A Curse of the Heart - Jungle Cruise

~A New Start~

They had stopped the prince, and now Frank was going to stop Aguirre for good, but at the cost of his own life as well. 

The boat smashed right into the rock wall, bursting apart into bits of wood. 

Frank shouted from the remains of La Quila. "Raf, it's okay, it's my time - let me go-"

"NO!"

"Oh my God," cried Lily. 

One by one, each more rapidly than the next, the men were sucked into the rock wall, made stone themselves in the absence of the water. 

Rafaela reached them first, reached him, Frank, her Frank. "No, no, no - please, don't leave me..." Don't leave me. It had been a difficult, long existence, but it had always been a little easier having someone to go through it with. Now, she didn't know what she would do. She'd taken their long time together for granted, and they hadn't even spent that much time together really, not with her traveling the world trying to always keep an eye on the Arrowhead. 

Through her tears, she reached out and cupped his cheeks, the flesh now cold stone. "You, Francisco Lopez de Heredia, are the most infuriating person I have ever met-" She was cut off as she choked back another sob. "We had so much time together, but I'm not ready to say goodbye..."

At her feet, Proxima gave a low, sad growl. Raf knelt down, burying her face in the cat's spotted fur while Proxima continued to whimper. 

Lily stepped forward from where she and MacGregor had been standing quietly. In her hand was the petal.

"Lily-" Raf cried.

"It's okay," her friend assured her.  She placed it at Frank's mouth and the petal disintegrated and disappeared past his lips. 

They all stood for a moment longer in silence before brother and sister moved to slip away, to give Rafaela some time alone. 

A crackling sound brought them back, however. When they turned, they saw Rafaela standing there, jaw agape and in shock, as the stone crumbled away in pieces, revealing-

"Frank!" Raf immediately threw her arms around him in an embrace. "Don't you dare do anything like that again!" She drew away. "Oh, you're bleeding!"

"I know - ah! That hurts!"

"It does? Well that's good!" Indeed, it meant that the curse was finally lifted. 

"Lily! I can't believe you shot me."

"I know!"

"Twice!"

"I know, but you didn't go down the first time, you should've just gone down."

"All right, Dr. Houghton."

"Of botany!" 

"Oh!" MacGregor was crying now as well, full of happy tears. "You're all my world!"

Lily laughed and pulled them all into a group hug.

"Look!" MacGregor suddenly cried.

A few moonbeams had slipped through from behind the clouds, allowing one small branch of the Tree to grow a petal, just a single one, and only for a moment. The group exchanged a glance - it seemed someone was watching over them. 

---------------------------------------

Returning to London - well, arriving in Frank's case - after their great adventure was a relief. Despite the excitement and thrills of their journey, they needed  some time to rest and recover. 

"All aboard!" Lily announced, rolling up in her motor car, MacGregor and Proxima already seated inside. "Ready for your first driving lesson?"

Rafaela and Frank, dressed like Londoners in modern clothing, Raf even with her own pair of trousers, stepped into the car. 

"Let's go, Pants."

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Frank."

"A car."

Raf rolled her eyes.  "Oh, your jokes. They will be the death of me."

"Of all of us," agreed Lily.

"They are just exhaust - exhausting..."

"Oh, that's bad," said Lily.

"Horrendous," added MacGregor. 

"Wow," said Frank.  "That was bad - but good." Even Proxima gave a growl of what was perhaps disapproval. 

"Why, thank you."

"Well I hope you're not exhausted yet," said Lily, the open road stretching before them. "Ready?"

"Yes, onward!" cried Raf.

Onward - onward into their new life together. 

(And there we have it,  the end! Thank you so much for sticking with me! Excited for the sequel film that sounds like is in planning!

Once more, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story! :))