Lena found herself in Winnie's parlor not long after they were back home with the rest of Winnie's family and the Treegap judge. Both girls were silent.

"We just want to understand what happened," Winnie's father said tenderly. "Girls, try, please."

Lena and Winnie made eye contact. Lena sighed and gave her a small nod. Winnie turned back to her family. "They didn't kidnap us. We were with them because we wanted to be."

Winnie's mother snapped her fan shut. "She doesn't know what she's saying."

"The Tucks were kind to us. They're our friends."

"If they didn't kidnap you, why on earth did that woman club that man over the head with a shotgun?" her father demanded.

"Because Mae Tuck was protecting me."

"That man had a gun to Winnie's head!" Lena put in. "Mae saved her life!"

"Doesn't matter anyway," the judge said. "That fella died. It's a murder charge now. I didn't much like the man, but that won't stop that poor woman from hanging. Misses are eyewitnesses. They'll have to testify."

Winnie's mother looked about ready to faint as she left the room.

The judge looked at Lena and took something out of his pocket. "That man wanted me to give you something. Wouldn't take no for an answer."

Lena gasped as he handed her the little wooden fish Angus and Miles had helped her carve.

While her father escorted the judge out, Winnie and Lena went up to Winnie's room.

Winnie sat on her bed, lost in thought. Lena sat next to her and took her hand. "I miss them too."

The two girls embraced for a long time and refused to let go.

When Lena left, she journeyed back into the woods and found the same spring from what seemed like centuries ago. Memories flooded back to her all at once from when they first met Jesse to when Miles kidnapped them. She couldn't help but smile as she remembered that she now had feelings for someone she used to hate.

Lena went up to the water and put some of it in a small vial. Truth be told, she was contemplating taking it, but it was a big decision and she needed some time.

For now, she had to face the tasks set for her at hand and that included making sure Winnie wasn't alone throughout all of this.

That night, Lena was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling. A huge storm was starting up outside that made her uneasy.

"Lena!" she heard a familiar voice call out in a whisper.

She turned her head to find Miles at her window. "Miles!" she exclaimed quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're in trouble. If Mae goes to the gallows, she won't die. Everyone will discover our secret. We need to get them out of there. Jesse's getting Winnie right now. I'll explain the plan on the way there."

Lena nodded. "I'll be right out." Miles disappeared and Lena threw on a nearly translucent cover over top of her white nightgown. Then she grabbed the vial of the spring water she had gotten earlier and tucked it into the pocket.

Quietly, she nimbly went down the stairs without waking anyone, and slipped outside. Miles explained to her what he and Jesse were going to do and what Winnie and Lena would do. They all met up not far from the sheriff's station.

"You know what to do?" Miles asked the both of them. Both girls nodded and got ready. Miles and Jesse put on the clothes they wore when they traveled in addition to the swords they owned.

"Let's do this," Lena said to Winnie.

The two girls turned and bolted into the sheriff's station. They began banging on the door to where the night guard was, yelling and crying together.

When the night guard finally opened the door, the two girls bolted inside. "Help us! You have to stop them! They're after us!" Winnie cried.

"Miss F—Miss Fo—Who's after you two?" the night guard asked sleepily.

"The people who kidnapped us! They're going to take us away again! Our parents couldn't stop them! They're right outside!"

"Don't let them take us away again!" Lena pleaded. "Please!"

"You have to stop them! They'll kill us if they find us!" The night guard grabbed his gun. "Please, they're going to kill us, please!"

"Stay right there!" he ordered. "I'll handle this."

He left and the two girls smiled at each other broadly. "Help!" Winnie called out with a smile.

Lena looked at her friend. "You get Mae and Angus and I'll go keep watch."

"You got it!"

Lena went to the door and stood behind the night guard to watch what happened. She had to admit that both of the boys looked pretty intimidating dressed in such dark clothes in the middle of a storm with their swords out.

"Come out and meet your doom!" Jesse screamed. "Hell is upon you!"

Lena couldn't help but roll her eyes at his extremely overdramatic words.

"Stop right there!" the night guard said. The boys continued to approach him in a dramatic fashion. "You're under arrest! Stay back, now! I'll shoot!"

He took his shotgun and shot Jesse twice. Miles opened up his jacket in an invitation. The night guard took it and shot Miles twice as well. Lena couldn't help but wince as the bullets came in contact with him. The two boys lay motionless on the ground for a few seconds before they stood up without a scratch. The night guard took one look at them and ran off.

"And he's supposed to be the brave one," Lena mumbled. Angus, Mae, and Winnie ran up behind her. "The coast is clear," she told them.

Miles got the horses and the cart and they all prepared to leave.

"My dear, sweet Winnie and Lena," Mae said as she hugged the girls. "What I wouldn't do to keep both of you. I wish you were ours for Jesse and Miles. For all of us."

"You have to hurry and get away from here," Winnie said with tears in her eyes.

"Winnie!" Jesse said as he ran up to her. "Winnie, come with me. There's nothing for you here. We can be together forever."

"If she comes with us, they'll hunt us down," Angus insisted. "They'll never stop looking."

"Tuck is right," Winnie told him. "If I go with you, it'll be too dangerous for all of you."

Jesse looked at her with tears in his eyes. "I can't go without you."

Winnie tearfully kissed him and hugged him. "You have to."

"Go back to the spring. Drink from it. When it's safe, I'll come back for you."

"Will you?"

"I have to show you the Eiffel Tower, don't I?"

"1,652 steps to the top."

"Winnie, until we're together again…wake up with the dawn."

"I will."

Lena looked over at Miles and Angus and Mae. After all of the events that had taken place, she knew that she could never be apart from any of them. Not when she had learned what it felt like to be loved after sixteen years.

She took Winnie's hands in her own. "Winnie," she said softly. "You'll always be my best friend. You know that. But I can't stay here."

At those words all of the Tucks looked at her intently. Tears began rolling down Lena's cheeks.

"I've finally felt what it's like to have a family. I can't lose that now. I can't just go back to the way I was living. With parents who don't even want me."

"Are you saying you want to come with us?" Angus asked her.

Lena nodded. "My parents want me gone anyway. I'll be doing them a favor in the end if I go with you."

"Lena," Mae said. "If you come with us, you can't come back for many, many years. You know that right?"

"Yes. And not being able to see Winnie will hurt me, but how can I stay when…I'm in love?"

Miles's head whipped over to her and he immediately dismounted from his horse and went over to her. "You love me?"

"So much."

"I love you too."

Lena turned back to Winnie, feeling her heart beating faster in her chest at hearing the words she had longed to hear ever since she could remember. "I told you at the beginning of the summer that when it comes to love, you just know. And right now, I know. Winnie, he's lost the woman he loves once. I can't put him through that again. I want to be with him forever." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial.

"Is that water from the spring?" Miles asked her.

Lena nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Lena," Angus said warningly. "If you drink that water, you have to make sure you know the consequences of that decision."

"I would rather spend every second of every day with you all than stay here with a family who doesn't even want me. I know what I'm doing. I've thought long and hard about it. I want to stay with you forever."

She put the vial to her lips and sipped the water. It tasted unlike anything she had ever put in her mouth before. It was incredible and she could almost feel its powers course through her body.

"Winnie," she said, taking the girl's hands again. "You have been the sister to me that I always wanted. You were there for me when I needed someone and I can never thank you enough for that. I will always love you."

The two girls shared a tight and tearful embrace.

"Come on," Miles said softly. "We gotta get out of here now."

"Good-bye," Lena whispered.

"Bye," Winnie whispered back.

They held hands as long as they possibly could before the space between them was too much and their hands slipped away from each other. She felt multiple tears slide down her cheeks as she mounted Miles's horse and sat in front of him.

"Winnie Foster!" she heard Jesse call out as the cart took off. "I will love you 'til the day I die!"

While Lena could not have been more heartbroken about leaving Winnie, the girl she loved more than anything, she was grateful that she could be with the Tucks, people who loved her for who she was, literally forever.