Hey everyone! This is my first ever fanfiction, so I hope it's not too bad. I wasn't entirely happy with the way Epic ended, so I decided to write a sort of epilogue. this is a ONE-SHOT, though it is very long. Almost 11 pages:) in my mind, M.K was 17 when the movie happened so she is twenty-one in my fic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! O yeah, I don't own Epic, the charcters or the book it's based on!

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M.K sighed softly as she turned the page of her novel. She was about half way through the thick book and still she didn't really know what was happening. That can of course be contributed to her thoughts wandering off to a certain Leafman. It had been four years since the incident with the pod and she still saw Nod regularly. They had become best friends, tentative lovers and had gotten even closer after many years of adventures through the forest. Her father had written a book about the forest guardians, complete with drawings she helped him perfect. Most of the forest dwellers had met her father, though there was still the odd one or two that was a bit unsure about Stompers invading their territory.

M.K sighed again and rolled her eyes as she snapped the book shut. Might as well give it up as a lost cause, her thoughts kept wandering away into the green forest filled with life. She heaved her body up from the couch and walked over to her father's monitors. Searching the images for a glimpse of her friends, she could see nothing but the odd walking dandelion or flitting bird through the leaves. Grabbing her weird but incredibly useful helmet which enabled her to understand her leafy friends, she grabbed her backpack and walked to the door.

"Dad, I'm going out!" No need to specify, her father knew the only place she ever went is the woods.

"All right Mary-Katherine! See if you can bring back some of that fascinating-" She closed the door and her father's voice faded away. If she took requests from him, she'll never be able to get going. Besides, he's just as much capable as her to go get whatever he wants this time. She smiled as she thought of her excitable scientist of a father. Even after a lifetime of searching for evidence and four years of actually meeting and talking to the forest dwellers, he was still passionate about learning everything there is to know. Pulling her helmet on, she jogged into the forest, keeping a keen eye on the sky in search of the elusive Leafmen.

The sounds of the forest invaded her senses from all around her and it was not the first time that she thought back to her time as an inch tall human. A sense of longing filled her. Her time with Nod was one of the most exciting times in her life. Ignoring the fact that they were fighting for their lives and the life of the forest against Boggans and their leader called Mandrake, her time as a tiny human was one of her happiest memories. Sure, she had wanted to be turned back to normal, but there was also that small niggling voice in the back of her mind that said she could stay with Nod if she didn't return. In the end, the choice was taken out of her hands by the new Queen, who turned her back to her normal size as her first act of becoming Queen.

Since then she and Nod had been seeing each other regularly, but it wasn't the same. They could never again ride a deer together, where she first started to fall in love with Nod. The forest was still beautiful to her, but not as magically overwhelming as it was when she was an intimate part of it. M.K paused and stared sightlessly towards the bark of a tree in front of her, overcome by sadness. A sudden humming in her right ear snapped her out of her reverie and she turned to see a small green hummingbird. On the hummingbird was the most peculiar sight. It was a snail, complete with a Leafman helmet and specialized green armour over his delicate shell.

"Hi Grub. How are things in the forest? Been watching over it?" Grub puffed up his chest (as much as a snail could) and replied proudly,

"Of course! As a Leafman, it is my duty to watch over the forest and I have. I guess you want to see Nod, am I right."

"Yeah, you're right" M.K replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with a smile.

"He's at Moonhaven, training new recruits along with Ronin." And with those words and a dignified smile, Grub flew off, to keep watch over the forest, M.K assumed. M.K turned in the direction of Moonhaven and continued her journey, making sure she was careful where she stepped, you never knew if it was an ordinary flower or one of her small friends. Finally she rounded the bend and spied Moonhaven, standing proudly with the small (to her) pond spread out in front of it. She saw a group of sprouting recruits doing aerial manoeuvres with Nod in the lead. Typically, Nod had to make sure his soldiers could fly well, if not as magnificently as he could. For a moment she just stood there watching them, longing spearing her heart again. She loved Nod dearly, but their size difference was a big obstacle in their relationship and she wasn't sure how realistic she was being, staying with him.

As she watched, a hummingbird broke off towards the end of the group and started to tumble around wildly, clearly out of control, heading straight for the sharp rocks around her. Lurching forward, she gentle grabbed it and pulled it closer to her face. She saw a dazed sproutling rubbing his head, while the bird ruffled its feathers and shook its head. The sproutling glanced at her, his eyes wide and then he smiled shyly. Another leafman landed on her cupped hands-wait, scratch that, it was a leafwoman.

"Wistar, what in the name of Queen Tara are you doing?" The sproutling smiled sheepishly at the enraged Leafwoman.

"Sorry, Acacia, I don't know what happened, I just lost control. Maybe humbug here clipped her wing with another bird." Wistar glared balefully at his bird, which huffed and threw him off, flying off huffily to an overhead tree, settling on a branch.

'Don't blame the bird for your mistake. A bird is only as good as his rider. Come on, get on, you need to apologise. I'm so sorry for the trouble M.K! Thank you for helping this idiot."

"No problem Acacia, it's nothing." She watched amusedly as Acacia elbowed the future Leafman behind her, who grunted and then looked up at me charmingly.

"Thank you M.K" M.K smiled as Nod's second-in-command and his trainee flew off to the hummingbird sulking on the branch near me.

"M.K!" The girl turned towards the yell and saw Nod signal the rest of his trainee's to land while he flew towards her.

"Hey Nod. How are the trainee's faring? They look pretty good." M.K smiled and laughed as Nod started gesturing excitedly and telling her about all the misadventures he's had with adventurous recruits biting off more than they could chew. Suddenly a new voice cut into Nod's tale of a self-important Leafman-to-be who tried to take on a chipmunk on his own.

"If I remember correctly, you used to be that self-important Leafman"

"Hi, Ronin." M.K turned towards the leader of the Leafmen. He has been training Nod to take over his position in a few years, but he still looked the same as when she first met him.

"Good Morning M.K. how are you and Bomba doing?" She smiled again and assured him they are all doing well, including Ozzie, who was with her father so far since this morning early. Ronin turned to address Nod.

"I'll take over training for the day, so that you and M.K can catch up." Nod smiled gratefully and sped off towards Moonhaven to get rid of his armour. M.K received a nod from Ronin, who then turned and flew back to the recruits waiting for him. After a while she saw Nod running and jumping his way back towards her, wearing his casual clothes. He landed on her outstretched hand and showed the human girl in the direction to walk. As they walked, he chatted and boasted about all the things he has been up to, the studies and development of the young flower Queen, as well as recent adventures. It has been a week since they last saw each other, as Nod had to take his Leafmen on a patrol at the edge of the swamp, to ensure that the remaining few Boggans didn't cause trouble. Luckily, without someone to lead them, they didn't get up too much. Since Mandrake died, they have been relatively quiet, only a few small skirmishes breaking out.

"So, what have you been going the last few days?" Nod suddenly asked.

"Not much. I tried reading a new book, but I didn't get far. I went into town yesterday and met some new people, but otherwise nothing exciting really." M.K turned to watch the ground, as she was walking through the daisy field, making sure there was nothing in her way. Luckily to the small inhabitants of the forest, a stomper like her was rather loud and slow, so they had plenty of time to get out of the way. As she walked, she noticed a lot of the females around her lounging on flowers, were waving and batting their eyelashes at Nod. Nod smiled and waved cheekily back to them, blowing kisses. M.K watched as they swooned and giggled.

The pain in her chest intensified. It wasn't that she believed that Nod would cheat on her, but rather that by staying with him; she took away so many options, from him and from her. No children, no kisses, no real hugs, no nothing. They could talk sure, but it either had to be through a camera screen or with her wearing this ridiculous helmet. M.K sighed sadly. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Her mind had been occupied lately and when she went into town yesterday and realised how cut off she became from her own world, she reached a decision.

"Nod, we need to talk. Where can we go that it would be private?" Nod abruptly stopped waving and turned to look at her curiously, which quickly turned to alarm when he saw something in her eyes that alarmed him. He pointed subdued in the direction of the big waterfall, where their conversation would be masked, not to mention that an owl lived near there, so the little forest people avoided that spot.

M.K walked quickly and after fifteen minutes we reached the waterfall. She settled on a big rock and pulled her knees up, winding her arms around them. Nod jumped onto M.K's knee, and sat cross-legged, waiting for her to speak with a worried expression. She looked away after a minute and cleared her throat, trying to swallow the tears that were threatening to spill over her cheeks. Thank goodness she was wearing the helmet, as it masked the tell-tale shiny quality in her eyes.

"Nod, I like you very much and I enjoy spending time with you so much. But things can't stay this way. I'm keeping you back from experiencing life in the fullest. It can't be nice to know that you will never have a family of your own if you stay with me, that we will never be able to love each other like other couples do. That some things will be forever barred to you if we continue like this," M.K swallowed noisily, before she continued, "I want more Nod. I want to be able to have children with the one love. I want to spend every day with him, to wake up with him next to me, to kiss him good morning, to have adventures with him, to hug him, to take his hand…" She trailed off, looking anywhere but at Nod, desperately trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing for both of them. After she pulled herself together and still heard nothing from her boyfriend, she turned back. The heartbreakingly expression on his face almost made her take back what she said.

"Wha- but M.K… you...I can't…we belong toge… you're leaving…" Nod's words were incoherent and when M.K nodded with a hitch in her breath, Nod shoulders seemed to slump and all the life went out of him. He stared unseeingly at her and M.K took a deep ragged breath.

"I'm sorry Nod. But I want you to actually live-and experience-all that you can. A …lasting relationship… between a human and a Leafman isn't… realistic. We can be friends, but it isn't possible to be… romantically together." The tears threatened even more viciously and it took all of M.K's power to hold herself together. She saw Nod dazedly standing up.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered and saw Nod clench his jaw. He gave a jerky nod, and then he was gone, moving too fast for her to see him. M.K finally broke and a tear slipped over her cheek, rolling over her cheek and dripping on her legs. It was followed by another and another, till she was sobbing raggedly into her legs, clenching her arms tight and falling over, balling as tight as she could into the foetal position. Her helmet rolled off and her body shook as she continued crying. She wasn't sure how long she cried, but finally she drifted off to sleep.

It was sunset when she woke with a high-pitched squeaking in her ear. She tiredly opened her eyes and saw Ronin standing before her. He was saying something, but it was too fast for her to decipher. She felt a gaping and agonized hole inside her, where her heart used to be and chose to ignore the gesturing of Ronin, choosing to return to the oblivion of sleep.

A short while later she was woken again by someone crouching next to her.

"Mary-Katherine. Wake up." A voice filtered through the sleepy haze she was surrounded with and prying her eyes open, she saw the face of her father swimming in front of her. Blinking a few times, she realised Ronin was on his hummingbird next to her father. She assumed he had led her father to her, as she knew there was no camera's in this area.

"Come on, Mary-Katherine. Let's go home." He bent to help her up, but before he could, a frantic Leafman flew up to Ronin and gestured and chattered wildly. Ronin blanched and barked something, flying off. As the other Leafman turned to follow him, a feeling of dread filled M.K.

"Wait!" She cried out and the Leafman paused. Scrabbling for her helmet, she jammed it on her head and turned to the tiny soldier.

"What happened?" She asked, the feeling of dread not leaving her. The Leafman turned to her fully.

"When Nod returned after his talk with you late this afternoon, he told Ronin what happened. More like yelled it after Ronin pestered him about his mood. He then disappeared. Ronin, after reassuring the Queen who heard the ruckus, came to look for you. Shortly after Ronin left, some of the swamp patrol came back and told us Nod entered the Swamp on his own. Even if most of the Boggans died, it doesn't mean that they aren't extremely dangerous to a lone Leafman. We are leaving now to get him back." With that, the Leafman sped off and M.K ripped the helmet off her head, turning to her father with a tortured gaze. Bomba had just taken off his own helmet and gazed worriedly at M.K.

"Dad… I have to help him…"

"Mary-Katherine, what happened between you two this morning?" Bomba asked carefully. Ronin had told him that his daughter and Nod had a falling out, but hadn't mentioned details.

"I…broke up with him… the size-difference is too big. We'll never have a normal life together. Well, as normal as it can get being a Leafman." M.K replied with a hitch in her voice, a tear rolling down her cheek and a sad smile on her face. Bomba quietly observed his daughter pulling herself together before she turned to him with a fierce and determined expression.

"We may not be together anymore, but I still care for hm. I'm going to go help." And with that Bomba watched sadly as his daughter ran off, knowing in his heart that she belonged with Nod, that she loved him like he had loved her mother. With that thought in mind, he set of towards Moonhaven, determined to help his daughter find happiness.

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M.K ran, her legs burning and she panted jaggedly. Her mind was turning in circles, each time coming back to the point that Nod was in danger and that they ended on a bad note. A new burst of speed surged through her as she thought of Nod dying. She could hear a high-pitched commotion through the trees in front of her and erupted through them, stopping to take in the scene and get her breath back. Leafmen were everywhere, involved in a chaotic fight with the Boggans. She squinted through the swarm of bodies, bats and hummingbirds, but she couldn't find Nod and his shabby, but fast bird. Slapping a few Boggans who ventured too near her to the ground, she carefully edged through the swamp, searching for Nod and helping Leafmen along the way. The Leafmen luckily kept the Boggans too busy, so they didn't really see her as a threat until it was too late. Still she couldn't see Nod.

She waded to the centre of the boggin territory, the fighting becoming fiercer. Finally, she saw him. Fighting like a man possessed against boggan after boggan, Nod had lost his bird and was fighting on the uneven ground of the swamp. M.K could see a huge group of Boggans nearing Nod and she knew he wouldn't be able to fight them all. She tried to reach him, but the fighting was thick here and as she stepped forward without looking, she stepped right into the middle of a bog pond. The murky water swirled around her calf and the slimy sand engulfed het foot, sucking her into the bog. She pulled, but couldn't get her foot out and she snapped her head up, searching for Nod. He was fighting a group of Boggans far larger than he could handle. She looked down again and pulled desperately at her leg, trying to wrench it free of the bog which seemed determined to trap her in its murky depths.

M.K jerked her eyes back to Nod and saw him beginning to be overwhelmed.

"NOOOOD!" She heartrendingly screamed and saw his eyes flit n her direction. They made eye contact and she could see Nod was giving up. He smiled at her one last time before he disappeared beneath a pile of malicious Boggans which was growing bigger by the second. She vaguely saw Ronin wade his way to the Boggan heap, but even he and his unit of Leafmen couldn't reach Nod. Tears streamed over M.K's cheeks for the second time that day as she screamed herself hoarse, hoping Nod would somehow answer.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening.

She didn't want this.

She yanked her leg so hard it almost dislocated, and still the bog only gave her an inch. She yanked again, knowing in her heart that by the time she reached Nod, it would be too late. Still she kept pointlessly jerking at her leg, hoping for a miracle.

And a miracle arrived.

A new wave of Leafmen surged into the battle. It was the Queen's own legion, so that meant the Queen had to be here. The Leafmen quickly got the upper hand and started to batter the Boggans into submission. M.K ignored what was happening around her and slowly but steadily pulled her leg out of the bog, inch by inch. A white wave of power blasted over the swamp, pushing Boggans back and making new plants grow. A root unearthed itself next to M.K and pulled her out of the bog, setting her onto steady ground. The swamp residents scurried back underground, falling over themselves to escape the power of the forest which resided in the child Queen.

Finally everything was quiet. M.K scurried to where she could see Ronin and the Leafmen surrounding Nod. He was lying motionlessly on the ground, battered and bleeding. There were various spots of rot on his armour and most alarmingly, rot was spreading through a tear in shirt to him. M.K fell down next to him and scooped him up. Ripping the helmet off, she cradled him close as she cried.

"Nod. Nod! Wake up! Come on you silly Leafman! You always said Boggans were no match for you! That you could handle them! Wake UP Nod!" He didn't move as his body lay limply in her hands, her tears falling on him.

NO! Nononononononono, this couldn't be happening. She loved him! Her brain froze as she comprehended her thoughts and then she realised it was true. She had always held back a small part of her, the part that feared things wouldn't work out between them, just like they didn't work out between her mom and dad. The part that thought they could never make a relationship work, seeing as they were completely different species. That part had always held her back from recognizing her love for Nod. That part was forgotten and discarded n the possibility of Nod's death. She realised the difference didn't matter. As long as Nod continued living, she would be happy.

Feeling a small hand on her finger, M.K looked up to the child Queen standing on a root in front of her. Reaching out her hand, she scrunched up her nose, narrowed her eyes and touched the rot on Nod's body. For a moment nothing happened and then slowly, the rot started receding. Luckily the rot hasn't spread far or to a critical place and so the Queen could heal Nod to an extent. M.K turned her eyes back to Nod after the Queen smiled to her and saw him breathing deeply. His eyes slowly fluttered open and as his drowsy gaze fell on her, he smiled softly. M.K sobbed and smiled gently back at him through her tears. He said something incomprehensible and she realised she had taken off her helmet. Quickly locating it, she put it back on and brought her hands closer to her.

"I love you." Nod said weakly, putting his hand on her finger. She smiled painfully.

"I love you too." She felt her hair lift in the wind and tugging at her clothing. Wait; there wasn't any wind a moment ago. She looked up and saw leaves blowing in a wind that was getting stronger and stronger, seeming to not affect the Leafmen around her. She hurried put Nod down next to Ronin and stood, straining against the wind. Just as she was beginning to lift off the ground, big hands captured her own. She looked up into her father's face. He smiled gently at her and pulled her in for a hug.

"Mary-Katherine, you are happy with Nod. You two make each other happy. The Queen saw that and has decided to grant you one wish. What is your wish?" He whispered softly in her ear. She gazed into her father's eyes and tears leaked out of her eyes, but she smiled happily.

"To be with Nod completely…"

And with those words, she was wrenched from her father's grasp, into the air and she blacked out.

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"Uuugh…" M.K groaned as she rubbed her pounding head. What happened to give her such a headache? She tried to open her eyes, but bright light assaulted them and she hurriedly closed them. Peering through her eyelashes, she looked around the room she was lying in. It had a wooden floor and walls. She could see bright green curtains hanging over the windows. Wait…

That wasn't curtains. It was leaves. Suddenly M.K was wide awake. She sat up and looked around at what was obviously a hollow in a tree.

"Wha…" She was cut off as Ronin entered the room. He smiled at her and helped her up from the bed she was sitting in.

"You're looking better I see. How s your head feeling"

"Um… a bit sore, but I'm fine otherwise. Ronin, what's going on?" She asked confusedly.

"Well, the Queen decided to grant you one wish, if it was within her power, because you helped us four years ago, even when you didn't have too and because Nod is her future leader of the Leafmen. Apparently, your wish was to be with Nod. So she granted it the only way she knew how. By making you one of us." He looked her up and down and M.K realised for the first time that she wasn't wearing her usual clothes. Her usual human clothes. Instead, her clothes were made from leaves and flowers. M.K's shirt was a leafy green long-sleeved shirt that flared at her hips. There was a gap at her shoulders, so that they were essentially bare and the sleeves only connected at the top of her shirt. The sleeves flared open at her elbows, billowing if she moved. Her skirt was this extra small petals of light pink flowers, the pink becoming darker as it reached her waist. There was a white trim all around and dark pink spots on it. She had green leggings on underneath and some sort of flexible, but comfortable green boots on her feet.

"The flower for your skirt is called the Lilium Stargazer. It's a special sort we grow smaller than the original lily, so that it can be used for clothes. The Queen demanded that yours be made from that flower." After she threw him an inquisitive look, he held up his hands, as if saying 'don't ask me, I don't know what the Queens reasoning is.' M.K twirled and watched as her clothes flared, but she stopped abruptly as a thought wormed its way into her mind and the full events of that night made themselves known.

"Nod!" She gasped, turning to Ronin. He grinned and gestured to the door. M.K rushed to the door, parting the leaves hanging in front of the opening. It opened into a small stone courtyard and in the middle of the courtyard, watching the lake spread out before him, stood Nod. His back was turned towards her and he evidently didn't hear her, as he didn't react when she hesitated at the doorway. What if he didn't want her anymore? What if she had hurt him too much and he had changed his mind about loving her. She may be twenty-one, but she still had doubts about herself-to an extent.

"Nod…" She breathed shakily. This time he heard her. He whirled around and a huge grin graced his face.

"M.K!" All doubt was erased from her mind and she rushed forward, meeting Nod halfway and flinging her arms around him. A slightly-taller-than-her him. She sighed out in contentment at actually being held by him. It has been exactly four years and five months since he last held her. She felt his hand slip under her chin and lift her face to gaze into her eyes. Adoration shined in his loving gaze and she smiled blindingly. How could she ever have doubted him? He pulled her closer and her lips met for the second time ever. Lights exploded behind her eyes at the feeling of his soft, warm lips against hers. The last thought she had before her mind became blank with sensation, was that this was where she belonged. Forever.

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Sooo, I hope you enjoyed it! Just to clarify something, when the Queen turned M.K into one of 'them', she turned her in all aspects. Meaning she also got their lifespan etc. I know the lily I'm speaking of is a lot bigger than they are, but it's such a beautiful flower, that I wanted to use it. And as it is my fiction, I just decide to make it smaller. I am also considering writing a short epilogue to my epilogue (if that makes sense), but I'm not going to do it if you don't want me to, so let me know what you think. Yes, that means reviews! XD Flames is also welcome, if you felt I could have done better:)