So I just realized I haven't done a Willa-Philby one-shot. This one is kind of like a collection of one-shots over the years between the two and also a song-fic at the same time. The first few are from places either in the books or in between the books, but I think I gave y'all enough information so that you could figure it out. This is mostly Philby's POV, by the way. His was much easier to write for something like this.
The quotes are from a song called "After All" by Michael Buble (wonderful song for those of you who want to listen to it).
FYI: The dates are 100% made up and I don't own the rights to Kingdom Keepers or Michael Buble's amazing song.
I hope y'all enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!
"Way back when we started, there was a part of me that knew one day there'd be heartache and I would lose myself to you. And I walked all night, watching the sun and city lights, thinking of you, wondering: will I lose my mind?"
March 16, 2002
Philby walked down Main Street, USA. in the middle of the night. The position of the moon behind the castle casts eerie shadows onto the cobblestone street. Philby couldn't help but admire the view.
Willa would love this, he thought to himself.
As if by magic, he saw a flicker of light near one of the benches that lined the street. Philby glanced over and saw Willa asleep on the bench. Philby thought she looked so cute when she slept, not unlike the rest of the time, of course. She was wearing green pajama pants and a black t-shirt that had her school's name written in white letters. Her hair was pulled back in a messy braid that was now falling onto her cheek.
She slowly woke up and stretched, her eyes scanning her surroundings. Her eyes locked with his and a smile grew on her face. She waved him over, a simple command to which he obeyed.
He sat next to her on the bench and noticed that she was shaking slightly. He unzipped his navy blue light jacket and offered it to her.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she pulled on the jacket. "It's quite chilly for March, don't you think?"
He nodded, moving his gaze past her down the street in the direction of the castle. Even though Maleficent and Chernabog were captured at Fantasmic! a few weeks ago, he still felt like they hadn't gotten rid of them just yet. Thinking of the green-skinned fairy sent chills down his spine.
"I thought we were done crossing over," Willa followed his gaze. "That all of this was over."
"I guess not. There must be a glitch in the system. Do you think any of the others are here?" He turned to her. He could see the gears turning in her mind as she thought of an answer.
"Would I be a terrible person if I said I hope no one else shows up?" She looked over at him. Her eyes had a sparkle in them, something that mesmerized Philby.
Philby laughed and smoothly placed his arm on the back of the bench. Willa gave him a quick smile and leaned back on the bench, allowing her back to fall against his arm.
"No, of course not. You're not a terrible person." Philby moved his hand from gripping the bench to her shoulder. She seemed to relax when he touched her.
"I sure hope not," Willa replied.
They spent the rest of the night catching up. Since the Fantasmic! episode, the keepers hadn't hung out at all. Willa talked about her swim meets, Philby talked about a new computer upgrade he had recently installed, back and forth, all night long.
When the sun started to rise in the distance, they both agreed it was time to go.
They hurried through Escher's Keep and found the fob. To say Philby was disappointed was an understatement. He didn't want to leave. He didn't want his lovely night with Willa to end.
He offered her a smile as he picked up the fob. She extended her hand, which he gladly took.
"I had a lot of fun tonight," she said with a smile. "We should do this more often."
Philby's smile grew. If there was any defining moment in his life, this was it. From now on, he would never be able to rid himself of Willa.
"We should," his thumb hovered over the button. "I miss hanging out with you…I mean…I miss the others too, but I…uh…"
Willa's laughter cut him off. "I like it better when it's just the two of us, sometimes."
"Me too."
Willa glanced at the fob and looked back up at him. Her hand gave his a light squeeze. "You going to push the button? We have school in an hour."
"Oh…yeah…right." He pressed the button.
Philby woke up in his bed and immediately thought of Willa—her beautiful smile, the way she laughs, her wonderful personality, her intelligence—and one thing became immediately clear to him.
He was in love with Willa Angelo.
"After all, I'm excited that you're in my life again. After all, I'm delighted to be back where we began. I believe that you can fall in love with me again, and we'll both be standing tall, after all."
February 27, 2003
Philby spotted Willa at her locker, searching its contents for something feverishly. Last night, Philby had stayed up all night staring at the computer. He watched as Finn and Maybeck crossed over to find Willa in Epcot. Hugo attacked him just before the lake turned to fire—the sign that they needed to be crossed back over.
This was his first time seeing her since then. She looked exhausted, but still beautiful.
Spencer walked up to her and Philby felt the anger rise. His fists clenched as he watched them talk.
Spencer leaned in, saying something to Willa that she obviously did not like. She rolled her eyes and turned to face him. Based off of Spencer's reaction, Willa had said something offensive. He took a step back, but did not leave. She focused back on her locker when Spencer glanced down. Philby followed his gaze and saw that he was staring at Willa's backside.
Not acceptable.
Philby stormed over to Willa, but as he reached her, he pretended to act natural.
"Hey Willa, this jerk bothering you?" He asked as nonchalantly as he could. He gave Willa a smile, but gave a death stare to Spencer—one that Spencer gladly returned.
Willa glanced over at Philby and a smile grew on her face. "Hey Philby. I am so glad to see you." She ignored his question and threw her arms around his neck, enveloping him in a hug.
"Thank you for saving me last night," she whispered into his ear.
She let go of him and gave him another smile. Philby couldn't help but smile back at her. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her right now in front of Spencer. What a victory that would be.
But he resisted.
"WELL, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Spencer said from behind Willa. Willa turned around, facing him.
"No, Spencer. You were rudely annoying me. I told you I didn't want to talk and you're still here."
Spencer's face twisted with confusion. "But…but I thought…we were…"
"No, Spencer," Willa shook her head. "Never."
"But, I—"
"Scram Spencer," Philby moved from behind Willa to beside her. He draped his left arm over her shoulder. "You're not wanted here anymore."
Spencer hesitated before turning on his heel and leaving.
Philby moved to where Spencer had been standing and faced Willa.
"So last night went well, I'm assuming," he addressed Willa.
Willa's smile disappeared just as quickly as it appeared upon first seeing him. She became suddenly interested in the floor. "It could have gone better."
She rubbed her right hand absentmindedly up and down her left arm.
"Willa," Philby took a step closer. "What happened?"
"I…I gave up some information to…to them." Willa continued to hang her head in shame.
Philby waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn't, he stepped in. He placed a hand under her chin and slowly raised her head. He waited for her eyes to focus on his before speaking.
"Willa, none of this is your fault."
"B-b-but…"
"No buts, it's not your fault. Finn told me what was going on when he found you last night." He took a deep breath. That text message hurt him deeply. The fact that the Overtakers would torture someone so innocent, good-natured and beautiful blew his mind. He didn't understand. He pushed back his emotions and continued. "We are still going to beat them. Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise."
"How can you make such a promise?"
Because I love you, his heart begged him to say.
"Because, Willa," he took a deep breath. She looked so beautiful today, despite the lack of sleep. "I'm going to make sure nothing ever happens to you again."
Willa thought it over and gave a weak smile. "Are you going to be my knight in shining armor, Philby?"
Philby returned the smile. "Always."
The school bell rang, signaling last period was one minute from beginning. Both Philby and Willa snapped out of their senses and back away from each other awkwardly.
"See you after school?" He asked her. "Finn texted everyone at lunch about a meeting."
"I can't, my mom won't let me. But Charlene is going to call me and leave me on speaker."
He didn't want his disappointment to show, but he figured it did. She gave him one quick hug before scurrying off to her last class. He took a deep breath. He was never going to shake his feelings for her, he knew that much.
"Way back when we started, there was a part of you that knew. I was all that you wanted, but only shadows filled the room. I was lost all right, lost in the sleepless empty nights, dreaming of you. And in those dreams you were mine."
May 23, 2003
Willa woke up on the ground underneath the oversized sorcerer's hat in Hollywood Studios. She slowly sat up and scanned the area. She didn't see any immediate threats, which was good. She was supposed to be guarding the Base tonight with Philby. To say Willa was nervous would be an understatement.
"There you are," a British accent came from behind her. She turned around and saw Philby standing there in all black. Over his bright red hair, he had a black baseball cap that read their high school's name on it. Willa smiled up at him and he offered her a hand.
"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show."
Willa took his hand and he pulled her up. He pulled her a little bit too hard and she collided with his chest. His strong arms wrapped around her, instantly making her feel safe. She looked up at him and their noses were touching.
"Uh…yeah…sorry about taking so long…" she mumbled. She was losing herself in his eyes.
"No problem."
They were like that for a few seconds before she took a step away from him awkwardly.
"We should…uh…get going…"
"Yeah, you're right." He motioned toward the Base. "After you."
Willa smiled and started walking toward the Base. It only took a few seconds for Philby to catch up, walking side by side with her. She wanted to reach over and grab his hand, but she wanted him to make the first move. It was an old fashion way of thinking, according to Charlene, but she wanted him to show interest.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, walking slowly so to not make a noise. A crashing sound came from the direction of the Base and Willa, out of fright, reached over and grabbed his hand.
He looked down at her hand, but didn't let go. He gave her a light squeeze for reassurance and smiled weakly.
"Everything's going to be okay," He reminded her.
Willa woke up and realized she was freezing. She wrapped her comforter around her.
A knock on the cabin door made her shake with fear. She slowly got out of bed and crept toward the door. By the cabin door, there was a table. On the table was a small flower vase. Willa picked it up, just in case it was an OT or OTK at the door.
She placed her hand on the handle and counted to three in her head. She flung open the door and saw Philby standing there. She pulled the flower vase behind her back and smiled awkwardly.
"Philby! You're supposed to be in the infirmary!"
Philby's gaze moved to the floor. "Maybeck's covering for me. Can…can I come in?"
Willa looked him over really fast. He seemed to be back to normal. Yesterday, she awoke him from a curse with a kiss and they hadn't talked since.
"Yeah, sure." She moved so that he could come into her cabin. He walked straight to the back of the cabin and out onto the balcony. She followed, placing the flower vase back on the table on her way.
He sat down in one of the chairs and looked up at her with a smile. He motioned for her to sit down on his lap. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"Oh come on, please? It's cold out here." He started pouting like a child. Willa rolled her eyes and sat down. Philby wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. Her head rested on his chest.
"Why are you here Philby?" Willa could hear the exhaustion in her voice.
"I wanted to come see you. You haven't come by at all. I got worried."
"Everything's fine," Willa refused to make eye contact with him. She watched the waves. It never ceased to amaze her how something so beautiful could be so destructive at the same time. She had found the ocean's cruelty the hard way about a week ago when she and Finn had been forced to jump overboard to escape hyenas.
"I know that look, Willa. What's wrong?"
"Everything," she buried her head into his chest, holding back the tears. "Everything's wrong."
"What makes you say that?"
"Dillard…he…he died in Finn's arms…I…I saw everything…"
The tears got the best of her. Philby didn't say anything. He simply kissed her on the top of her head and held her tight as she cried.
They were like this for a few minutes before he spoke.
"I know this is hard on you, Willa. But I'll always be here for you."
"Thank you," she mumbled into his shirt.
A few more minutes of quiet. Willa remembered the dream she had the night before. The crushing realization made her cry even more.
"You said everything was going to be okay," she croaked out through her tears.
Philby pushed her off of his chest and gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about?"
"The one night you and I patrolled the Base together. You said everything was going to be okay. And…and it's anything but."
"But it will be, Willa." His eyes reflected her sadness. "Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually it will. As long as we have each other, I promise everything will be okay."
Willa took a deep breath and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips—their first real kiss. It was everything she ever imagined and more.
She ended the kiss and he smiled. "Will you be my girlfriend, Willa?"
She smiled back. "Yes."
"After all, we're reunited. Yeah, you're in my arms again. After all, I'm delighted 'cause we're lovers and we're friends."
June 6, 2003
This was it: their first date. Philby was so nervous he didn't know what to do with himself. He got ready two hours early—something he never does. He sat around the house in khaki shorts and a long-sleeve plaid shirt staring at the television, trying to ease his mind. But nothing could—not even Big Bang Theory, his favorite TV show.
When the time came for him to go pick her up, Philby's mother could not stop babbling about how it was great that he finally started dating. Philby tuned her out and started nervously tapping his foot.
His mother pulled up to Willa's house and Philby practically jumped out of the car—half because he was so excited for their date, half because of his mother's annoying rants.
He walked up to her front door and took a deep breath before knocking. Willa's older brother answered the door.
He looked over Philby without saying a word before turning back inside the house and yelling "Willa!"
He turned back to Philby and scowled. "Don't even think about hurting her. I'll beat you up if you do."
Philby gulped. Even though he never planned on hurting her, her brother was making him nervous. He had to be at least nineteen.
"Drew!" Willa said from behind him. Drew stepped out of the way and gave her a quick smile before Willa stepped out of the door, promising to be back by ten.
Philby's jaw probably would have dropped to the porch if it were possible to do such things. She was wearing a pair of dark jean shorts—so dark they were almost black—and a yellow three-quarter sleeved shirt. Her hair had been pulled back into a braid that was now resting on her shoulder. It was simple, but on Willa it looked stunning—but she always looks stunning, in Philby's opinion.
"Hey Philby. Ready to go?"
"Uh…yeah…of course…you look…wow."
Willa blushed at the compliment. A good sign, Philby thought to himself. He offered her his arm and escorted her to his mother's car.
"So where are we going?" She asked him in a cheery voice. Despite that, he could tell that she was just as nervous as he was.
"I was thinking Magic Kingdom," Philby said with a smile.
"What? We can't go there! We have to ask permission!"
Philby opened the car door for her. "Already did." He winked at her and she blushed again. She hopped into the back seat and Philby slid in next to her. After both buckling their seat belts, his mother started driving, this time very quietly.
"Hi Mrs. Philby! How are you?" Willa asked his mother in a polite voice.
"I'm wonderful. You look beautiful dear. Philby, you told her that, didn't you?"
Philby looked down at his feet. "Yes mom."
Willa laughed and grabbed his hand, giving him a gentle squeeze. Philby looked over at her and resisted kissing her right then and there. His mother would never let him hear the end of it.
The day at the parks was simply amazing. They rode every ride, except it's a small world—for obvious reasons. Every once in a while, Willa would tense up thinking she saw an Overtaker. Philby would wrap his arm around her and reassure her that they weren't going to hurt her.
Even though Philby was her knight in shining armor at moments like that, he still had his own moments of total breakdown.
Like while on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, he could have sworn he didn't see the dinosaur skeleton. He immediately thought back to that night when he and Finn had been chased by the skeleton when it came to life. That had been in the beginning of the keepers, before things got serious. He tensed up and his hands started shaking. Willa grabbed his hand, but he was still shaking. They got off of the ride and they sat at on a nearby bench for ten minutes. For those ten minutes, Willa rubbed his back as he took deep breaths, trying to forget all of the pain of the past two years.
"Everything's going to be okay, remember?" She whispered into his ear.
Philby looked over at her and sighed. "I shouldn't have picked this place for our first date. We've spent half of the time traumatized."
Willa shrugged. "We had to come back eventually."
"True, but this is not how I wanted to spend my first date with you."
"It's okay, Philby, really." She smiled up at him. "We've still got the fireworks to look forward to."
"I guess you're right. I…I just didn't want to disappoint you."
Willa laughed, which really threw Philby off. "You'd have to do a lot to disappoint me, Philby. This has been a great day."
Philby raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah!" She stood up and faced him, a wide smile beaming across her face. "I'm here in the most magical place on Earth with the person I care about most. I'm having an excellent day!"
Philby stood up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "I guess you're right."
"One thing you should learn first and foremost, Dell Philby. I'm always right."
She was doing her best to hold back laughter.
"Oh are you? Enlighten me on something then. What am I thinking about?"
Willa studied him. She looked cute when she was trying to be serious.
Without warning, she leaned up and kissed him passionately. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He deepened the kiss and he imagined fireworks going off over their head—despite it being the middle of the day. Kissing her was pure magic. And now that she was his girlfriend, he would be able to kiss her any time he wanted.
She ended the kiss and moved back only far enough to where their noses were touching. "Did I get it right?"
"Did you get what right?"
"What you were thinking! Did I guess it right?"
Philby raised an eyebrow. "You didn't guess anything."
Willa rolled her eyes. "Yes, I did. I could tell you wanted to kiss me, so I kissed you. Did I get it right?"
"That's not fair," Philby pouted. "I always want to kiss you."
Willa blushed and Philby moved in for a second kiss.
Philby knew that no matter what, he was always going to enjoy kissing this girl.
"I believe that I can fall in love with you again. And I'll catch you when you fall, after all."
April 4, 2005
Willa walked through Tomorrowland hand in hand with Philby. It was a beautiful night and Willa was glad she was spending it walking around Magic Kingdom with Philby. Their two-year anniversary was coming up in a few weeks and he promised a huge surprise—one that Willa could not wait for.
"Are you sure you can't give me a hint about our two-year anniversary?" She pleaded with him.
"Nope!" Philby smiled and looked away from her, so that he wouldn't give away anything.
"Dell Philby, you're useless!"
"You know I'm the best boyfriend ever, just admit it." He turned to her with a challenging look on her face. He wanted her to admit it to his face.
Somebody's been spending way too much time with Maybeck.
"Try the worst one," Willa rolled her eyes dramatically.
Philby stopped, let go of her hand and crossed his arms. "Tell the truth Willa…you love me."
"Did I ever say that?" She crossed her arms, mocking him.
"Nope, but I can just tell. Just admit it, Willa! Save yourself the embarrassment." He winked. He is loving this too much.
"I will not admit what isn't true," she countered.
"Whatever you say," Philby started whistling and walked past her, back in the direction they were going, giving her one quick wink as he went.
Willa laughed and hurried to catch up to him. "Whatever I say, huh?"
"Please take my words literally." He turned to her and rolled his eyes dramatically.
"I will! I want a piggy back ride."
"Not happening."
"But you said—"
Without warning, Philby turned around and squatted so that she could get onto his back. She hopped onto his back and he wrapped his arms around her legs, holding her in place. "Good enough for you, little miss princess?"
He turned his head so that he could see her and smiled. His smile made her weak in the knees. Good thing he's carrying me, Willa thought to herself.
"Of course. You're my knight in shining armor remember? You're just doing your job."
"Am I doing a good job?"
"At being my knight in shining armor?"
"Yeah."
"The absolute best." Willa leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
They walked the rest of their route like this. Philby would crack a joke or two and Willa would burst out into laughter. Good thing the Overtakers weren't around anymore, or they would have been attacked a long time ago. After finishing their rounds, Philby and Willa headed up Escher's Keep and sat on one of the couches in the apartment, waiting for the sun to rise.
"Philby, tell me something I don't know about you." Willa asked him.
She knew there was a lot about him that she didn't know. He never talked about his seven years in the United Kingdom. Now that she thought about it, he never talked about his life before the keepers. There was so much of his past that she didn't know.
He leaned back on the couch, his gaze lingering on the window at the far end of the room. "I've been in love with this girl for the longest time, and I haven't told her yet."
Willa raised her eyebrows. "And who is this special lady?"
Philby turned to her and smiled. "I think you know her, actually."
"I do?" Willa knew the answer, of course, but she wanted to hear what he had to say.
"Yeah. She's the best. She's the smartest girl I've ever met and the most beautiful by far. Her laugh is music to my ears. She always smells so good—most of the time she smells like cinnamon. She's good-hearted and never does anything to hurt anyone. She's my angel sent from heaven."
He took a deep breath and grabbed both of Willa's hands. Willa's heart skipped a beat when he smiled at her.
"Willa Angelo, I love you."
Willa couldn't suppress a smile, not that she wanted to. She had been waiting so long to hear those words. And now here they were. He was professing his love to her right now. Willa was sure she had never been happier in her life.
"I love you too, Dell Philby."
He closed the gap between the two of them and kissed her gently on the lips. He pulled away quickly. "I'm glad. I don't know what I would do if you didn't love me back."
"I'm sure you'd find a great computer to fall in love with," she joked, playfully punching him in the arm.
"You just ruined our moment, you know that right?" Philby said as a grin grew on his face. "Way to go."
"Oh you'll get over it." Willa kissed him once more.
He ended the kiss and gave one of his signature smiles. "I'm over it."
"That's what I thought."
He kissed her again, this time more passionately than before. This kiss lasted much longer, but every second of it she felt like she was floating on a cloud. His kisses were like magic—the good kind of magic.
She was under Dell Philby's spell and he was under hers. And they both knew that there was nothing either of them could do about it.
"I was lost, alright, lost in the sleepless empty nights, dreaming of you. And in those dreams you still were mine."
April 1, 2006
"What's going to happen when we go to college?" Willa asked him in a quiet voice. She was sitting there on his bed, on the verge of tears. She wiped away every tear that escaped her beautiful brown eyes.
Philby stopped pacing and looked at her. They had been at this for at least half an hour now. He took a deep breath. "I'm not sure."
"We can barely make it through this." She sniffled. Seeing her like this broke his heart. "How are we going to make it through the rest of senior year?"
Philby's heart shattered.
"Are you…suggesting…that we…break up?"
"I…no…I don't know," Willa put her head in her hands. "I don't want to," she mumbled into her hands.
Philby wiped away a few tears of his own and sat next to her on the edge of the bed. He hesitated before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in. She buried her head in the crook of his neck. Her tears were staining the collar of his shirt.
"This is exactly what they want," she mumbled into his shirt.
"I know sweetheart, I know." He kissed her on the top of the head.
The past three weeks had been extremely hard on them. Ever since the Overtakers had made their comeback, Willa and Philby had been engulfed in fight after fight. He wasn't sure what started the fights. He just started feeling angry towards her all of the time, and his actions reflected the newfound anger. He had spent endless nights avoiding sleep so that he wouldn't have to face her crossed over. He knew she was doing the same. They had avoided one another at school, especially in the classes that they shared. When they were at meetings with the rest of the keepers, they fought endlessly about everything.
Tonight, they had both decided to talk out everything, for the sake of the group. Their fighting had been hurting the keeper's effectiveness as a group, and more importantly the Overtakers were winning. And it was all because of them.
This fight had been the worst. Philby got so worked up he threw out words he would have never said to her in a lifetime, words so hurtful and so mean that she had burst out into tears the second they left his mouth. He didn't mean any of them, but he felt so angry all the time, especially when she was around.
Philby wasn't sure what was scaring him more: the fact that they were on the verge of breaking up or his unnecessary anger all of a sudden.
Philby felt the tears slide down his cheek, but he didn't dare wipe them away.
"I'm so sorry, Philby. This is all my fault."
Philby lifted his shoulder so that Willa would look up at him. He cupped her chin and took a deep breath, holding back more tears.
"This isn't your fault, Willa. It's them. They want us to break up. They know that we're strong. They want to break us down. They can't win as long as we're together. They'll thrive off of our misery. We can't give them that."
"But can't you see Philby? They're getting exactly what they want! We're losing! We're on the verge of breaking up! Everything's working out for them and our world's falling apart."
"Willa, that's exactly what they want you to think! We'll make it through together."
"How can you know? What if one of us dies?" Her eyes showed the pain and misery from the past few years. Philby wished every day that he could help her get rid of that, but so far he wasn't having such luck. The anger issues had been getting in the way the past three weeks.
"No one's going to die—"
"Dillard already did!"
Philby took a deep breath. The next few words were critical. He needed her to be confident that they would make it, that they could survive the Overtakers' torment. He wanted to crawl into a corner and hide, but he knew that he had to be strong for her. She had been strong for him many times over the years and now it was time for him to step up.
"Finn's not going to let that happen again. Neither am I."
"How can you be so sure?" Her voice was shaky, but the tears were stopping.
"I-I-I just know. I can't explain it, Willa. You've just got to trust me on this one."
Willa took a deep breath, but said nothing.
"Do you trust me?" He asked her. Three weeks ago he wouldn't have had to ask her this. But after all of the fights, the harsh insults and the hurtful words, he knew he had to.
Willa nodded and gave him a hug so tight he thought she would choke him.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her, afraid that if he let go she would never come back to him.
"I'm sorry for everything I said Philby," Willa whispered into his ear. "I never meant it, I swear."
Philby kissed her on the cheek. "Don't be sorry, it was me that was the hurtful one."
Willa leaned back and gasped.
"What's wrong?"
"You…and…oh…how did I not notice that?" Willa stood up and backed away from him, her face screamed fear and pure horror.
"What's wrong Willa?" He stood up and took a step towards her. Willa matched every step he took, locking them in an awkward dance.
"Your….your eyes!" She pointed at his face. "They're…they're green!"
Philby's eyes went wide. He turned to look in the mirror above the drawer and stumbled backward.
How did I not realize that before? This explains everything.
Philby took a deep breath and turned to Willa.
"Willa, I am so sorry. I didn't know."
"I can't believe I never noticed before." Her face still had that look of horror on it, which broke Philby's heart all over again. She would never trust him ever again.
"Willa—"
Before he could finish, Willa walked up to him and forced her lips upon his. At first it shocked Philby, but then he kissed her back. This was their first kiss in three weeks. Philby felt the magic, but he knew that it was the spell-breaking kind. This kiss lasted a few seconds before Willa let go.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned her head up and looked at him and smiled.
"Are they—"
"Blue," she said with a huge grin on her face. "Blue as the sky."
"I'm sorry, Willa. I had no clue."
"Don't be sorry, Philby." She paused and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's not your fault."
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "How can I ever make this up to you? Being an OTK for weeks without knowing it and causing all kinds of fights isn't exactly ideal boyfriend behavior."
"I'm sure I'll find some way to get back at you," Willa leaned up and kissed him one more time.
"So no more breaking up?" He asked her.
"Never ever."
"After all, I'm excited that you're in my life again. After all, I'm delighted to be back where we began. I believe that you can fall in love with me again, 'cause I love you. I'll catch you when you fall."
May 15, 2006
"You cannot defeat me!" Jafar spread out his arms, as if calling upon some reinforcements he didn't have. "I will prevail!"
"Not a chance!" Willa yelled back. She pointed Philby's sword in Jafar's direction, challenging him to a duel.
"A puny little girl challenging me to a fight?" Jafar's laugh echoed throughout the streets of Disneyland. "This should be fun. I accept."
He pulled out his staff and pointed it in her direction. He spoke some kind of spell and a stream of purple came crashing down toward Willa. She moved the sword in front of her just in time to deflect the spell off back in Jafar's direction.
In that moment of confusion after Jafar ended the spell, Willa charged him. She knew she wasn't the best at sword fighting, but she was going to have to try.
Maybeck and Jess were trying to get Charlene back from Mother Gothel's capture, so they were on other side of the park. Finn went to challenge Chernabog's reincarnated self, with Amanda at his side—despite his protests. Philby was nowhere to be seen. He left her a few minutes before Jafar appeared, claiming he had had some revelation and that he would be back soon.
He had left her with his sword. It wasn't much, but it was all she had.
She swung the sword, aiming for Jafar's head, but he blocked it with his staff.
Willa wasn't sure exactly how long the fight lasted, but after a while the exhaustion began to set in. She knew that Jafar was going to overpower her soon and she started getting desperate.
Willa stumbled backward, the sword falling out of her hand as she went. She took another step and tripped over something unseen and fell onto her back. Her head hit the cobblestone street hard, causing Willa's vision to become blurry. She tried to focus in on Jafar, but couldn't.
She couldn't focus on anything, now that she thought about it. She saw a big shadowy figure loom over her, someone who could only be Jafar. The staff was raised and something was muttered, but it was incoherent to Willa.
Willa closed her eyes, preparing herself for certain death.
Three seconds passed, five…ten…fifteen. Willa opened her eyes and saw that the figure wasn't standing over her anymore. She propped herself up on her elbows and saw that someone was wrestling Jafar for the staff.
Her vision was still a little blurry, but she saw a blur of red hair on Jafar's attacker.
Philby.
Willa tried her hardest to stand, despite the massive headache and nausea in her stomach.
Philby stumbled to a standing position, Jafar's staff in hand and muttered something. He pointed the staff at Jafar and the same flow of purple landed on Jafar, causing him to disintegrate.
Philby dropped the staff and stumbled a little, but Willa caught his arm.
Philby turned and saw her, giving her a confused look. "Willa? Oh thank goodness! I thought you were dead!"
"No, no, I'm fine. Did you just…kill him?"
"I don't know what that staff does," He cracked a smile. "But he's gone. Who cares what it did to him?"
She let go of him and leaned down to pick up the staff. She saw a puddle of blood on the street next to it. She looked over at Philby and saw a small dagger sticking out of his upper thigh.
"Philby!" Willa screamed as Philby collapsed to the ground.
She ran over to his side and studied the situation. Her vision was beginning to return to normal, which helped her assess the situation even better. The knife was relatively small, but she knew that the wound would get worse if she took it out. It was so far up his thigh that he was almost at his hips. He could lose his leg if the wound wasn't properly cared for.
Philby grabbed her hand. "Willa, it's nothing. I'll be fine."
"Philby, no you won't!" Willa reached into her back pocket and grabbed her cellphone. "I'm calling 9-1-1."
Philby tried to snatch the phone from her hand, but failed. "You can't bring anyone to the park."
"I'll get you outside. I'm not letting you die, especially when you saved me doing it."
"Willa—"
Willa cut him off by explaining the situation to the 9-1-1 operator. She gave them a false location down the street from Disneyland. She hung up the phone and stood up.
"Come on, Philby. We've got to get you to that location so that they can get you to a hospital."
"Willa, no, we've got to help the others," he winced as she helped him stand up.
"This is going to hurt, Philby, I know, but it's got to be done. You could lose your leg if not treated right. We can't treat it right in the middle of a street."
"Willa," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she moved her arm around his waist. They took the first step toward the entrance and he almost collapsed in pain.
"Philby, let's just get you out of here, okay? I'm not losing you. Nobody's dying, remember?"
Philby nodded and a few tears streamed down his face. Willa could tell that the pain was too much for him.
The ambulance came a lot faster than Willa expected. The EMT's pushed her into the ambulance with Philby before she could run back to help her friends. She felt bad leaving her friends all alone, but Philby needed her right now. Surely, they'll understand.
Philby went straight into surgery and Willa was left in the emergency room. She waited for hours upon hours. She kept pacing back and forth in the room. She wanted to know about Philby's condition, but no one would keep her in the loop. She was so scared.
The fear began to set in, forcing her to think darker thoughts.
What if Philby doesn't make it? What am I going to do? I don't think I can live without him.
Eventually the exhaustion caught up with her and she passed out on one of the uncomfortable benches lining the walls of the room.
She wasn't sure how long she was asleep, but it only felt like a few seconds. She was awakened by Finn.
"Finn? What are you doing here?" Willa sat up and Finn sat where her head had been.
He shrugged. Willa could see the exhaustion in his eyes and the scars on his arms and legs. "We're all here. Amanda's not doing too good."
"What happened to her?"
Finn leaned back on the bench and stared at the ceiling. "She overused her power. She...she wouldn't wake up."
Willa saw a tear fall off of his cheek and land on the bench. She reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she's fine, Finn. Have you heard anything about the others?"
"They're all fine. I haven't heard from Philby though."
Willa swallowed and looked over to the nurse sitting at the receptionist's desk. She stood up and slowly walked over there.
"Umm…excuse me…do you know anything about Dell Philby?"
The nurse looked up at Willa and gave her a weak smile. "You're the girl who came in here with him, aren't you?"
"Yes ma'am." Willa tried to not let her frustration show. She didn't want to hear small talk. She wanted to know whether or not Philby was okay.
"How sweet." The nurse looked over at the computer, furiously typing on the keyboard for a few minutes. She found what she was looking for and gave Willa a huge smile.
"He's out of surgery and doing well. He'll be out of here in two days, according to this."
"Can you tell me what room he's in?"
"Of course," she glanced over at the computer. "He's in 208."
"Thank you." Willa hurried back over to Finn.
"Do you mind if I go see Philby?"
Finn let out a small laugh. "Why are you asking me Willa? I'm not your dad. Do whatever you want."
Willa was so excited she kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see if I can find anything out about Amanda while I'm back there."
Willa hurried down the hall toward Philby's room. It took her a little longer than she thought, due to the labyrinth of rooms, but she finally found it.
Inside the room, Philby was flipping through channels on the small television in the corner, muttering something about how cable TV was horrible.
"Hey," Willa said in a small voice, so quiet she didn't think Philby heard her at first.
Philby turned and looked at her and a huge smile grew on his face.
"Hey sweetheart."
Willa walked over and sat in the bed next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. "How's your leg feeling?"
"I'd say pretty good for getting stabbed with a knife."
Willa punched him in the arm. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
"Hey, not cool!" He rubbed his arm, pretending that it actually hurt, which they both knew it didn't.
"The nurse said you'll be able to leave in two days."
"Great, two more days of this? I've been here a few hours and I'm already bored." His shoulders slumped and he started mindlessly flipping through the channels again.
"But now you've got all of us to keep you company."
Philby turned and gave her a confused look. "Everyone else is here?"
"I think so. Finn's here because of Amanda. I'm assuming the rest are here somewhere."
"Oh okay."
There were a few minutes of silence. Philby kept surfing through the channels. Willa almost fell asleep again on his shoulder.
"Tired, much?" Philby joked, nudging her with his shoulder.
"Yeah, a little."
A few seconds of silence before Willa spoke up this time.
"I didn't think you were going to make it. I was so scared."
Philby kissed her on the top of her head. "I'm sorry for causing you all of that pain, Willa. But he was going to kill you, I…I just couldn't let that happen."
She could hear how sorry he was. She looked up and kissed him on the cheek.
"I love you, Philby, but if you scare me like that again, I'm going to have to kill you."
"I think I can live with that." Philby gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you too, by the way."
They stayed like that for hours. Philby flipped through the horrible cable channels, eventually leaving it on a random soap opera. Philby put his arm around Willa and she laid her head on his shoulder.
Eventually they got onto the subject of college, something that was coming up in the very near future. After talking it out, they came to the conclusion that they were both going to go to the same school. They couldn't stand to be without each other. Neither of them thought they would be able to stay sane if they went to separate schools.
After a few hours, both Willa and Philby fell asleep. Willa had honestly never felt better in their relationship. To say she was happy would be a serious understatement. It only took Philby getting a knife to the thigh for them to reach this point.
The door creaked as it opened, waking both of them up. Willa looked up and saw Finn standing in the doorway.
"Hey there sleepyheads," Finn said as he closed the door behind him.
"How's Amanda?" She asked him.
Finn smiled. "She just woke up about an hour ago. Doctor says she'll be fine."
"That's good. What about the others?"
"They're all fine. Maybeck took Charlene back to the hotel."
"How come?" Philby asked. He shifted in the bed to get more comfortable.
Finn shrugged. "She just needed sleep. I think the whole getting kidnapped thing finally caught up to her."
"Oh."
The three of them wallowed in the silence for a minute.
"Does this mean…it's over?" Willa asked carefully.
Finn thought it over for a second and exchanged a look with Philby—which Willa didn't quite understand.
"I think we've finally gotten rid of them."
"So it's over for good now?" Willa asked Philby.
Philby gave her a smile. "I believe so."
Willa was so happy she leaned over and kissed him.
"What was that for?" A confused Philby asked when she ended the kiss.
"We finally get that happy ending we've always dreamed of."
Philby took a deep breath, letting that sink in. She could finally get the happy ending that she felt that they deserved.
"You're right…we do." He looked over at Finn. "I guess we get to be normal teenagers now."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Finn joked. All three burst into laughter—something that hadn't happened in a long time.
"Oh, we're united and we've made it after all. And we'll both be standing tall, after all."
June 1, 2008
"Let's stop here."
Philby stopped and stood in front of Willa. They had just finished their second year of college and were now walking around Magic Kingdom. They were standing in the middle of Main Street. Willa looked past Philby for a brief second and saw Cinderella's Castle looming in the distance. The light reflected off of the castle, giving off a shimmer of light illuminating Philby from behind, giving him an angelic look.
"Why here? We're in the middle of the street!" Willa protested.
"Because," Philby looked down at her, "I have something I need to say and I want everyone to hear it."
"And what would that be?"
A huge smile grew on Philby's face, which could only mean he was up to something big. He got down on one knee and pulled out a small black box from his pocket.
"Willa, I've liked you since I met you, but I knew I loved you that day back in 2002 that we were both...uh...here by accident." He winked at her. Only she knew what he meant and she loved it. "Willa, you're the love of my life and I couldn't wait any longer to ask you this. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
So many emotions swirled in Willa's mind at this moment. She glanced around and noticed that there was a crowd forming around them, taking pictures of the perfect proposal.
"Yes."
Philby's heart about leaped out of his chest. He placed the ring on her finger and stood up. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He didn't care about the crowds watching and taking pictures. All he cared about was Willa.
They were finally engaged, something he had been planning on doing for a long time. Now that he had done it, he was the happiest man on Earth.
After everything they had been through, they were finally getting the happy ending they both deserved.
If Philby could go back to his fourteen-year old self and give him one bit of advice, it would be one sentence—a sentence so small but yet so powerful at the same time.
True love conquers all.
After all they had been through, Philby could personally attest to that.
"And we'll both be standing tall, after all."
So what did y'all think? Please review! Or don't, I don't care! I know that most of y'all love Willa-Philby more than anything, so I hope y'all enjoyed this ridiculously long one-shot.
I'll do my best to update my multi-chapters soon, but no guarantees on how soon.
Have a wonderful rest of your day!