Epilogue

Finn felt like a jerk. It was his decision to leave his friends behind indefinitely, his decision to quit being the hero. He had to, though. After all that had happened, he felt like his gut would implode if he even thought about going back.

He still had one more friend he felt like he had to say goodbye to. He knocked on her door.

Marceline opened the door. "Hey, Finn," she said.

"Hey Marceline. I've come to say goodbye."

"I think you've got your protocols mixed up there," she said. "Usually when you come, you say hello. Goodbye is what you say when you go."

"Well, I guess I've come to go," said Finn. "I mean, I'm going away from here and I don't know when I'll ever be back."

"C'mon in and tell me all about it." He followed her inside. She began to float parallel to the ground, and she crossed her legs and put her arms behind her head. "Okay, unload on me. I was right about Princess Bubblegum, wasn't I?"

"Yes," admitted Finn. "She only did what she did to keep me away from Flame Princess." He went on to briefly explain the Battle of Fire Kingdom.

"So Flame Princess is dead?" said Marceline. "That sucks, she sounded interesting. Hey, I've been meaning to ask - where's your hat, Finn?"

"I gave it to Ice King to thank him for saving my life."

The next thing he knew, she was on her feet and her hand was on his shoulder. "Ice King saved your life? Are you kidding me? Did he do it on purpose?"

"Oh yeah, he totally did! It was crazy noble. Uh... are... are you crying?"

Marceline wiped at her eyes. "Uh, no... it's nothing. It's just... he saved me once, too. It was a long time ago. I didn't know he still had it in him. So, you're sure you have to leave over this?"

Finn found Marceline's couch to be extremely uncomfortable, but he sat down anyway. "I can't go back, Marcy. It'd be like saying things could go back to being the way they were, and they can't! Nothing can ever be the same now."

She crossed her arms. "Yeah, I see where you're coming from. I've had to make some clean breaks in my time. Hey, but do you wanna hang out one more time before you go? I've got an idea for a song we could work on."

For the first time since he got there, Finn smiled.

"OK, I think we're ready to record it now," said Marceline. "You ready, Finn?"

"Totes."

She pushed the record button. For the first verse, Marceline played the bass alone. Her soulful voice slid out of her like blood from a light puncture wound.

It's not easy making friends when you're the Vampire Queen.
You try to have some fun with mortals, but they just think you're mean.
But then you encounter a mortal kid who's so unstoppably cool
That he always keeps it totally real even when he's playing the fool...

Finn joined in on the ukelele as she prepared to sing the higher-pitched chorus.

Goodbye Finn
I'll remember our time together
Goodbye Finn
A part of you will live forever
(Pitch lowers) Goodbye Finn
Hit me up if you ever come round... again.

Sorry to hear that Bubblegum was such a jerk to you.
Stole your heart, even if it was to save the land of Ooo.
I know right now you must feel like you'll never trust someone again,
But I want you to remember, Finn, that we remain true friends...

Goodbye Finn
I'll remember our time together
Goodbye Finn
A part of you will live forever
Goodbye Finn
Hit me up if you ever come round... again.

Marceline hit stop on her recording equipment. "Hmm," she said. "Not my best work, but it'll do." She ejected a tape and put it in a portable tape player, which she handed to Finn. "It's a going away present," she said.

"Marceline... You're the best. I'm really gonna miss you."

"Just don't go all 'tragic hero with a troubled past' over this, okay? Those types are zero fun, and you're too cool for that."

Soon Finn was walking again. Now his footsteps took him nowhere but away from the life he'd always known.

He just had to figure out exactly where it was he was going.

Author's Notes: I hadn't planned to post anymore on this story. What I did plan, after a few of you requested it, was to write a sequel. I planned most of it out, and then realized that my new story had several problems and I'm not sure if I can fix them. I also realized, however, that the first scene I wrote for it works just as well as an epilogue to this story, so here it is. "Goodbye Finn" does have a tune, although I realize after the fact that the chorus sounds a bit too much like the "what am I to you" part from "My Best Friends in the World."

As for the sequel, its fate is up in the air. I've thought of ways to fix a few of its problems, but I'm still not sure. I'm going to go ahead and tell y'all that it involves pairing Finn up with Susan Strong, which research has told me is a very, VERY unpopular idea. A lot of people think the two of them are related, though the show never even hinted as much. So, since I've told you, you'll probably tell me not to write it anyway.