Marceline sat absently as she picked on her bass, staring at the wall in front of her. It was at times like this that she felt her house was empty, that her heart was empty.

No, actually the last part wasn't true. Her heart was full. It was full of misery, of sadness and desires to meet her most special someone.

She was tired, really. Tired of crying herself to sleep at night, of wishing for Simon to get back to her, of having her hopes crushed when reality hit her. Simon would never come back. Ice King was all that was left of him. Tears welled up her eyes.

Without even realizing it, Marceline started to sing,

"Still remember the time we spent together.
Still remember the time we spent in laughter.
Still remember the jokes you told me.
Still remembered the laughs you shared with me."

She played her bass in more rocky manner. She let everything out, singing as loud as she could, even as she cried her heart out.

"Still remember how gently you treated me.
Still remember how much you loved me.
Still remember the songs you sang to me.
Still remember the way you beat the slime creatures with me."

She floated outside, overcame by the desires to visit Simon, even though she knew she wouldn't meet him. Only Ice King. The shell of the person he used to be, who had already been deprived of his sanity and ability to recognize others. It was cloudy outside, so she didn't have to worry about being burned alive.

"La da, la da da. La da, la da da da."

Tears blurred her vision again when anger filled her chest, as she remembered the wretched crown. She had always hated the way the crown made Simon behave. He always called her Gunter with the crown on. She then remembered the penguin he loved so much. Was Gunter supposed to be her replacement, because deep inside, he still remembered her?

But still, it was the crown's fault. Everything was the crown's fault.

"Don't you remember when I told you,
'Don't put on the crown, I beg of you'?
Because I hated the way it made you behave,
And I regret I didn't do what I should have."

Soon she reached the Ice Kingdom. She floated outside the castle and peeked in, only to be surprised when she saw the Ice King sitting quietly on the floor with Finn and Jake sleeping by his sides, a beige blanket covering Finn's body. In her curiosity, she floated in and peered over them. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, hello, Marceline!" Ice King greeted cheerfully. "It's nice to see you here. Huh… Hey, have you been crying?"

Marceline gasped and wiped her eyes and wet cheeks. "I – I didn't cry. It was just dust."

"Oh, I see," Ice King smiled to her, and she felt like her chest had been punched. It was the same way Simon had always smiled to her.

Ice King noticed the bass in her hands and his smile widened. "Why, you have your bass with you are you here you write songs with me? You know I can always help you, I'm a pretty good lyricist."

Marceline forced a smile. "Um, I did write a song… maybe you'd like to hear it?"

"Oooh, I'd love to!" Ice King clapped in excitement. By his sides, both Finn and Jake moaned and rolled in their sleep, but they fell into deep sleep again right away. Ice King held his hands up and looked at them in alert. He then grinned sheepishly at Marceline. "Maybe if the music's not so loud?"

"What happened with them?" asked Marceline.

"Ah, you see…" Ice King grinned, "There was a slime monster in my kingdom, and boy was it huge!"

Marceline's stomach tied into a knot when she heard the word 'slime monster'. It brought back memories, bitter memories. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced herself to sound curious as she asked, "Really? What happened then?"

"Well, for some reason my powers couldn't beat it, so I called Finn and Jake to help," Ice King said in embarrassment, clearly confused of the reason why the power of his crown couldn't affect the monster. "They fought for hours and finally managed to scare it enough to run away from my kingdom. They said they'd ask Princess Bubblegum to find a way to beat it later on, with chemicals and stuff. But they're tired, very tired, and they couldn't go back to their house themselves, so I offered to let them sleep here for a while. They passed out right away, and before I could do anything Gunter put them by my sides. I didn't have the heart to wake them up, so I let them be."

Marceline nodded even though she wanted to cry again. The way Ice King looked at Finn and Jake was so… fatherly. So Simon-like. It was the same look Simon used to give to her whenever she felt sleepy. She sniffed and smiled.

"Oh right, what about the song? You said you'd let me hear it!" Ice King grinned excitedly to Marceline, like a little kid.

"Oh yeah," Marceline started to pick her bass. She took a deep breath and started to sing,

"Hey, Simon, hey
Don't you remember the time we spent together?
Don't you remember the time we spent in laughter?
Do you remember the jokes you told me?
Don't you remember the laughs you shared with me?"

Marceline glanced at the Ice King, who had closed his eyes and started to hum along with her song. She knew she couldn't jog his memory however bad she wanted to, but she was tempted to see if he would react in any way. Apparently he didn't react.

"Don't you remember how gently you treated me?
Don't you remember how much you loved me?
Don't you remember the songs you sang to me?
Don't you remember the way you beat slime creatures together with me?"

Tears began to stream down her face again. She forced herself to keep singing until the end, even though Ice King began to stare at her in confusion.

"La da, la da da. La da, la da da da.
Don't you remember when I told you,
'Don't put on the crown, I beg of you'?
Because I've always hated the way it makes you behave
And I regret that I didn't do what I should have."

Marceline ended the song with a painful gasp for air. She sobbed and wiped her tears, silently cursing and willing herself to stop crying, but she simply couldn't stop the tears.

"Marceline, why are you crying?" asked the Ice King. "Don't cry. Others will be sad too if you cry."

Marceline hiccuped when a memory slipped into her mind. Simon said it once, when she cried at night after having a nightmare.

"Marcy, why are you crying? Don't cry. Hambo will be sad too if you cry."

Ice King wanted to stand up to comfort Marceline, but Jake chose that very moment to roll and hug his arm and started mumbling about Lady Rainicorn and the 'sexy Korean' she spoke. At the same time, Finn moved his head and moaned, muttering about The Lich and his plans to extinguish all lives and how he was scared he couldn't stop him. Ice King rubbed Finn's arm and he visibly relaxed. Ice King then looked up to Marceline in worry and said, "Don't cry, Marcy. Others will be sad too if you cry."

Marcy. Her nickname, given by Simon.

Marceline looked at Ice King, trying to stifle her sobs. She wiped her tears away. Maybe, deep down, Simon Petrikov was still there. Waiting for the effects of the crown to wear off, fighting to see the world once destroyed. Fighting to meet his Betty once again. Fighting to see his Marcy once again. Marceline laughed a hollow laugh. Who was she kidding? Even if her theory was true, she knew it wouldn't come true. Simon's personality was suppressed completely by the crown. Even when he said he could handle it, he lost himself in its magic.

"Marcy?"

She stopped crying at last. And she was tired. She wanted to rest. She glanced at Ice King's welcoming laps and sat down, then she put her head down on his laps.

"Marceline? Are you sure you're okay?" Ice King asked. "Or is it that you secretly liked me? You know, I can always be together with you if you want…"

"Ice King, we've been through this before. I don't like you that way," Marceline said. "I'm so tired right now. Can I just stay this way for a while?"

"Oh," Ice King sounded a bit hurt. "Sure. It'll be a while until Finn and Jake wakes up anyway."

Marceline glanced at the Ice King, remembering the time when she was still with Simon. He would sometimes let her sleep on his lap just like this. Whenever she was too scared to sleep because of the slime creatures that haunted her dreams.

"Hey, Marceline, I find that song of yours really great," said Ice King. "I like it. What is it called?"

Marceline smiled. "I call it Marcy's Song."

With a sigh, Marceline closed her eyes. She smiled.

Deep down, the Ice King was still the Simon Petrikov she knew.

A/N: whew! Done at last.

This is my first Adventure Time fic, so I'm sorry if anyone feels kinda OOC. This is actually inspired by a pic I saw in deviantART called Naptime by ~RanchingGal. Here's the link if you want to see it:

art/Naptime-347175442

I wrote the lyrics myself, though I don't make the melody. I've always wondered how the people in Ooo seems to be able to make songs out of thin air, hahaha.

I hope you like the story! R&R please?