The Midnight Hour

The world was beaming, beautiful, bright. A wonderful world of Technicolor – something the black and white photographs could never quite portray. Golden California sunshine cascaded down onto fresh flowers and shrubs, just growing on the first few days of a new era, Disneyland in its beginning moments.

Finn and the Keepers had made it – they'd done the impossible. Time travelled, and ended up at Disneyland to experience its Opening Day, and the first few days after that. It was a feat in itself, and Finn's fellow friends' infectious joy should have been contagious. He should have felt happy.

Except he didn't.

He'd felt off the entire time that he'd been there so far, and he knew why.

Amanda.

His heart ached.

Even though he was surrounded by his friends, he felt lonely. The pure ecstasy of their triumph had lost its enchanting luster the longer they were trapped between awake and sleeping, alive and dreaming. He wanted nothing more than to just find the pen and then find a way back to the present already, to end the separation of years and time and eras between him and her.

The world was so foreign to Finn. It was one thing seeing it in textbooks and old grimy photographs – it was a completely other thing living it, existing in an era in which you did not belong. Finn could feel the distinction every time he passed guests' conversations, their slang, the lilt of the words, their… everything. He wanted to latch to something familiar, but even the Keepers had altered in this strange limbo between past and present, hologram and human. He wanted Amanda.

More than that, Finn just missed talking with her. It was something so simple that he'd taken for granted, until he was left in 1955 without any means of communication at all. Sure, he could "talk" to her. He could leave thousands of etchings in walls and as many carvings in trees as he wanted for Amanda. But that wasn't talking. That was him shouting into the void, hoping she'd see it. A one-sided conversation. He wanted to be able to hear her shout into the void back to him.

Finn found himself talking to her in his head. It made him feel a little crazy, granted, but he couldn't find any other way to cope or feel better. Everything around him and the Keepers all felt so foreign and unfamiliar, like he was caught up in the middle of an elaborate play of the past in which he was solely an onlooker. Cold isolation crept into Finn's bones; he just wished that he had the familiar comfort of Amanda. Was there a word for how he felt?

He had to focus. The past was full of so many unforeseeable problems with no clear answers, it required all of his attention. And yet he couldn't shake her from his thoughts.

Gathered in Wayne's workshop backstage, the Keepers were trying to make the best of the situation and work with what dismal information they had. Too many unknown factors kept coming into play, and Finn didn't like the way it felt. It unsettled him.

Philby said, "On top of that, I think we should do some reconnaissance-"

Amanda rolled her eyes, joking but affectionate. "What is this, Call of Duty? It's like watching you and Dill play that stupid game all afternoon again… which I completely creamed you guys at, by the way."

Finn laughed.

"What's so funny?" Philby looked confused. The other Keepers' faces were painted with surprise at Finn's random outburst, as well.

"Oh. Nothing."

"…well, what do you think of the plan, then?"

All eyes were on him. Expectant.

"It, ah, it works."

"It… works…" Philby said, deadpan. He huffed. "Were you even listening to a single thing I said?"

Finn sighed. "No," he admitted, quite painfully. As a leader, he knew he'd just messed up. "I got distracted, sorry. Run it by me one more time." Finn needed to focus – he knew that he needed to be present and active if he and the Keepers had any chance of getting through this.

Several days later, the Kingdom Keepers were gathered around in the cool shade of the trees, bright and burning summer sunlight glittering gold and fading through the leaves above. It was already a scorcher outside – not even past noon, yet – and the July sun beat down relentlessly on Disneyland guests. Sitting in a circle, their DHIs were now three-dimensional thanks to some early tech advancements that Philby, Willa, and Wayne had managed. Such an accomplishment lifted their spirits in the face of the more difficult and painstaking odds set before them – Hollingsworth, somehow returning the pen to One Man's Dream, and returning themselves to their physical bodies in the present.

Sixty years away from home.

Finn felt the all too familiar pang of missing Amanda well-up inside him once again, burning with a ferocity he couldn't comprehend.

He pushed it down.

"We've accomplished a lot in the time that we've been here, but we've been trapped here a while, now, too – way longer than anticipated. At this point in the game, I know that the pen is top priority, but figuring out a way to return ourselves once we actually have the pen is even more important."

Maybeck nodded his head. "We've been stuck in SBS for days. That can't be good."

"I don't even want to think about it." Charlene looked sick at the thought.

Willa scrunched up her nose. "It does make you wonder…"

Charlene waved her hand in a shushing gesture. "I said I don't want to think about it!"

Willa closed her mouth shut. But, from the curious look in her eye, she still seemed to be thinking it over, her quick mind no doubt running through a thousand possibilities.

Finn felt the ghost of a touch on his hand, his arms, his face – he shivered and frantically brushed his hands over himself, wiping away the sensation. Ants, Finn thought, annoyed. He glared down at the fresh grass beneath him.

"If anything, time is becoming more and more imperative." Finn stressed. "The faster we get the pen and figure out how to return, the less complicatio-"

His breath caught in his throat as the sunshine and chatting laughter drained away – he found himself in darkness. Utter black. Red danced across his vision in time with his pounding heart. The cold numbness of his hologram began to feel; pin-pricks stabbed their way up and down his body, as if he hadn't moved in a long time and the limbs were just waking up. His eyelids felt so heavy… why did everything feel so heavy…? He felt drunk with deep sleep – like he could sleep forever.

Something warm and familiar pressed against his lips, and the spell was broken.

Finn opened his eyes.

His heart stopped.

Amanda was kissing him. But how-?

Her eyelashes fluttered, blue eyes opening into his. A gasp tore her lips away from him as she stumbled backwards, unbelieving eyes wide with shock. He heard her choked sobs as his eyes grew heavy yet again – a flash of Tia Dalma…? What…? – as he sunk deeper and deeper and deeper, the dark carrying him down and away and gone from Amanda. Finn tried to fight against the drowning drowsiness. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay.

He couldn't.

Without Amanda there to anchor him any longer, his world plunged into darkness once more and he felt himself being sucked back, back, back – the past would not let him go.

The healing scab on his heart had been torn off, and now it burned, unable to close the fresh wound as the blood pounded and poured with every pulse; it just poured and poured and poured and poured and–

Daylight.

Panicked voices rang in his ears as the tunnel vision subsided.

"Finn!" "Are you okay?" "What the **** just happened?" "Talk to us!"

The Kingdom Keepers came back into focus. Finn gripped the ground for support. He felt dizzy. He had returned to 1955. But hadn't he just been with…?

Amanda.

No no no no no no

Finn didn't want this. He wanted to be back in the present with her, with Amanda. His lips still burned where hers had met his. They had been together, and now…

The ache in his chest grew, the chasm widened. He missed her. He-

Finn flinched as a feather-light touch fell upon his hand. Willa beside him.

Only then was Finn broken out of his trance. He stopped staring blankly at the grass beneath him and looked up. How much time had passed? The other Kingdom Keepers were hushed, suddenly, staring at Finn in careful earnest. Their looks were too wanting of him, too expectant, so he decided to look at Willa instead, her eyebrows knit in concern, her eyes kind.

No one dared say another word to Finn – they looked at him as if he might break. It'd happened before. Finn could feel it, see it in their faces. Fractures were mentally spreading inside of him and it was only a matter of time yet again until-

"Can I speak with you, for a moment?" Willa glanced awkwardly at the other Keepers. "Ah, alone?"

Finn nodded solemnly. Willa held out her hand, and he took it.

Once they were out of earshot and eyesight of the other Keepers, Willa asked Finn what had happened.

He hesitated.

"You know you can tell me anything, Finn." She put a hand on his arm. "Heaven knows I've talked your ear off about Philby before."

Finn felt the last remnants of his resolve start to crumble.

He told her everything.

"You saw Amanda?" Willa asked in disbelief.

"I don't know how, or why, or where, or anything except that it was her, and she was real, and I was me again, and I was back in the present and-" Finn felt frantic. A wave of dizziness overcame him, and he had to put a hand on the wall beside him for balance. "She kissed me, and I was awake, and then I wasn't."

"Oh my gosh…" Willa's eyes were alight. "True love's kiss."

Finn didn't quite know what she meant at first, but then it hit him – sucked him in, crushed him, and spit him back out. How could he have been so oblivious? She had kissed him, and he woke up. Amanda woke him up with a kiss - true love's kiss.

He should have felt elated. Part of Finn did – but just that very same realization dragged all the blissful, warm golden hope that came with it away, because he wasn't with Amanda. He was separated from her by centuries, and she might never know now.

All this time, he hadn't been able to pinpoint the word – he missed her constantly, thought about her all the time, he needed her – but now it blazed clear as day before him.

He loved her, and she'd never know.

How could any of this be romantic? How could Finn be happy about any of this? It all felt tragic to him.

Finn sank against the wall. A moment later, Willa slid down beside him.

"Are you okay, Finn?"

Finn stopped looking at his hands and over at Willa, who offered a condoling smile.

He laughed. "Honestly? I'm miserable." Finn let out a defeated sigh.

"You love her, don't you?"

He nodded. "And it only took a span of sixty years separation through time and space for me to finally figure it out," Finn mumbled. "And now that I know, I can't even reach her."

Willa and Finn sat in silence at the heaviness of the situation. Being trapped in SBS and dealing with an unknowable enemy was difficult enough to handle already – heartache on top of that just worsened the load.

"You know, Amanda probably feels the same way as you do right now."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, it's not." Willa sighed. "I mean, it would be nice if it did, but this whole situation is pretty sucky, isn't it?" Finn gave a small chuckle at her meager attempt for lightening the mood.

"But you'll get back to her, Finn." Willa smiled. "I know you, and I know that once you put your mind to something, there's nothing that can stop you. Especially when it comes to the people you love. We – the Keepers – all of us, have made it so far. And we'll get through this one, too. Together."

Finn shook his head. "But this seems so… so much more… ugh."

"You'll see Amanda again. I know you will." Willa stood up, brushed off her dress, and held out her hand yet again to Finn. "And when you do see her, you can finally tell her."

Finn just sat there, staring at Willa's hand for a moment. Willa was concerned that she had somehow lost him in a daze yet again, but she knew that look in his eye. He was thinking, a plan forming.

"Before we head back to the others, can we make a quick errand?"

"What for?"

Finn smiled, and Willa was pleased to see that the light there had not been completely extinguished. In fact, the embers began to burn brighter.

"Some paper, an envelope. A pen."

THE END.

A/N: …when you feel the need to fill in the gaps because R2 completely skipped over major events in the Syndrome, so you write a fanfic about your faves. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review if you enjoyed! :)