A.N. I remember reading a fanfic that was an alternate ending to the movie. In it Cellach made Brendan promise to stay at Kells and be the next Abbot. I think that actually did happen in the movie, even though we didn't see it, so I used that idea in my story too. However, to make it different, I altered the timing of the promise.

It had been a week since Abbot Cellach had died, and a little more than a month since Brendan's return to Kells. Due to the promise he made to his uncle before he died Brendan stayed in the Abbey of Kells, but couldn't quite get the hang of being a leader. Brother Tang and a few other Brothers assumed that it was just because Brendan was still mourning his uncle, so they worked together leading the Abbey until he 'recovered'. However this wasn't true, even though he missed his uncle Brendan wasn't deeply saddened by his death. He got to see his uncle for a month, his uncle got to read the Book of Kells, and both details comforted him. Actually, he couldn't get the hang of being a leader because the Abbey had stopped being a home to him. He didn't feel as if he belonged there anymore. He wanted to leave, travel and share the Book with the world, but his love for and promise to his uncle kept stopping him.

Deciding to clear his head, Brendan left early one morning to take a walk in the woods. He also wanted to see Aisling again, especially since he was worried about her. Even though she was alive he sensed that something was wrong, after all when he first returned he mostly saw her in wolf form and only caught a glimpse of her fairy form. He wandered through the forest, until he came upon the area where he first met her. That's when a white wolf appeared.

"Hello Aisling." Brendan smiled.

"Brendan, where have you been?" Aisling asked telepathically.

"Still in the Abbey, wanted to catch up with my uncle. He then died last week and left me in charge." Brendan explained. "I don't want to break my promise to him, but I don't know if I can be in charge. The Abbey doesn't feel like home to me anymore."

"Maybe because your true home is somewhere else." Aisling suggested. "Unlike us forest spirits humans can live wherever they want."

"I don't know, but I do know that my true job is sharing the Book of Kells with the people." Brendan sat down with his back against the stone dome.

Aisling went closer and sat down next to him.

"I hope you don't spend all your time doing that, I missed you while you were gone."

"I missed you too." Brendan smiled. "So no, I wouldn't. At the moment all I really want to do is to take the Book and defeat the North men with it. I can't let any more families be torn apart like mine was."

A.N. It said in the movie that sinners are blinded by glancing at the book, though Aiden kinda hinted that it wasn't true. Even so since evil is at least one step up from sinner, if not more steps, I figured that evil would be killed off by more than a glance of the book. Meaning that Brendan plans to not only show the vikings the book but possibly read it to them as well.

"So, it was the North men who killed your parents?"

Brendan nodded sadly.

"I guess the North men are your Crom Cruach then."

"Yeah, all they care about is gold. Like all Crom probably cared about was food. When I left him in that chalk prison I noticed that he was eating himself."

"Sounds like him."

"Anyway, I'm really glad you're still alive. When I came back outside after my fight with Crom I was at first worried that you had died."

"It was a close call. I fled at the last second, preventing Crom from killing me, but being near him for that long still had a bad affect on me."

"I thought something was wrong. What is it?"

"It's my powers. After I fled I ran to the wolves and turned into my wolf form to rest. After I did...I couldn't change back or transform into another animal. I became stuck as a wolf, which wasn't a bad thing since they already consider me to be their alpha wolf. But I do miss turning into other animals, and I'm afraid my powers are still pretty much gone."

"I'm sorry, I did try to make you leave sooner. I never wanted you to get hurt."

"It's not your fault, I chose to help."

Suddenly, the wolf pack showed up. Unlike the previous two times Brendan saw them they looked docile.

"Hey guys, thanks for saving me and Aidan. And Pangur Ban too." Brendan smiled to them.

"What happened to her?" Aisling asked.

"Still back in the village. She likes to sleep a lot nowadays."

"Oh."

One of the wolves suddenly barked.

"He says that even though I'm their alpha wolf I can stay with you instead of going back to them."

"Probably not a good idea, until I figure out where I truly belong I'll be staying in the village and I don't think the Brothers will welcome a wolf."

"You have a point. I'll stay near the village so you can always find me then."

"That works. And Aisling, if there's any way I can help to bring your powers back, I'll do it. I owe you for helping me get to Crom and for your wolves saving me and Brother Aiden."

"I don't know if there is a way you can help, or if there's even a way to bring back my powers. Either way, the only one who would know would be Enna, the first queen of my people. When we die we become part of nature by becoming a type of plant. My plant is the Snowdrop, which is what most of my powers turned into outside Crom's lair. Enna's plant is the Pedunculate Oak, and I happen to know which one she is."

"Really? How can you know?"

"We can still communicate with our people after they go, since we can communicate with nature in general. Enna is one of the wisest of the forest spirits, so if anyone knows of a way to restore my powers she will."

"Great, so you can ask and then tell me later."

"It doesn't work like that. I want my powers back just because I want to be powerful again. Only someone who wants my powers back for a selfless reason, like repaying a favor, can ask her. Meaning you have to ask."

"Uh, but I can't talk to nature."

"True, but humans can communicate with forest spirits who are in plant form if their hearts are true. It's tricky though, for you to talk to Enna you'll have to let your soul leave your body and go into her tree. Meaning your body has to stay connected to her tree, if it is removed you could die."

"Well, then we'll just have to make sure it doesn't get removed."

"Very well. Come, I'll take you there."

Brendan followed Aisling through the forest. Since he had spent the rest of his childhood and almost all his adulthood in and near the forests he did a lot better than he did during his first visit. After a while they came upon a Pedunculate Oak that was very tall and very wide. Obviously it had been around for centuries, maybe even thousands of years.

"I'll leave you to your conversation. I have to let the animals know to not disturb you anyway. You'll probably be done before I come back so I'll see you some other time."

"All right, if you're not back when I'm done then I'll see you later. Maybe even tomorrow, I think it's time I told the Brothers the truth about how I feel. Is it all right if I tell them about you?"

"It is fine, if you trust them that much."

"Oh Brother Tang I trust that much, he was always like a grandpa to me."

Aisling didn't respond, but the look in her eye indicated that she understood. She then left, almost disappeared even.

"Her skills will never cease to amaze me." Brendan smirked.

He then walked closer to the tree.

"Uh, hi." He began awkwardly; he was grateful that there weren't any other humans around to see him. "I'm a friend of Aisling's, one of your people. You probably already know that though, since she was just here... Anyway, I have a favor to ask, for Aisling's sake, so I'm gonna try to connect myself to your tree if that's okay."

There was no response, expectedly, but Brendan decided to take this as yes.

"All right."

He took a deep breath, walked even closer, and put his hands onto the trunk of the tree. Nothing happened, until he closed his eyes. Then he felt himself being pulled. He kept his eyes closed, wondering if it had worked.

"You can open your eyes Brendan."

Brendan did. It was really his soul opening it's eyes, but he didn't feel like a soul. In front of him was a forest spirit much like Aisling, only taller. She was an interesting combination of old and young, and wore a robe with fancy spirals on it.

"You know my name?" He was surprised.

"Aisling has told me about you. Now, what is your favor?"

"Aisling lost most of her powers helping me reach Crom. I feel really bad about it, even though she says it wasn't my fault, and since she's helped me so much and didn't deserve losing her powers I was wondering if you knew of a way to return them."

"I do, actually. The only thing that can restore a forest spirit's powers is the strongest force on Earth."

Brendan wasn't sure what she was talking about. He wanted to guess the Book of Kells but had a feeling that that was wrong. Forest spirits have no use for books after all.

"Wha-what is the strongest force?" He asked.

"Love."

"Love? Really? That can't be right, I already love Aisling and it doesn't seem to have made a difference."

"All grown up and yet still a child at heart." Enna smiled affectionately. "I wasn't referring to friendship love Brendan. I meant the most selfless kind of love of all: True Love."

Brendan blushed, now getting it.

"It can't be, she's a forest spirit. I'm just a human."

"Not just a human Brendan. You did what none of us forest spirits had ever been able to do: defeat Crom Cruach. Only one who is pure of heart could have accomplished such a task. And if any kind of human can win the love of a forest spirit, it is the pure of heart."

"But, what if she doesn't love me that way? And what if I don't actually love her that way?"

"In Aisling's case, that's not for me to say. In your case you'll just have to listen to your heart. It hasn't failed you before."

"Well, I'll give it a try."

"That's all I ask. I must warn you though: if your love turns out not to be true then Aisling will die. I don't think you have anything to worry about, since a pure heart is never wrong about love, but it doesn't hurt to make sure first before you admit your feelings."

"I'll definitely make sure. I wouldn't want to hurt Aisling let alone kill her for anything."

"Good. I will let you go now."

Brendan suddenly felt himself being pulled from behind. Instantly he fell down, no longer connected to the tree.

"Wow. That was actually kinda cool." Brendan got up. "Not a pleasant ending though." He rubbed his back.

He then headed back to the Abbey. The Brothers asked him where he was and he told them that he took a walk in the forest to clear his head. He then told them that he can't become the new Abbot. The village just wasn't home to him anymore, plus he had to share the Book with the world. It was his destiny, he knew it now. He asked Brother Tang to take over as leader and he agreed. He then followed Brendan into the tower, due to Brendan asking him to join him.

"Brother Tang, I have to tell you something." Brendan said.

"What is it?"

Brendan told him about Aisling, how they met and how she helped him defeat Crom by letting him gain entrance. He also mentioned her wolves saving him and Aiden from the vikings. He left out her losing her powers though, since he still wasn't sure about ending up with her. Brother Tang found it cool that Brendan was friends with a forest spirit, and admitted that it explained how Brendan escaped after Cellach locked him up that one night.