Epilogue — I've Had A Wonderful Life

We walked for a long time.

Past the courtyard. Past the gates. Past the walls. Past the place where the demons had been. Past the place where the commoners had knelt. Past the place where everything had ended and everything had begun.

Arthur didn't say anything. He just walked. Beside me. Matching my pace. Looking straight ahead.

And then I stopped.

He stopped too.

"Clara?"

I looked at him.

"Live happily."

He blinked.

"What?"

"Live happily!"

He stared at me.

"Clara—"

"I'm serious."

"You just saved the Kingdom. You just revealed you're the Witch of Sleepwalker. You just—"

"I know."

"You just told the entire academy who you are."

"I know."

"And now you're telling me to live happily?"

"Yes."

He didn't answer.

I looked at the sky. The sun was setting. The light was orange. The shadows were long.

"There's a line," I said. "From That Great One Sage. The world of the happy is quite another than that of the unhappy."

He didn't answer.

"I've been unhappy my whole life," I said.

 "I've been the Potential Witch. I've been the failure. I've been the girl who was supposed to be something and became nothing. I've been mocked and laughed at and pointed at and called a joke."

I looked at him, and smiled.

"And I saved them anyway."

He didn't answer.

"I saved them because it was the right thing to do. I saved them because I'm the Sleepwalker. I saved them because I'm Dream. I saved them because I'm one of the Four Witches of Apocalypse."

I paused.

"But I also saved them because I wanted to be happy. I wanted to know what it felt like to be something. I wanted to know what it felt like to matter."

I looked at him.

"And I do now. I matter. I saved a Kingdom. I held a dream. I recovered a people. I did it all by sleeping. And no one will ever know."

He stared at me.

"You know."

"I know."

"And I know."

"I know."

"And Lily knows. And Myra knows. And Celine knows. And Isabelle knows. And everyone who was in that dream knows."

I nodded.

"That's enough."

He didn't answer.

"Live happily, Arthur. One of us should."

He looked at me.

And then he smiled.

Not a knowing smile. Not a sad smile. Just a smile. The smile of someone who had been waiting for this moment. The smile of someone who had always known.

"You're an idiot," he said.

"I know."

"The biggest idiot."

"I know."

"You saved a Kingdom and now you're telling me to live happily."

"I know."

"You should be telling yourself that."

I looked at him.

"Maybe I am."

He didn't answer.

We walked.

We reached the dorm.

Lily was standing at the door.

She had been crying. I could tell. Her eyes were red. Her hands were shaking. She was holding a cup of tea that had gone cold.

And Myra was beside her.

Myra was not crying. Myra was not shaking. Myra was just standing there, with her ears perked up and her tail wagging and her eyes bright.

"Master!" she shouted.

She ran.

She ran across the courtyard. She ran past the fountain. She ran past the stage. She ran past everything. And then she jumped.

I caught her.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and her tail around my waist and she buried her face in my shoulder and she didn't let go.

"Master," she said. "Master. Master. Master."

"I'm here."

"I was so scared."

"I know."

"I thought you weren't coming back."

"I know."

"I thought the demons got you."

"I know."

"I thought—"

"I know, Myra."

She didn't let go.

Lily walked toward us.

Slowly. Carefully. Like she was afraid I would disappear if she moved too fast.

"You're alive," she said.

"I'm alive."

"You saved them."

"I know."

"You saved all of them."

"I know."

"And they still don't care."

"I know."

She stopped inches away.

"I care," she said.

"I know."

"And Myra cares."

"I know."

"And Arthur cares. And Celine cares. And Isabelle cares. And everyone who was in that dream cares."

"I know."

She looked at me.

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"You're the biggest idiot."

"I know."

"You went into a dream and saved a Kingdom and you don't even get to see the people who mocked you bowing. You don't get to see the officials eating their words. You don't get to see Celine standing up for you in front of the entire court."

She squeezed my hand.

"You don't get to see any of it."

I looked at her.

"I don't need to."

She stared at me.

"What?"

"I don't need to see any of it. I don't need to see them bow. I don't need to see them eat their words. I don't need to see them admit they were wrong."

I looked at the sky. The sun was setting. The light was orange. The shadows were long.

"I know what I did. I know what I am. I know that I saved them. And that's enough."

Lily didn't answer.

"I'm the Witch of Sleepwalker," I said. "I'm Dream. I'm one of the Four Witches of Apocalypse. I'm the girl who held the Kingdom while they slept. I'm the girl who saved their lives."

I looked at her.

"And I did it by sleeping."

She laughed.

It was a broken sound. A tired sound. But it was a laugh.

"You did it by sleeping," she said.

"I did it by sleeping."

"Who saves a Kingdom by sleeping?"

"You do."

I laughed.

It was a real laugh this time. A full one. The kind I hadn't laughed in years.

And then I looked at Arthur.

He was standing beside me. Smiling. Saying nothing.

And I looked at Myra.

She was still in my arms. Still holding on. Still not letting go.

And I looked at Lily.

She was standing in front of me. Holding my hand. Crying and laughing at the same time.

And I looked at the sky.

The sun had set. The stars were coming out. The Kingdom was sleeping. The world was turning.

And for the first time in ten years, I didn't want to be someone else.

I always wanted to be just Clara.

I never wanted to be the Sleepwalker.

I never wanted to be Dream.

I wanted to be the happiest girl who saved a Kingdom by sleeping.

I wanted to be the happiest girl who was mocked and laughed at and called the Potential Witch and saved them anyway.

I wanted to be the happiest girl who told Arthur to live happily.

I wanted to be the happiest girl who was standing here, in the courtyard, with the people she loved, under the stars, in the Kingdom she had saved.

And I was...

Indeed, that happiest girl in the entire world.