Mike and Heidi immediately grabbed Patrick and Grace by their collars, dragging them away from the group.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing?!" Patrick protested.
"Hiding you two," Heidi said casually. "Before the camera man turns this into a documentary."
Ian, sniffing the air dramatically, grinned. "Something's up, and I will find out."
Angeleva, watching the chaos, chuckled softly. The group's energy was refreshing after everything they had been through.
Zack, Jen, and Olive watched curiously.
"Are they... playing a game or something?" Jen asked.
"I don't think so," Zack replied.
Olive folded her arms. "Something fishy is going on."
Meanwhile, Mike and Heidi reached a familiar spotâthe same place where Safari was resting.
Safari, leaning against a tree, sighed. He looked mentally exhausted.
Before he could react, Mike and Heidi shoved Patrick and Grace in front of him.
"Alright," Mike said, crossing his arms. "Tell us the truth. Did you really accidentally kiss?"
Patrick and Grace blinked, then turned to Safari.
"We've been looking for you!" Grace said.
Mike waved his hand dismissively. "Shut up. This is important."
Safari, completely uninterested, just stared blankly.
"We, uh..." Patrick started. "We can't just say it in front of a third person."
Mike and Heidi both waved at Safari.
"Don't worry about him. He doesn't care."
Safari yawned. "He's right. I really don't care."
Seeing no way out, Patrick and Grace admitted it.
"Yeah, it's true..." Grace mumbled.
"It... accidentally happened," Patrick added.
Mike and Heidi grinned at each other.
"Well, believe it or not..." Mike began.
"We also got our first accidental kiss from each other," Heidi finished.
Patrick and Grace's jaws dropped.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
Safari raised an eyebrow, whispering. "Okay, now I'm slightly curious."
Mike smirked. "Yeah. Hard to believe, right? At first, we hated each other. We fought all the time when we first met."
Heidi rolled her eyes. "We still fight all the time."
Mike nodded. "True. We even argued about our accidental kiss. But over time after many fateful circumstances..."
Heidi quickly cut him off, blushing slightly. "Okay, okay, stop explaining!"
She turned to Patrick and Grace. "Somehow, it turned into love. I don't know how. But yeah, believe it or not, we're technically a couple. Even though we don't look like it."
Patrick and Grace looked at each other in disbelief.
Never in their wildest dreams did they expect this outcome.
Meanwhile, Safari yawned again, leaning back against the tree.
"Huh. Neat."
Patrick had long accepted that Heidi was gone. He had mourned her, convinced that Yumeria's destruction had erased everything.
Grace had felt the same about Mike. After hearing about Mystra's fall while she was a prisoner, she had resigned herself to never seeing him again.
Yet, here they were.
And as a couple?!
Patrick and Grace shared a stunned glance.
They had once discussed what would happen if their lost friends were somehow still alive and somehow met each other.
"If they ever find themselves, they'd probably quarrel."
That part, they had gotten right.
But neverânot in a million yearsâhad they predicted this.
Patrick rubbed his eyes. "I must be dreaming."
Grace pinched herself. "Nope. Feels real."
They both stared at Mike and Heidi again, as if expecting them to suddenly say, "Just kidding."
But they didn't.
Instead, Mike adjusted his collar. "Are you two done processing?"
Heidi crossed her arms. "You guys look like you are still not able to process it."
Patrick and Grace stayed silent.
Grace let out a weak gasp before her vision spun. The shock of everythingâMike and Heidi being alive, them being a couple, the sheer absurdity of it allâwas too much.
She collapsed.
Luckily, Patrick reacted instantly, catching her in his arms.
Mike and Heidi turned their heads just in time to see Ian and the rest of the family approaching.
Heidi's eyes widened. "Oh crap. Cameraman incoming."
Mike adjusted his hat. "We need to move. Fast."
Heidi glanced at Patrick. "Get her out of here before that camera man gets a full-on romantic documentary moment."
Patrick gritted his teeth. "Damn itâfine!"
He didn't want to cause more chaos, so he carefully lifted Grace in his arms and, avoiding everyone's line of sight, rushed back toward the castle.
By the time Ian and the others arrived, Patrick and Grace were gone.
Ian squinted suspiciously. "Where did those two go?"
Mike and Heidi shrugged in sync.
Heidi casually flipped her hair. "They ran off in embarrassment before we could ask anything."
Ian nodded, completely convinced. "Classic reaction."
Jen, Olive, and Zack, however, were less interested in Patrick and Graceâbecause at that moment, they finally noticed Safari.
Olive folded her arms. "There you are."
Zack sighed in relief. "We've been looking for you!"
Mike and Heidi turned to Angeleva.
Mike smirked. "Wait... this guy? You guys actually know him?"
Angeleva nodded silently.
Heidi raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Another plot twist."
But then, both Mike and Heidi suddenly froze.
Because they remembered something.
Angeleva's last words to them before she parted ways with them in the fairy universe.
They turned back to Angeleva, their faces growing serious.
Mike narrowed his eyes. "Wait... last time we met, you told us there was a Celestic Warrior you had to kill for destroying your planet."
Heidi crossed her arms. "Yeah. So? Did you take care of that bastard?"
The moment Angeleva spoke those words, the entire family fell into stunned silence.
"The Celestic Warrior I swore to kill... was him."
Ian nearly dropped his camera.
Zack's jaw hung open.
Jen froze in disbelief.
Olive's expression darkened.
Safari, however, remained calm.
He met Angeleva's gaze, unflinching. "I can say the same about you."
The tension was suffocating.
Mike and Heidi felt something was off. Heidi clenched her fists. "Wait. If you both thought the other destroyed your planets... then who actually did it?"
Safari sighed heavily. "Neither of us."
Everyone blinked.
Angeleva nodded, gripping her fairy wand tightly. "The truth is... we were both deceived. A Demon General of Raven orchestrated everything. They made sure we misunderstood each other, so we'd destroy each other."
The weight of her words settled in.
Mike and Heidi exchanged glances. "That's... a hell of a dirty trick."
Safari closed his eyes briefly. "Back then, I hated fairies as they were us devil's natural enemy. And I witnessed my planet getting destroyed by the Pink Fairy Warrior."
Angeleva continued. "And I witnessed the Sap-Green Devil Warrior destroying my home planet."
Safari gritted his teeth. "So we swore vengeance. But in reality... we were chasing shadows. That demon bastard actually was a master of disguise so he completely deceived us."
The family finally grasped the full picture.
Zack looked heartbroken. "You mean... your guys fought each other previously?"
Safari didn't answer immediately.
Because deep down, he had already known for a while. But even after learning the truth, he still felt that gap between himself and Angeleva.
Angeleva was watching him closely.
She knew that this truth wasn't enough to fix what had already broken.