Second Chance

Chapter 10

May Belle's Return

Despite Jesse and Leslie's promise to keep their relationship a secret, rumors had, by the time the next Monday rolled around, spread throughout the school. By Thursday, however, the rumors began to get out of hand; some were even saying they'd eloped. While Leslie simply ignored the rumor mongers, Jesse found it quite hard to do so, and so Leslie had another reason to be thankful she had most of her classes with him – she was able to stop him from doing anything suspension-worthy.

Meanwhile, May Belle was still missing, and Jesse couldn't think of what to do. His parents were near frantic with worry, and he was, too. Leslie would comfort him, but even that wasn't enough. He grew reserved, unwilling to express anything, for fear that his anger at being unable to save his sister would manifest itself.

"Jesse?" Leslie asked one day. "Do you want to go to Terabithia tomorrow?"

Jesse's eyes narrowed slightly. Terabithia – for him, that place had temporarily become restricted. He felt that, until he could do something right, he was unworthy of being a king. He shook his head.

"No," he said. Just no. No explanation or anything.

"Jess? Why not?"

"I just don't feel like it, okay?" he snapped, angry. He immediately regretted it; while Leslie didn't show her sadness, she still was definitely upset. He turned away, running towards the greenhouse; his mind whirled with indecision. He had to save May Belle; he had to protect his family; he had to protect Leslie. He had to. It wasn't a choice; it was a necessity. And he'd failed, according to him.

Leslie sighed, slumping slightly on the couch, flicking through a random book, uninterested. She'd hurt Jesse; she was sure of it. And he ran away. Would he ever want to talk to her again?

"What's wrong, Leslie?" her father asked from the doorway of their living room.

"It's Jess. I think he hates me," Leslie said.

"Why do you think that?"

"I was talking to him about – something – and he ran."

"Jess's under a lot of stress right now, with his sister missing. He'll be fine."

"I hope you're right..."

The Ruler crossed his arms, deep in thought; deep in his castle. Before him hung his prize – May Belle, the unofficial princess of Terabithia. A sadistic smile spread through his face as he imagined how Jesse would react to her death... but, no, he was forbidden to kill her; he was forbidden to kill anyone. This brought a scowl to his face.

"I can't keep her forever," he said. "Tomorrow, I shall return her, and only Jesse will know what happened."

The next day, Jesse woke up, feeling that something was wrong; something was different, but he didn't know what. It wasn't the sounds – his mother frying an omelet on the stove. It wasn't the smells – the aforementioned omelet. Curiously, he went downstairs immediately after changing out of his pajamas and tried to locate the difference. His answer came several minutes later in the form of a girl with short, brown hair running into the room.

"Good morning, Mama, Jess," she said.

"May – May Belle?" Jesse asked. May Belle nodded, looking at him strangely.

"Why the surprise?" she asked.

"You – You were kidnapped!"

"No," his mother said. "She wasn't."

"But – the letter -"

"Jess," May Belle said. "I wasn't kidnapped."

"I don't understand..."

"Jess, you must've had a nightmare or something," Nancy said.

Yes, Jesse thought. Just a nightmare. Just my imagination. Leslie must've played a joke or something.

"Yeah, that might be it," he said. "Sorry for worrying you."

Nancy shook her head. "No, it's all right."

Jesse nodded, unaware that he was more right than wrong.

The Ruler smirked; Jesse was slipping. The sudden return of the Terabithian king's sister had thrown him off-balance. Soon, the Ruler saw, it would be time to strike. And, when his strike came, it would be fast and hard. Terabithia would fall, and he would have his revenge.

A sharp, sudden pain shot through the Ruler's head, prompting an involuntary gasp.

"Just close your eyes and keep your mind wide open."

"Who's there?" he asked no one in particular, receiving no answer.

"Wide open..."

"What's wide open?"

The Ruler collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain as long-forgotten memories resurfaced.

"I called you three times. It's your girlfriend..."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

His eyes widened, shocked. He remembered. He remembered who he was. But... This didn't make sense!

"I'm... Jesse," he said.

"Hey, Leslie," Jesse said, sitting down at his usual seat on the bus, next to Leslie; he didn't even consider the possibility she might be mad at him. Then he realized. "Sorry about yesterday."

"What do you mean?" Leslie asked, arching an eyebrow. Jesse mentally slapped himself; no one remembered May Belle's disappearance, so it was doubtful whether Leslie would remember the argument. Apparently she didn't, because she smiled at him.

"Nothing," he said. "Um... How's everything?"

"Great, Jess. Listen..." She trailed off, and, when next she spoke, it was quiet, almost whispering. "Do you want to go to the park on Saturday?"

"You mean..." Jesse trailed off, blushing.

"If that's how you want to look at it, or it can be a simple hangout between friends. Depends on what you do."

"Close friends, right?"

Leslie nodded. "Very close."

Jesse smiled. "That'd be great; I'll have to ask Dad, though. He might want me to do some chores."

"That doesn't matter; we can go later in the day."

Jesse mentally slapped himself. Why didn't he think of that? It's not like there's one hour in a day, he thought, grinning.

"I'm... Jesse."

His eyes widened. The Ruler... That sounded like the Ruler!

A/N: Looks like another plot twist; this one's probably going to confuse a few people even when it's explained, but bear with it; I know exactly where I'm going with this.

And sorry for the delay; I wasn't sure how to handle May Belle's return until I came up with the twist.