The next morning, Shadow and Anne were practicing flying earlier in the morning, the two floating high in the air, Shadow holding on to her as to ensure she doesn't fall, only letting go when she manages to get the floating down.
"Alright, you're doing good." Shadow complimented. "Now, try flying around without my guidance over the town."
Nodding, Anne looked towards the town, leaning forward as though to dart forward, and sure enough, she zoomed forward, with Shadow following behind.
"Alright, now arc downward."
Nodding, Anne did as she was told, pointing herself downward, as she soon flew down towards the town.
"Alright, now pull up."
Anne made to do as she was told, but for some reason, she couldn't.
"Anne, pull up."
Anne tried again, her panic growing as she sped up.
"Anne, why aren't you pulling up?!"
As the ground grew closer, Anne braced herself for a crash landing, but the impact never came, as she opened her eyes to see her face mere inches from the ground, looking up to see Shadow having caught her by the hem of her skirt.
"I told you I'd catch you."
Anne sighed in relief, unaware of how far she leaned forward, allowing the boy a glimpse of her underwear. Blushing madly, he quickly pulled her up, holding her around her waist before setting her on her feet.
"Right, still need more practice." He quickly said, pulling his hood over his face, cursing silently.
'What is getting to me?!' He thought to himself. 'Curse these teenage hormones.'
"Hey, guys!" The two turned to see Sprig approach. "How's the flying lessons coming along?"
"Well, I almost crash landed." Anne admitted. "But I like to think I'm making progress!"
"Slow but steady." Shadow nodded.
"Hey, if you're not busy, wanna hang out?" Sprig asked.
Anne looked to Shadow, who gave a nod, "Go ahead. Have some time to relax. I've got some stuff to take care of anyway."
The two walked away, Anne watching Shadow fly from town.
"I wonder what Shadow does when he's on his own…"
Back at the hut, Shadow was grabbing a sketchbook and some writing utensils before stuffing them in his satchel, closing the door behind him before taking off to the skies, flying over the valley, before diving back down into the forest before landing on his feet. Taking in a breath before letting it out, he proceeds to walk through the thick forest, before finally coming upon a rather large stone in the middle of a clearing.
This was no ordinary stone, of course. Throughout Amphibia, there were large standing stones that had names of fallen amphibians carved upon the surface in honor of those who died. This stone being one of many, one that Shadow tends to visit sometimes on certain days, such as this. Standing in front, Shadow prepared the incense candles before kneeling in front of the stone, his eyes looking at one of the names.
"Hey, Karlia." He spoke, as though he was talking to a friend. "Been a while since I last visited, hasn't it? Sorry, I've been busy lately. Living out in the marsh and doing odd jobs in the boonies does that."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "I also made a new friend recently! She's been staying with me for the past month. Sure, she can be a bit hasty sometimes, but she's learning. Not to mention she's pretty cute."
Another pause, this time clenching his fists, "She also has the Calamity Power. I saw it in her eyes. Even though I've been training her on how to use it, I can't help but worry that something will drag her further into this wolf spider hole." His face expression fell a bit, looking up at the stone. "I still think about you, my friend. All the times we shared when we kids, running around the place and causing mischief. You were the glue that kept our trio together. And I failed to save you."
He remained in a kneeling position and closed his eyes, going into deep meditation, a fiery black aura surrounding his body, and before one knew it, day had quickly turned to night by the time Shadow opened his eyes.
"I'd better head back." He said as he stood up. "Same time next week? Cool." He picked up the candles before making to leave, looking back at the stone. "Watch over me, Karlia. And look over Apollo too."
And with that, he began to leave the scene, the white cloaked stranger watching from afar.
With nighttime having fallen, Sprig and Ivy had slipped away from the dance, dressed back in their regular clothing and watching the fireflies fly by.
"Man, this better than that stuffy old dance. Right, Ivy?" He asked, before looking over to see his friend was missing. "Ivy? Ivy?"
Suddenly, Ivy jumped out of the bushes and tackled him, the to wrestling on the ground before picking up sticks and began sword fighting.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Ivy declared, blocking a swing. "This'll be your grave!"
"That's, uh...That's pretty dark." Sprig said before continuing.
Eventually, the two grew tired before laying down and watching the fireflies.
"Hey, purple ones." Sprig pointed.
"Oh, yeah, those are babies." Ivy nodded. "I read that they're purple so the moms can find them if they get lost."
"What? That's adorable." Sprig smiled.
"I know, right?"
Surprised by the answer, the two looked to see Shadow sitting off to the side, pen and sketchbook in hand as he drew.
"Shadow, when did you get here?" Sprig asked.
"About a minute ago." The boy shrugged. "Thought it'd be nice to see the firefly migration and draw a nice picture."
"Oh, that sounds nice." Ivy said. "So, where have you been all day?"
"I think the more important question is already on the table." Shadow replied, pointing his pen at the two.
Both frog kids were confused before realizing what he meant before Ivy spoke up, "Oh, we were ditching a matching ceremony. We weren't exactly comfortable with our folks trying to pair us together."
"I understand the feeling." Shadow nodded. "I remember my old caretaker trying to pair me with all manner of girls; none worked out."
"Yeah, bleh!" Sprig said in agreement, before hearing what sounded like screaming in the distance. "What the…"
Ivy noticed the screaming as well, "That sounded like..."
Just then, the trio saw a pair of love doves flying overhead, with the Plantars, Felicia, and Anne caught in their talons.
"Our families!" Sprig gasped. "We gotta help them!"
"Follow me and stay close!" Shadow declared.
"Way ahead of you!" Ivy nodded, the two frogs following the human to rescue their family and friends.
The love doves dropped their prey in their nest before spitting out a greenish goo that held them in place.
"We're stuck!" Anne exclaimed, trying to pull her arms free from the goo.
The doves then squawked before flying away, much to the Thai girl's confusion, "Uh, they're not gonna eat us?
"Not right away." Hop Pop explained, trying not to panic. "Love doves prefer to let their prey marinate in fear first."
Felicia groaned in anger and annoyance, "Can it, Plantar! This is all your fault! If you taught your grandson proper courtship technique—"
"My fault?" Hop Pop responded in kind. "It's obviously yours!"
Anne grunted as she pulled a magazine out of her bag with her teeth, spitting it out as it turned to a random page, "Guys, it says here that our relationships define us, and nothing else. Nothing else!"
Everyone started talking all at once, Hop Pop and Felicia blaming each other while Anne was going on about random romance facts that may or may not be true, all the while Polly was reaching her breaking point, having had quite enough.
"ENOUGH!" She screamed, making everyone go silent and give her their full attention. "It's ALL your faults!" Everyone tried to argue, but Polly wasn't having any of it. "Zip it! The only reason we're here marinating is because you all had to play matchmaker!" She pointed a flipper at the two adults. "You two were greedy, plain and simple!"
"Maybe a little." Hop Pop admitted.
"It's nuanced." Felicia added.
"Nice." Anne declared with a pleased smile. "Totally innocent for once. You two should be ashamed."
"Are you kidding?!" Polly yelled, appalled at Anne believing she was innocent in all this. "Sprig only went through with this because of you and this dumb magazine!"
She then snatched the magazine away before ripping it into shreds with her teeth, panting heavily when she finished.
"Wow. I feel lighter somehow, more... free." Anne said in a trance-like tone, before blinking in realization. "Wait, where's Shadow when you need him?!"
"Right here." The boy declared as he jumped into the nest, with Sprig and Ivy by his side. "Saw you guys getting abducted overhead and came to rescue you."
Shadow then drew out his sword and cut them free from the goo before carrying everyone out of the nest, everyone letting out a sigh of relief.
"We're also here to tell you we don't want to date each other and we never will." Ivy explained.
"We know. Polly set us straight." Hop Pop nodded.
"Look, kids, we—" Felicia tried to say.
"Sprig, I'm so sorry." Anne apologized.
Suddenly, there was a shriek from behind, everyone turning to see the love doves landing on the nest and roaring at them, no intention of letting their prey escape.
"I always tell them, 'Save the heartfelt apologies for when we get to safety'." Polly whined.
"Shadow, now would be a good time to rip them a new one!" Anne said, looking to her mentor.
Shadow, on the other hand, only stood with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.
"Watch and learn."
"AMBUSH!"
Suddenly, Sprig jumped from the trees, latching onto the neck of the male love dove, surprising everyone, even the female dove looked in shock as the small frog wacked at the male dove's neck, the dove desperately trying to throw him off.
"Take that, you beautiful creature!" Sprig yelled, before whacking it one more time in the neck, rendering it unconscious. The female dove swooped in, threw Sprig to the side before embracing her mate, nuzzling against him.
"Ivy, finish it!" Shadow said.
Nodding, the young frog girl cocked her arm back and threw her stick, hitting the female dove in the neck, knocking her unconscious as she fell next to her mate.
The Plantars, Sundews and Anne looked over, watching the two unconscious doves majestically in the embrace of the other.
"Amazing." Hop Pop said. "Even in defeat, they're majestic."
Soon enough, the group got a safe distance away from the nest before Anne spoke up, "You taught Sprig and Ivy how to do that?"
"Only a little, yes." Shadow nodded. "Nothing too graphic. Don't wanna scar them for life."
"Come along now, Ivy." Felicia said. "Let's get you home so I can apologize safely."
"Okay." Ivy nodded before turning to her friends as she and her mother started to walk home. "That was fun. See ya, Sprig! See ya, Shadow!"
"See ya, Ivy!" Sprig waved her goodbye.
"Remember to practice your form!" Shadow called.
"Sprig, next time we won't get the courtship kit out until you're good and ready." Hop Pop declared.
"When Sprig decides he's ready, right?" Shadow said with narrowed eyes.
"Of course!" Hop Pop nodded before picking up Polly. "Now I can focus on finding love for Polly."
"Nooooooo!" Polly yelled as she was carried away.
Shadow facepalmed, before Anne spoke up, "Well, that's the end of that. Now you and Ivy can go back to being just friends."
"Yep." Sprig nodded with a smile, turning to watch Ivy leave.
The frog girl waved back, the wave which Sprig returned, both Shadow and Anne knowing that look on his face.
"You just fell in love with her, didn't you?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, I just fell in love with her."
Meanwhile, back at the standing gravestone, several incense candles were lit, the white cloaked stranger kneeling before the stone, their head bowed as though they were in a meditative state, their body surrounded by a flame of blazing white aura.
Soon, their single crimson eye opened, their head tilting upward at the stone, filled with determination and bitterness, before taking off to the skies above, vanishing among the clouds.