Work Text:
There was a bump in the road.
Anne rubbed her eyes, awake now. She didn't remember falling asleep. The moon was still high in the sky, illuminating the mushroom trees lining the dirt road.
"Sorry about that," Sasha said from the front of the cart. "It's more pothole than road out here. Which means we should be back in Wartwood pretty soon."
"Heh. Ain't that the truth. Wait, why are you pulling the cart? Wasn't Loggle..." Anne looked around. The others- the Angels- were sound asleep, snoring among the recovered supplies.
"Loggle was falling asleep at the wheel, so I took over," Sasha said.
Anne wasn't surprised, considering the intensity of the mission they just completed. She could still smell the smoke on her clothes from the burning marauder camp. Those grizzled barbarians might have been tough, but they were no match for Wartwood's finest. She was proud of them. Even little Toadie pulled his weight today. More than his weight, probably. The guy weighs as much as a helium balloon. And speaking of weight...
"Isn't this cart super heavy?" Anne asked. She looked around at the crates of food, barrels of weapons, the pile of Wartwoodians... It didn't even seem physically possible for a human girl to move this much junk, even on wheels.
"Nah, its cool. I always do an intense work out sesh before bed. I can't sleep unless I'm, uh, exhausted," Sasha replied, without looking back. The wood creaked under its burden, but she hardly seemed strained.
For as long as Anne could remember, Sasha had been strong in every sense of the word. Confident, too. To hear that she didn't always sleep soundly at night was strange. Anne laid down, watching the stars glimmer as they rolled along. "You know, you were never good at hiding when you're nervous about something," she said.
'What are you talking about?" Sasha asked, a bit too quickly.
"It's pretty rare, but it's hard to not notice," Anne said. "Like when you came up with the scare dare to try that ultra-spicy hot sauce that had the health warnings on it." That was a fun day.
"I still did it. No way I'm letting a stupid sauce break my streak."
"Yeah, but you were totally nervous. Like, sweating bullets nervous."
"It was just the sauce... vapors."
There was a pause before the two shared a brief laugh. All of those carefree times felt like a different life, when their biggest concerns were math tests, and their biggest fights were over choosing what movies to watch. Now they were fighting for their lives against killer monsters and robots almost every day. Not just for themselves, but also for the people around them. Going from friends to enemies, to friends again, to enemies again. What were they now? Coworkers? That just didn't sound right at all. Teammates? That didn't seem like enough either.
"You know how we said we'd deal with our baggage later?" Anne asked.
"Mmm," was Sasha's distant, half-answer.
Anne sat up. "Mind if I... unpack a carry-on bag?" she asked.
Sasha turned to make eye contact just so that she could roll her eyes, before turning back to the road ahead.
"C'mon Sash, talk to me," Anne said, embarrassed.
Sasha sighed. "Okay, fine. Just no more baggage puns, like, ever." She slowed her pace, checking back to make sure all the frogs were still asleep. Was she being bashful? That was new.
"Deal. I don't think I could bring myself to do one again anyway," Anne said.
-
They passed over a rickety wooden bridge standing over a stream. Glowing green waste polluted the water from far upstream and the slightest hint of smog hung in the once-pristine air. It reminded Sasha a bit of Los Angeles. "So. What'd you want to talk about?" she Sasha asked. She had been dreading this moment for weeks, thinking of things to say. Now that it was actually happening, she felt strangely unprepared. There was so much trapped inside her that she wanted to say, but for some reason couldn't. It was like she forgot everything she had planned.
"Well, uh," Anne scratched her head, a couple loose twigs falling out as she did. "I guess I'll start by asking if you're feeling okay."
That was unexpected. "All I did today was spar for like, a few hours. Nothing I'm not used to," Sasha said.
"I don't mean physically okay, more like emotionally. Mentally. Whatever you wanna call it," Anne said. "You've been working hard, and that's great, but I just want to know you're not working too-too hard, y'know? I've been there."
"You have?" Sasha asked, her voice small.
Anne nodded. "Back in L.A, I was working around the clock looking for a way to get back here. Not exactly an easy task when you have to juggle babysitting a whole frog family with my own parents trying to babysit me." Anne watched the moonlit landscape, marked by laser-burnt trees and the occasional explosion crater. "And don't get me started on the FBI. And the robot assassins Andrias sent after us. Even on Christmas, what kind of sicko attacks people on Christmas?"
Sasha hadn't realized how much her friend... how much Anne had gone through while they were apart. She had never explained it before. Or maybe she just never thought to ask.
"But the point is," Anne continued, "there were times when I wouldn't sleep- couldn't sleep- because I didn't let myself stop working for even a second. It made me miserable, sloppy, and it put my friends in danger. I thought it was a good idea to rob a museum for frog's sake. Talk about unnecessary."
"So?"
"So I know the look. The Plantars described it to me when I couldn't see it myself." Anne looked at her with comforting smile of concern. "What's keeping you up at night, Sasha?"
Guilt. "Well, you know I've got to make sure all our mission plans are written and reviewed," Sasha said.
"And?" Anne asked, eyebrow raised.
Regret. "And I have to label the maps accordingly and log our supply inventory, and double-check the perimeter."
"And?" Anne asked, eyebrow raised further.
Confusion. "And... and... the cave moss I use for a blanket is super itchy and soggy..."
"And?" Anne asked, eyebrow raised to its maximum degree.
Sasha stopped the cart and set down the handles, looking down at a particularly large hole in the road before her. Water had accumulated in it, forming a tiny puddle. "Getting the Plantars home was the right thing to do, 'cause they helped you so much to get back to your home. But you'd do something like that even if they never helped you once. I've heard from the townspeople that you stood up for them and protected them even after they treated you like a freak. That's just the kind of person you are. It's honestly amazing."
Anne blushed. "Okay. But I didn't ask for compliments."
"I'm getting to it," Sasha said. Well, too late to stop now. "Ever since we first got here, I wanted to protect you and get us home, but I ended up threatening you and the people you love. I never thought about how you might've felt, or what you really cared about. I didn't even think to ask. Yeah, I had good intentions, but look where it got me. Where it got us. And I'm worried that no matter how much I try to be better, I'll always be fighting the horrible person I used to be. Who I might still be." A raindrop fell, sending ripples across the tiny puddle. "I never wanted to hurt you, Anne, but the things I did... I don't know how I'll ever earn your trust again."
"I trust you," Anne said, "I trust you with my life, actually. Remember when I jumped inside that snake's mouth a week ago? I just knew you'd figure out a way to rescue us, somehow."
"That's different. Being a leader is one thing, but it's not all I want to be."
"Well, what do you want?"
"I... I don't know," Sasha said. God, she felt so weak. All the shame and confusion she had been working so hard to overcome was back in full force, like a pit in her chest. It was like she was falling from Toad Tower again. More ripples in the puddle. "I don't want to lose you. But I don't know if I deserve to be your friend. Part of me still thinks that after we win this rebellion, you might still be better off without me so that I don't hurt you any more than I have."
That pit inside her still ached, but a great deal of weight vanished from her shoulders. For better or worse, at least they could move on. She started to pick up the wagon handles when she heard Anne hop out of the cart, shoes squelching in the mud. She stopped in front of her.
"Sasha. Things will never go back to the way they used to be. We've all changed so much, and I'll never forget what happened between us." Anne put her hands on Sasha's shoulders. Were her eyes wet? "I know I said I was done being friends with you, and believe me, I was. But the person you are now, who protects the town she once invaded, who is willing to share command, who admits when she's done wrong? That's someone I can trust to be my friend."
Sasha hated being complimented at that moment. But why? Wasn't all this work supposed to be to become that better person? To become someone who deserved to be Anne's friend? Why did it feel so wrong to be told it was working?
All of these voices stopped when Anne brought her in for a hug. "You'll never protect me by pushing me away," she said. "Believe it or not, I don't want to lose you either."
"How can you be so forgiving?" Sasha asked. Pretty much the same question she asked when her mask slipped in the third temple, during her scheming days. "Why not give up on me?"
Anne thought for a moment. "It isn't always easy. But I can't just give up on someone I care about." She smiled. "And neither will you."
There were bumps in the road. Potholes, ponds, and ditches. But the cart still got to town.