Heartwarming / An Alchemist Abroad

• Sprig's determination to cheer Marcy up in the first chapter, to the point of openly defying Hop Pop. Kid just wants to see his big sister happy.
• Polly's speech to Marcy in chapter 2, assuring her that she, Sprig, nor Hop Pop blame her for their fugitive status, and that they're family no matter what.
• In chapter 3, Marcy loses consciousness after overusing her powers. When she comes to days later, she finds Sprig and Polly cuddled up to her and asleep, implying that the two of them were so worried that they refused to leave her side.
• When Sasha is captured by Grime and his toads, Yunan immediately goes after them, prioritizing rescuing her over executing Hop Pop - her actual mission. When she finds out, Sasha is clearly shocked and touched.
• Marcy telling Sprig and Polly myths and legends from earth as bedtime stories while on the pirate ship.
• In chapter 7, Marcy introduces herself to King Andrias as Marcy Regina Plantar.
• While she doesn't forgive Marcy for stranding them in Amphibia, Sasha refuses to hate her for it, and is willing to give her a second chance.
• Sasha when she was de-aged in chapter 11. As far as she knows, she's on an alien world, far from home, with no one she knows or recognizes, including the similarly de-aged Marcy, due to losing eight years of memories. Yet, her first instinct is to help and protect Marcy, a girl she doesn't know at all, simply because she's vulnerable and needs help.
• The reunion between Marcy, Sprig, Ivy, and Maddie in chapter 15.
• Marcy giving Sasha a much needed hug after she talks about her parents.
• Pretty much all of chapter 17, which is focused on celebrating Marcy's 14th birthday.
  • The fact that chapter 17 happens at all is because Sasha wanted to make up for ruining Marcy's 13th birthday.
  • Marcy's fleeting, bittersweet reunion with Anne.
  • Sasha refuses to let Marcy blame herself for the current belligerence between her and Anne.
    Sasha: Marcy, I know this is gonna be hard to accept, but you are not, in fact, the source of all suffering.
• Then there's chapter 18, in which Marcy spends time with her family before they leave for frog valley and she leaves with Sasha for the first temple.
  • Polly and her siblings's excitement at both Frobo's successful reactivation and Polly finally getting her legs.
  • Everything to do with Frobo.
    • When Polly asks if he remembers her, Frobo's response translates to "friend".
    • He tries to climb up onto Marcy's shoulder, because he was feeling left out and wanted to join Sprig and Polly in being carried around by their big sister.
    • On that note, when Polly declares herself his big sister, Marcy and Sprig don't argue, effectively accepting Frobo as the newest member of the Plantar family.
      Marcy, when Polly and Sprig start to bicker: Alright, that's enough. No fighting in front of the baby.
  • Polly cites Marcy as a role model for being a good big sister, nearly moving the latter to tears.
  • Towards the end of the chapter, Marcy gets one last big-sister moment when Sprig and Polly climb up onto her shoulders while Frobo hangs off her back like a backpack, carrying them around as she looks for Hop Pop.
• We learn that Anne is called The Star Weaver, a title she apparently earned by using her illusion magic to tell stories about Marcy.
• Marcy's return to Wartwood in chapter 23. The excitement and happiness she and her siblings have when they reunite can put a smile on anyone's face.
  • Later scenes in the chapter put a damper on this: Marcy spends the morning running errands, but every shopkeeper either treats her coldly or fearfully; even Maddie's father is untrusting. But things pick up when she's later approached by various townsfolk - like Ms. Croaker, Buck Leatherleaf, and even Braddock - to have a friendly chat and catch up. It takes a dreary start and turns it uplifting, showing Marcy that she still has friends who'll welcome her in Wartwood.
• In chapter 24, due to magic temple shenanigans and falling into freezing water, Marcy gets hypothermia. When they realize she'll need skin-to-skin contact to warm up, Anne and Sasha don't hesitate to undress and cuddle^note for lack of a better term with Marcy, prioritizing her survival over their embarrassment. Marcy - who is still dealing with guilt over her mistakes, and had just dealt with doppelgangers of her friends cruelly taunting her - is taken back by this, but is also reassured that her friends, despite all that she did, would do whatever was needed to keep her safe.
  Marcy: Thank you...