Here's the last chapter...for real this time. 42 chapters later and here we are! The last chapter of "Fighting For All That's Good." It's bittersweet, because I love this story way too much. All good things must come to an end, right?
I won't leave you hanging any longer. Enjoy the last chapter!
Chapter 42: I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
July 16, 2012: Orlando, Florida
Finn jolted awake, breathing heavily. The beeping noise coming from his left sped up, the high-pitched sound being played more frequently. Finn noticed as he calmed down the sound played less frequently, settling into a rhythm.
Finn looked to his left and saw that he was hooked up to heart monitor.
Upon looking around the rest of the room, Finn immediately realized where he was: a hospital room. The rest of the medical equipment blended into the starch white walls. On his right, Finn noticed a woman fast asleep in a chair that had been pulled up close to his bed. In her lap was an open copy of an old book. Finn recognized it as the book he used to have read to him when he was little.
Finn also recognized that woman was his mother.
"Mom?" Finn's voice was quiet, for he didn't want to scare her. When she didn't wake up, Finn reached over and touched her hand. "Mom?"
His mother opened her eyes. "I'm up, Finn. I'm up." She closed the book and froze. Her gaze turned immediately to Finn. "OH MY GOSH! FINN, YOU'RE AWAKE!"
She immediately pulled him into a hug and Finn didn't think things could get any more confusing.
"Oh, sweetheart I'm so glad you're awake. You've had us so worried!"
When she finally let him go, she noticed his confused look.
"You don't know what's going on, do you?"
"Nope. Why am I in a hospital?"
"You were in a horrible car accident almost two months ago and you've been in a coma ever since."
Finn's eyes went wide. "I've been asleep for two months?"
"Yes, Finn." She placed the book on the table next to his bed and scooted her chair closer. "Now, I need to know what the last thing you remember is."
Finn closed his eyes, trying to remember.
"And I'll see you tomorrow," Finn said with a wink before giving Amanda one last goodbye hug.
"I love you, Finn."
He kissed her on the top of her head before letting go. "I love you too."
He started walking down the street, where his car was parked. Once he got there, he turned back and saw Amanda standing there with the biggest smile on her face. Finn smiled back.
He had finally gotten the courage to propose and she had say yes. He had never been happier in his life.
He got in his car and drove off.
"I was with Amanda…"
"Yes. You had gone on a date with her that night."
"I just remember driving home after that, but I can't remember making it back."
"That's because you didn't."
Finn took a deep breath. Obviously, he wanted to say. He decided to hold his tongue though, since his mother looked as if she hadn't slept well in a long time—probably not in two months, if Finn had to bet on it.
Finn couldn't help but shake that dream that he had had while he was in a coma. It had felt so real to him. He had felt the pain of getting stabbed by Maleficent. He had cried as all of his friends died in front of him. He had laid there and watched as Maleficent took over.
But it was all a dream?
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I had the weirdest dream while I was out."
"What was it about?"
Finn glanced at his mother and knew instantly that she truly wanted to know what he was dreaming about for two months. He took in a deep breath and let out a quick summary of his dream as fast as he could.
"I…I was the prince of California and Maleficent was trying to take over my kingdom. And…Willa was my sister, but I didn't know that yet, and she married Philby, who was a soldier...but that was later. And Charlene was the queen of Florida, and we almost got married, but then Amanda got pregnant, so we decided to call that off. But then Captain Maybeck let us sail on his ship and he fell in love with Charlene, but he also had this thing for Jess. And Dillard was there too…but he died…just like last time.
"And we all fought dragons and giant sharks and Maleficent's soldiers. And then Amanda had the baby and we named him Dillard…but Maleficent wasn't through with us—of course-so she kidnapped everyone except for me and Amanda. But, I had a plan to get rid of her so we all got out of her dungeon just in time for her to show back up at the castle and kill everyone."
Finn took a deep breath and sighed dramatically. "But right before me and Amanda—"
"Amanda and I."
Finn would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't so utterly confused by his dream. "Amanda and I died...I crossed over into Magic Kingdom and saw Willa and Philby there. But I didn't know I was crossing over. They kept telling me that I needed to wake up. But just as soon as I was there, I was back into that dream and then I saw Amanda die…and then I died right after Maleficent threatened to come back and get her revenge on the keepers."
There was a few minutes of silence while his mother processed his dream. Finn figured she thought he was crazy. Especially when she started giggling.
"What's so funny?"
"Your dream sounds a lot like the story I used to read to you when you were little." She motioned for the book now on the beside table.
Finn's confused look must have been obvious, for his mother laughed some more before continuing.
"When you were little, you used to love the story about the Prince Finnegan of Ithaca. He had a long-lost sister, named Isabella, who grew up as a peasant, but they were still friends. When the evil witch takes over the kingdom, Prince Finnegan escapes only to live in the woods for four years, where he befriends a young man named Jonathon and a falls in love with the lovely Annabelle.
"After being in the witch's dungeon for four years, Isabella is set free by one of the witch's royal advisors—the lady Jezebel—and told to find Prince Finnegan. Isabella wanders into a random village and runs into the handsome former soldier, Derek, and falls in love with him instantly. Together they find Prince Finnegan, Jonathon and Annabelle and convince him to take back the throne.
"Derek comes up with the idea of going to petition to another kingdom for help, so the five of them head off to the island kingdom of Tegucigalpa. On the way there, Derek and Finnegan meet Captain Wesley, who wants revenge on the witch and joins the quest. Once in Tegucigalpa, Finnegan unwillingly agrees to a marriage alliance with the local queen, Charlotte.
"Now I never read you this part when you were a child, but…at the ball celebrating their engagement, Finnegan and Annabelle decide to say goodbye and end up…you know…having some…adult fun."
The way his mother said that made Finn laugh.
"So anyway, word comes that the evil witch has sent out spies to Tegucigalpa in order to find and kill Finnegan. The seven of them go after the soldiers and encounter dragons and sea monsters along the way. When Jezebel catches up to them, Finnegan finds out that Jezebel and Annabelle are sisters and that Jezebel and the Captain Wesley used to be in love—which upsets Charlotte.
"Jezebel tells them of an ancient temple in which the witch is going to try and channel an ancient spirit. They all decide to head there and try to stop her. When they get there, though, Annabelle is found to be pregnant and is forced to stay with the ship while the rest go.
"But what they don't know, is that when the ancient spirit is awakened, all who are present are fated to die in its presence. Jonathon died there, at the temple, but the rest made it out alive. And Finnegan believed that he had already killed the evil witch.
"So fast forward a few years and Annabelle finally has a child after a few miscarriages, and they name him Jonathon. The only problem is that the evil witch returns and kidnaps Isabella, Derek, Captain Wesley, Charlotte and Jezebel—all within twenty-four hours of the baby being born.
"Finnegan and Annabelle get the baby to safety, save their friends, but when they get back to the castle, the evil witch is already there. She needs one of them to die so that she can complete her spell and live forever. So when Finnegan willingly gives himself up for that, knowing that the alternative is all of his friends and family dying in front of him, all chaos breaks out."
"So what happens then?" Finn felt like he was five again. He wanted to know the ending of the story, even though he had a strong feeling he knew what it was.
"The evil witch brings back the ancient spirit, so all of his friends end up dying saving the kingdom, including himself, except for Annabelle—since she is the only one who did not receive the curse at the temple. She makes it out alive but does not fight for the kingdom. She gets her son back and runs to another kingdom and lives there the rest of her life. Her son turns 21 and exacts his revenge on the evil witch—defeating her forever-and becomes the rightful king of Ithaca."
"So that's how the dream was supposed to end!"
"How did your dream end?"
"Amanda died…we all did."
"Hmm…interesting."
"How do you remember all of that book anyway? The last time you probably read that to me was before kindergarden!"
"Why do you think I have it with me, Finn?"
"I don't know!"
His mother rolled his eyes. "Because, I was reading it while you were asleep. The doctors said it might help wake you up faster. Turns out, it had some kind of influence on your dream."
"But how come my dream was different than the book?"
His mother thought some more before giving him an answer.
"Since you've had real life experience with an actual evil witch, I think you substituted your life and friends and experiences into Prince Finnegan's story."
"I don't get it."
"It's simple, Finn." Her smile was warm and inviting. What would I ever do without her? "When you were little all you wanted to do was be the big hero like Prince Finnegan. You wanted to save the day and win the girl and get all of the riches and treasures the world had to offer. And in a way, you've actually done that."
"I…still don't get how this applies to my dream."
"You're the leader of the keepers, Finn. You led them to defeating the Overtakers five years ago. You saved the day and got the girl simultaneously. And now all of the world is yours to take, Finn. You deserve it. You're the real life version of Prince Finnegan."
Finn let that sink in. He was a real life hero. That's something little kids dream of-but for him it became a reality. Wow.
"Now, I'm going to go let a nurse come check on you so I can tell everyone you're awake. Alright?"
Finn nodded and his mother reached down and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you, Finn. I'm glad you finally woke up."
"I love you too, Mom."
Finn let the news sink in as his mother called for a nurse to check up on him. She stepped outside and called his father and friends, telling him that he was awake.
Finn wasn't sure how long it had been since the nurse had left before Maybeck had snuck into his room—but he was pretty sure it was something along the lines of twenty milliseconds.
"Whitman! It's about time you wake up! Now I know that I can sleep a long time, but I think you broke my record!"
Maybeck made himself at home by plopping down at the end of the bed. He was wearing his dress uniform and had his left arm in a sling.
"Dude, you're not supposed to come home for another few weeks! Why are you here?"
He shrugged. "Broke my arm on a mission overseas."
"I see that. Charlene's going to kill you when she finds out you're here."
"Dude, she can't know I'm here!"
"Why not?"
"I've got some things to do before London! You're still going, right?"
"I assume so. Yeah."
"Good!" Maybeck reached over and slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll need you to keep your phone with you."
"How come?"
"I've got a big surprise that I'm saving for London." He winked before standing up. "Now I've got to get out of here before Charlene sees me. Can you keep a secret?"
"Sure thing, man. This better be one heck of a surprise."
Maybeck's smile widened. Finn could tell he was proud of whatever surprise he had in store for Charlene. "I'm going to have the best dang proposal the world's ever seen."
He tipped his hat and walked to the door. "See you in London, Whitman. Don't do anything stupid like get into a crazy car accidents before London. You think you can manage that?"
"I think I can manage," Finn joked.
It was only about five more minutes before Jess and Charlene came in together.
"Finn!" Charlene ran over and basically tackled him in a hug. "Don't you ever give me a heart attack like that again!"
Just for fun, when Charlene let go of Finn, he held out his arms for a hug from Jess. As expected, she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Not a chance Finn. You've ruined my whole summer."
"Oh come on, Jess," he gave her a loving smile. "You know you missed me."
"In your dreams." She rolled her eyes again. "Not after what you've done to Amanda. Yeah right."
"Because I chose to be in a coma for two months," Finn stated sarcastically. "Come on, Jess. One hug? I won't tell Amanda that you actually have a nice side."
Jess snorted. "Of course I have a nice side. It just doesn't come out when my sister's boyfriend gets himself into a car accident and ends up in a coma for two months and ruins my entire summer. All I've got left now is to look forward to London!" Jess threw up her hands in frustration.
Charlene perked up at the mention of London, interrupting their fight.
"Finn, you are still going to see me in London right?"
"You're going to be in the Olympics, for crying out loud, Charlene! Of course I'm going to be there!"
"Good!" Charlene's phone beeped and she glanced at it. "Oh great."
"What?" Both Jess and Finn said in unison.
"Practice got moved up from noon to eleven." Her expression turned sour. "Sorry, Finn, I've got to go if I'm going to be there on time."
"That's okay. I think training for the Olympics is an okay excuse for not staying here in the hospital with your poor, little, injured best friend Finn."
This time it was Charlene who rolled her eyes. "Shut it Finn. If I'm going to win a gold medal in London, I've got to practice. If I don't see you before I leave, I'm glad you're awake. We've missed you."
She held up her hand and Finn gave her a high-five before she walked out of the room, leaving Finn alone with Jess.
Finn raised an eyebrow at Jess. "I ruined your entire summer?"
"Yes!" Jess sat at the edge of his bed—right where Maybeck had been sitting not too long ago. "I was planning on studying abroad in Paris remember?"
"Yeah, for something lame, like art right?" Finn joked.
"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious Finn." Jess rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Yes for art. But the day before I left, you decided that getting into a coma would be fun, so I had to take care of Amanda all summer."
"What do you mean take care of her? She always takes care of you!"
"When she wasn't sulking around here in this horrible place where souls go to die, she was at home. Not sleeping. Not talking to anyone. Just sitting there."
"Where is she now?"
"I forced her to get a job so that she could get her mind off of you for two seconds."
Finn let that sink in. The last thing he wanted was Amanda to be worried.
"Where is she working?"
"Wayne got her a job in Magic Kingdom working in one of the shops. She gets a lunch break at noon, so I'm sure she'll come over here like she always does."
"You act like that's a bad thing."
"Finn," she scooted closer to him. "I'm going to be frank with you. I never told Amanda this, because I knew it was going to break her heart, but the doctors told your mom that things weren't looking good for you. They thought that if you weren't awake by the end of July that you'd probably die."
Jess took a deep breath and stared at her hands. "Well, obviously they're wrong, but I didn't know that back then. I decided that for Amanda's sake that if she could start moving on with her life and get out into the world and do something that maybe if you died, things wouldn't as hard on her. She would have a little something to lean back on, you know?
"This is going to sound harsh, but I just didn't want her whole world to stop because you were in a coma. She…she deserves more than that."
Finn saw a few tears fall down her face.
"Thanks, Jess. I'm glad you did that."
Jess glanced up at Finn with a confused look. "Did you just thank me?"
"Duh," Finn rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you did that."
"Why would you say that? I thought you'd be mad."
"No, you did what you thought was best for her." Finn started looking at the blanket covering his legs. "I wouldn't want her to drop everything to be here with me. I'm flattered that she did that, but she's way too important and special to give up her summer for me. You were right to do that."
There was a few minutes of silence. Jess pulled out her phone and stood up, facing Finn with a smile on her face.
"I'm going to call Wayne so he can get Amanda off of her shift early so that she can come down here."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I'm not stupid, Finn." She rolled her eyes, again. "I know you two are meant to be together. Someday you're going to stop being an idiot and propose, and when you do, she's going to say yes. And when that happens, I'm going to be the best maid of honor ever and you're going to be my brother."
"And?"
"And…" she looked as if what she wanted to say next was going to hurt her. "If Amanda's going to marry anybody…I'm glad it's you."
So Amanda hasn't told Jess about the proposal yet? I wonder why.
Nevertheless, Finn smiled. It felt good knowing that he had already proposed before getting into a coma, but it felt better to know that he knew something Jess didn't. "Thanks Jess. I knew you had a nice side."
"But Amanda's way out of your league, just so we get that straight."
"I know. That's what makes getting her to love me back all the better."
Jess rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go call Wayne."
Finn finally thought he was going to get some peace and quiet when Jess had left. But sure enough, Willa and Philby came in, both with huge smiles plastered on their faces.
"It worked! Oh my gosh, it worked!" Willa shrieked. She ran over and gave Finn a tight hug. "We didn't think you had heard anything we said when you crossed over!"
"Of course it worked. I'm just frustrated that we didn't come up with it sooner." Philby said as he clapped his hand on Finn's shoulder.
"Babe, stop being hard on yourself." Willa chided him as she let go of Finn.
"We should have thought of it earlier! We did the same thing with Maybeck eight years ago."
"I know, but that doesn't matter now. It worked and he's awake. So be happy."
Finn noticed that both of them were wearing the same clothes as they were the night before when he crossed over.
"Did you two not change before coming here?"
Willa and Philby both looked over each other's clothes. Willa blushed.
Philby shrugged. "I guess not."
"So I'm guessing married life's been good to you two?" Finn winked, causing Willa laugh.
"You owe us half of a honeymoon." Philby said as he draped an arm over Willa's shoulders.
"I do?"
"We were going to Rome for two weeks, remember? But half way through, you went into a coma and we had to come back." Philby didn't look too excited about coming back.
"It's not my fault you waited a year for your honeymoon!" Finn crossed his arms.
Willa, on the other hand, was enjoying this argument.
"We only did that because I had to pay for medical school! We couldn't afford one until now!"
"You couldn't afford that honeymoon because it's so dang expensive!"
"Only the best for my girl." Philby smirked, causing Willa to laugh some more.
"You two fight like an old married couple!" Willa said in between laughs. "Is there something you both want to tell me?"
"NO!" Philby and Finn yelled at the same time.
Willa rolled her eyes and plopped herself down on the hospital bed next to Finn.
"But there's something I…I mean we…want to tell you, Finn."
"And what would that be?"
Willa and Philby exchanged a look. Finn couldn't read Philby's expression, but Willa's was ecstatic and overjoyed. Unlike all of the people who have visited him today—except Maybeck—she was excited about something.
"What's going on?" Finn asked Willa.
"I'm…" she turned back to face Finn, "pregnant." Her smile got wider.
Finn's eyes went wide. "When were you going to tell me this?"
Willa nudged his shoulder with hers. "I'm eleven weeks along, Finn. You've been out of it for most of the time!"
"That's true. Does everybody know but me?"
"Besides our parents…you're the first one."
"That's great you guys!" Finn pulled Willa into a big hug. "Oh, I'm going to spoil him and let him have real fun."
"Real fun?" Philby questioned.
"Yeah! Like how to make spitballs and skip school and all that fun stuff." Finn smirked.
Willa laughed when Philby's expression turned sour. "What if it's a girl, Finn? We find out next week, you know."
Finn thought about it for a second. "Oh! I know! I'll buy her anything she wants."
"Spoil her? Yeah, Finn, that's just great. She's going to be a brat then." Philby muttered under his breath, just loud enough for both of them to hear.
"Hey, man. Uncle Finn's the cool uncle. Together, Maybeck and I are going to have the best time with your kid. Whatever it is." He smirked and Willa laughed some more.
"Oh great. Exactly what we need. A kid that'll end up like you two."
Finn threw up his hands in defeat. "Sorry being the savior of Disney and the leader of the Kingdom Keepers isn't enough for you, Philbs. I'll do my best to improve my resume in the next six months."
"Don't listen to him, Finn. You'll be a great uncle…and babysitter too, right?"
"Sure, Willa, anything for my little sister."
Willa's phone rang. "Oh my gosh."
"Who is it?"
"Oh…uh…nothing. I've got to take this. I'll be right back." Willa excused herself from the room, leaving Philby and Finn alone.
"So you're going to be a dad, huh?"
"Yeah," Philby let a quick-lived smile show on his face. "But I'm more nervous than excited."
"Dude, don't worry. You're going to be a great dad. Heck, even if you're not, Willa's going to be the best mom ever, so she can make up for your slack. Look at the bright side."
This time, Philby did laugh.
"I'm glad you're back man. Hanging around with the girls all by myself gets really old after two months."
"Wait six months and you'll be cooped up in your house with a baby. I think you'll be wishing you could hang out with the girls."
Philby laughed again, shaking his head. "I guess you're right."
Willa came back into the room, looking sad.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Philby asked her.
"Nothing," she looked up at him and smiled. "I just got a teaching job at the elementary school down the road. That's all."
"Seriously?" Finn asked and Willa nodded, almost jumping with joy.
"That's wonderful!" Philby said as he picked Willa up and twirled her around. "I told you that you'd get it."
"I guess now's the time for I told you so."
Finn laughed. "You two are straight out of a chick flick, I swear."
"Somebody jealous?" Philby raised an eyebrow. He leaned in for a kiss, which Willa gladly received.
Before Finn could defend himself, the door opened revealing Amanda.
Finn couldn't help but smile. She looked just as beautiful as the last time he saw her. This time, she was wearing her work uniform. Her eyes found his and she let out a big sigh of relief.
"You're…you're awake," was all she said before walking over to his bed.
"We're going to leave you two alone now," Willa said before ushering her husband out of the door.
Finn removed the blanket off of his legs and stood up.
"Finn, you shouldn't get up!"
"I've been asleep for two months, Amanda. I can't give my fiancé a hug?"
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. He kissed the top of her head when he heard her crying.
"It's okay, Amanda. I'm right here."
She pulled back just a little bit so that their foreheads were touching.
"You've just been gone for so long, Finn. I was beginning to think you'd never wake up."
"You think you could get rid of me so fast?" Finn shook his head "Not a chance! I'm not going anywhere before I get to see you walk down the aisle in that beautiful white dress."
"And dance at our wedding…"
"And go on our honeymoon…"
"And spend the rest of our lives together?"
"Yeah. After that you can get rid of me." Finn joked and the two of them laughed together.
After she stopped laughing, Amanda leaned in and kissed him. It was as if the world had stopped spinning. He never ever wanted this moment to end.
"So why didn't you tell anybody about me proposing?" He asked her out of pure curiosity.
"I wanted to wait until you woke up, so we could tell everyone together."
"Let's do it today!" Finn couldn't get the smile off of his face, even if he had wanted to. "I want everybody to know that you're mine forever."
Amanda laughed. "Let's see about getting you out of here first."
"Not quiet yet," Finn said before pulling her back in for another kiss.
When the kiss was over, Finn figured that the smile was going to be permanently on his face as long as she was around.
"I won't ever leave you again, Amanda, I promise."
"I'm going to hold you to that, just so you know."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
And that, my friends, is the end of this story. I'm going to leave it at that. There's an author's note in the next chapter for those of you who are interested.
Thanks for all of you who have read! I can't express how awesome y'all have been-especially those who reviewed on every single chapter! I honestly think it's been more fun for me to write this story than anything. I hope y'all loved the story as much as I did! :)