Author's note: Hello, dreamers! So, first off, since the next movie I'm doing is on the darker and more serious side, I wanted it to be a character development arc for just one character instead of a big group chapter. It'll be about Esperanza learning that even she, the great Esperanza, isn't invincible. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and of course, All Dogs go to Heaven are my two inspirations for this one. I had initially decided to do only All Dogs go to Heaven, but I got inspired to do a sort of, 'hybrid mission' between the two, since I recently saw Puss In Boots, and loved it. And, one more little fun fact before I go. Even though this is set almost a decade before Puss in Boots 2 came out, the reason I'm doing it is that all of these movies exist in the same universe, and can be visited whenever you want, basically. In the original version of this story, it was actually forbidden to travel or associate with a future movie, because it could endanger the flow of time. So, anyway, I'd like to compare this chapter to The Astral Maiden's Love, because It'll be a little bit darker and edgier than the others. So, with all of that out of the way, enjoy!

Characters Introduced (Or First Mentioned)

Carface Carruthers (All Dogs go to Heaven)

Annabelle (All Dogs go to Heaven)

Charlie Barkin (All Dogs go to Heaven)

Puss In Boots (Puss In Boots: The Last Wish)

Death (Puss In Boots: The Last Wish)

Jack Horner (Puss In Boots: The Last Wish)

Tracklist for this chapter:

Disclaimer! Any characters, ideas, locations, or stories that aren't my OCs or part of my personal ideas aren't mine and I do not claim to own them.

September 2013

Nightdreamers were attacking! Carface and Jack Horner were their names, and they had tried to steal Etherian artifacts! Esperanza had managed to successfully get them back, and she was now chasing them in her pink car down a highway, trying to stop them from getting away with their crime.

"Stop, in the name of Queen Esperanza of Agadoria!" Esperanza said, with her head stuck out of the car window. This was her first solo mission, and it was going pretty well.

"Or what? We ain't stoppin for nobody!" Carface said back.

"Or I'll use my ultimate attack on you!" Esperanza wasn't playing!

But, Jack Horner however was more logical. "But you can't hurt us, because your beloved Princess hasn't turned us good yet!" He did have a point...

He's right, how can I catch these two without hurting them? Esperanza asked herself. She had decided to let them get away, and deal with them later. At least the artifacts were safe.

"Alright, you guys win this time, but I'll be back to deal with you later!" Esperanza said.

The two villains created the portal home against an upcoming brick wall, honestly not knowing what would happen next. They went through the portal and closed it. Esperanza, however, was going too fast to react. Her eyes widened, and...

She collided with the wall. Her vision went dark, and she heard a ringing in her ears. When she came to, she managed to open the crushed door and squeeze her way out. She surveyed the damage done to her car.

"Nothing a little magic couldn't fix!" Esperanza said, lighting up her hand with magic.

"Stop right there, please." Someone behind her said. She turned, and there was a beautiful woman, with long pink hair with a bow, wearing a long pink dress.

Esperanza turned around. "Yes?" She asked.

"You don't need to repair that car." The mysterious woman said.

Esperanza didn't understand what she meant. "Oh, you'll do it? Thanks, but I don't need the help."

The woman shook her head. "You don't need to repair it, because you won't be riding in it anymore." She pointed inside the car, on the driver's side, which Esperanza hadn't noticed yet. She looked in the car.

In it was her body, covered in blood and glass.

Esperanza's eyes widened, and she started shaking. She stiffly backed away. "W-what's going on? Is this some kind of trick?" Esperanza said, pointing to her body.

"Queen Esperanza, try to stay calm. I am here to tell you..." The woman looked down quizzically. "Oh, dear, what would be the best way to tell you this?" She looked Esperanza straight in the eye. "Esperanza. You didn't make it." The woman said that without a hint of irony, sarcasm, or comedy in her voice.

Esperanza's eyes widened. Then she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, but I can't be dead! The Author made me not able to die!" Esperanza said.

"Well, not quite. You see, last Christmas, just before you arrived here from your timeline, The Author, regretful about creating you not being able to die and reunite with non-immortals in the afterlife, gave all Author incarnations mortality from that point on. I'm sorry, Esperanza. From that point on, you were no longer capable of living through extreme disasters like you were used to." The woman said.

Esperanza looked like all the wind had been knocked out of her. "B-but... I-if I'm dead, who will protect the Multiverse from The Dreams?" Esperanza asked.

You will protect them... That voice... Esperanza knew that voice.

"A-Author? Is that you?" Esperanza asked.

Yes, it is I. The Author replied back.

"What do you mean, 'I will protect them'? How can I protect them if I'm dead?" Esperanza asked.

Because I will grant you one last chance. One last chance to live. One last chance to live life to the fullest. And, one last chance to help save your family, and the rest of the Multiverse. The Author said.

"I-I can go back? I can go back and live again? Has anyone ever even done that before?" Esperanza asked.

"We have." Charlie Barkin said. He and Puss In Boots approached Esperanza.

Puss took his hat off and looked up at Esperanza. "I was very, very, very careless with the 9 lives I was given. I recklessly wasted them, until only one was left. I took for granted how lucky I was because many people have only one life. I was given 9, and I wasted all but one. But, I've chosen to live that one last life with the people I love. Not even death himself could take that life away from me."

Charlie came forward. "Me? First of all, I was murdered. I didn't squander my lives, or anything, (Cats are lucky, dogs only get one life!) Carface killed me! I mean, I'd done some shady things, too, but he didn't need to go that far! Actually, Esperanza, your 'death and return' and mine are kinda similar! Having to do with a car and all!

"You see? Some people need a second chance." The woman said.

"Thank you for giving me another chance to go home," Esperanza said. But she just couldn't shake the feeling that she had heard the woman's voice before... "Annabelle? I-I remember you! Spring 2013 in The Author's timeline, remember? But, I thought you were a whippet?" Esperanza said.

"There's something you don't know about me. I'm the head of dog heaven, and the fictional character heaven, also. I'm originally a whippet, but I take the form of a human usually when I'm talking to a human. But, since it's most of the time harrowing for a human to accept their death and cross over, sometimes I assume my dog form as an emotional support animal." Annabelle said.

"Wow! Now that I remember you, The Dreams will get a little weaker!" Esperanza said.

"Are you ready to go home?" Annabelle said. The Author had, for a limited time, granted Annabelle the power to send Esperanza home.

"Yes, yes I am," Esperanza said, with a new outlook on life, and death.

Annabelle took Esperanza's hand, using her powers to give life back to her. Esperanza's vision went dark. When she opened her eyes, she was laying in the car, which had been repaired! She looked at herself. She wasn't hurt! The blood and cuts from the glass had vanished! She also noticed Paragon Essence in the car! Esperanza collected the essence, then started the car and started on the drive back to Haventown. She made sure to drive slowly and safely this time!

Author's note: I think I'm gonna raise the rating from K+ to T because of this chapter. My books are weird in the rating department, because they usually start off K+, then by the middle rise to T. Also, just so you know, I'm doing one Don Bluth movie a book, not in the order of release, but in the order that I saw them as a kid. I literally remember being like, 2, and watching Land Before Time in the living room on HBO Kids or something, good times! (I probably wouldn't have been allowed to watch it that young if my parents knew about the scary and sad scenes, they probably were just flipping through channels and saw cute dinos doing cute things!) And, now that I re-watched it as an adult, All Dogs go to Heaven literally has NO CHILL! (Even though it's one of my all-time favorites!) I know some parents don't like their kids watching darker movies as younger kids, but I think it's fun to watch them as a kid and think like, 'haha, cute doggies,' then re-watch them once you grow up, and be like WHAT EVEN WAS THIS MOVIE? I like movies like that because it makes your favorite childhood movies hold up better because if you watch it once every few years growing up, you pick up more jokes or references you didn't get before after every re-watch, and then as an adult, you like, know every secret about the movie. But, there are some over-safe, over-kid-friendly movies that are like a reverse of what I just said. You watch it as a kid and think it's so profound and meaningful, then you re-watch it, and then you're like, 'ok, I take back what I said.' :P As for An American Tail, I couldn't really pinpoint exactly when I watched it, so I just put it in the next book. P.S I'm so glad I wasn't shown The Hunchback of Notre Dame (The Disney version) as a very young kid, because I probably would've been like, 'ha, funny gargoyles!', and belting out Hellfire without knowing what any of it meant, then watched it as a teen or adult, and being totally horrified! I finally watched it about 3 years ago, and I was like, 'yeah, I think it's good I didn't watch this as a kid'! Anyway, the next chapter will focus more on Lilith, and how she's been doing! So, leave a review if you liked it, and I'll see you later! Stay lucid!