Chapter Status: Edited.
Elizabeth sits up, wiping away the tears that had fallen, her eyes drift down to her daughter's face and she fights back her tears yet again. She goes to speak, but her voice chokes in her throat, and she knows that if she dares to speak she won't be able to stop crying. But her goodbye can't be silent.
"Tahlia, you are such a wonderful, beautiful person, and I'm sorry that you thought your entire life that your father and I hated you. We don't... we saw who you were, your achievements, but we knew who you were going to become, we knew your destiny would be great. Your powers come from disappointment, and anger, and I know that we were selfish, but we knew if we gave you the perfect life you'd be more at risk.
"You are strong, loyal, and most of all loved by everyone around you. And I don't know how on earth I'm going to tell your father, and June, and Caleb, they're going to be so broken... No matter how many times you'd fight with them and thought they hated you, they've always looked up to you, and always will.
"I wish I was there for you more often than I was, but I knew you had to walk your own path and make your own decisions. But no matter how much I knew that you were going to be a target, it still hurts knowing that I outlived my own child. Tahlia, please, I know you're not gone, fight this baby, I believe in you."
A tear slowly slides down her cheek and lands on her arm, but nothing happens. Elizabeth holds her hand tightly.
"Come on Tahlia, wake up, believe," she begs softly.
The tear suddenly seeps into her skin, the lights above her begin to flicker.
"You can do this Tahlia," she whispers.
Tahlia gasps as she sits up quickly, the wires connected to her are ripped from the machines and she breathes heavily. The flickering stops and Tahlia turns to look at her mother, a large smile appearing on her face.
"I believed."
Elizabeth stands up, hugging her daughter quickly, gripping onto her so tightly that Tahlia fears that she will not let go. But this time she does not complain, she hugs her mother back equally as tightly. She can feel her mother shaking, but she does not feel the need to cry, a large smile on her face, joy filling her. They pull away as the door squeaks open.
"Elizabeth, I-" Anna stops, a large smile spreading onto her face, "TAHLIA!"
Tahlia quickly jumps out of her bed, hugging her tightly. At the sound of the commotion, everyone quickly runs back into the room, Dr Whale nearly fainting, while Regina, Matt, and Aaron smile happily, and Henry, Sandy, and Chloe all struggle to fight for her hug. Pan smiles in the corner.
"How? What?" Chloe asks in shock, smiling for what feels like the first time in forever.
"Her heart had stopped, but her blood was still pumping, I don't know how..." Elizabeth trails off.
"Izzy," Peter suddenly says, "she knew the cure all along, Tahlia wasn't dead, just momentarily changed!"
"That genius," Henry laughs.
"Speaking of which, I need to go see her," Tahlia decides.
"Yeah, she wanted you to see her when you woke up," Sandy says.
"But before you do that, you need to go see your family," Elizabeth says sternly.
Tahlia laughs, "of course, but first I need to talk to Peter... alone."
Everyone nods in understanding, having heard the story, it all makes sense. They all exit the room, Tahlia shutting the door before sitting on the bed.
"Thanks, for trying to save me and all," she says.
Peter shrugs, "I promised to, and even though I am a horrible person, I don't break promises."
"You say that, but I know you would have tried whether I asked you to or not," she smirks.
Peter scoffs, "you wish, now if you don't mind I have some Lost Boys to get back to."
"Well, actually, about that, when I was dying it was sort of really dramatic and everyone was crying, so once I'm done here I need to go back and see them, for real," she tells him.
He nods, "yeah, that doesn't seem too bad... you want me to keep you being alive a secret, don't you?"
"For the dramatic effect!" Tahlia defends jokingly.
Peter shakes his head, but Tahlia can see the microscopic smile that hides on his face. But she does not mention it because he hardly ever smiles, and if she did, he would surely not smile - except for the dark, evil, and sickly amused ones - for a long time.
"Anyway, I better go see my parents, you can go back if you want, I'll be there in an hour or two," she shrugs.
He nods, "see, I would, but then I will be bombarded with questions and can't keep your life a secret so..."
"So, you'll wait here for me?" she questions.
He thinks for a moment, "actually, I need to see Izzy."
"What about?" Tahlia raises an eyebrow.
"None of your business."
"Understandable, and I assume you'll just wait wherever she is for me then?" she guesses.
"I guess so, now, you better go before someone thinks I'm murdering you and only came here to watch you die or something," he decides.
"They don't think that lowly of you, except for maybe Regina... and my Mum. But Aaron and Matt don't, they were lost boys after all," she rambles.
"I remember them, good kids," he shrugs, "anyway, we should probably go."
Tahlia hops off of her bed and nods in agreement. They then leave the room and Tahlia goes straight to her mother.
"I'll be home later, okay?" she says to Henry and Anna.
They smile and nod in understanding before she and her mother begin their walk to Elizabeth's car.
"Hey, so uh, our hang out was sort of cut short, so I was thinking that maybe you'd want to hang out later? Maybe go out for dinner or something?" Aaron suggests.
Sandy struggles to hide her blush.
"Actually," Anna buds in, "when Tahlia gets home, I was going to invite Sandy, Chloe, and Nic over for a movie thing, you and Matt can join us if you want?"
"We can go out for dinner another night?" Sandy adds to the suggestion.
Aaron smiles, "yeah, that sounds nice."
When Tahlia and Elizabeth arrive home, Caleb is lying on the couch with a solemn expression on his face. He is not paying attention to anything but the television, of which, naturally, is playing a pizza advert. So, it takes him a few moments before he realises Tahlia is standing in the same room as him. His eyes quickly glance at them, then back at the television, but when her presence registers in his mind, his eyes widen and he quickly runs, enveloping her in an expected, yet intense, hug.
Tahlia has two things in common with her siblings, their brown hair and blue eyes. Caleb and June are both tall and slim, whilst Tahlia is short and chubbier, which Daniel thinks comes from his mother's side of the family. So, when Caleb hugs her, it happens more awkwardly than it should, but neither complain.
"When? How?" Caleb seems to sob.
Before Tahlia can answer, Daniel walks into the room, gasps, pushes his laptop into Elizabeth's hands and hugs his daughter tighter than Caleb did. Tahlia begins to feel at home, thankful that Izzy, however she did so, was able to save her, that all her friends were trying so hard to keep her alive.
"I don't know what happened, Izzy put a spell on her and when I was crying I begged for her to come back and she did," Elizabeth shrugs.
It is then it hits her.
"A tear is stronger than true love's kiss... Izzy stopped my heart momentarily to give people motivation to cry... what a genius," Tahlia laughs. "I better go see June," she adds.
Her family nod in agreement, although Caleb seems to be reluctant to let his sister out of his sight. It is not surprising that Caleb is worried that she may die at the drop of the hat, yet she is surprised at the fact is Caleb, out of everyone, that seems the most worried. She quietly walks up the stairs, passing her old room, and smiles at the familiarity. God, she misses this place. She knocks on June's door.
"Go away!"
Tahlia smirks and knocks again.
"Piss off!"
Tahlia then continues to knock until June gets up and opens the door.
"Fuck off!" she snaps.
Yet, she freezes when she meets Tahlia's eyes.
"Did I just hear you swear?" Tahlia teasingly gasps.
June laughs lightly, but tears fill her eyes as she steps forward and hugs her sister.
"Wow, so many hugs today," Tahlia mumbles.
June laughs weakly, her voice soft, "I knew you'd make it."
Tahlia smiles wider before they pull away.
"Yeah, you better believe in me, if you didn't I would have been offended," Tahlia laughs.
"You seem so... healthy, what happened?" she asks.
"Well, you see, I ate an apple once," Tahlia starts.
June laughs and shoves her slightly.
"No, but for real, mum's tear brought me back to life."
"Brought you back? And a tear?" June asks.
"It's a long story, mum will explain it, but right now, I need to go see Izzy," she says.
"Yeah... hey, I was thinking, it's the weekend tomorrow, and you're not working, so like, did you want to come and stay here for the weekend? I mean if you don't want to, you don't have to, but it's been quiet with you gone," June suggests, shrugging.
"Don't be so nervous, and of course, I'll come and stay," Tahlia laughs as they head down the staircase.
Caleb, Daniel, and Elizabeth look up, all sitting around the dining table. They nod to her, and in seconds she is gone. She reappears in the forest, unlike the rest of the town, this area is the only one still layered in ice and snow. The further she walks into the forest, the colder she becomes. Soon enough, she arrives at a small ice cottage, of which is layered in magic to keep it hidden from the "regular folk". She knocks on the door, and almost immediately Izzy opens the door, a large smile on her face.
"Come on in, your friend is already here," she smiles formerly.
"You've seemed to change a bit, since... you know," Tahlia trails off, stepping into the cottage.
"Yes, well, I have to, I am about to run an entire realm," she laughs softly.
Almost immediately, Tahlia sees Peter sitting at an ice table, not seeming to mind the cold as he rests his exposed arms on it.
"Anyway, I came here to thank you," Tahlia smiles.
Izzy looks at her in confusion, "for what?" she questions, clueless.
"For, you know, doing what you did to save me, it was very clever of you," Tahlia replies.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she smirks, winking, before going back to looking clueless.
"And... I'm sorry for killing your mother, I tried to save her but-"
Izzy holds up her hand to silence Tahlia.
"It is I who must thank you," she starts, sadness noticeable in her eyes. "Although I am distraught about what has come of my mother, I know that you did try your hardest to save her. I know you did not want to kill her."
Tahlia briefly glances at Peter, of who has a strange look in his eyes. But her glance only lasts for a second.
"Narnia and many other realms have been in shambles because of what my mother and Jack have done. And I must make peace with all of them once I've returned to my people and unfrozen those who my mother and Jack have hurt. And I must hold funerals for all who have been hurt, including Max."
Tahlia looks up at the sound of her late friend's name, the very thought of him pains her.
"And I will make sure his families souls go to him in the afterlife, they've been trapped since their murder," she frowns.
"You're a good person, you know that?" Tahlia smiles.
"As are you, Princess Kennedy, you have a good soul, but you must watch out for your heart."
Tahlia frowns, "you know?"
This time, Izzy glances at Peter, and Tahlia knows what he has done.
"Almost everyone in history with powers like yours has let the power consume them, for the greater good, or for the bad. You must do all that you can to stop that from happening Tahlia, this town needs you, you still have many challenges ahead," she warns.
"I'll try my hardest, but if it is for the greater good," she nods confidently.
"You must do what your heart believes is best," Izzy smiles. "Now, I only ask for one thing from you, and then you can go back to your life as it was before."
"Anything," Tahlia agrees.
"Could you please send me back to my realm?" she requests softly.
Tahlia smiles and nods, "it is the least I can do, future queen of Narnia."
Izzy, Tahlia, and Peter all step out of the cottage, Izzy melting it with the wave of her hand, leaving a field of green grass and bloomed flowers. This is how Summer is supposed to be. Tahlia concentrates, and in a matter of seconds, a moving green glow of light is in front of them.
"Thank you, Tahlia, I hope your town is able to forgive me, I will make sure those who were lost here go to a safe place," she smiles.
"Thank you, Izzy, and tell Aslan I say hi," Tahlia smiles.
Izzy nods in agreement before saying a soft goodbye and disappearing into the green light before it disappears. Tahlia then turns to face Peter.
"Now, I have some lost boys to visit."
A/N:
one more chapter left omfggggg
I have this tradition where I publish the first chapter for each tmo story on the first of January. I'll try to publish a prologue or something, but idkkkk. After Christmas, I'll also reveal the cover and the description + title. So yes, a third story is confirmed.
This story is more focused on Tahlia than villains, but it will include Peter, Izzy, and a few other characters who you haven't met + don't expect to come back. So tell me if that's something you'll be interested in reading, I'll try a lot harder on that story than this one to be honest.
QOTD: do you like the new cover?
tbh I got photoshop just to create new covers for my stories, but I'm only using the trial so I have to be hella quick aha. But I like it more than the old one
CHRISTMAS IS TOMORROW! So that means double update today yayayay, and because no one commented on which ending they wanted, I decided on which one I preferred.
Anyway, I'll see you in like an hour probably!
~ chloe x
Word Count: 2358.