Agatha heard her wish for him, echoing louder in ever heartbeat, begging her to trust it.

This time she listened.

Agatha gave herself to her prince.

"Forever."

Tedros clasped her cheeks and kissed her, their lips touching for the first time. Agatha's head went light, a blinding glow coursing through her veins. As his warmth spilled through her, Agatha heard Sophie's animal scream recede behind her, softer, softer, into silence. Holding Tedros closer, Agatha felt her heart floating, time expanding, fear crumbling to ash, as if at last she'd found her Ever After, as if she'd found an ending that couldn't be taken away…

Their lips finally released, as prince and princess broke apart, each panting for breath. They looked upon their open storybook in the light of the moon, a vision of their sealing kiss splashed across the page, a witch vanished from their story… two last words penned beneath…

THE END

Evelyn Sader stood behind it, her face twisted into an expression of fearful rage as she was seconds too late to stop the last letter from being written, her outstretched hand millimetres away from the storian.

"Noooooooooo! This wasn't supposed to happen," she howled, her beautiful face moulting into an ugly mask of anger.

Agatha frowned, turning to her prince only to find him gazing at her in awe, looking down she found herself glowing, a golden light pulsing from within her. She stared at her hands in wonder, turning them slowly to see the shine.

Suddenly the world around her began to blur, the people becoming slowly less distinguishable as the forest faded.

"Agatha!" Tedros' call pulled her from her musings and she saw him to beginning to fade, cursing worriedly she stretched out a hand towards him, grasping his calloused hand in her own and moving into his embrace as everything around her bled away.

'I wish everything was fixed, that everything was different,' Agatha thought fervently, burying her face into his muscled chest, her last glimpse of her surroundings was Sophie's horror struck face, the once beautiful features transformed by evil. 'I wish everything was better'

"Agatha, you may want to see this," Tedros whispered hoarsely several minutes later, his strong arms unwinding from her waist where he had been holding her against him.

Agatha slowly tore her head away from his chest, staring at the pale blue shirt in surprise and looking further up to see his freshly washed hair and bright features.

Turning she gasped in surprise, hands griping onto a nearby balcony ledge as she looked out at the grounds.

Moments before she had been in the forest, in a fight to the death and now she was standing in a beautiful, purple silk dress on the balcony of the school for good.

Crowds of students milled between the two schools, boys in all colours and sizes were duking it out in a makeshift arena or laughing in large groups at various places. Girls from both schools, in all clothes and styles were chatting, or versing each other in fighting or even swimming in the lake where the dream fish swam.

Students milled between the two classes, looking down Agatha could see Hester and Beatrix laughing together when Hort managed to wolf out, parading about like a cute poodle for their entertainment.

"What is this?" Agatha breathed, turning to Tedros with hope swelling in her heart.

"I don't know, did anything happen when we left?" Tedros asked softly, taking Agatha's hand once more and pulling her to him, cupping her face in his large hand.

"I wished for things to be different, for them to be better," Agatha answered slowly, her eyes widening at the implication.

"My clever princess, only you could grant a wish like that," Tedros whispered, kissing her softly as her eyes drifted shut, the same warmth as before making itself known in her heart.

"Eugh! Please I do not need to see that! You may be my best friend Aggie but I do not want to know what goes on between you two," a soft voice called from the balcony doorway and Agatha twirled away from Tedros in shock, seeing her best friend standing before her practically glowing. No sign of symptoms anywhere on her body as she smiled happily at Agatha, a twinkle in her eye as she sashayed forward in her soft pink dress.

"Sophie," Agatha murmured, taking several hesitant steps forward before quickly closing the distance between them and throwing herself into her best friend's arms, feeling Sophie relax minutely and hug her back.

"Hey there bestie, we only saw each other a few minutes ago," Sophie whispered, pulling back to smile sadly at Agatha before hugging her again.

"You remember?" Agatha asked fervently, both dreading and hoping for a particular answer.

"Yes, everything. But I found no one else does. They seem to think that your kiss saved me but we stayed here. Aggie, to them we never left. It's only been a few months but the storian has been locked away, the schools have united and there's no dean or school master. We're free Agatha, we can choose our own destinies now," Sophie breathed, feeling Agatha's arms tighten around her.

"You mean it, no more fighting?" Agatha muttered, feeling Sophie smile against her collarbone before pulling back.

"No more fighting for anyone," she said meaningfully before smiling and pushing Agatha towards her prince. "Now I think it's about time you have a proper kiss without having to worry about the fate of the world," Sophie giggled at their dumbstruck expressions and turned to leave.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have me a never to finally kiss," Sophie smiled, winked and hiked up her skirts, something she would have never done almost two years ago before running down the tower stairs.

"Tedros? What's wrong?" Agatha questioned softly as she saw the golden haired prince turn away from her, his eyes saddened as he stared down at his large palms.

"I'm scarred Agatha, by bringing me with you I didn't really change, I can still feel the marks on my back… the ugly, revolting marks," Tedros whispered, sighing deeply before seeming to come to a decision, his hands grasping the bottom of his tunic and tugging it over his head, revealing hundreds of lash marks across his back, most still healing.

"How could you ever love me after seeing this, they're hideous… I'm hideous," he spat, his hands bunching into fists around his shirt, so preoccupied with his self-hate that he missed Agatha's approach until soft hands were spread across the skin of his back, delicate fingers tracing each scar with reverence.

His breath caught in his throat as he felt her soft lips pressing against a mark near his shoulder blade, moving from one to another as her hands wrapped around his waist, tugging her against him so her lips were beside his ear.

"I love you Tedros. I love you because you are brave, honourable and strong. I love you because you see who I really am, who I want to be. I love you because you don't care that I'm not perfect but accept me because I'm not. I love you because to me you are beautiful Tedros, inside and out, scars and all," Agatha whispered, melting into his arms as he spun and pulled her into his embrace, lips joining hers in a loving kiss.

"Do not say you are not perfect my princess, because you are. You are kind, selfless, beautiful and so very smart. You brought an entire world back into balance with only a wish, you turned your best friend good when once she was evil and you have somehow found it within you to love a sad, lost prince like me," Tedros murmured, kissing her softly as she tried to protest.

"I love you Agatha and I will continue to love you until I no longer draw breath and even then I shall continue to love you," he kissed her more passionately this time, hands gripping her small waist as hers tangled in his golden hair, pulling him closer and urging him to claim her lips.

He broke the kiss gently, his hands not moving from her waist as she kept hers tangled in his hair, their chests pressed together as they breathed heavily. A round of cheering from the grounds bellowed drew their attention and still refusing to break contact they looked over the edge to see Sophie cornering Hort against a tree and kissing him senseless, the dark haired boy sweeping her into a fervent embrace.

"Well it seems like Sophie got her happy ending," Agatha commented lightly, turning to look into eyes the colour of the sky.

"And what about you?" Tedros asked teasingly.

"Well you know what they say, every good fairy-tale ends with a kiss," Agatha remarked cheekily and Tedros chuckled.

"Who am I to stray from tradition," he grinned, before pulling her into his embrace and kissing her once more, the students below looking up to see the fair skinned princess and the golden prince kissing passionately, the sunset silhouetting them in golden rays, the two unknowingly sparking the want for true love in many hearts.

And that, as they say, is the end of that.