Home Again

Escape from Pelican Rock

A/N: It's the final island chapter! It came so quickly. Poor little Alice has grown up so much. This, however, is not the last chapter, so I won't be doing thank yous/shout outs here. I'll talk about other stuff instead.

So, yes, there's a sequel which will be about Poptropica Worlds. That probably won't come out for a while because I want to give Poptropica Worlds some time to develop (there's only two islands!) And, secondly, I want a break XD Now, what will the sequel be about? Well I'm afraid I can't say that (spoilers!). But it's gonna be different.

Okay, that's all from me - enjoy the chapter and catch ya later!

It didn't feel real. The end didn't feel real. I didn't want it to be real. I felt like I hadn't done enough yet, seen enough yet...

"You're so brave, Alice," Mom told me, staring at me with her chocolate-brown eyes. She wrapped her arms around my skinny frame. "We're all so proud of you. You've grown up so much."

"Thanks." I replied, feelings mixing up inside me like a smoothie. I appreciated the kind words but I knew they couldn't change the end.

"Don't worry, Al," Marcus gave my shoulder a pat. "You'll do great." We watched Chrissi and her messed up gang. They were sort of sitting near each other, even though most of the time Chrissi was by herself. I'd been avoiding them at all costs. Quite frankly I wanted nothing to do with them. Well... until then.

"I should speak to Chrissi sometime," I mused. She looked like Fierce Fox. "We need to talk about Louisa."

"Do what you want." Marcus replied, shrugging. "I haven't spoken to those girls a lot, so, uh, I can't really give you a whole lot of advice."

"That's okay," I said, smiling at my friend. "I want to do it by myself anyway." I watched the gang. They were mildly conversing with each other. Chrissi wasn't paying attention to them. They hadn't bullied me for a long time. I guess Louisa's death had affected them that badly. I felt bad for them. No one deserved to feel like that.

"I'll talk to her sometime," I said, propping my chin on my hands. "Sometime."

Fear was building up inside me. I had to speak to Fierce Fox about the end - something I hadn't focused too much on. How would she react? I didn't know. I was about to find out.

I landed on Home Island. It was then I realized I wouldn't see a lot of my new friends again either. I would miss them. I'd miss everything. The adventures, the puzzles, the searching-through-bins, even the mundane activities. It wasn't fair. I didn't want it to end.

"Hey," I approached Fierce Fox. She was standing on the bridge. I gave Amelia a wave; she gave me a hearty grin in return. Amelia was so positive. I envied her energy. "There's something I need to tell you." Fierce Fox gave me a stare of interest. "We should probably go somewhere private." Fierce Fox nodded. She led me over to her little bedroom in her home: it looked the same as last time. Much more interesting than my room. The firework patterns really suited her bed.

We sat down on such bed. An awkward silence filled the room for a few moments before I took a deep breath.

"So, you know how I'm from another world?" I asked. Fierce Fox asked. She was being awfully quiet. "Well, um... I'm not exactly sure if this is true or not, but I think this may be our last island quest. In our world, this is the last Poptropica Island. There are no more quests after this. We've got all the medallions."

"So this is the last one?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow. I nodded. She paused for a moment. My lip quivered.

"I don't really know how you feel about me," I spoke. "I don't know why you act the way you act. There's a lot about you - about everything - I don't know. And I especially don't know how you feel right now. Relieved? Sad? It's a mystery and only you know the answer. But I will tell you how I feel. I'll miss you, Fierce Fox. I'll miss Poptropica. I'll miss everything. This is my home. You're my friend. I've never been to a place where I've felt more comfortable." Tears were forming in my eyes. Emotion began washing over me. I didn't want to say goodbye. Not yet.