It took them three whole days and nights to reach the lake's shore, but it was a much more comfortable journey now that Hans, Louise and Rosalind were accompanied by the two butterflies, Roza, and Roslav, who were all capable of producing anything they needed by their magic. Poor Rolo was still without his wand, like Rosalind.

The moment they finally landed, or better, collapsed exhaustedly on the water's edge, Garrett jumped out from behind the reeds, and Marigold pushed her head through the lake's surface.

"Roo-sa-lind! Princess Roo-sa-lind, you are back!" the Captain croaked as he pulled his best friend in a dripping wet embrace, while Marigold splashed Hans and Louise happily from the lake.

Blue laughed, pointing his wand first at the two of them, then at Rosalind, drying them all up in moments.

The Butterfly Fairy boy did look happy, Hans mused, observing him. He just needed to recall Rosalind now... They only had tonight and the following day left for Blue to remember, and for Hans to remain in Terra Sonalis. Then, he would have to swim through the lake and return home. Their time was nearly up.

Instead of heading to the Rose Castle where Rosalind would have to face her strict and most likely furious parents, the group of friends decided to spend the rest of their time together by the lake.

While the Rose Elves prepared their place to sleep under the nearby willow tree and the tired travellers bathed and washed their clothes in the lake, the news of their arrival spread from the shore across the meadow, and all the way to the Rose Garden.

As they sat down to eat, the small group was joined by several of Rosalind's Flower Fairy friends, Amarylisa and Aspen, and even Rosabea and Rosland. They all insisted on spending the night by the lake with them, hoping that their presence would help Blue, who recognised all of them, to finally recall his and Rosalind's past.

Once he had finished eating, Hans let Rosalind and Louise recount their adventures to the others and stole away from the loud, cheerful company, vanishing behind the long, silvery-green branches of the willow tree unnoticed.

From there, he observed Louise. She looked so happy and full of life, with her shiny, long wings fluttering excitedly while she spoke. With those graceful wings and dressed again in her perfectly clean, white, and red gown, she was as breathtakingly beautiful as any other Flower Fairy present. More, he corrected himself, frowning, when he noticed the regal Rosland clad in ochre and gold, watching her every move. The Rose Fairy boy seemed to be as intrigued by Louise as Blue was by Rosalind. And Louise belonged to them, Hans thought sadly, she had become an inseparable part of Terra Sonalis the instant she had been given that pair of wings by the wise owl...

Louise, suddenly noticing his absence, turned around, and as if drawn by his look, her eyes found him sitting hidden behind the veil of willow branches rippling in the summer evening's breeze.

The moment when no one was looking at her, she reached her friend in his hideout, and there they stayed the entire night, the two of them alone.

"I'll miss you, Louise," Hans whispered once she was sleeping, as he pulled a blanket higher over her shoulders.

Unlike Louise, he couldn't fall asleep for a long time, so when they were woken up late in the morning by the unexpected hustle and bustle caused by the unannounced arrival of Queen Rosamunde and King Rosario, Hans felt as tired and confused as if he had not slept at all.

Apparently, the news of their daughter's arrival and her camping by the lake in dubious company instead of heading directly home as a good, royal daughter was expected to do, reached their majesties overnight.

"Rosalind Thorne, what are you wearing for goodness' sake?" the Fairy Queen exclaimed indignantly, pointing her wand at her daughter, who tried to free herself from Blue's arms and scramble to her feet from their nest of blankets.

They all watched in awe as the Princess' azure gown morphed back into the ruby red dress she had worn the day when Hans and Louise found her stuck in the spider web in the park keeper's shed.

Several muffled goodmornings and goodbyes broke the stunned silence, and when Hans and Louise stood up and walked bravely to Rosalind and Blue, they noticed that the Rose Queen's fury had scattered most of Rosalind's friends. Now, there were just the four of them, Roslav, Celeste, the two Rose Elves, and Orangebeak on the lake's bank.

"You are coming home with us, young lady. Right now," the Queen ordered.

"No, Mother. Not until I take my friend home," Rosalind said, glancing at Hans, "and definitely not before you promise me that Blue can stay in our castle as long as he wants to. Or I will go back with him to their camp."

"Rosario, say something!" the queen addressed her husband, desperation seeping through her voice. She didn't seem to like that her daughter was listing her conditions, but she apparently liked even less the notion of her joining the butterflies on their endless journeys.

"Well, I don't see why he should not stay. I just want you to come back home, Rosalind..." the Rose King said calmly, smiling at his daughter as he embraced her and kissed her swiftly on her forehead. "You are a brave girl," he whispered in her ear before he turned and spoke to the rest of them, "You are all welcome in the Rose Castle."

"But..." Queen Rosamunde protested as she let her husband lace his arm through hers and lead her away.

"No buts, Rosamunde, your ways have never worked with her..." the friends heard the king say, as they watched the royal couple spread their wings and fly back home.

As soon as they were gone, Rosalind's knees trembled, and she would have fallen to the ground if Blue's arm wasn't wrapped around her waist.

"I... I thought they would banish you again..." the Rose Fairy whispered, cupping his face in her hands as her eyes filled with tears. And this time, when she saw his eyebrows knit with surprise because he did not know what she was talking about, she could not suppress them.

Rosalind leaned her forehead against his chest and wept all those tears she had been holding back for so long. And as if her tears falling over the forgetful butterfly's heart were the strongest magic potion, melting the last shard of the Snow Queen's mirror buried deep within, his face changed, lit up with a sudden realisation. Blue put his hand under Rosalind's chin and lifted her face to see her eyes as he exclaimed, "We... wanted to get married... I love you, Rosalind!"

That's my cue, Hans thought, feeling happy for Rosalind and Blue, but sad at the same time because he had to leave. He wrapped his arm around Louise's shoulders and was just about to ask Rosalind to take him back home when the Rose Fairy, apparently following their thoughts, spoke to Louise, "It's now or never."

Louise blushed, and as she nodded, everyone suddenly disappeared somewhere, pretending to have something important to do.

Hans glanced around, puzzled by their friends' strange behaviour, but Louise cupped his face in her hands, making him look into her eyes.

"Hans, back then, in that shed... I knew we did not have much time left and... I... wanted you to kiss me, just once..."

Hans nodded. He wanted it too, and not only then. But without her saying it out loud, he would have never gathered enough courage... So, trying not to overthink it, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Louise's.

For an instant, everything around them vanished, and there were just the two of them alone, in a bright place where their past was happier than what it had really been, and their future would be exactly as delightful as they would design it together.

Sadly, their dream didn't last longer than a few heartbeats. Too soon, they were called back to reality by Rosalind's voice, reminding them that it was time to go.

Louise and Hans opened their eyes and stared at each other for a couple of moments before, holding hands, they followed their friends closer to the shore.

Hans took his leave from Celeste, Roslav, the Rose Elves, and Orangebeak. Then, he, Louise, Rosalind, and Blue, dived into the profound, cool waters of the lake.

They swam deeper and deeper through the forest of blooming waterweed interspersed with curious, colourful fish. The instant Blue tapped the muddy bottom of the lake with his wand, Hans watched as his body grew into normal human size again, while his clothes morphed back to the threadbare shirt and trousers he had been wearing before.

As soon as Hans climbed and the others flew out of the water, Blue pointed his wand at their clothes to dry them all up.

But it was quite useless-- a clasp of thunder so loud that it seemed to make the air surrounding them shake, and a light shower of raindrops thrown at them by a sudden gust of wind, reminded them about the raging storm.

"Is this... " Hans asked.

"...the same afternoon, yes." Rosalind finished for him. "So, we have been thinking... " she continued, glancing at Louise, "that it would be easier if no one here, except for you, of course, remembered Louise. What do you think, Hans?"

Hans didn't know what to say to that. He wanted everybody to remember his Louise, but he knew that her sudden disappearance would only make their parents and friends despair. And he didn't know how to explain to anyone what had really happened...

Rosalind nodded in response to his thoughts. "This way, it will be much better. It will be as if she had never existed in this world, Hans. But not for you. We will come to visit you whenever you call us," the fairy said, pointing to the pocket of his trousers. There, he found his bird whistle, grown to a size appropriate for a human boy. "You just need to whistle," she smiled.

Hans nodded, and they all looked up and watched Blue casting a spell in the direction of the nearby town, a magic that would erase Louise forever from Hans' world.

"Take care, Hans," Rosalind said, flying close to his face and kissing him on the cheek before she joined Blue, waiting for her above the surface of the lake.

"Hans, I'll miss you," Louise whispered, looking up at him from the palm of his hand. Then, as she flew to his cheek to kiss him like Rosalind had, she added, "I'll never forget you."

"I'll never forget you either, Louise!" Hans called as he watched his three friends disappear into the water.

He stood there alone, staring at the surface of the lake whipped into ripples by the wind and raindrops, lost in thoughts and memories, until another clasp of thunder disturbed his reverie and it started to rain so hard that he was drenched again before he reached the park keeper's shed.

Quickly, Hans put his old, ill-fitting shoes back on and collected all the things they had left there before-- the gingham blanket, his jacket and the large book, and Louise's bonnet, the only trace of her left in his world. Then he ran home through the downpour, as fast as he could.

Three years later.

"You are not going fishing again, are you? We eat nothing but fish whenever you come home from school," Hans' mother teased, smiling at him.

"That's most likely better than what you eat when I'm not at home," the tall young man replied, kissing her on her wrinkled cheek.

As he walked across the small kitchen towards the front door, to grab his jacket and the fishing rod hanging on the wall behind it, he let his mind stroll towards Terra Sonalis and those of its inhabitants whom he was about to see now, after many months spent at school, too far from Odense to visit his mother and stepfather more than a couple of times a year.

It was also too distant for his friends from across the lake to visit him there. Only Orangebeak and a few adventurous butterflies dared to fly so far, and his news about the enchanted world beyond the Odense park's lake was sporadic and old. He missed that place, he missed it greatly, mainly because he missed his Louise.

But today, he would see her again. It wasn't fishing really that he liked so much, it was the lake and those whom it was hiding that he couldn't keep away from, but his mum did not need to know that, he thought, checking the pockets of his trousers for his bird whistle.

As he pulled his cap on and put his hand on the door handle, his mother called him back.

"I nearly forgot, look what I found inside that fish you brought the other time, I saved it for you... Where did I put it?" she mused, rummaging through a drawer. "Oh, here it is. You like all sorts of strange things..." the woman added, passing him a small shard of mirror.

Smiling to himself, he took it from her carefully and put it in his pocket, next to the bird whistle.

Who knows what Rosalind will say when he shows it to her, this might well be the shard she had lost when they first met... Hans thought, squinting against the sunshine as he finally walked outside and headed swiftly down the cobbled lane where their small house stood towards the town's park.