Ch 4
Artie wasn't tired. He was back in his room lying on the bed. Memories of that day, when his Dad had left him at Worchester Academy. That hurt him more than ever thinking about that.
Tears welled in his eyes. But in another room Shrek was feeling the same way. He was thinking about the times when his parents especially his father ignored or treated him differently. He then thought of the idea he'd given Artie and smiled. He watched as his two sons slept peacefully never knowing the hurt and coldness of the world… "Maybe I should go and find my parent's home. Their cave shouldn't be too far from here, I think but I don't know. What if I show up and they forget again or hate me? But maybe they've changed as I have. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when I tell them I'm married and have a family." He thought as he entered the world of sleep. Artie then walked into the royal gardens after sneaking out of his room. He needed some time to be alone and think. He then saw somebody come out of somewhere. It was Lillian. "What're you doing out here dear? It's really late." She said to him.
"Yeah I know. It's just I needed to think through some things, that's all." He told her calmly. She knew he was thinking about his father. "It's to do with your father, isn't it?" she asked him. He just nodded silently. "H…How did you know?" he told her. "I overheard Shrek talking to you about it. I'm sorry. Maybe he loves you but has a funny way of showing it." She explained to him.
"What do you mean?" Artie said to her. "When Harold realised Fiona's curse could make the kingdom angry, he kept her out of the public eye and wouldn't let her out at night. But when she was six years old, he locked her in that tower. We should've found another way but your uncle… He forced us to do it. He believed it would help her but he was wrong. Maybe your Dad leaving you at Worchester was so that you could have a better life or something." She told him. He was thinking about it as she went back into the castle. But then somebody joined him. It was Shrek. He looked set on something. "Hey man what's up? You look like you're about to do something important." Artie said as they looked at the lake… It looked peaceful. "I was rememebering eariler when we were talking about your Dad. It sort of gave me an idea." he told him calmly.
"What is it?" Artie asked curiously. His friend sighed before going on. "I... was thinking about seing my parents again but I'm having second thoughts about the idea." Shrek explained to him. He understood and listened as his friend began to talk. "I'm worried in case they haven't changed and still hate my guts. But if they have, I was going to ask them to join the family." he told him. Artie understood as he saw an expression of worry on his face. "I'm sure it'll go fine and they probably have changed since you last saw them. How old were you when you last saw them?" he told him. "I was only thirteen when I saw them, three years younger than you. I'm also worried about Fiona. This parental thing is eating up everything else I care about and I... don't want it to. I just want us to be together again as one big ogre family. It doesn't matter who was right." he explained as he and Artie lay on the grass under the moon and the stars. "Do you think I'll find somebody as special to me as Fiona is to you?" Artie asked him. Shrek smiled at that question.
"I'm sure you will. There may be a few obstacles ahead when it comes to the Love department but when you find that one special woman, it'll be True Love and you never want to live without her." he told the teen. "Is that the way you feel with Fiona?" Artie said as a shooting star crossed the sky. "Yeah it is. I never thought she'd love somebody like me, an ogre. I was just meant to bring her to Lord Farquaad so I could get my swamp back." Shrek explained to him. "You mean that little control freak in Duloc who hates fairy tale creatures?" Artie interrupted. "Yep. That guy. If it wasn't for him, Fiona and I would never have met or fallen in love. Do you think she's thinking about me right now even though we're not together?" he said with a chuckle. Artie thought about that for a minute. "I think she is. If you guys have True Love in your hearts, it can conquer anything so maybe it can bring you guys back together, right?" he told him. Shrek smiled at the teen's words. Sometimes Artie spoke like a true leader.
"Thanks man. I hope you're right dude. I couldn't imagine being without her." Shrek said as he yawned. They then fell asleep. But when dawn broke, Artie wasn't there. "Where could he have gone?" Shrek asked himself as he got to his feet. Lillian saw worry on her son in law's face as he came into the dining room. His sons were already up and a page was feeding them. "What's wrong dear?" she asked him. "Have you seen Artie? He was with me last night but when I woke up, he wasn't there." he told her. "I saw him in the dungeon before dawn. He must've been talking to his father but after that, I don't know." she told him.
He then thought about where Artie could've gone. But he was unaware that the teen was up to something for him...
"I can do this, I can do this. It's for Shrek. Maybe I can convince Fiona to come back to him, I hope." Artie said to himself as he began to cross the old bridge that led to the other side where the way into the Dragon's Keep was. Fiona was sitting on the bed in her old room in the tallest tower. She was thinking about her husband. She hadn't meant to snap at him like that. She knew he was stressed. "I'm sorry honey. I never should've yelled at you." she thought. But her thoughts were broken as Dragon roared loudly. "Help!" she heard somebody yell. The voice sounded familiar. She looked out the window and saw Artie hanging on as he was about to fall into the lava. He watched as Dragon scooped him up in one of her large paws. She landed on the other side and dropped him to the ground. Artie was scared but tried not to show it as Dragon growled at him calmly. "Don't hurt me!" he yelled. She then blew a puff of smoke at him. He realised it was okay and calmed down. Donkey then came out and joined her.
"Hey honey, it's okay. It's just Artie. But I don't know what he's doing here." he said to her "I came to talk to Fiona. I was hoping that she'd come back with me to Far, Far Away. Shrek really misses her and hasn't been the same." he told him. Fiona then ran out at that. "You said he's been missing me? Wow I thought he'd be glad that we were having some alone time." she said calmly as she held Felicia in her arms. "Yeah. He's been helping me deal with a problem of my own. Do you want to come back?" he asked her
She thought about it for a second. "Yes I do. I never meant to upset him. That divorce thing was just to scare him. I never meant to hurt him. I... want to go back and try again." she said to him. He smiled at that. "Let's go." he told her. They then climbed onto Dragon's back and took off into the sky...