Later that evening, long after the excitement of their arrival had settled, Felicia found herself unable to sleep. She walked over to her bedroom window and watched the snow fall on the silent town below.

The castle was quiet now. Everyone had retired for the night, leaving only the distant crackling of fireplaces.

Vanity had returned with her father to their small cottage to sleep. They would pack their things and enter the kingdom's town in the morning to start anew. Charming was hoping to resecure his job at the local tavern-theatre.

Felicia left her room and wandered the corridors in her night robes, her mind still turning over everything that had happened over the past few months. The time travel. Fairy Godmother. Vanity and Charming returning to the kingdom.

And Harold. More specifically, what Fairy Godmother had screamed to her.

Harold begged me for help with his human love.

Felicia slowed near one of the castle balconies and noticed a warm glow spilling from a nearby sitting room. Curious, she peeked inside.

Queen Lillian sat alone beside the fireplace, a book in her hand. The flames from the fireplaces casted shadows on her face.  A hot cup of tea sat on the side table.

The dowager queen turned around almost immediately and smiled softly. "Can't sleep either, my love?"

Felicia smiled sheepishly before stepping inside. "Not really."

Lillian gestured toward the chair across from her, inviting Felicia to sit.

Felicia entered and curled up into the chair as warmth from the fire immediately wrapped around her. For a few moments, neither of them spoke.

Then Lillian studied her carefully. "Something on your mind?"

Felicia blinked. "Was it that obvious?"

Lillian smiled faintly.

Felicia hesitated before finally asking the question that had been bothering her since returning from the past. "Fairy Godmother told me about grandfather. How he begged her to become human but refused to give up Fiona which resulted in her curse." She took a deep breath. "Is that true?"

Lillian sighed as she looked back toward the flames. For a long moment, Felicia wondered if she would answer at all.

Finally, the queen spoke quietly. "Yes."

Felicia stared at her grandmother in amazement.

Lillian closed her book and folded her hands carefully in her lap. "Your grandfather was not born human."

Felicia listened intently.

"He was a frog," Lillian continued. "A literal one." She laughed softly under her breath. "Though knowing Harold, I suppose that part never changed entirely. I could swear I would see him still catching flies on occasion."

Felicia smiled faintly.

"He lived in a marsh far beyond Far Far Away. Alone for most of his life. Then one evening, he met me."

The queen's expression softened with memory. "Much like your mother, I would often slip away from the confines of the castle walls, and my lessons. One day I was so lost in thought, and wondered so far, I found a lovely pond deep in the woods. I loved to look at the lilies and the willows, and the frogs. Harold apparently spotted me that first day but said nothing."

"I'll never forget the day he spoke to me. As you can imagine, I was quite taken aback at a speaking frog! Turns out, they can all speak, but 'tis frowned upon. And as fate would have it, the more we spoke, the more he developed feelings for me. I suppose I too developed feelings, though I hid them deep. There is no world where a princess could be with a frog, regardless of his frog prince royalty." She laughed at the absurdity.

"He became desperate to be with me," Lillian continued. "Desperate enough to wish upon a star for a way to become human."

Outside the windows, snow continued drifting past in silence.

"And someone answered," Felicia whispered.

Lillian nodded grimly. "Fairy Godmother."

The room seemed colder somehow at the mention of her name.

"She appeared to him that very night. Harold was young, lonely, and willing to promise anything if it meant having a chance at a human life." Lillian's expression darkened slightly. "And Fairy Godmother was very good at finding desperate people."

Felicia thought back to the factory. The contracts. The potion assembly lines. The books. The carefully manufactured happy endings.

"She turned him human?" Felicia asked quietly.

Lillian nodded again. "All he needed was a kiss from me, and he would turn human."

"And you did."

"I did." Lillian smiled at the memory. "He promised me it would work, and it did! Once he was human, he never changed who he was inside. Harold has always had a good heart beneath all the panic and dramatics."

Felicia laughed softly. That sounded accurate.

"Fairy Godmother had given him exactly what he wanted." Lillian continued, "Turned him into a handsome prince. Strong. Confident. Everything he believed I would fall in love with."

"For years, I taught him our human ways, and we feel deeply in love. We married. Built a kingdom and a family together." Her smile slowly faded. "And then Fairy Godmother returned."

Felicia already knew the answer, but hearing it still made her chest tighten. "She came for payment."

Lillian stared into the fire. "Harold had promised her anything. And what she wanted... was our firstborn child."

Felicia's breath caught.

"For Charming," she whispered.

Lillian nodded slowly. "She wanted the perfect fairy tale. A princess for her son. A future queen she could control through marriage." Her jaw tightened slightly. "Harold refused immediately."

Felicia swallowed hard. "And that's when Fiona..."

"Yes. Fairy Godmother cursed Fiona while she was still a child." Lillian's voice trembled slightly now. "We didn't know it was her at first, as it happened in the night. She had broken in through a window which caused Fiona to cry. We rushed to her aid and saw a figure fly away into the night. And when we looked to our crying toddler, we saw an ogre in her place! We thought someone had swapped our child. Until the dawn came."

"Harold did everything he could to try and protect our daughter's secret. Then she arrived, pretending to help us. She told us Fiona could only be saved through true love's kiss, just like her father was." Bitterness crept into her expression. "We were grieving parents. Terrified. And she used that fear against us."

Felicia remembered the tower. The loneliness. Fiona waiting year after year for a prince. "She manipulated all of it," Felicia whispered.

"She manipulated everyone," Lillian corrected softly. "I hadn't known of Harold's deal until we had to send Fiona away. He said it was simply the star that turned him human. He knew Fairy Godmother did this because of him. When he explained, I was furious. But he vowed to make things right if it was the last thing he did."

Silence settled between them again.

Finally, Felicia asked the question still lingering in her mind. "Then why did grandfather turn back into a frog, when he got struck at the ball?"

Lillian's eyes softened immediately. "Because Harold kept his promise. He spent the rest of his life trying to undo his mistake."

Felicia looked at her carefully.

"For years, he tried bargaining with Fairy Godmother. Pleading with her. Trying to protect Fiona while still keeping the kingdom stable." Lillian shook her head sadly. "We even went to Rumple for help! But then we received the news that a brave knight had rescued our daughter."

"When Harold protected Shrek and Fiona from Fairy Godmother's blast, it took away her gift. His humanity."

"He gave it back," Felicia realized quietly. "That was what really protected Fiona."

"When Harold stepped in front of Shrek and Fiona that night, he knew exactly what would happen." Her eyes glistened faintly in the firelight. "The spell rebounded because of the armor, but the magic keeping him human finally broke. He would never give up his daughter."

Felicia thought back to the ball. Harold collapsing. The tiny frog prince beside Lillian afterward. Not humiliation. Freedom.

"He chose Fiona," Felicia said softly. "He chose love over fear."

"He always would."

The fire crackled between them.

After a while, Lillian smiled faintly again. "Though, between us, I always preferred him as a frog anyway. He complained a lot less."

They laughed together.

Then, more quietly, Felicia looked back toward the fire and asked, "Do you think he regretted it? Wishing to become human?"

Lillian's expression softened with unmistakable love. "No," she said gently. "Because it gave him a family." She reached out and stroked Felicia's head gently. "He found his happily ever after."

Outside, snow continued falling peacefully over Far Far Away while the Felicia and her grandmother told more stories about their family until they drifted to sleep in their chairs.