AN- It's been over a year and this is it. This is the last chapter. I am really glad you all liked my story and it meant so much to me that you stuck with it and enjoyed it. Thank you for reading it. I always got so happy with the kind reviews. As always, I hope you like this chapter. It has been great to be able to write this story and share it with you. But don't worry I've got another story planned to show Mary Poppins and Bert and their life…
Jane woke up on her own, which with Mary Poppins being the nanny was rare. That woman hardly let her charges sleep very late, but today Jane noticed the twins were still asleep and Michael and Annabel were looking around the house for something. But most surprising and worrisome, Mary Poppins was nowhere to be found. Jane's breathing caught in her throat, she couldn't be gone… not yet. They still needed her. "Where could it be?" Michael wondered aloud as he rummaged through the closet in the nursery. Jane wants to ask Michael, since he hasn't seemed to notice Mary Poppins' disappearance.
"Where could what be?" Jane asked, still in her nightclothes, watching her brother. Michael leaves and she follows him thoroughly confused.
"The Sunday Kite. Mary Poppins said we should go fly it with Mother and Father even though it isn't Sunday. It's a good windy day." Michael told her, only increasing her fears, until she realizes he said Mary Poppins told them to fly the kite. If Mary Poppins told them to fly the kite, she couldn't have left just yet. Jane breathed a sigh of relief.
"We had the kite last Sunday. Who had it last?" she asked her brother.
"Found it!" came Father's voice from downstairs. He came up stairs, holding that old green kite with the sash for a tail and tape running along the center. Jane grins at the memories this kite holds, how it brought them closer together, to be a family again. She suspects Mary Poppins may have done something to render the tape unnecessary, but she has no proof. Speaking of Mary Poppins, Jane realizes the nanny's room is quiet. Nervously, Jane frowns, but is pleasantly surprised when the door is opened to reveal the nanny's smiling face.
"Annabel, someday you should ask your brother and sister the story of this kite. It is a very good one." Mary smiles to the girl who loves stories and asks for one every night. Sometime during the conversation, both John and Barbara had joined their family.
"Mary Poppins, why don't you come with us today? Please?" Barbara asked looking up at the nanny. Pleading with her in a way Jane wishes she could.
"Not today, thank you." she replied. Odd, Jane thought, Mary Poppins would never suggest an outing then not partake in it. She never put ideas into people's heads and that certainly seemed like what she was doing now.
"Yeah, come with us. Bert might be there." Michael teased, under his breath. Jane glanced at her father, worried he'd heard, but only Jane, Michael and Mary Poppins seemed aware of the conversation. Mary Poppins glared sharply at the boy.
"I shan't intrude upon your family outing." The nanny said in a tone that made it very clear to all seven members of the Banks family that the matter was closed for discussion. "But do wear your coats, children. And do be careful, I wouldn't want you to get blown away in this weather." Jane and Michael share a look, but their parents soon rush them to get ready. Jane wishes she could have time to share her thoughts with Michael, so he can reassure her that Mary Poppins will be back by the time they return, but by the look on his face he wanted her to do the same for him.
The family makes their way to the park with their kite. Mary Poppins was right, it is excellent kite-flying weather. Michael grins when he sees Bert handing out a kite to a young blonde girl, no older than eight. If Bert was here, that had to be a good sign, right? The man looks up and sees the children. Bert waves with a big smile as they walk over to him. Jane is relieved to see him. "And 'ow are you today, Miss Banks?"
"Fine, thank you. How are you, Bert?" she returns the greeting.
He smiled warmly. "Can't complain. The sun is shinin' and the park is full o' people flyin' kites."
"Glad to hear, my good man." Mr. Banks tells him. Bert smiles since Mr. Banks seems to have gotten past his concerns that the sweeper and their nanny were married.
"Thank you, guvnor. Good weather for flyin' ain't it?" Bert jokes.
"It is." The banker agrees. Mr. Banks says something else after that, but Bert is only half-listening. Every so often he'll glance towards the sky.
"Looking for something?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow. If Bert is surprised by the question, he doesn't let it show. Michael knew his measurement would still read suspicious today, especially with how peculiar Mary Poppins and Bert were acting. He just hoped he didn't have to say goodbye again, though he knew they would. Michael just hoped it wouldn't be today.
"Nope. Just keepin' an eye out for kites that mighta come loose. That 'appens more'n you'd think on a windy day like today." He smiled, before turning to Jane. "Good luck in school, Jane." Bert told her. He shakes her hand for luck and she smiles when he grins. "Until we meet again." Just then, a big gust of wind blows away their kite from John's grasp.
"After it!" "Hurry!" "Get it!" "Grab it!" "Don't lose it!" "Got it!" The children are all shouting to one another. They all scramble to grab the old kite. Michael leaps and grabs it tight in his fist. He wouldn't let it get away this time. Not after the trouble the kite caused.
The five children all rush back to their parents. They turn around to wave to Bert amongst the crowd of people, but he is gone. His cart is nowhere to be found, neither are any of his kites. Or Bert himself. He seems to have just disappeared. "Bert?" Jane asked looking around, but he isn't there. She and Michael share a look of panic and nearly bolt home.
"Can't be. Not yet. She promised." Jane cried to Michael as their parents and siblings followed.
"Only… only until the winds have changed." Michael remembered sadly. The two oldest burst through the door and run through the parlor.
"Jane? Michael? Is everything alright?" Ellen asked seeing the look on the children's faces. The five children run upstairs and into the bedroom of John, Barbara, and Annabel.
Jane stopped in front the door behind the nursery. It was Mary Poppins' room and nobody entered Mary Poppins' room without being invited. "That's silly. It's our house." Jane whispered to herself, shaking as she opened the door.
The room was empty. Completely empty. No trace that Mary Poppins had ever even been there. Even the mirror was replaced with the much smaller one that was originally in the room. The floor lamp was gone. The bed perfectly made. It was like Mary Poppins had never even returned.
Ellen and Mrs. Brill came up when they heard crashing and doors opening and shutting. Jane and Michael furiously tore open all of the closet doors and drawers, slamming them loudly when they were revealed to be empty. She wouldn't be hiding from them, but they both wanted proof that they hadn't just dreamed that she was here.
The last time she left, the nanny left without a word while they were at the park. Would she really do it a second time? Could she? Jane closed her eyes, trying not to cry. She sat down on the bed, burying her face in her hands. "She… just… left."
"She always just leaves." Michael said angrily, flopping down next to his sister. "Can't believe I actually thought she'd stay this time." He felt like he was a child again, heartbroken that the magical woman would just… could just leave them again. He remembers that she left to help another family and regrets his anger. They were lucky all five of them to get to see her again.
"Ellen, did she say anything to you?" Mr. Banks asked sharply, he couldn't believe she'd done it again.
"Sorry sir." The maid shook her head sadly. "She was up here the whole time you were gone. I would've seen her had she left. I was cleaning the stairs while you went to the park." All of the children ran to the window in case they could see a silhouette of a woman grasping an umbrella as she flew away. In case they could shout to her to come back. To stay with them. But they knew they wouldn't see her, she'd be too far away now. Looking anyway, they couldn't help but be disappointed. She was gone. Never to return to Cherry Tree Lane since it was by her own admission that she rarely visited the same family more than once.
Slowly they stepped away from the window, as though they could will her back. The children searched the room again. In case there was something they missed in their haste. They all tore about the room, ripping open all the drawers and closets.
"It is useless, completely hopeless." Jane sighed, falling back onto the bed. "We won't find anything."
"Didn't she love us?" Barbara looked up to her sister, eyes filled with tears that are threatening to spill.
"You think she can love all the children she nannied for?" Jane answered, though they all knew she did. They knew she loved them or she wouldn't have come in the first place, all those years ago. They know they were loved and that she had to leave so more children could be loved as well.
Mrs. Brill gives one last long look before going back down to the kitchen to start supper. Something caught her eye. Sitting plain as day on the nightstand by the bed. A canvas as though it had always been there.
It's a simple picture, really. A penguin holding a silver tray. The penguin is wearing a red bow tie and he is waving with his free hand. Though it's the details and the colors that truly make the picture. It isn't painted, nor is it drawn; it's a mixture of the two. Paint, charcoal, pencil, and of course chalk make up this beautiful bird. The silver tray looks almost metallic and the penguin looks as though his arm is moving, waving happily. No doubt he used some magic in its creation. If one looks closely, they'll be able to see the individual feathers, but only if looked at the right angle. He wanted to leave something that will get better the more one looked at it.
The children all gasp when they see it. It's so beautiful. Bert did a good job on this one. Jane smiles. "So she was really here." She breathes, standing up to get a closer look. She hands it to her parents so they can see the artistry.
"There's something on the back. What does it say?" John notices the writing first.
Jane squints trying to read the cursive. It couldn't be Bert's, his writing is too sloppy for this elegant style. It takes her a less than a moment to determine who wrote this message. It's Mary Poppins' perfect script, though it's just a bit slanted. Practically perfect in every way. The handwriting is graceful and the kind of penmanship one would expect the wonderful woman to have. "Au revoir?" Jane struggles with the unfamiliar words.
"I do believe it's French, Miss Jane." Ellen says, trying to remember back when she was a girl and her grandmother would speak it. "I think it means—"
"Until we meet again." Jane finishes, remembering the last thing the Chimney Sweep told her before the wind took over.
Michael smiles as his sister holds the penguin close to her chest, before placing the canvas picture back on the nightstand. "Thank you, Mary Poppins." The entire household says to the window and the skies, hoping their words would find their way to the woman and her husband.
A couple was sitting perched on a rooftop, just enjoying the day, just enjoying each other. They were leaning against the house; he was holding her in his arms. They both knew soon they would be far from home and maybe even from each other, so they wanted to make the most of the time they had today. He kissed her forehead lovingly. "They're going to miss you, you know." This time there was no objections. She smiled sadly at him. The 'I know' was silent, but it was clearly there.
She rested her head on his shoulder, bringing his hand to her lips. He smiled at her: his whole world. He was hers; that much was clear. "They're good children." The woman said after a moment.
"Maybe we'll be back someday." Seeing the look in her eyes, he grins. "After she's finished with school and married to her perfect groom and has children of her own." His eyes are shining, she loves how happy he gets about things. She laughs along with him. "Or maybe even he will settle down someday or one of the younger ones, and the children'll write a letter asking for someone to help."
"I'll answer it, as I always have. I'll go to the family to teach them and help them. The parents will remember me, won't they?" The woman teases the man, who simply nodded as a lopsided grin grew bigger on his face. She sighed, not wanting this moment to end, "But for now, I'm off again to new adventures, new places, and a new family."
"What's to happen all happened before." He agreed, handing her the umbrella that was lying next to him. It will keep happening just as it always had, they both knew because there would always be a need for them somewhere. She gave him another kiss as the winds pick up. One of her hands is around her umbrella, one of his around his chimney broom, both waiting to go with the winds. Both of their free hands were intertwined, waiting until the winds take her away from him. They'll hold hands as long as they can. He'd let her go, just like always. Let her meet the family, let her get settled, let her figure out how best to reach these kids and parents. He'll find a job close by, with the ability to come to her at a moment's notice, ready whenever she asks. He'll be ready to help her always; they are a team. He smiled to her when their hands finally were separated, as she let the wind take her to the next place they're going to be staying. "Goodbye, Mary Poppins, don't stay away too long."