The Hooded Luna:Happily Ever After
Chapter 28~Always and Forever

~Epilogue~

Lucifer groaned in annoyance as he realized they’d hit another dead end. It’d been exactly one year since anybody had seen or heard from Phoenix. She left without so much as a goodbye or an explanation but nobody could be mad considering she’d been through a lot in the span of 24 hours.

“We’ve gone to every single moon goddess sighting we’ve gotten wind of and we haven’t found her.” Kenzie said frowning.

“She doesn’t want to be found.” Alex mumbled.

“If you know that then why are you still looking?” A new voice said from behind them. The group grew quiet as they turned in the direction of where it’d come from.

“Phoenix?” Kenzie asked slowly looking her up and down. She was wearing black skinny jeans, a tank top with a leather jacket, and sunglasses with black stilettos on her feet. Her hair had grown to the middle of her back and she had Mateo’s dog tags on her neck.

“It’s me you’ve been looking for isn’t it?” She asked frowning and sliding the sunglasses to sit comfortably on top of her head.

“Um yeah, yeah. You just-look different.” Kenzie said softly. She nodded in understanding and cocked an eyebrow.

“You heard I was in a club?” She asked pursing her lips and looking around. It was full to the brim with drunk people and she had to hold in a giggle at the drunk dancing on the table.

“We’ve been grasping at straws. You left without saying anything so we’ve been taking whatever we can get.” Kenzie said frowning.

“There was nothing to say and I thought I made it pretty clear I didn’t want to be found.” She said walking up to the bar.

“We were worried about you. You went through a lot.” Kenzie said softly.

“So did you, you were forced back into a cage by Michael and my m- and Mateo.” She said gesturing for the barkeep. He looked her over before gesturing towards a bottle of vodka and she nodded. He grabbed a shot glass and the bottle before putting it in front of her.

“You look like you need it.” He said offering her a small smile and looking at the group behind her. She nodded and pulled out a $100 before giving it to him.

“Is that what this is about? You blame yourself?” Kenzie asked frowning. Phoenix hesitated as she was about to pour some in a shot glass and Kenzie’s frown deepened.

“Phoenix there was no way you could’ve seen any of that coming.” Kenzie said walking up to Phoenix. She reached for her only for her to flinch away. Kenzie let her arm drop to her side and she shook her head.

“Tell me you believe that. Tell me you believe me when I say none of this was your fault.” Kenzie pleaded. Instead of answering she downed her drink and poured another one before drinking it.

"I buried my parents without my brother because I was scared that if I called him he'd turn his back on me." Phoenix mumbled pouring herself another drink.

"Phoenix-"

“Did Mal get home safe?” She asked changing the subject.

“No.” Maleficent said stepping out of the shadows.

“What are you still doing here?” She asked quickly looking away.

“You should know I’d never leave you Kat.” Maleficent said smiling. Phoenix shook her head as her eyes filled with tears.

“I couldn’t save Peter-I’m sorry.” She whispered quickly wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“Kat- Phoenix, Peter isn’t dead.” Mal said softly. Phoenix frowned and looked up at her though it was clear she wasn’t looking at her.

“If this is supposed to be some attempt to make me feel better-” She let the rest of her sentence hang in the air as her eyes met Peter’s. He gave her a small smile and she fought the urge to smile back and instead turned her attention back to her drink. She ignored the shot glass and picked up the bottle before drinking it. The crowd surrounding her started cheering as they watched her down the bottle like it was water, ignoring the burn it gave her. The downside to being the moon goddess was that she could no longer get drunk, the most she could feel was a slight buzz for 30 seconds before it was gone again and now was one of those moments where she wished she could get drunk. She put the bottle down and turned around to see Peter still standing there except this time he had a frown etched on his face.

“How?” She croaked keeping her eyes on Peter.

“When you sent me to go save your friends a guard was on his way to get Peter. We were originally going to kill him and leave but Peter argued and explained that they offered him to turn against you so now that they wanted you while you were there-he needed to go and be with you. So Maleficent put a protective spell on him to keep him from dying.” Lucifer explained calmly. Her eyes flickered to him for a second before going back to Peter.

“So, you’re okay?” She whispered breathlessly. A smile made its way to his face and he shrugged.

“There’s still something missing but I’m alive.” He said smirking. Phoenix cocked her head to the side as his words registered and she blushed. She impulsively brought her hand up to the dog tags wrapped around her neck and she turned her attention away from Peter.

“I burned these-after I killed him.” She mumbled looking at the dog tags with a frown.

“You wanna talk about what happened?” Maleficent asked softly. She took the seat beside Phoenix as she waited patiently. She pursed her lips together to fight the tears she felt threatening to fall and took another drink. She nodded her head before explaining everything to them. The others could only stare at her wide-eyed as she explained everything to them and by the time she finished talking, understanding was the only feeling they could feel.

“I’m so sorry.” Maleficent said frowning. Phoenix shrugged and looked up as she swallowed down her feelings.

“What’s done is done.” She mumbled.

“So what now? You’ve been looking for me in hopes of what?” She asked looking around the group.

“To bring you home.” Kenzie said as if it was obvious.

“Home? Kenzie my home is dead.” She said incredulously.

“You have us.” Kenzie whispered, shrugging weakly. Phoenix shook her head and scoffed.

“You have a mate who loves you and wants to be with you, I’m not who you should be worried about.” She said softly.

“Why can’t I worry about both?” Kenzie shot back. Phoenix pursed her lips and took a deep breath.

“I love you-I do but no, Kenzie you are all supposed to be happy, not worried about me.” She said shaking her head.

“Phoenix-”

“Kenzie, I’m going to be okay.” She said offering her a small smile. Kenzie pursed her lips together and shook her head as tears filled her eyes. Phoenix stood up and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

“You’ll be okay.” She whispered, rubbing her back.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Kenzie.” Phoenix said with a small smile. They pulled away from each other only to embrace each other again. Phoenix pulled away and frowned slightly at the tears on Kenzie’s cheeks. She gave her a warm smile before wiping them away. Kenzie smiled sadly before walking into Luca’s arms and burying her face into his neck. Luca smiled at her which she wholeheartedly returned.

“I’m sorry. I know you were best friends.” She whispered softly.

“At a point he was, the person he became wasn’t my best friend.” Luca said shrugging. Phoenix pursed her lips and swallowed back the lump forming in her throat. Alex walked up to her and gave her a small smile.

“You have me.” He said shrugging.

“I know.” She whispered nodding. She smiled and hugged him tightly. They separated and Phoenix turned her attention to Kim. She smiled warmly and hugged her.

“Take care of him.” She whispered.

“I will.” Kim promised walking up to Alex. He wrapped his hand around her and Phoenix couldn’t help but smile at the pair. She turned to look at Mal and Peter and pursed her lips again.

“I don’t want to say goodbye not again.” Mal whispered, as her eyes filled with tears. Phoenix smiled sadly and nodded her head.

“Me neither.” She said softly. She pulled Mal into her and hugged her tightly.

“I love you so much Mal.” She said rubbing her back as Mal started shaking.

“I don’t want you to go.” Mal whimpered. Phoenix felt her heart clench as she realized she hadn’t seen Mal like this in a long time. Her grip tightened and she sniffled alerting her of the tears running down her own cheeks.

“Why don’t you come back with us?” Peter suggested looking between the two. Phoenix chewed her bottom lip and looked at Mal who was staring at her hopefully.

“I-”

“Peter, tell her how you feel.” Maleficent pleaded cutting Phoenix off. She pursed her lips and shyly looked up at Peter. He blushed and stared at Maleficent wide-eyed. She shrugged and looked at him helplessly. He took a deep breath before painting a smirk on his face and turning his attention back to Phoenix.

“Dance with me?” He asked holding his hand out. Phoenix flushed and slowly nodded before taking his hand. He smiled before leading her to the dance floor. The song changed to ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ by Elvis Presley and they turned to see Maleficent watching them with a smirk and her green eyes showing. The room burst into groans but the noise quickly drowned out when Peter wrapped his arm around Phoenix’s waist and pulled her flush against him. He put his forehead against her own and started singing softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and fought the urge to step on her tippy toes and press her lips against his own.

“Before you died I was going to propose. This was the song I was going to propose to.” He said making Phoenix’s breath hitch.

“You wanted to marry me?” Phoenix asked swallowing the lump forming in her throat. Peter frowned and let his eyes drop to her lips for a second before looking back in her eyes.

“I still do.” He said softly. Phoenix froze and stared at him wide-eyed. Her heart screamed at her to say something but her head fought strongly against it, reminding her of the fact that she’d killed Mateo 12 months ago.

“I know what you’re thinking and I wouldn’t do what he did to you. I just want a chance to prove it to you.” He said taking her face in his hands. Her chest started hurting from how hard her heart was pounding and her eyes filled with tears. She slowly brought her hands up to Peter’s and closed her eyes trying to commit this moment to memory.

“I can’t.” She croaked. She gently took his hands from her face before turning and walking away ignoring whatever he was going to say. She walked outside and took a deep breath forcing the cool air into her burning lungs. She let out a scream of frustration and angrily ran her hands through her hair as her body shook with a sob.

“No.” Peter said walking outside the club. She turned to face him and frowned.

“No?” She asked wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“You don’t get to push me away. I stayed with you while you died, when you asked me for help I turned on my best friend to do just that, I went with you to that stupid wedding where we had to wear those horrendous outfits and the whole time-the whole time all I could think about was doing it-all of it with you. Katarina-Phoenix whoever you are I love you and I am not letting you push me away. You want me gone fine but I need you to look me in my eyes and tell me that you don’t love me first.” He said walking up to her. He stopped directly in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at her expectantly.

“The outfits were horrendous.” She whispered, giggling breathlessly at the memory.

“I’ve missed that sound.” He said smiling distantly.

“Peter.” She started, shaking her head.

“I just want to be there for you, please let me be there for you.” He said, taking her face in his hands. His eyes were sad but hopeful and Phoenix’s heart broke as she looked into them.

“Okay.” She whispered with a small smile. He lit up and smiled brightly.

“Okay.” He said nodding slightly. He started to pull away and she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it bring his lips down to hers.

“I’d love to marry you.” She said smiling.

“I think you need time you get over Mateo.” He said with a sad smile.

“I left for a year, what’d you think I was doing? I’m grieved out. It’s like Luca said the person he became wasn’t who I fell in love with. These dog tags are meant to remind me of who he was before.” She whispered shrugging. He stared at her as he studied her trying to replace any cause for doubt before a face-splitting grin appeared on his face.

“I love you.” He mumbled before pressing his lips against her own. Maleficent and the others started cheering as they looked at the pair. They pulled away and Phoenix blushed deeply.

“I’m going with Peter and Maleficent.” She said looking around the group.

“We know just come get us for the wedding and you know don’t forget about us.” Kenzie said smiling sadly. Phoenix smiled brightly and nodded.

“I couldn’t if I tried.” She said softly. Kenzie’s smile brightened and she looked the group over one last time. Lucifer stepped forward and took Maleficent’s hand. Phoenix smiled brightly as she looked between them and nodded her head in approval earning a sigh of relief from Maleficent.

“I’m coming. I can run hell from anywhere.” Lucifer said smirking.

“I’ll see you soon.” She said smiling sadly.

“See you soon.” Kenzie whispered as Phoenix and the others disappeared. They landed safely in Fairytale world only to be surrounded by bandits. Phoenix smirked as she studied them and turned to face Maleficent.

“Just like old times?” Maleficent asked keeping her eyes on the bandits.

“Just like old times.” Phoenix said smirking. She quickly kissed Peter before they each split up.

They didn’t know it then but that was the moment Phoenix and Katarina became one person, the moment Phoenix decided she deserved to be loved and she didn’t want anybody else besides Peter by her side. Even while fighting they kept sneaking glances towards each other as if to make sure the other was okay. Phoenix felt the dog tags around her neck and she couldn’t help but smile. She was finally getting her Happily Ever After.

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~FIN~

Wooooow. I wrote a three-book series and I am so proud of myself. I have never been proud of my writing and when I first started out I would've bet anything that nobody would read my books and here I am. Thank you all so much, I love you.