The girls descended on Cornelia, hugging her and murmuring words of comfort. Will didn't know what to do, she had never seen Cornelia like this before, and, judging from their faces, neither had any of the other girls. The crying nurse had turned when she heard Cornelia hit the floor, and, shooting Irma a Take-care-of-her-for-a-second look, Will stood to talk to the nurse.

"What's happened here?" She asked.

"The captain died. Just last night. Result of the fight a few days ago. Guardians weren't fast enough I s'ppose…" The nurse could have no idea how much those words ripped us, most especially, Cornelia, apart. Hearing this, Cornelia stood. Will looked at her expectantly, hoping she was about to give the nurse a famous Cornelia Hale lashing and defend herself and the rest of the girls.

"Change me, Will," in a broken voice was all Will got. "Change me now, please." Against her better judgment, Will obeyed. As soon as Cornelia had completed her transformation, she soared out the open window.

"Cornelia-wait!" came a voice Will didn't expect to hear. It was Geoffry, the boy she had been dancing with at Cornelia's party. Cornelia was long gone. Who knew she could fly so well? Geoffry hurried into the infirmary, pausing a moment to catch his breath.

"It wasn't Caleb who died," he explained. "My father was a captain in the Queen's army-he died last night-" Will and the girls interrupted with condolences.

"No, it's not your fault, and he fought bravely. You guys did all you could. But Caleb is fine. He and her Majesty the Queen just folded to Earth, actually to tell you all the news. Queen Elyon felt you should be told in person, I guess, and she thought it was important for Caleb to be there," he finished.

"OMG! Thank you sooo much! Guys we have to tell Cornelia! Oh! And sorry about your dad, Geoffry!" Hay Lin said all in one breath, leaving Geoffry (who was unused to Hay Lin's enthusiasm) slightly confused.

Just then, they saw a flash of blueish light from the hallway. Hurrying out the door, W.I.T.H. collided into Elyon and Caleb, who fell over.

"HAHA! Weakling!" Irma laughed, as Will helped him up and gave him a sisterly hug.

"We're glad your ok, Caleb. We thought you had died," she said.

"Where's Cornelia?" Caleb asked, slightly disappointed that she wasn't there to see him. "We folded to the Silver Dragon but Hay Lin's grandma told us you guys had just left for here. Did Cornelia not come?" he expanded.

"She came, but then the nurse told us that someone had died and she thought it was you and begged Will to change her so she could fly into the night," Irma explained bluntly, irrationally angry at Caleb for reducing her strong friend to a sobbing mess for no good reason.

"You didn't do it thought, did you Will?" Elyon half begged, have assumed. Will hung her head. "Ugh," Elyon groaned.

After a few moments discussion, it was decided that the girls would transform and, with Elyon's help, fly in search of Cornelia. Caleb demanded to come, but Elyon ordered him to stay in bed; he was weak enough still, as it was.

Once the girls had begun their search, Caleb (of course!) snuck out of the palace in search of his blonde little fairy princess. For you see, he knew something the rest of them didn't know: there was a meadow, surrounded by trees, just a few minutes from the castle, that Cornelia loved. Caleb set off for the meadow. He could, of course, have just told the girls about the meadow, but he wanted to find Cornelia himself.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Cornelia was sitting, knees pulled to chest, head in arms, crying. She heard some leaves crunch behind her, but couldn't find the energy to lift her head and see who would dare approach a seriously depressed/angry at the world Earth Guardian. Then, whoever it was spoke, and she stood up so fast, she didn't even realize she had moved.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Caleb walked towards the meadow. As he passed the last trees, he saw Cornelia in her guardian form, her glorious blonde hair strewn about her.

"Cornelia? Cornelia, are you ok?" he asked. She moved quickly and was standing up before he had a chance to blink. She looked him in the eye and he could see by her red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks that she had been crying, for a while now.

"You-You can't be here….you died!" she said, as though trying to convince herself that she wasn't hallucinating.

"No, I didn't," he reassured her softly. "I'm right here. It was another Captain who died last night (a good man, too) but me and Elyon were just going to tell you and the other girls that I was fine," he explained. She looked at him incredulously for a moment, as if trying to decide if what she saw and heard was true. After a second of indecision, she seemed to make a choice:

"Caleb! I can't believe it! I thought you were dead, that we hadn't gotten to you in time. It almost killed me, Caleb-" she ranted, throwing herself in his arms. He caught her and managed, just barely, to stay on his feet.

"It's ok, Cornelia, I'm fine. But all the girls are out looking for you. They're really worried, you know!" He reprimanded gently. Suddenly, she reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"We better get back, then," she said, almost sadly.

"Yeah, we better," Caleb agreed. She offered her arms, which he accepted, and Cornelia flew them back to Elyon's castle.

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"Cornelia!"

"Caleb!"

"You're back!"

Everyone screamed and ran when Cornelia and Caleb soared through Elyon's open bedroom window. Caleb explained guiltily how he had known all along where Cornelia would be and how he had set out just after they had all left. The group laughed and talked, and WITH was amazed and gratified by the change in Cornelia. She had gone from distraught and broken to smiling and feisty once more. Will and Irma exchanged knowing smiles, when suddenly Taranee jumped up.

"Guys! It's a school night! We have to get home right away! Our parents will be worried!" Typical Taranee. The girls agreed, however, and after hugs all around for Elyon, they skipped through the portal, first Hay Lin, the Taranee, then Irma. When just Will and Cornelia were left, Will gave Caleb a one armed hug.

"I'm glad you didn't die, but if you EVER do that to us (cough-cornelia-cough) EVER again, I will personally castrate you! Bye guys!" And with a cheery wave, she hopped through the portal. Cornelia turned to say one final good bye to Elyon, and found that her Queen of a best friend had left the room. Looking up at Caleb, she laughed softly.

"Subtle, huh?" Caleb remarked.

"Yeah. Well, visit soon, I guess. With Elyon, of course," Cornelia added hastily. Then, almost a whisper: "You had me really worried, you know." Then, in a decidedly Cornelia-like action, she stood on her tip toes and kissed him, for real. He stiffened slightly with shock at first, but soon relaxed. She pulled away then, smiling softly, a lovely pink tint creeping into her cheeks, and said "See you, Caleb."

"Yeah," was all that poor boy could manage to respond. Cornelia slipped through the portal, which closed on Elyon's squeal as she reentered the room.

As Cornelia stepped gracefully into Heatherfield, she saw her four friends holding her miniature castle, good as new, with the mini-Guardians and the mini-Elyon waving up at her.

"Elyon fixed it," a deep voice explained, and Cornelia turned around to find Caleb and Elyon stepping out of a second portal. Caleb smiled, strode over to her, and caught her in a kiss.

Elyon and the girls squealed and screeched with excitement, but Cornelia just smiled and thought about what had turned out to be her favorite birthday yet.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

A/N:

OH MY GOD! I actually finished it! Tell what you think! Was the ending rushed? I hope not, but I would really appreciate if you would let me know!

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away

-When I'm 64 by: The Beatles

My little way of saying review, please! It's your last chance, after all!