happy october guys :-) this is dedicated to Melonhead15 who wrote a crap ton of stuff for me this week. and thank you to everyone who has patiently but excitedly waited for me to update. i hope you enjoy this length imagine, based on one of my favorite scenes of the movie <3

/ / /

It started when you showed up at Barley's house. Holding the small stack of gifts you'd gotten Ian under one arm, you knocked on the front door three times and waited five minutes. No one came to answer it. The lights were all on in the living room and kitchen --- maybe they couldn't hear you? You knocked again, and that was when you realized the door wasn't even completely shut. It was only partly closed, like someone had left in a hurry and forgotten to shut it behind them and lock it. 

You stepped inside and called out for Barley, then for Ian, then for Laurel. The house was silent except for the scurrying of Blazey as she ran towards your feet and jumped up on top of you. You nearly dropped all of Ian's presents as you clumsily lowered yourself to set them down by the door. You wrapped an arm around Blazey and pulled her close to you. 

"Are you here all by yourself?" you asked her. She just stared at you with her wide-set eyes. "Well, it's a good thing you didn't figure out the door was open, huh?" You scratched the top of her head and then stood up. "Where is everyone at? Did the party move somewhere?"

Blazey looked nervous as she scrambled her way up the steps. You followed her as she slipped into Ian's open bedroom door. The room was dark except for the lamp on his desk, but even in the dim, you could see the mess that littered the floor. This was incredibly out of character for Ian. You'd expect it out of your boyfriend, Barley's, bedroom --- but not Ian's. Alarmed, you looked around until Blazey put her claws on his bed and nudged a piece of paper sitting at the corner. You picked it up, eyes widening as you saw Ian's shattered phone screen left behind as well. 

MOM

BE BACK WITH MIND BLOWING SURPRISE!!!

A piece of tape at the top of the paper hinted to you that this used to be taped to the door or something. Laurel had clearly found it and went after the boys. You just wondered what was wrong, what could have happened. Sighing to yourself, you sank to the floor. You were at a loss of where to go next. Barley's phone had gotten lost weeks ago when he had dropped it into the ocean during one of your quests with him. There was no way of contacting him, and the only way you could find him was if you looked around town.

Hopefully you would find him. There was no telling what the surprise was, but knowing Barley, they would probably be getting into a lot of trouble soon. 

You made sure Blazey had food in her bowl and stacked Ian's gifts neatly on the kitchen table before you left. You walked home slowly, keeping an eye out for Barley's van on the streets. You didn't see him, but your phone rang. It was an unknown number. Still, you answered it. "Hello?"

"Oh good, you answered!" 

"Barley? Where are you calling from?" 

"A payphone! This gas station just out of town has one still. Isn't that awesome!? Just like the old days! Sort of." 

"Oh my gosh. Where are you at? I came to your house but it's, like, trashed. What happened?"

"Long story and I don't really have the time to explain it," he said awkwardly, "but in good time you will see, my love. The story will reveal itself soon! And it is full of mystery and adventure and most of all, magic!" 

You sighed, trying not to be annoyed with your boyfriend's theatrics. "That's great, babe, but I was, like, really worried about you. I thought something really bad had happened and---"

"Nothing bad happened," he said. "Actually, something really really awesome happened. Like, really great."

"That's good," you said. "Can I know what it is---?"

"Not 'til the story reveals itself!"

"Okay, well, are you guys safe? Ian's room looked horrible and I'm just worried---"

"Yeah, we're fine," Barley said dismissively. "But I got---"

Pushing your hair back behind your ear, you smiled and tried to joke. "Oh, good, 'cause I was really worried when Blazey was left without any adult supervision. I mean---"

"I gotta go now though. But we'll be back soon! In the morning I think. With a mind blowing surprise!" He quoted his own note that he left Laurel just a couple of hours before.

"Okay," you said, frowning. "Well, uh, have fun. Tell Ian I said happy birthday and that I didn't mean to miss all of the excitement --- whatever it was. But Barley---" 

"We will. I'll see you!" He hung up the phone before you could finish. 

"See you," you mumbled to the dead line. You stared at your phone screen before tucking your phone away in your pocket. You debated on calling Laurel to get more information, but a part of you assumed that she was just in the dark as you were right now. 

Whatever was going on, you weren't going to find out until tomorrow. 

/ / 

Morning came and went, and they didn't come back. You stopped by their house as soon as you woke up, and then you stopped by again around noon. You couldn't help but worry. Wherever they were, something must have happened and slowed them down. Were they okay?

You'd have no way of knowing, so you continued on with your day, worried and uneasy, thinking of them every second of the day. You kept your phone volume up just in case they would call you from a payphone again. You called Laurel twice, but you couldn't get through. And finally, you just gave up, telling yourself that they would call when they could. You weren't forgotten, you just were distant right now. They all had something to do and you just had to wait for them to get back. They would be fine, and they would be back with their mind blowing surprise that Barley was so excited about. 

Maybe something had happened, or maybe there just wasn't going to be a call at all. Maybe in the excitement of the surprise, you'd been forgotten. Which seemed like a ridiculous and selfish thing for you to be upset about, but you were hurt. You had been looking forward to Ian's party all week. You'd helped Laurel plan it. And now it seemed as if you were pushed to the side. 

Or you were overreacting. 

"I'm overreacting," you said out loud to yourself, and you went on a walk just to convince yourself of it. (Except that didn't make any sense, so maybe you were just going on a walk to think it through some more and contemplate if you were telling the truth to yourself.)

You walked around the busier part of town. The sky was a soft orange as the sun began to set. Streaks of pink and purple above you made you stop just to take pictures. The sunset was so pretty, and for a moment you were distracted enough to not notice the shouts rising out of the construction site nearby. 

"Can someone call the cops? We've got the history buff again."

History buff? You turned your head sharply and saw him, it was really him, your boyfriend, climbing up the side of a fountain. You rushed over quickly, ignoring the protests as you ran right into the construction site.

"Barley! What are you doing!?" you shouted. 

"___?" Clinging to the top of the fountain, he turned his head and sighed in relief as you ran up to him. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! I need to find an ancient gem."

"An ancient what?" you asked. 

"A gem!" he shouted. "I-I need to find it before the sun sets, or I can't see Dad!" 

"Your dad?" you asked in disbelief. 

"Come on, get down from there!" one of the construction workers said. "Don't make us call the cops on you again!" 

"No!" he cried. "This is my only shot. This is Ian's only shot." He looked at you pleadingly. "Babe, you gotta help me."

You looked around at the construction workers, who looked at you like you were absolutely crazy. But you nodded, because no matter how insane Barley sounded as he ranted about how finding an ancient gem would let him see his late father, he had never sounded so serious about something before. "Okay. I'll help you."

He helped you climb up the side of the fountain. You knelt down next to him and he held out a piece of stone. "I think it's telling me to follow the water," he said, dragging his pointer finger across the indents of the carving. "But I don't know where. It's gotta be here though. The cave led us here." 

"Okay," you said, nodding thoughtfully. "Follow the water. Well, maybe this---"

You turned your head at the sound of police sirens. Your eyes widened and you clutched Barley's arm in warning. Your time was almost up to solve this puzzle. He was breathing heavily, absolutely terrified --- obviously not so much about getting arrested, since that was typically a common occurrence, but of failing this quest that was so important to him. He moved closer to the center of the fountain---

"Hey."

His voice was soft and you followed where he was reaching. There was a place right at the center of the fountain where the map fit perfectly. He slipped it inside and pressed it down. You both stood up as the top of the fountain split to reveal a single orange gem, glowing brightly in the setting sun. 

"Yeah!" Barley cheered. "Yeah!"

"See, you didn't need me after all," you said, smiling at him. 

He looked at you and nodded. "Yes I did." 

Your hand found his and you smiled wider. At the same moment, Ian ran from between the trees shouting, "Barley!" 

"Ian, look!" he yelled out, waving the gem high in the air. 

Ian slammed to a stop as red smoke began to pour out of the fountain. "Behind you!" 

You squeezed Barley's hand as you watched it gather around your ankles, pooling out like water down the rims of the fountain and into the grass. The police officers and construction workers backed up, fearful of the smoke. Barley gasped out, "A curse."

"A what?!"

The red smoke gathered into tendrils that began to literally rip through everything it surrounded. The street, parked cars, and mostly the school. And as the pieces came together, you realized that it was a dragon that was staring right at Barley, who was still clutching that gem. It roared loudly, the sound of the school bell echoing with it.

"Barley! Run!" Ian screamed. 

"Time to go!" you said, holding onto your boyfriend's hand tightly as you jumped off the side of the fountain. You dragged him right down with you, hitting the ground a little too hard. You winced at the pain in your ankles but kept on going, the weight of this life-or-death situation being a little more important than a couple of twisted ankles.

"What do you want, the gem?!" Barley shouted, still running. "Fine, take it!" He slipped the gem into his pocket and pulled out a headlight that miraculously matched the shade of orange. As he tossed it away from him, the dragon followed it like Blazey would follow a treat tossed across the room. 

"Was that Guinevere's?" you asked. "What happened to Guinevere!?"

"Long story, I'll tell it later!" he yelled. 

But it didn't fool the dragon for long, because as Barley and you neared Ian, it blew a breath of fire that caught on the grass. A burst of heat and light separated you three, throwing you backwards with Barley. You dropped his hand as you patted down the front of your clothes, hoping nothing had been caught. Then you got up and grabbed Barley's arm. "Bar! Come on! We gotta move!"

He got up on his knees, nervously looking beyond the flames for his little brother. The dragon swooped down to grab Ian---

And then something else collided into it. Barley cheered, even though you didn't know what it was. "The Manticore!"

"Mom!?" Ian shouted. 

"Is that Laurel?" You squinted your eyes. Laurel was on the back of the Manticore, who was wielding a sword. 

"It's okay, boys!" she yelled. "We'll take care of it. Go see your father!" 

Ian looked unsure until Barley said, "It's okay! If they stab the beast's core with that sword, the curse will be broken! Come on!"

On the top of the cliff, overlooking the sea and the setting sun, Barley grabbed what looked like the bottom half of his father (which you somehow didn't notice before?) and placed the gem in the top of a twisted staff made of wood. Ian, breathing heavily, grabbed his brother's arm. "Barley, what I said back there --- I am so sorry---"

"There's no time!" Barley said. "The sun's about to set." 

Ian swallowed hard and turned towards the pair of legs standing right in front of him. "Only once is all we get. Grant me this rebirth. 'Til tomorrow's sun has set, one day to walk the Earth!" A beam of orange and blue light burst from the gem and it exploded into tiny shards of glowing ember. You stared in awe as you saw his body building itself slowly, the beam of the light creating him literally before your eyes. Ian's feet were slipping against the push of the magic. "Oh no, no, no! Barley!" 

Right away, Barley jumped behind Ian and pushed his shoulder forward, giving Ian something to lean on as they pushed forward harder and harder---

Until the gem finally exploded, and it was silent as the spell began to work. 

"Boys! It's coming back!" Laurel screamed helplessly. 

Turning, you saw the dragon stalking forward, even angrier now. The gem was disappearing as the spell was working. Barley glanced at the sun, barely visible on the line of the sea.

"I'll go distract it," he said. 

"What? No!" Ian exclaimed. "If you do that, you'll miss Dad."

"It's okay," Barley said. "Say hi to Dad for me." 

"No," Ian said. "You go and say goodbye."

"What?" Barley whispered. 

"I had someone who looked out for me. Someone who pushed me to be more than I ever thought I could be! I never had a dad. But I always had you." Ian's smile was soft and his eyes were teary.

In awe, you watched Ian run around his older brother and go headfirst into a battle with the beast. Barley could only stand silently, watching as his dad formed in front of him slowly. You swallowed hard and went the way Ian was going. 

"Where are you going?" Barley asked softly, reaching for your hand. 

"I'm not letting him do this on his own," you said, "and Ian is right. You need to go say goodbye to your dad. Let me take care of him this time, okay? And let us take care of you." You smiled as Barley did, and you reached up to swipe a single tear away from his face. "Don't forget to tell your dad how great of a girlfriend I am. 'Kay, Bar?"

"Okay," he whispered, and you walked away quickly, breaking out into a run as you stumbled down the cliff. 

If they stab the beast's core with that sword, the curse will be broken!

"Ian!" you shouted. "I'm going to find the sword!" 

"Hurry!" he yelled in between the spells that he was casting. 

You took a sharp left and looked around. There was a pile of debris that Laurel was perched at the top of; she caught your eye and waved you forward, saying to you, "I can't reach it!" 

You climbed up the pile of rubble and peered into the crack at the top. The sword was deep in the pile. Laurel held onto your legs as you leaned far inside to grab the hilt of the sword. You squeezed your eyes shut and stretched, the sound of the angry dragon roar and Ian's spells pushing you forward...

And finally your hands grabbed the cold metal. You gasped in relief and closed your fingers around it. You jerked your hand back towards your body and Laurel pulled you out of the debris as you held tightly to the heavy weapon. You fell back against her and looked at Ian, who was watching as the dragon approached Barley---

"Barley!" you screamed, scrambling up to your feet. You looked at Ian. "Ian, the sword!" You threw it forward and Ian recited a spell that captured the weapon in midair. 

It froze for a moment before Ian, using the scepter in his hands, threw it forward. It sank right into the core of the beast. The dragon exploded into a thousand pieces and covered you and Ian. You held your arms up protectively in front of your face as the sound of stone hitting rock deafened you and you were encased in darkness. 

When you opened your eyes, you knew it was only a second later. You sat up with a groan and gasped at the teetering wall of stone in front of you. Carefully but quickly, you backed away from it. You hurriedly walked around and looked for Ian and for Barley. 

You couldn't see Ian, but you could see Barley. And he was standing in front of his dad. 

They laughed together, and Wilden wrapped his arms around his oldest son tightly. You couldn't help but cry as you saw Barley's face. You knew what this meant to him. How badly he's quietly dreamed of this moment. A moment to redo things, to fix the mistake of not saying goodbye. He'd told you countless times. He hated that he didn't get to tell his dad that he loved him one last time before he slipped away. He hated that he'd been afraid. And now he wasn't afraid. It hurt, and you knew that it did, but he wasn't afraid. 

Wilden disappeared as quick as he came and Barley was left to wipe away his tears and look up at the sky, thinking for a long moment. You wanted to give him time, so you turned away and went to look for Ian. You found him pretty quickly; he was trying to climb up from where he was buried in bits of brick. You reached for him and pulled him up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. He saw him," Ian said, and he was smiling so wide. 

"Yeah, I know," you said, sniffling. "I'm really happy for him."

"Me too," Ian said, sinking down on the side of the hill. He grunted in pain and rubbed a bruise on his arm. 

You turned around and saw Barley trudging towards you. You smiled and walked back down to meet him.

"So I... I got to say it," Barley said. 

You just nodded. 

"That was the surprise, you know," he said, scratching his arm. "Meeting my dad." 

"I know," you said.

"Sorry it didn't work out the way we planned. And I'm sorry that I disappeared on you." 

"Barley, if I had known that it was because of this..." You shook your head and smiled. "I'm just happy that you got to see him. Was he happy?"

"Yeah," Barley said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. He got choked up as he said, "He was really happy. He told me --- he told me that he loved me. And, uh, I got to say it back."

You didn't know what to say, so you just wrapped your arms around Barley and held him close for a long second. He cried against your shoulder quietly. If it wasn't for the trembling of his shoulders, you wouldn't have known that he was crying. You pulled away and wiped his face again. 

"I told him, by the way," he said. "I told him that you were a freakin' great girlfriend."

"Of course you did," you smiled.

"I-I gotta tell Ian a few things," Barley said. "My dad said a lot that he needs to hear---"

You nodded, understanding. "Go. Go ahead." 

He nodded back and you kissed him right on the side of the face, then on the lips, and then you smiled encouragingly. "I am very proud of you," you said, throat tight, "and I love you so much, Bar." 

"I love you, too," he breathed. He pulled away from you with a still-growing smile. He turned towards his little brother, and you walked away from them and away from the scene, leaving the two to enjoy their moment, and the rest of their day, together.