She sighed to herself as she looked at her forest. She had not been the same since she had returned a year ago.
All the magic in the world couldn't save her from herself. She had been human, it may not have been for very long but the second her immortality was taken away so was the barrier, the shield against human emotions.
To have her immortality back left her feeling numb, all the emotions taken away and left only a scar in her heart. She wanted to be Amalthea again, this time for good. To be with Lir like she had once planned.
The unicorn knew her friends in the forest would be protected, for now she was not the last of her kind. She decided she would find Schmendrick and ask him to change her back.
...
Lir stood on the sand staring out into the ocean. He'd stay there and focus on the purple shimmers on the waves as they washed back and forth. The colour reminded him of Amalthea's eyes, how when they looked at him he could feel them see through his very soul.
He found it ironic that this brought him peace. The ocean that led the lady Amalthea to him was also the very reason she had to go away. She had found the other unicorns.
The prince would not stand there much longer, he was trying to put back together the kingdom his father had destroyed and he didn't have much time left to do it.
...
"Ohh, Schmendrick " Molly called out to her new husband from their cottage. "Your foods ready, hurry before it gets cold" Schmendrick stumbled in clumsily, mumbling about how he could become a great magician if he wasn't constantly interrupted. Molly gave him one look and he knew to just smile and thank her.
A familiar sound had both of them speechless for a second. It was the enchanted neigh of a unicorn, their cottage was in the middle of a forest and they were now used to the distant noise of the unicorns. Although they never heard the noise this close to their home. "Well what are you waiting for? Come on Schmendrick " Molly called eagerly, she knew that something was different.
Outside by the burnt out campfire stood the most beautiful creature ever created. "It's you" Molly cried and ran up to the unicorn almost In disbelief. As Molly hugged her and Schmendrick stood there contemplating what was going on the unicorn wasted no time in her quest. "Change me back, please... I'm no longer meant for this body"
"My lady... I'm not sure I can" Schmendrick answers. Not fully speaking the truth but he knew that was she was asking for would be an act against nature. "I know you can, I have felt love and regret like no other of my kind" the unicorn pauses "the regret I feel isn't for becoming human. It's for forgetting what I was trying to do when it happened. Will you help me?"
"Schmendrick" Molly gives him a pleading look. He knows that he should still say no but then he remembers what he told the unicorn when she was trapped and held by Mommy Fortuna and he knows his answer. "If not you, no one"
...
"My king, there are some strange people in the courtyard waiting for you" Everett bows his head to his friend and king. Lir sighs to himself, he was hoping to walk down to the ocean front again. "I'll go now" he answers the soldier.
Lir walks out to the courtyard and sees Molly and Schmendrick. His heart quickens at the thought that the unicorn he loved would be with them. The feeling quickly turned to agony when he couldn't see her. "My friends, why brings you to my broken kingdom?" Lir asks. Molly as usual cannot control her mouth and immediately says "we have a surprise for you my king, and a favour to ask"
Lir raises an eyebrow and grows suspicious. He looks at Schmendrick for further information. "We were wondering if you could help take in someone dear to us" Schmendrick replies the unanswered question even vaguely. "I'm sure I can help who is it?" Lir asks. Schmendrick gestures behind the king and waits for Lir to follow his gaze. "I'd like to introduce my erm, my niece... lady Amalthea."
Lir doesn't even hear the introduction properly. His eyes meet with purple and his heart beats rapidly. She was there, standing before him human again. Dare he hope that this was more lasting than before.
"Lir" the voice soft and loving. "Amalthea" he returns. Patient no more he closes the distance between them and takes her in his arms. One hand around her waist crushing her to him as the other cups her cheek. Amalthea's mortality back yet she feels stronger than ever. Maybe this was the wrong thing but spending one lifetime feeling love, friendship and even regret was better than not experiencing this for eternity.
Sadness quickly replaces the happiness inside Lir as he realises that she is mortal again. He didn't want a short life for her "why are you here what about the other unicorns" she pulls her gaze away from his for just a moment and she contemplated her response. " They're fine. They're home" she pauses as a smile creeps up on her face. "I love whom I love" her words echo his own from the cave a year ago.
There were no words that could describe the happiness they both felt in that moment. Lir bent his head and finally his lips met hers. He was never letting her go again and she was never going to return to her forest. She was home.