All I can say is this; I was extremely impressed with the movie, but there was a point in the plot that I wasn't sure where the story was going to go; it could have split into one of three ways. This is what I imagined one of the ways would look like.

Chapter One

The air seemed to stand still the moment the pod bloomed. I don't really know how I knew, but the world stopped spinning for that one second, and it was as if even the beating of my bird's wings ceased. I could almost taste the anticipatory wonder that was the birth of the new Queen, thick and sweet like sap, and as the heavy thud of my Father's footsteps started to fade, the wing-beats of thousands of bats hot on his heels, I turned my head towards the soft glow emanating from Moonhaven. It was as if the whole world held its breath, desperately awaiting the return of its Queen.

The slurry of thoughts slowly trickling through my mind were decidedly positive about the event; I don't remember registering the implications of the Pod's blooming without me just yet. I didn't really have time to think too hard about it. As soon as the moment began, it was over, and before I knew it I was falling through the air, knocked from my bird (well, not exactly MY bird really) and landing on the soft peat of the pond side. The impact wasn't especially painful; I wasn't quite sure how the physics of my seemingly super human ability to absorb shock on impact worked, but I wasn't going to complain. But it did set my vision to spinning for a bit, and it was a good minute before I was able to gather my bearings and remount the hummingbird who perched not far away.

The happenings of the forest around me mattered little at the moment; I was vaguely aware that something shot out of Moonhaven with a considerable amount of force behind it, and from the quick glimpse of the gnarled knot it left in the tree it hit, I had a feeling the mystery projectile had been Mandrake. Pushing that aside though, I landed on the outskirts of the crowd just as the object of the crowd's attentions came into focus. Bathed in green and white light, stood the demure figure of a Flower Child, cloaked in the breath of the slain Queen as the roar of approval erupted from her peers. It seemed as though the Pod had indeed bloomed, and the new Queen had been selected, and the magic that had brought me to this world had long since faded. I didn't even know it yet, but I had been too late. My chance had passed me over.

My relief at the moment far outweighed my disappointment, due largely to the fact that my brain was still a bit fuzzy from the battle and subsequent fall. But as I wove my way through the miniature audience, I caught sight of two familiar Leafmen, slumped against the Blooming Pensive, half-laughing, half-gasping for breath. The older of the two, Ronin, was chiding the younger, Nod, though from their expressions it was clear the exchange was nothing but good natured.

"Can't you two just admit you love each other?" I said, somewhat sarcastically, as I approached, setting my hands on my hips. Nod immediately rose to his feet, and I was pretty sure I heard Ronin mutter "I thought we just did…" though I chose to ignore it.

"Hey!" Nod said, walking over, "You're still here?" It was a question as well as a summation, and his expression conveyed his confusion. He must not have been aware of the mandate that I need be present at the blooming for the effects of Queen Tara's spell to be reversed.

"Yeah, I am," was all I could think to answer, my mouth going dry as I said it. It wasn't until he uttered those words had I fully understood what all of this meant, and as soon as my brain wrapped itself around the concept, it started to panic. My hands begun to shake, though I attempted to hide it by clenching them into fists and shoving them into my front hoody pocket. The last thing I wanted was for cocky Nod to think I was scared. I had faced a thousand Boggans without blinking an eye and had looked miniature death in the eye more times than I could count that night, and yet now was the time I chose to panic? Like he would have understood that.

"I, um…I'm sorry. But, y'know…I'm kinda not." Offering me a crooked smile, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and I couldn't help but reciprocate the expression, though my face felt like doing anything but smiling. I wanted to scream, and jump and run back to my Father and beg him to try and find a cure. I wanted to tear through Nim Galuu's archives, searching for any kind of answer or spell to change me back. I wanted to sink to my knees and cry; I had lost my Mother, and now I had lost the world that she'd been a part of. Never again could I go back to our old apartment, look through our old photo albums (without being crushed by the pages), smell her old shirts for just a tiny whiff of her old perfume. I wanted to curl up and never think about any of this again; but all I did was smile.

"Are you okay?" I was ripped from my thoughts as Ronin straightened up, with some difficulty, and walked over, laying a hand gently on my shoulder. It was a loaded question I knew; I looked a mess, and anyone not paying attention to my slightly shaking lip or vacant expression might have assumed he was only asking about my physical wellbeing. I knew better though.

"…I don't know," I finally replied, meeting his gaze, and giving him a look I hoped conveyed the approximation of my feelings. I wasn't sure if he knew exactly what I was trying to tell him, but he seemed to receive enough of the message; nodding his head slightly, I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder, before he withdrew it.

I had been so wrapped up in my own little world that I hadn't realized the room around us going silent. Spinning around to stare into the faces of the forest people looking on, I found myself nose to flower petals with the new Queen. She had made her way across the room to us, and cleared her throat before speaking. She seemed uncomfortable to be speaking to me with such a large audience around her, which was understandable. She may have been who the Pod chose, but she was still only a child. Her mother hovered nearby, a slightly apprehensive look on her face.

"She, I mean, Queen Tara said something to me, when I became, well, you know," she motioned down to her new appearance, referring to her change in status. "It was about you." My heart skipped a beat at these words, and my breath caught in my throat. It was Queen Tara who had brought me here; had she instilled the same power, the power to return me to my own world, in the new Queen? "She said that she was sorry. Her powers could only extend so far after she left us. And she told me to tell you that we, I mean, her and I, we can't turn you back."

A very audible 'Oh,' passed along the crowd, reaching everyone's lips but mine. I was motionless, wordless, thoughtless. So that was it. There was no catch, no twist, no nothing. I was not going to be returned. This was it.

"M.K.?" It was Nod who spoke up first, stepping forward to catch my arm, which I promptly yanked away.

"I'm going to find my Dad," was all I said; it was all I could say, before my voice broke. I turned and ran before anyone could catch sight of my chin starting to shake, or my eyes watering up. I couldn't let them all see me cry, couldn't let him see me cry. What was I, some sort of over emotional freak? I had barely cried at my own mother's funeral, and now I was tearing up over this? It was stupid, is what it was. And yet, I couldn't stop the fat tears rolling down my cheeks and flying into the air as I jumped my way down to the forest floor, and started to run.

Nod could have caught me, had he given chase. He didn't. Half of me was grateful, and the other half was confused and angry. I didn't know what to feel, besides sadness. Panic. Pain. I had risked everything about my existence for this forest, and now I was paying such a high price. And the real kicker was that, I didn't regret my actions. Had I not given my father the location of Moonhaven or told him to play the frequency to attract the bats, the forest would have been completely decimated, and it would have been my fault. No, I wasn't mad about the actions I took that drew me away from the Pod. I was upset over my situation in general. And while I knew it was selfish of me, I couldn't help it. My brain wasn't thinking. It was just feeling.

I heard him before I saw him. He came crashing through the forest, just as clumsy and loud as Nod and Ronin told me, eyes scanning his surroundings, searching for a sign of life, for a sign of his daughter. Leaping up to the top of a nearby fern, I caught his attention and he scooped me up in his hand, incredulous that the plan had worked. His words were slow to my ears, though I knew he must have been speaking a mile a minute to anyone of normal size.

"It worked!" he boomed, adjusting his googles to switch me over to a frequency he could understand. "I can't believe-"

"Dad," I said, catching his attention before crossing my arms tightly across each other. "I…I'm not…I-I"

"Mary Katherine? What's wrong?" he said, expression morphing from that of extreme elation to one of concern. "Are you hurt-"

"No, yes, I don't know!" Tiny, tiny tears fell to his palm, though I doubt he felt them. "I'm gonna be stuck. Like this."

It was like the fates aligned at just the perfect moment. Just as I sank to my knees, perched on my father's outstretched hand like a withered little beetle, bawling my eyes out into my own hands, up rides Nod on his old weathered sparrow, witness to the first ugly-cry I'd had in a very long time. And the thought of him seeing me ugly-cry made me cry even harder, which in turn resulted in an attack of hiccups, which only made matters worse. Both he and my dad seemed speechless for a moment, before the latter encased me in both hands, mercifully shielding me from the eyes of my onlooker. I couldn't decide if I was grateful for the protection or even more upset at the prospect of looking as much like a weak, belly-crawling bug as I felt like. I tried not to think too much about it as my dad carried me home.