Gabrielle - After Happy Ever After

Danielle yawned. She was tired. Big meals always made her tired. She hadn’t been too keen on the idea of sleeping in the middle of a bunch of wolves when she had first thought about it, but now she didn’t really mind. Like Wolf had said, wolves were people. They just weren’t humans.

Danielle wondered what had been in that drink they had given her. She thought it had tasted kind of like wine. Danielle didn’t like alcohol. She especially hated beer. But whatever they had given her had tasted so good, she couldn’t stop drinking it. And now she was feeling a little weird. Her vision was a little fuzzy and her brain didn’t want to work.

Danielle got to her feet and stumbled over to where Wolf sat. She tripped and almost fell on her face. Wolf caught her and helped her to sit down. He frowned at her.

“Are you okay, Danielle?” he asked.

“Sure,” Danielle nodded, smiling. “I’m a funny drunk, just like Giles.”

Wolf looked at his sister, then back at Danielle with concern. “How many cups did you drink, Danielle?” Wolf asked.

Danielle hiccuped and covered her mouth in surprise. Then she smiled and held up three fingers. “Five,” she said.

“Cripes,” Wolf said, rising to his feet. “I think you had better lie down. You are really going to hate the morning.” Wolf led Danielle over to a soft spot on the ground and set her down.

Danielle just looked at him. “Can I pull your tail?” she asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Wolf said, a little surprised at her. “I think you should go to sleep.”

“But I don’t wanna sleep. I wanna…sing!” Danielle said, her eyes lighting up. “Any requests? No. Okay. How about Lucky Dollar, Private Eye?

“If you ever need a private eye
You can bet that Lucky Dollar’s your man!”

Danielle started singing shakily the theme song from a play she had been in when she was younger. She hadn’t even known she remembered the words.

“Shush,” Wolf said quickly. “No more singing.” He looked around to see that some of the wolves were looking over there with weird expressions. Others were pointedly ignoring Danielle.

“Shhh. Hospital zone, no singing!” Danielle quoted the line from an episode of Buffy.

“Yes, yes,” Wolf agreed. Anything to get her quiet. “No singing.”

“Are you sure? It’s a really catchy tune,” Danielle said, sitting up.

“Positive,” Wolf agreed, pushing her back down.

“Only fools are positive!” Danielle said immediately and she wasn’t able to remember where she had heard that. “I’ve got another song!

“Fighting evil by moonlight.
They’re all in for a real fight!
She is the one called Sailor Moon.”

“Danielle! You will go to sleep now,” Wolf said, and he flashed his eyes at her.

“Mmmm. Okay. I guess I’ll go to sleep. But I sing in my sleep, too. Ivy says so,” Danielle warned, but broke into a big yawn.

“That’s okay. Just go to sleep,” Wolf said and before he could say another word, Danielle was out like a light. “Well huff-puff, that was interesting. I must remember not to let her drink any more moon juice.”

Wolf retreated to the fire where his sister sat watching him. She smiled. “You have quite a strange little friend,” she said.

“Very strange,” Wolf agreed.

“So those self-help books really worked, did they?” Fiona asked with interest.

“Oh, yes. I did marry the girl of my dreams, didn’t I? And I do believe that I know how to help a child with bed-wetting problems now, too,” Wolf said.

Danielle felt herself falling, the way you do when you fall asleep. She sank into darkness. Then, she hit the ground with a thud. That wasn’t normal routine. Danielle opened her eyes and looked around. She was sitting on the ground. She must have tripped on something. She was on a path, walking. A young man ran back to her and gave her a hand up.

“Are you all right, Ivy?” he asked.

Ivy? I’m not Ivy, Danielle thought in confusion. “Yes, I’m fine. Just clumsy,” Danielle felt herself say. What was going on?

“That’s good,” the man said, smiling at her.

“Stop looking so smug, Mr. Wolves Always Watch Where They’re Going,” Danielle heard from herself.

“You are never gonna let me forget that are you?” he asked with a sigh.

There was no reply. Danielle sensed something. Like someone noticing something that wasn’t right.

“Ivy?” the man guy asked, worried now.

Suddenly, Danielle wasn’t there anymore. She was sitting in a clearing surrounded by fairies. They were watching her expectantly, but she didn’t know who they were or what they wanted. Just as suddenly, Danielle left that place, too. Now she was sitting on a bank. Three big sleeping forms were nearby. She heard a ribbit from herself. She sensed sadness, confusion, anger, fear. The feelings made her want to comfort whoever owned them because she was pretty sure it wasn’t her. Then Danielle was in complete darkness again. She was lying on her back. She sat up, but she couldn’t see anything, not even her hand in front of her face.

A light flicked on and it was so bright reflecting off pure white walls that Danielle was blinded. She shielded her eyes with her arm and waited for them to adjust.

“You have so much to learn,” a voice said.

“Who’s there?” Danielle demanded, getting to her feet. Her eyes finally adjusted enough for her to see. In front of her stood a beautiful woman with pure black hair and fair skin. Danielle had a strong suspicion.

“I am Snow White, child,” the woman said, confirming Danielle’s suspicions.

“What…? What’s going on? What happened?” Danielle blurted.

“You don’t really believe yet. But you will. You have to believe,” Snow White said, stepping closer to her. “Or you will die.”

Danielle sunk to the floor, her legs no longer strong enough to hold her up. Snow White sat gracefully down next to her. She smiled reassuringly. “You are lost, too. Virginia was supposed to help you. You and Ivy. But it hasn’t worked out that way. So I have stepped in.”

“But what…? How?” Danielle asked, unable to find any words. “Why me? Does Ivy know all this?”

“Because you and your friend are the only ones in your world who wanted this. The only ones who really, truly wanted it. And the only ones who had the promise to succeed. Everyone has a moment in their life that decides their destiny. This is yours,” Snow White said.

“But…” Danielle began again.

“No. No more buts. I will tell you what I told Virginia. Don’t think, become. You must learn to forget your doubts and fears and do what is needed, to trust that you can.”

“What happened just now, though? Where am I?” Danielle asked.

“Oh,” Snow White smiled, “You visited your friends. I believe Ivy was first, then Virginia, and then my grandson, Wendell.”

“Your grandson?” Danielle asked in surprise.

“Why yes. I am dead, you see. I have been for quite some time,” Snow White explained. “But that’s not important. You must rest now. Go to sleep, Danielle. Go to sleep.” Snow White waved her hand in front of Danielle’s face and she dropped back into the blackness of sleep.

Faolan called a halt. He knew that Randal was tired and Ivy was too, although he doubted she would admit it. He himself wasn’t impartial to stopping. They had walked for quite some time now. “We’ve gone far enough. Let’s get some sleep while we still can,” he said.

“Okay,” Ivy agreed all too readily. She took two steps off to the side and sunk to the ground. She curled up in a ball and used her backpack as a pillow again. Randal wasn’t far behind. He was asleep before he hit the ground.

Faolan smiled at both of them and went over to sit by Ivy. If she wasn’t asleep already, she was almost there. Faolan reached over her to brush her hair back behind her ear. She muttered something and shifted, then was still again. Faolan sighed and scooted an okay distance from her before laying down. He had to tell her eventually. She had to know how he felt. But Faolan had no idea how he was going to tell her. He sighed again. They could deal with evil witches first and if they even survived that he would worry about it then.

Ivy didn’t go through the little journey Danielle had. She went directly to the white room. She got up and looked around.

“Hello, Ivy.”

Ivy spun around to see Snow White standing behind her. Ivy’s mouth dropped open as she realized who it must be. “You’re…” she said.

Snow White smiled and nodded. “Snow White. Yes,” she agreed. “I have much to tell you.” Snow White repeated her message almost word for word to Ivy. She paused for a moment. “You’re even more lost than Danielle, you know. You’re almost as lost as Virginia was,” Snow White said softly.

Ivy looked at Snow White in shock. “How…?” she asked.

“I’m not really alive anymore, Ivy. I’m more like a fairy godmother for lost girls now,“ Snow White said. She smiled softly. “It seems these half-wolves are good at showing you the path.”

“What?” Ivy asked, confused.

Snow White shook her head, dismissing it. “Listen to your heart, not your head,” Snow White instructed. “Believe in yourself and your friends. You must stay together or you will fail. Each of you has a role in this. And yours and Danielle’s are very important ones.”

“Okay,” Ivy nodded, accepting Snow White’s words without knowing why she did. “I understand.”

“Not yet. But you will. Sleep now,” Snow White said and dismissed Ivy the same as she had Danielle.

When Ivy woke up, she saw the items that were in her backpack spread out on the ground. She propped herself up on her elbow to see Faolan sitting in the middle of it all. He had her CD player in his lap and was mouthing the words to one of the songs. He had the volume very low so Ivy couldn’t hear what song it was.

“Good song?” she asked with amusement.

Faolan jumped and hid the CD player behind him as he turned to face her. “Sorry,” he said tucking the CD player back into her backpack when he thought she was distracted. “I just got curious.”

“I see,” Ivy said, smiling. “Find anything interesting?” She sat up and before he could answer she snatched her backpack and jerked it over. He tried to pull it away from her, but she already had the CD player. She flipped it open to look at the CD. “John Michael Montgomery, huh? Can I make a guess to what song you were listening to?” Ivy asked.

Faolan looked terribly embarrassed. He just stared at her hopelessly.

“Tell me it wasn’t I Can Love You Like That,” Ivy said with a frown.

“Well, that was one of the songs. I’ve been awake for more than an hour,” Faolan admitted.

“What else did you listen to?” Ivy demanded.

“A woman named Faith Hill, a lady named Lila McCann, a Sherrie Austin, a Shania Twain…”

“Enough! I get the picture. I’d really like to know which songs, but I’m not gonna ask,” Ivy said with a small shake of her head.

Faolan was silent as if ashamed. When he saw that Ivy wasn’t going to say anymore, he hesitantly spoke up. “You have a book about wolves.”

“So?” Ivy said a little too defensively.

“Do you believe what the book says?” Faolan asked and Ivy was shocked to hear bitterness in his voice.

“What does the book say?” Ivy asked.

“That wolves mating for life is just a myth and that they are vicious creatures who should not be approached,” Faolan recited.

“They weren’t talking about you, Faolan,” Ivy said quietly.

“No?” Faolan asked angrily. He bared his teeth and his eyes glowed. He growled. “How can you be sure? Have you ever been around a wolf during the full moon? Do you know what we can do?” he demanded.

Ivy jumped to her feet, suddenly very uncomfortable with being that close to him. Faolan followed her and grabbed her forearms so she couldn't move.

“You don’t know,” he said in a low voice.

“Stop it!” Ivy demanded, struggling to get out of his grip. “Let me go!”

Faolan spun away from her, letting her go. “See,” he said coldly. “You’re afraid of me.”

“I am not afraid of you,” Ivy said firmly. “Now stop this. Why are you acting like this?”

Faolan pounded on a nearby tree in frustration. “I don’t know. I don’t know! It’s not even a full moon yet,” he said.

Ivy remembered Snow White’s words about sticking together. And about listening to her heart. Ivy took a deep breath and tried to do what Snow White had told her. Ivy put a hand on Faolan’s arm. He didn’t move. “It’s okay, Faolan. No, I don’t believe the book. And I don’t know why you are acting this way, but I want to help you if I can. I need your help if I’m going to even make it to that castle and I…” Ivy broke off and looked at him.

Faolan sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s all right. Come on. Let’s wake Randal and get going. Actually, you wake Randal and I’ll get my stuff,” Ivy said.

Faolan did as she told him and woke up his little brother who seemed rather grumpy himself. Ivy wondered what was wrong with them.

Breena froze so suddenly in her flight that she almost fell to the ground. Very unfairy-like. Breena sensed something from her home. From the other forest fairies. It was part of fairy magic that they could sense some things about their fellow fairies, especially ones from their own group. Something very exciting was happening to them. Breena landed and closed her eyes, trying to figure out what could cause such excitement.

“Oh, no!” Breena cried, her eyes popping open. “They can’t do that!”

The forest fairies had found the Lady Virginia and taken her to the clearing. As a rule, the forest fairies were usually good fairies. They answered wishes and so forth. But they could be very mischievous, too. That’s why travelers tended to avoid them and never followed them off the path.

Breena looked around wildly. Danielle was sound asleep, singing softly under her breath. Wolf was still awake talking to his sister. She couldn’t tell Wolf about this! He would kill her! But she couldn’t let her friends do what she knew they were going to. Breena made a quick decision and zapped herself as close to the Fairy Forest as she could. Then, she used the last of her energy to do another zap and get her all the way. That second zap took so much out of her she could barely fly. But she had to stop her friends.

“Stop!” Breena yelled. “Trinity! Everyone, stop right now!”

Breena didn’t know if they could hear her. She couldn’t hear them. But she knew they had to be close by. She had to find them before it was too late for the Lady Virginia.

Virginia couldn’t stand it anymore. What did the stupid fairies want?! She opened her mouth to ask them when she heard harp music. Where was it coming from? It sure was pretty though. Kind of like those New Age tapes that you can always find in stores with those little example tracks playing.

Virginia yawned. The music was lulling her to sleep. It was nighttime. And she was so tired. Maybe she could take a little nap. Virginia stretched out on the rock in the middle of the clearing. It was just the right shape for her to lay down on, almost as if it was made for her. She could vaguely hear the fairies giggling. Then, she fell asleep.

Wolf yawned. He was tired, but he didn’t want to go to sleep. He wanted to spend all the time he had here with his sister. He had to go on in the morning to look for Virginia, but when this whole thing was over, he would come back and they could finish catching up on all the years they had been missing from each other.

“I always knew you’d make a great mom, Fiona,” Wolf said, watching as Fiona rocked little baby Warren in her arms and sung him a lullaby. Wolf knew that tune. He closed his eyes and sang along.

“Shepherdess is such a mess.
But little lambs are lovely.
The moon looks on as you sleep.
Don’t cry, little wolfie,” they both sang.

Fiona looked over at Wolf and smiled. Wolf opened his eyes and saw her smiling and smiled back shakily. “Mom always sang that song. But I could never remember the last two lines,” Wolf said with a sheepish grin. “I could never get past the lamb part.”

“You always did have food on the brain,” Fiona said.

Wolf grinned at that and wanted to reply that he had Virginia on the brain with food now, but he didn’t get the chance. One moment he was sitting with his sister and the next…

“Cripes! Where am I?” Wolf asked, getting up off the forest floor.

“Wolf? Wolf!” Fiona cried, jumping to her feet. Wolves all around started awake and looked at her. Dolphus ran over to her quickly. Fiona ignored them and ran over to Danielle. She shook her heavily with one hand while holding the baby in her other arm. Danielle groaned and rubbed her eyes.

“What?” she asked grumpily, squinting at her.

“Wolf disappeared!” Fiona cried.

Danielle sat straight up. “What?”

“Wolf! He’s gone! You have to find him!” Fiona said.

“Me?” Danielle asked, but got to her feet anyway. “Breena! Where’s that stupid fairy when I need her? Breena!” There was no answer. Danielle turned to Fiona in exasperation. “You have any idea where he’s gone?” she asked.

Fiona shook her head. Danielle sighed.

“Great,” she said, trying to think. “It must have been that witch. Which means I had better hurry and get to that castle. Does that path lead to Wendell’s castle?”

Fiona nodded.

Danielle turned and headed towards the path, but Fiona caught her arm. “Wait. Take some supplies with you,” she said, hurrying to gather together some for her. Fiona handed Danielle a waterskin and some left-overs from the dinner. Danielle took them and started for the path.

“No, not that way. Here, I’ll lead you,” Dolphus said, pointing her in the right direction.

Danielle nodded her thanks. She turned quickly back to Fiona before following Dolphus. “Don’t worry. I’ll find him,” she said solemnly.

Fiona nodded, but she looked scared and worried. Danielle mentally shrugged. The best thing she could do was hurry and get to the castle.

Breena felt Danielle calling her, but she knew that she couldn’t have gotten back to her just now even if she had wanted to. She just didn’t have the energy for a zap. And she was approaching the clearing at the moment anyway. Maybe she would be in time to stop Virginia from falling asleep. For there was more magic in the clearing than just the fairies’; the forest in itself was magic. Especially the clearing where the fairies had taken Virginia. The clearing had the power to make whatever dreams were dreamt in it to come true. But the only dreams possible in the clearing were nightmares. In the clearing, dreams came true, often to a very deadly and gruesome result.

“Trinity!” Breena called again weakly. She was so worn out. She just wanted to find a good leaf and fall asleep. But she couldn’t. She had to find Lady Virginia.

Breena wasn’t even sure why she was trying so hard to save a person she had never met. Forest fairies, or fairies in general, weren’t known for loyalty. But Breena wasn’t your normal forest fairy. The truth was, she had lied to Danielle. She had wanted to grant her wish. She hadn’t just been the closest fairy. Breena was different from most fairies and was usually the one to grant wishes like the one Danielle had made. So Breena was trying to save Virginia. Not just because Virginia was a famous hero and might be a part of stopping that evil witch Danielle had told her of, but because she was Wolf’s mate and Wolf was Danielle’s friend.

“Oh, Breena. Why do let yourself get mixed up in these things?” she muttered to herself, then called out again, “Trinity! Garland! Chepi! Anyone!” Breena heard the whispers of her kind and pushed her wings harder. She was almost there.

Suddenly, there was a buzz and Trinity was hovering in front of her. “Breena! You look horrible!” she exclaimed.

Breena shook off the comment and pushed past Trinity. “You didn’t…let Lady Virginia fall asleep,” Breena said, more hopeful than definite.

Trinity grabbed Breena’s arm when she took a lurch to the ground and helped her over to the edge of the clearing. She frowned at Breena. “She fell asleep, yes. We’re waiting to see what happens,” Trinity said.

“No!” Breena cried. “What’s wrong with you, Breena?” Trinity asked.

Just then, Wolf stumbled into the clearing. Something was wrong with him. He saw Virginia and fell on his knees next to her. Virginia seemed to come apart. One of her was there lying on the rock and the other was standing next to Wolf. Breena understood what she was seeing. The sleeping Virginia was her true form and the one standing was her dream-self.

Wolf didn’t seem to see Virginia’s true self. He only saw the dream one. He looked at Virginia in anguish. “Virginia. Something’s wrong with me,” he said.

“What is it, Wolf?” Virginia asked, kneeling next to him and looking very worried. “Are you sick?”

“I don’t…oh!” Wolf cried, falling over in pain.

“Wolf!” Virginia cried. “What’s wrong? What can I do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Wolf panted. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. Breena understood. Virginia was having a nightmare of Wolf being sick (and dying most likely) and she couldn’t do anything to help. There had to be something Breena could do to stop this. But it was almost impossible to wake someone from the sleep of the clearing. It had been done, sure. The most known occurrence would be the one that had happened back when this clearing had first become what it was. The Princess Briar-Rose, better known as Sleeping Beauty, had lived in this very woods. Of course, that was long ago and the castle she had lived in was barely a ring of ruins, but it was still a great tale. And it had proved once again that true love could break any curse.

True love! If true love had done it before, it could do it again. Wolf and Virginia were definitely in love. But was it true love? And even if it was, how would she use that?

Breena pondered quickly while Wolf’s condition worsened by the second. Think, Breena, think! Wolf didn’t have much longer. And from Virginia’s exclamation and clutching at her stomach, the baby didn’t either.