The weeks to Shaggy's full recovery were slow. Mia spent nearly the entire time teaching Shaggy and Scooby how to draw. The other portion of her time was spent waking Shaggy from his mysterious nightmares. He refused to speak about them. They only seemed to get worse. Scooby wanted to help his friend but he wasn't sure how. The only thing that was certain was Shaggy relied on Mia for comfort.
One night Mia laid awake. How much her life changed. As she was drifting into dreamland she heard it. Shaggy's mumbling. She got up and went over to help him.
"Shaggy" she whispered.
"Help me Red"
Although he was still asleep Mia wondered if he knew she was there.
"Shaggy it's okay " she whispered shaking his shoulder.
Shaggy went stiff then relaxed. This was the sign he'd woken up. Mia started to walk away only to have Shaggy gently grab her hand. Mia looked back at him. He looked at her silently pleading with her to stay. Mia knew there was no point in going back to bed anyway. If she did Shaggy would probably have another nightmare. Mia couldn't risk that. So she sat down and waited for Shaggy to say something.
"I'm sorry I keep waking you up" he said finally turning to her. The cuts on his cheek had healed but left a scar.
"It's really okay Shaggy "
"No it isn't
"It's fine I promise "
"Well if you say so"
"Look it's snowing outside " Mia said pointing to the window.
"So it is" Shaggy said following Mia's gaze.
"I always liked the snow" Mia said.
"So do I "
"Shaggy? Mia?"
"Over here Scooby " Shaggy said.
"It's snowing outside " Scooby yawned.
"Yes it is "
"Can we play in it tomorrow?" Scooby asked.
"No" Shaggy said firmly.
"Why not?" Scooby asked.
"He's still out there"
"We don't have to go far Shaggy" Scooby argued.
"I said no Scooby "
"But-"
"NO"
Scooby moved back. He really wanted to go outside. It was boring inside the one room cabin. Scooby had run out of ideas to entertain himself. He was getting restless and needed some fresh air.
"I'm sorry Scooby " Shaggy whispered.
"It's fine Shaggy"
….
When Shaggy woke up the next day he was surprised to see Mia still sitting on the couch next to him asleep. Shaggy looked at her and wondered if he should move he didn't want to wake her. After all he'd been waking her at all hours of the night for the last several looked so cute. Mia's hair fell over the right side of her face. She was calm. Just so calm. Shaggy felt bad for waking her. Slowly Shaggy stood up. His leg had pretty much healed. Shaggy glanced back at Mia she wasn't covered and she was shivering slightly. Shaggy grabbed her hood and draped it over her.
"Shaggy?" Scooby asked.
"Shh" Shaggy said gesturing to Mia.
"Oh" Scooby whispered.
They stayed quiet for a few minutes but Scooby couldn't stand the silence so he asked Shaggy a question that been on his mind for a while.
"Shaggy?"
"Yes Scooby?"
"Do you actually love Mia?"
"Yes"
"How can you tell?"
"Whenever I'm around her I feel happy and I can forget about my curse for a while."
"Explain please"
"She's wonderful Scooby. She makes me feel human "
"Really?"
"Yes"
….
Mia woke up thirty minutes later. She turned and looked around to find Shaggy . He didn't notice that she was awake. He was busy cooking breakfast. Scooby noticed however. Mia sat up and yawned finally getting Shaggy's attention.
"Morning Red"
"Morning Shaggy" Mia yawned.
"Morning Mia " Scooby greeted.
"Morning Scooby "
"Did you sleep okay?" Shaggy asked Mia.
"Yes did you "
"Yes"
Surprisingly Shaggy hadn't had another nightmare when he fell asleep again. Instead it'd been a beautiful dream. Playing in the snow with Mia. It had been cold and the ground was covered in glittering snow. Mia wore her hood as they chased each other around the clearing. Her laughter still rung in his ears. Shaggy smiled at the memory.
"Shaggy is breakfast ready yet?" Scooby asked yanking Shaggy from his thoughts.
"Yes let's eat"
…
After breakfast
Mia sat beside the window looking at the winter wonderland outside. She wanted to go outside and play in it like a child. Longingly she traced designs onto the window. It was warm inside the cabin. Scooby was curled up on the throw rug and Shaggy was cleaning the breakfast dishes.
"Mia?"
"Yes?" Mia asked turning to Shaggy.
"What's wrong?" Shaggy asked coming to stand by Mia.
"Nothing " Mia replied not wanting to anger Shaggy.
"You want to go outside don't you?"
"Yes"
…
Shaggy thought about it. Fred was still out there but he didn't want Mia to get bored. While they couldn't go far maybe there was a solution.
"We can go outside as long as we stay near the house " Shaggy said.
"Really?" Scooby added excitedly.
"Yes"
"Lets go"