Chapter Eleven: The Fairy, the Bounty Hunter, the Idiot, and the Assassin! What a Happy Ending!
The journey to the Castle of the White Witch from Cair Paravel was thirty-eight miles. And what a long thirty-eight mile journey it was, too, even on borrowed horses. Borrowed Talking Horses, to be sure, but they didn't really talk much, except for Donkey's and the only things she wanted to talk about were her mate's fine rear and Narnian politics. Both of them fine topics, at least to her, but Donkey was more interested in concentrating on and thinking about the time he had left as a human... and with Puss.
One week was given...
And six days had already been taken back. He had until midnight tonight to get Puss to decide. Less than a day...
He gazed at the passing forest, numb to the glory of the undying trees, and blind to the beauty of the Dryads that played amongst their oaks and birches.
The constantly chattering voice of the Horse beneath him dulled to a background noise and he fell into a stupor, staring blankly at the scenery.
A little while later, something woke him.
He looked ahead. A man stepped out of the bushes, and Donkey was hard-pressed to keep from staring. The man was dressed in simple robes of tawny and white cotton, and his surcoat was made of shantung, and sandals made of leather, but what made Donkey want to gawk was his presence. Without having to think about it, Donkey knew that this simply-dressed man had to be a Power. His chestnut hair shone in the direct sunlight, and his brown eyes glowed with a warmth of love and acceptance that nearly knocked Donkey off his Horse. As it was, he stumbled off the mare when she and the other Horses abruptly halted in the middle of the trail and knelt in front of the man. Tinkerbelle, too, was on the ground, kneeling before the man, and Donkey could tell that Jack and Puss were fighting the same urge he was; to prostrate themselves before this stranger and beg forgiveness for all of the sins they'd ever committed. He fought off the compulsion and noticed the other two stand straighter, then unexpectedly, Jack knelt. Knelt, not flung to the ground. He saw Puss do the same, and followed their example, kneeling on one knee and bowing his head.
This... man radiated an aura of light and love that Donkey had never seen before.
He heard the shuffling of sandaled feet approach Jack, and words were murmured between the two. The conversation seemed to last a long time, and by the time the sandaled feet approached him and stopped between him and Puss, he felt like he'd been kneeling forever. A cool touch on his brow dissolved the weariness of the day, and a hand under his chin brought him to his feet. The Power's right hand was lifting him up, and His left was doing the same for Puss.
"Sons of Adam and Cernunnos, why do your hearts fear so?" He asked gently.
Without even knowing the words, Donkey found himself uttering something he'd only heard Jack utter in passing. "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned..."
The Power stopped him with a warm finger on Donkey's lips. "How have you sinned?"
Donkey bowed his head in shame. "I love a man, Lord, and I know it is sin to do so."
Sin? He didn't believe in Jack's version of religion- why should he be apologizing for something that he didn't feel?
"Love is love, Son of Cernunnos. If you love someone, why should it be wrong?"
Now Jack looked down. "To lie with a man as one would with a woman is a great sin, Father."
"True, Son of Adam. But should you love that man, then the act of sharing your body is the greatest thing that you can do. The only thing higher that can be done is to sacrifice yourself for them, and that is not called for, here."
Donkey stared at the ground. "Forgive me, Lord."
"It is not called for, here. Instead, live your lives together, free of fear of persecution. Narnia changes as we speak, and soon all will be welcome here without needing to fear discrimination."
"Huh?" Jack asked, obviously surprised.
"Live your lives together, and fear not the words of the miseducated. Love each other as you would love yourself, and love to the extent of your true feelings. To love a man is not a sin, nor to love outside of your race," He said, turning his gaze upon the bounty hunter and the fairy.
"Yes, Lord," Jack said, eyes wide with wonder. Tinkerbelle was silent.
He turned His gaze back on Donkey and Puss. "Love one another, for it is your destiny to be together."
"But-" Puss said before he could stop himself.
"But nothing, Puss, Son of Cernunnos. It is your destiny; for if not, why would the potion have worked?"
Donkey's head snapped up. "But how- would you know-" he spluttered helplessly.
The Power smiled. "We know many things, Son of Cernunnos. If not, how would we know when it is time to step in? And what time to step out, or to speak of destiny?" His smile suddenly seemed sad, for a moment. "To know one's destiny is both a blessing and a burden." His gaze vanished into some far off cloud. "And to know that the one you love will betray you is the worst burden of all, sometimes, I think." His gaze returned, and the bright smile reappeared. "Go to your destinies, Sons and Daughters of Adam and Cernunnos, Daughter of Titania." Before he vanished back into the brush he had appeared from, he turned to deliver a few last parting words to Jack, and the meaning was as mysterious as the moon. "A dream is a wish your heart makes, Son of Adam. Great magics- such as those of love and dedication- can work many miracles, among them ones unworkable by Priests of my Word."
Then he disappeared with nary a rustle of the bushes.
The spell holding Donkey to believe in a religion he'd barely heard of loosened its hold, and he breathed a sigh of relief, then turned wondering eyes on Jack. "Who was that?" he said nervously, afraid of the answer.
Before Jack could answer, one of the Horses did it for him.
"That was Aslan, fool!" the stallion snorted contemptuously.
"As...lan?" Donkey faltered. "We just got told off by a god?"
"Apparently," Jack said, obviously shaken. His hands were trembling slightly, and Donkey wondered what, exactly, Aslan had told him.
Puss stared at the two of them, then cleared his throat. "We need to keep moving. Horses, up!"
"We aren't horses," one of them grumbled as they followed his order.
"We're Talking Horses, and you'd do well to remember that," Jack's mount added.
"Right, right," Puss said, unproperly chastised. "Let's go."
Jack tenderly picked up a silent Tinkerbelle who had remained prostrate on the ground and put her in a padded front pocket, and they all mounted.
Without another word, the Horses started walking again.
'What was that?' Donkey thought.
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"Lamp-post, three-o-clock!" Jack exclaimed, as the legendary lamp-post came into view, nearly hidden among old trees.
"Indeed, O Giant Killer," his Horse said eagerly. "It's a thing of great mystery, and it goes back quite a while into the very beginning of Narnian History."
"Do tell," another of the Horses exclaimed. "I never get tired of hearing these stories."
"True, true," Donkey's mare agreed. "Do tell, Swiftfoot," she said.
Before the Horses could begin chattering again, Donkey and Puss swung off of their mounts. Jack followed a bit more carefully; Tinkerbelle was still curled up in his pocket, and hadn't said a word since her brief, whispered conversation with Jesus. He looked worried, and Donkey started to feel a bit afraid for the fairy.
"We'll be back," Puss called over his shoulder as he and Donkey raced to see the legendary lamp-post.
"It seems almost like a tree of iron," Donkey said dazedly after he touched it. "A great marvel, this is. I know not how it still stands here, but it seems to run through my mind, stirring memories of old and making me feel quite strangely."
"Indeed," Puss said. "For it sends a quiver through my blood, calling me to find a place of trees and pools, a place of never-ending peace, where one can-"
"It's Narnia," Jack said quietly, as he approached them.
"What did you say, fair friend?" Donkey asked. His mind was running even slower now, as if in a dream.
"Narnia is calling to our hearts. She's calling us to her, singing a siren song of peace and prosperity. When you touch something that's very old and not near people a lot, it works magic on you that makes you want to be Narnian."
"Your words maketh no sense, friend. But come, come touch the tree," Puss said. "Touch the tree of iron."
Jack stared at the two of them, and then raised his hand. "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but you gotta do what you gotta do."
He slapped Donkey, then slapped Puss more gently. The twin smacksresonated through the woods, and Donkey snapped out of the spell of the siren song of Narnia. Beside him, Puss did the same, and Jack smirked. "That worked well," he said.
"What-" Donkey said, confused.
"Narnia is always working a kind of spell on people who visit. If your will is strong enough, or your will is dominated by someone else with a strong will, you can resist it, but if you're caught unware... Narnia makes you want to stay forever."
"Wow. Why?" Donkey asked.
"Who wouldn't?" One of the Horses said, nickering from her position over by the treeline. "Narnia is Paradise."
"A medieval Paradise," Puss said, rubbing his cheek. "No adventure, no danger, just everyday life with no excitement. Where's the fun in that?"
"You never have to worry about dying," Jack's stallion pointed out.
"But it's boring," Donkey argued. "Boring, yawnfest, and... boring!"
"Quite a vocabulary you've got there," Jack said smirking.
His expression changed when he looked back at the lamp-post. "Did you know that there's a Gate around here somewhere?"
"A what?" Donkey said, confused.
"A Gate. It links two places using magic... How do I explain this? Well, basically, if you have two Gate-terminuses, and they're linked, you can walk through one, say, in Cair Paravel and wind up walking out of another one in the Royal Castle in Far Far Away. This one links to Aslan's England- Professor Kirke's house, no less. Their parents are living there now, in case the children need them. I think there's a Gate in London, too that leads to-"
"What!" Donkey cut him off. "Why didn't we just use that, then, instead of using up all this time to travel?"
"Because A: The only Gate remotely near there is the one in Avalon, and it's under the strictest regulations by the Druids, and B: No one really knows where the one here is."
"Can you make one?" Puss asked curiously.
"Yes, but you would need to be an extremely powerful Mage, and those are almost always involved in some religion or another, or too wrapped up in their own affairs to care about making Gates for ordinary people like us," Jack said.
"Oh... The Narnians probably know where it is," Puss said.
Jack looked around for a Gate. "They'd never tell."
"Hey, Horses! Where's the Gate?" Puss shouted at their mounts.
"Like we'd tell you!" The horses responded in unison, then went back to grazing.
"Told you," Jack said.
"Shut up. It's got to be around here somewhere."
"Is that it?" Donkey asked suddenly. Jack looked up. "Huh?"
Donkey was climbing over a few fallen trees a few yards away. "I see a blue sparkly thingy. Is that it?" He asked, looking back over his shoulder.
"Uhh-" Jack looked nonplussed as he ran over and joined Donkey, Puss hard on his heels. "No way," he said in disbelief. "You found the Gate."
"I did?"
"He did?" The Horses called.
"He did," Puss shot back triumphantly. "Do not mess with the Donkey, for he has the ability to find Gates!"
Jack raised an eyebrow, at him then watched from a safe distance as Donkey went to examine the Gate.
It was blue, and didn't exactly sparkle, but it shone with an emanated light that must have lit up that small area of the forest like twilight when it was nighttime. The actual Gate was oval-shaped, and stood without any support but for a small circular stone floor beneath it. The stones were old and worn, gradually turning brown nearest the Gate- wait, that wasn't stone! Donkey ventured onto the platform and touched the brown 'stone.' It was wood! Old, seamless wood that somehow melded with the stone as it gravitated outward.
"Wow," he whispered. Curious, he wandered over to the edge of the 'floor,' picked up a rock, and chucked it into the Gate. He watched, amused as it vanished, then a few seconds later, a crumpled up ball of paper flew out and hit him squarely in the nose.
'Stop throwing things into our empty room!
Signed Mrs. Macready,
Housekeeper of Kirke House.'
Donkey stared at it, bemused, then scribbled a reply, crumpled it back up, and threw it back through.
'Fo sho.'
"What did it say?" Jack asked.
"It told me to stop throwing things through the Gate."
The much-abused piece of paper came back through the Gate.
'Is this any of our children? Mother wants a visit.'
Donkey wrote a reply back again on the only clean piece left. 'No. They're still in Cair Paravel. We're just the bounty-hunting weirdos from Hell.'
No paper came back, and Donkey turned around to talk to Jack. "I told her okay, then threw the paper back through. She wants to know if we're her kids. "
"Do we look like we're her kids?"
"No. I said we were the bounty hunters from He-" something hit Donkey in the back of the head, knocking him over. "OW!"
Jack doubled over laughing.
Donkey stood up, rubbing the back of his head gingerly. "What the hell was that?" He exclaimed angrily.
Jack jumped onto the platform and picked something up. "That'd be a brick."
Donkey grabbed it and examined it. Written in still-wet black paint were the words, "Watch your mouth!" The piece of paper was tied to it with string, and an envelope was glued to the other side with the words, "To My Children," written on it.
Jack doubled over again as Donkey ripped the envelope off and shoved the brick into his bag as a memento.
He handed the envelope to Puss. "Can you put this in your bag, please?"
"Of course, O-Attractor-of-Blunt-and-Heavy-Objects."
"Shut up," Donkey snarled. "We'll come back later when we have the Annis. Besides, it's past noon. Shouldn't we get going?"
"Yes," Puss agreed with him, still smiling. "It's only eight miles, but we still need to capture her, and that could take a while."
The two of them started walking back towards the Horses, but Donkey stopped when he realized that Jack wasn't following. When he turned around, he saw the bounty hunter peering anxiously into the pocket where Tinkerbelle was residing.
"Tink?" the bounty hunter asked quietly. He prodded the front of the pocket gently. "Tink, are you alright?" His expression changed to nervousness. "Tinkerbelle?"
A tiny jingle came from the pocket, and Jack's face cleared slightly. "Just talk to me so I know you're alright, okay?"
Another jingle sounded, and Jack started walking towards them. "She's fine," he said, but his face belied his concern.
I don't know what's wrong, he mouthed at them while shielding his front pocket with his hand so she wouldn't see his mouth moving. I think it's what Jesus said to her, but I couldn't hear it.
Donkey frowned and stared at Jack. The bounty hunter looked uncharacteristically childlike. Was he that worried for the fairy that they'd only known for a few days? Was this the same rude young man whose first words to Donkey had been insulting to Donkey's horse? Jack looked... older, and more mature, somehow. Apparently... apparently Jack had grown up.
And apparently he really cared for the little fairy. They all did. She had spunk, even if she usually spoke only to Jack. Donkey just hoped that she was okay.
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"The Castle is here, but the hag sure aint," Jack grumbled, staring around at the bare walls and dusty floor, disgust plain in his eyes. There were no tracks in the dirt and moldering leaves on the floor, nor did the family of raccoons nesting under the battered throne seem particularly disturbed, so it was painfully clear that the hag had not been here in quite some time.
"What a bust," Donkey said, kicking glumly at the base of a broken pillar.
"I agree," Puss said gloomily. "I haven't had a job in quite some time... I wanted to kill something."
Donkey stared at him for a second, then went back to kicking the pillar.
Jack stared into his pocket moodily and rubbed his eyes. "She's not looking any better," he said to them quietly.
"She sleeping?" Donkey asked.
"Yeah. I'm really worried. I don't think that-"
A BOOM from the ruined courtyard outside cut him off, and all three hunters looked up, surprised.
Puss said, "You don't think-"
"That it's her?" Donkey finished.
"Only one way to find out," Jack said determinedly, picking up his daggers and pulling a crossbow from his bag.
"Where'd you get that?" Donkey asked, surprised.
"Cair Paravel. Jill was more than happy to show me to the armory."
"You, too?" Puss asked, brandishing a rapier.
"What did you get, Donkey?" Jack asked.
"Uhh..." Donkey picked up a twisted piece of broken metal that might have once come from a statue. "This... club... thing."
"You didn't go, did you?" Puss asked.
"I didn't know we could!" Donkey cried, shifting the makeshift club.
Another BOOM sounded from the courtyard, and Tink flew out of Jack's pocket, buzzing. She hovered by his ear, and his eyes widened.
"It's her," Jack confirmed.
"How do you know?" A third BOOM came from the courtyard; closer, now.
"Magical creatures have auras that resonate with each other. The Annis's magic is very clear to Tink, and she says that the Annis is weaker here than she was back overseas. The magic of Narnia and her distance from home has something to do with it."
BOOM!
"We should get going," Donkey said nervously.
"Well, then," Puss said.
"Let's do it," Jack finished for all of them. Tinkerbelle buzzed, and they all headed for the door.
Before they could get there, the ancient oak doors shattered, and the figure of a stooped woman was silhouetted in the doorway.
"You!" she screamed upon spotting Puss. "You killed me 'usband and left me ta die-"
Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted by the hail of crossbow bolts launched by Jack. She shrieked and dove back behind one of the walls holding the doors in place.
The three men scrambled over the splinters and chunks of the ruined doorway into the sunlight. Donkey blinked frantically, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the sudden change from darkness to light. That was when the hag attacked. A fat ribbon of flame streamed over the broken boulders of the stone walls and caught Donkey in the side of the chest. His recently-acquired leather surcoat caught most of the heat, but he still felt the uncaught fire sear his skin. He dropped and rolled to the ground, cursing and trying to put out the flames burning merrily away at his shirt. Jack, Puss and Tink seemed unhurt, and he sighed with relief, both for his arm and that his friends were safe.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Jack shouted over the pile of rubble that was their cover. The Annis shrieked again, this time in anger, and the debris blew apart, giving her a clear path to the hunters.
"Move!" Puss shouted, and they all scrambled in different directions for new cover. The Black Annis pursued Jack, following him behind a broken wall where Donkey couldn't see anything. He heard a muffled yell from Jack, a screech of triumph from the Annis, and a scream of pain from the bounty hunter, which cut off abruptly, raising abrupt alarm in Donkey's mind.
Something tinkled over the wall, and the Black Annis was suddenly thrown back by a blast of yellow energy. Donkey rushed forward with his makeshift club and bashed the Annis over the head with it. She still didn't go down, and Puss joined him, placing the tip of his rapier against her throat. "Move and you die," he said solemnly, staring at her with an intensity that told Donkey that he really didn't want to be on the sharp end of that blade.
A weak tinkle sounded from over the wall, and Puss's eyes widened. "Donkey, bind her," he instructed.
Donkey drew the special bindings from his beltpouch- a set of special silver metal cuffs that would restrict the Annis's power and render her semi-conscious, and yanked her hands behind her back roughly and cuffed her, pulling the bindings as tight as they would go.
"Remind me to thank Edmund for these," he said under his breath, as the Annis stopped struggling and fell into a stupor.
He backed away warily and dove for the wall. What he saw when he rounded the bend would haunt his dreams for months. Jack was lying on the ground, hands pressed to a gash in his stomach. No, not a gash. A hole.
There was a huge knife lying on the ground nearby, covered in what was obviously Jack's blood. Bloody fingerprints were on the handle, as if Jack had pulled it out and barely had the strength to throw it aside. From the contorted look of agony on his face, he probably had. Tinkerbelle was hovering over his cheek, sobbing, and Donkey felt a surge of pity for the fairy as he knelt beside Jack and pulled his limp hands away from the wound. Blood poured out in a warm gush, and Donkey frantically scrambled for the medical supplies in his bag.
"Puss!" he screamed. "Puss, come quick! Jack's dyin'! Puss!"
The assassin appeared over the wall. "Ay mierda!"
Donkey hastily pressed a bandage over the wound, and Jack let out a muffled scream. Puss disappeared back over the wall, Donkey heard a thump, and the assassin reappeared. "I knocked the bitch out," the flame-haired man said, before kneeling beside Donkey and making an attempt to stop the bleeding. Tinkerbelle smoothed the hair back from Jack's face and wiped the blood out of his eyes, tinkling sadly.
Jack groaned and opened his eyes, eliciting startled gasps from both Donkey and Puss, and an excited jingle from Tink. "What- what happened?" he whispered hoarsely.
"The Annis... she got you with a knife," Puss told him, anger clear in his green eyes.
Jack glanced at the knife, then looked down at the wound. Two seconds passed as he stared at it, then a muffled whimper arose from his throat. "Gutted me, you mean," he said weakly. "I'm not going to last long- she's hit something vital, I can feel it. You won't be able to stop the bleeding. I'll be dead before midnight." Tinkerbelle fell onto his chest with nary a sound, and he gently raised a bloodstained hand to cup it around her.
Puss turned away to start a fire, and Donkey pretended to rummage in his bag for something to give them some privacy. Whispered murmurs came from Jack, and minute tinkles from his cupped hand. Soft sobbing was heard, and without a word, Donkey got up and left to watch the Annis. Puss threw some more wood on the fire and stalked over to glare at the prone form of the hag, and Donkey leaned against the other side of the wall, watching the sun finish traveling the blue dome of the sky. The sobbing continued for what seemed like hours, and Donkey couldn't tell which of the two it was coming from. The sun gradually sank from midway through its fall to the horizon, and Donkey finally rose from his perch. Puss hit the Annis over the head again, and together they circled the wall, afraid of what they might find on the other side. Tink was still curled on Jack's chest, which rose and fell at a terrifyingly slow rate. Jack looked at them pleadingly, begging with his eyes for them to save him. Donkey felt like crying. One of his friends was dying, and he couldn't do anything to save him... nothing at all.
"Oh, Jack," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Somewhere in his broken form, Jack found a smile for them. "I'm sorry I won't be there to collect the bounty with you," he said with a hint of humor in his brown eyes. "But hey- that's how life goes sometimes, ya?"
"No!" Puss exclaimed. "Jack- this bounty is nothing without you! We came all this way with you- together- became friends, just to have this happen. This is not how life works, my friend. God- is there nothing we can do to help you?"
Jack's eyes dulled. "There's nothing you can do. I can feel my life slipping away every second." Indeed, the pool of blood both dried and fresh was larger. "Tink tried- she cried on it, but it didn't do anything. I guess fairy tears can only heal if you're in Neverland."
"Only in Neverland," Tink echoed sadly, flicking her bloodstained wings halfheartedly.
Donkey slumped against the wall, and Puss leaned against it next to him, both watching Jack. "Is there- is there anywhere specific you want to be buried?" Puss asked quietly.
Jack's eyes brightened. "I always wanted to be buried in the sky, where I had my first-" he coughed. "My first adventure. That'd be nice. Can you bury me in the sky?"
Tears sprang into Donkey's eyes. "Yeah, Jack. We'll find a way up there, even if it takes a hundred years." Beside him, Puss nodded, tears flowing down his pale face. Tinkerbelle sniffled, and Jack cupped his hand around her again.
"It's okay, Tink," he murmured. "We'll be together again... someday, I promise."
She nodded, and they all sat in silence for a while, watching Jack die. Tinkerbelle flew over to his cheek, sitting quietly, just smoothing the bloodstained hair out of his eyes. After a while, Donkey realized that her tiny tinkles were ranging in tune to form a song, one that sounded suspiciously like-
"Ave Maria," Jack sang softly. "Gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora pro nobis, peccatoribus, Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae."
The tears overflowed and began slipping down donkey's cheeks as he realized it was a prayer. He sat silently, crying for the loss of Jack the Giant Killer, when a voice caught all of their attention.
"Hey! Got a package for you!"
"Eh?" Puss looked up in time to have a small bottle bounce off his nose and land in his lap. Donkey stared at the eagle hovering above them.
"It's from Lucy," the Eagle said. "She said that Harry told her that the bounty hunter was in trouble and she sent me with her cordial."
Donkey stared at it. "It's magic, genius," the Eagle said. "Put a drop or two in his mouth." He glanced at Jack. "On second thought, better make it three."
Puss shakily uncorked the innocent-looking crystal bottle and poured a few drops into the almost-dead Jack's mouth. While they all stared in wonder, (except for the Eagle, who watched smugly) and as Jack continued to sing his own funeral dirge, the moon rose higher in the sky and the wound closed, leaving not even a scar. The only thing to testify of its existence was the blood in the ground and the dirge hanging over Jack's lips.
The bounty hunter groaned and sat up, eyes widening. "It worked!" he exclaimed in amazement.
"Sure it does," the Eagle said. "And it never runs out, either."
"I see," Jack said thoughtfully, staring at the bottle. "Would she ever sell it?"
The Eagle squawked indignantly. "Not ever in a thousand years! It was a gift from Aslan Himself!"
"Oh," said Jack. He then pocketed the bottle. "Guess I'll have to steal it then."
The Eagle divebombed his head, screaming a challenge, and Jack hastily relinquished the bottle with a "Damn! Alright, alright!"
It perched on the wall, staring at them as if ready to relieve itself on the next person who dared to steal the precious bottle. "What's your name?" Donkey asked curiously.
"Farsight," the Eagle said. "Lucy sent me because Harry told her you were in trouble and that the thief was going to die." He glared at Jack.
"Who's Harry?" asked Puss.
"Oh... the mirror."
"Mirror?"
"The magic mirror that's an envoy from the IKFAGA."
"IKFAGA?"
"Inter-Kingdom Fairy Godmother Association."
"Eh...K."
On that note, Farsight grabbed the cordial and made off with it, winging back out of the woods, presumably back to Cair Paravel. Jack abruptly got up, grabbed Tinkerbelle out of the air, and stalked off into the darkness beyond the wall. "What's he doing?" Donkey asked, rising from his seat.
Puss put a hand on his arm. "They need to talk."
"Ah." Suddenly something different about Puss caught Donkey's eye. He stared into Puss's eyes, and noticed with horror that the pupils were slowly becoming vertically elongated, changing back into cat eyes. He quickly looked up at the sky. The full moon was directly overhead. 'I must have lost track of time! The week is up!' His own eyes widened. "Puss!"
"What? I told you, they need some time-"
"No! Your eyes- they're changing back! You're changing back!"
"I- mierde! I thought we'd have more time!"
"Me too, but I guess not! Can you make your decision now?" Donkey asked, looking into the cat-turned-human's eyes. "Can you live like this?" He dared not ask the question he'd been aching to since finding Puss. Can you love me?
"I don't- I don't know," Puss said slowly. "I like this form. It's not as graceful as my feline form, but- I like it. I like it a lot. In fact-"
"Puss," Donkey said through clenched teeth. "Yes or no? Can you live like this? Do you want to live like this? Can you do what you need to to stay in this form?"
Puss blanched. "I don't know," he whispered fearfully. "I don't know if I'm ready- if I'll ever be ready. God- I haven't really thought about it- I don't- I don't-"
Donkey caught his chin. "Puss, you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. It's a simple kiss. Do you want this or not?"
"I-" Puss caught his breath. "What do you want, Donkey?"
"I want you to be happy," Donkey whispered truthfully. Even if it means I have to leave you forever.
"Then let's stay like this," the man whispered as if in a daze, looking at Donkey like he'd never seen him before. Donkey knew- he knew that Puss was going to accept his kiss and then tell him to leave- to get lost- to die-
Puss traced a line down Donkey's cheek with a nail that was rapidly lengthening and sharpening into a claw. "Together," he whispered, and closed his eyes.
Unbelieving, Donkey leaned forward and brushed Puss's lips with his own, and was startled when a pair of strong arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. He kissed Puss again, and both were completely oblivious to the warm glow emanating from their bodies that was filling the courtyard with syrupy golden light.
Jack vaulted back over the wall, a now human-sized Tinkerbelle sans wings, wrapped in his long jacket scurrying clumsily around it, and stared at the two with wonder in his eyes. Neither of them noticed the hag sawing at the bindings with a piece of metal that was stuck in the ground, and upon successfully removing them, fled into the surrounding woods in the general direction of the lamp-post Gate.
Puss and Donkey levitated into the air, propelled by some unknown force, and the light grew brighter. It reached its pinnacle and slowly faded, the two now fully-human Donkey and Puss slowly falling to the ground as soon as their feet touched it.
Jack and Tinkerbelle were to stunned to do anything but stare as the light faded completely, leaving the two several feet away from each other. As the two stared anxiously, Puss awoke, raising his head groggily, and then suddenly more alert when he saw Donkey. He crawled over to the prone form, weak as a kitten, then shook Donkey's shoulder. The man rose dazedly, and stared at Puss with wonder in his eyes, raising his hand to gently touch Puss's cheek, as if believing this all to be a dream. Then, once he'd obviously convinced himself that Puss was real, he burst into tears, falling onto the other man's shouder, sobbing like he couldn't believe Puss had chosen to him. Puss rocked him gently, crooning to him and whispering words of reassurance in his ear that were too soft for Jack to hear.
Jack looked dazedly at Tink, who grinned happily at him. "I guess everyone gets their happy ending, right?" she murmured in his ear as she slid her arm around his waist.
"Mmmhmm," he answered contentedly, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him. "Magic happens all the time. Some is more obvious than the rest of it, but it happens. Sometimes it just takes an event to set it in motion."
She chuckled, and looked back over her shoulder at their quarry. Alarm replaced drowsiness and she suddenly reverted back to her original size. "Jack, where's the Annis!"
"Right the- shit!" Jack ran over to the spot where the Annis had been. He leaned down and picked up the remains of the cuffs. "Shit," he repeated in wonder, then spotted the jagged piece of metal. "She sawed right through them. How 'bout that." He turned and trotted back to the wall. "Hey, lovebirds! The Annis is gone!" There was a muffled squeal that sounded like it had come from Donkey, and a rustling. Both men appeared around the wall, clothes tussled. "She can't be!" Puss exclaimed. "We tied her up as tight as it would go!" Donkey protested.
"Well, she is. Now where did she-" A blue flash back near the lamp-post lit up the sky, leaving no doubt as to where she'd gone.
"The Gate!" Puss exclaimed.
"Get the horses!" Jack exclaimed, and Puss scrambled off into the trees, returning a few minutes later on one of the Horses, leading all three at a full gallop, despite the Horses' protests. He stopped in front of them, waiting for the other three to finish gathering all of their belongings and join them.
They finished quickly, Jack and Donkey mounted their own Horses, Tink falling into place on Jack's shoulder. Jack turned his Horse towards the lamp-post, grinning. "She won't get away this time," he exclaimed, and spurred his horse.
Donkey and Puss stared at each other, intending to share an amused glance but instead getting caught in each other's eyes. Puss reached out with his nail to gently trace one Donkey's now-pointed ears, and Donkey reached out to rub the cheek beneath a slitted eye. He leaned over and kissed Puss again, staring deeply into his deeper-than-emerald eyes. "Don't ever leave me," he murmured quietly.
"I won't," Puss reassured him. "I'll never leave you."
"Hurry up!" Jack yelled. "We can't wait forever, and you have all the food!"
"Yes, let's go," Puss's Horse agreed.
"Yeah, yeah!" Donkey called back, and kissed Puss again quickly. "Let's go before he decides to let fly the crossbow bolts."
"Mmm," Puss said, spurring his Horse gently.
Donkey caught up with him easily. "I'll race you," he offered.
"You're on!" Puss said, eyes sparkling.
Before Donkey could say a word, Puss was far ahead of him and gaining. "Puss! That's not fair!" Donkey shouted, and spurred his Horse after him towards the Gate. Who knew where they were headed to on the other side of the Gate, besides the Annis and the Kirke House? Perhaps another adventure, Donkey thought mischievously. Another adventure- he couldn't wait to cross the Gate!
"Puss, wait up! Puss!" As he caught up with his True Love, Donkey grinned. "This's gonna be fun."
Pop!
"Donkey," Puss said warningly.
Pop!
"Donk-"
Pop!
"Donkey!"
Pop!
And they all lived happily ever after.