The ambulance took Tracey all the way to the North Beach parking lot on Seabrook Island.
On the way there, the paramedics gave him an IV and wrapped his wings. They were swamped, but Dr. Johnson kept on telling Tracey, "Stay with us, kid. You're going to a fairy hospital." He tossed another blanket over Tracey, and one of his partners dabbed his face with a wet towel.
"He's got a pretty high fever," she told Dr. Johnson. "We've got to bring it down."
While they worked, Tracey still dreamed about his parents, and it got better. He gave them a tour of Merlin's Island and showed them all the places he had taken Makenna to: Merlindial Falls, Coveline Cliff, and Rainbow Waters. In his dream, his wings weren't broken. He could fly. It reminded Merlin's young apprentice how beautiful his wings once were.
After giving his parents a tour of the island, Tracey escorted them to the cliff that connected to his room. They sat on it and stared at the sparkling Atlantic Ocean.
Tracey smiled, and his parents rested a hand on each of his shoulders.
Outside the dream, in his sleep, he lifted his hand and extended it. He was asking for someone to take it and comfort him. Dr. Johnson was the one who did.
He gripped Tracey's hand, rubbed it, and said, "You're doing great, Tracey. Just hang on. We're almost there. I promise we're not going to let these wings hurt you anymore."
In his sleep, Tracey thanked him and cracked a slight smile.
He next thanked Makenna. "Thank you, Makenna. Thank you for helping me realize that not all humans are evil. I promise we'll see each other again—I just have to let these wings heal. Until we do, I'll keep waiting for my parents to return to me. You've become a good friend, Makenna. You're the fairy friend I never had, and I appreciate it. Until next time, my friend, goodbye."
Makenna followed him and the ambulance from above. While she flew, she received a call from Merlin the Great in her head.
"Makenna!"
"Merlin!" Makenna said back. "Merlin, it's you! You're able to talk to me again through telepathy!"
"And it's all thanks to you," Merlin returned. "Thanks to you, I can call myself Merlin the Great again. When you transformed into a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy, admitting your mistakes, apologizing, and helping Tracey regain his confidence gave me my magic back. You deserve your new transformation, Makenna. You may not think you do, but you do. Selene even told me that she's never met a fairy as exceptional as you, aside from Tracey."
"Thank you, Merlin," Makenna said back. She noticed that Caleb grinned at her.
Merlin continued the telepathic conversation. "But enough about me. Let's turn to Tracey. Are the human paramedics driving him to North Beach?"
"Yes." Makenna reached for her temple. "How do you know, Merlin?"
"Raeven told me."
"Raeven?" asked Makenna. She felt like she was Skyping with Merlin through telepathy. She could see his face in her mind.
Makenna saw Merlin nod, and Raeven appeared.
He waved and said, "Hi, Makenna!"
Makenna feebly chuckled. "Hi, Raeven."
Raeven hung upside-down. "This is my thanks to you for saving my life. I flew back to Merlin's Island and told him what had happened to Tracey at your school."
"You did?" Makenna couldn't believe it. Merlin's Island was where Raeven had gone!
In the image, Merlin pushed the bat aside and said to Makenna, "He did, Makenna. I must say, Raeven is quite the character. He provided me with all the details about what had happened. I called the fairy paramedics, and we're waiting with them at the North Beach parking lot."
"Fairy paramedics?" Makenna said. "You mean, there are such things as fairy paramedics, too?"
Merlin chuckled. "There are."
"You're amazing, Merlin," Makenna admitted. "Thank you. Do you want me to come to the Coutarine Fairy Hospital with you?"
"That's your choice," said Merlin. "Raeven and I can handle Tracey from here, but if you feel that getting yourself and Caleb home may be best so you won't worry your parents, you can. I know you've had a really rough day, Makenna, and I know you and Caleb are tired."
"Yeah," Makenna said. She checked on Caleb, who was drifting off to sleep. "We are. We're exhausted." She sighed and made up her mind. "All right. I may stay behind, Merlin. Something tells me I'll go to Coutarine Island one day. Just promise me that you won't let Tracey die."
"Are you kidding?" asked Merlin. "I would never do that. He's seventeen years old. He's also my apprentice, and will remain so for as long as I live. You'll see him again, Makenna—I promise. You just need to let him recover."
"I know," Makenna said. "I don't want to get in the way. Tracey's back where he belongs—that's the most important thing—and he doesn't have to worry about Peter Nelson bothering me anymore, nor bullying him. Well, thank you, Merlin. Raeven?"
"Yes?" Raeven flew before Merlin, and the image's camera focused on him.
"Please come visit me sometime," Makenna begged. "I'm sorry I was a jerk when we first met."
"That's all right," said Raeven. "It's not every day someone meets a talking bat. Especially a bat as handsome as me." He shook his fur and groomed it.
Makenna tittered. "Thank you for helping me earn my third transformation. If it wasn't for you, Raeven, I don't think I ever would've had the guts to go to the dance. All that's left now is saving Tracey and defeating the Octopus Man so he can be freed from his spell."
"We'll focus on the Octopus Man another time," Merlin elucidated. The image's camera zoomed in on him. "For now, we need to let Tracey take it easy for a while. When he's strong enough, you two will work together to defeat the Octopus Man and learn the secrets behind your long-lost family member."
"My long-lost family member." Makenna momentarily left the telepathic conversation because she thought she heard something in the real world: chuckling. Makenna stopped flying, and she and Caleb focused on a marshland. An orange-and-yellow, fairy-like figure had appeared above it. "My long-lost family member," Makenna repeated.
The fairy-like figure soared to her and Caleb, circling them.
"Don't worry, long lost family member," Makenna said, watching as she danced and began to leave. "I will find you one of these days. One of these days, you will return to the land of the living."
After she said that, the fairy-like figure stopped and glowed a bright orange and yellow.
Makenna and Caleb closed their eyes against the light. When they opened them, the fairy had vanished, and the sky was empty again.
Makenna returned to the telepathic conversation with Merlin and Raeven and asked them, "What was that?"
"You saw your long-lost family member," Merlin admitted. "She told you that she knows you'll find her. She does not doubt that you will eventually become a True Metamorphic Fairy."
"Wow," Makenna said. "Well, I had best get going, Merlin and Raeven. Goodbye. I hope to see you again."
"You will," said Raeven. "I'll visit you, Makenn."
"And I'll keep you updated on Tracey," said Merlin. "I give you my word."
Makenna nodded and said, "Goodbye." Raeven and Merlin's images vanished, and she returned to reality.
"That was so sick, Makenna," Caleb told her.
Makenna gave him a feeble smile.
After a bit, Gina let out a tiny squawk. She leaped from Caleb's shoulder and hovered before Makenna and Caleb.
"What is it, Gina?" Caleb questioned.
Gina squawked and pointed in the direction the ambulance had vanished.
"Do you want to be with Tracey?" Makenna inquired, and Gina gestured yes.
Immediately, Caleb's face drooped, and Makenna sighed.
"I understand. Well, thank you, Gina. You're a true friend to Tracey. You're probably the truest friend a fairy could ever have. We'll miss you." Makenna sniffed, as did Caleb.
Noticing them, Gina flew to the fairy and her brother and hugged them simultaneously.
Makenna and Caleb teared up and hugged her back.
For once, Gina didn't peck Makenna.
While they embraced, Makenna told the tern, "Gina, tell Tracey this—something I have learned in the past week. Life's a climb. You will always have to climb a mountain. There's always going to be some struggle you'll have to overcome. Tell him that in the end, he will succeed, as long as he keeps his faith. Tell him that he's started a brand-new chapter of his amazing story. Broken wings are not the end of the world. They're only the beginning."
"I will, Makenna," Gina said. She released herself from Caleb and Makenna and turned.
The siblings hugged one another and watched Gina.
She seemed to smile, and Makenna and Caleb did, too.
Finally, with a flap of her wings, Gina soared after the ambulance, toward her best friend.
Left behind, Makenna and Caleb kept their eyes on her.
Makenna held her new wand tightly and thought back to everything that had happened that week.
She remembered the first time she met Tracey, seeing him up on the tree branch when her wings saved her from almost crashing into the rocky, rough river. She remembered him teaching her to fly and working together to open the secret passageway when they searched for Caleb and had to find "Where the water meets your wings." Makenna would never forget the moment when Tracey's and her wings met and opened the passageway.
Makenna remembered her first flight and how Tracey flew with her. And of course, Makenna would never forget the time when she first transformed into a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy.
The memories faded and turned to ash. Makenna beamed, as did Caleb. She knew Tracey would be okay. Her fairy instincts told her so.
Makenna glanced forward and said for the last time, "Life's a climb." She turned to Caleb, who rubbed tears from his eyes. Makenna gripped his shoulders and embraced him again.
"I love you, Makenna," Caleb whispered.
"I love you, too, Caleb," Makenna said back, "and I promise I'll become a better teenager and fairy."
"You already have," Caleb encouraged. He and Makenna hugged for a long time.
They returned to their two-story house on Jenkins Point. Once they got home, before heading inside, the siblings sat together on the bench in their backyard, using Makenna's cape as a blanket.
Makenna let Caleb hold her wand. She lifted her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders.
He soon lowered her wand and wrapped his own arm around her. They studied the marsh.
After a bit, though, Caleb saw something in the sky. A ball of green light came toward them.
Caleb nudged Makenna and said, "Makenna, look. There's something in the sky."
"Do what?" Makenna said. She kept her arm wrapped around Caleb's shoulders and met his eyes.
Caleb pointed at the glow, which drew closer.
Makenna peered up, and her eyes widened when she saw the light. "What is that?" She removed her arm from Caleb and hopped off the bench. Makenna watched the glow creep closer and held her hands out to it.
Caleb recognized the glow's color and said, "It's a gift from Tracey."
The glow landed in Makenna's open palms, and she lowered her hands. Before long, the glow faded and transformed into a small, light blue box with a pink M and a ribbon on it.
Makenna stared at it.
She sat back down on the bench, and Caleb studied the gift with her. "Isn't that sweet?" he asked.
"I wonder what it is," said Makenna.
"Open it," Caleb quipped, and Makenna nodded.
She slid the ribbon off the box and removed the top, pulling out blue and pink tissue paper. Makenna offered it to Caleb, who accepted it.
Makenna peered into the box, and her eyes popped. No way!
"What is it?" Caleb wanted to know.
Speechless, Makenna reached into the box... and pulled out her blue, horse-head-shaped necklace!
Makenna stared at it, as did Caleb. She couldn't believe she was looking at her necklace, the one she had dropped when she saved Tracey after the Octopus Man broke his wings.
Caleb nudged Makenna again and said, "There's a note, too."
Makenna looked down. Caleb was right. At the bottom of the box was a small note. Makenna reached inside and removed it. Tracey had written in green ink and had beautiful, cursive-like handwriting. Makenna read the note to herself and Caleb as well.
It read:
I found this when Gina and I flew to Seabrook Island. Try to be more careful next time.
- Tracey
P.S. Thank you for everything you did for me. You're the first true fairy friend I have.
Makenna covered her mouth. Tears appeared in her eyes, and she blushed.
Caleb reread the note and admitted, "I think he likes you, Makenna."
Tears of joy ran down Makenna's cheeks. After rereading the note three more times, she set it back in the box and replaced the top. Makenna slid the ribbon over it and stared at the M on top of the box. She hugged it to her chest and leaned back on the bench. Her blue fingernails turned pink.
Caleb spread her cape over his and Makenna's laps again and wrapped his arms around his sister.
Makenna clipped her horse-head-shaped necklace around her neck and gripped it with one hand, but her other hand kept the box against her chest.
She and Caleb fell asleep on the bench.
A warm spring breeze rushed through the area and ruffled each sibling's hair.
While they slept, they dreamed about the fantastic week they had, knowing that even more amazing weeks and adventures lay ahead.
And it was all thanks to Tracey.
End of Act IV: A Crystal Metamorphic Fairy!
Final Word Count: 169,810