Chapter Text
A day or so had passed since Anne destroyed the Core, and there was already peace and relief in the air for the world of Amphibia. But not for the Plantars, or Sasha and Marcy. Anne had faded away, and in her place was a baby version of her, which befuddled and shocked everyone to their core.
Now approaching their house, with Anne in her swaddle being carried by Sasha, and Marcy and Grime carrying a newly crafted wooden crib, the Plantars gazed upon a refurbished version of their farm. At the doorway, Chuck stood, holding a saw and hammer, with a piece of wheat hanging out his mouth.
“I grow tulips.” Chuck said to the Plantars and the humans as they arrived at the front door.
“Thanks, Chuck.” Hop Pop said, sullenly. He was grateful that his farm was looking brand spankin’ new, but everywhere else still looked barrel, and broken. All from the destruction Andrias and the Core had wrought upon this world. It would take months, maybe years to get Amphibia back to the way it was. But that wasn’t of importance to him right now. All that was important was his adopted granddaughter.
Polly, who just sprouted her first few hairs, opened up the door, and let everyone else in, including Maddie, Olivia and Yunan. The mood was dour and worrisome, as the group piled on into the Plantar’s living room. Marcy and Grime set the crib down. It was a rocking crib, customly made in the moment by Loggle. It had cute little leaves carved into it, and rocked side to side.
Sasha, worried she would cause Anne to cry again, carefully lowered the baby into the crib, already fitted with a small mattress and blankets. Sprig, on the other hand, quietly ran to his room.
Sasha undid the swaddle, and let Anne free, allowing her to move her baby limbs around, as she chewed on the corner of her blanket. Drool and saliva dripped down the blanket. Everyone looked up to see Sprig coming back down, with a small stuffed caterpillar.
“Sprig, are you sure?” Hop Pop asked. It was the first toy that Sprig’s parents had given him when he was a pollywog.
“Anything for Anne.” Sprig quietly replied. He lowered the toy into the crib, pulled the blanket out of Anne’s mouth, and replaced it with the caterpillar. Anne hugged the stuffed animal, which was about as big as her head, and made “goo goo, gaa gaa,” noises as she slept.
Sprig went back to join the others by the sofa, not taking his eyes off Anne. It had been a long trek back to Wartwood from the sight of Newtopia. Thankfully with Domino II and Joe Sparrow, they got back pretty quickly. But that didn’t stop them having to feed Anne milk, change her diaper, and rock her to sleep whilst hundreds of feet in the air. Marcy and Sasha took those responsibilities, and they were beyond exhausted tending to their infant friend.
“So…tired.” Sasha moaned, her eyes drooping. She was still unsure of how to feel, but right now, she just needed some sleep.
Olivia gazed around the room, feeling enticed, and a little curious. She had always lived within the confines of Newtopia, and the land that she could see from the castle balcony. But now, she saw what the frogs had been living like. She felt horrible, that for hundreds of years, Andrias held these frogs in such low esteem, to the point of having them at the bottom of the system. But her gaze eventually fell to the crib, rocking back and forth on its own.
“Master Marcy…” Olivia started, clearing her throat. “Is it normal for humans to ‘revert’ back into an infant?”
Marcy shook her head. “No. This shouldn’t even be physically possible.” Her head hanged low. “But she did. Our Anna-Banana is…a baby.” She said in an accepting tone. She tried all day to rationalize why Anne would turn into a baby, but she had no answers. No conclusions. No…nothing.
“So, what now?” Polly asked.
“Now, we try and turn Anne back to normal, right?” Sasha said quietly, but fiercely. She turned to Maddie. “Maddie, you’re a magic user. Can’t you make a potion that could age Anne up?”
Maddie also seemed at a loss for words. “That might be beyond my skill level. And even if it wasn’t…” She turned and looked at the crib. “...whose to say she would remember us?”
“What? What kind of question is that?” Sasha retorted. “Of course she would remember us. She’s Anne.”
“Yes, but this Anne just arrived, so what if her body wasn’t the only thing that was reborn? What if her mind was wiped clean? If we age her up, she could be a 13 year old with the mind of an infant.”
“We don’t know that for sure.” Hop Pop interjected. “But, I guess it is a possibility.”
Anne started to make wrestling noises, as she woke up from her slumber. Sprig hopped over, and looked into the crib to see Anne rolling around, playing with the caterpillar stuffed animal. He brought his hand down and into the crib, and it caught Anne’s attention. She reached one hand out, and grabbed one of Sprig’s fingers which was bigger than her hand. In an instant, she felt…safe.
“Well, regardless, we should discuss what we’re going to do with her.” Grime interjected. “She’s going to need caretakers.”
“Well, I did help the King with his daily duties, I’m sure I can handle a small infant.” Olivia threw her tiara in the ring.
“Maybe she needs us in her lives, since we’re the only humans here, especially with no way back home.” Marcy butted in.
“No offense, but can you even raise a baby?” Yunan poised leaning in on Marcy.
Marcy blushed and rubbed her shoulders, a sign that she didn’t, before looking back at the great General. “Can you?”
Yunan froze. Her one fear! Other than grubhogs!
The group went on arguing for a little bit. But Sprig and Anne didn’t pay any attention to that. Anne sucked on Sprig’s finger like it was a binkie. He was used to having saliva on his fingers, but this felt…weird. And yet, he didn’t do anything to stop it. He rustled Anne’s bushy hair, bringing a smile and a small tear to his face.
“It’s going to be okay, Anne. I promise you.” Sprig whispered to her solemnly. In turn, Anne released Sprig’s finger and giggled, flailing her limbs all about.
Sprig picked her out of the crib and carried her over to the group. The group went silent as they approached. Anne was still playing with the caterpillar, but also sucking on her thumb. Sprig sat down, next to Marcy and Sasha, as Anne made lots of baby noises, which sounded like she was trying to speak, but her eyes were fixed on the toy in her arms.
“She can stay with us.” Sprig said with love and determination. “Anne is a Plantar after all. Young or old.” Sprig bounced Anne up and down on his lap, causing her to laugh and giggle. Hop Pop and Polly, who had another hair sprout out, looked on with compassion.
“Sprig’s right. Anne’s family. And family takes care of each other.” Hop Pop said lovingly, before turning to Sasha and Marcy. “And if you girls want to help, we’re more than welcoming toward the idea.”
Sasha couldn’t help but glare in sadness. She could feel tears welling up, with the thoughts of this baby Anne being a different version of her friend entirely overwhelming her. All the memories they had in middle school. Fighting each other. The rebellion. It could all be gone…
Sasha sniffled, as tears began dripping. She grimaced and tried to hold her sorrow in, but she couldn’t.
“Oh, Anne.” Sasha weeped, drawing Anne’s attention to her. “Why did you have to do that? I already lost you once, I can't lose you again.”
Anne couldn’t really comprehend what was happening, but she saw Sasha crying, and felt like she had to do something. She whimpered, dropping the stuffed animal, and stuck her arms out toward Sasha. She didn’t know who she was, but she wanted to help her.
Sasha, through her tears, saw Anne’s baby arms reaching out to her, like…she wanted her to hold her. Sasha looked at Sprig, who simply nodded a friendly gesture. She wiped away the tears, and picked up Anne in her arms.
Anne giggled and smiled, looking right at Sasha. Sasha, for the first time since Anne “died” felt some happiness looking at Anne. Her face brightened as Anne stared back at her with her cute eyes. Anne blew a raspberry and opened and closed her mouth randomly, moving her arms around. But Sasha didn’t care, because she saw that Anne was happy.
"Hi, Anne." Sasha said with a smile. "You know, you're an adorable little bundle of joy." She said, tickling Anne's belly with her finger. Anne burst into the giggles, making Sasha chuckle at the sight. For once she made Anne happy. Not feel insecure, not feel bad about herself. Just...happy.
“So…what do you think?” Hop Pop asked Sasha.
Sasha glanced over at Marcy who nodded her head. “Yeah.” Sasha said. “That'd be great.”
“We’d love to.” Marcy gleefully exclaimed. “Maybe we can move in downstairs, reconfigure some of Anne’s leftover stuff into baby items. Get her a stroller and…”
The moment was interrupted by a putrid stench, causing the group to recoil in disgust. Everyone knew where the smell was coming from, as they saw Anne’s diaper, sagging.
“Oop-oo.” Was all Anne could muster. She wasn’t able to speak, so noises would have to do.
Sasha stared at Marcy, both in shock, as they noticed everyone was running out the door.
“I an NOT changing her!” Sasha declared, as Anne continued to giggle.
END OF CHAPTER 2