So here we are: the last real chapter, as requested by SadReax1515. All that's left is a short, epilogue-style chapter, which will be out on Wednesday!

Bet y'all thought I forgot about the final wish, huh? ;)

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The Final Wish

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Lleu sighed heavily, face pressed against the glass as he stared into the middle distance. The only thing missing was the patter of rain against the window. But given that he was sitting in one of Mother Nature's guest rooms, it wasn't likely to happen.

"How long has he been like this?" Jack asked quietly from where he and May loitered in the doorway.

"Since at least this morning," May replied. "But possibly longer."

It was very unsettling to see someone so excitable so... depressed.

"Any idea what's wrong?"

May shook her head. "Ceres tried to ask earlier, but he wouldn't say. According to her, he just sighed louder and said something about her not understanding."

Ceres not understanding was believable. Lleu not wanting to talk about something was not.

With a wary glance at May that he hoped accurately conveyed how unbelievably weird this entire situation was, Jack edged into the room, and made his way around the bed to the window seat. Lleu didn't acknowledge him.

"Hey," Jack called softly.

Lleu turned to him slowly, as if moving his head took more effort than he had to give. He visibly brightened when he registered who he was looking at, and then just as rapidly crumbled into something twice as miserable.

"Hey, Snow Cone," he sighed.

Jack tossed a hopeless frown at May. She shrugged. "What's going on?"

Lleu let his head thunk back against the glass. "Life is so fleeting," he said. "Even for us, who could theoretically live forever."

"Did someone die?" Jack hedged.

"You can hang on to people so tightly," Lleu ignored him, clenching his fists, "and they still just... slip through your fingers." He waved, as if to demonstrate whatever it was he was talking about.

Jack had seen Lleu philosophical before, but nothing like this.

Lleu let his hands fall heavily into his lap, and stared up at Jack with uncharacteristic sobriety. He smiled weakly. "I've still got you, though."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jack agreed. He nodded towards May. "May and Ceres are still here, too." Although Ceres was not currently there physically. Because she liked to be contrary even when she wasn't in the loop.

Lleu looked like he was going to cry. He opened his arms wide to May, and after a long second of hesitation, she crossed the room and let him hug her.

"I love you guys," he sniffled, reaching around May to grab the hem of Jack's hoodie – the only thing he could reach (thankfully). The frost that touched his fingers immediately melted. He scowled at it. Jack pretended not to notice.

"Are you feeling any better?" May asked when she finally pulled away.

The smile that had been slowly growing on his face wilted at the reminder of his misery, and he visibly deflated. Jack and May took that as a decided no.

What do we do? May's expression read when she turned to him.

Try to cheer him up? Jack sent back with a raise of his brows. That was usually easier done than said where Lleu was concerned, but Jack had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case today.

"Hey," he nudged Lleu with his staff. "Why don't we go do something?"

"Like what?" Lleu asked.

He glanced at May again. She was watching him expectantly, as if to say 'Fun is your thing, not mine'. Which, fair. He scanned the room for inspiration, and his eyes landed on a tapestry depicting various exotic birds.

"The zoo?"

Lleu brightened at the suggestion, and May didn't look like she was regretting every life decision that had led her to this moment, so Jack took that as a win.

"Can Ceres come too?" Lleu sat up a little straighter.

Oh, Ceres was definitely coming, too. Whether she liked it or not.

They found her gossiping with some of the sprites over tea. She spotted them as soon as they appeared in the doorway, and put her cup down with a quiet clack. The conversation around her continued even as she got up and sauntered over.

"Better?" she raised a brow, giving Lleu a once-over. Her expression said 'I don't care' but she wouldn't have asked if she didn't.

"We're going to the zoo," Lleu said instead, and linked his arm in hers.

Ceres didn't pull away. "Careful," she snickered. "If the humans see you, they won't let you leave."

Jack blinked, and leaned towards May. "Did she just make a dad joke?" he whispered.

May rubbed her forehead tiredly. "It's been a weird day."

"I could become the zoo's mascot," Lleu nodded, oblivious to Ceres' insults or just immune. "They'll build a statue in my honour."

"'Honour', sure," Ceres rolled her eyes. Lleu started marching out of the room, and she let him tug her along with him.

Jack watched them as he and May followed. Things must have been bad, if even Ceres was concerned.

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As far as zoos went, this one was somewhere between large and massive. Jack had been to a few over the years, out of interest, but not often; as exciting as it was seeing animals he'd never seen before, his interest had always been more in spreading fun among kids. He'd never gone with other people before though; maybe it would be more fun now.

May had snagged a map from somewhere, and was busy calculating the most efficient route, like some kind of anthropomorphic GPS. Lleu had made a beeline for the enclosure directly in front of the entrance, and was leaning so far over the railing that one push would send him falling in.

The sign indicated that it housed meerkats. When Jack reached the railing, all of the meerkats were in the middle of an intense staring competition with Lleu.

"Do you think anyone would notice if I took them home with me?" Lleu asked, not breaking eye-contact.

"Yes."

"Damn."

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"Elephants are better than people," May said quietly. She was sitting up on the high wooden fence, gently stroking the head of an elephant that had come over to say hello. More were slowly making their way towards her.

"Dung beetles are better than people. The bar is so low," Ceres, on the ground, snorted. "You are right, though."

Lleu, sprawled on May's elephant's back, shook his head in disappointment. "You're only saying that because you guys are antisocial. People are great! Right, Jack?"

Jack shifted awkwardly, unsure if he was really the best person to answer that.

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All four of them sat on the fence, gazing down at the area's lone occupant with various degrees of love.

"Bears have no business being that cute," Lleu said.

The bear in question, sitting in the middle of its pool, turned to look in their direction.

"Sir!" he called down. "Sir, I'm going to need to see a license for such dangerous levels of cute!"

"I know they could probably tear me in half, but I still sort of want one as a pet," May mused, more to herself than anything, chin resting in her hands.

"Oh, they definitely could," Ceres said. "They had them in Ancient Rome. Very popular in the arena."

"Guys," Jack said, glancing up from the description he'd been reading. "Guys, his name is Paddington."

Ceres waved at Paddington.

After a moment, Paddington waved back.

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Jack had never seen a capybara before, but he very quickly decided they were perfect. In the enclosure, a group of them were peacefully sitting together, soaking in the sun, and looking like the personification of serotonin.

"If May was an animal," he said, "she'd probably be a capybara." He'd seen her stressed before, but even then she still (almost) always maintained relative calm. And a crisis never felt quite so bad if she was there (unless the crisis was because they'd done something they knew she'd be mad about). "But, like, a really work-orientated capybara. A capybara with a job."

"They'd look good wearing her hat," Lleu agreed. "What would Ceres be?"

Jack thought about it. "A goose."

"What was that?" Ceres demanded, joining them. May, beside her, narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"I said if you were an animal, you'd be a goose."

"May's a capybara," Lleu helpfully added.

Neither of them were visibly mad. Ceres almost looked pleased. That was a warning sign if ever Jack had seen one.

"What do you think, May?" she asked, a promise of bad things coming their way in her tone. "What would they be? I'm thinking Lleu is an ass."

Lleu gasped dramatically, hand pressed over his heart. "I will have you know that I spent an entire night thinking about this once, and I am a lemur." He started counting on his fingers. "Social, enjoys warm weather, likes climbing trees, big fan of fruit, athletic, scared of mongooses – mongeese? – and one time I accidentally ate a bug."

They all stared at him.

"What am I, then?" Jack asked, against his better judgement.

There was a moment of silence as they thought about it. May steadily met his gaze, and said,

"A cat."

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Jack eyed the entrance to the butterfly house dubiously. He could feel the heat coming off it from where he was standing, well and truly outside.

"I think I'm gonna wait out here," he decided.

"Scared of butterflies?" Ceres sneered.

"No, I just don't want to die of heatstroke."

Lleu's hitherto excited expression suddenly slipped back into the same misery he'd been experiencing that morning. Jack internally panicked.

"It's fine, really! I'll meet you guys on the other side."

This did nothing to cheer Lleu up again.

"I'll stay with him," May said, looping her arm through Jack's. "I've seen enough butterflies that a few more seems almost superfluous."

"Okay," Lleu sighed, sounding anything but. He and Ceres slipped inside behind a family of three, and Jack and May watched as the door swung shut again.

"You didn't have to do that," Jack turned to her, once he was sure they were out of earshot.

May shrugged. "I really have seen more than enough butterflies."

Jack didn't doubt it.

They flew up to sit on the roof above the exit while they waited, watching the many people milling around everywhere. So far they'd been vigilant enough to avoid anyone walking through them, but as the day wore on and more people turned up, it was going to get difficult, he suspected.

Lleu and Ceres burst out about ten minutes later, snickering to each other. Lleu's mirth dissipated instantly when he didn't seem them.

"Where're Jack and May?" he asked. "Oh no, did they ditch us?!"

"Calm down," Ceres huffed. "They probably just got distracted by edible flowers or something."

Jack formed a large snowball in his hands, and deliberately dropped it so that it hit the back of Lleu's neck and fell down the inside of his shirt.

"COLD!" he yelled, nearly bending over backwards, and frantically trying to dislodge the snow that was very rapidly melting. He turned an indignant scowl up towards them.

May and Jack waved.

"You know I could really go for an edible flower right now," Jack mused.

May twirled her hand, and one appeared in her palm. She wordlessly passed it to him.

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"Ceres! Ceres, look! This frog looks just like you!"

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A loud gasp was all the warning Jack got before his hood was yanked and he was dragged backwards across the path. Ceres did nothing to help him, the traitor.

"Jack!" Lleu cried, finally releasing him. He pointed urgently down into an enclosure containing a large pool surrounded by sand and shrubbery. "Penguins!"

They didn't look like Jack's penguins; they were a lot smaller, and had different patterned feathers, but they were undeniably penguins.

"African penguins," May said, reading the sign.

"Ah," Lleu declared, with an air of false wisdom, "the anti-penguins."

"Not all penguins like cold weather."

"Their opinions are valid but also wrong."

Jack ignored them, jumping up to perch on the top of the railing. A couple of penguins looked up at him inquisitively. He greeted them with the same sort of noise that worked well with his own colony.

More penguins acknowledged him, and one or two made noises back, but it was nothing like the reception he usually got. He twisted to face the others, and shrugged.

"Maybe they use a different dialect."

Ceres moved to join them, peering over the railing. She hummed, and wandered further down the path, unimpressed.

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"Hello," Lleu greeted the cockatoo.

"Hello," said the cockatoo.

"Hello," said a small child who didn't realise the cockatoo wasn't actually talking to them.

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May was the first one to get walked through. She inhaled sharply in surprise, stepping closer to Ceres as the oblivious man who'd taken breaching personal space to new levels continued on, oblivious.

Five minutes later, Ceres, walking backwards so that she could regale them with a story about lions, accidentally stepped through a zookeeper.

Lleu, who didn't particularly care one way or another, had taken to simply going through people like a ghost through walls.

None of them said anything about it until a child ran through Jack outside the zebra enclosure. He doubled over more out of shock than pain (it tingled, but didn't hurt – the real pain wasn't physical), and fell heavily against May's side as she wrapped an arm around him.

"Are you okay?" she murmured.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Give me a sec."

"I think it might be time we headed off," she said, louder this time. "It's starting to get busy."

"Fine," Ceres agreed, arms crossed. She was glaring in the direction the child had gone.

Lleu looked stricken. He fidgeted, hands twitching as if wanting to reach out but knowing better than to try.

Jack tried to school his face back into something calmer, but Lleu wasn't fooled. "You okay?"

"Me? Me?" Lleu echoed incredulously. He clenched his fists, and let his gaze drop to the ground. He went through an entire, incomprehensible face-journey, before a small smile flicked into place. "You know what? I think I am. I was really upset this morning, cause I had to make a decision and I didn't know what to do, but you guys..." He looked up at all three of them, smile stronger, more confident. "I know what to do now."

The three of them watched as he pulled an old-fashioned lamp out of hammer space.

Oh no, Jack thought, recognising it instantly.

May's grip tightened. Oh no was very thoroughly imprinted on her face, too.

"Oh no," Ceres said.

Lleu rubbed the lamp. There was the purple smoke. And yep, there was the genie, just as eternally unimpressed as Jack remembered.

"What is thy bidding, master?" it asked, perhaps a little eagerly. If Jack was remembering correctly, Lleu only had one wish left.

"You remember how when I talked to you earlier I said I was conflicted about what to wish for?" Lleu began.

The genie's expression didn't change, but Jack thought it suddenly looked very tired. "Yes."

"Well, you really hurt my feelings when you said we wouldn't be friends if I freed you."

What?

Jack, May, and Ceres shared a moment of alarm. He was planning on freeing the genie? He'd been that miserable because the genie had said they weren't friends? All that drama, because an ancient magical entity didn't like him. Unbelievable.

Or, well, maybe not. It was Lleu.

The genie said nothing.

"But it's okay," Lleu continued, ignorant to the growing panic going on behind him. "Cause I've got these guys. And as long as I've got them, I won't ever need anyone else. So I've decided to go with the other wish, please."

As touching as it was that Lleu cared about them so much, it was hard to really appreciate it through the dawning horror that whatever Lleu wished for could very well be irreversible. And it could, arguably, be worse than freeing the genie.

"This is your last wish," May urgently reminded him. "Be sensible."

"Don't worry, May," Lleu grinned at her over his shoulder. His gaze darted very briefly to Jack, just long enough to stoke the panic fire. "I've got it all figured out."

"You must intone the words," the genie said.

Lleu floated up so that he and the genie were at eye level, spared the other three one final excited grin, and whispered.

"Oh, here we go," Jack breathed.

The genie leaned back, putting some space between them. With a click of its fingers, it declared, "It is done." Then it vanished in a puff of purple smoke, lamp and all.

Lleu stared at his now empty hands sadly for a long moment as he slowly drifted back down to the ground.

"Lleu?" Jack hedged.

"Oh, you absolute moron, what did you do?" Ceres groaned.

Lleu looked up at them, tears in his eyes, and face split into the biggest grin Jack had ever seen him wear. Before anyone could stop him, he threw himself forward, jostling May out of the way as he wrapped his bare arms around Jack. And squeezed.

Jack's surprise turned rapidly into horror, but before he could even think to pull away, another realisation quickly fell into place.

Slowly, he lifted his own arms from where they'd been pinned to his sides, and wrapped them around Lleu's back.

It didn't burn.

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