sixteen tides of time

☆

IT HAD BEEN SIX MONTHS SINCE THE DEATH OF JULIANA HATHAWAY. As she thought about it, she had to blink, reeling back because it felt like it had been years or only a few weeks, not six months. Evanora was so far removed from the death that for a moment it felt like it couldn't have just been six months, but a year at least, but on the other hand she thought of her mother so often it almost seemed like a few weeks had passed.

         Because Juliana clung onto her daughter, never letting go, and though Evanora shrugged her off, she never dared to leave. It was infuriating before, but now, realizing that six months ago exactly she had lost her mother, she wanted her back. Just for a moment, she wanted to feel Juliana's arms around her, holding her and letting her melt, piecing her together as her mother loved to do.

         She laid her hand on top of a page in her mother's spell book. It was the same one open when she died – the protection spell. If Colleen saw her, she would huff and quickly close the book because it was apparently bad luck for her to be on that specific page, but she needed to see it. Underneath her fingertips there were words written in cursive by her grandmother, though she could not feel the intentions to where the pen hit the paper.

         "I hope you're proud of me, mom," Evanora whispered into the night, a lost whisper for the shadow of a ghost who wasn't even listening. She blinked, shaking her head a little letting her hair rattle around, before closing the book which made a loud noise of finality.

         Juliana wouldn't be proud of her daughter. Juliana wanted a leader, a puppet to play with, a replacement for herself. Juliana didn't want a daughter with her own ideals and dreams, who wanted to soar away and never be stuck in the Council.

         Maybe she would've. If things were different, if Juliana allowed her to explore what she wanted instead of telling her what she was supposed to want, she would've expressed interest in the Council – but she never had that choice. It was set in stone with her life, but with her death it was broken.

         She got up from her bed, placing the spell book on her dresser, staring down at the tome that was her mother's before her, and now she inherited. Her mother's life was this book, these pages and their power, and now it fell onto Evanora who didn't even know where to start.

         She didn't want to be more witch than woman, but this was her legacy, and wasn't she supposed to honor that? Wasn't she supposed to honor her legacy?

         Closing her eyes, she shook her head. She didn't have to do anything, and she didn't owe her mother this. She needed to live her own life, make her own choices, not do as she was supposed to before. This was her legacy, but it didn't have to be her life.

         Maggie was her life, but not her legacy, yet that did not discredit her and the meaning Evanora placed in her.

         "I hope you respect my choices," Evanora changed her wish, whispering it again to a ghost who didn't care enough to listen. Juliana might not be proud of her daughter, but she hoped that her mother could at least respect her decisions.

         The Council wasn't for her even if it was meant to, and being a witch instead of a woman didn't appeal to her. She wanted to be human, so human she would be.

☆

         MAGGIE HELD HER HAND, AND SHE FELT ON TOP OF THE WORLD. Soft hands holding her own, unifying them together in front of their friends, smiles on their faces because this meant something – to them, it meant something. Maggie grabbed her hand first, unafraid, and Evanora didn't think she could ever let go.

         It was perfect. Like the end of a fairy tale, with everything happy ever after, she held Maggie's hand and didn't let go as eyes cast down upon their interlocked state.

         "Something you'd like to tell us?" Tommy broached first, eyes flickering to their hands as to indicate what he meant.

         Evanora offered him a large smile which he instantly saw and softened, because she understood the extent of what this meant more than Maggie or Diana.

         "You guys fucked yet?" Diana then asked, blunter and more upfront. Maggie choked on her spit and Evanora blinked in surprise while Tommy hissed and hit her.

         "You can't just ask people if they've fucked, Diana!" he chastised her and she wormed her way out of his hitting range.

         "It's a perfectly acceptable question because they're together and they're hot, so why not fuck?" Diana defended herself, raising her hands up to complete the look.

         "Um, no," Maggie spoke first out of the two, shaking her heart as she recovered from her choking.

         Evanora couldn't help but let out a little laugh at it all, because of course this was how this would go. It wouldn't be a normal congratulations and a swift move from the topic, but in depth into their relationship and how far it had gone between them.

         "We're together, but it's new, Diana," Evanora addressed her, a simple crooked smile gracing her lips, "So no, we haven't fucked yet."

         Diana shrugged. "A shame," she commented, biting down on her carrot as Maggie took a sip of her drink.

         "A shame? Diana, you can't just say things like that to people – especially in public!" Tommy stressed about it again, gesturing around to the full lunchroom around them.

         "What's the big deal?" Diana rolled her eyes, "The only one outside of you who'll actually care about their relationship is Brian, but he isn't even here today!"

         Maggie blinked, as if just realizing that she hadn't seen Brian at school that day. "He wasn't in English this morning..."

         "Maybe he's sick?" Evanora offered with a little shrug, not too concerned since she wasn't close to the boy at all. They had spoken a handful of times so his disappearance from school didn't matter, but Maggie had dated him and the other two were at least somewhat friends with him before, so she could understand some concern from their parts.

         Maggie frowned and shook her head. "Brian never gets sick."

         "Maybe he just didn't want to come today. It's not that big of a deal, Mags," Diana told her, "I shouldn't have said anything about it in the first place."

         Hesitantly, Maggie nodded in acceptance to Diana's comment, relaxing her shoulders a bit. "Sorry, force of habit," she cracked a smile, tucking some hair behind her ear.

         "You're fine," Evanora rushed to assure her, and Maggie gave her a personal smile with a glint in her eyes that made Evanora feel warm.

         "But it's good," Diana spoke up again, interrupting their moment, "That you two are together. Seeing you guys pine was absolutely ridiculous. Right?"

         She turned to Tommy, who immediately hit her again and held his hands up, "I plead the fifth."

         "We weren't ridiculous," Maggie frowned.

         "I hid it," Evanora added.

         Diana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

         "You can't say anything. You thought I liked Tommy before," Evanora said.

         "That was in October, Nora! And just because I messed up once doesn't mean that I'm not at all perceptive. I picked up the vibes," Diana defended herself, narrowing her eyes a bit.

         "You thought she liked me?" Tommy asked, looking between them and then repeating, "You thought she liked me?" when no one answered him.

         "Tommy, that was so a few months ago," Diana rolled her eyes.

         "She was wrong, I corrected her, and it's not really a big deal," Evanora dismissed it as well, because that was a long time ago, though not that long.

         Just a few months, like it had only been a few months since the death of her mother. It was weird how time worked, making it feel like years had come between her life before and her move to Hilltown. Her mother seemed like such a distant memory, when in reality she wasn't so far gone. No time had passed, and yet it had been years.

         "At least you guys won't pine anymore," Diana brought them back to the original subject, "It was sad. But now you guys should be happy."

         Evanora looked at Maggie. Everything about her reminded her of the color soft pink. Her eyes, doe brown and so innocent, her smile which made Evanora feel warm, the little blush she had on her cheeks from before, her laugh, her sensitivity and care for others. It was all soft pink, and the touches so light like Evanora was a porcelain doll in the best way.

         Maggie was soft pink, and Evanora wanted to melt into her. She adored the way Maggie moved, the way she spoke, the way she cared about others – because Maggie cared. In a different way than anyone else, Maggie cared and she cared too much it sometimes seemed like Maggie would waste her entire heart and then it would be gone. And she took in the emotions of others, until they were her own and she processed them before giving them back, all pretty and new.

         Maggie represented the change in her life, the cynical to the soft, and she was happy. She looked around, and she was happy with her friends, and she was happy that she could hold Maggie's hand, and she was happy that she finally had the ability to choose her own life.

         This – this right here was happiness, in the form of a teenage girl with caring eyes. She was happiness, and so Evanora latched onto it.

         "I'm happy," she muttered, eyes still on Maggie for another moment before returning to Diana.

         "Me too," Maggie said after, and she wondered for a moment what went through her mind. Did Maggie associate her with a color? Was it soft, was it hard, was it warmth and happiness? Did Maggie see her in this light as she saw Maggie?

         But then Maggie squeezed her hand, and instinctively she looked to her, and Maggie gave her a smile. She didn't know what went through her head, but she did know what was in Maggie's heart, and Maggie's heart sung for her.

         She didn't know, but she didn't need to, because she knew this. She knew this smile, this look in Maggie's eyes, this feeling of interlocked hands and she knew – she knew that Maggie sang for her as she sang for Maggie.

         This was happily ever after, her happily ever after.

☆

         THERE WAS AN OLD SONG THEY SANG. The fall from grace, the tragic hero, the capture. It was supposed to be a sad song, with a teary farewell of no happy ending, but as the tune hummed in his head, he did not feel the sadness the song was supposed to evoke.

         As he looked at the lyrics, he saw the glory of a downfall. Ones tragic ending was another's happy one, with everything they ever wanted. He heard a croak and saw one of his birds, and he grinned, a ruthless look crossing his eyes.

         If the bird was back, it had completed its task, and what a lovely task it had been. He knew, unfortunately, that there had be another downfall of a hero, but it was for the best. His best. He stood up, taking the bird to perch on his arm, and he roamed the halls whistling the tune.

         The world would burn, but he would set the flame. A hero would fall, but he could live with that. He would capture his prize again. He looked at the picture frame in the hallway. Him, others, standing tall. His grin turned crooked. They would be complete again, and they would rise.

         One in the picture frame appeared from behind him. The other was gone, wasting away being human, but he didn't dwell on that now. He wouldn't need them soon, because the prize would seen be given to him, and he would rise and rise above everyone else.

         "They've found her?"

         He nodded as his eyes turned, the blond in the picture frame matching the one in front of him now. "Prepare to get her – and, oh, it might get bloody."

         The crooked grin that matched his own appeared on the blond. "Just the way I like it."