Edited✔️✔️
Epilogue
Mia eye's fluttered open as she awoke from a deep sleep and she had to close them again from the blinding light that immediately assaulted her eyes. She blinked rapidly and forced herself to sit up. The sun now hit her directly in the face though the large bay window that gave a clear outlook to the bustling world below.
Her eyes widened at the sight.
"Finally. I thought you were dead."
Mia snapped her head in the direction of the voice and Anna was standing there with her hip cocked and her hands crossed across her chest. She was still in her cupcake pajamas from their sleepover. Dark smudges of her makeup were smeared around her eyes and her hair pointed in every direction as if she'd literally just rolled out of bed.
"Oh my God, Anna!" Mia exclaimed and ran over to throw her arms around her best friend.
"Woah," Anna said groggily and pushed her back slightly, staring at her like she was crazy. "Is everything ok?"
"Are you kidding? Everything's great! Wait..." Mia trailed off, realizing something.
She raced over and grabbed her phone off the floor, clicking the home button and turning on the lock screen. It was the same date as when she'd gone to Neverland, but just eight hours later.
"But I..." Mia trailed off, confused and with her heart sinking. "I thought I went to Neverland," she said softly, not believing what she was experiencing.
Anna looked at her sympathetically. "It's ok. I've had those dreams too, but I guess they're just dreams for now. It must've been the movie." She frowned and looked downward at her bare feet and green-painted toenails. "Peter never came for me. I guess you were right."
"No," Mia told her, shaking her head feverishly. "No, keep believing. He-," she licked her lips,"-he's real. I..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words.
She knew it couldn't have been a dream. How else could she explain how she still felt Pan's lips against hers and the sparks she had felt. Deep down in her heart she knew it was too real to ever be a dream. And despite the confusion that fogged her tired brain, the distinct thrum of magic through her veins grounded her to reality.
What had happened was real, she knew. There was no doubt.
Anna's eyes lit up and she squealed and tackled Mia into a hug. "I'm so happy. Now we can both wait for Peter together."
Mia pulled her best friend back by her shoulders, holding her at arm's length. "Anna, I'm about to tell you something. I might sound crazy but I swear every word is true."
And then Mia and Anna sat on her bed as Mia told her everything that had happened to her on Neverland, not leaving out one detail. Anna sat and listened to everything.
"So your dad is Merlin," Anna said slowly as if testing it on her tongue, "and you kissed Peter Pan."
"Yes."
"Mia, I love you but that's not possible, is it? I mean, you said you were there for over a month right? Unless Neverland really is outside of time–" Anna began rambling but Mia cut her short by opening her hand and inside was a fireball.
It was small with her magic being weakened by the Earth's unique atmosphere, but it was enough to make Anna squeak and stare at Mia with wide eyes full of child-like wonder.
Mia smiled reassuringly.
"Pan said I could take you to Neverland any time," Mia told her and Anna squealed, pulling her into another hug, this time ten times tighter than before.
When she pulled back, her gaze flickered to her collarbone and she gasped and squealed like an excited toddler when she saw what was hanging there.
"What?" Mia asked, worried. Her hand immediately flew up to her neck and felt something small resting there.
"Go look in the mirror," Anna told her and gave her a sly, teasing smile.
Mia walked over to Anna's vanity and stared into the round mirror. When she looked at the spot where Anna had pointed, she saw a silver thimble hung by a matching silver chain around her neck.
⋆✶
Mia's mom came to pick her up and Mia got into her car, wondering if she should tell her what had happened. But she didn't even know if she knew her dad was Merlin, so she thought best to wait.
It felt weird when she finally made it back inside her house, a place she'd been trying so hard to get back to for a long time. The excitement didn't hit her as hard as she was expecting. Instead she felt like she was in a daze, like any moment she'd wake up with Thomas's face hovering over hers and telling her breakfast was ready.
When leaving Neverland, Mia had been fully prepared to find the police to be looking for her and her mom to be a wreck, thinking her only daughter had been missing for an entire month without a trace. She was happy that it didn't turn out that way. But that meant that the only thing different was herself and that didn't quite sit with her right either.
When she had made it to her room and dropped her sleepover bag with all her necessities on the floor, that's when everything hit her and she collapsed onto her bed.
She hadn't had the chance to register all that had happened before she was transported home from Neverland. But now that she had the time to, everything seemed... overwhelming.
Her hand reached up instinctively and mindlessly touched Pan's thimble, wondering if he missed her too—if he felt just as out of place in his own home now. She thought about the Lost Boys, Rumpelstiltskin, and her father who turned out to be a warlock she'd read about in stories. She thought about Thomas and instantly felt guilty when she wondered about his reaction to her and Pan kissing, knowing it couldn't have been anything positive.
Her thoughts were put on hold at the sound of the doorbell ringing. Mia shot up and ran downstairs just in time to see her mom opening the front door.
Her mom gasps and her hands covered her mouth in shock while tears filled her eyes. Mia didn't have to see who it was to know who was standing at the door, and she smiled from ear to ear out of pure happiness not just for herself but for the woman who had sacrificed so much for her.
"Abigail," Merlin whispered in relief and pulled her into his chest as she sobbed.
Mia's dad was dressed in a new black suit and tie, his dark hair gelled back nicely, and he was now cleanly shaven. In his hand was a bouquet of red roses, her mom's favorite.
The sight warmed Mia's heart and she decided her parents needed space and time to be alone.
After her mom had sobbed into his chest, murmuring about how much she'd missed him, they sat on the couch in the living room and started arguing. Mia crept down the stairs somehow without making a sound and crouched down on the landing to eavesdrop without being noticed.
Their conversation was full of her mom swatting Mia's dad's chest and questioning where he'd been. After he finished telling her everything—from the moment he had left to the present—that's when her mom finally called for Mia to come down stairs.
Since Mia was technically already downstairs and had been hiding while listening in on their conversation, she waited a good ten seconds before walking around the corner to let her mom pull her into her chest.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, sweetheart," she said and kissed her head a couple times. "I never wanted for your father's identity to harm you–"
"It's alright, Mom," Mia cut her off and reassured her, smiling.
She looked up as Merlin came around and wrapped his arms around his family, sighing with content as the hole in his heart filled again for the first time in a decade.
He stared down at both women in his arms with a fatherly, warm smile that had all of them tearing up and holding onto each other tighter in hopes of they'd never be separated again.
For once in a long time, they were a whole family and they would do everything in their power to make sure that didn't change.
For now, all was good.
For now.
⋆✶
Mia held onto the thimble and took a deep, shuddering breath that was full of nerves and doubts.
"I don't know how this works," Mia admitted, her hand shaking as it fumbled with the thimble around her neck.
"You don't have to, honestly..."
"No, Anna. I promised you a trip to Neverland and you're sure as hell getting it," Mia said, getting frustrated at herself.
Mia had been putting off taking Anna to Neverland and any attempt to contact Pan for over a month since Anna had first mentioned it. It had been almost exactly two months since she had arrived back to earth. Mia continued with her school work as avidly as before, hung out with her friends at the mall, still rode the smelly bus, and things were pretty much back to normal.
Well, as normal as they could be.
But for some reason, after everything, she was nervous about seeing Pan again. The last time she'd seen him was their kiss and she honestly didn't know what she would do or say if she saw him.
She especially didn't know what she would say to Thomas. 'Sorry' didn't sound like enough.
So finally, after a long month of her practically begging, Mia was trying to grant her best friend's one wish to see the real Peter Pan in person. But ten minutes later of her straining her limited amount of magic to summon him, there was still no response.
Taking a deeper, calming breath, she closed her eyes and focused on her magic again.
Nothing.
"Maybe it's broken," Anna suggested and leaned out her window slightly to stare up at the sky to see if she could see anything.
Easily she saw Orion and Scorpio but the rest of the stars were hidden behind the clouds, making it impossible for them to check if the Second Star was aligned with their realm at all. According to Mia's calculations, it should've been.
"Pan promised..." Mia trailed off, not finishing her thought, and huffed. She tried to hide her disappointment behind a mask of frustration and pity. "Maybe he was just being metaphorical. I'm sorry."
She turned towards Anna and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay–"
"Did you miss me that much or did you just want to kiss me again?"
Mia turned eyes widening at the sight of Pan outside her window, looking the exact same as when she'd last seen him.
Anna gasped and squealed, something she seemed to do a lot more recently. She nearly fell out the window from excitement and would have if it weren't for Mia's magic pulling her back in on time.
There he was. Pan in all his glory except he was wearing a hat and a different and much brighter green suit than Mia was used to.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Mia asked him in a judgmental tone, although her smile gave away her true emotion.
He looked much happier and alive than when Mia had last seen him, like a completely new person. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how much exactly he had changed and it made her even happier to know that she was the one who caused him to.
She had made him happy.
Any nerves Mia had before were now gone. She couldn't remember why she had been so worried about seeing him again. Minus his new, ugly green attire, Mia was happy to see the annoying blond haired and grey eyed boy. Except her happiness was no where as close to his.
Pan, although he would never say it out loud, had doubts if she would ever want to see him again after he had kissed her. So when he had heard her calling for him, he had crowed loud enough for even the mermaids to hear from the bottom of Mermaid Lagoon.
"Excuse me, but I believe I am granting a special person's one wish to see the clever Peter Pan. I thought I'd dress to look the part."
He winked at Mia before taking off his hat and doing one large bow while mid air, hovering just outside Anna's window. Mia shook her head at him, crossing her arms while giving him a look that said 'really?'
His only response was a sly smirk.
"I've been waiting for this moment for so long!" Anna exclaimed loudly, smiling up at him dreamily.
But Pan wasn't paying attention to her and instead had all his focus on Mia who then blushed under his gaze.
"So, who's ready for an adventure?"
Mia and Anna shared similar glances, smiling deviously at one another, before each taking one of Pan's awaiting hands.
That was the beginning of one of their many adventures.
But those are all for a different story...
~**~**~**~**~**~
||AN|| I'm going ahead and publishing this because... why not. Anyway, this is where I must leave this book and let the characters in it fly free. Thank you all so much for reading a sticking with me! Hopefully you will all read my future stories which should be up (hopefully) soon. :)
What an adventure this has been! THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH!!!