Elizabeth, standing in between Lucas and Mai, gulped at the sight of the palace gates. After taking a deep breath, she opened the doors, only to find the inside seemingly deserted. Not a soul was in sight. No guards. No maids. No servants. Nobody. 

Mai walked in first, turning her head to look at the princess. "Everyone is in town right now, so there shouldn't be very many people here." Elizabeth nodded before following with the boys close behind.

Mai took them through the castle's courtyard and into the actual building. After walking down the main hall, they could hear light laughter. Continuing down, they were about to turn the corner, the laughter getting louder. Mai sighed, recognizing the voices. What were they up to now..?

The four walked around the corner and the sight before them was something they didn't expect...

Before them, sitting on the floor, where their six friends. Three of them were sitting against the wall, and the other three were sitting in a small circle, playing cards. All stopped at the presence of the four newcomers, who in turn, stared at them in silence.

A few moments passed until loud laughter erupted from them all.

Mai looked around. Matt, Kevin, and Riley had been the three leaning up against the wall, whereas Tyler, Allen and Macy were the three playing the simple game of Go-fish. Glancing down, she noticed a piece of paper. Picking it up it read... "Go-fish scores. Tyler: 5, Allen: 30, Macy: 35." 

Zed looked over her shoulder after being finished with his chuckling. "So, someone can beat Allen at a luck based game. Impressive."

The Captain raised a brow, looking back to them as the laughter settled. "How long have you guys been playing?"

Tyler thought a moment. "Since about noon, I think." Hearing her say that so nonchalantly made Mai shake her head in amusement. She glanced around the hall and noticed that Elizabeth had been tackled by the other girls already, Matt and Kevin gave her a quick hug as well. Seems Macy had told them everything.

When the reunion was done and everyone focused back on the game, Mai silently took Lucas to the side and whispered in his ear. At first, the boy was confused, but after hearing what she had to say, he nodded. After that, the young man took a hold of Elizabeth''s hand and gently pulled her away from the others. Mai watched as they talked a moment before the princess smiled and the two soon disappeared down the hall.

Zed walked over to Mai, raising a brow in the same direction she was looking, which was where the princess and false thug traveled. "Where are those two going?"

Mai smiled, closing her eyes so as to imagine the scene. "To talk to Elizabeth's parents."

He blinked. "So, the King and Queen?" 

She gazed up at him. "Well, yes, but tonight I think they'll just be her parents."

The Thief smiled down at her as a thought struck him. "So what ever happened to your dad anyway?" 

She blinked, then sighed as if she didn't want to deal with the topic. "Not sure, but I'll have to talk to him later..." He only laughed, until she looked up at him pointedly. "With you right next to me of course."

The two totally ignored what was happening around them as they spoke. For at the moment, Kevin randomly started ranting about curses and midnight. Tyler gave up on Go-fish, yelling and demanding it to be burned. Matt was trying to console her. Riley was trying to calm Kevin down somehow, someway. And sitting in the middle of it all, Allen and Macy were having some kind of Go-fish Showdown, practicing their poker faces.

So in order to change the subject of the very person he had brought up, Zed looked back to the chaos. "Is this much commotion...normal?"

Mai nodded with a slight laugh. "If you think it's bad now, you should see them on the weekends."

Zed blinked. "They get worse?" She nodded again, as if their abnormal behavior were an everyday event. Which, he was beginning to realize, was normal.

He watched them for a few more moments before commenting. "So this is what the old lady living in the shoe felt like..." 

The girl next to him laughed. "Something like that."

In the end the two joined Allen and Macy in the war of Go-fish. They decided to restart the game, only realizing after a few games that the true master had been hidden this whole time...Turns out that the one with the most luck had been the one to normally refuse to play in the first place.

Zed, Allen, Macy: 0 Mai: 5

After the three thought about it...She really was one of the luckiest in the room, considering what she had been through in just the last forty-two hours...

~ ✿ ♥ ✿ ~  

Lucas and Elizabeth stood in front of a set of tall doors. These doors would lead them into the Crown Room. Elizabeth knew that her parents would be behind those doors, and that was the very reason why she hadn't entered them just yet. After taking in a deep breathe, as if it would give her more confidence, she squeezed Lucas' hand, telling him she was ready. He took the hint by slowly opening the door quietly.

The room was large, but plain. Only having blue swirled wallpaper, rugs of a darker shade, and little furniture, which consisted of three pedestals, the middle one being slightly taller than the other two. These pedestals stood on top of a raised platform, a few stairs leading up to them. The middle raised pedestal, however, was empty. Whereas the other two bestowed two crowns, one larger than the other, obviously the King and Queen's, all three covered by protective glass cases.

Speaking of the King and Queen, they were standing before the crowns, looking directly toward the empty case. Seems the parents didn't even notice the couple come in and close the doors behind them.

Elizabeth let go of Lucas' hand, giving him a reassuring smile before walking forward towards her parents. From behind, she noticed that they didn't look much different, other than the slowly graying hair, and even then it was barely noticeable. When only a few feet away from the stairs, she took in a deep breathe and spoke in a small voice. "Mom...Dad..?"

The sudden call startled the two as they turned around in shock. They stared down at the girl, no, young women at the bottom of the steps. Her mother gasped as realization hit her first, putting her hands to her face as tears of joy clouded her vision. There was no mistake. That was their one and only child standing before them as a bright and beautiful young women.

The Queen ran down the stairs, arms open wide, forgetting about grace and stature as she tackled the princess to the ground. By now, the King had started crying, giving his wife and child a huge bear hug. Elizabeth laughed, tears in her eyes, while trying to calm them down, but failing miserably as hicups escaped her own mouth. 

Lucas, who had been watching while leaning on the door, decided that they should have time alone and quickly, but quietly, left the room. He thought it best to head back towards the others.

So Elizabeth told her parents all that had happened from when she was kidnapped to when she was found by Mai and the others. She told them of how they got back to the town and her thoughts on it all. She went to introduce them to Lucas, only to realize too late that he had disappeared from sight. Her hand, that was stretched out from the failed introduction, landed back at her side, where she felt Mai's satchel still around her form. She smiled as she turned back to them, opening the bag and pulling out the object.

"I believe this goes on that empty pedestal?" Her parents blinked, but then laughed, shaking their heads.

 Her mother patted her head, like she did when she was small. "No dear, that is yours to keep."

~ ✿ ♥ ✿ ~

When Lucas had turned the corner towards his friends, the sight before him was nothing short of disaster...

Tyler was being held back by Matt. She was yelling at Kevin, threatening him with cards. Kevin was laughing at her while Riley tried to calm him down before he died at the hands of the angry messenger. Mai and Zed were quietly playing the game, going when needed and commenting on the scene before them once or twice. On the other end of the circle, Macy and Allen were ignoring everything around them, playing the game seriously as if it were war.

Lucas raised a brow. "Is this normal?" 

Zed looked up at him, chuckling at his question. "I asked the same thing." 

Mai nodded up to him, answering. "Yes, yes it is. And if it's not this bad, it's worse."

The Thug blinked, sitting down next to them, leaning on the closest wall. "Worse? It gets worse?" 

Mai nodded again as she placed some cards down. "Yup, sometimes Tyler gets her hands on a frying pan." She thought a moment, her thoughts wandering. "And there was that one time when she got a hold of my sword..."

Lucas couldn't even respond to that comment as he glanced over at the messenger. Matt had somehow calmed her down enough that she wasn't trying to kill Kevin anymore, only glare daggers at him. The dirty-blonde could only wonder what the guard had said in the first place to make her so angry.

So this is how the night went on until the trumpets were sounded, causing them all to stop what they were doing to listen. Mai smiled as she stood, and they all looked up at her. "That, my friends, is the sound of the princess' return."

They started to cheer, making their way towards the castle's courtyard. Where they found the kingdom gathering into the yard from the main gates. They quickly rejoined the Princess and her parents. Elizabeth quickly took a hold of Lucas' arm, dragging him over to her parents and introducing him. They treated him well, even telling him 'thank you' for the help in finding their daughter. Though bashful, he accepted their thanks. He was sort of happy he found her too, ya know?

When everyone had gathered into the courtyard, they wondered what they needed to be gathered for. The festival wasn't quite over yet, but if the trumpets sounded, it must be important. So when everyone had calmed down to listen, the King started to speak.

"Everyone! Thank you for coming to the festival and I'm sorry to have cut it short, but there is something of much greater importance I must announce!" They all started murmuring with curiosity, for what could be more important than the festival?

He signaled Elizabeth to move forward and stand next to him. She did so and the crowd looked confused for a moment until he spoke again. "Elizabeth, your princess, has come back to us unharmed after almost ten years of waiting!"

The crowd started cheering, for a new celebration was to begin. The celebration for the return of Princess Elizabeth. She waved to them, and some of them even recognized her from earlier that day.

So the celebration began anew. This time with the Princess by their side, the King and Queen gave their daughter a hug before letting her go back to her friends to join in with the kingdom-wide party.

The celebration lasted almost a week, and many things happened during that time.

For one, Lucas became a knight, being set as Elizabeth's bodyguard, though she said she didn't need one. At the end of the week the two started courting officially with the permission of the King and Queen.

Allen found a new talent in cooking, becoming head chief of the palace's kitchen, though it was under the condition that all pineapples be cast out of the castle forever.

Macy became head maid, dirt dare float in her presence. If she couldn't be found easily, the servants would end up finding her in the kitchen for...pretty obvious reasons.

Riley and Kevin had announced their engagement. They were planning on getting married, but Kevin had needed to save up a bit more money before making such a move. Seems he finally got enough.

Tyler became the best messenger in the whole kingdom. Now known as the 'Quick Deliver', she mostly delivers military plans for the King's troops. She was courting Matt after all, who was promoted by Mai and sent to help the military as a strategist. One of the best out there.

Now you're probably wondering what happened to the Captain and the Thief...Well, Zed, who had gained what he had wanted and joined the guard in order to stay by her side. Don't worry, he was relieved of all his crimes as thanks for partaking in the return of the Princess.

Mai had actually turned down a promotion in order to stay where she was. She loved being at the castle, close to friends and family, and didn't want to go anywhere. Her and Zed had told everything to her father, though he threatened Zed's life if he didn't treat her with respect, another trait the two shared. Now the two were also courting, but taking it slow, wanting to hold onto what they've found.

So as every good fairy tale says, they did, in fact, live Happily Ever After. 

But I know what you're thinking.

Not Your Typical Rapunzel.

~ FIN ~