"Help! Somebody help!" I screamed, dragging Winnie into the police station.
"what's the problem?" The sheriff asked.
"The men," I gasped, pretending to be out of breath. "The men who had Winnie, they're coming back. They're here!"
"Please," Winnie said, turning on all her childhood innocence. "They're coming, you have to help me. Don't let them take me again."
The sheriff nodded, loading a gun and walking outside.
"How much time do we have?" Winnie asked, her pretty blue eyes wide with fear and anticipation.
"Not long." I tossed her the keys to the cells. "Go get them out, I'll watch for the boys."
She nodded and left, I went to stand in the window, watching the cop shoot at Jesse and Miles. Even though I knew it couldn't hurt them, my heart still stopped every time they were hit. Hell, it barely slowed them down anymore, but i was still waiting for the power of the spring to fall through.
It wasn't long before, almost without realizing it, I had made my way outside. I was standing on the stairs of the jail, watching the boys duel with wide eyes. Miles caught sight of me first, a bullet hit him and he staggered backwards, probably more out of shock of seeing me than anything else. Still, my heart caught in my throat and I was unable to breathe for a moment.
"Willow," Jesse yelled. "Go back inside."
"Idiot," i heard Miles mumble. "Wait with Winnie, and we'll take you both."
The sheriff ran off, frightened by Jesse and Miles inexplainable behavior and immortality.
Jesse ran right past me, inside to Winnie and his parents, and Miles ran over, grabbing me.
"I'm sorry," I blurted out. "I didn't mean to come out, it's just I kept seeing you get shot, over and over again, and I knew it couldn't hurt but-"
"I know," He muttered, pulling me close. "Now imagine how much it hurts me, knowing that I could lose you with one wrong move."
"Miles," I laughed, kissing him lightly. "I drank. I drank from the spring."
"When?" He said breathlessly.
"When I was returning to Treegap. I thought...well I thought I would wait for you, maybe one day you'd return to me. And I wanted to see Winnie again too. I couldn't die, not when I knew I'd be missed so much." I smiled and he kissed me again, harder this time. His parents and Jesse came out, and he still didn't pull away.
"Willow!" Winnie exclaimed, grabbing my wrists happily and pulling me down the stairs, away from Miles. "Come with us."
"I can't, you know that."
"There's nothing for you here! Everything-adventure, Miles, New York, and me-it's all out there. You have to come with us, Will, if for nothing more than to see the city again."
"Someone has to stay in Treegap." I said quietly. "Someone has to make sure things blow over nicely."
"That's such a boring job," Miles said, coming up and hugging me from behind, kissing my neck. "Wouldn't you rather see the world?"
"I will," I told them. "Someday, I promise. Come back and see me, in five years or ten. I'll be the same."
I winked at them then, Angus and Mae laughed at me.
"Come on then," Jesse said, riding the horse and buggy around the corner. "Let's get out of here before dawn."
They piled onto the buggy, Angus driving and Mae beside him, Winnie and Jesse in the back.
"Miles," I said quietly, adjusting his collar and avoiding his eyes. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'll be right here." He said, nodding towards the forest. "Whenever you need me, go to the spring. That place is a part of all of us, we belong to it as much as it belongs to us. There, you will never be alone."
"Five years isn't so long," I mumbled.
"Not when you have forever." he kissed me again, rushing off towards the buggy.
"Willow Foster!" Winnie called after me. "I will love you until the day I die!"
I waved them off then, waited until their buggy was out of sight, and then I returned to the Foster home and proceeded to re-lock myself into the basement.
A/N-Sorry, that last quote is one of my all time favorites. in the movie it's conveyed with such emotion and it's an amazing scene, I couldn't bear to leave it out of my story. Of course, it no longer made sense for Jesse to say it and it was definitely too soft for Miles, so I gave it to Winnie. Xx.