Kingdom Keepers: Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 30

Minutes later, Finn, Amanda, Jess and Casey were walking to the Main Street Cinema. Finn had been startlingly silent the whole trip, and Amanda walked over to stand next to him.

"You okay?" she whispered. He didn't look at her, but now that she was close enough, she could hear him crying softly.

"It's my fault," he muttered.

"What?"

"All of this...Maybeck, Jelly, all of us not...it's my fault."

"Finn..." Amanda started, reaching for his arm.

"No!" he exclaimed, pulling away. "It is! You tried to tell me – everyone tried to tell me –that we shouldn't stop Hollingsworth, that it was too risky, but I wouldn't listen. I was just thinking about Wayne and...and Dill and..."

"Hey!" Amanda cut him off and grabbed him by the shoulders, making sure this time that he couldn't shove her away. His gaze was still pointed at the floor.

"You did what you thought was right to save everyone!" she insisted. After a moment, he finally looked up at her; his eyes were red.

"We're gonna fix this Finn," she insisted. "By the end of the night, everyone will remember, and then everything can go back to normal."

"Why are you sure of that?" Finn asked.

Amanda responded by leaning up and pressing her lips to his, sliding her hands up so her arms wrapped around his neck. Her kiss was sweet and gentle, full of assurance, just like always, and his breath caught, feeling like he was going to be knocked off of his feet.

She pulled away and looked into his eyes, smirking at him playfully, but with assurance too.

"Because," she said. "You never stop fighting until everything's made right. And you've never let us down before."

Finn smiled, a warmth spreading through his chest. No matter what he was going through, whenever it was, she knew how to get him back on track. How he'd gotten so lucky as to meet her all those years ago, he didn't know, but she was definitely, for as young as he was, the best thing that ever happened to him. He was leaning in to kiss her again, when a whispered shout came at them from down the street.

"Hey, lovebirds!"

They turned to see Jess staring at them, her arms thrown up into a frustrated shrug.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed.

They looked at each other and laughed before grabbing hands and running towards the cinema. Jess rubbed her temple as they came, having passed exhausted three days ago. Through the corner of her eye, she spotted Casey, standing nearby and bouncing up and down on her toes.

"Isn't this just wonderful?" she squealed.

Jess let out a groan.

"All I know is," she said to herself. "Alternate universe me better not be this enthusiastic."

***

Finn, Amanda, Jess and Casey arrived at the Main Street Cinema, hanging close to the building so as to stay out of the line of sight of any cameras that might be there.

"Okay," Finn whispered, leaning out just far enough for the others to see him. "We've gotta get in and out of there as fast as we can. Casey, I need you to stay out here and stay lookout. If you see anything wrong at all, text me and then get yourself somewhere safe."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "No way! I wanna help get the quill!"

"You will be helping!" Finn said. "You're keeping us all safe by staying out here, and it's the safest place for you."