Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Thank you for waiting. After posting the last chapter, I went to work on writing this chapter. It took me a while to getting around to typing it.

I am very pleased that this story has gotten over 3,000 views! It makes me happy. And thank you to Fan Fiction015 for the favorite, glad you're enjoying the story. October of this year was the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Tuck Everlasting film, so, therefore happy belated anniversary.

Read on and enjoy!

Tuck Everlasting doesn't belong to me, I only own my OC.

Chapter 12

After Rosalie's departure with the Tucks; Winnie returned to the Foster home. The next morning her parents were shocked to find Rosalie missing. They questioned Winnie of her cousin's whereabouts and Winnie simply told them that Rosalie ran away and never came back (just as Rosalie instructed her to do). Robert sent the authorities into town to search for his niece, but alas Rosalie never turned up. All the while, Winnie hoped and prayed the Tucks and Rosalie were long gone from Treegap, away from the authorities.

That night, Winnie appeared in the hallway outside her grandmother's room; watching a doctor.

"She's going fast but you can have a couple of minutes with her." The doctor informed Mrs. Foster.

Winnie's mother goes to the bed.

"How are you?" She asks her own mother.

Winnie watched Mrs. Foster pull back the covers and crawled into bed, lying next to the elderly woman. She lays on her head on the woman's chest.

Winnie could hear labored breathing. Witnessing this made the 15-year-old think about the lessons from the Tucks on life and death.

Soon after, Winnie's grandmother passed away. The Foster clan stood in the cemetery, dressed in black and listened to the pastor.

"…and to Almighty God, we commend the soul of our sister and we commit her body to the ground. Earth to Earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…"

Each family member wore a solemn expression. Winnie stood next to her mother. She glances at the Foster matriarch, who stared ahead with a somber look.

"At whose coming in glorious Majesty to judge the World, the Earth and the Sea shall give up their Dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious Body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself." The pastor continued.

After the funeral, Winnie goes to her mother who's standing at the fence.

"Mother?" She asks.

"I was just wondering what is it about these woods you and Rosalie loved so much." Mrs. Foster responded. She faced her only daughter.

"Mother, are you alright?" Winnie asked, a bit concerned.

Mrs. Foster doesn't answer, however, her face looked like she was about to cry.

Both women sniffle.

"I'm going to miss her too," said Winnie. "Even Rosalie,"

"Oh…every time I look at you, you're different." Mrs. Foster admitted. "I'm losing you, too. I've already lost Rosalie."

Winnie wept, as Mrs. Foster held her chin.

"I'm right here," She pointed out, at the same time understanding where her mother came from.

The two hugged each other, with Mrs. Foster kissing Winnie's cheek.

"Forgive me, Winnie." Mrs. Foster said. "I just wanted to keep you my little girl forever." She wept.

One afternoon, Winnie went into the woods and found herself at the spring where she and Rosalie had met Jesse and Miles. That day seemed like so long ago. The water trickles as Winnie scooped up the water and poured it back in. She contemplated on whether she should drink the water. On one hand, she'd be with Jesse and Rosalie again; on the other hand…after seeing her grandmother tragically pass away, Winnie is uncertain if being immortal is even worth it.

As Winnie sat there, she heard voices: first Jesse's Rosalie's and Angus's.

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

Winnie smiles, thinking about Jesse. With water in the palm of her hand, she dumps it back in.

"I want to thank you for being there for me, through thick and thin, after losing my mother and father. And for being like a sister to me. I will always be your cousin and forever grateful to you." Rosalie said.

Winnie smiled sadly at the thought of her cousin.

"What we Tucks have, you can't call it living." Angus said. "We just…are. We're like rocks stuck at the side of a stream."

Winnie smiles a bit. Angus couldn't have said it better, himself. Pondering it over, she then decided not to drink the water…rather take Angus's advice and not fear death.

The first week of August was long over. And now, though autumn was still some weeks away, there was a feeling that the year had begun its downward arc, that the wheel was turning once more in its changeless sweep of change. Standing at the fence, Winnie could hear the new note in the voices of the birds. Whole clouds of them, lifted, chattering, into the sky above the wood, and then settled, only to lift again. Across the road, goldenrod was coming into bloom. And an early-drying milkweed had opened its rough pod, exposing a host of downy-headed seeds. As she watched, one of these detached itself into a sudden breeze and sailed sedately, while others leaned from the pod as if to observe its departure.

Two weeks had passed since that fateful night-the night of the storm, Mae Tuck's escape and Rosalie's departure. There was no trace of Mae, or of Angus, or Miles or Jesse or Rosalie. Winnie was very grateful for that. Yet, she was tired. For it had been a trying two weeks. Since that incident, other children wandered by to look at her, to talk to her through the fence. They were impressed by what she had done. In their eyes, Winnie was a figure of romance to them now. All before, she was considered too neat, too prissy; almost too clean to be a real friend.

One day, two things occurred. First, a toad appeared out of the weeds, on her side of the road. It bounced out of a cover of old dandelion leaves and landed-plop! -just beyond the fence. Had she reached her hand through the bars, she might've touched it. Second, a large brown dog, with easy gait and dangling tongue, came loping down the road toward them. He stopped opposite the fence and looked at Winnie with a friendly swish of his tail, and then he saw the toad. Immediately, he began to bark, his eyes bright. He pranced up, his hind quarters leaping independently from side to side, nose close to the toad, his voice shrill with enthusiasm.

"Don't!" Winnie screamed, leaping to her feet and flapping her arms. "Go away, dog! Stop that! Go away-shoo!"

The dog paused for a moment. He looked up at Winnie's frantic movements and then at the toad, who had pressed down close to the dirt, eyes shut tight. The chaos was too much for him. The dog resumed barking and stretched out a long paw.

"Oh!" Winnie cried. "Oh-don't do that! Leave my toad alone!" And before she knew it; she bent, reached through the fence, picked the toad up and away from harm, and snatched up the toad out of harm's way, dropping it on the grass inside the fence.

The feeling of revulsion came over her. As the dog whined and pawed uselessly at the fence; the teen stood still, staring at the toad, wiping her hand again and again on the skirt of her dress. Remembering the actual touch of the toad, the revulsion went away. She knelt and touched the amphibian's skin of its back. It was rough and soft, all at once. And cool.

Winnie stood up and looked at the dog. He was waiting outside the fence, his head on one side, peered at her longingly.

"It's my toad," Winnie insisted. "So, you'd better leave it alone."

Quickly, Winnie ran into the house, up to her room, to the drawer where it contained a bottle of spring water. At the last minute, Winnie filled the bottle with water, in case she changed her mind. She returned to the fence. Winnie pulled the cork out from the bottle and kneeled, pouring the liquid slowly and carefully, over the toad.

The canine watched and yawned, feeling rather bored. He turned and left, headed for the village.

Winnie picks up the toad and held it, without any feeling of disgust, in the palm of her hand. It just sat there, blinking and the water glistened on its back.

The small bottle lied on the grass at Winnie's feet, completely empty. Winnie smiles. Then she stooped down and put her hand through the fence, releasing the toad.

"There!" Winnie said. "You're safe. Forever."

A week later, the Fosters packed up and left Tree gap, going on vacation. Winnie didn't know what her journey will be like ahead…but all she knew is that it would be something that's of her own choosing.

A/N: I hoped you liked it!

For this chapter, I used elements from the film and book.

Up next, there'll be a wedding scene with Miles & Rosalie and after that is the epilogue. This story is winding down a bit…the end is near.

I'll try to work on the next chapter, I'm preparing for a move. So until then, see you next time! Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow. And no flames please!