At a harbour in London, everyone was taken aback by the arrival of a gigantic ship towering high into the sky; the ship was far larger than some of the buildings there.
From the top of the ship, a girl flew down, carrying a dozen boxes that floated beneath her, with a card attached to each—everyone gaped in astonishment, though some already knew who she was. "Isn't that Fables? Don't stray too far from Mummy, dear," said a mother, pulling her child closer as the girl walked past, with a dozen boxes floating behind her.
A girl with tanned skin and black hair was puzzled by the people shunning the Fables; it seemed she had formed the wrong assumptions in her mind. "Alice!" She called my name as I set all the boxes down on the ground; I turned and saw Liz and Robin walking towards me.
Liz moved closer until her lips were right next to my ear. "Why do they seem wary of you?" Her innocent question didn't catch me off guard, as it was only natural for someone who knew nothing about the situation to ask.
"Fables are both hated and loved by people in this world, but there are more who hate us than love us—they see us as a threat and everything else." I began to explain, leaving Liz stunned. "Some people want to be saved by Fables, not because they like us, but so they can blame us for the damage that's happened."
"That's truly cruel!" Liz was utterly appalled; she looked around and glared at everyone who was wary of us with an annoyed and aggressive expression. "Hey! Alice is the kindest girl I know, you know! And so is Robin! They're a bit odd, sure, but at least they're odd in a good way."
"You're not helping," I sighed, amused by her statement. If Mother wasn't here, they'd definitely hate us even more; we'd probably be discriminated against—I mean, it's already happening, but it'd certainly get worse. "What matters is—I'M BACK, LONDON!" I shouted, brimming with happiness, because at last I wouldn't be throwing up every five minutes.
"Huh? Alice, don't you care about those people who're clearly showing they can't stand you being here right now?"
"Believe me, I do care, but I care far more that we've finally set foot off the ship."
"Huh?! I told you, you really are odd!"
"Are you making fun of me?!"
Robin came up from behind and touched Liz's shoulder to calm her down. "Come on, let's give them a proper burial, shall we?" replied Robin, as inside this box lay the bodies of the deceased crew, including Captain Hook, whose body I'd frozen to prevent them from decomposing too quickly.
To cut a long story short, we'd managed to bury their bodies in the nearest graveyard—we prayed for their peace before finally walking out of the cemetery. "So, what are your plans now, Liz?" I asked; it would take us a week to get back to this town—Liz wasn't going to set sail straight away, was she?
Liz touched the brim of her tricorne hat before flashing a broad smile. "I want to show everyone here the heart of the ocean we've discovered! Once Captain Hook's name is known throughout London, I'll set sail again as the new captain!" she declared enthusiastically, and we responded with a round of applause.
"But before that, how about we go to the cinema first?" I suggested, and that immediately made Liz turn round and her eyes practically sparkle—she'd never seen a film in her life and I didn't want us to just keep moping around.
"Let's go!" Liz replied briefly.
"You're really raring to go, aren't you?" Robin replied with a little laugh.
I then led them towards the nearest cinema. "Is it all right to just leave our ship there like that?" Robin asked, and I turned to him with a sly smile.
"Who do you take me for? I've set traps everywhere; anyone who tries to get on will be flung straight out," I chuckled, but it only made Robin shudder. "By the way, I feel like I've forgotten something… Or rather—someone…"
"Tinkerbell!" Liz squealed, making us all realise just how conspicuous the little fairy's absence was. "Where is she?"
I rummaged through all my pockets but couldn't find her hiding anywhere; she does tend to vanish, only to turn up out of the blue—but until Liz mentioned her name, I'd completely forgotten she existed, as if she'd never even met us. "When you're out sailing, see if you can find her," I said, and Liz nodded in reply.
We arrived at the cinema and saw Liz looking around enthusiastically; it reminded me of Rapunzel when she first set foot outside. When we entered the auditorium, for some reason nobody wanted to sit near us—I felt as though they were avoiding us, being Fables as we were, but how could they possibly know about us? Had they memorised our faces?
I glanced to my left and saw Robin looking rather strange, even though his eyes were still fixed on the big screen in front of him; I couldn't help but ask. "What's the matter?" Our eyes met and his expression didn't waver in the slightest.
"Alice, I've just remembered something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"We… haven't had a bath for over half a month."
That left me speechless—I'd genuinely only just remembered that too. They weren't avoiding us because we were Fables, but because we'd even forgotten the last time we'd touched soap.
We both glanced over at Liz, who didn't seem to notice—or perhaps just didn't care—and was instead choosing to watch a film on the big screen for the first time in her life, whilst Robin and I were desperate to get home and jump into the bath right now. After sitting there for two hours, we finally managed to get out of the cinema. "Alice, that film was amazing—" Before she could finish her comment, I immediately grabbed her hand and, after attaching cards to both my boots, I shot off like a bullet.
Robin followed, sprinting out of the cinema and surprising everyone. "Eh? Where are we off to, Alice?" Liz asked, bewildered.
"To touch water."
"Are we going back to the sea?"
"On a smaller scale."
"A lake."
"Oh, for goodness' sake."
After quite a while, we finally arrived outside my house. I took my keys out of my cardholder and unlocked the door before pushing it open and taking off my shoes. "Is this your house, Alice? It looks lovely," Liz complimented, taking off her shoes as well.
"Sit on the sofa, and make yourself at home—I'm going to have a shower first."
"Oh, so that's what was in such a hurry—I was wondering why."
So she really didn't care about it at all, did she? I didn't feel like responding and rushed into the bathroom; I filled the bath and, as soon as it was full, I jumped in and soaked myself, letting out a satisfied sigh—I'd forgotten just how lovely it was to soak in the bath.
I spent quite a long time soaking in the bath before getting out and wrapping myself in a towel. "Liz, you can have a bath now," I called out, and found her sitting there watching television; it seemed she'd spent some time trying to work out how to switch it on.
"Oh, all right—but I've got no spare clothes."
"I'll lend you mine."
"All right!" Liz switched off the telly and headed for the bathroom, whilst I went to my bedroom and started getting changed—into a white denim overall dress I hadn't worn in ages.
I combed my blonde hair before tying a white ribbon at the back, then looked at myself in the mirror and twirled slightly—I'd really missed this favourite outfit of mine. "Now that's Alice Lindsey!" I said to myself. From downstairs, I could hear my name being called—I hurried out and found Liz wrapped in a towel.
"I've laid out your clothes in my room, come here," I said, and led her to my room, where I began to dress her in the same outfit as mine—and once she was dressed, Liz looked at herself in the mirror and felt out of place in the very feminine clothes she was wearing.
"Doesn't this look strange?"
"The contrast between your tomboyish self and these feminine clothes makes you look adorable."
"Do you think so?"
"Trust me!"
"All right, if you say so..."
She still looked at herself with a sense of bewilderment, but she looked absolutely adorable right now, so I didn't want to make her change out of that outfit just yet. "By the way, I'd like to meet Mother—would you like to come along?" Hearing that, Liz immediately turned round and tilted her head.
"Meet your mum?"
"Ah, no—her name's Mother Goose; she's the mother of all the Fables in London."
"Why's she called 'Mother'?"
"Believe me, I'm still wondering about that myself."