A/N: LAST CHAPTER OHHH WHAT-
Thank you all so much for reading this crazy journey! Thanks, notes, etc will be at the bottom.
~A FEW MONTHS LATER; THIRD PERSON~
The mother came into her daughter's room, clapping her hands. Excitement was expressed on her face; she was merrily humming Jingle Bells.
"Merry Christmas, Alice!" the woman greeted. Alice sat up, pushing her doona back. She grinned at her mother.
"Merry Christmas, Mom." Alice replied. She stood up, a grin on her face. She peeked in her treasure box, staring at all her collectibles: the ones from Poptropica and real life. She grinned at the medallions, Mighty Penguin's address and the photo of herself on her first day of school. For once, Alice felt like the girl in the photo. Cheerful. Excited. Brave. Ready to face the future.
Alice left her bland room behind and followed her mother downstairs. She found the stairs far more tolerable, now that her leg was no longer injured. She stared at the white walls. There was a collection of family photos. One was with Alice's father holding his daughter in his arms, the mother giving him a cheeky grin. Sadness tinged Alice's emotions. She tried to think about what her father would say now. How would he react to Poptropica? My friends? Alice's mother had told her daughter he would be proud - and Alice had to agree. Still, though, she was curious.
Alice entered the living room. The decorations of the green Christmas tree glimmered in the morning sunshine, reflecting colours all over the room. Underneath it were a variety of presents for Alice and her mom. Alice kneeled down and grabbed the ones with her name - some were from friends, some were from extended family. The mother tapped her daughter's shoulder and handed her a small envelope.
"They say the best gifts come in small packages." the mother informed her daughter.
"That's true." Alice replied, accepting the envelop. Inside said thing was a candy cane, a cliche Christmas card and a Poptropica membership. Alice clapped her hands together. She stood up and threw her arms around her mother's neck. The mom squeezed Alice tightly. "Thanks, Mom." Alice grinned at her. "You're brave, too. You stayed strong after Dad left. I needed a silly video game to help me do that - you did it alone."
"Well, no, I wasn't alone," the mother chuckled. "I had you." She kissed Alice's cheek, grinning at her with her chocolate eyes. Alice shook her head.
"I was a nuisance, Mom," she retorted. She clenched her fists. "I hated myself."
"It's Christmas, Alice," the mother reminded her daughter. She cupped her cheek. "Now's not the time to be sad. Let's just enjoy ourselves."
"Okay." Alice replied, a small smile forming on her lips. She kneeled down and opened the remaining presents. Most of her family had given her books, clothes or school-related objects. One family member gave her an iTunes voucher. Another gave her money. Alice sighed. Of course, she needed school-related objects, clothes and books, but sometimes she wished adults would give her something more intriguing than just same old same old. That's why friends were good.
Marcus got Alice a Poptropica cap he made himself - with help from his Mom. On it were pictures of Alice's friends, including Fierce Fox. Alice wore the hat immediately. Its deep blue contrasted with her pale blonde locks. She wondered if Marcus - since he also wore a hat - would call the duo 'hat buddies' now. Probably. He also got her a My Little Pony figurine. Alice found herself unsurprised. Marcus' love for the show spread to his friends.
Chrissi's present was with the girl herself. Alice and Chrissi had become surprisingly good friends - she, Marcus and Alice had formed a trio. Chrissi was trying her best to make it up to Alice (since she had tormented the girl for years) by attempting to be kind, such as giving Alice a chocolate bar or being a little more patient. Alice appreciated it. Chrissi really wasn't that bad after all. Alice was almost surprised by how nice she could be. She could see why she and Louisa had been such good friends. They balanced each other out.
Today the friends were meeting each other at Marcus'. It was Marcus' last day before he went on a New Years holiday to visit extended family, so it was very important. It was because of this holiday Marcus had given Alice her present early - so he 'didn't forget'. Alice informed her mother about this meetup.
"I remember," her mother replied. She smiled. "I'm so proud of this little friendship circle you've made. And Chrissi is in it! Chrissi! She's really changed, hasn't she?"
Alice nodded. "You bet."
Marcus had a nice house, Alice had to admit. It was one-level - unlike hers - with greys walls and a tiled roof. A nice driveway with a freshly-cut lawn was in front of it. Alice and her mom trudged up the driveway and stood in front of the wooden door. Marcus' mom answered it, greeting everyone with a Merry Christmas. Marcus himself came to the door, followed by Chrissi. He was wearing a green and red shirt with My Little Pony characters and blue jeans. His shaggy brown hair was underneath his My Little Pony cap, sticking out in certain places. His brown eyes glimmered. His tan skin looked appealing underneath the t-shirt.
Chrissi had her fiery-red hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her pale skin shone in the bright light of Marcus' home. She was wearing a simple, fluffy pink sweater with a cat face and black pants. Both she and Marcus were wearing trainers. Alice had dressed herself up in a red t-shirt and wore a green scarf, just for the sake of Christmas spirit.
"Hey," Alice greeted. "Merry Christmas." She gave Marcus and Chrissi their Christmas gifts.
"You're wearing the hat!" Marcus observed Alice, grinning cheerfully. "Now we're the hat duo!"
"I knew you would say that." Alice sighed. "Thanks for the MLP thing, by the way. I forgot which character it is, though."
"Am I not part of the 'hat duo'?" Chrissi asked, crinkling her nose.
"Oh, no, I got you a hat," Marcus told her. He put a beanie on her head. "Merry Christmas - I gave Alice her gift but I forgot to give you yours! My memory is freaking great."
"Okay, you gave both of us the same gift." Chrissi commented. She observed the beanie. It had little things stitched onto it, such as food, the Game of Thrones symbol (the three letters), music notes, and a soccer ball. "But this is really cool." She turned the hat inside-out and saw a My Little Pony character printed on the fabric. She sighed.
"My mom's good at making hat stuff." Marcus said. He grinned. "But I helped as well. I dunno how long you guys can stay here - Mom still wants to pack for tomorrow." He stared at the gifts. "For now, I can open these. If you girls want Christmas stuff - mince pies, hot cross buns, hot ch-"
"Aren't hot cross buns for Easter?" Chrissi interrupted.
"Really? I always thought they were for Christmas," Marcus mused, making a face. He shrugged. "Anyway, there's food. Have what you want. Well, don't touch the chocolate - that's mine - but anything else you can have. Right now, ladies, I have these presents to open." He opened Chrissi's present. She got him a My Little Pony backpack and an iTunes voucher. Marcus grinned. "Nice! Now I don't have to use that old crappy backpack from five years ago." He rolled his eyes. Then he turned to Alice's present.
"I have a feeling it's gonna be Poptropica related," he grumbled, shaking his head at Alice. She laughed. Marcus tore off the coloured wrapping paper. Inside was a My Little Pony jacket and figurine. Marcus looked happy. He put the jacket on and grinned.
"I know what you like." Alice told him, rolling her brown eyes. "Unlike you, I don't force my friends into fandoms they don't want to join." Marcus gave Alice a jokey stare of loathing. Chrissi opened her present from Alice. It was a Christmas socking and a Game of Thrones-themed scarf. Marcus enviously eyed the chocolate. Then Chrissi gave Alice her present. Alice opened said gift: it was a Poptropica t-shirt and an iTunes voucher.
"Well, now I've got two iTunes vouchers," Alice commented. "I can pretty much buy any album I want." She slipped on the Poptropica shirt. It was decorated with the many vibrant characters of the game. Alice smiled at her friends. "Thanks, guys. They're amazing!" She hugged her friends. Chrissi gave a short laugh and Marcus became a little anxious. But they both hugged back. After that, Marcus led the friends over to the living room. It was much nicer than Alice's, to her envy.
It was spaced out with a wooden floor. A grey, fluffy carpet was holding a glass table. Artwork was printed on the vibrant, red walls. Fake vases were holding fake plants. A Christmas tree was near a glass door that led to the backyard. Wrapping paper was scattered on the glass table. The friends sat on the large, pale couch. Marcus' mom offered them mince pies and gingerbread men.
"We've got so much food lying around," she exasperated. "We're going away for three weeks and it'll spoil by then. So, it'd do us a favour - not forcing you, kids - just putting it out there."
"I'll have a mince pie, then." Alice volunteered, grabbing a pie. Chrissi took a few gingerbread men. Marcus had some of his precious chocolate.
"Yeah, we're in a bit of a rush," he sighed. "Dad and Iris have gone to see Gran and give her a Christmas gift, then they're coming back to help with the packing." Iris, Marcus' older sister, was an independent adult who lived with her boyfriend. She was coming on the family vacation alongside Marcus.
"Well, I hope you have fun," Alice told Marcus, a glint in her eyes. "I don't think I can go on vacation this year - not after what happened in Poptropica. I think it's best if I just stay home."
"Really?" Chrissi asked. She groaned. "My holidays are going to be so boring. My siblings and I are pretty much staying home the whole time. The most exciting thing we're doing is going to see a movie. Oh, and family's coming over."
"You girls, venting about your lousy holidays, while I'll be soaking up the sunshine with my cousins!" Marcus laughed. He smirked. "And watching MLP, of course. No holiday would be complete without it." The girls rolled their eyes.
"Well, for now, I think just sitting here with you guys is fine," Alice told her friends. "It's good to be home again."
Later on, Alice came home with her presents and eight mince pies Marcus' mom had insisted she take. Alice's mother was speaking to family members on the phone, sending them her gratitude for all their Christmas gifts. Alice placed the mince pies on the kitchen table and took the presents to her bedroom. She noticed her silver laptop, which was sitting on her bedside table, was glowing in an unnatural way. Alice raised her eyebrow. She wasn't charging the computer and she was very sure she had shut it down.
Alice opened her laptop. Blinding light consumed her vision. She blinked a good few times, removing the light from her eyes. For a moment, she thought she might be back in Poptropica, but she wasn't, strangely. However, there was a new file on her computer named 'to Alice'. Curious, Alice opened the folder. Inside were a collection of things from her journeys in Poptropica. Pictures of her and Fierce Fox, pictures of friends, medallions, items from bonus quests and so much more. It almost stunned the girl.
Then Alice found a picture of a letter at the very end. She clicked on it. It was written in messy handwriting. Alice scanned it, feeling her heart clench. It was from her friends.
Hi Alice,
It's me, Fierce Fox. It's been awhile, huh? Merry Christmas. There is snow all over the place on Home Island. Amelia still smiles like the sunshine, though. Cold doesn't bother her. She misses you. So does everyone else. Pretty much everyone is sending messages to you. I piled them all together and put them into this letter for you. Then that god… Hermes (or something) delivered it to your computer, apparently. Hope you like it. I miss you too.
~Fierce Fox
Alice!
How are you? I hear you are back in your world. Fantastic! Does it celebrate Christmas as much as we do? Rather jolly, right? I wish you a very happy Merry Christmas, speaking of the topic. I would send you a present if I could. Oh, Alice, we all miss you. I hope you're doing well in your world. I should hope those people know what a hero you've been here! Anyway, I must thank you - you are a truly great friend and an extraordinary hero. Safe travels, my friend!
From Amelia.
Dear Alice,
It's been awhile since we last spoke but there's a lot I have to say. First of all, thanks for everything. The Chicago Fair would've been ruined without you! And, well, the entire world, of course. I've never been friends with many young people, but if they're all like you, I wouldn't mind befriending a few more. It was truly heroic saving the world with you and I don't think I'll do anything like that ever again. So thank you, Alice, for giving me an unforgettable friendship and experience. Oh, and Merry Christmas.
T. Edison.
Heyy Alice,
MP here. What's up? Happy Xmas! Kinda wish we spoke more. You're a pretty cool girl. I mean, hey - not everyone gets to be friends with the Prophesied Hero. But that's not just what makes you cool. You're pretty determined and brave when you put your mind to it. Okay, maybe there are braver and more determined people out there, but at least you're not arrogant like they are. And you're a pretty good cheerleader as well. Miss you to pieces, Alice. You better come back sometime, okay?
-Mighty Penguin
Hello,
Hey there! It's just me, Sprocket! Zack said I should write a letter to you, so… here I go! I know I'm just a robot, and… um, I'm not the bravest one. But being friends with you helped a lot with that! Zack is really happy about it. So, thanks, Alice! You helped a robot… and saved the world. When you come back to Poptropica, we should 'catch up'? If you want to, that is. Oh, Zack just told me it's a human holiday called Christmas, so… Merry Christmas! See you soon! (hopefully :3)
Signed, Sprocket.
Hi, Alice,
We've been on a few adventures together. All of them have been awesome (especially the one with little Carlos - what a cutie). Now you're leaving - that sucks, because I wanted to discuss a scientific theory I came up with with you. I would put it here, but it would be far too long. Besides, I want to talk about what an amazing friend you are! You not only made my life interesting, you made it brighter, too. I miss you so much. Come back to Poptropica and see me, Al! I don't wanna be stuck indoors all summer :(
Merry Christmas, and see ya later,
~C.J.
Hi Alice! Carlos here! C.J told me she was writing something to you so I wrote something as well! I hope you see this, 'cause you're awesome and totally should! Life's been great, but got better when you showed up! My friend's super jealous of me - she wanted to meet you as well. Anyway, have an awesome Christmas and I hope we see each other again!
Heya, Alice,
Merry Christmas! It's been awhile since all that Atlantic nonsense, huh? Well, things are getting back into shape and my movie's almost done. I'd like you to personally come and see it… if you're not… 'gone' as your friend described. Oh well - maybe I'll send you a copy. As a gift to you, my friend! I hope we can catch up sometime.
-Cam.
There were quite a lot of thank yous from various allies Alice had met, such as Ismael, 'Sasha', Edgar, Mr. Mews and many more. Tears were forming in Alice's eyes. These were her friends, people who still cared about her, valued what she had done. She knew she was returning to Poptropica, but she didn't know when. What if it wasn't for years and years? Alice didn't want to wait to return to Poptropica. Her friends were there. She could not leave them behind - they were the people she loved.
Alice opened Poptropica and logged in. Fierce Fox was standing on Home Island - like she had said in her letter, it was rather snowy. Alice felt tears building up in her eyes. She sniffled, wanting to be in that world - her home. She didn't want to leave, she didn't want it to stop - it'd been months since the last island and she was still grieving. Alice didn't care when the new prophecy would occur, she wanted to enter Poptropica right now.
"Let me in," she begged. "Please. My last Christmas wish." She sobbed, her cheeks wet. She bent down, taking deep breaths. She hadn't cried so hard since her dad died or her last time in Poptropica. She refused to accept the ending. For a while, she'd accepted her father's death, but she didn't make peace with it - until she entered Poptropica. It was her home. The prophecy brought her there for a reason and she needed to return.
Bright light filled Alice's vision.
Alice was standing on the wooden bridge, high above the rushing sea. Wind caressed her blonde locks. She was deep in thick, white snow, which covered the entire island. A winter wonderland. Alice gasped in surprise, her eyes filling with tears of joy again. She was here. She was home again. She saw Amelia and gave her a loving embrace. Amelia returned it, telling Alice how happy she was to see her. She gave Alice a candy cane and promised she would deliver another gift when she got the time.
"Now you'd better find Fierce Fox," Amelia told her, winking. "She'll be waiting." Alice nodded and raced off, searching for her Poptropican. She found said Poptropica near the end of the island, milling about. Alice called out her name and gave her a hug, tears of joy streaming from her eyes. Fierce Fox almost dropped her lightning staff. But she returned the hug, a large grin stretched on her own face.
"Welcome back." Fierce Fox said. She gave Alice the medallion for Monkey Wrench Island. "Merry Christmas. First island ever."
"Wow…" Alice didn't know what to say. She slipped the medallion over her neck; it glimmered gold. "Thank you." She paused. "It's unlike you to give me an island medallion. I thought you liked having them all."
"It's unlike me to miss someone so much." Fierce Fox chuckled. "Just wait until all of our friends know you're here."
"Yes," I agreed, my heart racing. "Just wait until they see I'm home again."
Will we find out where our roads go,
Are we there yet? When will we know.
Is this the life that I've been searching for?
I'm stuck outside this open door.
So when can we go find, a place that we call home.
Inside our hearts, inside our minds today….
~Princewhatever, A Place That We Call Home~
THE END.
A/N: Well well well… the end has finally come. This story's been a long journey full of emotions, fun, growth and so much more. This (and Grouptale) are my favourite stories and the ones I'm most proud of. Interesting how my other favourite story starts when this one ends. But anyway. It's time to tell the story of Home Again (I mean the backstory). Get your popcorn: this is a long note!
So awhile ago I stumbled across a Teen Titans fanfic called I Belong by an author named SNOzzie6. I read the fanfic and was hooked. It's really good - if you're a Teen Titans fan I recommend you check it out. One night I was sort of sitting around, trying to get new fanfic ideas for fandoms other than MLP and Teen Titans (i.e Poptropica) - I thought about I Belong and I thought, hey, what if I did a story like that except with Poptropica? And the idea was born.
I didn't do a whole lot of planning before it - I sort of just jumped straight in, only planning Alice's name, appearance, some of her personality and her school situation. I kind of copied I Belong by writing the first chapter in Third Person and then most of the other chapters in first person. I, er, borrowed a few other things from that story as well. Alice is sort of inspired by I Belong's protagonist. Only because it's amazing XD Another one of these things was the lack of a father (but different circumstances).
Anyway, since Home Again was pretty much an altered I Belong and a few other reasons, I didn't have much faith in the story. I didn't know why I wanted to write it and I felt pretty hopeless about it. I was going to take it down. Then I received some very positive and encouraging reviews and I decided to continue it for a little longer, as well as trying to improve. So thanks to those people :) If you didn't review, Home Again wouldn't be here.
I continued writing Home Again, building the story, etc. Then I went through some… life changes and I felt very apathetic about things (like I do right now, actually). This started around after Super Villain Island. I couldn't really put as much heart into everything or get attached to stuff. Or cry, either. My other story, TTGS, pretty much went down the toilet. But I didn't really like that story a whole lot. This story, however, was my top story - I didn't want the same thing to happen to it. A consequence was I didn't really talk about Alice's emotions about Louisa or other things. That's a regret. I wish I could've done more of that.
But good ol' Home Again is now done, and I don't really know what to say. This story's been a journey as I've said. I love it to pieces and I'm very proud of it. Alice is my second-favourite OC and it's been a journey for her as well! I've never lost a parent myself, I haven't been bullied and I don't have a leg problem, so it was a little hard to write about those sort of things - but I tried. The reviewers of this fanfiction also influenced this story - and even the backstory. It's amazing, how reviewers can have an impact on you.
I should hope the sequel is as good as this. We might be waiting a while for that one - Poptropica Worlds needs to develop, as I said. In the end, that might be a good thing, since we'll be dealing with a more mature, older Alice. Oh, if you have any questions about this story, characters or so on, feel free to leave a review. If you're a FanFiction account I'll PM you. If you're a guest account, I'll reply to you in the reviews itself.
Okay, enough discussion, it's time for thank yous! A big thank you to SNOzzie6, the writer of I Belong, which inspired this story! Without that story, this story wouldn't exist, so shout out to her!
Reviewers from old time such as Scorching Streaks of Paint, Owlpaint, and PoptropicaGirl79. These were the reviewers that initially encouraged me to continue! :D Then of course we have GiovanniGo, who requested a scene in the story. A Guest who highlighted the fact that Alice being bullied for a leg injury was a bit odd - wow… that really opened my eyes XD More shout-outs: Katerina Melende, Num (greatest review ever, num num).
Then we have MewMew42, thanks for all your reviews! Anon for your honesty, various guests and AGirl, yes, we've come so far. On DeviantArt there's a few people that are reading HA as well, such as Yumgirl. Speaking of DeviantArt, I'm going to be drawing something there for this story - even though I'm not the greatest artist. Keep an eye out! My name is iHateFridays.
Okay, I think that's all from me - you've done more than enough reading XD Well, actually, one more thing. I've bet you've got a question: why is this all third person? It's a little tribute to the first chapter, which is also all third person. I just wanted to make that little connection here XD
Okay, we're ending for real. Thank you for reading this story and joining the little Home Again squad - everyone is appreciated here. So, for the last time, thank you, goodbye, and have a good one! Ponystories is out ;)