Her troupe just seemed to be growing at an alarming rate because right now they had two young deer, an antique doll, a talking elephant with the pelt made up of sugar, a cursed mouse, a fox and now a deformed man who actually comes off as kindly, rather than brutish. It came to be that it was so simple to talk to him. Right from the start when she woke up, she felt safer than ever before. Soon enough, she was able to see the magical Border for herself. When she thought it would be a wall of some sort, physical and made of stone or metal, but there was something flowing majestically in the skies. It would seem that they have seen it before only far far away, but thanks to Quasimodo's friend, Libertas, they happened right beside it.
An array of color decorated the the morning sky in blues, purples and gold, along with green, light red and orange all flowing together in a sort of rainbow. They moved so fluidly that it kept Sarah from looking away from it.
"It's so beautiful..."
"That... is what's keeping her curse from seepin' in." Woody's voice broke into her thoughts.
He happened to be admiring it as well. Bing Bong, on the other hand, seemed to study each shining color as if they were all familiar to him. As usual, he couldn't figure out why, but this time he didn't feel any pain. Usually when he would try to remember, he would feel an obnoxious headache. It was gone now because they were far away from that terrible evil that seemed to leak through those woods so carefully. The Blue Fairy knew this. How was she relieved that he was brought here unharmed. She was relieved that they were all together here, now, unharmed. How she loved them all, each an every one. She would go through more weakness and beyond again to keep them this safe. Now that she had rested, it was soon that she would show herself to them in her true form. The orb of light was only a way to keep hidden as much as possible. Sadly, she did not appreciate it as much as being a star for all to see in the night sky. From the heavens, she could see the world and everyone in it. She could hear the wishes and desires of children and the prayers and well wishes of all people. Now that she had her strength back, she could hear them again. She could hear the wishes of the ones she was guarding, much louder and clearer than ever before.
Not only that, but Mickey Mouse was certainly starting to truly fade to the point that he was trying to claw through the pouch. Sarah was all the more determined to keep him safe as she had promised but time was not on their side in this regard. Sarah noticed once again that Mickey was not himself and the Fairy knew he had not been himself through out the entire escape. Just like the scares she had before, Mickey was making it his sole purpose to escape from his protectors. At Sarah's panicked scream, the team all scrambled to her cry for help.
"Guys, he... he bit me." she told them in great shock and hurt. "He's never bitten me before."
With anxiety fixing in their features, the group circled to make sure he wouldn't get away and if anything they would catch him.
"Rodent's gone loopy." Gammy spat.
"Don't say that!" Bing Bong worried.
"This is terrible. He's not like himself..." the girl grieved openly. "What are we going to do...? He can't stay like this anymore!"
"I am certain he won't be for long, lassie." Robin reassured.
"Leave him to me, my friends..." spoke the kindly and determined voice of the Blue Fairy.
She had rested enough that she felt her magic awaken again. The tedious battles and her protection spells had wiped her out over time, but now that they have reached the homeland, the timing was perfect. The mission to save Mickey was a success, now he had to be given his true form back and the curse laid upon him was weak from the power of the Border, due to Yen Sid's influence. Before the group she came, not as the stunning orb of light, but in her true form as a beautiful woman with flowing golden locks. She wore a fragile gown that glimmered in the morning sun and it shimmered more when she slowly took out her long starlit wand. Her bright blue but soft eyes warmly looked down at her friends.
Bing Bong looked smacked the moment he caught sight of the visionary. Everyone followed his reaction. Upon seeing her at her fullest potential, both Quasimodo and Robin both bowed their heads in respect.
"You've come back, dear lady." Robin smiled at her.
"You're as stunning as the sunset..." Woody gaped.
Even Libertas gave a regal bow of her head. Quasimodo could feel a tear well up in the corner of his eye.
"How we've missed you..." he whispered in a voice so full of sorrow for the turmoil the girl was experiencing.
"We have come to safest part of the Kingdom and now the time has come now that my strength has returned."
Gently, she knelt down with the worried girl and met with Bing Bong's eyes who was still stunned by what he was seeing.
"I-is that really you, Joy...?" he uttered, deeply confused because he honestly didn't recognize her anymore.
"As I always was." she smiled at him before taking his hand, allowing him to join Sarah who was cradling the pouch.
"Please, he can't be like this anymore. He's not himself at all."
The fawns tried to press in to see what the girl was holding.
"He actually bit me."
The ever so calm Fairy took out her wand, gently although it made the Imaginary flinch. Over the shaking pouch and the angry squeaking, she touched the mere tip to it before softly speaking a poetic incantation.
From the curse, shall he evade ... To the form that will never fade...
Sarah gasped and almost dropped the pouch as something began to happen as soon as the Fairy lifted her wand away from it. The tiny mouse stopped struggling and the moment he stopped his coat began to light up and his body began to grow. Sarah had to shut her eyes along with the others before she began to feel like she was holding someone in her arms as it grew bigger to almost half of her size. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that she held a black and white form and as soon as the light died away, there was the familiar and animated body of Mickey, only the fur over his head and round ears were ruffled in disarray and the Fairy changed the pouch into a purple blanket to cover him. His face was strained with agony as if he was in some sort of torment and he gripped the girl's shirt as he gave a tiny sob.
"Give him some air, guys!" Woody warned the others and they stepped back.
"What's wrong with him?" Bing Bong genuinely asked. "He looks hurt!"
"Mickey?" Sarah tried to get her transformed friend to snap out of it. "I-it's me! We're all here, Mickey..."
"We're all here." Robin chimed in, followed by the rest. "We're all here..."
Even the fawns tried to help by licking him and nuzzling him, in hopes that he would open his eyes. A tear fell from the Mouse's eye before he finally began to realize where he was. Wide eyed, he gazed up at Sarah, the girl who helped him. Sarah was amazed and was getting very emotional at the fact that it was all true.
"Remain still, dear king. You have been freed from a terrible curse. You are not alone, Mickey Mouse." the Fairy spoke while she overlooked the entire scene.
"Where... where am I?" Mickey finally spoke, referring to all of them, in the most saddest voice.
He gazed at them all, looking scared and worried. That frightened Robin and Quasimodo but they knew how to approach the situation.
"We're your friends, Your Highness. We've journeyed far to get you safely home..." Robin sadly explained.
"... to the Magic Kingdom." Quasimodo said as he knelt as well.
Sarah, who was feeling overwhelmed, helped poor Mickey when he seemed to want to move away from her. That frightened gesture deeply hurt her, but could she blame him? No. His mind was deeply warped by that terrible, suffocating curse. Even the new face of the pink colored creature seemed genuinely concerned, yet he took a step away, feeling confused at the look of Mickey's face. Yet something was going on, much to the surprise of everyone else. Mickey could certainly see for himself that he was definitely not alone. Plus, with one look upon the brilliant aurora beautifully flowing above them, tears began to torture his eyes. Concerned, everyone neared when he slowly knelt into the grass, beginning to cry.
"Mickey...?" Sarah gasped.
Quasimodo took his cloak to give it to the broken King but the team did not think twice about leaving his side. That was when he began to pour his heart out in terrible sobs.
"I am sorry! Please, p-please... I can't ... but,"
Slowly, he looked up, mainly looking at Sarah and then at the confused Imaginary.
"... I - I think I know you." poor Mickey finally pointed at the heartbroken girl. "When he tried... to poison me, you-y-you were there. Y-you saved me."
Sarah smiled despite the tears in her eyes. "I was..." she sniffled. "You do remember!"
"O-oh gosh, oh go-o-osh...." the Mouse's voice was full of sobs, realizing what may have happened while he was imprisoned. Many things were beginning to slowly rush back to him.
"Let us not worry him more..." Quasimodo softly suggested as he knelt down to him. "...nothing is worse than being kissed by a curse."
"And how we know it," Woody sorrowfully said.
"Wh-why didn't you do it before?" Sarah began to aim her anger at the Blue Fairy who was very patient.
"I hadn't enough magic to do it, while being bound by Maleficent's mere presence. It suffocated me, yet I had to protect all of you from her. If I had changed Mickey then, we would not be here." she gently explained.
"Arguments would only hinder us, child." Robin reminded.
"I-I'm not... I just—I'm sorry..."
"Do not apologize..."
"What needs to be done is that he needs to be brought to Minnie. She is near believing him to be gone..." Robin sorrowfully told them.
"Then we cannot waste anymore time..."
Eavesdropping on every word, Mickey Mouse, as fuzzy and confused as he was, could not take the sound of Sarah's voice or the sight of tears in her eyes. Right then, he reached out to her and took her hand into a bare paw.
"I remember ya..." he sadly whispered. "I do..."
Sarah, visibly upset, turned to him before tightly hugging him.
"I-Is it Jackie or Sarah? I-I forget which..." he tried, very lightly, to cheer her up.
She honestly smiled at the sound of his voice cheering up and how it spoke her name.
"Don't you scare me like that..." she tearfully laughed, having said that so many times before when she had to chase him when he lost sight of things.
The only one looking on in wonder and finding this entirely new was Bing Bong. All Mickey had to do was take one look at him in order to have that same look of wonder too.
"Gosh..." Mickey sighed, feeling deeply remorseful. "I've made a mess of things, didn't I?"
He slowly broke from the hug with a hung head.
"You were doing what you thought was right, Mickey. For your home, your friends and love." the Blue Fairy sweetly nodded at him.
"What have I done...? Oh Yen Sid would never trust me again, tryin' to face her on my own... I put you all in danger, even to hurt an Imaginary..." Mickey motioned to the poor elephant who stood out.
Confused as ever, Bing Bong realized that he was the center of attention again. "I am... not a... I dunno." the shy creature whispered.
Keeping his eyes on this new creature, also one he had never seen before, Mickey had an inkling that this creature was special. It was as if he had seen one before although he had only just seen him. Clearly something was going on. In the Mouse's mind, he knew what he was looking at.
"He's one of us, a friend, Mickey..." Sarah broke the silence.
"I know..." Mickey spoke as he studied the fascinating creature.
At first, it seemed like he was going to come closer to the Imaginary before he thought of something. If an Imaginary was here with them, being that dangerously close to Maleficent's grasp, along with Sarah, they had to be grateful for the Blue Fairy's involvement. Who knew what else that could have happened...?
"We... we can't stay here. We haven't much time to lose! How long was I— Oh gosh..."
"We have wings," Quasimodo pressed in.
Not too far was the confident Libertas, ready to fly again, hitting them all with the gusts from her wings.
"And my wand. We are close now..." lastly said the Blue Fairy.
"Come all," Robin urged them, even the Weasel.
"We're actually goin' there?" Gammy asked, nervously, knowing he had some explaining to do to the Mouse and Yen Sid, soon enough.
There was no straight answer to his question, but once they all mounted the back of the great eagle. The one thing that Quasimodo was working on during this restful period was a wing brace that worked in a way as a jacket around Libertas' breast. The rest of the contraption seemed to hold her left wing outward in a way. It left the others to question, but they were confident in the bird and her rider. Mickey helped Sarah and Bing Bong, finally getting a hold of most of his memories, slowly but fully.
"All right, my lady. Just like we practiced." Quasimodo whispered as he pulled a specific cord.
Two shapely flaps seeming to take the place of two weakly grown primaries. Once it was wound and set, he peered at the passengers. "Hang on!"
"Not again!" Gammy cried, actually gripping Bing Bong from behind.
Bing Bong hugged Sarah and Woody again as the fawns were pestering to move around, but they were held snug. "We're going to the Magic Kingdom?" Bing Bong had to ask.
"We sure are!" Woody smiled at him.
"I wonder what it's all like!" Sarah smiled too, especially now that Mickey was right beside them. "We missed you Mickey..."
"We sure did,"
Mickey surely was woeful, knowing and remembering to an extent that a lot of this trouble was all his fault. "I hope ya can forgive me... Running away and, Oh... Yen Sid is going to pull my tail for all this."
Right at that moment, Quasimodo ushered Libertas and she began to run. With four strong beats of her wings they began to take to the air. Sarah had to shut her eyes with Bing Bong. Feeling that uplifting jolt in her gut she mustered up the courage to look at the bright blue aurora dazzled sky. Yen Sid would know what to do, Sarah had hoped, with all her heart. This was becoming much bigger than she thought. Looking behind, she spied the Blue Fairy once again in the brilliant shape of a shining orb, with glittering trail of magic behind her.