32 ~ Nights In White Satin

Beauty I'd always missed
With these eyes before
Just what the truth is
I can't say anymore
'Cause I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you

Donna woke up to the smell of sizzling bacon. She rubbed her eyes and sat up a little, taking in the morning.

The Dream Wizards were making the bacon, along with eggs, over some kind of red flame that Donna assumed was magic. Hyde was spooning Jackie, both of them asleep and holding hands. Kelso was splayed out half on top of Fez, who was snoring.

Eric was by Donna's side, mumbling in his sleep. "But, Donna… you're so pretty…"

Donna giggled softly and laid back down, facing Eric. Once he stopped mumbling, she pressed a light kiss to his lips. His eyes fluttered open. "Good morning," she said.

"That was a nice wakeup," he said sleepily. "Can we do that more often?"

"If you keep talking about how pretty I am while you're asleep, yeah."

Eric smiled and pecked her on the lips. Then he perked up. "I smell bacon."

Donna laughed. "That's what wakes you up?"

"Hey, your kiss woke me up, then the bacon got me moving." Eric sat up. "I'm kind of surprised Hyde's asleep. I thought he'd be all angsty about Edna."

"Never underestimate the power Jackie has on him," Donna said.

Eric stared at Jackie and Hyde for a moment, then turned to Donna. "I'm glad they're together again."

"Me too." Donna kissed him on the cheek. "I'm also glad we're engaged again."

Eric grinned. "Me too." He cupped the side of her face and kissed her fully.

Kelso's shout broke the kiss. Donna looked over to see Kelso bent at an awkward angle under Fez. Fez must have turned over in his sleep and was now crushing Kelso, who was too weak to effectively push him off. Donna sighed and walked over. She pulled Fez off of Kelso, waking Fez up.

"Hey!" Fez said. "I was having a nice dream."

"You were crushing me!" Kelso said.

Not too far away, Hyde groaned. "I can't wait until I don't have to sleep near you guys anymore. You wake up too damn early."

Jackie hummed in agreement. "Life will be so much better when we're married and living together."

Hyde smiled a little and held Jackie closer. She smiled as she snuggled into him. Donna shook her head. "Guys, you gotta get up soon. Breakfast is almost ready."

Donna returned to Eric, who had gotten up to sit near the fire. Donna sat next to him. Kelso came over on his own, which was good even if he was slow. Fez sat next to him. Jackie and Hyde eventually made their way over, sitting hip to hip.

"After you all eat, we will take you to a lake where you can clean up," Rhiannon said. "Then we will take you down the river to Riverbend, where you can make your way home."

"I can't wait to be home," Jackie said.

"Same," Kelso said.

"I could wait a little," Eric said. "Just 'cause I know Red's gonna kill me."

"After you went missing for two weeks? Your mom will kill you first with the force of her hug," Donna said. "Red won't stand a chance."

"I very much hope you are speaking figuratively," Rosalita said.

"Oh! Yeah, we are. Sorry," Donna said.

Rosalita nodded. "That's quite all right. Now, eat up, we should get going soon."

The lake glittered in the morning sunlight. Jackie grinned and breathed in the fresh forest air. She was very content in this moment, with the sparkling lake and Steven's arm around her waist.

"Are you gonna shave your beard?" she asked.

"Probably shouldn't do that in non-running water," Steven said.

"Actually," Gloria said, "you can shave in this water. This lake is magic and stays pure. It eliminates germs, bacteria, hair, blood, semen, urine-"

"You may stop listing things now," Rhiannon said quickly.

"Right," Gloria said. "My point is, if you wish to shave you can."

"Cool," Steven said.

"Well, we shall leave you to it. When you are finished, follow the path to the river. We will be waiting on the boat," Rhiannon said. They all nodded and the Dream Wizards set off down the path, leaving the six of them alone.

Eric looked at Fez. "Race you into the water?"

"You're on!" Fez and Eric both started getting undressed as fast as they possibly could.

"I would so win if I could run!" Michael said. He started getting undressed slowly, wincing as he lifted his arms over his head. Jackie hated seeing him in pain, but it was far better than the alternative.

Soon, they were all in the lake. They all seemed to pair off and occupy different parts of the lake, which Jackie was fine with. She had no interest in seeing Eric or Fez naked.

Jackie laid back in the water and floated near Steven. "This is what it felt like sometimes in my mind. Like I was floating in the air."

"Yeah?" He was silent for a moment before he said, "What did it look like in your mind?"

Jackie stopped floating, standing upright and facing toward Steven. "It was iridescent and shimmery. It got darker when I got sad."

Steven stared down at the water. Jackie grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "It's not your fault your mind looks that way," she said quietly.

"I know, I just… I want to make it stop looking like that."

"It will, eventually. It just takes time." Jackie kissed his shoulder. "Maybe you could look into therapy."

Steven snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm not telling some shrink all the dark details of my life. I barely told you, and I actually trust you."

"You trust me?"

"Of course I do, Starlight."

Jackie kissed him on the lips. Then she remembered something she'd thought about in her mind. "Remember the day we listened to Fireball? And you said it was hard to believe we were together? What did you mean?"

"I was kinda hopin' you'd be too high to remember that." He scratched the back of his neck. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you, so it's sometimes hard to believe you feel the same way about me. Or, at least, it used to be hard."

"Oh, Raindrop…" She cradled his face in her hands, running her thumbs through his beard. "You never have to doubt my love for you."

"I know." He kissed her softly and sweetly.

"You gotta shave the beard now. I miss kissing your bare face."

Steven chuckled and got his razor from the lakeside.

Jackie pressed a kiss to Hyde's newly-shaven cheek. The six of them were dressed and starting to head over to the boat, where the Dream Wizards were waiting. "Much better," she said.

"Much better," he repeated, but he didn't just mean his beard. He meant being with her. It was so much better now than it had been before. He kissed her softly. "I'll never get sick of that."

"You better not," Jackie said.

"Ready to head back?" Fez asked.

"Yes! We've been here for way too long," Forman said.

"Let's get going, then," Fez said.

Eric dropped his head onto Donna's shoulder. They were seated on the side of the boat on one of the benches. Kelso and Fez were to their right. Jackie and Hyde were on the bench in the back, Hyde's arm wrapped snugly around Jackie's shoulders.

As they cruised down the river, Eric smiled. They'd been through a lot these past two weeks, but they were all still together. They were all alive and mostly well. And things were looking up.

"Five bucks says my mom stress cooked enough food to feed several third-world countries," Eric said.

"I'm not taking that bet 'cause I know you're right," Hyde said.

"If anything, she cooked more than that," Donna said.

"I hope she made peach cobbler," Fez said. He stared off into the distance. "Now I want a peach cobbler."

"Same," Kelso said. "Oh, or that blueberry pie she makes sometimes."

"Or those chocolate peanut butter cookies," Jackie said.

Hyde laughed suddenly. "What?" Jackie asked.

"Just remembering that time you tried to make those for me and they were hard as rock," Hyde said.

"Hey, I tried my best!" Jackie protested. "It's not my fault I got distracted and left them in the oven too long!"

"I think it's directly your fault," Eric said.

"No! Okay, maybe. But it doesn't matter because Steven can cook, so no one has to eat my burnt food," Jackie said.

"What if I taught you how to cook?" Hyde suggested.

"I don't think you'd be a very good teacher for her," Donna said.

"What? Why?" Hyde asked.

"Her whole problem is that she gets distracted and the food burns. You're probably gonna distract her more," Donna said.

"That's true," Jackie said. "You're pretty distracting."

"That won't stop me from trying," Hyde said. "I'll teach you something that doesn't involve the oven. Plenty of things just use the stovetop."

"And burn down our house in the process?" Eric asked.

"Have a little faith, Forman."

"Fine. But I'll be standing near the kitchen table with a fire extinguisher the whole time," Eric said. Hyde and Jackie both rolled their eyes.

"We will be at Riverbend soon," Rhiannon announced from the front of the boat. "Soon enough, you will be back home."

The boat turned on the river, facing towards Riverbend. Hyde smiled a little at the knowledge he was close to being home. Although, anywhere he was with Jackie was home.

"This is where we part," Rhiannon said. "If you could all give us a moment alone with Steven?"

They all exchanged looks. "It's fine, guys," Hyde said quietly.

Fez, Kelso, Donna and Forman left the boat. Jackie kissed Hyde on the cheek before leaving. They walked a good distance away and waited.

"Steven, we just wanted to say that your mother was a dangerous person. She is to blame for her physical and mental attacks towards you. It is not your fault, no matter how much you may believe that," Rhiannon said.

"We also wanted to thank you for killing her," Gloria said. "We never had the strength to kill one of our own, even if she had been banished for years."

"To show our thanks, we'd like to give you this," Rosalita said. She handed him a ring with a perfectly rounded opal stone. "We heard you plan to marry Jackie. This ring is not magical in any way, but it is one of our oldest artifacts. The opal was cut from the Cavern of Lost Dreams."

"It was said that when one of the Lovers was trapped, the other would search to the ends of the earth for her. When they reunite, he shall give her a ring carved from her prison," Gloria said. "You and Jackie are the Lovers, so this belongs to you."

Hyde stared at the ring for a moment. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Rhiannon said. "Now, go home. I'm sure there are plenty of people there that are very worried about you."

Hyde nodded and pocketed the ring before leaving the ship. He waved to the Dream Wizards as they turned the boat and set off back down the river. When he reached the others, he wrapped his arm around Jackie.

"What did they say?" she asked.

"They thanked me for killing Edna, if you can believe that," Hyde said.

"What did she give you?" Forman asked.

"I'll show you later," Hyde said. He wanted the ring to be a surprise for Jackie when he proposed a second time.

"I know you don't want to stay here any longer, but I would like to say goodbye to my parents before we go," Fez said.

"Of course," Donna said.

"Sweet! I wanted to see Kari again so I could burn you some more," Kelso said.

"What?" Jackie asked.

"Oh, I didn't tell you! I nailed Fez's sister," Kelso said. "I mean, it won't happen again 'cause I'm gonna work things out with Brooke, but it was awesome when it happened. I'll tell you all about it on the way over there."

Fez entered the house. "Hello?"

His family rushed in. "Fez, you're home!" Kari exclaimed.

"I am! And I have Jackie!" Fez announced. "Jackie, this is my family. Kari, Lia and Zar."

"So nice to finally meet the missing girl that brought you all here!" his mother said.

"Of course it's nice to meet me, I'm wonderful," Jackie said, grinning.

"You must tell us about your journey," his father said.

Fez looked at his friends. He knew they were itching to get home, but he did want to spend a little longer with his family. "Do you mind?"

They all shrugged. Fez took it as an affirmative.

"Well, after we left Riverbend…"

Once Fez had finished his story and his family had commented about it, he said, "We should get going soon. My friends very much want to get home."

"Of course," his father said. "Try to keep in touch with us, though. We love hearing about Amedica."

"I will." Fez hugged his father. "I will visit as well. Seeing you all again made me realize how much I miss you."

His mother smiled and hugged him. "We miss you too. But we do understand that your life is in Amedica. And I will hold to you that promise of visiting."

"Will you bring Kelso with you?" Kari asked, smiling flirtatiously at Kelso.

"I'm actually planning on getting back together with the mother of my child, so probably not," Kelso said.

"You have a child?" Kari asked, her smile falling.

"Yeah. I love my daughter," Kelso said with a grin.

"We should let you all go now," his mother said. "Fez, we will see you next time you visit." She hugged him tightly.

"See you then," Fez said. Then he turned to his friends. "Are we ready to go?"

"Hell yeah," Hyde said.

Fez said his final goodbyes, and they all left the house. They walked to the tree that held the passage of light. Fez performed the spell that opened the passage.

"Woah," Jackie said under her breath.

"To Point Place!" Fez said, entering the tunnel of light.