Author's Note: Okay, this one's heavy.
Sorry it's like 75% in italics, but since one's a flashback and the other is writing in a journal, I had no choice. In my planning, it just ended up that way. I'll try to avoid that next time.
"Andy, you're my best friend, and you always will be. No matter what I promised her, I have to tell you the truth now. I have to help you out, somehow." Andy's face contorted with the pressure of a thousand questions, but Chris stopped him. "No, I've already started talking, I've got to see this through to the end, or I'll never be able to admit this to you. It's a long story, so please don't interrupt." Andy settled back into the chair opposite Chris and stared at him. Chris sighed, shakily starting, "Okay, so… um… I know why Alice left."
Andy sat, silent for a moment, stunned. "What? Chris, how?"
"Shh. Just listen. You can tell me how much you hate me later. But please. This is hard." He sighed a long, tired sigh. "It went like this…"
Christopher Robin had a late shift at Tiana's. After a long list of chores completed, Chris shut up shop and set out for home.
The night air was still and cold and lonely. Everyone was inside their houses, together, peacefully resting.
Except Christopher Robin. And apparently Alice, too.
It wasn't hard for Christopher to spot her tiny frame, briskly pacing away from her pink and yellow home. She was dressed in her normal blue frock, with floppy sunhat in one hand and an apparently packed suitcase in another.
Chris knew immediately that something was out of place, but to what magnitude, he could never guess. He ran ahead to meet Alice. For anyone to walk alone at that time of night was dangerous.
"Alice! Alice! Wait up!" Chris called, causing her to jump and spin around. She then gasped and placed a hand on her heart in relief.
"Oh, Christopher. It's just you. What're you doing out this time of night?"
"I had the closing shift at work tonight." He eyed her suspiciously. "But I know for a fact that you didn't, though. Where might you be going with that luggage?"
She grimaced. "Uh, I'm sorry. I can't tell you. No one's supposed to know I'm leaving."
"Why not? Did something happen?"
"You could say that, yeah."
He narrowed his eyes. "Alice, I don't like this. We're friends. You can tell me anything. What about Andy? Does he know you're leaving?"
At the mention of Andy, Alice smiled. "No, Chris. No one in this town knows I'm leaving. Except for you, now."
"So you're sneaking off because something happened. But for how long? Where are you going to go?"
"Chris, to be honest, I have no idea how long or even where I'm going. I've just got to get out of this town, though. I've always wanted to travel, so I'm just going to every place I can. And when I feel comfortable, I'm coming back."
"But Alice," pleaded Chris, now very concerned, "You expect me to keep this secret from everyone? From Andy?"
She smiled regretfully. "Yes."
"But what happens when they start looking for you? What then? They'll investigate. I'll have to lie to our friends, maybe even to the King."
"I know, but for right now it's best they just don't know. Trust me."
Chris still couldn't accept it. "You mean I can't even tell them you're okay? That you're coming back?"
"I'm sorry, Christopher. No. I need time completely to myself without people pestering me about coming home. You're the only one who knows. I'm putting all my trust in you."
"That may be a mistake."
"It won't be," Alice reassured, turning and readjusting her grip on the suitcase and continued walking.
"Wait!" Chris called, running after her. "At least let me walk you to Disneyland borders. It's dangerous out here, you know."
Alice nodded. Chris offered her a hand with the suitcase, and she let him carry it. Walking in silence for a few minutes, Chris finally spoke back up. "Okay, so if you're trusting me with keeping all these secrets, can't you tell me why you're leaving?"
She tensed, obviously uncomfortable. "Well, it's a very private thing. I haven't yet spoken about it to anyone." She looked up at Chris, who was deeply worried, but still trustworthy. "Fine. Here goes…"
TARGET LOG ENTRY #4
Target: Grandmother Willow
Approximate Height: 30 feet
Approximate Weight: Unknown, irrelevant
Skills: wisdom, peacemaking, advice
Notes:
-Greatly prized as an elder in the Disneyland community
-She lives outside in a specially made garden, next to Mama Odie and Fairy Godmother
-Cannot run, but branches could be harmful
Recommended attack tactic: Inflict injury only when a point needs to be made to the Disneyland rulers. Possible courses of action include burning or chopping down.
Ariel sat up completely straight with dried tears on her face. She hadn't changed clothes or even gotten more than a few hours' sleep since Sebastian's incident, and now sat resolute as a kind of defense mechanism for what could come.
Eric, on the other hand, went about his life as nothing was the matter on the outside, but on the inside, he was in torment for Sebastian and Ariel. His way of coping was just to keep calm and carry on.
Sebastian's spans of consciousness wavered in and out, with the outs lasting much longer than the ins. Things had only gotten worse over the past few days. Sebastian's heart rate was irregular and slow. Very little red pigment was left in his shell. He was completely incapacitated, but could still speak, but only for a moment.
Since that awful day when he had collapsed, the staff at the Ward had given the couple and Sebastian more news about his health state, and it wasn't pleasing.
Simply put, Sebastian was dying. He had next to no chance of survival, and he had been given an estimate of about a day to live. But they had told them that yesterday.
As Sebastian entered the last few hours of his life, he would try and speak to Ariel whenever he was conscious.
"I had so much to tell yah, so much to see in yah. I wanted to see yah grow," he would say, eyes fluttering.
Ariel's tears poured over her cheeks and she would respond with a falsely hopeful smile, "Well, now you can tell me, if you want."
He would have to catch his breath, then weakly say, "Yah married a good fella. I think he'll take care of yah when I'm gone."
"Oh, Sebastian, don't say that."
"Ariel, I'm going sometime. Whether it be today or ten years later, I'm going. Hopefully before either one of yah." He smiled as heartily as he could. "He's good for yah, Ariel. If I do go today, though, please remember me, in some way. That's all I ask for."
"Of course. Who could ever forget you, Sebastian?"
He chuckled, which turned into a coughing fit. "Sorry." He paused for a minute, looking deep into Ariel's eyes with fear mixed with confidence. "Yah know, it's funny. One minute, I'm healthy and could tell yah all I would ever need to tell yah. But I never felt a need to then, because I thought I had a few more years left in me. But the next minute, I'm dying and I can't think of a single thing. And now I feel the greatest need to talk all I can."
"You've taught me so much, Sebastian," said Ariel mournfully, grabbing on tightly to his limp claw. "You don't need to say anything else. I already owe you so much."
"You owe me nothing, precious girl." His heart monitor slowed down even more, and he winced.
Daisy rushed into the room and asked, "Hi, Sebastian. How are you feeling?"
He tried to look hopeful. "Not awful. Quite peaceful, actually. But I do think I'd like to be with Ariel alone for a few minutes." He smiled, hoping that Daisy got what he was trying to say.
She did, nodded, and left. He turned his head back to Ariel. "Ariel, don't get too upset, but I have only a few minutes left. I can feel it. But don't worry." He tried to lift his shaking claw on top of her hand. "I'm going to be fine. You're going to be fine. Please don't cry, Ariel! Just remember me. That's all I ask."
But Ariel could not help it. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. "Okay, Sebastian. If you say so." She sniffled. "I'll remember you. That's no problem." She smiled. "I love you, Sebastian."
"And I love you, Ariel." He smiled weakly, and his heart monitor slowed to a murmur. "You know, I had a good life, but knowing you made it better." His eyes glazed over and drooped to a close.
The machine no longer had any heartbeat to report. Ariel sat, stunned, unable to accept it, while the monitor showed a straight, unwavering line.