They soon went out to help looking for Winn-Dixie. Dunlap and Stevie watched as they soon left as Opal came to her home to look for Winn-Dixie.
"Is he here?!" Opal asked her father as she came to the door.
"Who?" Daniel asked her.
"Winn-Dixie! He's gone!" Opal told her father. "He ran away because of the storm, and I can't find him!"
Patch began to sniff around for Winn-Dixie.
"Come on in out of the rain, Opal." Daniel told his daughter.
"We were at the party, and you were supposed to be there!" Opal cried to him out of heartbreak. "And you weren't, and now he's gone!"
"What kept you from coming to your own daughter's party?" Atticus asked the Preacher.
"I got caught up in something." Daniel frowned apologetically.
"Was it job related?" Cherry asked.
"Yes... Come on, let's get Opal." Daniel replied.
Cherry looked to him as they soon went to get a hold of Opal and/or Winn-Dixie.
"This is getting hopeless!" Darla frowned.
"How about you use the Silver Crystal to help?" Amber suggested.
"Hmm... I don't know what it'll do, but I guess I'll give it a shot." Darla shrugged. She soon brought out her brooch, hoping it could help.
Lightning flashed as thunder boomed. They all began to look for Winn-Dixie and Darla used her brooch to help.
"What kind of jewel is that?" Opal asked Darla.
"It's a magical brooch," Darla sighed, revealing a secret. "It's from Sailor Moon."
"Really?" Opal asked.
"Yep." Darla nodded.
"I've heard about Sailor Moon..." Opal said. "Are you saying you know her?"
"Opal, there's a lot you don't know about me or my friends and family," Darla replied. "We have plenty of crazy adventures revolving around friendship."
"It's true." Amber smiled.
"So, that can help us find Winn-Dixie?" Opal asked.
"Probably." Darla replied with a small nod.
They soon continued to wander around as it nearly took all night to find Winn-Dixie.
Patch kept on sniffing around for Winn-Dixie. "I know he can't be too far away." The young Dalmatian told himself. He soon saw someone in the rain, and where he could see the person who had Winn-Dixie. He soon rushed over.
"Oh, you poor thing... You must be so lost... I'm lost too..." The person told the scruffy dog.
"Oh, thank Gabriel." Patch sighed in relief once he saw that Winn-Dixie wasn't hurt. He soon saw who the person was and saw that the person looked just like Opal.
"It's all right, doggy... I'll get you back home." The woman soothed.
"No way..." Patch whispered to himself.
Eventually, it stopped raining as it seemed like Opal and Daniel were about to give up on looking for the dog, so they went back to Gloria's, and no one else had found Winn-Dixie which proved to be heartbreaking for Opal. Or so they thought. They soon heard Patch's barking.
"I hear a dog." Sweetie Pie said.
"It's probably Patch." Atticus replied.
Cherry soon got the door to see the Dalmatian. "Ah, there you are, Spot," she said. "I'm glad you're alright."
"Thanks, Cherry, but I brought someone with me." Patch smiled to her. He soon showed the person that he brought with him who had brought with a certain scruffy dog.
Everyone was excited to see Winn-Dixie and felt thrilled. The woman soon put her hood down as she came to the party.
Opal took a glance at her before looking around and did a double take like her heart told her exactly who this woman is as she ran up to her. "Mama!"
Daniel heard his daughter say that word and took a look at who he had not seen in years. The woman soon hugged Opal before coming up to Daniel and hugged him as well. Everyone looked surprised and delighted for not only Winn-Dixie back, but Opal's mother was also finally back home.
"She finally arrived." Cherry said.
"Oh, Cherry..." Atticus smiled as he had happy tears in his eyes. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"It sure is, Atticus..." Cherry replied in her own joy for Opal. "It sure is."
It was soon time for the group to leave.
"Have a safe trip back home." Opal said.
"Thank you, Opal," Darla smiled to her pen pal. "This was a great summer, and it was all because of Winn-Dixie."
"It sure was." Opal smiled back.
"I'm glad your mama's back too." Darla said.
"Yeah, I never thought that would happen," Opal smiled. "This was probably the best summer of my life. I'm gonna miss y'all very much."
"We'll miss you too," Darla smiled back before hugging the girl. "Hopefully we can have another adventure real soon."
Opal nodded as she hugged Darla back.
"Come on, Dimples!" Cherry called out.
"Coming!" Darla called back.
"Goodbye, Darla, have a safe trip back home." Opal smiled.
"Thanks, see you later." Darla smiled back before going off with the others to go back home, and they all made it back home, safe and sound.
A/N: My mother and I always wanted Opal to be reunited with her mother in the end, so here you go. It's fan fiction, I can do whatever I want :P