Hey guys! Sorry for such the long wait...finals week :/

I hope this chapter is worth the wait! Enjoy :)

Chapter 20: Sisters Reunite

November 30, 2358
Wayne's Apartment

2 A.M.

"He's such a great dad," Charlene whispered as she put a new washcloth on Philby's forehead. He had been asleep for some time now, with little Lizzie fast asleep in his arms. Neither Charlene nor Maybeck could sleep, so they stayed in the living room while she checked up on Philby ever hour or so.

"You still on this whole jealous of Willa and Philby thing?" Maybeck whispered from the chair in the corner, where he was reading a local newspaper by the light of a candle. Wayne had brought it back with him after his outing with Lizzie earlier that day.

"No," Charlene rolled her eyes and walked over to him, standing over him with crossed arms. "You look dumb reading that newspaper."

Maybeck put down the newspaper. "I thought I looked smart."

Charlene rolled her eyes and took the newspaper from his lap, throwing it down on the floor. She sat down in Maybeck's lap before he could do anything about it, wrapping her arms around his neck. He kissed her on the cheek and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You? Smart?" Charlene giggled quickly. "I haven't seen you in eleven months, but I know that hasn't changed."

"Ha. Ha." Maybeck rolled his eyes, unenthused. "I know you haven't suddenly become a comedian either."

Maybeck pulled her a little closer and she rested her head on his shoulder. "So want to talk about why you're really obsessing over Philby and Willa being parents?"

"No," Charlene mumbled into his shirt.

"Would it be because…you have something you're not telling me?" One of his hands moved to her stomach. Charlene cringed away from it.

"No, not that."

"Do you want that?" He asked slowly, looking at her expectantly. She could tell that he wanted to have kids and it broke her heart to see him looking at her like that—so expecting, longing for something she couldn't give him. She couldn't do it. Not now. Not ever, really.

"Uh…" Charlene moved her eyes to the clock across the room. "Oh! Look at the time! I'm going to go to bed and you should too. We're going to need our sleep for tomorrow."

Charlene kissed him on the cheek before leaving for the bedroom, where she slept next to Jess on the bed.

November 30, 2358
Disney World
Right Outside of Animal Kingdom Lodge

9 A.M.

"I still don't think you should be here Philby," Jess said as she plowed through the empty intersection.

"Shouldn't you slow down a little?" Charlene said from the passenger seat as she held on to the handle above the window for dear life.

Jess waved off Charlene's question. "Philby, you should be resting. You got pretty beat up down there where we found you."

"I'm fine Jess," Philby rolled his eyes. The back seat was crowded enough with Maybeck sitting beside him. The two gigantic guns weren't making it much better. All it would take was one bump in the road to send Philby's head into the back of the driver's seat.

"Okay whatever," Philby could see Jess roll her eyes in the rearview mirror. "So who do you think is in this place again?"

"Willa," Philby said as he looked out the window. He saw the Animal Kingdom Lodge looming over them. He closed his eyes, praying that she wasn't hurt. If they had laid a hand on her…

Let's just say Maleficent better be watching her back if they laid a hand on her.

Deep down, Philby knew all too well that they had probably beat her just like they had him. But he didn't want to think about that.

"There they are!" Maybeck shouted as he reached forward in between Charlene and Jess and pointed to something. Philby leaned forward to see what Maybeck was pointing at and saw a black jeep race away from the Animal Kingdom Lodge, perpendicular to the direction they were driving.

"Follow them!" Charlene blurted out.

"What makes you think that's somebody worth following?" Philby yelled back.

Charlene turned around, giving him her frustrated face. "It's Maleficent's forces! I ran from them for months, Philby. I know what I'm talking about!"

"What if they left Willa in there? Or Amanda? Or Finn?"

"Oh shut up! Both of you!" Jess screamed as she turned around. "We're going after them, Philby! Get over it!"

Philby rolled his eyes as Jess slammed on the brakes, sending all four of them slamming back into their seats.

"Geez Jess! You're gonna kill us all!" Maybeck blurted out, along with a few curse words, as Jess sped off to follow the black jeep.

"Don't get too close!" Charlene blurted out, trying to reach for the wheel. "Follow at a distance. You don't want them to see us following them."

Jess slowed a little, just barely keeping the black jeep in view. She still had to go at least sixty miles an hour to keep the black jeep in view. Philby didn't know where they were going, but he didn't like the fact that they were going so fast. This told him that they had someone and were trying to move them before anyone noticed—which was not a good sign for them.

Maybeck leaned forward and put his chin on the back of the passenger seat. "How come you know a lot about stalking people, Charlene?"

Charlene turned around, not at all bothered that she was inches from his face. Philby saw the smile on her face, but knew the hesitation in her eyes was telling another story.

"I…uh…it's not stalking, Terry."

Maybeck rolled his eyes and tapped her on the nose with a finger. "You're not answering the question!"

"I…" Charlene's eyes lit up. Philby knew she had just come up with the perfect lie. "I got some practice while in the fourth province," Charlene smirked. "Jealous?"

Maybeck leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Not a bit."

Charlene and Philby laughed.

Charlene twisted her body in the seat so that she could see Maybeck in full. "I don't believe you."

"Oh come on! We all know I'm better at stalking then you!"

And thus started the first—of many—long fights between Charlene and Maybeck that day.

After seeing how down he had been after Charlene had broken off the engagement, Philby was glad to see Maybeck happy again. He remembered having him come over during the day, sulking on the couch, watching reruns of the Andy Griffith Show with Willa. But then school started again and Maybeck became the ultimate babysitter for Lizzie with both of her parents at work. When they would both come home from work, Maybeck would reluctantly leave—Philby would learn later that he would just head over to Finn's to play video games—and Charlene would come two or three times a week to watch Lizzie while Philby and Willa went out.

Philby would be lying if he had said he hadn't appreciated the extra babysitters, or the date nights with his beautiful wife, but he felt so bad for the two of them. He had been so sure that they would get married some day.

But now that they were fighting over who would be the best stalker, Philby couldn't help but smile. Things were turning around for the keepers. Of course, they had to find Willa, Finn and Amanda first. But still.

"Will you two stop fighting for a few seconds?" Jess blurted out, affectively shutting up the group. "Does anybody recognize this weird place?"

Philby, Charlene and Maybeck looked out the windows of the car to see Animal Kingdom looming around them. Philby saw the Expedition Everest mountain and the Tree of Life off in the distance. Right in front of them was the main entrance gate, each little ticket booth sporting a different animal above it.

The black jeep was parked right outside of the entrance, with one of the gates opened. They've gone inside…

Jess turned the car around and parked back in the old parking lot. Jess jumped out of the car, but the other three took their time, taking in the sights around them. It was the first time any of them had been to Animal Kingdom since the curse had begun back in January. For Philby, he hadn't been to Animal Kingdom, or Disney World in general, since Lizzie was born.

Maybeck grabbed both guns and handed one to Philby.

Together they walked up to the entrance of Animal Kingdom in silence. Philby on the far left, then Charlene and Maybeck, with Jess on the far right. Both Philby and Maybeck had their guns at the ready, fingers lingering over the trigger—ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

The four stopped in front of the gate and Jess turned to face them. "Any ideas on where they would be inside this park…Animal Kingdom?"

"If they're hiding someone, there's a million different possibilities." Philby replied.

"Oh great," Maybeck groaned. "Professor Philby is back."

"Okay, Professor, let's pick one and start from there," Jess countered.

"We'll be here for weeks at that rate!" Philby turned to face the group. "We need to think this through before heading in."

"What do you suggest Phildweeb?" Maybeck blurted out.

Charlene perked up. "I've got an idea!"

"What's that?" Maybeck said as he crossed his arms, turning to her.

"Jess was held here once in the stump in the safari! Let's try there!"

"Wait…what?" Jess blurted out, but nobody seemed to notice…or care.

"But there's a million different places, Charlene, why that one?" Philby asked, also crossing his arms.

"They've been taking you guys to places that we have been to before! We found Philby under Pirates of the Caribbean. It only makes sense to at least try the stump in the safari!"

All four stayed in silence for a few moments while Philby and Maybeck thought it over. Philby could tell Maybeck by the look on his face that he wanted to do one of those cool "telepathic" conversations they did on the show "How I Met Your Mother," but Philby refused.

"Alright," Philby said after seeing the glare he was getting from Maybeck.

"Yes!" Charlene perked up and headed into the park. "One of you guys better hurry up, I'm not walking through here without one of those guns nearby," she called back.

Maybeck rolled his eyes and trudged off after her, leaving Jess and Philby alone.

"I was held in a stump on a safari? What does that even mean?" Jess threw up her hands in frustration.

Philby shrugged. "Long story. It'd be easier just to let you remember on your own."

Before Jess could come up with a good comeback, Philby started following Maybeck and Charlene. The last thing he wanted was to get separated from the group—especially with Maleficent's troops running around.

November 30, 2358
Animal Kingdom
Africa—Kilimanjaro Safaris

9:52 A.M.

All four crouched behind a tipped over safari vehicle and watched as Maleficent's troops opened up the stump and threw someone into the stump. One guard jumped down in there after the prisoner and the stump lid was shut.

All Charlene could tell about the prisoner was that it was a she, so that meant either Amanda or Willa had just been thrown into the stump with a guard.

When the troops had been gone for twenty minutes, Maybeck slowly made his way from around the vehicle and started army crawling across the wide open plain toward the stump.

Philby followed him, but instead of crawling, he walked—gun at the ready. After he passed Maybeck, Charlene saw that he tried to grab Philby's ankle, but failed. Maybeck stood up and followed Philby to the stump.

She watched as they opened the lid and the two of them jumped down. She hadn't realized she was shaking until Jess laid a hand on her arm.

"Ready to go?" Jess saw the shaky arm and gave Charlene a sympathetic look. "I'm sure they're fine Charlene. There was just one guard. How much damage can one guy do?"

Jess stood up and walked over to the stump without looking around to check for excess Maleficent troops. Charlene closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and followed Jess.

They're okay, Charlene reminded herself over and over again in her head. One guard can't bring down both Maybeck and Philby. They're okay.

Jess flipped open the lid and waved to someone below. Charlene looked down into the stump and saw Philby waving up at them. She noticed a little blood splattered on his shirt, but decided not to mention it.

"Coming down Jess? There's somebody who wants to see you!"

Amanda's down there. Charlene felt her heart jump for joy. Jess and Charlene both jumped down into the stump, landing with a loud THUD!

Charlene saw the guard lying unconscious on the floor, a little blood pooling underneath his leg. She wanted to make sure he wasn't dead, but Philby stood in the way, obviously standing guard over him just in case he came back...or so she hoped.

"Over here, Jess," Maybeck called from the corner.

Charlene followed Jess over to the corner and saw Amanda huddle in the corner, with Maybeck kneeling next to her. Amanda had a black eye and bruises around her wrists and ankles. Otherwise, she seemed fine, but she was trembling.

Amanda's eyes focused in on Jess and a huge smile grew on her pained face.

"Jess! You're okay."

Charlene glanced over to Jess and saw that she was frozen. It took her a few moments to get back to her senses. If she was remembering who she was, Charlene would have guessed she had just had a Jess dream. But she hadn't remembered. At least not yet.

"Mandy," Jess whispered before hurrying over to give her a big hug. Charlene watched as tears welled up in Amanda's eyes. She whispered something into Jess' ear and Jess nodded furiously.

Jess let go of her and sat next to her sister, with her back against the cold wall.

"Amanda, can you tell us anything about where Willa and Finn are being held?" Philby asked from being Charlene.

"The last time I saw Willa was in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but I think they were about to move her. As for Finn…"

Maybeck glanced back at Charlene and nodded. Charlene tilted her head sideways out of confusion. She had no clue what he was trying to tell her. He rolled his eyes, stood up and walked over to her.

He leaned in close to her ear and whispered: "Amanda told me she remembered." He turned around to face the sisters. "And I think Jess just did."

Charlene looked back at the sisters and saw how they were interacting with each other: quietly whispering stuff to each other as if everything was a secret, just as if nothing had changed.

Maybeck was right. They both had remembered who they were. There was no doubt about it.

Amanda attempted to stand up. Jess immediately jumped up to help her. Once the sisters were standing up, Jess put an arm around Amanda's waist to keep her steady.

"Jess, I can tell why you hate this place so much. It's absolutely dreadful," Amanda joked.

All five smiled, but Jess burst out into laughter. "I told you it was!"

"So where to next? We need to find Willa and Finn before something bad happens to them." Philby interrupted. Always about business.

"Stop wadding your panties in a ball Phildweeb, we'll find them," Maybeck replied. Philby glared at him.

"Let's get you out of here Amanda. Somewhere where you can rest. We can talk about where to look next then." Charlene offered. "Amanda can also fill us in on what's been going on."

"Sure," Amanda gave Charlene a smile. She glanced over to Philby and her smile faded. "You're probably not going to like it, though."

Philby studied Amanda and Charlene saw tears forming in Philby's eyes.

"Where's the exit Jess?" Philby asked to changed the subject.

Jess pointed to the stump lid, which was still hanging open for the whole world to see. "The only way out is up."

Philby didn't hesitate a moment. He studied the structure of the underground animal feeding station before finding a way to make his way back up to the lid. The rest of the group followed suit, immediately heading over to the tipped over safari vehicle as soon as they reached the surface, to get out of sight as soon as possible.

"Where to Philby?" Amanda asked once all five of them had reached the vehicle. Charlene noticed how she was heavily leaning on Jess. Something that wasn't visible was hurting.

"I've got just the place." Philby looked over both shoulders. "Follow me."

I don't own Kingdom Keepers or How I Met Your Mother, FYI.

Any ideas on where Philby is taking them? More importantly, is it safe from Maleficent? Any ideas on where Finn and Willa are being held? I'd love to hear y'all's suggestions!

I personally think the next chapter is going to be better, but you'll have to see when I update. Which will be a lot faster next time, I promise!

Please review! I'd love to read them! I hope all of y'all have a wonderful day. Hope y'all's December's are going great so far! :)