Winter's Child

Chapter Thirty~Where the Heart Is

"I suppose it is time that we all return to our realms-" Augusto was interrupted mid-sentence by the creak of the two, massive, ice doors that led to the dining hall. They all turned their heads to see Elodie standing in the doorway, straightening her posture and awkwardly clearing her throat under all three, intense gazes.

"I'm...going," she said quietly, lowering her gaze. Amaryllis' eyes softened and the other two just looked at her evenly.

At the silence, Elodie lifted her head to speak again.

"In all honesty, I didn't think that it would be this hard to go back. Even though this place has become like home, I thought that it would be easier than this." She lifted her gaze, which began to shine with tears. "I am going to miss each one of you...very much." She attempted a small smile and focused her gaze on the Autumn Queen. "Even you Willow." Willow gave a small smile.

"We're going to miss you too," Amaryllis said, smiling softly. They all rose from their chairs and approached. She had to look up, seeing as how they were all taller than her. At first, she had found it intimidating. Now, she didn't at all. These were her friends now.

Augusto bowed slightly in respect, smiling warmly. He lifted his eyes to her's and they shone with admiration. He reached out a hand and she carefully placed her own within it. He set his other hand atop her's.

"It has been an absolute honour, Miss Remley. I wish you all the best." A small tear slipped down Elodie's cheek as she smiled warmly at the older man. She bowed her head slightly as he released her hand and took a step back.

Amaryllis stepped forward next and, with loving eyes, embraced Elodie tightly. A while passed in which Elodie wondered when it would end before Amaryllis pulled herself away. She held Elodie by the shoulders and smiled.

"Thank you, Elodie. May the pleasant memories of this place follow you home." She took a step back and Willow stepped forward, placing her hand over her heart and bowing her head in respect.

"You have my high regard and favour, Miss Remley. I wish you well." Elodie looked at all three of them as Willow stepped back with the others. She realized then how much she would miss them. Heaven forbid she ever forget them.

She nodded and turned from them, heading for the doorway. She would slip away quietly to the tree from which she came that first day. It seemed like years ago. In reality, it hadn't even been that long at all. However, with the friends she'd made and the experiences she'd had, it could have been an eternity.

Elodie found her way back to her room and found her old clothes from home. She removed her sky-blue sweater, pants and boots and replaced them with the clothes that she had worn when she arrived. She then looked to the small table beside her large bed and spotted Jack's corecry sitting on it. She hurried over and grabbed it, carefully putting it in the pocket of her jeans. She looked around the room one last time before slipping through the door and down the massive halls.

Elodie studied every crevice of the palace as she made her way to the front entrance. As she turned the corner to the throne room, she saw North's throne, now empty. Elodie was saddened by the sight but, she knew that it wouldn't always be that way. She looked towards the huge, double doors of ice and sighed before they were opened for her by two guards, each nodding their fair-wells. She gave them each a small smile before exiting through those doors, one last time.

Elodie slowly walked the path that she had travelled by to the village and back again. She had become so accustomed to that cobblestone path. She tried to take as long as possible, so that she might remember it more.

Once she reached the end of the path, she turned and looked back at the palace, still standing mightily. She would never forget its power, its majesty. How could she? She turned from it with a small smile and strolled through the village, where (as usual) people were hurrying this way and that, carrying different assortments of objects. When Elodie had first arrived, it had been the strangest thing that she had ever seen. Now, it was as familiar as her own reflection.

Elodie took a mental picture. Perhaps she could paint some of these places when she got back home. Of course, no one would understand. No one from earth could ever know of her adventure.

Elodie found the large oak with the hole in the middle, just outside the village. She turned to the tree and slipped through the hole. She immediately felt like she had slipped into another dimension. She hurried up the wooden stairs inside the trunk of the tree and emerged out into the field, laden with birch trees and snow-covered ground.

After a while of walking, the same storm rose up and swirled all around her. This time, the storm did not provoke fear. Elodie pushed her way through until she came to the field where there were no trees. Only white.

Elodie looked around for a moment. This is where Jack had made his first appearance. Where he had met with her before they fought their way through the storm. She waited for something to happen but, nothing did. Elodie felt the unwanted panic rising within her. This would be a very bad place to be trapped. Perhaps she should've taken someone with her. No, she could handle this. She could.

To her relief, the white soon began to fade. Elodie smiled and rolled her eyes at herself. She had, once again, fretted over nothing. She watched as the white around her dissipated and she saw the nighttime forest before her. This forest was familiar to her. There was the path on which she had walked Nova time and time again.

Elodie stepped out onto that path and turned around. Between those two trees, that's where she had seen the white stag before she entered Talvimora. And that's where she had seen North, in all his majesty, for the first time. She smiled when she remembered how alarmed she had been to see him standing before her.

Elodie turned and tentatively walked down the path a little ways. There, at the far end of it, was her cabin. She saw a single light still on and knew that it was the kitchen. She smiled to herself as she continued down the path, quickening her walk to a jog.

She grew closer and closer to her home and, before long, she was standing at the edge of her driveway. She took a quick breath in and exhaled deeply. She looked back down the way that she had come and was filled with joy at all the memories that those hidden kingdoms had caused. She would never forget any of them. Never.

And, though she belonged in the Winter Kingdom, who had (and would soon have once more) the brave King North and the symbol of the white wolf, she would return to her earthly home that night. She looked upon her cabin with serenity and peace in her heart. The lights glowed warmly on the inside gleaming onto the snow outside. Elodie smiled as she walked up to her door, the winds blowing around her and howling like the wolves in the Condemned Forest. And, as her hand wrapped around the knob, Nova detected the movement outside and barked with excitement at someone's arrival.

Elodie remembered a line from the song she had sung when Adele was buried.

And, just as the wind, we may wander for long,
but, we'll always return to where we belong.

She had more than one home, she supposed. Home truly is where the heart is. Elodie's heart rested in two places.

As the girl paused to listen at the door, she thought she heard her younger brothers laughing gleefully. She thought she detected the sound of their cheerful conversation. But, it may have only been her mind's ear.