Authoress's Note: I apologize here too for this being so long...i explained everything in "East of the Sun, West of the Moon", so if you wanna know, you can go there and read that...

Anyhow, many thanks and kudos bars to: Baloo (yay! surprise!), Firebird (ooo...TWO reviews!!! yes, i WILL eventually update Rosemarie, when i have time to really sit down and work on it...not rush it, y'know? but eventually it'll be here...no i havn't read harry potter...yet (it's on my to-do list!) but that's cool!!!!), zumamoonlight (for accidentally reviewing twice..opps!!), hemlock (yeah...i didn't like the blinding thing...it grossed me out...specially since i had to dissect a sheep's eye last year in science!...and YES!!! even THIS is out before april (or arpil)!), Faeriegurl (i wanna know what u think of the other chapters!!! COME BACK!!!! hehe), and Blazing-moon (yeah...i like his name...sorry to leave ya hangin!!)

And now, guys, the big announcement: this is the last chapter...yes...the time has come, the end is here...no more of this...happily ever after is almost here...enjoy and don't forget to review! Love you all!


~Jenny the chica~









Chapter Fifteen: In Which All is Well and Happily Ever After...



Mother didn't punish me as harshly as I feared she would, but she still punished me. She sent me down to the foot of the tower, leaving me to find my own way out. I thought that I would be able to find and follow the hoofprints of Tobin's horse to his castle, but Mother had made them disappear.

I stumbled through the woods, wandering for days, until I finally found my way out. I walked on the road for weeks after that, trying to find Tobin, but I was too confused, ill, and weary to think straight, and I didn't even remember to write in to my fairy godmother in her book, which I had already put in my cape for my intended escape that evening. I stopped at a different inn or home each night, and most took pity on my weak form, as well as for the child that I was carrying. Only a few questioned me about my husband, and I told them that we had gotten seperated, and I was trying to find the place which we had agreed to meet. They would stop questioning me then, as I would burst into tears around that point, which was best, since no one would believe that a princess would be wandering around, dirty, lonely, and lost.

Gradually, things began to look strangely familiar, and just as I thought I had almost figured it out, I saw the house I had grown up in: my fairy godmother's house. I was so glad to have the chance to see her again that I ran to the door, well, more of a waddling run, my hooded cape flying behind me.

I pounded on the door, and it was opened by Eneé. I embraced her tightly, and she soon realized who I was. She called for my fairy godmother, and her sister, Enelle, whom I hugged as well.

I heard footsteps, and I looked up the main staircase to see my fairy godmother. I will never forget the first words I said to her: "May I call you 'Mother' again?"

She ran over and squeezed me tightly, like she had always done before. I wanted this moment to never end, just as I had before I left for the convent, but our reunion after a larger than four-year separation was interrupted when I jerked away suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Mother asked.

I winced as I felt the greatest pain I have ever felt in my life. I crumpled to the floor, but Enelle caught me just in time.

I heard Mother yell, "She's going into labor, help me carry her to my bedroom!"

I felt myself being carried up the stairs, and I was about to lose consciousness when another shooting pain hit me, leaving me wide-awake.

A few hours after I was in Mother's bedroom, the pains finally stopped, and I turned to look at my baby. I was shocked when Eneé held up two babies, a boy and a girl. She quickly wrapped them in two blankets given to her by Enelle, and passed them to me.

I held the screaming children up to Mother, who blessed them both with a fairy kiss, then handed them back to me. I named the girl Grace, after my first friend at the Convent of Carronsburgh, and I tearfully named the boy Tobin. After doing this, I fell into the deepest sleep I'd had since I was sent away from my tower, and I didn't wake up until late into the next day.

After overcoming the exhaustion following the birth of Grace and little Tobin, I talked with Mother to plan how to go back to Tobin. We talked about it a lot, and we finally decided that I should go to court, escorted by Mother, and bringing Grace and little Tobin with us.

We went as soon as I was strong enough, which was about three weeks after the twin's birth. The day we finally went, I felt like my throat was permanently in my throat, that my skin would forever stay covered in goose bumps, and that I would spend the rest of my life shivering.

I tightened my clutch on my cloak with the pinky and ring finger of my almost-full hand. I couldn't help wondering if anyone would even know who I was. Tobin had never mentioned telling anyone about me, for who would believe the tale?

Here we stepped out of Mother's carriage. A biting wind whipped through the already iced air, playing with my skirts. I re-covered the twins' faces, trying to comfort their squalling selves.

I continued shivering as I walked the slowest I had ever walked in my life. Mother finally insisted on holding one of the twins, and I handed her little Tobin.

We slowly entered the castle, the twins finally ending their constant wails, and I continued telling myself, "You are equal and above everyone here-the princess herself. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

The fact that I was wearing a new, ornate dress that Mother had just made for me was helpful, as it boosted my shaky confidence.

We turned slightly and entered the throne room. I tried to look down at the end of the long hallway for Tobin, but I was too far away to make anything out clearly.

Mother and I continued to pace down the long hall, and my quickening heartbeat seemed to deafen even the joyous, yet thunderous, ruckus of the court's conversations.

We were almost to the end. Tobin was nowhere to be seen. I caught my breath in a little, determined not to cry.

We decided to wait a little, and blended into the crowd hovering next to the thrones. I distracted myself by entertaining Grace, now joyfully gurgling her first giggle, then dozing off.

I looked up to see a door behind the thrones open, and a larger version of Tobin, whom I instantly realized was the king, stepped out. The crowd immediately fell silent, and I was glad that both Tobin and Grace were quiet and asleep. I looked up again, and I watched Tobin follow out.

After memorizing all day what I would first say to him, I opened my mouth, and no sound whatsoever came out.

Thankfully, my little Grace deemed that this was the best moment to wake up and set a record for screaming volume, so she did so. As I looked down into my arms to try to calm her, Tobin looked over.

I saw him squint a little, then watched as his joyful smile spread across his face as he began to run towards me. I handed Grace to Mother, who was already holding little Tobin, and ran towards my husband.

We met in the middle of the path leading up to the thrones, where we embraced and cried, both overjoyed beyond belief at the sight of the other. I felt myself almost pass out, but he supported me, and I just clung to him and cried. After many moments of this, Tobin turned to the king and queen and said, "Father, Mother, this is Gretchen--the maiden I was searching for."

"And now she's found me," he whispered in my ear.

His parents smiled and nodded, and Tobin led me over to them, where I embraced both.

I then had to be introduced to the court, who were chattering about this sudden ruckus, but they all bowed, and welcomed their new princess.

After the majority of this commotion had ceased, I led Tobin to where Mother was, still holding the twins.

I took little Tobin from her and handed him to his father, introducing them, and took Grace, holding her. I turned and hugged Mother, and the tears we were both crying ended up on the other's face.

I introduced Grace to her father as well, and he smiled, but I could tell that he was a little overwhelmed with becoming an instant father.

Still smiling, Tobin bent down and kissed me, and the twins, along with the entire court, were suddenly silent. It was then that I truly knew that I had been welcomed.



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After the surprise of my sudden arrival, Tobin told me of how he had run when he heard my warning, then come back the next day with a group from his army. They had brought a ladder, and attacked the tower, only to be greeted by an empty room, and neither the witch nor I were anywhere to be found. (Mother later told me that the witch had just mysteriously vanished, and no one had since seen her, so she was presumed dead, a huge relief to Tobin and me.)

Tobin told me that he had been searching for me throughout these months, and his father was just telling him to "give up the search" when they entered the throne room, but, thankfully, I was there, waiting for him.

I moved into the castle, of course, with Tobin and the children, and Mother stayed in her manor, although she visited her "grandchildren," Tobin, and me often. Mother was always treated like my real mother in court, and I continued to call her "Mother."

When the twins were almost three, the king and queen "retired," since Tobin was twenty-four, the age when the prince officially became the king in our country, and Tobin became king.

We lived very joyfully together as king and queen. The twins grew into wonderful children, as did their little brothers and sisters. Mother and I kept in close touch. We continued to write using the magic book, which Mother returned to me, since she traveled a lot now and lived in a neighboring country for most of the time. Nevertheless, my life had finally fallen into place, as I had always hoped and dreamed it would. In fact, though I hate to use the old cliché, we truly did live happily ever after.



The End





A/N: Thank you everyone...my "loyal" fans...love you all!!! Keep reviewing!!!!

~Jenny the chica~