Try (An Adventure Time FF)

A Long Way to Go

•Marshall Lee•

Finn walked uncomfortably next to Flame Prince. It had been almost two weeks since we'd rescued him and his sister from the fire kingdom. Their father had them locked up in fear of being overpowered. On a hunch, Gumball and Bubblegum, the brother-sister rulers of the candy kingdom, had asked us to go search the fire kingdom. When we found the two trapped in identical lanterns hanging from the ceiling above their father's thrown, we knew we had to rescue them. An escape plan was made, and thanks to me and my sister Marceline's stealthiness and Finn and Fionna's brawn, we were able to easily get them out of the lanterns and to safety in the candy kingdom. About a week ago, Flame Prince and Finn confessed their love for each other (which is why I'm twenty dollars richer) and Flame Prince might have overreacted a bit to Finn's awkwardness. Now, Finn has a burn mark on his cheek the size of Flame Prince's hand, and I'm the only one who's seen it besides Jake. Now poor Finn was conflicted. As was I.

You see, we were all warned of the dangers of these two before the rescue mission. They were raised evil, and they were treated wrongly, so we were told they could hurt someone due to the fact that they were evil or because they were treated wrongly and don't know any better. We knew the risks, but we still wanted to save them. Now, knowing the risks, I'm afraid Finn's in too deep.

Finn flinched every time Flame Prince moved his hands. Fionna watched every bit of it. She watched her brother cower in fear, eye lids forced together so tightly it seemed as if he were trying to disappear. She watched her brother feel the constant pain of his hat scratching against the burn mark on his cheek. Yet, she noticed none of it. Did she not know what his pain looked like? Could she not recognize her own brother's problem?

I always thought Fionna was oblivious to pain because that's all she felt as a baby. It's all she knew, it's all she remembered. Her and Finn were separated in the woods as babies. Their parents didn't care about them. They dropped them both off on separate sides of Ooo. Cake and Jake's families knew each other, so that's how they got reunited. They knew that these were the only two humans left in Ooo, so they assumed they must be related. And, they were.

I grabbed Finn and pulled him next to me away from Flame Prince. He side hugged me and I felt a few tears wet my shirt. I tousled his blonde hair, or at least what I could see of it. He was terrified and in pain. I thought the burn looked infected the last time I looked at it. It wasn't like Flame Prince just slapped him. He kept his hand there for almost a minute while Finn cried at him to stop. When he finally did, he left Finn sobbing in a heap on the floor. I found him there while Jake was in candy kingdom shopping. It was probably the worst thing I've ever seen.

Flame Prince seemed to burn hotter at my action, singeing Bubblegum's pink skin. He needed to cool down and keep his anger in check. If he didn't, I was going to take Finn to my cave so he could never find him.

Flame Prince almost reached out to yank Finn back to his side. But he thought about it and decided against it.

We were all chilling in the forest at Finn and Fionna's usual camping spot.

"I love this place." Fionna said in awe.

We all smiled at her. She just loved the forest.

"I think I'm gonna go home, guys." Finn said quietly in an unsteady voice.

"Can I talk to you real quick before you leave?" Flame Prince asked.

Finn nodded, unsure if he wanted to put himself through this again or not.

"Sure."

They stood up and walked quietly to a clearing not far from us. I used my good hearing to pick up what they were saying while everyone went back to talking.