𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲❥•𝑀𝐽 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦•/𝒞ℴ𝓂𝓅𝓁ℯ𝓉ℯ𝒹/

🎀𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻🎀

Shoula opened her eyes slowly, squinting as the rays of sunlight immediately met her vision. She groaned, wriggling about slightly, feeling the soft bedsheets move along with her. There was the unmistakable feeling of Michael's grip around her, and from his lack of movement, she could tell he was still asleep.

The memories the night before flooded her mind as she sat up, filling her with a very brief sense of panic.

Then...she looked around the room.

All around her were designs and features of architecture that she could not recognize, making her eyes light up as she shamelessly broke into a hopeful, knowing smile. The entire room was unfamiliar to her, and for the first time it was a good thing.

"Michael!" she hit his chest lightly, waking him up with a start. "Michael....where are we?" she turned to look at him with the widest grin.

He frowned a little, scanning the room before the unequivocal look of recognition took over his features. They had woken up at home, his home - in his bedroom.

"We're....back....home," he laughed in disbelief.

Shoula quickly glanced at her palm, finally being met with the sight that had alluded her mother for the longest time - the same sight that had alluded Shoula herself, until now.

"It's...gone," she laughed, showing Michael her clear palm. "It's gone!"

He hurriedly glanced at his palm as well, seeing that his own mark had disappeared too.

"I can't believe it..." he breathed out, that silly smile still plastered on his face. "We did it,"

"It worked!" she cried out happily, throwing her arms around him as if there would have been no tomorrow.

"You're back....you're here, with me," he pulled away slightly, but only to take in the sight of her features. "You're...finally safe,"

"I'm with you," she smiled as a wistful giggle escaped her. "As long as I'm with you....everything will be right with my world," her smile widened as she recited his words as her own.

Before either of them could say anything more, a series of loud knocking resounded at the door - taking the both of them by surprise.

"Mike?! Are you still asleep?!"

Michael's eyes widened as his head snapped toward the bedside table, where the clock and the calendar rested. It appeared as though everything in Thornflower Valley had taken place in one night in his reality - because from what he could analyze, it was merely the morning after the night he had fallen into his alternate reality.

Yet he was certain that he had spent five whole nights in the valley.

Perhaps fate had also gifted them time as a reward.

"Who is that?" Shoula whispered with a giggle.

"Ah that....would be Frank," he groaned, getting to his feet as the knocking continued. "My manager,"

"Ooh," she grinned, folding her legs as though she were sitting cross-legged on the floor. "You have a manager? Wow, you weren't kidding about fame and notoriety," she couldn't stop smiling.

"Well you're going to learn a lot more about me, and I can only hope you'll be willing to do that," he remarked absentmindedly as he walked toward the door, thinking of what he was going to tell Frank.

Affectionately fiddling with the locket she had managed to take with her from Fred, she felt a sense of certainty wash over her as she replied. "Of course I want to stay for everything. I love you," she figured there was no point in waiting for logic anymore. Fate had already dealt with them directly, and that experience had changed the both of them. They could now take steps, and acknowledge things that perhaps they would have been far too apprehensive to have done before their wild ride.

It was the same exact feeling Shoula was certain her parents had felt for each other within days of their first meeting.

It was something special, something extremely rare - and something that actually existed.

Shoula and Michael were proof of that.

She stared at him, a playful smile on her lips as she anticipated the response she just knew she was going to get.

He turned his back toward her as though he was going to open the door for Frank, but Shoula knew better. Slowly, she was growing more confident in the way she felt about Michael.

Then he stopped, back still facing her as a playful smile graced his own lips. "Shoula?" he turned his head slightly so that he could look back at her.

"Yeah?" she grinned from ear to ear.

"I love you too,"

She'd known it, she'd long predicted his reply when he had said it.

Perhaps it wouldn't have made sense to anyone else, but the truth was that it didn't need to make sense to anyone else - it only needed to feel right for them.

At the end of the day, they had been on a journey that very, very few people would have had the opportunity to live out in several of their lifetimes - and so whatever had been designed for them was meant only for them to know, only for them to understand.

Love doesn't happen overnight, but for them - it might have been several fates in the making, finally aligning for this particular one to be theirs.

And in that split second of a moment, Shoula was sure she could hear the whisper of her mother's voice - never lasting long enough for the young woman that would always miss her mother dearly.

"I'm proud of you, darling, you did it. You found love, created love, and now you shall keep it safe forever - truly. Your happiness has been fulfilled,"

. ⠈.✧══════🎀══════✧. ⠈.