So here's the next chapter! Those who love Finn-Amanda are going to have a ball with this one! I LOVE this chapter so much I couldn't wait to put it on here so I could share it! It's my favorite so far in this story. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as me!

Chapter 12: Old Habits Die Hard

November 12, 2358
Province 1, County 1, Iberian Peninsula
Royal Palace—Barcelona

Finn slowly opened his eyes. The pearl white ceiling high above his head still amazed him each time he woke up here in the royal palace. While he was here with Amanda, they had gotten closer, but she still didn't remember. Finn wasn't sure whether or not to be worried. He didn't know how many of his friends were remembering on their two month hiatus.

He sat up in the giant bed and accidentally bumped Amanda with his shoulder. He paused, making sure he didn't wake her up. She stirred, mumbling something in her sleep, but did not wake up. Finn took a deep breath and slowly got out of the bed.

He grabbed his jacket off of the chair not too far away from the bed and pulled it on. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked back at his wife. It didn't matter that they had been separated for ten months, she was still as beautiful as ever. It hurt that she still didn't remember him, but that didn't matter. They had been living together since October 1st, which was a huge step for him.

What still confused him, was the fact that she had false memories of Finn. According to her, she had been married to Prince Finn for four years before he died. A lot of the stories she had of him were almost exactly like things that had actually happened to them, with a few minor differences. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been reminded of that strange dream he had while in a two-month coma over a year ago.

Amanda thought she had lost Finn, so he understood her confusion when he showed up to give her the letter a few months ago.

Finn glanced back at Amanda. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but he knew better. He didn't want to force their relationship on her. He couldn't just be like Oh, by the way, I'm your husband, but you don't remember me. Life didn't work that way.

It would be easier if it did, Finn thought to himself.

Instead of kissing her, he moved a loose piece of hair behind her ear and went into the bathroom to change.

When he came back, Amanda was sitting up in bed with a book lying across her legs. She glanced up at him and a huge smile grew on her face.

"Good morning," her cheerful voice was music to his ears.

"Morning sweetheart," Finn clasped his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. Old habits had been resurfacing more and more, and Finn was having a hard time killing them around the "cursed" Amanda (per se).

Amanda laughed at his reaction. "You're fine, Daniel." She patted the spot on the bed next to her, urging him to come sit next to her. He scooted in next to her and almost put his arm around her, but stopped himself.

"What are you looking at?" He asked her, motioning to the book on her lap.

"It's Finn's journal."

Finn snorted. Amanda turned her head and looked up at him with a confused look. Finn composed himself, covering up the snort with a cough. "Sorry, I…I just didn't think he was a journal-writing person."

Amanda nudged him with her elbow. "You never met him. How do you know?"

"I just had a feeling."

Finn wanted to laugh at the irony of this situation, but he refrained. Maybe when she got her memories back, they would look back at this and laugh.

"Why are you reading it?" He asked her, out of curiosity. The Finn she thought she knew had been dead for four years.

Amanda looked back down at the book, playing with the edge of one of the pages with her right hand. "This is the last entry, the day before he died."

Finn leaned in closer. The writing looked just like his. Maleficent had obviously gone to great lengths to make Amanda's "Finn" look like the right one.

"What did he write about?"

"This entry basically warns me about Maleficent. He…he was worried that she would come after me too. He…" A tear formed in the corner in her eye. "He thought dying would protect me from her. That his death would save me from her."

Finn couldn't help it his heart dropping in his chest. That was something he has told her before and her reaction was still the same. Amanda wiped the tear as if fell down her cheek and looked up at him.

"Why would he do that? Why would he purposely take the poison, knowing that he would leave me all alone? Why would he do something like that?"

Finn felt his throat go dry. He didn't know what to say. If taking poison would protect Amanda, he would choose the poison every time. He cleared his throat.

"When you love someone, you have to do whatever you can to protect them."

Amanda's expression turned to confusion. "Have you ever been in love Daniel?"

Finn leaned in closer. Now they were only inches away from each other's faces. They had a conversation almost identical to this one when he had first told her that he loved her—all the way back in tenth grade.

He had been so nervous to tell her, afraid that she wouldn't say it back. She had had a horrible day and was on the verge of tears. When he tried comforting her, she asked him the same question.

"Have you ever been in love Finn?"

"Yes, Amanda. I'm in love right now…with…you."

If Finn had learned one thing from his time with Amanda, it was that old habits die hard. He leaned in a little bit more.

"Yes, I…I'm in love with the most amazing girl."

Amanda looked him in the eyes and he saw all kinds of beautiful. He saw the same mystery from a broken past that she had when they had first met. Over the twelve years they had known each other, that mysterious look turned to one of pure joy—something Finn prided himself on.

"And, who's the lucky girl?"

"Her name's Amanda." Finn leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her on the lips—something he had been longing to do for eleven long months.

Finn hoped that true love's kiss would bring back her memories. He placed a hand on her cheek as he pulled away slowly from their kiss.

She looked up at him and smiled. She remembers! Finn wanted to jump up and down. He resisted kissing her again.

Amanda broke eye contact and stared at her hands. "I'm so sorry Daniel. I shouldn't have led you on like that."

Finn's heart broke in several pieces. "What?"

"You remember everything…and I don't. You're in love with another Amanda. One…one that's not me." Amanda got off of the bed and put the journal back on the bedside table. "I shouldn't have led you on like that. I'm sorry."

She headed for the door, but Finn didn't have the courage to stop her.

She didn't remember. True love's kiss didn't work. It's supposed to be the most powerful thing in the world. It's supposed to break all curses and be the answer to everything. Finn felt like his world had stopped moving.

Maybe that's the reason why it didn't work. Maleficent knew that he would try this. She knew that he would do anything for her. She planned for this. He had to think outside the box to find a way to bring back her memories.

Thinking outside the box to defeat an evil green fairy? That was one old habit he was glad he hadn't grown out of.

Amanda couldn't stop the tears. She wanted to remember who Daniel was. She wanted to believe that she could love him. She wanted to believe it. But the memory of Finn kept standing in the way. How could she betray him like that? She knew he would want her to be happy, but if that meant loving another man, how could he be happy with that? Better yet, how could she be happy with that?

Amanda walked down the hall avoiding the eye of every servant who walked by her. They would curtsy, saying "hello, Your Majesty," but she was ignoring them—something she never did. They got the message that something was wrong and were kind enough not to ask.

She was about to round the corner when she heard someone call her name.

"AMANDA!" The footsteps echoed in the long hallway. They seemed to be coming at a fast pace, as if someone was running. It didn't take much for her to realize that that someone was Daniel.

She turned slowly, wiping the tears from her face before he got close enough to see them. He reached her, took a moment to catch his breath, and took her hands in his.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. This is my fault. Will you forgive me?"

Before she had the chance to answer, the bells started ringing. Amanda's eyes went wide: someone was attacking the castle.

As they had practice, Daniel stepped out of the way, letting her hurry back to her room in front of him. He was right behind, and knowing that he was there made her feel safer already.

She reached her bedroom, threw open the door and ran into one of the corners. She tried her hardest to remove one of the tiles, but she couldn't. Daniel slammed the door shut and removed the tile, revealing at secret passage.

He helped her down into the room below and jumped down after himself, doing his best to cover up the tile before doing so.

In the dark room, she somehow found his hand. Not only did she feel safe, she felt needed. She could tell that he needed her as much as she needed him. It felt good to have that kind of relationship again.

They slowly made their way through the dark secret passageway. If she was being honest, Amanda only vaguely remembered where she was going. The last time she had been down here was with Finn. He had commissioned the building of this tunnel, and a few others, for occasions like this.

No one except Amanda had known that he was worried about Maleficent, not some random invaders.

The hallway ran into another, forming a T. Amanda went to the left without thinking twice. She knew that if she hesitated, Daniel would get suspicious and start to doubt how well she knew the tunnels. She wanted to prove to him that she was brave enough to survive on her own, despite the fact that she was frightened.

The hallway turned into another T and this time Amanda went right. She had maybe taken three steps into the new hallway when she ran smack into someone.

Amanda composed herself to see a girl, probably a few years older than her, with black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing all black, making it harder for Amanda to pinpoint her exact location when she stepped away.

Daniel gasped. "Storey?"

Storey looked up from Amanda and moved toward Daniel. She searched for some kind of recognition on his face, gasping when she found it.

"Oh my gosh! Finn! It's really you!" She flung herself at him. Daniel seemed a little reluctant to hug her back, but he did.

Amanda froze with shock. Storey just called Daniel Finn.

She ended the hug and looked at him at arm's length. "Wow, you've changed a lot since that cruise!"

"That was almost ten years ago, Storey." Daniel pushed her off of him. "How do you remember who I am?"

Her head turned to the side with confusion. "What are you talking about? How could I forget you?"

"Uh…Maleficent created all of this," Daniel gestured to their surroundings. "None of this is real."

"Of course it is!" Storey punched Daniel in the arm. "But we're going to get back to Florida, trust me. I'm here to help you guys, just like before!"

"Wayne told me I was the only one who would remember. How come you know everything?"

Storey eyed Amanda with a suspicious glance. It could have just been Amanda, but it seemed as if Storey was a little jealous of her. Is this the girl he's with? Was I just a one-time thing for him? Did he ever love me at all?

Amanda shook the thought out of her head. She promised herself she wouldn't fall for another man after Finn's death. She wasn't going to let Storey get to her. Amanda was not going to allow herself to get jealous.

"I never forgot," Storey said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Daniel looked about as stunned as Amanda did. "Now come on, we've got to go. My partner's not going to wait forever."

Storey grabbed Daniel's arm and started pulling him down the hall. He wiggled his arm out of her grasp and stood back by Amanda. "Who's your partner, Storey? Did you set off the alarm so that we would get out of there?"

The gleam in Storey's eyes was all the answer Amanda needed. Subconsciously, she reached for Daniel's hand. He gave her hand a light squeeze without a glance her way. He was too focused in on Storey right now. She could tell that he wasn't going anywhere until he got some answers.

"You'll have to wait and see. We better hurry if we want to get out of here unscathed."

Storey turned on her heel and hurried down the hallway. Amanda glanced up at Daniel. He looked down at her and shrugged.

"I guess we have to trust her."

"Is she…you know…the girl you fell in love with?"

Daniel looked pained by her question, which confused Amanda even more.

"Amanda," Daniel squeezed her hand again and took a deep breath. "I fell in love with a girl named Amanda, remember?"

"Oh right," Amanda lowered her gaze to her feet. "Just like I fell in love with a Finn."

She didn't have to look up at him. She knew that he was looking at her. She could feel his gaze on her.

"Yeah, exactly."

"She called you Finn," Amanda said in a small voice. "Why is that?"

Daniel used his free hand to move her chin upward so that she would have no choice but to look up at him. "Because that's my real name."

"Are you two done with your love fest? Finn, just kiss her and move on! We can't keep him waiting!" Storey yelled from the end of the hallway.

Finn gave Amanda a quick smile and kissed her on the cheek. "I promise I'll explain as soon as we have some time alone, okay?" He asked her in a voice so quiet she almost didn't hear it.

Amanda nodded and Finn led her down the hallway toward Storey.

They walked in the tunnels for about half an hour more before Storey held up a hand, silencing Finn and Amanda.

Even though Amanda looked confused and in shock of the revelations from earlier, she still held onto his hand as if her life depended on it. Finn had to keep suppressing a smile. It was just like old times. That was one habit of hers that no curse could erase—her subconscious need to cling to him as if her life depended on it. It had always been this way with both of them, especially after they had started dating. They both craved the touch of the other. Without her hand in his, Finn knew he would have already had a mental breakdown trying to figure out who Storey's partner was or why Storey remembered everything, despite the curse.

Storey turned around and looked at them. "He's in there. I'll let you two go in first." She faced Finn. "He's been waiting to talk to you for some time now."

She moved out of the way and Finn stepped forward warily. He stepped through the doorway and into an open room. On the far side of the room was a wooden chair, built like a throne.

In that chair was the devil himself, at least in Finn's mind: Marcus, Jess' insane older brother who had an unhealthy obsession with Amanda.

Finn could feel the anger boiling up inside of him. It would probably only take one comment for him to burst into a million pieces and for his anger to be unleashed on Marcus.

Finn hadn't seen him since the Greg Luowski murder investigation, when he had punched him in the face in Amanda's apartment. He wanted nothing more than to punch him again, especially when he saw the way Marcus was looking at Amanda now.

Finn spun around and glared at Storey in the doorway. "He's your partner?"

"What's wrong?" She asked him. It was almost as if she was teasing him. She wants me to punch him! "He said you two got along."

Finn let go of Amanda's hand and walked up to Marcus.

"You better tell me why you wanted to see us now before I punch you in the face again! The only reason you didn't get any permanent damage was because of your sister! You better be thankful that she walked in right then! I'm not afraid to continue that fight right here right now!"

Marcus raised an eyebrow then burst out into laughter. Marcus stood up and walked up to him until he was inches from Finn's face.

"I didn't come for you, I came for her." Marcus moved past Finn, making sure to bump shoulders with him. He walked up to a confused Amanda and knelt down on one knee in front of her. "Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Again?" Amanda looked over at Finn for answers. He didn't want to give anything away. If there was one good thing about this curse, it was that Amanda didn't have to remember who Marcus was and what he had done to her—or almost done as Jess would say.

Marcus stood up and winked at her. "Yes ma'am. I'm from that past you don't remember yet. But I'm here to help."

"Help with what?" He asked Marcus. It was more of a command than a question. He demanded to know what he was up to this instant.

"With overthrowing Maleficent of course!" He walked back to his makeshift wooden throne and plopped down in the seat. "It's time we show her who's boss!"

Finn clenched his fists to stop the shaking—so far it wasn't working. The anger was boiling up inside of him like lava stewing inside a volcano. He was ready to burst at a moment's notice, all he needed was something to trigger the explosion.

"You want to help us overthrow Maleficent?" Amanda asked Marcus. She walked up to where Finn was standing and put a hand on his arm, instantly calming him down a little bit. He could feel the anger dwindle a little. He didn't dare look at Amanda. He didn't want to take his eyes off of Marcus for a second.

"Of course baby cakes!" Marcus winked at Amanda.

The lava exploded inside of Finn's internal volcano. Nobody called his wife "baby cakes," especially not Marcus.

"Oh shut up!" Finn rolled his eyes and walked up to him. "I've had enough of you already." He punched him in the face. "We don't want any of your help, Marcus."

Finn turned on his heels and walked toward the door, grabbing Amanda as he went.

"Finn," Storey scolded him. "That wasn't very smart."

Finn shrugged. "Old habits die hard, I guess. He deserves it after what he did to Amanda."

Amanda didn't question what he had just said, which surprised him. Finn pushed past Storey and headed back into the tunnels. After walking for a few minutes, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure neither of them were following them.

He stopped, finally letting go of Amanda's hand. He leaned up against the wall, catching his breath and finally taking the time to let the knowledge of Storey and Marcus sink in.

He slowly sank down to the floor and rested his head on his knees. Amanda sat next to him, so close there was no space in between them. He picked his head up and looked at her, expecting her to say something, anything. Instead, Amanda put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"What did Marcus do to your Amanda?"

Finn sighed, clasping his hands together and resting them on one of his knees. "He…he has an unhealthy obsession with…her." He almost said you, but she had said your Amanda. She didn't quite remember yet. Maybe if he talked about this, she would.

He took a deep breath and continued. "Once when she was thirteen, she and her sister lived with him and he got her into some bad habits. He tried to use her in horrible ways."

"So was Marcus her brother?"

"No…Amanda's sister isn't her sister, they were in an orphanage of sorts together and claimed to be sisters, but weren't really. Marcus was her 'sister's' biological brother."

"Oh," Amanda rested her left hand on top of his. "So he took advantage of her, basically?"

"Basically."

Finn unclasped his hands and intertwined his fingers with hers. They sat in silence for a little bit and Finn was more than happy to welcome it. He didn't want to talk about Marcus. He hated Marcus—and Finn didn't hate very many people. He could count the number of people he hated on a single hand. One of those fingers belonged to Maleficent, the middle one to be exact.

"I can see why you're mad at him," Amanda said quietly. "You must really love your Amanda a lot."

Finn glanced down at her, but she couldn't see him. When he looked at her, he saw twelve years of happiness. Twelve years of chasing after her. Twelve years of wanting to kiss her. Twelve years of beautiful friendship. Twelve years of her.

"Yes," Finn whispered as a smile grew on his face. "She's the love of my life."

"I hope you get her back someday," Amanda said as she squeezed his hand. "At least one of us can have our happy endings."

Finn wanted to punch Maleficent in the face with that statement. "Maybe your Finn didn't really die," he blurted out without thinking. "You two can reunite and have your happy ending together."

Amanda shook her head, refusing to believe what he had said. "He's gone. There's nothing I can do about that."

"He might be closer than you thought."

Finn was banging his head on a desk inside his mind. He really needed to shut up. Something about her always made him this way, talking before thinking. It was as if the floodgates were opened and his mouth was speaking any random thought his mind had.

Amanda said nothing, which Finn hoped was a good sign. He kissed the top of her head. "Do you want to head back to your room? They're probably looking for you."

"Let them."

"What?"

Amanda picked up her head and looked up at Finn. He could tell she had wiped away a few recent tears during their conversation just now. A smirk grew on her face. "I think I just faked my death."

Finn smiled and stood up, helping Amanda as well. Finn suddenly thought of the best reference to one of Amanda's favorite movies. He couldn't help the smirk that grew on his face.

"What are you smirking about?" She asked him.

Finn took a deep breath and turned around, beginning to sing the parody that just popped in his head as he walked away from her. "Ding dong the queen is dead. Which old queen? The wicked queen!"

"The wicked queen!" Amanda blurted as she followed him.

Finn shrugged and glanced to his side, happy to see that she was right there. "It's how the song goes! I can't change the words!"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Shut it Daniel. Or would you prefer I call you Finn, like Storey did?"

"Whichever you like, your wickedness." He mockingly bowed quickly to emphasize his point.

Amanda punched him in the arm. "Finn's your real name, so Finn's the name I'm going to call you. But if you call me your wickedness again…"

"What, you'll banish me?"

"No," Amanda stopped. Finn stopped and turned to face her. "I won't do this anymore."

"You won't do what anymore?"

She walked up to Finn and pressed her lips onto his. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. He wasn't stopping anytime soon either—that old habit was one he was determined to keep alive, no matter what.

I don't own rights to the Wizard of Oz or anything associated with it.

I hope y'all appreciated the Marcus/"Whodunnit" references. I told you the stories were all connected together! I wasn't joking around with that!

I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter as much as I do! Please review! I'd love to hear what you think (good and/or bad)! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Enjoy the your week! :)