Wake Me Up When It's All Over

The End

Virgil looked at the building in front of him. It looked like it was collapse in on itself if he even just touched it. He didn't like the idea of Roman being in there

Was this where Roman woke up? That was depressing... He walked closer, and looked into one of the holes in the walls, not seeing Roman. The others joined in, and they eventually found him, crying and clutching something to his chest as Remus comforted him

The two noticed them after a while, and both came out, Roman still sniffling and wiping his eyes. They started going back to the nest and Remus was carrying the small human, who seemed to be falling asleep as they walked. Once they were back in the nest and Roman was deposited back in the circle, Virgil turned to Remus

"What were you thinking?! Taking him that far away without telling us?" Virgil hissed, and Remus glared back

"You don't understand! I've watched Roman every night since I arrived, I know how to tell when he's upset and when he misses something. I figured I should give him a way to properly grieve"

Virgil softened a little "Okay, but you still put him in danger without telling us, and it really worried us. What if he had been carried away by a bird, or- or another cat showed up?" He reasoned, wringing his hands anxiously

Remus looked away "Sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking"

They both sat and looked at the sleeping human for a while, Virgil trying to stop thinking about everything that could have happened, and Remus-

Actually he wasn't quite sure what Remus was doing. He seemed to be rapidly changing forms like water being poured. Hm.

Virgil started to climb and patrol the area. He couldn't let anything harm his friends, his family. Especially not Roman

Roman was so small, so young, it would be a tragedy if anything more happened to him

--

Roman woke up after a few hours, and he looked to see he was back at the nest. He felt better, after seeing everything

It felt a lot more real now that he had surveyed the aftermath of his curse, the letters, the gifts, the dust, the wreckage. Everything he knew, everything he remembered had changed. Nothing was the same, and it... it helped him to see it

It helped him let go of what once was. Maybe if people were waiting for him like that, maybe he wasn't so bad. He left his house and greeted the giants hesitantly

Would they be mad at him? He hoped not. Luckily, they didn't seem to be. Yet, at least. He doubted they'd stay calm with him forever, no one did.

He ate his food in silence, thinking over the previous night. He had one of the portraits next to his bed, and he wondered if he was ever talked about outside of telling people about his curse.

Did people know about how he loved Disney and musical theatre, did they know his favourite colour? Did they know which stuffed animal was the one he had carried everywhere 'till he was seven? Did they know how much he loved being outside?

Or did they just get taught that he was a pitiful, cursed prince? He would never know. He wondered if the letters he couldn't read had talked about giants, or if they had left that part out. He wondered if his friends had ever talked about good things about him, instead of his clinginess and how annoying he was

Did they ever tell people how he loved rollercoasters and ice-cream? He wondered if they missed him, or if they just went on with their lives with barely a thought to him.

He wondered if his parents had told people little facts about him, but he doubted they did. They weren't really around a lot of the time, and when they were, they barely paid him any mind

He looked up at the giants. They paid attention to him, sometimes it was overwhelming and a little uncomfortable, but it was... nice. It was nice.

He looked around some more. Somehow, everything felt the same, but in a different way than usual. Not just somewhere he was familiar with, but a familiar place. Somewhere he belonged. He smiled.

Maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world that he got cursed. Sure, it was traumatising and he would never see his family and friends again, but he finally belonged somewhere. He started crying

"Roman? You okay, Bud?" Patton asked and Roman looked up

"I'm fine. I- I'm fine. Happy tears!" He exclaimed, laughing a little.

The next time he and Logan had a mind-chat, his house, not his palace was what his mind visualised as his home.

He closed his eyes. Home seemed like the right word.

Not everything would go smoothly for him, and he was still in constant danger, but if you asked him, he loved every second of it. Every second that he lived there was perfect. His friends, his real friends, his real family was there and he wouldn't change a thing.

A/N: I know its sad the story's over now, but I have a blog on Tumblr on which you can send asks to the characters and author (me) about the story and things you're interested in!!