Page 89 of Enchanted By a Pirate
Happy, she looked at the sun and leaned toward him, and then they kissed. For the first time.
As the memory surfaced, Anna's chest tingled. Only now that she remembered did she feel the magic that lay hidden within the sun. She had taken Chris's advice and hidden a small amount of fairy dust inside. And with this small amount, she had to try to save them.
Subtly, she smiled at Chris to show him that she understood as Calla flew toward her, laughing.
"You see, Anemone, you are too good for the world. For the good of all, you are willing to sacrifice your own life. That's too… funny!" She laughed foolishly, still holding the fairy dust threateningly in her hand. She waited until the captain was tied up, but Anna didn't hesitate for a second. She quickly opened the mechanism on the pendant, nudged the sun so that the glittering dust flew up, and blew it at Calla. As she did so, she murmured a spell that came to her as suddenly as the memories had. The next moment, Calla yawned. When she realized what Anna had done, she tried to warn Freddy, but he wasn't paying attention to her. Before Calla could speak, she fell asleep. Using a spell, Annagently and silently floated her to the floor while Chris jumped up and shook loose the restraints. Before Freddy could react, Chris pulled the other's saber from his belt and held it to his neck. "It's over."
"What?" The pirate looked around, searching. When he saw Calla sleeping on the floor, his anger flared.
"No! You damn…! Woe betide you when I'm free again. You have to be careful that day. You'll never be safe because I…" Before he could continue his threat, Chris slammed his fist into his face, causing Freddy to fall to the ground unconscious.
Anna immediately flew over to the pool, grabbed a pinch of fairy dust, and blew it onto the bonds that had been around Chris's wrists. The ropes lifted off the ground and wrapped around Freddy's body, pulling him toward the other pirates and binding all six together.
The captain looked at her with shining eyes. "I knew you could do it, Ani."
She laughed and in one fluid movement, as if she had done nothing else all these years, assumed human form.
"I was waiting for that!" The captain pressed her against the wall and peered deep into her eyes before pressing his lips against hers. Overjoyed, Anna lost herself in the kiss that tasted so much of freedom, the future, and hope like she never could have imagined.
"Anemone?"
Laughing, Anna broke away from him. "Toni? We're coming out."
Chris groaned. "Must we? The chaperone will drag me away from you again as soon as I get too close to your lips."
Anna grinned. "Better that than him causing the cave to collapse because he's worried."
The captain rolled his eyes, but then he took her hand and hurried outside with her. The sun was low, casting a pinkish hueover the clouds. In the middle of the forest, not far from the cave, stood Anton. Countless trees near him had fallen as he had tried to come to her aid.
"Anemone, is everything okay?"
"Yes, Toni, see." She turned into a fairy and fluttered up to him. Now he was much taller than she was and yet, when she saw him, she felt nothing but joy and trust.
His mossy-green eyes sparkled and he laughed loudly. "You succeeded. You can transform again."
"Yes, and the spring is bubbling again. The fairies are saved."
"That's wonderful."
"Chris helped me. I wouldn't have succeeded without him."
Anton peered down at the captain suspiciously. "Then it's a good thing I freed him from the mess with the Snow Queen, right? I think you owe me a thank you."
"Didn't we sort this out long ago, giant?"
"Oh, and here I was looking forward to a thank you."
Chris rolled his eyes. Anna flew to him and stroked his shoulder imploringly. He sighed. "All right, because it's you, Ani. But listen carefully, giant, you will never hear these words from my mouth again."
"Yeah?" Anton leaned closer to them with one ear and waited.
"Well, thank you, giant, for freeing me from the Snow Queen's dungeon."
"And you mean thank you for trusting my instincts and going to the Ice Palace, thank you for bringing you here, thank you for running so fast that a few trees fell along the way? Thank you, because without me, you wouldn't have been able to help Anemone, would you?"
Chris growled, but Anna flew up to Anton's head and stroked his hairy cheek. "Thanks, Toni. We couldn't have done it without you."
The captain sighed loudly. "Oh, Ani, he'll hold it over our heads forever."
