Marcy could ask her to elaborate, she was mildly caught off guard when Anne suddenly stepped out from behind the privacy screen, revealing she was already fully dressed, aside from her hair & make-up.

“I just… Do I look ok in this? I know I was the one who designed the outfits, but it's the first time I've designed something for myself to wear, and now that I'm actually wearing it, I-I can't help but feel like I look too much like… like a Boy in a skirt” she said anxiously, turning to look at herself in the mirror by the end. Ah, so she’s feeling Dysphoric again. Marcy knew how to handle this.

“Anne, what are you talking about? You look amazing! Even without the make-up & other accessories, you look like a total Rockstar; both literally & metaphorically” Marcy exclaimed. Anne silently glanced between her & the mirror, her anxious expression visibly soothed a little, but there was still a little doubt in her eyes.

“...You really think so?” she spoke up. Marcy proceeded to grab her by the shoulders, forcing her to turn her whole body toward her.

“Anne, listen to me; I can absolutely assure you, without a doubt, that you do not look like a Boy in a skirt. You are a Beautiful Girl, no matter what”. Anne’s expression warmed up as a grateful smile grazed her lips, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Thanks Marcy” she said as she pulled the ravenette into a hug.

“Any time Anne” Marcy responded, giving her a pat on the back.

Anne groaned as she began to stir awake. She was laying on something hard & metallic, and she could feel the forms of the Plantars all laying around her, beginning to rouse awake themselves. In the few moments it took before she could properly sit up, she tried to recall what had led to this moment.

First, with the Music Box fully recharged, they’d tried to bring it to Andrias, so he could use it to safely return her & her friends to Earth. Sasha & Grime, however, had decided to interfere & keep the Box for themselves, as well as overthrowing the King & imprisoning him to take the throne for themselves. It took some effort, but they eventually managed to stop them & free the King. It was only once he had the Box within his possession, however, that Andrias revealed that he too had been lying to them, and actually intended to imprison them , and then invade Earth with an Army of Robots.

Things became a bit of a blur from there; they fought with Sasha & Grime, Polly got her Legs, Andrias threatened to throw Sprig out the window of the now-flying Castle (and did so anyway after they’d already complied), Anne got weird Blue powers & beat up the King in retaliation, Marcy caught Sprig with the help of Joe Sparrow, then used the Box to open a portal for her & the Plantars to escape through, and then Marcy-

That final thought had finally prompted her to try and sit up, with the Frogs quickly following suit. As they turned themselves around, she realised with a start that they were lying atop the hood of a car, with the family inside looking equally perplexed back at them.

“Oh my Frog” Sprig said as they began looking around, seeing that they were surrounded by several other cars & trucks, which were seemingly stuck in traffic.

“What is this place?” Hopediah questioned.

“…Home” Anne replied simply.

“What the-!?” Hopediah exclaimed with a gasp as a particularly close-by car beeped its horn loudly.

“Ah! What is that thing!?” Sprig called out, pointing out a plane that was flying overhead.

“What is that thing!?” Polly added, pointing to a wacky waving inflatable tube man situated outside a nearby car dealership.

“I don’t believe it; I’m Home?” Anne questioned aloud, now that she’d fully processed what was happening.

Chapter Text

“Okay, you three should probably hide in here for the time being; I want to ease them into all of this slowly ” Anne suggested, opening one of the bins currently laid out across the front of her house. “And when the time is right, I’ll signal, ‘Caw caw!’. Do not come out ‘til you hear that” she added as the Plantars obliged, climbing inside of each of the bins; Anne also made sure to place Frobo’s salvaged head in alongside Polly.

With that out of the way, she began walking over toward the front door of her home, but quickly stopped when she remembered something else. “Oh, and I’m not gonna tell them I plan to go back & stop Andrias. Or that Andrias betrayed us. Or that Marcy did. Or that Sasha did. And not A WORD about-” she began listing off everything, before suddenly looking down at herself & gasping loudly, a look of horror suddenly creeping onto her face as her whole body tensed up.

“I completely forgot!” she exclaimed in a whisper-shout, putting her hands on either side of her head & digging her fingers into her scalp. “I-I can’t let them see me like this!” she added, frantically glancing around in a panic, eventually settling to run over & dive into a nearby bush. The Plantars carefully peeked out from their own hiding places, seeing & hearing the bush rustle around from her movements. “ Come on, come on, where are they? Ah, here they are” they heard her muttering to herself.

After a couple more seconds, Anne re-emerged from the bush, having apparently changed clothes, and now wearing what appeared to be her school’s Boys Uniform (as evidenced by the shorts in place of the skirt, and the shirt collar’s edges being more sharp-angled than rounded). “Phew, I haven't even looked at these in forever . Thank Frog they were right where I left ‘em” she said as she attempted to pat out the wrinkles that had formed from being thoughtlessly shoved into a small space & left untouched for the last 5 months.

“Woah, that was fast” Polly commented.

“Yeah, well, with how often I was changing back ‘n’ forth around Sasha & Marcy, I eventually got enough practice that I can now do it in record time. ‘Course, I am a little out of practice, plus this chestplate also slowed me down a little, so I wasn't quite as fast this time” she explained while idly double-checking that her other Uniform was tucked deeply into the bag. “So anyway, how do I look?” she asked.

They were admittedly a little surprised by what they were looking at; even though they still weren’t entirely sure of the differences between Human Boys & Girls, they could still recognise that with only a slight change in attire, she almost looked like a completely different person.

“Uh, yeah, I’d say you look good” Sprig said before scratching the back of his head. “I mean, we still don't know much of the differences, but you do look more distinct from what we know about Human Girls”.

“They do look cleaner than what ya had on before, despite the wrinkles” Hopediah added.

“Yeah, well, hopefully they don't suspect I've been wearing something different this whole time. And on that note, don’t forget that you guys are gonna have to start calling me ‘Andy’ while around other people from now on - especially my parents - understand?” she instructed the Frogs.

“You can count on us Anne… -dy” Hopediah agreed, awkwardly correcting the name at the end.

“But are you sure you’re okay with that?” Sprig asked.

“Oh, absolutely not” she replied bluntly with zero hesitation, before sighing. “I’m definitely gonna miss being ‘Anne’ 24/7, but…” she added in a defeated tone, glancing off to the side forlornly. “…It’s not like I have much of a choice” she shrugged as she resumed heading toward the front door. After stopping at the welcome mat, she stared down at the floor for a moment & took a deep breath.

“ Ok, here we go ” she muttered before finally knocking. At first, there was no response, but after knocking again, she could hear movement inside, along with a voice.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” the familiar voice of her mother called out. Frog, she hadn’t heard that voice in ages . After only a few more seconds, the door opened. Upon seeing her, her mother’s low-energy, yet curious expression quickly shifted into a look of bewilderment.

“H- *Cough* , hi Mom” Anne said with an awkward wave, quickly clearing her throat to mask her accidental use of the wrong voice before switching. Her Mom let out a quiet gasp as tears pricked the corners of her eyes, before lunging forward & pulling Anne into a tight hug, abandoning the bowl she’d been holding & allowing it to clatter to the ground. The sound attracted the attention of her Dad, who peered out from the Living Room.

“What was that noise? Everything ok?” he said.

“Dad!” Anne called out to him.

“Andy? Andy! ” he exclaimed as he noticed them, quickly running over to join in the hug. “You’re back! You’re safe…” he added. Before Anne could respond, she was quickly alerted by a familiar meowing sound down by her feet.

“Domino!” she exclaimed as she looked down at her Cat, ecstatic to see her again. “Come here my precious baby!” she added as she let go of her parents to bend down & pick her up. Normally, she'd avoid saying such things in front of her parents, not wanting to risk sounding ‘too Girly’, but baby-talking Domino was thankfully something they all commonly did - even her Dad - so she didn't need to worry. Once she had the Cat cradled in her arms, her Mom understandably burst into a series of questions.

“Where have you been? Are you ok? Are you hurt? Have you eaten? Your hair’s a mess” she said, plucking one of the many leaves from said hair.

“It’s a really… really long story” Anne admitted. Before she could say any more, however, she froze when she heard a bird squawking as it flew by, followed by rustling from within one of the bins. Oh no . The three Humans turned just in time to see the Recycling bin tipping over, spilling out Hopediah onto the grass.

“And we’re the Plantars! The loveable Frog Family Andy’s told ya all about!” he announced happily after hopping back to his feet.

“Hop Pop! That was not the signal!” Polly angrily told him as she hopped out from her own hiding place.

“Well it sure sounded like the signal” he argued back. Before Anne could make any attempt to mitigate the situation, Sprig decided now was a good time to pop out from just beyond the porch.

“Hi Mr & Mrs Andy’s parents! The name’s Sprig Plantar; Andy’s best friend, and walking, talking Frog!” he introduced himself with a bow. Just then, a Fly buzzed by, prompting the young Frog to catch & eat it with his tongue.

Anne could only facepalm at the disaster this had quickly turned into, before her Father promptly fainted from shock.

After spending days in an in-house quarantine, Anne eventually convinced her parents to let herself & the Plantars out of the house for a group trip to the market. And after demonstrating her own newfound responsible & mature behaviour, she was allowed to go and take them to try some noodles while her parents went elsewhere.

Neither party noticed, however, as the automatic doors at the front of the store opened & closed, seemingly on their own, as an invisible Cloak-Bot entered. He had tracked the energy signature of the Heart Gem to this building, and was now slinking around to find its source, and thus his target; Anne Boonchuy. 

Granted, he was unable to pinpoint her exact position, but he could at least narrow it down to a particular corner of the store, where he found a group of 3 individuals seated around a table, each happily enjoying a bowl of noodles. It was hard to tell for sure from this angle, but one of them definitely had a resemblance to his target. And any doubts about that were muted by the presence of the other 2 figures, who were clearly members of the Plantar Family in poorly-made Human disguises, whom the Boonchuy kid had been seen escaping to Earth with.

As he made his way over, however, he happened to pass by a refrigerator that was covered in magnets, which briefly scrambled his cloaking technology, making him visible for a few seconds. Despite his efforts to get them back online as quickly as possible, it was just enough time for one of the Frogs to spot him.

“Killer Robot!” he blurted out, pointing toward the exposed Cloak-Bot, who thankfully managed to vanish again just before his target could spot him. As he quickly crept closer, preparing to apprehend her, he froze when he heard her speak, replying to the younger Frog’s outburst.

“Sprig, for the last time, not everything is a Robot”.

…

…That was a Male’s voice. Anne Boonchuy is supposed to be Female .

Confused, Cloak-Bot slinked around the group to get a better look at the Human from the front. Sure enough, they resembled Anne, but they were clearly the wrong Gender. Who was this kid? Why did he look so much like Anne? And why were the Plantars hanging around with him instead of her? Cloak-Bot had very quickly tuned out the conversation they were having (something about the Frog child insisting that he did in fact see a Robot), but he suddenly picked up on the mention of a name, which the Anne-lookalike seemed to answer to; ‘Andy’.

Even his name was similar to Anne’s… Could it be that Anne has a Twin Brother? That would at least somewhat explain why the Plantars were hanging around him… but that still didn’t make any sense; if any Human was going to be sticking by their side, it’d be Anne , not some Twin Brother that they'd likely only met recently! Just where was this Girl hiding? His sensors were clearly showing her energy signature in the surrounding area, and the Plantars were here too, so where-!?

…

…That’s it; The Plantars . They must know where she is! All he had to do was capture one of them and interrogate them on the Girl’s location! After all, Andrias had only told him to make sure no Earthlings saw him, so the visiting Amphibians were fair game. Even so, the young Boy had already spotted him briefly just a moment ago, so he’d be the best option in order to keep the number of witnesses to a minimum. And so with that in mind, Cloak-Bot kept his distance & waited for the best moment to strike. And he didn’t need to wait long at all before they each finished their bowls & Andy began to stand up from his seat.

“Alright, we should probably get back to my parents now, let’s go” Andy said as he gathered their bowls & stacked them onto each other in the middle of the table before beginning to lead the way, with the Frogs quickly hopping down from their seats to follow him. As they did, the Boy noticeably began to fall behind, apparently struggling to keep up with the older 2. Perfect .

Cloak-Bot carefully snuck up behind him, and while no one else was looking, quickly wrapped one of his arms around him. Sprig tried to gasp as he was suddenly restrained seemingly by nothing, but the unseen appendage also quickly covered his mouth in order to silence him, before swiftly dragging him away.

Once he’d found a suitable empty aisle, where no one was around to eavesdrop, Cloak-Bot held up the Boy in front of him before decloaking. Sprig yelped once again as he saw the new Frobot variety that had captured him. He knew he’d seen a Robot earlier!

“ WHERE IS ANNE BOONCHUY ” it stated simply before loosening its grip enough to allow him to speak. It failed to notice, however, that the loosened grip had allowed Polly enough room to wiggle free from underneath him, dropping out from the bottom of their shared trench coat.

“Uhhh…” was all he could say as he watched his younger sister quickly retreat to the end of the aisle behind the Frobot, only stopping to look back once, giving him a glimpse of her frightened expression (which he was no doubt matching right now), before ducking around the corner. Hopefully she’d come back soon with back-up .

“ WHERE. IS. ANNE. ” the Frobot repeated as it tightened its grip painfully around his midsection, clearly getting impatient. It was only then that Sprig processed what it was actually asking. Why did it want to know where Anne was? Didn’t it see he was just with her a moment ago?

…

…Maybe it didn’t. Maybe it saw him with Andy . That gave Sprig an idea.

“We uh, g-got separated from her when we went through the Portal! Us Frogs all landed together, but we couldn’t find her anywhere; we found her Twin Brother, Andy, instead, & he took us back to their place!” he lied.

Meanwhile, as Anne & Hopediah continued to make their way through the store, looking for the former’s parents, the latter briefly glanced back to notice that his other 2 Grandkids were absent, prompting him to freeze.

“Um, Anne?” he spoke up, prompting the Girl to stop & look back too.

“ …Oh no, where’d they go? ” she said in a dreaded tone as they looked around. Just then, however, Polly suddenly appeared from around the corner & came rushing over to them. “Polly! What’re you doing without your disguise?” Anne questioned her.

“And where’s Sprig?” Hopediah added.

“He’s in trouble, come quick!” she explained simply. Anne had several follow-up questions, but figured they’d be answered in due time, so they quickly began following her as she ran back the way she’d come from.

They followed her directions until after rounding a corner, they came face to face with a new kind of Frobot, which was taller & lankier than the previous ones, and it was holding Sprig hostage. So he actually did see a Robot earlier.

“Andy! He’s looking for your ‘Twin Sister’, Anne , who got separated from us when we came to Earth , remember? ” he called out, making sure to wink by the end so she got the message.

“Oh! Uh, y-yeah, we still haven’t found her!” Anne played along.

“Take this!” Hopediah called out as he grabbed the nearest object off a shelf - a box of instant noodles - & threw it at the Bot. Lucky for them, this caused it to quickly drop Sprig. Unluckily, it only did so to catch the box & return it to the sender. “Oh boy” Hopediah said as they all quickly ducked to avoid the projectile.

“Everyone, run!” Anne called out as she quickly ran forward to grab Sprig before changing direction & retreating.

Cloak-Bot quickly thought about what to do next. The credibility of what the young Frog Boy had told him was dubious at best; Anne’s energy signal was still clearly nearby. In fact, the signal had actually gotten stronger when they showed up just now, and it seemed to be following them as they were retreating.

Could it be that Andy was the one emitting it? Cloak-Bot still had no clue what was going on, but if that was the case, then he must be the key to locating his Twin Sister. Just as he disappeared once again to follow them, one of the store's janitors, wearing a set of headphones, suddenly rounded the opposite corner, finding the thrown box of noodles spilled on the ground.

“People go crazy for those noodles” he said with a sigh before getting to work on cleaning up.

After only a few minutes of watching the Plantars going about the Mall from her vantage point on the upper floor balcony, Anne suddenly realised how badly she needed to use the Bathroom. After a moment of deliberation, she decided to just go quickly. Surely nothing would go wrong if she left them alone for only a minute, right?

Upon ducking into the closest Restroom, she found that only the stall on the far end was occupied, so she instead went for a middle stall. During the short time she was in there, she heard the other person finish up & exit, heading to the sinks to wash their hands.

Anne herself didn’t take much longer, so they were still there by the time she exited. She froze, however, when she saw that the person in question was none other than Gabby Williams, one of her other school friends, outside of her trio with Sasha & Marcy. More importantly though, Gabby… was a Girl. Oh Crud.

Glancing around, Anne’s worries were confirmed by the room’s clear lack of urinals; she'd spent so much time as ‘Anne’ in Amphibia that she'd gotten mixed up & entered the Girl’s Restroom while presenting as ‘Andy’ by mistake! She considered quietly sneaking out before Gabby could notice her, but that idea was short lived as within seconds, she’d already glanced up at the mirror & quietly gasped as she noticed the supposed Boy standing behind her.

“O, M, G” she said as she turned to face her.

“Gabby, I am so sorry! I swear I didn’t realise this was the Girl’s room!” Anne quickly tried to explain herself.

“Andy? Is it really you?” Gabby continued, ignoring her words. Before Anne could even form a response to that, the other Girl had already darted over & pulled her into a hug. “Where have you been? Is it true you went missing or ran away or died or something?” she began questioning Anne. So she wasn’t concerned about what Anne was doing in the wrong Restroom; that was a relief . Still though, she knew she needed to get out of there asap, both to get back to watching the Plantars before they noticed she wasn’t watching them anymore, and also to avoid being caught by someone less tolerant than Gabby.

“Don't be ridiculous, Gabby. I was just on my family's Farm. In... Alaska... for five months” she quickly lied as she broke free from Gabby’s grip to approach the sink.

“Well, now that you're back, I gotta catch you up on all the hot gossip” Gabby began saying as Anne quickly washed her own hands.

“Listen, I really think I should-” Anne started as she quickly dried her hands & tried to make her way for the exit. But it was too late; Gabby quickly fell into another of her long, & admittedly boring, rambles about all sorts of obscure gossip that Anne, quite frankly, did not care about. And each time Anne would try to slip away, Gabby would conveniently emote & side-step in a way that would block her path.

Anne sighed in frustration, knowing this was going to be a long ride, and quickly found herself zoning out. After about a minute, however, she was snapped back to reality when somebody else entered the room.

“What the heck are you doing in here!?” they called out, prompting Anne to tense & her eyes to widen as she quickly turned her head to face them; oh no, it’s Maggie! Of all the people who could’ve found her here, why did it have to be Maggie?

“Relax Maggie, the place was empty when he came in; he just got mixed up & didn’t notice. Now that I think about it, maybe I should’ve at least let him leave before starting to chat ” Gabby quickly spoke up. So she had listened to what Anne had initially said. Her alibi was enough to diffuse the situation from escalating, but that didn’t stop Maggie from glaring daggers at the closeted Trans Girl.

“Alright… well, what’re you waiting for Boobchuy? Get out!” she said, crossing her arms expectedly.

“R-right, sorry, I’ll be going now” Anne said timidly as she quickly ducked past Maggie & out the door. She managed to get out just in time to witness all 3 of the Plantars calling for her help.

“No” Sasha stated. “Enough with the plans, and the schemes; I’m done”.

“What? But you love schemes!” Grime replied, stopping & turning to face her. “ Lies, manipulation, backstabbing , it’s like your thing! Since when have you cared?”.

“…Since I saw the consequences…” Sasha replied quietly. Grime stared at her for a moment before sighing in frustration & pinching the bridge of his snout.

“Ok, I’ve about had it; What is this really about, Sasha? ” the Toad questioned in an accusatory tone, pointing a finger to her chest.

“I- Uh-” was all Sasha could get out, being caught off guard by the impromptu interrogation.

“I know things are already rough between you & Anne, but I saw the way you two were acting during that dinner the other night” he pushed further. “There’s clearly something more going on between you, something you’re not telling me; So what is it? ” he demanded.

Sasha was frozen in place, unable to get a word out for several seconds, but she eventually let out the breath she was holding.

“It’s… it’s about what happened back on the Tower…” she began slowly. “And I don’t just mean the whole ‘Anne saying no to me for the first time’ thing” she clarified before he could say anything about that. “When my usual tactic to get her to listen didn’t work, you may have noticed I leaned in to say something else to her”.

“Hm, yes, I did notice that” Grime confirmed. “I couldn’t quite hear what you said, but she seemed pretty spooked by it. What was it?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious. Sasha crossed her arms in front of her chest before continuing.

“I… I can’t tell you exactly what I said, but… I crossed a line. One I never should’ve crossed” Sasha paused for a moment. She had to make sure to pick her words carefully. “There’s this… secret that Anne has, that she’s always been really embarrassed about. She’s only ever trusted me & Marcy to know about it”.

“…And you threatened to betray that trust if she didn’t listen?” Grime guessed. Sasha only nodded despondently in response, refusing to meet his gaze. Grime sighed again, this time not as aggressively, but still clearly frustrated.

“Listen Lieutenant, whatever you’re dealing with, you need to confront it” he stated, pointing to her face, prompting her to finally look at him.

“Go into that House, face what burdens you” he instructed, pointing to the Plantar Farm nearby. “Then, when you’ve got your head back on straight, come join me” he continued, turning his back to walk away again, only briefly pausing to say one last thing. “...Please”.

Following Dr Jan's advice about getting more rest, Anne had allowed herself to sleep in until early afternoon, though she still felt a little sluggish. Her Dad had already gone out to open & run the Restaurant. Right now, she was sitting on the couch, her right hand holding a spoon to eat a bowl of cereal on her lap (her brunch), while her left was petting Domino, who was laying beside her.

After some time, her Mom passed through the room, holding a basket of laundry. She looked as though she was about to pass by in front of Anne, but she instead suddenly stopped & began staring at her. At first, Anne wondered if she was about to tell her off for eating cereal on the couch rather than at a table. What she said instead was a little surprising, but should’ve been expected in hindsight.

“I just noticed how long your hair’s gotten; it's almost reaching past your shoulders” she said as she used two fingers to scoop up a lock of said hair before pinching the end to lightly tug on it, showing off its full length.

“Huh, so it is” Anne replied. She’d noticed at some point while in Newtopia that it was starting to reach a length where her parents would normally tell her she was due for a haircut. But since they weren’t around, she'd decided to take the opportunity to grow it out some more, eventually forgetting about it entirely. Now, it was at least a few inches longer than she could ever remember it being.

“It… kinda makes you look like a Girl, actually… When was the last time you got it cut?” her Mom added, causing Anne to tense slightly. Part of her was ecstatic to have Gender affirmation from one of her parents, but the other part was terrified that she might be onto her.

“Oh, uh… I-I, didn’t get a chance to get a haircut at all while in Amphibia; not a lot of the barbershops or hairdressers there could cater to Humans easily” she quickly lied.

“I see… Couldn’t Hopediah have tried to cut it for you?” her Mother suggested.

“He uh, he couldn’t. He… kinda has a bit of trauma from having his own hair stolen by ‘the Frog Reaper’... o-or so he’s told me” Anne continued to lie(?), recalling the Shut-In Story he’d told them. She was still skeptical herself about whether it was true, but it at least made for a decent cover story at the current moment. Her Mom narrowed her eyes at her & let out a suspicious ‘hmm’, but ultimately shrugged it off.

“Well, it's market day at the Thai Temple tomorrow; I can try giving the barbershop a call to get you an appointment for later today, after I’m done with this. Is that ok with you?” she asked before continuing her walk.

“Y-yeah, sounds good Mom…” Anne said with a forced smile & a thumbs up. Once she was out of the room, however, Anne let her smile turn into a miserable frown, before slumping further into the couch with a groan as she grabbed two handfuls of her hair to lightly tug on, basking in how long it’d grown before she'd have to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, the Plantars were peering around from halfway up the staircase, having witnessed the whole interaction.

“Uh oh, this isn't good” Polly noted.

“She'll be so sad if she has to get her hair cut shorter” Sprig agreed.

“We’ve gotta do somethin’ to help her” Hopediah insisted.

“Sure, but what can we do?” Polly questioned.

“I’m not sure. We can’t just outright tell ‘em Anne doesn’t want a haircut; they’d question why, & we’d risk outing her” Hopediah replied with a shrug. Sprig scratched his chin in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers as he got an idea.

“What if we try to stall it for her? Like, prevent her Mom from organising or taking her to the appointment?” he suggested.

“Could we really do that?” Polly wondered.

“Hmm, we’ll have to try, for Anne” Hopediah said.

Sometime later, when Oum was done folding the laundry, she went to grab her cell phone to make a call to their local barbershop, where they usually take Andy to get haircuts. When she went to where she’d last left it on her bedside table, however, she was surprised to see it wasn’t there.

After looking around the room for it & finding nothing, she decided to just go use the wall-mounted Home phone in the Kitchen to call them in the meantime. Or better yet, she could use it to call her own phone & find it via the ringtone.

However, upon putting it up to her ear after dialling the barbershop’s number, she was surprised to hear the usual beeping sound that normally indicated a cut connection.

Now even further perplexed, she went to go check the Wi-Fi router, only to find Polly laying on the ground near it, with the unplugged Landline cable tangled between her legs.

“I uh… I tripped. New legs, y’know?” she explained plainly. Oum could only sigh in mild frustration before kneeling down to help untangle her legs before plugging it back in. She knew from experience that the phone line always took a few hours to reconnect after being unplugged, and she had no idea that Polly was secretly holding her missing cell phone behind her back as she quickly retreated the second she was untangled, so she had to give up on her plan to call in advance like usual.

Returning to the Kitchen, Oum found Andy pouring himself a glass of juice before putting the bottle away in the fridge.

“I can’t find my cell phone anywhere, and Polly’s just tripped on the Landline cable & cut our home connection for the next few hours. So we’re just gonna have to go there unannounced & hope that they can fit us in. Get yourself ready, we’ll be leaving in about 10 minutes” Oum told him. Andy seemed a little stunned as he was about to take a sip of his drink before replying.

“Should uh, should we really be leaving the Plantars home alone in the meantime?” he said anxiously. Oum gave him a funny look.

“You had no problem sending them out alone to take Domino to the Vet; how’s this any worse?” she pointed out.

“R-right, yeah, that’s true…” Andy relented. Out of nowhere, before any other words could be spoken between the two, Hopediah quickly hopped into the room from the hall.

“Wait!!” he yelled abruptly as he landed between them, raising his hands up to Oum in a ‘stopping’ gesture. “Y-ya can’t take Andy out to get a haircut today!” he added.

“Hm? Why not?” she replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Because… uh…” he began, glancing back & forth as he tried to come up with an excuse. “B-because today’s the Plantar Farm Founding Anniversary!” was what he eventually settled on saying. “It’s an annual Family tradition ta us Plantars back home where we commemorate our eldest Ancestor, Lily Plantar, fer not only bein’ the beginning of our long bloodline, but fer also foundin’ the Farm & constructing the very roof over our heads, by spending the entire day indoors, within the confines of said home!

“Now, I know we’re far from the house in question right now, but since we’re stayin’ here at the moment, I figure it’ll have to do in the meantime. And I’m not sayin’ you or your husband have to take part, Mrs Boonchuy - I mean, he’s been out since this mornin’ anyway - but since Andy’s a part of our family too, I’d like for him to be able ta take part in the tradition as well, if that’s alright with you”.

Oum briefly glanced back at Andy, who's expression was unreadable, before turning to the side as she contemplated on what to do.

While she wasn't looking, Anne looked down to Hopediah. She remembered asking him before about when the house had first been built; he'd admitted that there was never any record of the exact date. Was he making it up to help her avoid getting a haircut? Before she could ask about that, her attention was drawn back to her Mom as she audibly sighed.

“Alright, if it’s for a Family tradition, I guess Andy’s stuck in the house for the day…” she stated. ‘ Yes! ’ Anne mentally celebrated, even doing a subtle fist pump while she still wasn't looking. “I suppose I'll just have to cut it for you myself. I'll go get the stool & a towel ready in the bathroom, meet me there in a minute”. ‘ Nooooo… ’ Anne mentally despaired.

A minute or so later, Anne found herself sitting on a stool in the bathroom, in front of the mirror, as her Mom draped a towel around her shoulders, over her front. Once that was in place, her Mom went to the cabinet where they usually kept the comb & scissors. Upon opening it, however, she froze for a moment before groaning & quietly swearing in Thai, prompting Anne to glance over to her.

“Mom? What’s wrong?” she asked tentatively. Her Mom reached into the cabinet, pulling out a comb, but no scissors.

“The scissors aren’t where they usually are… Seems like everything wants to go missing on me today ” she stated, muttering the second part mostly to herself.

As she began rifling through all the other cabinets & drawers, Anne suddenly noticed a subtle, yet familiar, wet slapping noise. She looked up to see Sprig was quietly crawling across the ceiling towards the door, which had been left partially open, while holding a familiar pair of scissors in his mouth. Upon noticing she was looking at him, he briefly paused & made a ‘shushing’ gesture to her before disappearing through the crack in the door. Her attention was drawn back to her Mom as she slammed the last drawer shut.

“Ugh, where in the world have they gone?!” she cried in annoyance before leaving the room, likely to go search elsewhere in the house for any pair of scissors.

As she sat & quietly waited for her to return, Anne could only imagine as Sprig was likely sneaking around & stealing every other pair of scissors in the house (which wasn’t that many to begin with), always staying one step ahead of her Mom. It was clear that both he & Hopediah were trying to help her by preventing her Mom from getting or giving her a haircut; she'd also mentioned Polly ‘tripping’ over the Landline cable, so she was likely in on it too. Anne definitely needed to thank them for their help later.

It was only a few minutes later that her Mom returned, thankfully empty handed.

“Sorry Andy, I can’t find any scissors anywhere for some reason, so it looks like we aren’t going to be able to get you a haircut today after all” she said as she removed the towel from around Anne, returning it to where she got it from. She didn’t notice Anne’s expression brighten in response to that, hope sparkling in her eyes. Oum sighed again before speaking further.

“Maybe if we can get up early enough tomorrow, we can drive you to the barbershop on the way to the Temple” she suggested. Anne’s expression quickly darkened again at that, even looking mildly frightful.

“No!!” she suddenly yelled abruptly, prompting her Mom to look at her in surprise. “I mean… I… I don’t want to get a haircut. I like my hair the way it is now…” she clarified.

“Oh… Well why didn’t you just say so?” her Mom responded. That was always an option?!

“I-I… I thought it was non-negotiable…” Anne admitted, anxiously scratching the back of her neck.

“Andy, I only assumed that you were desperate for a haircut, since you weren’t able to get one for five Months” her Mom explained. “But if you like having your hair this long, or even want to grow it out longer, then just say so. I won’t judge you, and I doubt your Father would either”. Anne quickly stood from the stool & hugged her Mom.

“Thanks Mom” she said before quickly turning to leave before she could notice how her eyes were brimming with tears of joy.

After convincing another kid her age to take her place standing outside the Thai Go stand, Anne made her way around the Temple to try & find the Plantars so they could meet up with Dr Jan. However, it seemed that they’d each found their own corner of the community where they fit in, and weren’t interested in going any time soon.

“I’ll just update them after… I see… ” Anne began to say to herself as she turned to walk away, but trailed off & slowed to a stop as she stared at the set of stairs before her. To anyone else, it probably just looked like any old set of stairs on the side of a building. Not to Anne.

She quickly found herself reminiscing over a certain event that had occurred to her right here, back when she was 10 years old. It was a day much like today (minus the stuff relating to Amphibia); Anne - or rather Andy , as she went by at the time - & his parents had come out to the Temple for the Monthly Community Day, and at some point, they’d sent him to go grab something from the car that they’d forgotten to bring out when they’d arrived.

On his way, however, he’d passed by these same stairs, and noticed an Elderly Lady struggling to move some things up them. Being the helpful individual he was, Andy quickly came to her aid.

“Here, lemme help you with that!” he’d said eagerly, taking hold of the box she was trying to lift.

“Oh, why thank you” the Lady said. Once he’d gotten them to the top of the stairs, the Lady smiled & thanked him again. However, Andy could never have guessed what she’d say next as she patted him on the shoulder.

“You're such a kind young Girl ”.

…

…Looking back, it could’ve been any number of causes; Maybe the Lady had poor eyesight, perhaps the lighting had made his shorts look more like a skirt, not to mention Andy himself was due for a haircut at the time. Whatever the reason, the Older Woman had apparently mistaken Andy for a Girl.

And even stranger still… he never corrected her. Instead, in the final moments of interaction before Andy had to get back to his task, he’d rolled with it, almost like he’d enjoyed being perceived as a Girl.

That thought had never left his mind, not even by the following Evening, when he & Marcy were over at Sasha’s for a sleepover. The 2 Girls could tell something was bothering him as he sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the ground, so when they inevitably asked what was up, he told them everything about what had happened earlier that day.

“I-I just don’t get it; why would I enjoy being mistaken for a Girl!?” Andy asked rhetorically by the end, leaning forward to rest his chin in his hands. He didn’t expect either of them to have a real answer, but Marcy seemed to be seriously considering the question.

“Whacha thinking Mar-Mar?” Sasha asked, noticing her other friend was deep in thought. Rather than answering, the Taiwanese Girl turned to Andy and asked a question of her own.

“You enjoy hanging out with me & Sasha, correct?”. Andy was a little taken aback by this question. Was she doubting their friendship? Why now?

“Huh? Well, of course I do, you guys are my Best Friends!” he answered with a shrug.

“More than you would enjoy hanging out with other Boys our age?” she went on, raising an eyebrow.

“Wha- What’s that have to do with-?” Andy began to respond.

“Answer the question!” Marcy interrupted, holding up a hand.

“Well… yeah, I guess so. Other guys just… don’t really get me, y’know?”. It was true, for as long as he could remember, he’d always had a hard time connecting with other Boys his age. Even outside of Sasha & Marcy, Girls were just so much easier to understand & relate with (aside from Maggie, though Andy doubted that had anything to do with Gender).

To Andy’s confusion, Marcy continued to ask him more seemingly meaningless questions. Despite his confusion, he tried his best to answer all of them accurately.

“How do you feel when your parents make you get a haircut?”.

“Kinda… bummed out I guess?”. He pinched a lock of his hair & tugged on it. “I wouldn’t mind being able to grow it out longer, but they always seem to insist on not letting it grow past a certain point”.

“How do you feel when people call you ‘dude’, ‘man’, or ‘guy’?”.

“‘Dude’ is alright, but being called ‘man’ or ‘guy’ feels a little… odd”.

“How do you feel about people seeing your bare chest?”.

“Pretty uncomfortable; that’s why I always wear a rash guard whenever we go swimming”.

“Do you prefer peeing while standing up, or sitting down?”.

“I uh… I usually do it sitting down? It just feels more natural”.

“How often have you dreamt about being a Girl?”.

“Only the normal amount” Andy answered with a shrug.

When she was apparently done interrogating him, Marcy fell silent again as she resumed her look of deep thought.

“Hmm… Alright, I think I’ve heard enough…” she finally said after scratching her chin for a few moments. “I’ve come to the conclusion that you , Andy, are Transgender!” she proudly declared, pointing a finger to his face.

“...Trans-what-now?” Andy replied, unfamiliar with the term.

“She means you’re a chick in a dude’s body” Sasha clarified, having already figured out what Marcy was getting at by the 2nd question.

“I- Huh!?” Andy exclaimed, turning to look back at the blonde in shock.

“Well, that’s just my assessment anyway… What do you think, Andy?” Marcy added. She didn’t want to come off like she was deciding things for him.

“I’m… not sure…” Andy replied quietly before looking down at himself. Part of him wanted to argue against their claim, that he’d been perfectly happy being a Boy his entire life with no issues. But thinking back on his answers to Marcy’s questions, he was beginning to wonder if that was even true, or if he’d just convinced himself it was right because everyone else seemed to think so…

“...Welp, only one way to find out!” Sasha announced suddenly, breaking the silence as she stood up & headed over to her closet. Andy could only watch in confusion, wondering what she was up to as she rummaged through her hung-up clothes.

“Here, try these on” she finally said, pulling out her old purple-accented School Uniform - the one she used to wear before recently switching to pink - and handing it to Andy. His face quickly heated up at the thought of wearing such an outfit.

“I- Wha- Why- I-I can’t wear that!” he quickly stammered, trying to shove it away.

“C’mon Andy, this is the best way to know for sure if you’re really Trans or not; don’t you wanna figure this out?” Sasha insisted, continuing to hold it out to him.

“Just try it on & see how you feel” Marcy agreed. “We promise we won’t laugh or judge you. And who knows, maybe you’ll like it!” she assured him.

Andy looked back & forth between them, for any sign of deception, that they would laugh & make fun of him, but found none. Eventually, he sighed & stood up.

“Alright, let’s just get this over with” he said as he took the clothes from Sasha, walking over to stand behind the Privacy screen set up in the corner.

It felt strange, putting on a skirt, but it didn't take him long to get the whole outfit on. He knew there was a standing mirror right behind him, in the corner, but part of him was still afraid of what he’d see. He tried to prepare himself by simply looking down at himself, but it was difficult to get a grasp on how the outfit looked on him from that angle.

So with no other option, he closed his eyes before slowly turning to face the mirror. Andy took a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself for whatever he was about to see. He quietly counted down from 3, then shot his eyes open and looked up at his reflection!

…

“Well? Is it on yet?” Sasha spoke up, upon noticing both the lack of noise & how much time had passed; surely he should be fully dressed by now.

“I, uh… yeah, it’s on…” he replied non-committedly.

“Ok, so what are you waiting for? Let’s see it”. When Andy didn’t respond, verbally or physically, Sasha got a little concerned. “Andy? Is everything alright?” she added before going around to check on him. He’d said himself that it was on, so it should be fine to look now. “Is something- woah…” she cut herself off upon peering around the screen, her eyes widening.

“What is it? What’s going on?” Marcy said as she went to join her blonde friend, quickly stopping to let out a quiet gasp of her own as she saw what she was seeing.

Andy had his back turned to them, but they could see his reflection in the mirror ahead of him clearly. The Uniform didn’t just fit him; it suited him greatly . And better yet, he looked really convincing as a Cis Girl; near indistinguishable from any other they’d expect to see at their school.

But what really caught their attention was the tears forming in his eyes, one of which was already rolling down his cheek. His wide-eyed expression wasn’t one of sadness, shame, or embarrassment, however; it was one of amazement . It was pretty clear to everyone what his verdict on the whole ‘Transgender’ hypothesis was.

Andy couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d always figured that he’d look utterly ridiculous in a skirt. But now that he was actually seeing it for himself… he couldn’t imagine himself in anything else. Where, oh where, had this feeling been all his life?

After a few seconds, however, he was snapped out of his trance when he noticed his friends standing behind his reflection with awed expressions of their own, prompting him to spin around to face them. Now that he had an audience, he felt far more self-conscious. Noticing this change in demeanor, Sasha decided to try & give him some reassurance.

“Damn Boonchuy, I know we said we wouldn’t ‘ judge ’ you, but I gotta say, you’re definitely a solid 10/10 in that outfit” she stated with a grin, shooting him a finger gun.

“Oh, I uh… th-thanks Sasha” he answered, a little surprised at first, but quickly finding himself unable to look her in the eye as he glanced off to the side & smiled bashfully, wringing his left arm.

“So… I guess this means all 3 of us are Girls now, huh?” he added. Marcy & Sasha both smiled warmly.

“Welcome to the club sister!” Sasha stated as she initiated a group hug. The comfortable silence was eventually broken by Andy as he spoke up again.

 “… You guys really don’t think I’m weird like this? ” he questioned.

“Of course not Andy; like you said before, you're our Best Friend!” Marcy insisted, splitting from the hug to take his hand in her own as she looked him in the eye.

“Plus, it's really not that weird to begin with” Sasha agreed, keeping an arm over his shoulder.

“Yeah! Like, at the end of the day, Gender is really just an abstract concept that we as a society made up ; it’s not some tangible component of the Universe” Marcy said. “Whatever Gender you are is only determined by your own conscious judgment; nothing else.

“In fact, on that note, we can even start calling you by ‘she/her’ pronouns right away if you want!”.

“Yeah, I’d… I’d appreciate that, thanks” she answered.

“What about your name? You still ok with us calling you ‘Andy’, or did you have something else in mind?” Sasha spoke up. Andy put a finger to her chin as she thought about it.

“Hmm… how about… ‘Anne’? It's similar enough to my current name that it should be easy to remember, right?” she suggested.

“‘ Anne Boonchuy ’... yeah, I like the sound of that” Sasha agreed.

“It’s a wonderful name, Anne” Marcy said.

“Oh, and by the way, you can keep the Uniform; it looks way better on you than it ever did on me”.

“Thanks Sash…”.

Over the course of the next several minutes, it was agreed that until Anne was ready to publicly come out, they'd keep this new revelation a secret between them.

Back in the present, Anne smiled fondly as she finally began descending down the steps that had caused her flashback. No matter how messy things were between them now, that night with Sasha & Marcy, when she'd first discovered she was a Girl, & they’d shown her nothing but support & encouragement, was always a pleasant memory to think back on.

She was suddenly snapped out of her daydreaming, however, when she suddenly bumped into someone she was hoping not to run into.

“ Oof , Mom!?” she exclaimed. The older woman took a second to stabilize the stack of tupperware she was carrying before responding.

“Andy? You’re supposed to be at the stand!” she pointed out.

Cloak-Bot was just finishing testing out his new self-repairs & upgrades he’d had to make as a result of his last encounter with the Plantars & that meddlesome Boonchuy Twin, when he suddenly had to answer a surprise call from his Master, King Andrias.

“What’s good Cloak-Bot? Just checking in to see how things are going” he greeted jovially as he appeared on the holographic screen. “First thing’s first; did you get the Book?” he began.

“ BOOK SECURED ” Cloak-Bot replied, showing him the Book he’d requested him to retrieve for him while searching for Anne, apparently a sequel to another that Marcy had shown him.

“Why that’s great!- W-wait , that’s Book 3 ! You rusty bucket, I need Book 2 !” the King complained upon noticing the incorrect number on the cover.

“ BOOK 2 OUT OF STOCK ” the Bot explained shamefully.

“ Ugh, Olms have mercy- Next you’re gonna tell me Anne isn’t dead yet!” Andrias suggested sarcastically while turning away in frustration.

“... HAVE NOT YET … LOCATED TARGET ” he muttered, already dreading the King’s response.

“ You WHAT!? ” he exclaimed, the volume alone causing the Bot to flinch. “I gave you a visual sample of her, you recorded the energy signature you’d need to track, and you’re telling me that after a nearly a Month , you still haven’t even found her yet!?”.

“DID TRACK ENERGY SIGNATURE…” he clarified with a nod. “ONLY FOUND PLANTARS…” he added with a shrug. “...AND TARGET’S TWIN BROTHER”. That seemed to confuse Andrias.

“ Twin Bro- What the heck are you talking about? Marcy told me herself that Anne’s an only-child; she doesn’t have any biological Siblings, let alone a Twin !” he said.

“ DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU ” Cloak-Bot said with another shrug. “ THAT IS WHAT I SAW ” he added, sending Andrias a photo he’d taken of Andy & the Plantars eating noodles just before their first fight. Andrias squinted at the photo for only a moment before closing his eyes & pinching the bridge of his snout.

“Cloak-Bot, you dolt! That’s not ‘Anne’s Twin’, that IS Anne! She’s obviously disguised herself as the opposite Gender to try and throw us off! Pretty clever of her actually, I’ll admit that…” he said, squinting at the picture again & scratching his chin in thought. Cloak-Bot mentally looked back over the picture himself before replying.

“… NO IT IS NOT, HIS NAME IS ‘ANDY BOONCHUY’ ” he said simply. Andrias facepalmed at that before groaning in frustration.

“ Ugh… fine! New directive; kill Anne OR Andy! Doesn’t matter which one” he instructed. “Oh, and one other thing; for taking so long to eliminate her, testing my patience, AND getting me the wrong Book!... I think we should up the stakes a little” he said cryptically before clicking a button on a wrist-mounted remote. As he did, Cloak-Bot was surprised when a circular hatch that he had no idea existed opened up on his own chest, revealing a screen displaying a digital timer that was already ticking down from 60 minutes. “You have 1 Hour to destroy that kid- er, one of ‘em anyway . Or , the bomb planted in your chest will destroy you ”. Cloak-Bot immediately got to his feet and clutched his chest, panic already setting in. “Okay, cool, Andrias out!” the King said, his earlier cheerful persona returning as he winked at the camera before ending the call.

It didn't take Cloak-Bot long to follow the signal of the unmarked Frobot Unit to a particular house in a suburban area. Anne & the Plantars were originally seen fleeing to Earth with the remains of a particular Frobot - which had gone rogue & tried to help them before being crushed by the King - within the former’s bag; they must’ve somehow gotten it working again, which meant either Anne or Andy was right here.

Sure enough, only moments after landing, the latter Twin could be seen peering through the curtains of the front window. Strangely, he seemed to be dressed differently to what Cloak-Bot had seen so far; throughout their previous encounters, Andy had most commonly been seen wearing a white T-shirt with pink sleeves & a flame symbol on the chest, and knee-length blue shorts. Here, however, he was wearing a long Coat of some sort, which completely covered whatever he was wearing beneath.

As Cloak-Bot approached, he tried to get this over with quickly, attempting to punch Andy through the Window with his newly-replaced arm, but the Boy quickly dove out of the way. As he clambered inside, Cloak-Bot quickly noticed a pair of new Human individuals, whom Andy had apparently tackled to the ground to protect from the Bot’s strike. One of them vaguely resembled his original Target, but she was clearly much older; she must be Anne & Andy's Mother, which would make the other their Father.

They all quickly stood up & began running around to the stairs, heading up to the next storey, but Cloak-Bot managed to catch up just in time to grab Andy, who was the last one up, by the end of his coat.

The Pink Frog quickly shot out his tongue to grab hold of the Human by the waist, with help from his own Grandfather & Andy’s Father to hold him back. After only a few seconds of back-and-forth pulling, the Coat suddenly & abruptly tore off of Andy’s shoulders, causing Cloak-Bot to stumble & fall back from the sudden lack of resistance.

As he quickly tried to sit up, he froze before he could fully stand up when he saw what was before him; somehow, in the brief moment he wasn’t looking, Andy had vanished, and in his place was his Twin Sister. Cloak-Bot couldn’t believe it; after nearly a Month of being unable to locate the Girl, she just suddenly appears in front of him in place of her Twin Brother? She was even wearing the very same outfit she’d been seen wearing throughout most of her time in Amphibia, minus the Golden chestplate.

The Girl seemed to be just as stunned as him, awkwardly staring down at herself before suddenly being grabbed & ushered up the stairs by her Father, who strangely didn’t seem phased at all by the sudden switch. Cloak-Bot sat there & blinked for a second as he really tried to process what had happened, unintentionally giving them a head start before shaking his head & resuming his pursuit, opting to jump up through the floor into the room they’d entered at the top of the stairs.

To his further surprise, this room appeared to be filled with a whole heap of Anne Boonchuys! …Or were they Andy’s? For some reason, he couldn’t tell. Either way, it didn’t matter; he’d been told to eliminate just either one of the Twins, so he picked one at random to attack, punching them through the wall, where they landed back in the front yard. He quickly jumped down after them & began repeatedly pounding them into the ground. By the time he realised it was only a lifeless decoy, the Family were already making their escape via their motorised transportation device.

He looked again at the timer on his chest; only 30 Minutes left before Self-Destruction. He narrowed his eyes aggressively. He was not going to let that happen . With renewed determination, he began his pursuit after the vehicle.

As Anne began to stir awake, finding herself laying on her side, she started to become aware of multiple noises going on around her, some of which she could identify as voices, though she couldn’t quite process what was being said, and they quickly quieted down as she stirred. She tried to recall what had happened in the past… however much time had passed, but her memory was still a little hazy.

“Hey there sleepyhead” her Mom spoke up from above her, prompting her to finally open her eyes.

She had to blink a couple of times to clear her vision, but she quickly took note of where she was, realising she was in the Living Room, laying across the couch, her head resting in her Mom's lap, with a Movie playing on the TV before them, though it had been paused.

Looking around, she also spotted Hopediah sitting in the armchair, Sprig & Polly on the ground below him, and her Dad standing in the doorway leading toward the Kitchen.

She also quickly noticed the partially destroyed front window, which had been temporarily covered by a tarp, as well as the hole in the ceiling, leading into her Mom’s ‘Workout’ Room.

Right, she remembered now: all the talk from her parents earlier that day about how honest & responsible she was being nowadays had made her feel guilty about continuing to lie about Andrias & the Frobot that had been stalking them, so she tried to come forward. The revelation had been interrupted, however, by the sudden arrival of said Frobot, also spoiling the revelation with its own presence.

She also had to use her Blue Powers to deal the final blow at the end of the ensuing fight, which was what had caused her to pass out, but it also meant her parents knew about that now as well. Oh well, she’d unpack that later, when she was less tired.

“How’re you feeling Andy?” her Dad asked as he approached to sit down on the right end of the couch, opposite from his Wife.

“ Tired ” Anne answered plainly with a groan as she closed her eyes again & tried to curl up into a more comfortable position.

“I don’t doubt that” Hopediah agreed, noting how exhausted she looked.

“We’ll let you rest a bit longer, but since you’re awake now, do you mind if I ask just one question?” her Mom asked. Anne hummed & nodded in confirmation. Seems she’d need to explain her Blue Powers sooner rather than la-

“I’ve just been wondering since that Robot first showed up; why exactly are you wearing the Girls Uniform from your School? ”. Anne’s eyes shot open again in response, and she quickly sat up too, feeling tense as she looked down at herself to see that she was , in fact, wearing her secret Uniform.

Of course, now she really recalled; at the same time as telling them about Andrias, she'd also decided to use the sudden desire for honesty earlier to come out about being Transgender as well, donning a long Coat over the Uniform in the hopes that maybe showing as well as telling would make the process easier.

The Frobot had ruined that revelation as well, when it managed to rip off her Coat as they were fleeing upstairs, exposing the Uniform before she was ready. The fact that it later referred to the mannequins in the Workout Room as ‘Anne’s’ certainly didn’t help things either. But neither of her parents addressed either of these things, and she was too scared to bring it up herself, so she'd eventually forgotten about it entirely until now. And at this point, that surge of motivation & confidence had already passed, so she began shaking with anxiety as she tried to think of a way out of this.

“Oh, right, yeah, I was planning on telling you about that earlier as well…” she said after a moment of awkward silence. “Y-you see, the uh, the funny thing about that is… is…” she began to say, hoping to come up with some excuse that didn’t involve coming out as Trans, but stumbled over her words as she glanced back & forth between her parents who watched her expectedly.

Unsure what to do, she looked over to the Plantars - with whom she’d already shared her original plan before it was ruined - for guidance. Sensing her apprehension, they each smiled & gave her a nod of encouragement, showing their confidence that she had nothing to worry about. She closed her eyes & took a deep breath before continuing.

“Mom, Dad, I’m… I’m Transgender. I’m a Girl, and… I wanna be called ‘Anne’” she announced, now beginning to talk in her trained voice. She braced herself for their inevitable reaction; shock, surprise, horror, she wasn’t sure what to expect…

What she definitely didn’t expect was for her Mom to begin staring smugly at her Husband while he rolled his eyes & begrudgingly pulled out a 20 dollar bill from his wallet to hand to her. Anne made a sound of confusion, but it went unnoticed as Polly spoke over her.

“Wait, you guys betted on if Anne was Trans?” the young Pollywog questioned.

“No, we both suspected she was; I betted that she'd tell us herself, he betted we'd find out by accident” Oum clarified. “It’s also good to finally have clear confirmation that my Mother’s Intuition all those years ago really was right all along!” she added, crossing her arms & leaning back with a satisfied smile.

“Mother’s what-now?” Hopediah questioned.

“It’s a phenomenon where soon-to-be-Mothers can often predict the Gender of their Baby before they’re born with surprising accuracy, sort of like a gut feeling. Back when Oum was first pregnant, she thought for sure that it would be a Girl; we thought for a while that it had turned out wrong, but that opinion didn’t last long, obviously” Bee explained.

During this whole discussion, Anne speechlessly looked back & forth between her parents in disbelief. She couldn't believe it; all this time, they knew!? But how? Had she really been that obvious? But more importantly, they were… fine with it…

She quickly began to tear up & even lightly whimper. She wasn't sure if they were tears of joy, or if maybe her emotions had preemptively prepared for a worse reaction. She kept her head down to try & hide them, but Sprig, having already noticed how quiet she was being, noticed right away, making him concerned.

“Anne? Are you ok?” he asked aloud, which helped draw the parents’ attention to the state of their Daughter.

“Honey? What’s wrong?” her Mom asked. Anne continued to stare down at her lap as she answered.

“ I thought- I thought that you would- you would hate- hate me for this! ” she struggled to say through choked sobs as her crying only worsened.

“What? Why would we hate you?” her Dad questioned.

“I- I dunno, I just thought that- that if I didn’t fit the- the expectations of being- being your Son, then you’d… ” Anne began to elaborate, pausing when her breathing began to hitch. “ I just didn’t wanna disappoint you two! ” she exclaimed, burying her face in her hands.

Both her parents were heartbroken to hear this, but then her Mom smiled softly as she put a hand on her cheek, ushering the younger Girl to face her.

“Anne, honey, please look at me” Oum said when she resisted. Hearing her Mom calling her by her preferred name caused her to gasp lightly & turn to face her.

“Even if we didn’t already suspect it, the last thing we’d want is to make you feel like you have to pretend to be something you’re not just to appease us; if this is what you feel is right, then we will support you every step of the way” she explained as she wiped away some of her tears with her thumb.

“If anything, we should be proud of you for coming out to us yourself” her Dad spoke up as he put a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to turn to face him. “Given how long it took, I can only imagine how hard it must’ve been for you to work up that kind of courage” he elaborated.

“Hang on, h-how long have you known exactly?” she asked.

“We’ve suspected it for about 5 years now; you weren’t exactly subtle about it” her Dad answered. 

“ WHAT!? ” Anne exclaimed in shock. But she’d only figured it out herself just over 3 years ago! How in Frog’s name did they- Anne’s thoughts were cut off by her Mom speaking up again, attempting to get back on track with the subject at hand.

“ Above all else : We don’t love you because you’re our Son ; we love you because you’re you . And if you are Anne Boonchuy, our Daughter , then that’s who we love” she explained before kissing her forehead & wrapping her in another hug, which her Husband quickly joined in on.

“ We’re sorry if we ever made you think otherwise ” he said remorsefully. Anne, who was sandwiched between them, shook her head.

“No, neither of you did anything wrong, I made myself think all of that” she assured them both. “ Thank you both for understanding ” she added as she resumed crying, albeit a little more subdued this time.

They stayed this way for over a minute, as Anne’s shoulders wracked with each sob, until she eventually seemed to calm down.

“Feeling better now?” Oum asked. When Anne didn't respond, she became mildly concerned. “…Anne?”. It was only then that everyone realised she was lightly snoring. Oum lightly chuckled at the realisation. It seemed she'd tired herself out all over again & fallen back asleep.

With that, Bee helped lower her back into the lying position she was in previously, before standing up to return to the Kitchen to check on the oven. Oum, meanwhile, grabbed the remote to resume the Movie they were watching. The volume had already been turned down, and the subtitles turned on, so that Anne could sleep more peacefully, so Hopediah had no problem speaking up again.

“So, you’re really not surprised by this?” he asked. Oum quietly shook her head in response.

“Not even the fact that we already knew?” Sprig continued.

“Nope, anyone who spends a significant amount of time around her, especially within the same household, can easily notice how Girlish she is; it doesn’t surprise me that you Frogs would’ve inevitably questioned her about it” the Mother replied.

The Plantars all shared a look; part of them wanted to correct her, that Anne had actually already been presenting as Female when they found her, and that she had technically come out to them herself before they ever realised something was amiss, but they figured it’d be best to let Anne explain that herself when she woke up again.

“What about just the other day, when you wanted her to get a haircut?” Polly asked instead.

“Oh I figured she didn’t really want one, I was just hoping that if I acted like I thought she wanted one, then that’d encourage her to come out about why she didn’t want it, thus winning me that bet. but that didn't quite end up happening, unfortunately” Oum explained. Looking back, she supposed it may have been a little selfish of her… she probably shouldn’t have tried so hard to push her to come out when she wasn’t ready .

“Ah, right, I suppose that makes sense” Hopediah said, Sprig & Polly expressing similar sounds of agreement.

“Oh, and on the topic of Gifts ” Oum spoke up after her Husband had flash-banged the Frog Trio with his camera. “Anne, could you come with me for a second?” she added, prompting the younger Girl to follow her toward the Living Room. The Plantars also followed (after blinking a few times to clear their vision), curious to see what they were up to.

“I know it’s a little unusual to give out Gifts this early…” Oum began as she knelt down to reach for something hidden under the Christmas Tree. “But I think it would be better to let you have this one now” she explained as she pulled out a moderately sized Box, wrapped in Blue paper and a pink ribbon & bow, and turning to hand it to Anne. Anne took the box, finding there was a noticeable weight to it without being too heavy, and began curiously opening it, gasping lightly as she saw what was inside.

“What is it? What’s in there?” Sprig said as he hopped up onto her shoulder to see inside. At first, it only looked like a bundle of knitted Green material, but as Anne pulled it out, not only did it unfold into a long sleeve sweater, but a handful of other clothing items were revealed underneath as well.

“Are these… new Girls’ clothes?” Anne asked as she looked down at the other articles within the box.

“Yep, and they’re Winter & Christmas-themed too” her Mom answered. “I know you said you still aren't ready to go out publicly as ‘Anne’ yet, but I figured it’d be nice for you to at least have more options to wear around the House.

“That’s also why I’m giving you them now; it’d be a waste to not give you the chance to wear them more often throughout the Christmas Season” she further explained.

It was true; even after coming out to her parents about being Trans several weeks ago, Anne had still been worried about potentially being ‘recognised’ & called out by the wrong kind of person if she went out publicly as a Girl. She'd at least brought it up with Terri after learning that they were Nonbinary, but the thought of having to come out to anyone else she knew - her Classmates, the Temple-goers, etc - was absolutely nerve-wracking. Because of that, she’d been sticking to Boymoding when out & about, and only allowing herself to act Girly within the confines of the House.

It had been great so far, being able to just be herself more often & around her Parents without having to worry about what they’d think. Without Sasha around, however, her clothing options were still very limited, only really having the one (not-so-secret-anymore) School Uniform. But now, she finally had a set of clothes of her own, that wasn’t lent or passed down by her Blonde friend, but instead gifted to her by her own Mom .

Despite how happy this made her feel, and the big smile it brought to her face, she couldn’t help but feel a slight ache in her heart. Her parents were doing so much for her, not just helping to keep the Plantars hidden & safe, but now to help affirm her Gender too (even just the fact that they weren’t disappointed in her for it meant the world to her); it only made her feel worse about her Mom having to give up their first chance to be apart of the Christmas Palooza Parade just to keep a low profile.

Anne couldn’t let that stand, she had to do something to make this all up to her. She quickly hugged her Mother with one arm while still holding the box.

“Thank you so much Mom!” she said before breaking from the hug & turning to the Plantars & ushering them out of the room. “I’ll go try them on right now; c’mon guys, I wanna see what you think!”. She meant it more as an excuse to talk with them privately, but it wasn’t really a lie either. Upon arriving at the door to her room, Anne stopped & turned to the Frogs. “ Wait out here for a moment while I get changed ” she told them before entering & shutting the door behind her.

The 3 of them stood around and quietly waited as Anne changed into her new clothes. After only a minute, they heard a muffled squeal of joy from beyond the door, presumably as Anne looked at herself in the mirror.

Moments after that, she finally opened the door, revealing the full outfit to them. On top of the Green sweater, it also consisted of a Red checkered skirt, Yellow scarf, brown boots, and even a pair of hairclips (one resembling a candy cane, the other a leaf of holly).

“So, how do I look?” she asked, the grin on her face already giving away how pleased she was with it.

“Wow Anne, you look nice ” Polly complimented.

“Your Mother certainly has a good sense of fashion” Hopediah agreed.

“Yeah, it looks great Anne” Sprig added, giving a thumbs up.

“Great, I’m glad you all think so too” she thanked them. “Now, with that out of the way…” she said a little more quietly as she pulled out her Phone to tinker with, turning to pace back to the centre of her room. Curious what she was up to now , the Plantars followed her inside. After a few seconds, she finished dialing in a number & held up the Phone to her ear, quietly clearing her throat before speaking in her natural voice.

“Hi, yes, this is Andy Boonchuy” she greeted. “You just called about a Parade Float for Thai Go?” she added as she knelt down to nudge Hopediah’s shoulder, making sure the Plantars realised who she was calling. “Well we’d like to change that ‘no’ to a ‘yes’! Great thanks bye! ” she explained before abruptly hanging up.

“Whoa” Sprig commented.

“Plot twist!” Polly added.

“Anne, what’re you doing?” Hopediah questioned.

“Didn’t you see my Mom earlier? She was clearly devastated & trying to hide it” Anne explained.

“Hmm, I did sense a subtle melancholy” the old Frog admitted, tapping his chin in thought.

“My parents have already done so much for me, and I can’t bear to watch them make so many sacrifices” Anne went on. “It means the world to me that they’re being so supportive about my Gender Identity; I have to show them my appreciation somehow.

“That’s why this year, I’m gonna give them the greatest Christmas present ever ; the Parade Float of their Dreams!” she declared. “Are ya with me?”.

“Yeah!” Sprig cheered.

“Let’s do it!” Hopediah agreed.

“Sounds good to me!” Polly added.

“But before we go, could you explain this Holiday to-? Oof! ” Sprig began to ask, only to be interrupted as Anne reached into her closet, pulled out each of their Human disguises (with some Christmas accessories thrown in), and plopped them down on top of them.

“No time! We only have a few days, so let’s motor people!” she announced, already on her way out the door. With that, the Frogs all cheered before following her out & down the stairs, quickly donning their disguises along the way.

They briefly passed by Anne’s parents on their way through the Foyer, prompting the Girl to quickly come up with an excuse for what they were up to before heading out through the front door.

“ I’m gonna take the Plantars out to show them the Christmas stuff around town ok bye! ” she said hurriedly before closing the door behind her. Both Oum & Bee stared at the closed door for several seconds before looking at each other.

“…Did she just forget to change out of that new outfit we got her before going out?” Bee asked.

“…Yes, I think she did” Oum agreed. “It does look as good on her as I thought it would though” she added, a prideful smile tugging at her lips.

After calling in advance, it took half an hour by bicycle for Anne & the Plantars to arrive at Palm Tree Community College to discuss with The IT Gals about how they could help with the electronics side of the Parade Float. They quickly reached the door to the Robotics room & knocked.

“Hi Ally, hi Jess!” Polly greeted her friends as they opened the door.

“Hey guys, come on in!” Ally replied, Inviting them inside, where they were all met with Techno music, flashing lights, and lots of dancing Robots.

“I see you two are already throwing a Christmas Party; fun!” Anne commented.

“We sure are; feel free to look around at the Robots if you want” Jess told them, prompting the Plantars to split off and do just that, leaving Anne alone with the two older Girls, who turned to her expectantly. She was about ready to start discussing the plan for the Float with them, but before she could even get out the diagram she’d drawn up…

“So, what’s your name stranger?” Jess asked first.

The Thai-American hummed & raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. She’d met & interacted with them before, hadn’t she? Did they not remember her? But they didn’t seem to have any problem remembering the Plantars beyond just Polly. So then why did they not seem to-?.

“You must be Andy’s Sister, right?” Ally continued, cutting off her train of thought.

…

…Anne’s eyes widened as she looked down at herself. Shoot! She’d been so eager to get to work on making the Parade Float for her parents that she’d forgotten to change back out of her new clothes before leaving the house! She’d even been talking & acting like a Girl without realising!

She had no idea if these two would be as tolerant as Terri had been, but she didn't have much of a choice now…

“Oh! Uh… n-no, actually…” she said uneasily, eliciting confused looks from the older duo.

“Really? Ya look just like ‘im though” Ally said.

“Yeah, you look like you could be Twins or something” Jess followed up. Anne anxiously sucked in a breath before answering.

“ Yeaaaah , about that… I-I, kinda came out as Trans recently. I go by ‘Anne’ now…” she explained. At that revelation, the IT Gals each let out an ‘Ooooh’ of realisation before smiling with pride.

“Well, congrats on coming out!” Ally exclaimed, taking Anne’s hand in both of her own to shake it.

“We’re so happy for you!” Jess agreed, patting her on the shoulder.

“Oh, uh, thanks… you, don’t find it weird?” Anne asked while anxiously wringing her hands.

“What? Of course not! Why would we think that?” Jess replied.

“Yeah, it’d be pretty hypocritical of us to think that of a fellow LGBT individual” Ally added. It took Anne a second to process those words, her eyes widening in surprise when she realised what they were implying.

“Oh! You mean you guys are-?” she began.

“Yep! I’m Pan, and Jess is Bi to be exact!” Ally confirmed with a thumbs up.

“Better yet; we’re actually dating!” Jess added, putting an arm around Ally’s shoulder. The two briefly smiled at each other at that, a rosy tint painting their cheeks.

“Wow! Congrats to you as well!” Anne said. With that assurance, Anne released some of the tension she hadn’t noticed building in her shoulders, feeling more comfortable around the pair.

From there, they began discussing what Anne had in mind for the Parade Float, and which parts they could help with; they even offered to supply a trailer to build the Float off of, as well as their own Car which they’d drive for them, so that both of Anne’s parents could stand atop alongside their Daughter. But as time flew by, it was eventually time for them to head off to their next stop. But before they went, Ally had one last thing to tell her.

“And just know, Anne, that whatever happens, you’ll always be one of these to us” she assured her, reaching into her pocket & pulling out some kind of electrical component; it looked to be a tiny black box with 3 long metal prongs coming out from one side. Whatever it was, Anne had no idea what it was called, so whatever pun Ally appeared to be trying to make simply went right over her head. Polly, on the other hand, was not so uninformed.

“Heh, good one” the Pollywog commented.

“Uh, thanks, I’ll… keep that in mind” Anne answered a bit awkwardly as she guided the Plantars out through the door. “We’ll see you again soon, bye!” she added before shutting the door behind them.

“Alright, techies secured” she spoke as she went to her bike, grabbing her helmet to put on. “Next up, we’ll need decorations to populate the Float. But , before we do that;” she continued before turning to the Plantars. “ Were any of you going to point out that I forgot to change before we left? ” she questioned.

“S-sorry Anne, we didn’t notice until you did” Sprig apologised.

“Yeah, that outfit's just such a natural fit for you that it didn’t occur ta us” Hopediah added.

“Alright, fair enough” Anne said with a conceding sigh as she mounted her bike. “We’re already a half-hour bike-ride from home; Do we have time to detour back just for me to change? ” she contemplated as she checked the time on her Phone, tapping her finger to her chin thoughtfully.

“Well I don’t think you need to” Sprig said as he hopped up to cling to her shoulder. “Heck, maybe this could be a good thing; your parents, Terri, Ally, & Jess have all been pretty accepting so far, I don’t see why anyone else willing to help us would react any differently”.

“I agree” Hopediah chimed in as he joined his grandson on Anne’s other shoulder. “If you really matter to them, then I really doubt anyone you know well enough will be bothered by it”.

“Yeah, and if they do mind, then they never mattered in the first place!” Polly finished as she hopped onto Hopediah’s head.

Those particular words resonated with Anne. Her biggest worry with all of this was if people started thinking less of her, or even bullied her, for being Trans, but the only person she knew for a fact would do that was Maggie. And did she really care about getting validation from someone like her? Not really.

“…Y’know what, yeah, I can do this… I can do this!” she cheered as she buckled her helmet properly before setting off to their next stop.

She couldn’t do this .

They’d just pulled up to the front of the Museum, and already, seeing so many people going about inside just from through the front doors, compared to how empty the streets had been by comparison, had caused Anne’s earlier confidence & motivation to fizzle away, leaving her rooted in place as she stared at the building with a dreaded expression.

“So, we’re here to see Dr Jan, right?” Polly asked.

“ Uh-huh ” Anne answered stiffly.

“Hey, you ok?” Sprig asked, noticing her shift in behaviour.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. Just… just getting the jitters is all” Anne answered, trying to hide the anxiety in her voice as she flexed her shaking fingers. Sensing her apprehension, Hopediah spoke up to help calm her down.

“Hey, we don’t have ta do this if ya don’t wanna; you can back out any time & we can head home so you can change back” he reminded her. Anne closed her eyes & thought back on their words from earlier.

“No, no, there’s no need for that” she answered before taking a shaky breath to ready herself. “ I can do this ” she insisted. Sprig took hold of her hand in his own, prompting her to look down to him as he gave her a reassuring smile.

“We’ll be right with you every step of the way Anne” he assured her.

“…Thanks dude” she replied, returning his smile & squeezing his hand back, partly to help ground herself. With that, she took another breath before taking the first (albeit shaky) step forward.

Once they were beyond the front doorway, she found herself instinctively hunching her shoulders & keeping her head down in order to make herself as small as possible as she quickly glanced around at everyone around them. She could only hope that no one from School would be here to recognise her.

It didn’t take them long to find Dr Jan, who appeared to be moments away from giving a lecture on the History of Mistletoe to someone who did not want a lecture on the History of Mistletoe.

“ It’s a not-so-jolly tale of Monarchic betrayals & bloodshed, originating in the early 13th Centur- Heeey it’s you guys!” she said as she noticed the familiar Frogs-in-disguise approaching her, giving the stranger an opportunity to dip away while she was distracted.

“And you must be Andy’s Sister, right?” She added as she focused her attention toward Anne. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Love the look though; real Festive. I’m Dr-” she began to introduce herself, but was interrupted as Anne got straight to the point.

“ Actually , Dr Jan, I’m not Andy’s ‘ Sister ’” she corrected, eliciting a look of mild confusion. “I… I recently came out as Transgender, and now I go by ‘Anne’” she elaborated, quickly finding herself unable to look the Museum Curator in the eyes. Said Curator’s expression quickly shifted to a look of understanding & realisation.

“ Ah , I see, that makes more sense. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for the future then, Anne ” she assured her with a wink. “…So anyway, what brings you all to the Museum today?” she abruptly changed the subject, speaking as jovially as ever.

“I- Huh? Th-that’s it?” Anne questioned, finding her reaction to be a bit anticlimactic .

“Hm? Is something wrong?” Dr Jan replied.

“Well, no, but… I guess I just thought you’d be more surprised…” Dr Jan smiled & chuckled at that.

“Of course not! There have been plenty of Transgender individuals throughout History; it’s a lot more common than one might think” She explained. “It’s only in recent History that people suddenly have a problem with it, but that doesn’t make you any less valid”.

“R-right… And, you don’t find it weird?” Anne double-checked.

“Anne, please, I’m an Archeologist ; we only care about what lies beneath the surface”.

“Good, that’s great to hear”. Like with the IT Gals, Anne felt herself relax more at Dr Jan’s reassurance. “As for why we’re here, I’m actually looking to build my parents a Parade Float, and I need all the help I can get with decorations & props”.

“ Ooh , I love the Christmapalooza Parade!” Dr Jan replied. “You could use some mannequins & Wintery Flora from our Diorama’s; take your pick” she told the younger Girl, clearly happy to help with the task.

“Thanks Dr Jan! My Mom is gonna love this!” Anne said before heading off to go pick out what she needed.

Once they were done at the Museum, Anne realised from the amount of props she’d managed to fit in the trailer attached to her bike that they weren’t going to be able to easily hide this from her parents back at home. Worse yet, she wasn’t sure how they’d be able to hide the main trailer & Float either. They were going to need someplace else to store everything & work on the Float in secret without her parents finding it.

Hopediah had suggested they get help from the people at the Thai Temple, so now, here they were, reintroducing Anne once again to everyone there who knew her. This time, she had been so nervous about doing it herself that she’d given the Plantars permission to do it for her.

“So you see, she’s still the same person you’ve all already known for years; she just goes by a different name & pronouns now” Sprig finished explaining, gesturing to his older Sister, who was anxiously wringing her hands while avoiding eyecontact with anyone.

“And dresses differently” Polly chimed in. “And talks differently. And acts differe-” she went on before being silenced by her Brother putting a hand over her mouth.

“ Alright alright, they get it! ” he whispered to her.

The murmurs among the crowd that followed made Anne feel uneasy at first, but then people closer to the front spoke up.

“That’s great to hear Anne; Masculinity is over-rated anyway” Ba-Med said.

“Mhm, always good to have more Girls around” Papu agreed.

“You look really pretty in that outfit Anne!” one of the kids from the Thai Language classes said. Anne was especially caught off guard by that compliment, and couldn’t help but blush a little as she thanked them.

For the third time today, she felt the tension in her shoulders relax, feeling glad everyone was so accepting.

“Now, with that out of the way, I actually need help from all of you with something. It’s for a surprise for my Mom” she began to explain.

“Wow, I never knew you & Dad felt that way” Anne said after hearing her Mother’s words. “And after Months in Wartwood, I know what it’s like feeling out of place” she finished, putting an arm around her shoulder for a side hug. After a moment of comfortable silence, the older Woman spoke up again.

“You know, that reminds me; you seem a lot more comfortable than you were a few days ago with being seen outside in your Girls’ clothes. What changed?” she noted, giving her Daughter a knowing yet proud smirk.

“Heh, yeah, I… kinda forgot to change out of it before heading out when you gave it to me” Anne explained, scratching the back of her neck. “One thing led to another and, well, I ended up coming out publicly to everyone who helped with the Float. Now, I guess I don’t feel as bothered about being seen by strangers anymore” she went on, releasing her arm around her Mom to lean her elbows onto the railing before her.

“Hm, well I can’t say I’m not glad it turned out that way. It’s good to see you feeling more confident about yourself” Oum stated, patting Anne on the shoulder before leaving to go join her Husband.

As she did, Anne remained where she stood, staring down at the railing as she thought on her Mother’s observation.

All this time, she’d been so worried about what people would think of her for being Transgender; that they'd ridicule her, that they'd be disgusted with her, that they'd hate her.

But now, standing here alongside both of her families atop the Christmas Parade Float she'd worked so hard to make, looking out among the crowd of people, she saw that she really had nothing to be worried about.

Even if there would be people who’d try to tell her she was wrong for being herself, she'd always have people by her side who made sure she knew how incorrect they were.

In that moment, she'd made up her mind; no more hiding who she really was behind closed doors, no more pretending to be ‘Andy’.

She was Anne Boonchuy .

Her self-confidence grew so intense that she even felt compelled to state it to the world!

“Woo! I'm Anne Boonchuy! I'm Anne Boonchuy! ” she yelled out to the crowd, jumping up & down. Sprig quickly caught onto the reason behind her excitement and smiled behind his scarf as he also joined in.

“She’s Anne Boonchuy!” he called out alongside his older Sister, showing his support for her.

“Quick you guys, run! ” Anne called out, ushering the Plantars to book it through the parking lot, while her parents stayed behind to try & hold off the FBI Agents.

This escape was shortlived, however, as Mr X’s assistant simply pulled out a small handheld cannon & fired a net at Anne’s legs, quickly tangling her feet together & causing her to trip over.

“Anne! Oh no!” Sprig said as they stopped & turned back, intending to help her up.

“Get up Girl!” Polly chimed in, before the three of them were apprehended by a larger Agent who had snuck around ahead of them

“ ‘Anne’? So we finally have a name” Mr X mused as he knelt down next to the Girl. “I gotta say kid, even next to the talking Frog’s, you’ve been the biggest enigma to me throughout this whole ordeal” he explained.

“What? What’re you talking about?” Anne questioned. In response to that, Mr X began pushing buttons on his watch, causing a 2D hologram of an image to pop up.

“Here, look familiar?” he spoke. It was low resolution, and had quite a bit of motion blur, but it was undeniably a photo - likely taken from a traffic camera - of Anne & her Family in their car, being pursued by Cloak-Bot, with Anne herself attempting to fight it off with her tennis racquet through the open trunk door.

“Until the recent disaster at the Christmas Palooza Parade, this has been the only known sighting of you” he explained. “After managing to identify the Boonchuys in the photo, we found records of them having a Son , but nothing about a Daughter . The only explanation is that you're an artificial person created by these Frog Aliens to help with their infiltration of our Planet! ” he announced matter-of-factly. Anne stared at him dumbfoundedly for a moment before giving her own counterpoint.

“…Or maybe I just recently came out as Transgender? ” she proposed.

Mr X’s face fell for a moment before he began swiping his watch screen, causing the picture to change until it landed on a photo of Andy’s face, and held it up for a side-by-side comparison with Anne.

“ …I see. That… would make a lot more sense… ” he muttered quietly before clearing his throat & standing back up, turning off the hologram display as he did so. “I apologise for the confusion, Miss Boonchuy, I guess the presence of the Frogs made me overthink things… alright, pack it up boys!” he announced as he turned to leave, prompting the other FBI Agents to do the same.

“What about the Girl & her parents?” the Agent restraining the Plantars asked, prompting their boss to pause & look back at Anne as her parents were already helping her up.

“...Leave ‘em. There’s nothing they can do now” he eventually answered before hopping back into his van to drive away, while the Frogs were thrown into a cage in the back of another.

Anne groaned as she came back to, struggling to open her eyes. Frog, why did Portal travel always have to be so disorienting? That thought made her suddenly remember where she was (or should be, anyway), snapping her awake in an instant with a light gasp. Looking down at the ground, she recognised the familiar dirt path that connected the Valley to the rest of the continent, and let out a small laugh of relief; after all these Months of being stranded on Earth (that felt strange to say, even in her head) they were finally back in Amphibia!

“We made it!” she spoke up before lifting herself up on her elbows. “I can’t believe it, this is so-! …Guys?” she continued as she turned back to look at the Plantars, quickly becoming concerned when she saw them faced away from her, staring at something beyond the hill. Even from behind, she could tell how distraught they were.

“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked as she stood & jogged over, stopping & gasping as she caught sight of it too.

For miles in each direction, they could see marching Frobots, Factories dumping all sorts of pollutants into the air & water, and even a few remaining houses being destroyed by large steamrollers. And above it all, standing out among the skies that had been turned grey from all the billowing smoke, was none other than Andrias’s Castle.

Amphibia was a wreck.

“…What… happened here? …What happened to this place?” Anne spoke again after a moment of silence. Just then, Hopediah noticed a particular group of Frobots just at the bottom of the hill, heading towards them. They hadn’t noticed them yet, but he knew they couldn’t stay here.

“Quick! Back to Wartwood!” he announced, ushering everyone else to follow as they darted in the opposite direction, heading deeper into the Valley.

Chapter Text

“Listen Anne, even though I'm calling the shots, I want you to know; this is a partnership” Sasha insisted, holding her hand out for a handshake.

Anne smiled as she took it, before squealing in joy as she pulled her in for a hug. Sasha was stiff for a moment, but quickly melted into Anne’s embrace, resting her chin on her shoulder.

“I… also wanted to apologise properly” she said quietly.

When Anne responded with a questioning ‘Hm?’, Sasha pulled away from the hug, but kept her hands on Anne’s shoulders, unable to look her in the eye as she elaborated.

“For… threatening to out you on Toad Tower”.

“O-oh! Uh…” Anne said, her eyes quickly widening as she flinched & tensed up. Oh no. She had not been looking forward to this discussion. She’d already had to avoid it once before during the Dinner with her & Grime. As much as she knew they should talk about it eventually, she at the very least didn’t want to have to do it with other people around.

“D-do we have to talk about this now?” she whispered through clenched teeth, while glancing over to their companions who were still watching. In response, Sasha turned her head to the Amphibians as well.

“Head back to base without us for now; we’ll catch up” she instructed.

Loggle, Mrs Croaker, & Wally seemed hesitant to leave at first (Wally in particular seemed a little more concerned, clearly wondering if this had anything to do with what Anne had already told him, while the other two just looked confused/curious), but the Plantars could tell what this was about, and helped encourage the others to get moving.

“Come on, let’s give ‘em time to talk privately” Hopediah said.

Once they were out of earshot, Anne turned her attention back to her Blonde friend. Even without an audience, she still felt uneasy talking about this.

“S-Sasha, you already apologised for that; it’s fine” Anne insisted, trying to give a reassuring smile.

“No, Anne, I did not ‘apologise’; I gave a half-assed excuse that I ‘wasn’t actually gonna do it’” Sasha argued back, taking her hands off her friend’s shoulders to turn away. “That doesn't change the fact that I set a horrible expectation that any secrets you or Marcy share with me could be used as leverage for blackmail!” she went on, beginning to pace around.

“And worse still… I had the gall to imply that you ‘weren’t really a Girl’” Sasha added, sounding utterly disgusted with herself. “Which is just, not true in the slightest; you are a Girl, Anne, and you always have been!” she exclaimed, briefly stopping her pacing to hold her arms out toward the Girl in question for emphasis.

“There’s no reasonable excuse for what I did, and… I wouldn't blame you if you won't forgive me…” she continued, walking over to sit on a log lying along the edge of the path. “But for what it's worth, I am sorry…” she concluded, lowering her head in shame.

Anne only stared at Sasha for a moment, but eventually closed her eyes as she sighed, before walking over to sit next to her. After a few more seconds of silence, she spoke up.

“I trusted you with something really, really important, Sasha… and you betrayed that trust. Held it over my head in order to get your way… It was like everything else up until that point; lending me feminine clothes to wear, using my preferred name & pronouns, even just being my friend… was all just an act…

“It hurt, Sasha. And you’re right; I don’t know if I can forgive you for that…”. Her words caused the Blonde to shrink further in guilt.

“…But so long as you promise to never pull something like that again…” she continued, surprising Sasha as she put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the Brunette & saw she was holding out a pinky to her. “Then I’m at least willing to put it behind us” she finished, giving her a friendly smile.

Sasha stared at her in surprise for a moment, before giving Anne a teary smile. She even began sniffling as she tried to wipe her eyes with her arm, before linking her own pinky around Anne’s.

“I promise” she vowed.

“Good” Anne said with a satisfied nod, before suddenly remembering something else. “Oh! And on that note, I suppose I should let you know; while I was back on Earth, I finally worked up the courage to come out to everyone! Well, everyone relevant, anyway” she announced proudly.

“Really? No way, that’s awesome to hear!” Sasha said, a wide & proud smile overtaking her expression as she pulled Anne into a side-hug. “I knew you had it in you, Anne. So how’d your folks take it?” she asked.

“They were great about it. I was obviously pretty scared that they’d be upset, but… turns out they kinda already figured it out themselves at some point” Anne replied.

“Why am I not surprised?” Sasha commented with lighthearted sarcasm & a roll of her eyes.

“They even made a bet, not over if I was Trans, but how they’d find out. Which Mom won, by the way”. Sasha snorted in amusement at that.

They sat in silence for a little longer, before Sasha eventually got back to her feet.

“Anyway, we should get going now” she said, offering a hand to help Anne up. “So, you planning on coming out to Wartwood as well, or…?” she added as they began walking.

“Well, the Plantars already know. But as for the rest of Wartwood…”. Anne fell silent for a moment as she thought about it. “No, I don’t think I need to. They already know me as ‘Anne’ anyway; that's already good enough for me” she ultimately decided.

“Fair enough” Sasha said with a shrug.

Anne was bored.

Getting to beat up Andrias in Piñata form had been fun while it lasted, but everyone had quickly split off to do their own thing once it was completely destroyed, and now Anne had no one to do anything with.

Sasha & Sprig were both out on a Mission to help a Supply shipment by taking out a giant laser cannon guarding the Mountain Pass, Hopediah was making up for lost time with Sylvia, Polly was looking through the collection of broken Frobot parts they'd already amassed, and Grime was busy planning for tomorrow's Missions (nor did he need any assistance), so Anne was left with nothing to do besides just stroll aimlessly around the Underground Base.

After about an hour of walking around, she eventually perked up when she spotted someone familiar; Penny was sitting at one of the benches by the Underground Lake. She seemed to be lost in thought as she stared out at the water, but Anne called out to her anyway.

“Penny? Penny, hey!”. The Girl took a moment to register someone was talking to her, but eventually perked up & turned her head toward her.

“Hm? Oh, hi Anne” she greeted with a wave.

“I didn’t realise you were still here” Anne noted as she sat down next to her. “Didn’t Wally say he was going to be taking you back home a few days after we went to Newtopia?”.

“Yeah, he was. But, when the Castle started flying, and Sasha & Grime told us what had happened between you & the King, and then the Frobots started showing up… he decided it’d be safer for me to stay here instead” Penny explained, glancing away by the end with a melancholic look.

Anne’s eyebrows knitted in concern at how much less talkative & more downcast she seemed than usual. She softly put a hand on Penny’s shoulder to get her attention.

“Hey, you alright?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry” Penny insisted, curling her lips into a smile.

“…Is something bothering you?” Anne asked instead. At that, Penny’s facade faltered, her smile fading as she glanced off to the side again.

“I’ve… been feeling a bit homesick lately…” she said sadly, pulling her knees up to her chest & lowering her head so she was just peering over them. “I like hanging around with Wally, and getting to see new places & people outside of Ribbitvale, but… I’m really starting to miss Mom.

“I know Wally said it’s too dangerous to travel that far right now, but… she’s probably really worried about me…”. Anne noticed a few tears starting to fall from her eyes as she began tightly gripping the cloth of her skirt over her shins before continuing. “And I’m worried about her…”.

Anne’s frown deepened, feeling awful for the poor Girl. Based on what Penny had just told her prior, she’d expected that to be the reason for her current mood, but it was still disheartening to hear.

She’d felt very similarly back when she first came to Amphibia; she’d been expecting to be back home with her parents by the end of the day, but unforeseen circumstances had thrown her into completely unfamiliar territory, with no idea how or when she’d be able to get back home or see them again.

And even if she knew they were physically ok, it still pained her greatly to think about how worried they must’ve been for her; for all they knew, she could’ve already been dead.

She closed her eyes & let out a sigh as she gave Penny a reassuring pat on the back.

“Believe me, I know the feeling…” she said.

Penny sniffled a couple more times, before suddenly hugging her, burying her face into her side. Anne began slowly rubbing her back comfortingly.

“I just wanna see her, or at least hear her voice again” Penny said, her voice muffled against Anne’s shirt.

“Same here…”. Even if she’d come to Amphibia willingly this time, and her parents at least knew where she was, she still wished she could at least talk to them, even if just through a phone call.

They stayed that way for a while until Penny calmed down enough to separate herself from Anne.

“Feel any better?” Anne asked.

“A little, yeah. Thanks” Penny answered, as she wiped away her remaining tears.

Just then, they heard the sound of a horn going off from the other side of the Underground Base, prompting Anne to sit up and look in the direction it came from.

“Well, sounds like Sasha & co are back, hopefully with the Supply shipment” she spoke as she got to her feet. “I’m gonna go see if they need help unloading. You wanna come with?” she said.

“Sure” Penny agreed, standing up herself so she could follow her.

Upon reaching the stables area, the first thing Anne noticed was the new wagon with a large black Beetle at the front parked some distance from them, holding several crates of supplies which were being unloaded by Stumpy & Fern, while Sasha appeared to be chatting with a pair of individuals who Anne could only assume were the drivers. Before she could get a good look at them, however, Anne was quickly distracted as Sprig & Ivy came out from putting Bessie away in her stable, shutting the gate behind themselves.

“Hey Sprig, Ivy. I see the Mission went well” she greeted as she walked over, prompting the two to turn and face her.

“Hey Anne. Yep, it was a success” Sprig confirmed, putting his hands on his hips proudly.

“And we totally didn’t almost ruin it just because the two of us didn’t wanna be separated for 5 minutes” Ivy added, sounding mildly nervous, prompting Sprig to let out an equally nervous laugh.

Anne narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously for a moment. Before she could say anything, however, she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind her. Anne quickly turned around, and was surprised to see-

“No way; Wigbert? ” she exclaimed. Penny also perked up, surprised to see the Father of her Godfather.

“Hello again, Anne. It sure has been a while since we last met” he greeted, tipping his hat to her. “It’s also good to see you’re in good health as well, Penelope, despite the recent circumstances” he added, directing his attention to the young Frog by her side. “I take it Wallium has been taking good care of you?”.

“Hi Mr Ribbiton; yes, he’s been looking after me quite well” she answered with a nod. “And uh, how’s my Mom been doing?” she asked tentatively.

“Oh, I don’t know; why don’t you go ask her yourself?” Wigbert said playfully as he stepped aside, directing their attention over toward Sasha; Anne & Penny both gasped as they recognised the Frog she was speaking to was none other than Dolores Croaksevelt herself. And with Wigbert out of the way, she noticeably took a double-take of her own, looking past Sasha, mirroring Penny’s own stunned look.

“Penelope?” she muttered. Sasha also stopped talking and looked back over her shoulder to see what had distracted her; her own eyes widened a little in surprise at Anne’s presence.

“Mom?” Penny said back, tears already brimming in her eyes again.

“Penelope!” Dolores called out as she began running over, her own eyes equally misty, but also smiling widely, and her arms outstretched.

“Mom!” Penny answered in kind, already on her way to meet her in the middle.

She quickly leapt into her Mother’s open arms, who spun around upon catching her before collapsing to her knees as she held Penny close.

“Oh Penelope, I was so worried!” Dolores said with bittersweet relief.

“I missed you so much Mom- I was scared that the Frobots might’ve gotten to you- and that I might never see you again” Penelope said, sobbing into her Mother’s shoulder as she clung to her tightly.

“It’s alright Penelope, I’m here now” Dolores assured her, resting her head against her Daughter’s as she stroked the back of her hair.

Anne started to tear up as she watched the reunion before her, smiling & clasping her hands together over her chest, before carefully making her way around them, over to Sasha, who only stared in stunned surprise.

“I’m guessing you didn’t know, huh?” Anne whispered to her friend.

“Uh- no, I had no idea” Sasha answered, shaking her head. “She asked earlier if I’d seen her daughter ‘Penelope’, and... well, in hindsight, I guess ‘Penny’ is similar enough, but I would’ve expected the child of someone like her to be a little more… well-kempt, so she didn’t even cross my mind” she explained, noting the raggedy outfit Penny still wore. She clearly felt a little guilty for unintentionally misleading the Woman.

“Understandable, I suppose” Anne agreed with a shrug. “Also, you didn’t tell me the Supply drop was from Wigbert” she added. Sasha blinked in surprise before quickly looking between Anne & the Turquoise Frog in question.

“I-I, didn’t know you two had met already” she quietly stammered in response.

“Frogs, Toads, & Newts of the Resistance! Your Leaders have been captured; your Rebellion is over!” Darcy announced, loud enough for all to hear.

“Woah, it can’t be…” Wally said.

“We’ve lost…” Beatrix added in equal dismay.

“We must retreat, there’s nothing else we can do!” Tritonio commanded, prompting everyone to turn & run away.

“Oh no you don’t!” Andrias said as he quickly swung his tail down in front of Mrs Croaker, Beatrix, & Tritonio, blocking their escape. “The rest of your Army can go, but I need to make an example out of you 3 for leading this attack” he explained as an equal number of Frobots quickly stepped in to apprehend each of them.

“I’d say you put up a good fight, but, I’m not that good of an Actor ” he went on, laughing maniacally as everyone else fled.

All except for one.

“Hey! You let them go!” Penny Croaksevelt yelled, pointing up at the mad King defiantly. Hearing her voice caused Wally to stop dead in his tracks, turning to watch the scene unfold.

“Penny? What are you doing!? It’s too dangerous!” he admonished her as he ran over to try and pull her away.

“Ah, looking to be a Hero, eh? Very well, you can join them” Andrias said, summoning a 4th Frobot to apprehend Penny too.

“No! Leave my Goddaughter alone!” Wally yelled, brandishing his pitchfork to fight the Frobot, only for it to ensnare him as well, making him drop his pitchfork in the process.

With that out of the way, Andrias turned around & lept back up to the balcony where Darcy was waiting for him, the Frobots using their jetpacks to follow him.

“Everything is ready, my Lord; the Rebellion is in shambles, and Earth is ripe for the taking” Andrias spoke as he followed Darcy back inside the Castle.

“Then all that's left is for us to do what you could not; kill Andy” Darcy announced, causing everyone to gasp in shock. “It’s been risky enough using the Box up until now; we don't know what might happen as long as he holds a piece of its power” she elaborated.

“I don’t believe it…” Anne began whispering to herself, just barely loud enough for Sasha to hear. “They’re as clueless about the Stones as we are…”. That thought was put on hold, however, when Tritonio & Mrs Croaker each pointed something else out that she hadn’t noticed.

“Wait, ‘Andy’? Don't you mean ‘Anne’?” the former questioned.

“Yeah, and why're you callin’ her a ‘he’?” the latter added indignantly. “She's a Lady, not a Man!”.

Anne, Sasha, the Plantars, & Wally each tensed at the realisation, and Anne’s blood ran cold. Shoot, Darcy had just called her that! But how did she know!?

“That’s the identity she assumed in order to throw off the Cloak-Bot I sent to assassinate her on Earth” Andrias answered. “…But I agree; why are you calling her that, my Lord?” he asked, sounding equally confused.

“Hmm, that’s where you’re all wrong, actually” Darcy answered, turning to grin at them all smugly, eliciting sounds of surprise and/or confusion from those who were unaware, while Wally & the Plantars inhaled sharply & looked worriedly at Anne as she shrunk in on herself, knowing what was coming.

“Don’t you Fr*gging dare” Sasha growled quietly under her breath as she glared furiously at Darcy.

“What, are you saying she’s actually a Boy in disguise?” Beatrix said rhetorically with a laugh, only for her own face to fall as she looked over at Anne & noticed the state she was in. “Oh…” she muttered as she realised that was exactly what Darcy was insinuating.

“You may have all been told that he’s a Girl, but we’ve seen all of Marcy’s memories” Darcy explained, tapping a finger to her forehead for emphasis. “Andy here is nothing more than a gross, weirdo Boy playing dress-up, trying to pretend to be something he’s not” she went on, looking directly at Anne with a devious smile as she spoke.

“She is too a Girl!” Polly yelled.

“And she always will be, no matter what you or anyone else says!” Sprig joined in.

“And her name is Anne!” Sasha added. Darcy looked between each of them with an unamused expression as they spoke.

“You can all choose to play into his delusions all you want; it won’t change what he really is, and we will continue to address him as such” she addressed them matter-of-factly, before turning her attention back to Anne. “Face it, Andy; you never were a Real Girl, and you never will be”.

Everyone who didn’t already know about Anne’s Transness looked between her & Darcy with surprised looks. Even Andrias was taken aback by the news. So she wasn’t intentionally trying to throw them off?

“Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time already” Darcy added, before suddenly having Anne thrown down to the middle of the room.

She tried to crawl away as Darcy approached, but was quickly restrained again by more metallic tendrils.

“Let’s make this quick” she said as she pulled out a dagger with a flaming blade, raising it over her head.

“Wait!” Anne suddenly called out. Surprisingly, Darcy seemed to listen.

“Amusing; you wish to beg?” she said with a sadistic grin.

“Just a quick question; are you sure this will return the Stone's power to the Box? What if killing me somehow extinguishes the Box's power altogether? Poof!” Anne tried to reason. Darcy’s expression fell slightly as she seemed to consider her words.

“Anne, I really doubt they didn't think of that alread-” Sasha began.

“Shut up, Waybright” Darcy growled, cutting her off, before putting her fingers together before her & closing her eyes, like she was deep in thought.

All the eyes around the room followed, leaving the room much darker than before without their Orange glow, as a low mechanical humming could be heard reverberating through the walls. After only a few seconds, Darcy's eyes reopened.

“Unprecedented… we cannot reach a consensus” she spoke. “Therefore, we must confirm the Energy can be safely extracted before killing her”.

“Wait, did I seriously just outsmart you?” Anne questioned, surprised that her impromptu question had actually stumped them.

“You only bought enough time to watch your Planet fall” Darcy reminded her as she turned away. “We look forward to dissecting you. Alive”. Anne gulped & shuddered at that.

“Guards, take them all down to the Dungeon!” Darcy commanded. “Andrias, Portal, now. It's Time ”.

Andrias took a moment to respond, having been staring off to the side as he was in deep thought, but quickly blinked as he registered the order.

“Huh? Oh, right, yes my Lord” he said as he made his way over to the Music Box, while Anne & co were all dragged away to the Dungeon.

“Don’t panic! I’m sure we can figure this out before the Invasion starts!” Sprig said hopefully, only to be disproven when Andrias’s voice could be heard booming over an intercom outside.

“Primates of Earth; we have arrived!” he announced.

“…Nevermind” Sprig deflated.

As Andrias continued to speak, Anne quickly tuned it out as she began dwelling on what Darcy had said to her earlier. Phrases like 'Nothing more than a gross, weirdo Boy’ & ‘Never were a Real Girl’ all rang through her mind.

Phrases spoken in Marcy’s voice.

Ever since she knew she was Trans, Anne knew she’d inevitably have an encounter with someone who would try to shame & humiliate her for being that way. And since her official public coming-out, she’d thought she’d be prepared for it, that she wouldn’t let it get to her.

But she never could’ve been prepared to hear such words come from Marcy’s mouth. Even if she knew it wasn’t actually her, the thought of her first friend saying those things about her was enough to make Anne cry. Despite her efforts to hide her tears, they didn’t go unnoticed by Sasha.

“Anne? What’s wrong?” she asked out of concern for her friend.

“I’m- I’m fine, don’t worry about me” Anne replied unconvincingly between sniffles, not even looking at the Blonde, who quickly deduced what this was about.

“Hey, don’t worry about what Darcy said” Sasha assured her. “None of it is true. She was just saying it to upset you”.

“I know, I know…” Anne replied while trying to wipe her eyes against her sleeve. “I’m more bothered by the fact she said it all in Marcy’s voice. I know it wasn’t actually her, but… it makes me wonder if some part of her really feels that way… ”.

“If it’s any consolation, Anne-” Olivia spoke up. “-I can assure you that throughout my time getting to know Marcy, she only ever spoke highly of you” she explained. Yunan nodded in agreement before speaking too.

“Darcy may have gotten the information through Marcy’s memories, but if she actually felt that way about you herself, she definitely would’ve shown more discomfort when talking about you”.

“Yeah, I mean, come on Anne, this is Marcy we’re talking about; I don’t think she’s even capable of hating you” Sasha added half-jokingly, eliciting a small smile & slight laugh from Anne.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right…” she conceded.

“So, what exactly is the situation with that?” Tritonio asked

“Yeah, I-I’m a little confused; are you a Boy, or…?” Beatrix added.

Anne went quiet & shrank on herself again at their questioning, so Sasha stepped in to answer for her.

“No; she’s what’s known back on Earth as ‘Transgender’. Or more specifically, a ‘Trans Girl’” she explained.

“It basically means that while she is a Girl at Heart, she was unfortunately born into the Wrong Body” Sprig elaborated.

“But that doesn’t invalidate who she is!” Polly insisted. “Just because she doesn't have the right ‘parts’, that doesn't mean she’s pretending to be a Girl!”.

“Unfortunately, though, some people back on Earth don’t quite see it that way, and tend to act quite harshly toward others like her” Hopediah added. “That’s why she didn’t tell any o’ ya sooner; she was just scared of how you’d all react to knowin’ that about her”.

Anne smiled appreciatively, happy to see her friends & family sticking up for her, though she was still anxious as she awaited everyone else’s responses.

“I see… so Darcy was trying to exploit that fear. That's pretty cruel…” Tritonio said.

“Yeah. I'm sorry for what I said earlier, Anne; about you… being a ‘Boy in disguise’” Beatrix started. “I… just thought it was too outlandish to have any kind of truth to it - which it doesn’t - but… I didn't realise it was a sensitive subject for you…” she went on, looking & sounding genuinely ashamed.

“Sasha already mentioned to me about you having some kind of ‘secret’, so I already had somewhat of an idea about this” Grime informed. “That said, you can rest assured, Anne, that it has no impact on how I view you” he added with a reassuring nod.

Figures. Anne supposed it made sense that Sasha would’ve mentioned it to Grime at some point. As long as she never told him what the secret was, though, it was fine by her.

“And everyone’s got a right to keep their personal secrets” Mrs Croaker said, quietly muttering an ‘I should know’ under her breath. “Don’t worry, Anne, yours is safe with us” she assured her, prompting everyone else to nod in agreement.

“Wow, thanks guys. I’m just glad you’re all taking it so well” Anne said gratefully.

“So, does this mean you’re like me?” Penny spoke up, clearly intrigued by the idea of having something in common with her.

“Well… no, not quite” Anne began to answer. “You were able to physically switch Genders, Penny. Humans… can’t do that…”.

Penny blinked & raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“…I can do that?” she questioned.

…

Anne stared at her for a moment, visibly dumbfounded. …What?

“Um… yeah? That's what Wally told me…” she said, prompting Penny to turn her attention to her Godfather, flashing him a questioning look.

“Yeah, your family's part of a particular Frog Species who can change Genders if they like” Wally confirmed. “Did your Mum never tell you that?”.

“No, no one told me I could do that” Penny said, shaking her head.

“But then, what about on yer 5th Birthday, when you told everyone that you ‘wanted to be a Girl’?” Wally said.

“I said that I was a Girl, and wanted to be addressed as one” Penny corrected.

“So then, you never actually… changed?” Anne questioned. Penny only gave an ‘mnh-mnh’ as she shook her head. “…Do you… think you will try changing? Now that you know you can?” Anne went on.

Penny hummed for a moment as she thought about it.

“Nope; I've been perfectly fine with what I have” she said. “I mean, I’m still a Girl either way, so what’s the point? I don’t have anything to prove”.

“Huh… yeah, that’s true…” Anne said thoughtfully. So, Transgender Amphibians really are a thing…

They were quickly reminded of their current predicament by the muffled, yet loud, sounds of explosions & impacts from outside of the Castle.

“We’re out of time!” Sasha said.

“This has gone on long enough” Darcy muttered as she angrily watched as their own Herons had been turned against their Frobot Army.

She then turned toward Andrias, using a platform of Metallic tendrils to lift herself to his eye level.

“Get out there and bring me that Boonchuy Boy!” she commanded. “Break his legs if you have to”.

Andrias was quiet for a moment. On one hand, he didn’t care much if Anne lived or died. All he wanted was to redeem himself in his Father’s eyes, and make up for losing the Box all those Centuries ago. And right now, Anne was the biggest obstacle to achieving that goal, so if she had to die by his hand, so be it.

But on the other hand… was the Misgendering really necessary?

She may be their enemy, but it still didn’t sit right with him. He especially didn’t understand why Darcy felt the need to ‘expose’ her in front of her allies like that when they were planning on killing her anyway. Was Darcy really just that petty, that she’d humiliate her opponent even when they were about to die anyway?

Either way, he wouldn’t dare talk back to the Core, so he didn’t voice this opinion. At the very least, though, he would make an effort to Gender Anne correctly in their foreseeable confrontation.

“…Yes my Lord” he said after only a moment, turning to leave the room for the docking bay.

“Oh, and Andrias?” Darcy spoke up once more, prompting the King to pause & turn to face her. “If you fail, you can forget about ever joining your Father & the rest of us up here” she warned him, pointing a finger to her Helmet for emphasis.

Andrias only sighed before turning to a nearby Frobot as the doors began to close behind him.

“Ready the Dyoplosaurus”.

As they waited for the Herons to help carry Andrias back up to the Castle to take back with them to Amphibia, Olivia was lightly chatting with Yunan, when Marcy tapped the former on the shoulder to get her attention.

“Lady Olivia?” she began. “I um… I really wanna change out of this suit & back into my usual clothes, but… I don't feel comfortable walking back to my room alone… could you accompany me please?” she explained, nervously wringing her hands & struggling to make eye contact.

“Of course Master Marcy, I’d be happy to” Olivia agreed with a smile & a nod. “Is that alright with you, General?” she asked her companion.

“Go ahead, I'll be fine here” Yunan assured her, waving off her concern.

“Thank you, Olivia” Marcy said as they set off.

Things were quiet between them at first as they walked through the corridors. It started to feel a little awkward, so Marcy tried to fill it.

“So… waddaya think of Earth?” she asked.

“Hmm, well, I do wish I could’ve visited under more peaceful circumstances” she began. “I’d have liked to have been able to see more of your own Home & where you came from, or at least meet your parents”.

Marcy rubbed her arm as she glanced to the side forlornly as she was reminded of her last interaction with them. She could only hope Anne was right, and that the distance wouldn’t cause their friendship to fall apart.

“At the very least, though, I did get to meet Anne’s parents. I’m glad to see she was raised by such kindhearted individuals” Olivia continued with a smile.

“Oh, you did? That’s nice…” Marcy said, her spirits raised a little. She couldn’t help but wonder, though, if Anne was with both Olivia and her parents at the same time, then… “And, was there any… confusion from anyone? Like, regarding her… appearance?” she asked cautiously.

“Hm? Oh, do you mean about Anne being Transgender? No, no, she actually already told them about that back when she initially returned, apparently” Olivia explained.

“Oh! Really? Well that’s great news!” Marcy said, surprised by the news, but also happy for & proud of her friend. Damn, she really had missed a lot. “Did they take it well? She’s always been really worried about how they’d react”.

“Well, they didn't seem at all displeased with her, so I assume so”.

“Good” Marcy said, sounding satisfied & relieved. “And uh, when abouts did she tell you?” she asked. If she hadn’t found out from witnessing Anne’s parents’ questioning, then that must’ve meant Anne had told Olivia herself at some point, right?

To her confusion, Olivia seemed to blanch at the question & glance off to the side uneasily, causing Marcy to slow her walk out of concern. Her companion did as well, leaving the two of them standing in the middle of the Hallway.

“…Lady Olivia? Is something wrong?”. The Newt hesitated another moment before answering.

“She… didn't actually get to tell us herself…” Olivia explained.

“…What?” Marcy replied, concern lacing her voice.

“Hey, uh, Yunan, do you know where Marcy went? I just noticed she's not here” Anne asked the General.

“Oh, she wanted to change back to her usual attire, so Olivia escorted her to her room to change. They should be back soo-” the Newt explained, only to be cut off by the door they'd left through suddenly reopening as they returned. “Oh, nevermind, there they are”.

Anne was about to happily greet her friend, but her smile quickly disappeared as she noticed Marcy was staring at the ground with a distraught look on her face as she walked toward her.

“Marcy? Are you okay?” Anne asked instead.

“I um… Olivia told me about how Darcy outed you… and the other things she said about you…” Marcy explained as she anxiously wrung her hands, and still refused to meet her gaze.

“Oh… right. I actually forgot about- oof! ” Anne said as Marcy practically threw herself at her, wrapping her tightly in a hug.

“I’m really sorry, Anne. I wish I could’ve done something to stop her” Marcy said.

Anne’s own arms hovered at her sides for a moment, but as her general surprise from the abrupt hug wore off, she eventually settled her arms around Marcy as she relaxed into it with a sigh.

“It’s alright, Marcy. It’s not your fault, but I forgive you anyway” Anne assured her. “As much as it hurt to hear those things in your voice, I know you don’t really think of me that way”.

“Of course I don’t think of you like that, Anne” Marcy insisted. “She may have learned about you through my memories, but those opinions are strictly hers, and they’re factually wrong. The Core may claim to be ‘Amphibia’s greatest Minds’, but they’re seriously narrow-minded if they don’t think of you as a Girl”.

“I know, I know. The reassurance is still nice though. Thank you” Anne said with a grateful smile.

“Oh! And also, congrats on finally coming out to your parents, Anne! I assume it went over well?” Marcy added, raising her spirits & pulling away from the hug to look at Anne properly.

“Yep, they were super supportive about it, and aside from asking them to continue calling me ‘Andy’ around others before I publicly came out, they’ve been consistently using my preferred name & pronouns! Mom even got me this great Seasonal outfit for Christmas” Anne answered enthusiastically.

“That’s awesome. I wish I could’ve been there with you, but I’m so proud of you!” Marcy said, hugging Anne again, tighter this time.

Anne couldn’t believe it. She was… alive? And now she was… someplace else.

The first thing she’d seen upon opening her eyes was an iridescent starry night sky, with a handful of comets & galaxies dotted around. As she sat up, she looked around to see she appeared to be on some sort of floating island. It was almost like someone had taken a small plot of land with a house, garden, pond, & tree, and plopped it down amongst the stars.

But even with how bizarre this whole situation already clearly was, Anne couldn't shake the feeling that something else was off…

Something about… herself.

Not like anything was wrong, per se, but something was definitely different.

She quickly began patting herself down, trying to find the source of the strange feeling, before her hands both eventually landed on her chest, where she felt 2 slight soft bumps that definitely weren't there before.

Did… did she have… was what she thought was happening really happening? But then, wouldn’t that also mean…?

She then slowly moved a hand down to feel around her crotch, her eyes widening in shock & her cheeks flushing red as she didn't feel what was usually there.

No way. She was… she was a Girl! Well, she’d always been a Girl, of course, but now she had Girl parts!

Despite how captivated she was by this phenomenon, however, she knew she had more important things to be concerned about right now, so she turned her attention back to the nearby house, opting to stand up and go investigate. Maybe the occupant, if there was one, could tell her what was happening.

She had to get down on her knee & lower her head to fit through the comically small door, but as she peered inside, she was surprised to find it was much bigger on the inside. It was still only a single room, but at least she didn’t have to keep her head low, as she thought she would when looking at it from the outside.

Said room also seemed to be filled with assorted memorabilia from throughout her time in Amphibia; the plush of Domino 2 Sprig had made for her was laying on the ground, her first sword from when she’d joined the tax-collector Toads stuck out from a bucket, along with Hopediah’s no-longer-broken Cane, the Butterfly Teapot she’d tried to get for her Mom was atop a fireplace, the figurine Sprig had gifted her on Christmas was on a small side table, and even her missing Shoe was sitting in the corner! To top it all off, portraits of all the most important people in her life - Marcy & Sasha, her parents, Domino, the Plantars - were all strewn across the walls. Among them was also a single portrait of herself, with a familiar Blue-Pink-White pattern along the frame.

Such a sight would normally be a little creepy, but given everything else so far, Anne was more fascinated. Plus, given the cozy & inviting atmosphere, it didn’t seem as though whoever lived here had any ill intentions. Besides that, there didn’t appear to be any sign of said occupant, but she did spot an old computer in the middle of the room that had been left turned on.

As Anne focused on it, a window reading ‘3_Stones_Deity would like to chat’ popped up on the screen.

“…So you’re saying you could continue improving? Maybe even one day feel worthy of this post?” the Guardian asked hopefully.

“It’s possible! I have my whole life ahead of me to make bad choices & learn good lessons from them” Anne answered, before visibly dismaying as she remembered about her current predicament. “Or, I had my whole life ahead of me…” she added more sadly.

The Guardian grinned up at her knowingly after a moment’s pause, before speaking in a sly tone.

“… About that…”.

Before Anne could even process their words, she was quickly stirred from her thoughts as the whole room started shaking.

“Whoa! Wha- What’s happening?” she questioned, before all at once, the Walls & roof of the house seemed to fold out & retract into the ground, leaving them exposed to high winds that had suddenly picked up outside.

Anne also felt the presence of some kind of bright spotlight casting down on them from behind her, making everything else seem darker by comparison. As she spun around, she had to shield her eyes as she spotted the source.

It felt like looking up at some kind of Alien UFO that had shown up out of nowhere in the dead of night, casting a blindingly bright light upon you. Only, instead of a UFO, it was clearly some kind of funnel-shaped Portal, or Wormhole of some sort, with a strange grid-like pattern swirling around it, and a bright white glow emitting from the centre.

“I’m sending you back to the World of the Living” the Guardian said, answering her question. It suddenly occurred to Anne that their voice sounded different; more grandiose than previously.

“You’ve shown me the error in my thinking. And if you can do that at age 13… ”. She quickly whipped her head back and found herself having to look up in awe at the Guardian’s new appearance.

“Then imagine the Guardian you’ll be after a life fully lived” they finished, looking down at her with 3 crystalline eyes in the colours of the Calamity Stones, & lightly flexing a pair of feathery wings off their back.

Anne was at a loss for words. Looking back to the Portal, she realised the swirling winds seemed to be trying to pull her towards it. Before she could start moving towards it, however, or even thank the Guardian, they spoke up once more.

“That said, I actually have one more offer for you before you go” they told her, prompting her to turn back to them.

“…A-and that is?” she asked curiously.

“As I mentioned earlier, the form you currently take is only a projection of how you perceive yourself at your core; in other words, it is your Innermost self ”. Anne nodded at that. Of all the places to have gotten that confirmation, a Cosmic Deity was definitely up there.

“But if you wish for it, I can see to it that upon your return, you reawaken in the Body that you desire”. Anne blinked and widened her eyes in surprise at that.

“You mean, I can be reborn as a Cis Female?” she asked with great intrigue, to which the Guardian nodded in confirmation.

“I did consider just doing it for you as a surprise. But since you already surprised me with your answer to my previous offer… I at least wanted to give you the option to turn this one down as well, just in case ” they explained. “ So, what will it be? Do you wish to continue living with the body you have now, or would you like to return to the one you had previously?”.

Anne put a finger to her chin as she looked down & thought about it.

“Either way, it won't have any impact on who you are; you'll still always be ‘Anne Boonchuy’, no matter what you choose” the Guardian clarified.

As tempting as it was to just say ‘yes’ without giving it a second thought, Anne began tapping her foot as she took the time to mull it over. After a few moments of thinking, she closed her eyes & gave a decisive nod as she made up her mind. And with that, she looked back to the Guardian & told them her answer. They closed their eyes & bowed their head, satisfied to have gotten her answer.

“I see. Very well then, Anne, if that is what you desire”. And with that, they raised a paw, causing Anne to begin levitating, surprising her a little. “ Now go, live your life” they added, before she was abruptly sent flying into the vortex, presumably back to the World of the Living.

She was left screaming at the disorienting feeling as she lost track of which way was up or down, but eventually, her spinning slowed, and the bright surroundings gave way to a view of blue star-like streaks whizzing by, allowing her to get her bearings.

“I’ve waited thousands of Years to retire… what’s 78 Years more?” the Guardian continued, causing Anne to take a double-take.

“Wait, are you saying that in 78 Years, I’m gonna- aahh!” Anne began to question before being blinded by the bright light returning.