Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time

...

Time was not a relevant thing for somebody like Princess Bubblegum or Marceline, their life spans having already spaned over centuries. Time without a special someone however was something which caused great dismay. Without that someone close nearby, days had morphed into weeks, months and even years; five years to be precise.

Upon this, the anniversary of Finn's leaving, Princess Bubblegum had sought fit to call to her those that had been closest to the human for an afternoon together, reminiscing about both the good times and the bad. No matter how much they tried to avoid it they could not help but bring up at least one bad memory during these times together.

It had all started four years ago when Jake came to them all looking for Finn, the shape shifting dog stating that Finn had decided to go out on a solo journey. Jake had not thought much about it at the time, having been too deep into a game with BMO at the time. A single day had passed and still Jake had not thought much about it, thinking that he'd be back within the week. When the week had come and gone, Jake had gone searching for him at all of Finn's main hang out points, including Marceline, Princess Bubblegum and Flame Princesses old house. Together, those four had set out upon a journey of their own in an attempt to find Finn but no matter how far they looked, how long they gazed, they could never find any clue to where he had gone.

Flame Princess, determined to find Finn no matter what the cost, had searched over a dozen dungeons within a week, praying that among the bones of lost souls she would not come across the corpse of her ex boyfriend. When she had given up on finding Finn, she held a presidential election within the fire kingdom in order to find a new ruler as she believed that she no longer had the drive to rule her own empire when she couldn't even find one single person. The night she had given up she had ended up in the hospital, almost having cried herself almost to the point of extinguishment.

Marceline had fared no better with the search as she had only the night to work with. Flying from village to village, those who were not frightened by her appearance were able to give her no clues that would help her in her search. During the dead of night she had infiltrated the Ice King's fortress hoping that the person who was once her best friend hadn't done something that he wouldn't be allowed to live to regret. Her search however came up with no answers and no clues to follow. Figuring that Finn would be Finn, she had subjected herself to wait it out until her weenie came home. As the months passed though she lost more and more hope that she would ever see the human again and in a fit of rage she had gone into the Night O'sphere and caused such destruction and mayhem that her father had never been prouder.

Having had known Finn for the longest amongst the three women, Bubblegum had taken it far worse than the other two had thought she might have. Weeks would pass without food, sleep or a shower as the princess of the Candy Kingdom researched every possible element into what could have happened. While Marceline and Flame Princess had searched by any normal means, Bonnie had spent her time looking at all of the abnormal ways that could potentially explain Finn's disappearance. She went as far as to create a portal to an alternate dimension and after having dismissed all of the affection sent her way by the numerous princes in that world she returned without having progressed any further in her search. Numerous failed experiments followed and she soon found herself in the hospital right next to Flame Princess, failing to keep care of herself had almost killed the pink haired princess.

By pure chance the three of them had met one evening and had been able to share with one another their feelings for the boy and how they had gone about their search for him. With mutual agreement, they would come together every two months and talk.

Nothing more, nothing less.

When they met the first couple of times, needless to say the conversation was always about Finn. As time wore on however, their talks began to lighten in mood but never did they forget why they were there in the first place.

"I made some tea," announced Princess Bubblegum as she brought over a boiling kettle, the three teacups already upon the table where Flame Princess was seated.

"Thank you," said the elemental as she accepted the beverage. As she watched the boiling water enter her teacup, she reminded herself of the first time the princess of the Candy Kingdom had brought her this drink. It was unlike anything that she had tasted before and while it was at first painful to drink she had gotten used to it and it felt more like a tickling sensation now as it vaporised within her.

"And one for you Marceline," said Princess Bubblegum as she lifted up the teacup. The Vampire Queen, who had been lazily floating above them, took the drink without question.

"Cheers," she said nonchalantly as she postured herself so that when she began to drink the liquid wouldn't spill over the carpet. The event had happened before, something which the scientific princess had not been too happy about.

"So have you thought of my invitation to come live here in the Candy Kingdom?" Princess Bubblegum asked of the elemental as she took a seat at the table.

"I have but I'll have to decline," said Flame Princess as she took a sip of her drink before placing it back down on the table in front of her. "While I may be able to learn things about ruling a kingdom from you, that is no longer the life I achieve."

"I understand that," said Princess Bubblegum. "The invite still stands however if you want to live in an area more populated."

"I like the peace and quiet," said FP. "I don't have to worry about the hustle and bustle of the street and I'm just free to be myself. No expectations on me and no worries."

"You've got the right frame of mind," said Marceline as she added her two cents to the conversation. "You should come around my cave more often and jam, I'm sure I've got some kind of instrument that you'll take a liking too."

"Thank you, I'll do that someday," said Flame Princess with a smile.

Before the conversation could continue further, the phone in the back corner began to ring loudly. "Excuse me," said Princess Bubblegum as she stood up and made her way over to the telephone.

"It's probably that little peppermint man servant of hers," said Marceline with a shrug not really paying too much attention. That was of course until Princess Bubblegum's words became loud enough that they could almost be heard through the walls.

"LSP, calm down," said the leader of the Candy Kingdom over the phone. "Slow down, you're not making any sense. What do you mean it's the news of the decade? Who? It's him, who's him?"

Marceline and Flame Princess looked at one another in confusion, wondering just what the sugary princess was talking about. It was clear by the look on one another's face that they had no real clue what the phone call was about. When Princess Bubblegum put the phone down however they looked to her to see that there was a state of shock within her eyes.

"Finn's back."

Within a heartbeat Flame Princess had crossed the distance between the two of them, her eyes demanding that PB reveal more of what she knew. "Let's not get our hopes up," said PB as she tried to calm down the elemental woman.

"She's right," said Marceline as she floated across to join the other two. "Four years have passed and LSP isn't really the most accurate person when it comes to rumours. That being said, there's no harm in checking it out."

"I'll arrange a carriage," said Princess Bubblegum as she set about her duty to her friends, leaving Marceline and Flame Princess alone.

"Like she said, we shouldn't get our hopes up too much," said Marceline as the immortal vampire placed a comforting hand on FP's shoulder.

"I just want it to be true so much though," said FP as she rubbed her forearms anxiously. Truly, Marceline couldn't blame her. Unlike her and PB who had already lived well beyond a normal lifespan, Flame Princess now was only nineteen years of age and had already accomplished more than many would in their lifetimes. At the same time though she was still young and often let her emotions get the better of her. Thankfully though after accepting Princess Bubblegum's invitations, Flame Princess had undergone both research and extensive surgery and no longer did her emotions were no longer directly linked to her actions as an elemental.

"We all want it to be true," said Marceline as she removed her hand as to not get too burnt. Even though her skin was singed it was already starting to mend itself thanks to her restorative abilities. "Even though we're trying to think on the positive side we have to accept the reality that it may just be false information."

"I know," said Flame Princess as she lowered her head slightly.

"Carriage is ready," said Princess Bubblegum as she re-entered the room. "According to the information Lumpy Space Princess gave me it should take us about an hour and a half to reach our destination."

"Which way are we heading?" asked Flame Princess.

"West."

"West?" repeated Marceline. "An hour and a half by carriage west will lead us to the ocean."

"But, Finn hates the ocean," said Flame Princess, remembering that her boyfriend at the time had told her that little bit of information, something she had found quite amusing as she had still believed he was a water elemental at the time.

"Indeed, which is why I can't truly believe that he would be arriving this way," said PB as she cusped her chin with the palm of her hand. "LSP stated that the person whom she had heard this information from stated that a male human was coming to land via boat in a couple of hours. This in and of itself is hard to believe as there are only a handful of boats able to cross the ocean without fear of being destroyed."

"Somehow I don't think Finn has been on a cruise liner all this time," said Marceline.

"Still, it's as much of a lead as anything," said Princess Bubblegum. "All rumours start off as fragments of some kind of truth. It's worth checking it out at least. If it turns out to be nothing than we waste nothing but time, if we do nothing however we may give up all hope of finding Finn."

While her words were dark in nature, both Marceline and Flame Princess could easily see where she was coming from. With synchronised nods of approval, they began to prepare themselves for the journey ahead.

...

The carriage ride was a silent one to say the least. While the three women beforehand had been happy to talk with one another, they sat in silence as the anticipation of the destination weighed upon them. The blinds within the carriage were drawn to prevent any sunlight from entering on the odd chance that the protective clothes that Marceline was wearing wasn't enough.

"We should be arriving shortly," announced the coach driver in a loud enough voice that the three people within could hear.

"Thank you," replied the pink haired princess before picking up a nearby umbrella that was sitting aside the carriage door. "Hopefully this will be enough shelter for you Marceline."

"It'll do," said the Vampire Queen as she took the object without question.

"What do you think he'll be like?" asked Flame Princess as she rubbed her knees together awkwardly.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves," said Princess Bubblegum.

"Your highness," said the carriage driver. "Lady Rainicorn is currently flying above us, I believe she got your message."

"That's good to hear," said the princess in a relieved tone.

"Oh, and princess, we've arrived," said the driver before he pulled upon the reigns of the horses, pulling them to a stop. Before anybody could even reach the handle of the door it was opened from the outside revealing Jake standing there with Lady Rainicorn standing behind him.

"Where is he, where is he, where is he?" Jake shouted over and over.

"If the information we received is correct, he should be arriving by boat within a few minutes now," said Princess Bubblegum as she stepped out of the carriage quickly followed by her two friends.

"Naneun gong-gi eissneun dong-an naneun jeobgeun hamdae leul boassda," said Lady as the door to the carriage was closed.

"Sorry, I missed that one," said Flame Princess not having been able to understand what Lady said.

"We saw a fleet of ships approaching when we were flying," explained Jake.

"How many?" asked Marceline.

"Five, you can see them coming in now," said Jake as he pointed towards the water.

"Alright, everybody split up and move to where a ship is going to dock," said Princess Bubblegum. "If Finn's on one of these ships we'll find him."

"Got it," said Flame Princess as she zipped away to where the furthest boat would be docking shortly. Without delay, the rest of them split up as well intent on finding Finn.

...

At the first dock, Jake stretched up high enough so that he towered above the rest of the nearby people to be easily seen. As the people aboard the ship began to get off he set about shouting Finn's name as loudly as he could but as the crowds began to thin however he was at a loss, unable to find his brother he could only hope that the others had better luck than he had.

...

"Eodi issni Finn," said Lady Rainicorn as she called out for her boyfriend's brother. With no luck on the ground, she took to the air in order to gain a better vantage point but even from above she had no luck with finding the human.

...

Marceline had not waited for her designated ship to dock, rather floating over the small breadth of water and quickly set about investigating whether or not her friend was aboard. Many of the people who had been on the ship were scared by her sudden appearance but she paid no attention to them as she went about her way, the umbrella above her head protecting her from the sun's rays. "Oi you," she said grabbing a nearby passenger by the scruff of their collar, her arms protected from the sunlight by large gloves. "Was there a human aboard this ship?"

"A human, I thought they were all instinct," said the person in response to which Marceline scowled in annoyance. "Please don't eat me."

Tossing them to the ground, Marceline flew back to shore finding that the ship she had arrived on was the slowest of them all, the other four boats already having docked. Rushing off, she was determined to find out if any of the others had had any luck. Sadly though it was at this time that she failed to notice the small dingy, tiny in size being towed behind the larger vessel, it's sole occupant lifting an hand up in order to shield his eyes from the sun's blinding light.

...

"Naega amuli sido eolmana yeolsimhi, geuleul chaj-eul su eobs-seubnida," said Lady as she told of her attempts to the rest of the group.

"Me neither," said Princess Bubblegum. "I guess it was just false hope after all."

"All this ocean air is messing up my sense of smell as well," said Jake. "Even if he was somewhere nearby I wouldn't be able to track him that way."

Marceline, seeing how distraught the Flame Princess was, put a comforting arm around her shoulder in a semi-hug. "There there, we knew to expect this from the beginning," she said.

"It doesn't make it any easier to handle," said Flame Princess as she embraced Marceline, the Vampire doing her best not to show that the burning sensation was hurting her too much.

"C'mon, we should go," said Princess Bubblegum as she started making her way to the carriage the rest of the group following suit. Gone was the hope and cheeriness that they had held previously, replaced with sorrow and heartache. Their walk back to the carriage was a silent one until Flame Princess stopped in place, causing the others to look at her in confusion.

"Everything alright?" asked Jake.

Flame Princess didn't answer as she looked over her shoulder before turning around completely. Walking steadily towards them, with a rucksack slung over a single shoulder was a man walking towards them with a large cloak covering his appearance. Flame Princess however could feel a warmth radiating off of him, something that she had once felt before. Lifting his right arm up, the man grabbed hold of the hood of the cloak and tore it back, revealing locks of golden hair and a face that none of them could forget.

"FINN!" they all exclaimed as one, shocked completely by the human's appearance.

"Sup guys," said Finn casually before Flame Princess crossed the distance between them quickly before landing a burning fist into his stomach causing the wind to be knocked out of him. "Flame Princess, the hell was that for?"

"That was for making me worried," said Flame Princess before wrapping Finn up in a hug, one which quickly caused his cloak to catch fire.

"Excuse me one second," said Finn as he pushed Flame Princess away before the group watched him tear the cloak off of his body before he suffered burns to his skin and flesh. In doing so however he showed them something that none of them had expected and none of them could prevent themselves from looking at where his right arm should have been, a horrendous scar stretching across his shoulder.

"Oh my Glob Finn, what happened!" exclaimed Jake shocked at seeing his brother with only a single arm. Finn looked up at the group, a sadness in his eyes that they had only seen on the most rarest of occasions.

"I found my dad," he said softly.

"But Finn, dad's been dead for ages," said Jake trying to be as compassionate as he could.

"Not our dad Jake, my dad," said Finn clarifying the situation. With those simple words, everybody could suddenly understand the task that Finn had set himself upon.

And in that quest he had found his human father.

...

Hope you enjoyed.