Hey guys. So a few things before we start. Firstly, I want to apologise for not updating this book in a while. As you may be aware, I've had a lot going on recently and a lack of motivation and this book in particular is difficult to update as it has to be written on my laptop so that I can copy and paste the song lyrics to make things so much easier for me. This also means though that unlike my other stories, I cannot write this story when I am out and about. This also means that it is unlikely that I will update this story much during the summer as I have little access to my laptop. I sincerely apologise for that. This chapter will be in two parts because it's a really long one and I won't be able to fit the whole song into this one chapter so instead, it will be shared amongst this chapter and the next one which should hopefully come out the week after next. I also wanna thank Midnight-Homo for suggesting this song as I struggled to find a song for this chapter and they found the perfect one. So thank you! Now without further ado, let's not delay this chapter anymore and let's get onto it

Georgina took in a deep breath to calm herself down and prepare herself for the secret that was about to reveal Jessie, her former enemy. She had never told anyone her secret before so she was extremely nervous.

"Well as you already gathered, that dragon witch isn't actually my mother" She began, her eyes glued to the floor and refusing to meet Jessie's as she nervously rubbed her arms. "My real parents are dead. The dragon witch killed them when I was just a baby. But my parents weren't just anyone. They were the king and queen of this place. Which made me-"

"The princess?" Jessie completed her sentence for her, feeling a little more sympathy for her. As she gave her a tiny smile, not that she noticed anyway.

"Yeah, that" Georgina giggled half-heartedly. "But you should know the dragon witch well enough by now to know that she is a power hungry manipulative little..." She coughed, stopping herself from saying what she wanted to and instead completing her sentence with "...witch. She wanted to be queen and rule this place, this imagination so she ruthlessly slaughtered my parents which automatically made her queen for some strange reason that I'll never fully understand. She could have killed me too, and honestly I kinda wish she did, but as you can see, she decided to spare my life. Instead, she decided to take me in and raise me to be her obedient minion. Not her daughter though. No she's not like that. Even from a young age, she'd constantly remind me that I wasn't her daughter and would yell at me for calling her my mother. She always recalled how she killed my parents and it terrified me. But I still listened to her and obeyed her" Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Why did you? Why did you strive so hard to please her?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Because I was afraid" She eventually looked up at Jessie, their eyes finally meeting. Jessie gave her a small, sympathetic smile, encouraging her to continue. "Afraid of what she would do to me if I didn't. And I suppose pleasing her felt good in a way because she was the only parental figure I really had and I wanted her to be proud of me and stop treating me like dirt. And whilst that never happened, I still never gave up. I guess without pleasing her and having at least a small bit of her approval, I felt like..."

"A nobody. She was the only person you had in your life"

"How did you know?"

"I noticed that all of your "friends" a school weren't actually friends and you didn't like them that much because they didn't particularly like you either. You just liked the attention. And as soon as the sides arrived, you were so desperate to help them. You may say it was all part of an act but I know deep down that you genuinely wanted them to like you. You just wanted a friend or two...or four. And you know what?"

"What?" Georgina asked, frantically wiping away the tears dripping down her cheek.

"Now you've got one" She gave her a small, genuine, friendly smile. 

Georgina's eyes glistened with hope. "Really?" Jessie nodded. "But why? I thought you hated me. I've treated you like dirt"

"Maybe but all you wanted was the approval of the dragon witch. You're not as evil or horrible as you may seem you know"

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" She smiled happily, snapping her fingers to make Jessie's cage disappear before hugging her tightly. She sobbed onto Jessie's shoulder, soaking her clothes.

"Are...are you crying?"

"They're happy tears!" She beamed before hesitantly pulling away from the hug and taking in a deep breath and starting to sing softly

"Aprroval
Was all I desired
But all that grew inside me
Was the darkness I acquired
When I began to fall
And I lost the path ahead
That's when your friendship found me
And it lifted me instead"

Suddenly, Jessie's face lit up like a lightbulb. "You know what? I think I might have an idea!"

"What is it?" Georgina asked curiously.

"Perhaps if you came back with me, we could talk to all the others and explain the truth and maybe then, you might gain even more friends. And who knows? Maybe you might be able to join us in our battle with the dragon witch"

Georgina's face lit up with hope and happiness "Really? You really think so?"

"Oh I know so" Jessie grinned confidently. She took Georgina's hands in hers and looked into her eyes, beginning to sing to the same tune that Georgina has just sung to.

"Like a phoenix burning bright
In the sky
We'll show them the other side to you they can't deny
I may not know what the future holds
But hear me when I say
That your past does not define you
'Cause your past is not today"

Georgina gave Jessie a small, grateful smile before pulling her into another tight hug and whispering into her ear. "Thank you for everything despite what I've done to you"

"Of course. Anything for someone in need of help. Now come on. Let's go and find the others"