When they were completely alone, there was an awkward silence. 

Then Marshall sighed. "I am so sorry that I hurt you." 

Fionna sighed as well. "You're the one who is still bedridden. I was... I'm sorry, Marshall. I thought that you were dead, and it just... if you really had died, I would be devastated, and I just..." 

"Are you telling me that if I had pretended to be dead for a while you would be madly in love with me?" He asked, intrigued.

Fionna was not impressed. "More like extremely devastated, then very mad when I found out. Why did you even do all of this, Marshall?" 

"You attacked me first." 

"After you raised the dead and surrounded us with fire, I think that I could be defended. But I am sorry that things took that turn." 

"No, you were right. I needed to be taken down." 

"Why'd you do it in the first place?" 

"Because you wanted a villain, and I wanted attention. And I didn't trust you, because I don't trust anyone. Not anymore, it just... it hurts when people leave, and I knew that you were inevitably going to leave, so I had to make you leave before you hurt me. Does that make sense?" 

Fionna nodded. "I guess so, yeah." 

"And what's your backstory?" He asked. 

She ended up telling him her story, and he returned the favor. 

"And I thought my mom was bad." Fionna breathed. 

"Yeah, well, we were both dealt terrible hands. But you let it make you into a better person. I didn't." Marshall replied. 

"Hey, Marshall?" Fionna asked. 

"Mm?" 

"I love you." She blurted out. 

He pulled her close. "I love you too. But we're supposed to be enemies."

"I know... I know. But my sister thinks I should hang up my mask—" 

"No. This town needs you. I need you. Ignore your sister." 

"We can't keep doing this." 

"...is that offer you gave me still open?" He asked. "To join you?" 

"As partners, not sidekicks, but yeah." Fionna smiled softly. "But what if we break up, or something?" 

"I promise, I won't freak out and try to take over the town again, as long as you don't leave me all alone." 

"What if I die?" 

"Don't talk about that. Please, for the love of God, don't talk about that. Because that means that I would be all alone." 

"You were the one that I thought died."

"I know, I know.  But I am terrified of being alone." 

"Marshall. I. Thought. You. Died." 

"What am I supposed to do about that? I know you did, and I'm sorry. But I can't change it, and neither can you." 

She laced her free hand with his. "Okay. But back to you being left alone. I'll do my best to make sure that you're never alone, in the dark, again. And sometimes things are going to be hard, but if you need someone, I'll be there." 

"Thank you. Thank you for always being there." 

"Thank you for joining me." She smiled. "And hey, it's my job to look after people. What kind of person would I be if I let you be hurt like this when I could easily stop it?" 

A nurse opened the door. "Um, Ms. Mertons? Your sister is looking for you." 

"I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" Fionna shot Marshall a worried look. 

"Despite what I just told you, I can handle short periods of time on my own. I'll be fine." 

"I love you." Fionna said, leaning in and kissing him. 

"Mm... love you too." 

Fionna followed the nurse where Cake was waiting. 

"Where were you?" She asked, hugging Fionna.

"Um... I was getting a snack from the vending machine." Lied Fionna. 

"No, I checked there. You were with that boy, weren't you?" 

"Cake... he's really not that bad." 

Cake held up her younger sister's arm. "Then I supposed you just fell down the stairs and got this yourself?" 

"It wasn't like that." 

"No, you're not going to think it's like that, because your brain is trying to make sense of it all!" 

"In all fairness, I put him in a worse state." 

"That's not much better." Cake frowned. 

Fionna sighed, before trying to explain. "It's not like that! We were arch-enemies!" 

"That doesn't make it better, Fionna! You can't be both!" 

"We're not. We chose the option that makes us both happier and less hospitalized." 

"I don't care! There's still the fact that you were hospitalized in the first place! He's a bad man, and he's bad for you! If you stay with him, you're going to get hurt, and I don't want that to happen to you! After Mom and Dad died, you, me and Charmiane were the only ones left, and she's God knows where she is. You and Mochro are all I have, so please don't make me lose you because of a nutjob who has issues with world domination!" 

"He's not... he's changed!" Fionna argued. 

Cake raised an eyebrow. "That's really your excuse? People never change, Fionna. There's a reason why the phrase, 'a leopard can't change his spots' exists. And if that psycho tried to take over the town once, you can bet he's going to snap and try again." 

"As long as I stay with him..." Fionna trailed off, realizing how bad that sounded. 

"Oh. My. God. As long as you stay with him, he won't turn into a psycho? So you're going to take all the damage that he was going to spread everywhere? No way, I'm not letting that happen." 

"It's not like that at all! He just needs someone, because he's lonely." 

"And he's a psycho! It doesn't matter that he's lonely! Because he's still going to go nuts on the town, or on you!" 

"No, he won't! He tried not to hurt anyone!" 

"Which is why you have a broken arm?" 

"Look, I solved the problem, I'll be okay. And he won't hurt me, or I will leave him, okay? And that would be both better and worse than just kicking his ass in return, because it would both destroy him and free me if I was actually in a situation like the one you describe. But I'm not. And he needs someone to be there and tell him that he's actually a good person and not a waste of space." 

Cake scowled. "You really think that?" 

"Why wouldn't I? I love him. And even if he isn't, that's none of your business. I'm an adult, Cake. I can make my own decisions."