#my apologies to the child in the cart who saw me try and fail many times to italicize the word “crack” on my phone

[firenati0n]

several sentence sunday <3 :)

hello friends :) thank you to @sparklepocalypse @onthewaytosomewhere @captainjunglegym @magicandarchery @getmehighonmagic @bigassbowlingballhead @junebugclaremontdiaz @violetbaudelaire-quagmire (HBD!!!!) @itsmaybitheway @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @anincompletelist for the tags <3

proposal au titled "the full spectrum of human emotion" coming eventually. there is spanking involved:

Alex leans closer to Henry's ear, watching a lone drop of sweat slide down the man's temple, and whispers, “I did say you were allowed, sweetheart.”  Henry's cheeks go a lurid shade of pink, almost glowing from within under the lights. He takes a second to assess, landing on a decision surely meant to end Alex's life prematurely. Extinguished in his youth; death by over-the-clothes lap dance spanking.  He raises his hand and brings it down with a swift crack and Alex feels it through his jeans, all the way to the blood vessels pounding in his temples. But Henry doesn't stop there. No, he goes the extra mile, goddamn overachieving fuck he is, and squeezes. Alex is going to die in this fucking bar. If the bull didn’t do it, and the dancing didn’t do it, it’s definitely going to be the fucking spanking. The patrons are wolf-whistling, Nora is yelling all sorts of dirty encouragement, and Alex. Well, Alex is over the fucking moon.  “That's the best you got, baby boy?” “I suggest you don't push me right now, Alex, if you don't want to cause a scene in this lovely bar.”

xoxo roop

+ tags below the cut and open tag as always <3

@ninzied @dumbpeachjuice @wordsofhoneydew @saturntheday @leaves-of-laurelin @inexplicablymine @sherryvalli @littlemisskittentoes @heybuddy-drabbles @priincebutt @whimsymanaged @ships-to-sail @futureseaempress @happiness-of-the-pursuit @theprinceandagcd @tintagel-or-cockleshells @cricketnationrise @tailsbeth-writes @lizzie-bennetdarcy @myheartalivewrites @onward--upward @celeritas2997 @affectionatelyrs @tinyarmedtrex @14carrotghoul @rmd-writes @indomitable-love @anchoredarchangel @gay-flyboys @cultofsappho @welcometololaland @gayrootvegetable @rockyroadkylers @suseagull04 @eusuntgratie @orchidscript @cha-melodius @candyspandemonium @kiwiana-writes

[implexedactions]

My Little Ember - Enji Todoroki

Platonic!Yandere!Enji Todoroki

A/N: Okay, I’m late. I missed a lot of due dates. This isn’t even beta read. I’m sorry. I am so sorry. But here it is anyway!

This is Yandere content, and as such, one should be cautious of viewing this if you have certain triggers.

“Wake up, my little ember~ Did you have a good rest?”

 You blink your eyes open and look around. You are in “your” bedroom, a cruelly comforting place. A room in Enji’s giant mansion, covered in pastels and various kid-friendly entertainment. The nicest cage money could buy. 

 Enji’s hand rests on your shoulder. A warm presence on this otherwise cold day. Your eyes flicker up at the cyan ones looking compassionately down.

 “Uhh, yeah, it was fine, Enji…”

 Enji sighs and rubs his hand against your shoulder. 

 “I told you, kid, call me dad.”

 “But-”

 Enji raises a warm finger to your lips.

 “Come now, enough of that. I’ve let you sleep in long enough; it is already 7:30 am. I have been cooking breakfast in the kitchen for you.”

 You look away dejectedly.

 “I’m not hungry.” 

 “Hush, you need your breakfast if you want to grow big and strong like your old man!” 

 He promptly lifts you out of bed with just one arm, shoving you over his shoulder. You don’t fight back, instead just lying there, looking at the upside-down room. 

 Humming a tune, he carries you out of your bedroom, and into the empty mansion that you both share—pristine white walls and furniture, broken up with the odd child-proofed edge or photo-frame. 

 He abducted you four months ago and ever since seemed to be treating you as his child. Everyone who saw Endeavor knew he probably didn’t have a stellar home life, but this was absurd. 

 He walks down the stairs to the first floor, walking through a massive living room.

 “Enj-uhhh, dad?”

 Enji hummed with delight as he kept walking, you swaying up and down on his shoulder, getting slightly dizzy.

 “Yes, my little ember?”

 “Do you think I-uhh, we, could go outside today?”

 Enji stops in his tracks, his grip on you tightening and warming. Not noticeably, but enough. 

 “...Ember, I am not too sure if that is a wise decision.”

 Of course. It hadn’t worked the other 50 times you asked, why would it work now?! Why was it so hard for you to find ANY time away his watchful eye.

 “What a fucking surprise…”

 “Hey!”

 He pulls your now shaking form off his shoulder. One hand around your waist, one around your head as he brings you in front of him, hovering off the floor. His eyes are thin, a scowl on his face. You feel his hot breath coming from his nostrils. You have never been more scared in your life of this man.

 “Do not use that foul language, Y/N Todoroki. I will not tolerate it. Do not make me discipline you.”

 “I-uhhh, sorry…” you stammer out, avoiding his gaze. 

 His hand moves your head and forces your eyes to meet his disappointed ones.

 “I have raised you better than that, haven’t I? Apologise properly.”

 “Uhhh,,,Sorry, Father, that I, behaved inappropriately…” you say, staring into eyes that only villains are privy to.

 His face warms and he pulls you in for a hug. 

 “Apology accepted!”

 He places you down on the floor, but keeps your hand in a vice-like grip.

 “Now! We can’t leave those pancakes waiting, can we?”

 Enji  pulls you along, almost causing you to fall over a few times to keep up with his faster gait. He walks into the kitchen,and the smell of pancakes fill the air. He places you down on a seat, grabbing a plate and putting some pancakes on it, before serving it to you. You detectedly pick at the pancakes, staring out the window. It’s an overcast and cloudy day, might rain later. Enji seemingly notices this. 

 “Feeling melancholy, oh sorry, I meant, are you feeling sad??” He pries, softly bumping you with his elbow to get you to pay attention to him.

 “You kidna-” You got to interject, but get interrupted. 

 “I have something that might cheer you up! Look at this, my little ember!”

 Enji reaches over to grab the wet batter, he pours a bit into one of his cupped hands, and after putting down the container, presses his other hand over it. After a few seconds, he pulls apart his hand to reveal a potato-shaped pancake with imprints of his hands on it, perfectly cooked. 

 You fail to look impressed, to which Enji sighs. 

 “You will find it more interesting when you have your own quirk, I bet!”

 “...You realise I’m quirkless right?” You’ve been quirkless forever, you weren’t thrilled about it, but you made do, or you did, before this deranged hero kidnapped you.

 “Do not worry, my sweet little cinder. You are just a late bloomer. Your powers will come in soon, I guarantee it! You are a todoroki! It is in your very nature!”

 “But I-”

 “You might even get a fire quirk like your old man! Imagine how much I could impart to you! Are you not excited?!”

 “No, not rea-”

 “You will go to UA of course, but that might be putting the cart before the horse, champ. We should think about primary school before that...”

 Wait, what? Ignoring the fact that he’s trying to enrol you in primary school, this would mean you’d get out of the house, and presumably, to a teacher, who’d figure out you’re not a kid, and are in fact, being held against your will. 

 “I’d love to go to school Dad!” you cry enthuasatically, desperate to get out of the house.

 “Ha! You’re certainly eager!” He saddles up beside you and pulls you into his side, tussling your hair. 

 “Although...School seems a bit dangerous, looking at UA and what happened with sho- maybe instead, we could try a different approach, my little ember.”

 “But I’d really like to meet oth-” You need to force this issue, you can’t let him shut this issue down like this. This is your one chance to get outside the house.

 “Hmmm! How about instead, you use packet learning for general education, and well, we will cross the hero bridge when we get to it. Heh, maybe I could teach you about being a hero and intern you myself if you try to get your hero license! Would that not be fun, your old man teaching you how to be a hero?”

 He presses you into his side more, face pushed against his pecs, preventing you from speaking. It’s meant as a sort of hug, it mainly just hurts quite a bit. 

 “Just know I love you no matter what the outcome is, okay? Powers or no powers. Hero or no hero. You’ll always be my little ember!”

 Despite your flails and protests, Enji carries you to the couch, sitting you down next to the TV. The sun has risen fully, becoming mid-morning. 

 “Alright, kiddo. Want to watch some cartoons? How about that backyard science one? We could try to replicate, er, repeat,  the experiment later?”

 “Could I-er, we, watch that detective movie? I saw an ad for it, it looked interesting?” The issue is gone now, he will only deflect any questions, you’ve tried MANY times to get that to work. Might as well get SOME enjoyment out of this day. 

 “Hmpfh, you saw an advertisment for that movie? I need to monitor what you watch more often, that is much too dark for a young mind like you! Let me put on that science show…” 

 Enji goes to grab the remote, but you slap it out of his hand.

 “Stop this! Stop pretending that I’m your child! Stop trying to coddle me!“

 Enji goes to touch your shoulder, concern plastered over his face, hiding something sinister. 

 “Don’t fucking touch me you creep! Everyone knows you fucked up your first chance at a good family life, and this isn’t a fucking do over, you abusive, coddling, tormentor!” 

 Enji sighs.

 “And I was having such a nice morning too.” 

 Enji’s face grows dark as he stands up from the couch, before turning around and bending down to your level. Fast hands pinning your shoulders to your side, keeping you in place as an intimidating and vilanous look takes over his face. 

 “I will give you 5 seconds to apologise, and just maybe, I, your FATHER, can find it in my heart to lessen the SEVERE punishment you are getting, kid.”

 “1”

 “I’m sorry! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” 

 Enji’s face contorts into a smug smirk as confusion takes over yours.

 “2”

 “W-What? But-I’m sorry! Please listen to me!”

 You thrash useleslly against the hands holding you in place, desperate to try and escape his gaze. Reduced to a whimpering and crying mess as you think of the ‘discipline’ your father will inflict.

 “3”

 “Please! I said I’m sorry! What more do you want from me?!”

 You’re on the edge of hyper ventilating as Enji stares you down. His hands are warming up, grip tightening, only causing your thrashing to become even stronger. Your attempts to break free don’t even budge him an inch.

 “4...Do not make me count to 5...”

 “Please! Enj-Father! I’m sorry! I’ll do whatever you want! I’ll eat those pancakes! I’ll play along! Please, don’t hurt me!”

 Enji’s smug smile and piercing eyes will haunt your dreams.

 “...5. I thought I had raised you better than that, my little cinder. Oh well, time to-”

 Lightning and thunder interrupts the countdown, an ear-splitting crack emanating from outside the sealed house. Enji jumps to cover you, as you yelp, the already anxiety inducing conversation ruining your nerves so much a lightning strike scares you. Immediately, Enji’s menacing demeanor melted away. 

 “Oh, I thought it was a villi- nevermind.”

 Enji looks down at you. Your form is shaking, tears spilling out of your eyes. Looking both catatonic and extremely wound up, as you fail to comprehend your surroundings, simply mumbling to yourself about punishment and forgiveness.

“S-Sorry. Forgive. Forgive m-me.I-I-”

 “Do you see, my little ember? The threat of punishment WAS the punishment.

 His hands pulled you into his broad chest, shushing you and rubbing warming hands up and down your back. You keep on crying, your turbulent emotions entirely out of control, not knowing how to react. You feel like your sanity is so fragile, anything will break it. You simply focus on a spot upon the wall, and nothing else. 

 “It is okay, ember. It is just thunder. I will protect you.”

 “...not scared of thunder...” you mumble. He chooses to cocoon you further with his massive body, noticeably warming himself up to protect you from the potential cold.

 “You do not need to lie, little one. I am not expecting you to be perfect, okay?”

 He pauses, mulling over his next words. 

 “I am only expecting perfection from me.”

[yuki-tsunodas]

The Player's Tribune: I will never forget the tears I shed that day

Article published 25 March 2021, originally written by Yuki Tsunoda in Japanese.

I translated the article with help from Google Translate and Naver Translator + my own interpretations of their rubbish translating, so apologies in advance for any mistakes! Anything I had trouble translating will be bolded with a (?) next to it!!

　I think that was the last time I cried in frustration, in regret.

　Four years ago, I was only 16 years old and was a student at Suzuka Circuit Racing School. It was the final selection to join Honda's Driver Development Program. If I pass, I can run in Japanese F4 the following year, but if I failed...I was thinking of quitting racing at that time.

　Now, I'm standing at the entrance of the stage called F1. Looking back, that was the turning point of my life.

　Of course, I didn't know if I would pass that year's trial because there were not only those who had already run in F4 but also some drivers who had come back from overseas.

　However, I've been racing in karts since I was four years old, and I've been doing well. That year, I was the youngest ever podium finisher in my debut race in the Japanese F4 championship, which allowed me to participate in the spot (?) race, and won the Super FJ Japan's first championship. At the selection test, there were good results until the final round of selection, and I was in a position to compete for first and second place overall. So I thought I could afford to make a big mistake in the final selection, and I was confident that I would still be in the top two in the end.

　I am a strong driver. But if you can't get results here or if you can't fascinate the judges with your running, it's already known (?). So I was prepared to give up my racing career if it didn't work. I think there were many other routes to go, such as running in other training programs or non-formal races, but I don't like it when it's not the direction I want to go. I decided to live a different life rather than to do it half-heartedly.

　However, the worst result awaited. At that time, I was very weak mentally and, of all things, it showed in the final round. Even before the race, I found myself tense and stiff. My fingertips were also stiff. I was not my usual self. I started like that, but suddenly I was flying...I had to drive through the pitlane and then rejoin the course. I felt like I was running alone, far away from the previous group. I felt sorry for myself, and I didn't even feel like running anymore. As a result, the points in that race were almost zero, and Tsunoda lost in the final round.

　I was so frustrated that tears welled up naturally on the train home. It was the first time since I started racing in earnest. I was the youngest among the participants, but I was shocked because I was confident that I wouldn't lose, and I couldn't imagine anything even if I tried to think about the future. I still remember clearly that I was so depressed that I didn't even want to see my parents on my way home from the Shinkansen.

　But there was only one faint hope. That was what the then Honda F4 coach said in an interview after the screening.

　"As a training driver for Honda, you will not be able to participate in the race next year, since the Formula 4 Honda has four cars. Maybe I can put you in one of the remaining two cars running as Suzuka Racing School."

　That was because former Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima recommended me. Mr. Nakajima was the principal of the school at that time, and at the time of the final selection, he was watching us run in the final chicane.

　I was given a penalty at the start, and I was racing without emotion, but I was running hard so that I wouldn't regret it. Through the visor, I saw Satoshi Nakajima standing in the final corner. I didn't want to show Mr. Nakajima a careless run. It was a hopeless ranking, but I thought I should not give up until the end and keep running toward the group in front of me. Then the road opened.

　In 2017, Suzuka Racing decided to enter me into F4 instead of making me a training driver. Then, I suddenly ranked 3rd overall in the annual overall ranking, and the following year in 2018, I was selected as a Honda Formula Dream Project driver, and was able to become the champion.

　It's all because I was frustrated at that final selection.

　The most unusual thing is that I think it's mental. Until I had a setback, I had a feeling that I would do well until the end without doing anything. I knew I wasn't good at starting even though I failed in the previous round, and I had time to practice before that, but I didn't. There was something sweet about overconfidence. And at that time, I was afraid of making mistakes, so I didn't know how to grow up.

　After failing the selection, I realized that I was still not perfect and that I had to be faster. I realized that it is important to make a lot of mistakes without fear of making mistakes, and to make new discoveries and grow from there. Therefore, I didn't feel impatient when I didn't get points as I wanted in the early part of the F3 and F2 seasons last year after I went abroad. Rather, there was no hesitation in the process of making a lot of mistakes first and learning a lot from them.

　Takuma Sato, a former Formula One driver, now driving in Indycar, is famous for saying, "No attack, no chance," but I think that's exactly right. If you don't try beyond the limits of any sport, you won't find the future, and if you don't try, you'll stop there. Therefore, even if there are times when I make mistakes or get no results, I don't feel strangely distressed. Even if you make a mistake, it's up to you to take it. Mistakes make me want to investigate the cause. If you think that you can overcome it, you can be faster than if you regret the mistake, and you can always face it positively.

　Now that I can race in F1, I feel grateful to my parents. I've liked to move since I was a child, and I played swimming, soccer, mountain biking, and also, not sports, but piano. Now that I think about it, I feel that my father and mother were letting me do what I was interested in. And the reason why I started driving karts was also influenced by my father. My father liked motorsports and played gym carna himself. One day, at the circuit venue I was taken to, I was allowed to drive a real cart. That was the first time. Actually, I also experienced a pocket bike at that time, but after trying two, I said, "The kart is more fun." I don't really remember at all (lol).

　But there were times I got sick of karts...

　For example, when I was about seven years old. When I was playing a game while waiting at the track, my father told me to "focus more on the race," and my game was taken away, and I felt like, "I don't like it anymore." Then my father became getting tougher and tougher on me to improve me, and he scolded me for many things. To be honest, I didn't really appreciate my father until I was 15, and there was a time when I hated him. 'This is "The Rebellion Period".' I think I was in the middle of it.

　Not only my father but also my mother was strict in terms of academic matters. I was always told to study in case I didn't succeed in motorsports. My junior high school was not a public school (?), so after the race, I would go home on the day, get ready for school, go to school, study, and take the test. To be honest, it was hard and I never liked it, but I continued to study anyway.

　At that time, I couldn't thank my parents, but now I have the opposite feelings. I think I am what I am now thanks to their harshness, scolding, and teaching me a lot of things back then. Thank you so much.

　I didn't expect to be able to get to F1 this quickly. Not only are there few Japanese drivers, but they are also those taking the shorter route compared to foreign drivers.

　When I first went to see F1 at Fuji Speedway at the age of seven, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were running. At that time, I wasn't longing for it, but I thought "I wanted to race with drivers like this someday", and those feelings are still the same. Hamilton is already a legend, and it's an honor to run with him, but when I get on the circuit, both Hamilton and Alonso are just drivers. Think of them as enemies.

　It's the same for Max Verstappen, who I think is the fastest and strongest opponent in Formula One, and Pierre Gasly, who's my teammate in Alpha Tauri. I want to know as soon as possible how well I can handle Verstappen and how well I can compete. Gasly was active in Japan's top-category, Super Formula, when I was running in Japanese F4, and I hope I can learn a lot of things from him, but I think he's also my biggest rival that I have to beat someday because we're in the same machine.

　'In the world of F1, "speed" is ultimately required.' No matter how fast you say you are, if you show off your speed, you can make an impact, and if you have speed, you can get back in front in the second half even if you were overtaken or separated from the pack in the beginning of the race. However, it is actually the most difficult to show "speed" in a situation like this. My biggest strength is speed, so in addition to that, I want to learn more of what I lack.

　Come to think of it, at an online conference held this off-season, my goal came out big like, "I'll be a Formula One champion more than seven times, the most ever tied," but that's not what I meant.

　I haven't done a single race in Formula One yet, so I can't say that (bitter smile).

　What I'm thinking about right now is to give the best performance I have in the first race, and to get as many points as possible throughout the season. Just like F2, even if you go up to F1, you will make a lot of mistakes from the beginning to the middle of the season, but I want to learn a lot by making new discoveries there. After saying such a thing at the press conference, there was a question like, "What is Tsunoda's ambition?" So I replied, "Maybe I'll win the championship seven times like Lewis Hamilton?" which became a big headline.To be exact, I really want to concentrate on everything in front of me now, and I hope that my ambition will come true as a result of that accumulated effort.

　What kind of scene will I see in the future? I want to improve my ability and become a race driver representing the F1 world, and I think it will be a different pressure and motivation, so the expectations of the fans may be even higher.

　That's why I want to never forget how I felt when I drove in Formula One for the first time in 2021. I want to cherish the current feelings of a rookie and continue to make mistakes to my heart's content, learn a lot from them, and enjoy them.

　I don't think I'll shed tears like I did four years ago in the final selection. I will never forget the tears I shed that day. But if I were to cry from now on, what kind of tears would I have...?

　I think it's realistic to say when I first win the championship. It's very difficult to get to Formula One, but it's going to be a tough road ahead. It's really hard to win, so if I'm going to shed tears, it's probably not "regretful tears" but "happy tears".

[megsironthrone]

Meg's Game of Tales: Tale 11

*Familiar characters are NOT mine! The original story of "Rumpelstiltskin" was written by The Brothers Grimm.*

Warnings: Rumpelstiltskin AU, angst, magic, deceit.

Pairings: Petyr Baelish x fem!reader, fem!reader x unnamed prince

The Miller's Daughter. That was all you were to the people in the village nearest to the castle. Your name didn't matter to them. The only thing that mattered was that you made the flour deliveries. You could say you hated your life. But then, it happened. The delivery your father had been waiting for. The first delivery to the castle. The king was finally giving your father a chance. If only you had known the fate that was about to befall you.

See, you didn't know that the prince had a habit of trying to sneak away through the kitchens to avoid his princely duties for a few hours. It was during one of those times that you, quite literally, ran into said prince. As soon as you made contact with the solid mass of human being, your heart sank. One of your bags of flour busted open and the others fell to the floor in a heap of white powder. All your hard work…destroyed.

"Watch where you're going!" you snapped, not even bothering to look up at the offender. "I beg your pardon?! How dare you speak to me that way!" Your head snapped up and you froze as a curse tried to escape your lips. You stood to your full height quickly and curtsied before dusting the flour from your skirts. "Forgive me for snapping, my prince." He arched a brow. "And what of my clothing? You’ve gotten flour all over them!"

"No. You did. I couldn't see around the bags of flour. You should have been paying attention." The prince looked positively gob smacked that you once again had spoken to him the way you did. Only this time, it wasn't the prince who called you out.

"You are speaking to the crowned prince, girl! You could be thrown in the dungeon for such insubordination." You glanced around the prince to see the king and two guards standing in the kitchens. It was clear the king had come down to stop the prince from leaving but had walked in on your interaction instead.

"You would throw me in the dungeon for your son's mistake, Your Majesty? I was simply trying to deliver the flour and I did apologize for my tone," you explained, doing your best to keep your tone from sharpening once again. It didn't help. The king looked furious. "The flour you were supposed to deliver is now all over the floor, you , and my son! You have failed." You wanted to cry. Your father was counting on the commission from the castle since the last miller the castle used had recently died. Your family needed this.

"Please, Your Majesty. My father had nothing to do with this. Please give him another chance." The king crossed his arms over his chest. "He should have taught you better. My answer is no and, should you continue to argue, I will throw you and your father in the dungeon." He beckoned his son to follow him and turned away. "WAIT! Please. Let me prove to you that this will be different. I can give you money. To replace the prince's clothing! I-I can give you enough money to provide for your kingdom for years to come."

The king looked back at you and laughed. "Girl, I am king. I have more gold than you will ever see in your lifetime." You shook your head. "That isn't true. I-I make gold!" You don't know why you said it. You simply said the only thing you could possibly think of that might be able to save you.

"Impossible." You licked your lips as your eyes scanned the room to find a pile of straw in the corner. "It's true. I can spin straw into gold." A boisterous laugh escaped the king's mouth. His entire body shook in merriment. "If you can do that, I'd let you marry the prince." You straightened your back and looked him directly in the eye.

"I can. I will prove it to you." The king stopped laughing and pondered for a moment. "Very well. I will have a room prepared in the tower with straw and a spinning wheel. If, by tomorrow morning, you have spun all the straw into gold as you claim you can, you shall have the prince's hand and your father will never want for anything. Do we have a deal?" You gave him a curtsy. "We do, Your Majesty."

As soon as the royals were out of sight, you nearly ran back to your cart, hopping over the now useless bags of flour, and leaned against it. You were in so much trouble. How in the world were you EVER going to spin straw into gold?! You felt stupid and scared. Your overactive imagination and your willingness to save your father had gotten you into a situation you were certain was going to be the death of you.

That evening, you were shut up in a room in the tower and the door was locked behind you. A spinning wheel sat in the center of the room and a stack of straw was piled high next to it, reaching into the corner of the room. The weight of your lie hit your heart and your shoulders slumped. Obviously your lie was an impossibility. Still, you had to do something while you waited, so you decided to spin the straw. It wouldn't be gold, but at least you'd have something to do with your hands while you waited for your inevitable death.

"Seems you're in a spot of trouble," a voice suddenly said. You jumped nearly a foot off the stool. Your eyes scanned the room to find a man (at least he looked like a man) standing in the corner. "W-Who are you?" He gave you a little smirk. "My name is of no importance. What is important is that I can assist you with your little…dilemma."

You scoffed a bit. "No one can help me. It is impossible to spin straw into gold." His smirk grew, but you saw that no emotion reached his green-grey eyes. "For you, perhaps." You rolled your eyes. "Sure. Now, if you don't mind, I have my death to prepare for and I'd appreciate it if you left."

Instead of leaving, the man slowly approached you. "Aren't you even the least bit curious?" You were done with his questions and games, so you moved off the stool and gestured for him to have a seat. A sort of "put your money where your mouth is" challenge. He took the stool and began to spin. Before your eyes, the yellow straw turned into gold. Your jaw hit the floor.

"How did you do that?!" He chuckled. "Magic. Now, I have a deal for you. I will spin all this straw into gold for you. You'll marry the prince, live happily ever after, blah, blah, blah." Your brows furrowed. "And what's in it for you? You don't seem like the type to do something for nothing." Another chuckle. "You are correct. Your first born child."

"I'm sorry?" you asked, certain you'd misheard. "That is my price. You will give me your first born child." You blinked at him surprised. He stared at you passively for a moment, but there was a slight tic of his lip that showed that he was getting irritated with every second you hesitated. "It isn't a difficult decision. It is life or death, my dear." He was right and you knew that, so you agreed. He immediately got to work spinning gold from all that straw. By the time dawn came, there was not a single ounce of straw left. The man gave you another smirk before disappearing in the darkness as the door opened.

*time skip*

You ended up marrying the prince, as was agreed and a few months later, you brought a little girl into the world. You had all but forgotten about the little man who had saved your life. At least, until one night in your daughter's nursery. You had decided against governess and wet nurses for the time being since your husband wasn't king yet so you didn't have many queenly duties. So when your daughter cried in the night, you got up and walked into the room adjacent to yours to tend to her.

This time, however, when you walked into the room, the shadow of someone almost made you scream. "Now, now, my dear, is that any way to greet the one who saved your life?" You didn't relax, but you didn't scream either. The man turned and you were met the green-grey eyes of the one who spun straw into gold. He held your baby in his arms.

"Why are you here?" He gave you a look. "Surely you haven't forgotten. I'm here to collect my payment. Magic comes at a price, you know." You froze in fear. If he took your child, your husband would know what had happened. That you had lied. "Please, don't. Don't do this. I will give you anything else." He chuckled, his expression twisting into something dark and foreboding. "We made a deal, my dear. I upheld my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn."

You felt tears welling up in your eyes. He regarded your face for a moment before a twisted smile formed on his lips. "However, if you can figure out my name, I will return your child to you." Your heart sank. How were you supposed to figure out the name of this little demon? "How long do I have?" He gave you the time limit of a week before disappearing again.

You spent six days trying to figure things out. Six days of trying to find a clue or two as to his name. Or even where to find him. Finally, your overheard gossip from some of the villagers that brought supplies to the castle. A location. It was all you had, but it was better than nothing and you were running out of time. You kept your down as you made your way to the location and peered in the window. Sure enough, there was the man along with your daughter and someone else.

"This is what you've been up to, Littlefinger?" the other voice asked, "Truly cunning. Stealing an infant." You felt yourself smile. You knew his name now. Without waiting another moment, you burst through the door, surprising the two people. "Littlefinger! That is your name!"

His face fell before contorting in anger. "You cheated." You arched a brow. "Did I, Littlefinger? You never specified how I needed to learn your name. Only that I learn it. I did. Now give me back my baby!" He shook his head. "No." You put your hands on your hips and glared. "A deal is a deal. That is my child and you will give her back this minute, Lit-" he cried out, trying to stop you, but you continued on, "-tlefinger!" Without warning, the little man before you turned to dust. You jumped back.

"What just happened?" Littlefinger's companion smiled. "You said his name three times. His curse was that he could perform great feats of magic but if anyone he has made a deal with says his name three times, he would be destroyed. Now, take your daughter and go, Your Highness." You didn't wait another second.

When you made it back to the castle, you took your daughter to her nursery, made certain the window was locked and sat down with the girl. You rocked with her. You grinned to yourself. Life was wonderful. Littlefinger was gone. You had your prince and your daughter back. No one else would ever know anything about what had happened.

(a/n: I hope you like it! Tags for Game of Tales are still open!)

[growingupautie]

StoryTime: The White Card Incident

(2,770 words but worth the read.)

In January of 2013, I was promoted from a part-time weekend job as a technology sales representative for Lenovo to the Marketing Development Manager for Lenovo in charge of half of my entire city of Houston. For a while, I felt like I was on top of the world. I loved my job and traveling through my city. I loved meeting all the people in the 50 plus stores I had to visit and started to memorize a lot of them and what we talked about.

I even made my route have me end up near Chinatown on some days so I could stop by and eat lunch there (and get some things from my favorite bakery.) But just as Kandace and I were planning on using this newfound position to get an apartment together, something terrible happened. In October of that year, we got on our weekly conference call as we always did, but the mood seemed somber and no one was talking or laughing like they used to.

When our boss came on, she also seemed upset and had trouble getting her words out. I could tell that everyone on the call, all 20 plus of us from across the United States just wanted her to say what was happening so we could rip the bandaid off. After a minute of praise that felt hollow given the tone of the call, someone finally asked if she could get to the news we were told to expect.

She said "sorry" and continued to tell us that the parent company we work for had lost the contract with Lenovo after failed negotiations and our positions were being terminated immediately. The call somehow fell more silent. Everyone had questions. Myself included. But in the end, we found out most of what we wanted to know. The Lenovo branded cars we drove were to be returned, (I had let my vehicle stay broken down as I didn't need it and it would be expensive to fix.)

The laptop we were provided was to be returned as well along with the phone, and hotspot device. But the most important bit of info came when someone asked if we would be allowed to apply for unemployment. "Of course we would be able to. We paid into it, we worked, we should be able to get that back." but to our surprise, the boss said something along the lines of "no don't do that! We could get in trouble! We haven't paid into that!" All of us were stunned. Someone asked how that was even possible.

It turns out the loophole in the law they had found was that because the company was in Akron Ohio, and we all worked and paid taxes in our various other cities somehow they managed to not pay into it. We didn't get bogged down into the why or how, but all that meant to us was suddenly we were without cars and a paycheck and would be denied unemployment. I was devastated. I really thought I had found a place to grow and could see myself making a career out of it.

We were about to sign papers on an apartment and suddenly I'm without a job, without a working car, and without any kind of financial assistance. Some issues happened around my family and after a short time, I got my car somewhat fixed and I moved out of the house into Dadaw's (grandmother's) house. I tried frantically to get another job. After all, I had just been in charge if half of Houston for a big company. Surely I would be offered another position somewhere soon.

But as time went by, nobody had called. I had very little money left, and very little outside help if any. Hope was dwindling, relationships were strained. I had spoken to at least 20 job placement agencies. After my mom informed me that I had been diagnosed as Autistic as a child, I had reconnected with D.A.R.S. (Department of Rehabilitative Services) who help people with disabilities get help with work and other things.

But they refuse to help me based on my other medical issues because they closed my case before, and they refused to help me as an Autistic until I got rediagnosed. They paid for me to be rediagnosed, I did so with no sleep, having skipped dinner and breakfast, and with a ridiculous amount of stress on my shoulders.

I aced their IQ test minus the memory portion, and after a while of convincing the doctor I was Autistic through old stories and experiences and the fact that I had been diagnosed, he agreed. That day, I went home with my heart sunk in my chest. I felt like a failure for needing this kind of help. I felt like a broken or incomplete person because I couldn't do it on my own.

And after months of their "help," working with a bunch of disability-based job agencies, the "help" of 20 plus other job placement agencies I had saught out, and filling out applications online myself, no matter what I tried, I couldn't get a job anywhere. I couldn't afford to eat, and I didn't want Dadaw to pay for me as she often couldn't afford much. A few people in my life suggested I get food stamps. Several people in my life told me I should apply food stamps. But the idea of that in itself was terrifying.

But after a while, between eating very little, my friends taking me out from time to time, and constant pestering from my family I felt I was left with no choice. I went to the food stamp office with my head down, the people around me had the same downtrodden demeanor. When they called me back, I felt a rush of emotions. Guilt, remorse, sorrow, anger that it came to this.

But most of all, I felt embarrassed. Growing up, food stamps had been used as an insult toward the people around me, I knew at one point my family had needed them and used them and I felt like as someone who had been constantly bullied growing up, I was opening myself up for more. I played through a million scenarios in my head as I walked back. Someone I know seeing me at the checkout counter, the cashier silently judging me, the people around me, me dropping the white card with the unmistakable logo in front of someone.

I snapped out of it and sat down in the interview room to answer questions to determine my eligibility. But it felt like a police interrogation to me. I felt like I was cheating the system. Like it wasn't for me, but someone else who deserved it. Someone else who needed it. I felt the eyes of the interviewer boring into me as if to say "why are you even here?" I spoke up about to break. "I...I don't even want to do this." Her face changed from accusatory and annoyed, to shock.

I let her know that I felt like I had no other choice, that I felt embarrassed. I explained my situation, and she looked at me almost begrudgingly endearing. "Son, if you need help, you need help." she said. "That's what it's here for." I felt somewhat relieved or at least a little better about not actually cheating the system. They accepted my application, and I was approved.

When I got the card, I was once again filled with dread. Replaying the simulations over and over in my head a million times. Finding a way to cheat the system in a way to avoid being bullied, I realized I could use the self-check-out. Then quickly realized if I get one of those "please remove items from cart" messages or something else regarding my card, someone would have to come up and help me anyway.

Still, I figured it was my best hope for avoiding confrontations, and I parked outside the grocery store. I checked my balance on the card and made sure everything was working, went in and got a basket, and started shopping while feeling like a spy. Like somehow I would get caught and it would be the end of the road for me. I'm honestly surprised nobody thought I was shoplifting as nervous as I was.

When I was done, I walked over to the self-check-out area doubling down on my earlier decision when a woman stopped me and said they were all closed for repairs. Panic set in. I didn't say anything. I just sort of smiled and walked away with my basket.

The 15 items or less line was almost empty but I had too many items. The next line had too many people. The next few lines had the same amount of people and items, and I started doing the math on which cashier was scanning and bagging faster vs how judgmental they look trying to get myself into the best possible situation.

Eventually, I found a line sandwiched between two closed lines with only one woman and her 2 kids in the basket with a few items. The cashier didn't seem to care much about anything and didn't seem like a gatekeeper or any other kind of threat. And the woman in front of me seemed sad and aloof as well so I felt like things were going to be ok. The woman smiled at me and apologized for having so many items. "It's not that much. It's fine." I responded with a smile.

But suddenly from behind me, I felt a high strung angry presence. Like a monster who's in a hurry and I'm in his path. As each item was scanned, he started saying "Oh God...." "Of course..." and "Just great..." in a demeaning and monstrous tone. The woman continued to hide her face with her back to him and sulked further into herself as he continued. "Cash or credit?" The cashier asked in a monotone voice. "I...uh...Here..." The woman said quietly and she tried to hand her..."A food stamp card..." I thought to myself.

I realized that I and the woman felt the same at that moment. In need of help, but afraid to seek it out, and even afraid to use it once that help had been provided. I started to piece the scene together realizing the kids had beat up shoes and clothes, and the woman did as well. They were clearly hungry and frightened by this angry rhino of a person and just wanted to get some food. I started to think of all the scenarios that could have put them in that situation. But then I realized it didn't matter.

Only a moment had passed while I thought through all of these things, the children were terrified of this man already and then he saw it..."OH GREAT! MY TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!" he screamed scaring the kids even more. He began to verbally narrate what he thought her situation was. accusing her of getting "knocked up" to "leech off the system." He said people like them were a "drain on the economy" all while using language inappropriate to use around her children.

At that moment after the initial shock wore off, I grasped my card in my pocket as anger built up inside of me. I knew what I was afraid of, I had built it up in my head, and this ignorant jerk was making it a reality for a down on their luck mom and her two scared children. I immediately pivoted. "What did you just say?" I told him with a face that said: "I dare you to repeat that." apparently too blustered to care, he said, "I SAID PEOPLE LIKE HER ARE A DRAIN ON THE ECONOMY!"

I whipped my card out and held it in-between two fingers right in his face. "And what about me?" I spoke out with an angry but in control tone. "I...Uh..." he said as it became clear to me, like most bullies, this one was only doing this because he thought his targets (this mom and her kids) would not be able to defend themselves. I yelled at him more, trying to control my voice so I didn't frighten the kids anymore "Well, you had all kinds of ignorant crap to say a minute ago!"

He snapped out of his shock bullies go into when someone stands up to them. "Wh...Why don't you mind your own business?! I WASN'T EVEN TALKING TO YOU! WHY DON'T YOU FIND ANOTHER LINE!" He started to build up steam again making the children huddle in the cart.

Having had enough of his nonsense I moved my card, leaned in with a scowl, got uncomfortably close to his face and angrily whispered: "Why don't YOU find another line before I find one for you..." a terrified look came across his face as he realized doubling down on his ignorance would not get the job done and after a pained audible gulp in the "big man's" throat he was frantically on his way spouting off "That's what I thought" and other face-saving phrases.

I timidly turned back to the family making sure I had dropped my "don't mess with me" persona (My Autistic folks know this one) so I didn't scare them. I asked them if they were ok. Her eyes were filled with tears, and so were the kids. She smiled at me and thanked me for stepping in. I told her kids that it was ok because he was gone now and offered to walk them to their car. She said she appreciated it but they would be fine.

The checkout woman handed her a receipt and obviously wanted to stay out of the situation. I saw the woman leave and she smiled at me on the way out. I had enough items that it took a good 5 minutes to check me out. I realized in that time I was no longer afraid of being seen with my card. Maybe it was the adrenaline of standing up to that bully, maybe it was outing myself to protect that family, after all, it would be silly to be afraid now that everyone had clearly seen it.

I paid, went outside, and on my windshield was a note on small lined paper that had been torn out of a planner of some sort that said: "You will be blessed all the days of your life." I don't know who left it, or if it was in response to what happened, or even how they found out which car was mine, but it was there.

The message here is two-fold. First, it is easy to get caught up in thinking you don't need help, or that even if you did it isn't for you. "It's for someone more deserving." sometimes it's just the fear of being bullied or ridiculed for accepting it. And because of this, a lot of people wait until they hit "the bottom" before they ever consider asking and even then they might not.

In a better world, we would destigmatize the need for help. Therapy, government assistance, shelters, these things are in place to help people, and if people need help, they should be able to get it without being berated to tears over it. The last thing someone who's questioning if they need help or not needs is some blowhard with their ignorant opinions of why they don't. Which brings me to the second message.

If you see something like this happening, and you have the power to step in whether you are personally affected or not, do it. This includes all forms of bullying. Bullies are cowards. They may double down, but once these types of people realize that we won't allow this anymore and there are actually people who will stand against them, they buckle under the pressure. If you see it, shut it down.

This has been another [Growing Up Aspie] Storytime. If you'd like to help me make more content more often, please consider supporting me at Paypal.me/growingupaspie or with a monthly pledge of $1 or more at patreon.com/irishwolfproductions. Thank you for your support.

-Nathan Alan McConnell

[shintorikhazumi]

“Yet” (14): Homecoming

A/N: Sorry this one is kind of long, but I really wanted to end by the second week, so I tried to just... end it with a full-ish chapter.

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

She looked... foreign. But at the same time terribly familiar. She knew her, and yet she didn’t as she’d never even met her.

Russet strands covered in dust, dried, and with some odd, greenish glow to them (she was sure an explanation would be given in due time); a sweet burgundy that matched her own- it was like looking at her own reflection in the mirror... just that... this reflection was a horrific mess of a copy of her own face- a few years older, and deformed with an ugliness that had its own story to tell- this was what she came face to face with, on a cold sixty-sixth day of her eighteenth year of life.

She almost couldn’t bear to look at that sorry countenance.

She would have asked her mum-voice clear and to be heard by all- who this frightening stranger was. She would have.

And yet... she didn’t have the heart to inflict that kind of piercing pain on the older woman staring right back at her; shock, awe, wonder, hesitation, fear, guilt, longing. She could see them all- the various splashes of emotional color on that otherwise paling face.

A face that angered her. A face her mind resented.

Yet...

//-//-//-//-//

It was awkward. Excruciating.

Akko stood in front of a girl- no. That wasn’t quite right; not anymore.

Dull reds scanned the figure fixed on a spot just below the front steps to the mansion, face contorted with feelings she must have wanted to mask behind nonchalance and trained grace; but failing miserably to hide contempt, or disgust, or whatever it was that Akko assumed the sight of her made her feel.

Still, she was on a mission. A brand new one, assigned to her by none other than the keeper of her heart- her wife. A mission that she just could not fail. Or at least, couldn’t keep failing.

The task? Well, she was currently meeting this young lady. For the first time. She looked elegant, raised with as much love and care that a parent could muster on their own. She looked like she had a good head on her shoulders; responsible and intellectual. She had a finely groomed appearance; hair flowing down to mid-waist level, kept neat by a single violet headband; her clothes were modest and elegant, befitting of a bearer of the Cavendish name. She seemed well-mannered enough with how she held back any violent reaction towards someone Akko believed did not deserve to step foot in these premises. Her.

Despite the guilt gnawing into her entire being, Akko found it impossible not to look upon the fair maiden instead of hiding her own nightmare of an appearance. She should be looking down in shame, desperately figuring out how to start this long-due apology. However, all that left her mind as she was spellbound by the one person before her, the only one her eyes could-would see, this very moment.

This girl, this lady, this young woman...

This...

This was her daughter.

//-//-//-//-//

“...ko... Ak... Akko!”

It was tingly. It was warm. It surged through her body like magic. Magic that was not her own. This feeling so familiar- when had she experienced it before? Ah-

Diana.

“Akko? Can you hear me, love? Please. Please, respond. Just say my name again one more time. Or anything. Please. I beg of you. Please. Anything to know you are okay.” The desperation was palpable in that voice. “Professor Croix, how do I know this is working? Are you sure this is all I should be doing? What about healing? What if I-”

“No, Diana. Do not do more than I tell you to. Right now, Akko... Akko isn’t in a state that can be fixed by a normal session of healing. This is...” A much older sounding voice paused, hesitant. Akko could only wonder why. “The magic of Wagandea’s system embedded in her will keep her alive for a while, but we do need to figure out a way to extract it in the near future; before that very system withers away.”

“But-!”

‘What are they... talking about... I don’t understand.’

“Diana, please. We don’t have much time to leave this place before the concentration of magic becomes more than we can bear. Having used the rod, we are at risk to inadvertently become the rerouted storage for all this excess energy that the Tree cannot handle to contain anymore. We cannot become like what Akko has started to turn into.”

‘What does that mean? Why- what am I turning into? Diana? Diana, why are you crying?’

“How will we know if she’s okay to be transported then?”

“We will just have to do so, blind.”

‘What...?’

“And if that hurts her?!”

“Diana, you’ll just have to trust me when I say she’ll be better once we leave. Let’s go.”

“But Professor!”

‘Don’t cry... Diana. Please, don’t cry. I can’t bear to see you cry. I love you.’

Akko tried to feel her arms, tried to close her hand, or at least twitch a finger. She needed to let Diana know. She needed to call for her. She needed to respond. Diana. Diana. Diana-

“P...lease...” Her voice croaked, she sounded like she was dying. Might as well be, right now with how shitty she felt. Still. That seemed to be enough to grab her attention, Diana’s gorgeous blue eyes sparkling with more tears.

“Akko!” She felt herself embraced tight. Warm. At home.

“Dia...na... ple...s... don’... c-cry...”

“Shhh, shhh. It’s alright. You can stop talking now. Please. Stop talking. It’s okay now. You’re okay now. You’re fine now. You’re... You’re perfect. We can go home. We can go home now, Akko.” Diana rambled through her tears, tender salt-kisses pressed everywhere on Akko’s numbed face. “We can go now, professors.”

Akko barely recognized the presence of her two closest mentors. Since when had they been here? No, nevermind that. She wasn’t done with what she was saying.

“Di...a... Dian... Diana... list...n...”

“Akko? Akko! What is it? What is it, Love? I’m here. I’m listening.”

It hurt, her throat. It felt weird. She cleared it. She needed Diana to understand her well, and exact.

“Diana...”

“Yes? Yes, Akko.”

“I love you.”

Oh no. No. This wasn’t what she had intended. She was trying to make Diana stop crying. Not sob all the more. Before she could voice any concern however, she was hoisted into strong arms, loaded on a broom. She saw Diana wipe those tears from her eyes, and as if reading Akko’s hazy mind, replied,

“Don’t worry. I’m simply overjoyed Akko. I love you as well. More than life itself. I love you.”

She must be looking like the picture of stupidity right now, but at least she still remembered how to smile. Diana appeared to have remembered too.

Speaking of remembering... wasn’t there something else? Something Akko needed to do? She wracked her muddled brain for- ah.

“...I ...w-want t’ see... her.” She slurred against Diana’s chest, eyes feeling heavier by the minute. “Diana... wan... see her... please.”

She only felt a nod on her head, and a wetness drop on her cheek. Diana knew what it was she was trying to convey. She felt their ride move faster. Faster and faster. Her wish was to be granted.

“I want to see Kotone.”

//-//-//-//-//

It was a weird thing to wake up three days into the travel home. The magical carriage they boarded steady rolling along the dirt road.

As soon as she’d opened her eyes, Diana was all over her, smacking her arm lightly, wailing into her shoulder.

Once she’d calmed down, Akko was able to take in many more things with a less-foggy mind. Her two teammates were seated at one end of the carriage, Lotte looking as though she’d replace Diana next with the breathtaking hugs. Sucy had never had as much emotion show on her face until this moment.

Then Croix stole her attention with a comment on how surprised she was at Akko’s state. She was asked questions. How did she feel? Was there still pain? Did she feel drained, or odd, or anything. And if Akko thought about it, she felt better than she had ever in so long. Why was that? Croix hadn’t answered her then, but she was promised an extensive conversation after more urgent matters were settled.

What could be more urgent than information about what exactly was going on right now?

When the carriage came to a stop, and Akko peeked out the glass window, she finally knew. Or she tried to know. Her mind was at a screeching halt once more at what she saw.

And so Diana laid it all out for her. Her mission.

//-//-//-//-//

“...”

“...”

“I-” “You-”

“Oh” “Go ahead-”

“Ah, no you go first.”

“Oh, no, I insist that you-”

“B-but I really think that you have something to-”

“I... maybe, but... I... who... um... introductions... my Mum told me introductions are important and... you go first.”

“I...” She could feel her hands trembling. Anticipation? Anxiety? She didn’t know. She was simply overwhelmed by this... this... this. How does one ‘break the ice’, again? Eyes darted back and forth, head whipping this way and that, looking for some kind of aide, a distraction, a bridge for communication. Something. Anything! ‘Please, Kami-sama. Send me something. Someone... anyone-’

The sound of a clanky bell, and a rolling cart.

There! That! That could work! Wait! Stop! She needed-

She spun quickly on her heel towards the main gate they’d just passed through, leaving everyone dumbfounded as she rounded the wall, disappearing from their view momentarily. It made quite a few of them nervous, fearing she’d never return after they just got her back.

Those worries were laid to rest, as barely a minute later and their long-lost brunette marched up to them, some containers in hand. Diana realized what just occurred. It was fairly early in the morning, time for the farmers to pass...

“I-!” Akko yelled accidentally, nerves catching up to her, messing up her motions as she nearly punched a white-filled glass bottle into her very own child’s face. “I... I heard growing children need milk?!”

“...”

“...”

Diana was concerned. “Ak-”

But then a bundle of teary, incoherent words suddenly lunged into Akko’s arms, staining her torso with held back sorrow and need. Sure, she could not comprehend a word yet, but she completely understood everything Kotone wanted to convey.

And Akko missed her too. With all of her believing heart.

"You're such an idiot." Kotone sobbed, fists hitting her back a few times. "...I'm all grown up."

 It hurt. It hurt so much. She knew it, but hearing that truth killed her. To know she's missed that much of her daughter's life.

She felt the girl’s head press against her chest, arms around her waist pulling her ever closer, tighter. She could cry at the realization of what the girl was doing... She was listening to Akko’s heartbeat.

“So this is the sound of Mama’s heart...”

...

And Akko cried.

“Kotone. You are the sound of my heart.”

//-//-//-//-//

“ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE, MAMA?!”

“PERFECTLY!”

“AKKO! STOP LYING! I REMEMBER YOU BREAKING YOUR ARM THE LAST TIME WE-”

“And off we go!”

“NOOOOOOO!”

“M-mum! Mum, I can’t- I can’t breathe!”

“Don’t be such a spoil sport, Diana; flying surfboard are always so cool!” Akko cheered, directing their vessel through the air, towards the beach.

“NOT WHEN THE THREE OF US CROWD YOUR TINY-” A pair of lips silenced her own, Akko’s grinning face coming into focus.

“Relax. Don’t be so tense, dear. We’re finally having our long-awaited family bonding time!!! At the beach, no less! You work so hard, it was a struggle to organize this day off, y’know?” Akko pouted, but it immediately vanished at the sight of her daughter nodding enthusiastically in front of Diana. “See? Kotone agrees!” They shared a high-five that Diana could only sigh to.

“Yay!”

“Not ‘yay!’” Diana chided. Wait a second. “WHO’S DRIVING?!”

“Calm down, Diana! Akko laughed aloud, breeze running through her hair as she manned the wooden board with her body. “What could go wro-”

There was a tree.

“...”

“...”

“You were saying?” Akko only groaned in defeat, face up against the bark.

“Aw, man. Board broke, mama. How do we get to the beach now?” Kotone frowned. None of them seemed to have the common sense to just magic it back into perfection, at the moment. They’d probably realize sooner or later.

“Well, there’s no rush anyway. We can always walk!”

“But it’ll take so long! The time...”

Akko pet her daughter’s head affectionately, gathering their fallen things, as well as her fallen wife on the ground, muttering curses and possibly planning spells to teach Akko important lessons about safety later on. Well...

Turning to Kotone, instead, she smiled, addressing the girl’s concerns.

“Worry not, love. Time is nothing. We have so much day left, and it’s definitely not over yet!”

Just like their story, together now.

It wasn’t over yet.

It’s only just begun.

A/N: I’M SORRY, I JUST HAD TO DO THE MILK OKAY?! THE TAGS NEED TO BE PROPERLY USED.

Awkward ending. I have writer’s block. Sorry. This short fic ended with full-length chapters. I’m sorry. It was hard to just... end it. So... sorry.

Anyway, welp. That’s it for the main run of “Yet”. Thank you to everyone who stuck around with the daily updates. There will be a few chapters of afterstory to address the blank spaces between plot such as what exactly happened before they got Akko home; what happens to the world of magic now that wagandea, a system akin to bodily homeostasis is gone; what happens to Akko herself after turning into this half-human, half-tree spirit entity; the magic community and the way the Old Nine are seen. But for now, I’d like a break from this to return to my multichapters that I’ve left behind. This was just supposed to be my in-between writing whenever I got stuck with my diakko day piece, but look where it’s brought us all. Hahaha. Frustration and all that. I truly enjoyed this, and I hope you all did too!

I can also begin to reply to the amazing amount of comments you all left behind! I’m extremely honoured and happy to receive so many feedback!

Til next time!!

~Shintori Khazumi

[batgirl-87]

Summary: Sixth Year begins and the events of last year’s End of the Year Ball still linger over Charlie and Keira. While the two try to navigate what this means exactly for their relationship, various obstacles thwart their efforts including rumours about Keira’s summer and the mysterious letters she receives, her consistently disappearing, withholding her whereabouts, and returning exhausted and bruised (does it have to do with R or something else?), and one intense night that may destroy Charlie and Keira’s relationship, friendship or otherwise, completely.

First Part of the Series: The gang reunites on the Hogwarts Express with Charlie struggling a bit with his new role as the now oldest Weasley (at least at Hogwarts) who has to wrangle his two younger Twin brothers on to the Hogwarts Express and be responsible for them the next two years – Bill had it so easy with him and Percy. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding his relationship with Keira following the End of the Year Ball last year and while their reunion doesn’t add much clarity, it ends up providing Charlie with a bit of hope. Also a surprising new fact about Barnaby is learned!

Word Count: <13k

Genre: Fluff (Charlie x MC), Humour

Warnings: Some Angst mentioning Bill graduating and going off to Egypt – WE MISS AND LOVE YOU WILLIAM! (Take a drink every time I mention Bill to try and numb the pain 😜)

Note: I’ll just apologize for the bad Quidditch metaphors now… I’m sorry. I should also apologize for the sappiness and clichés. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. I tried! But I failed… Guess who wrote more than intended?! (Classic me!) Reference to Under the Stars (primarily). I would describe my writing style as too many commas and too many adjectives/details... Sorry... Hi, I have a problem writing concisely...

I also want to apologize up here instead of an author’s note at the end if it’s not edited all that well - I really wanted to get this posted before I leave for a little birthday vacation this week.

I’ve done a lot of research and thinking about the Quidditch World Cup and how teams are made up, games are played, etc. and I may make a post about it some time but if anyone is interested or has any questions on my take on it feel free to ask =) I also believe Charlie has tons of fans that drool over him for his Quidditch skills that he is completely oblivious too.

I am in Chapter 17 or 18 of Year 5 I believe so I’m not sure if we’re actually going to face a dragon, and if Charlie gets to be there with us, so if that does happen than rephrase the line (you’ll know it when you see it) to him feeling the same way when he finally saw a dragon in person – up close and personal =p And I’ll try to remember to change it when/if that time comes.

I estimate the Hogwarts Express takes about eight hours to get to Hogwarts since it departs at 11am and seems to arrive in the early evening, about 7? I know in the game when eating with Andre he says he shops as Gladrags Wizardwear but I believe he would splurge and treat himself to something nice from Twilfitt and Tatting’s, probably something he could wear with pretty much anything or maybe some fancy dress robes for game days and special occasions =p  

Arrival of Fred and George! Get excited people!

Preview: He found himself transported to that night a few months ago where he held her close in his arms as they glided gracefully along the balcony outside the Great Hall. Where it felt like they were the only two in the world, if only for that brief private moment. Where they were able to drop their guards and allow their emotions to freely flow. .…. His arm around her waist tightened to hold her securely against him, to bring her closer to him as if they couldn’t get close enough, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. The sensation of her lips on his was intoxicating; the feeling of her in his arms, her hand in his, caressing his face, running through his hair, brought a sense of comfort – it felt right. And he wanted to feel like this all the time.

“Fred! George! Slow down!” A frazzled Molly Weasley chased after her two newest editions to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they raced through King’s Cross Station. Their agility to weave throughout the crowd without mowing anyone over with their luggage carts was a remarkable feat. Needless to say the Twins were very eager to board the train and begin their own Hogwarts adventures! While her husband watched after their two youngest children, Molly focused her energy on wrangling her two most mischievous ones. At least their high energy kept her busy from missing and worrying about her eldest now out on his own in Egypt pursuing a Curse-Breaking career.

Meanwhile, her second eldest was hell-bent on becoming a Dragonologist and working hands-on with those ferocious beasts! He was so determined, in fact, that he spent most of the summer seeking advice and help from his mum on improving his healing spells – apparently an essential skill when working with dragons according to the experts and not just their mothers. He even spent a lot of time reading up on healing potions but was waiting for school to start up again to work with his friend Penny Haywood who was apparently very skilled in potion making. But he did not remain held up in his room all summer studying – he wasn’t Percy! In true Charlie Weasley fashion, he also spent a lot of time outside during the summer as well, probably searching for new magical creatures to study and practice his caretaking on. And of course played some Quidditch with his siblings.

However, his dedicated focus on his future Dragonologist career also caused him to turn down the opportunity to play on England’s Quidditch team for the upcoming World Cup. It was an honor, and he greatly appreciated the offer, but as much as he loved Quidditch (and had quite the natural skill for it) his goal was always to work with dragons. And to achieve his goals he needed to receive an E or O in his Care of Magical Creatures class, and next year’s N.E.W.T.s, (which shouldn’t be too hard for him to do), while also proving to have high competency in healing magic, and in advance healing/antidote potion making – why he required Penny’s help. He needed to learn and perfect fireproofing spells, protection spells, and cloaking and tracking abilities.

He had done his research, a lot of research, over the years on what he needed to do to finally get to work with his beloved dragons and he couldn’t allow anything to distract him or take time away from his studies. If he didn’t do well in his classes or on his N.E.W.T.s and didn’t improve in the necessary areas to become a Dragonologist because he was too busy training and practicing for Quidditch he would never forgive himself. And probably always resent Quidditch which would be horrible because he loved it! He just loved dragons more.

Besides, he still planned on venturing out into the Forbidden Forest just in case he found his own dragon out there – old habits die hard and if he did find one and handle being in its presence wouldn’t that prove he was destined to be a Dragonologist? (and look good on the resume?) – and still planned on helping with Cursed-Vaults adventures, plus he had Prefect duties – his plate was already pretty full. Unfortunately, he couldn’t accept the offer to play for England – it would be just one too many things to take on for him. At least Forbidden Forest explorations and Cursed-Vaults adventures could help him in the areas he needed to become a Dragonologist. Unfortunately, Quidditch didn’t really help him on the skills he needed to achieve his dream career and therefore would be an unnecessary added responsibility and a distraction. It was a tough decision but he felt he made the right one. He would still play at Hogwarts for Gryffindor of course though!

Molly at least didn’t have to worry about Charlie possibly getting severely injured while playing Quidditch in a professional setting, especially for the World Cup which was a major event in the wizarding world and those players practically played until the death to win. It was a tough sport and playing in school was already bad enough. Her children playing in their backyard was even worse. Not that she wouldn’t be immensely proud of him if he chose to take their offer. But she was also immensely proud of him for making such a difficult and mature decision to turn the offer down to focus on his dreams. Honestly, she wished he could do both. But at least studying was much safer than playing Quidditch.  Until he graduated and went to work with actual dragons…

Oh, what did she do to get such adventurous, reckless children? Didn’t they think about what their actions did to their poor mother?

Speaking of her second eldest, where was he? He should be helping her with his younger brothers just as she had Bill help with him and Percy. Although, Percy clearly was not as much trouble as the Twins.

Bill may have sent Charlie a letter before the start of the school year wishing him luck on looking after the Twins while also gloating how he graduated just in time. Looking after Charlie and Percy was a walk in the park compared to looking after Fred and George. Of course Charlie could always write to Bill whenever he needed. But Bill had to admit he was glad he didn’t have to watch over all four of them at school.

“Percy, help me with your brothers.” Molly nudged the least adventurous of her children whose nose was currently stuck in a book as they walked along the station towards their platform.

“Isn’t that Charlie’s responsibility?” The good thing about being a middle child and having older siblings was watching after the younger siblings automatically became their responsibility and he got left alone.

“And when we find him I’ll make sure he looks after all of you but until then I need your help,” Molly informed him, causing Percy to sigh a bit dramatically and close his book.

Charlie was already at Platform 9¾ scouring the crowd of returning and new Hogwarts students for one in particular. He had tried to get their earlier but getting the bustling Weasley house organized was a trying task and they always ended up being later than intended to anywhere they were heading. Fortunately, most were understanding. It was already getting close to 11, so the Twins also had a bit of a reason to rush if they wanted to make it to the correct platform in time.

“Charlie, there you are!” Charlie whirled around when he heard his mum calling to him. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

“Sorry, mum.” Charlie smiled apologetically as he walked back over to his family, Percy currently in the middle of giving the Twins a scolding lecture, one they were not really paying any attention to.

“I know you’re eager to return to school and get that help on your potions and learn all you need to so you can achieve your goals but try and have some fun to,” Molly reminded her son as she draped an arm around him as they walked back to the rest of their large family.

“I will, mum,” Charlie promised.

“And please look after your younger brothers. I know it’s impossible to ask you to keep Fred and George out of trouble completely but –“

“Don’t worry, mum, of course I’ll look after them. And try and keep them from getting caught,” Charlie added with a smirk, earning a couple more smirks from his twin brothers. Molly huffed and playfully hit Charlie’s arm but smiled at her boys. She did love her children so.

“I can’t believe we’re sending another two off to school,” Molly said as she stared wistfully at the Twins, some tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“Ugh, mum,” the Twins groaned in embarrassment, looking away from her intense gaze only because they were going to get emotional too!

“We’ll be empty nesters soon enough,” chimed in Arthur who placed a lovingly supportive arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Oh, don’t talk like that,” Molly scolded.

“Won’t know what to do with ourselves then,” Arthur continued.

As their parents lovingly bickered, Charlie and Percy took the opportunity to bestow their older brother knowledge on the Twins and what they could expect. Sure, they had heard about some of their adventures and experiences at school but the more boring, informational things, such as the rules or what to expect on their first day they tended to tune out when anyone mentioned it. They knew the Twins found it boring but begged them to listen.

Of course Percy may have also told the Twins not to cause too much trouble, especially for him as he worked towards becoming Prefect and Head Boy himself and if they got in the way of that he would never forgive them! Also, don’t embarrass him.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to ruin your chances at becoming Head Nerd,” Fred snarkily assured.

“And how could we possibly embarrass you more than you already do for yourself,” George asked as innocently as he could with a smirk.

Percy narrowed his eyes at the two of them briefly before waving at Charlie. “They’re your responsibility. Good luck.”

Charlie sighed and shook his head but did echo some of Percy’s sentiments. “He’s right though. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry. We plan on pacing ourselves,” Fred assured their older brother.

“Yeah, we have a whole school year! We’re not going to waste pulling all our best pranks at the beginning of the year and having nothing left for the rest of it,” George explained.

Charlie sighed but chuckled softly. “As long as you mean that. And do well not to get caught. I don’t want to have to punish my brothers all the time.”

“Get caught,” the Twins scoffed. They were not amateurs!

“You two plus Tonks and Tulip are going to be the death of me,” Charlie groaned.

The Weasley family said their goodbyes which were filled with promises to write home and a lot of hugs all around. Molly made sure to give each of her boys plenty of kisses to make sure they knew how much she loved them and would miss them, along with her stern warning of keeping out of trouble. Don’t make her send howlers every week! She’d lose her voice!

“Hey, Percy! Where are you going?” Charlie called after his brother as they boarded Hogwarts Express. Almost instantly onboard, Percy took off down the corridor through the throng of students, primarily First Years unaware of where to go since older classmen already had their usual compartments.

“I’m going to sit with my friends,” Percy shouted back over the crowd.

“You don’t have any friends,” the Twins shouted back in unison. Charlie sighed and shook his head before taking the lead as the new oldest Weasley at Hogwarts and following after Percy, maneuvering through the crowd of confused students. He knew as Prefect he should be helping them but he was busy helping some other First Years at the moment so technically he was doing his Prefect duty. Besides, the wrath of his mum was way scarier than the wrath of the Head Boy and Girl and other Prefects.

“Excuse me. Pardon us.” Charlie politely forced his way through the mass of students, new and old, before arriving at the compartment Percy disappeared into towards the front of the train. Of course Percy would sit as close as he could to the Prefect carriage without actually being in it.

“Why do we have to sit with Percy,” the Twins whined. Their complaint was echoed by Percy himself when Charlie opened his compartment’s door.

“Oh no, they’re not sitting with me!”

“They have to,” Charlie informed them all.

“But why-“

“Because I have to go up to the Prefect’s carriage,” Charlie continued.

“Why can’t we go sit with you up there,” the Twins asked with a smirk. Charlie was unable to hold back his own amused smirk at the thought of that happening.

“No way. If anyone gets to go up to the Prefect carriage without being a Prefect it’s me,” Percy announced, standing up for emphasis.

“Okay, settle down, none of you are going up there with me. Not that I don’t doubt you’ll all make Prefect if you want, but for right now, I’m going up there and you’re all staying here,” Charlie instructed. Which of course was met with more complaining.

Bill had it so lucky with him and he planned on letting Bill know that especially come Christmas.

“Percy,” Charlie started, turning his attention to his now second in command, whether either of them liked it or not. “I’m going to need your help with looking after Fred and George. Think of it as prep for becoming Prefect. And I’d owe you,” he added.

Percy thought it over a moment before sighing. “Fine. Although I still don’t understand why they have to sit with me.”

“Don’t you remember your First Year? You think you’re prepared but there’s a lot more people than you think and it’s overwhelming and you haven’t made any friends to sit with yet so you sat with me. And you sat with me in the Great Hall for meals and hung out in my room with me and my roommates –“

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Percy held up a hand to stop Charlie from going down this memory lane.

“They’ll make friends quickly, don’t worry,” Charlie assured Percy.

“Yeah, people love us,” the Twins decided to chime in with their charming grins.

“Just buy them some sweets when the trolley comes around, that’ll keep them occupied,” Charlie suggested to Percy.

“And get them all sugared up? I don’t want to deal with that,” Percy cried.

Charlie groaned again and made another mental note to write to Bill informing him of how wonderful and easy he was as a brother, caused Bill little to no problems, and how he would expect some great birthday and Christmas gifts to show his appreciation.

“It’s a long trip, they have to eat. And you can’t keep them locked up in here the whole time. Maybe they’ll make friends and then they’ll leave you alone,” Charlie reasoned. Percy thought that over a moment before nodding his head in agreement. If they met friends on the train and left to sit with them they would no longer be his problem!

“Just don’t be out in the corridor causing any problems when I’m on patrol,” Charlie suddenly instructed the Twins.

“If we see you in the corridor we’ll turn right back around,” the Twins promised.

“Alright guys, I really got to get going. I’ll come back and check on you when I can. Listen to Percy,” Charlie told them, making a point to tell the Twins to respect Percy’s authority. Doubt it would really matter but at least he tried.

Fred and George sighed but didn’t argue as they moved to go into Percy’s compartment. “Where are all your friends, Perc,” the Twins teased as the noted the empty compartment.

“They haven’t arrived yet and once they see you two here they’re going to find somewhere else to sit,” Percy irritably replied.

“Once they saw your rat they fled,” Fred joked.

“Hey! Ron likes my rat,” Percy argued.

“Ron likes anything soft and furry,” Fred retorted.

“Except for that teddy bear we turned into a spider that one time,” George reminded with a mischievous smirk.

Charlie turned to leave his bickering brothers and head to the Prefect carriage through the still crowded corridor of the train. “Excuse me,” he started as he attempted to push his way back into the traffic of students.

“Charlie! They’re being unreasonable!” Percy’s cry of outrage was followed by the giggling fit of the Twins. He knew putting the Twins with Percy alone in a small train compartment was a recipe for disaster but couldn’t they manage for a few minutes? “Wait until I tell mum you dropped the Twins off on me and ditched out on your older brother responsibilities!” It had literally been two seconds and Percy already had enough of babysitting Fred and George.

“Percy-“ Charlie started, unable to hide the annoyance and frustration in his voice as he spun back around to confront them. Unfortunately, this quick movement could not be done gracefully in a narrow corridor bustling with students trying to find a place to sit for the ride. He wasn’t sure if he tripped over someone’s bag or foot or what it was but whatever it was caused him to fall forward and knock into another student who was trying to sneak by.

Fortunately he was able to catch himself and them before they both hit the floor and risked being trampled on by other students. One hand flew out to slam against the wall of the train compartment holding his brothers to stop his fall and regain his balance, while his other arm instinctively wrapped around the smaller figure he almost knocked over to catch them, causing them both to fall against the wall on the compartment side of the train instead of the floor. Great, first day as the eldest Weasley at Hogwarts and he almost killed someone! Ugh, he missed Bill.

Charlie opened his mouth to apologize and check to ensure they were okay but his breath hitched in his throat when he heard them speak first.

“Well bonjour mon étoile! This is quite the reunion, eh?”

Charlie looked down at the person he currently had pinned against the wall and found himself suddenly drowning in stormy sea eyes once again. He quickly became hyper-aware of how close they were, their faces mere inches apart, his hips pressed against hers as he pinned her to the side of his brother’s occupied compartment, his arm securely snaked around her waist.

He found himself transported to that night a few months ago where he held her close in his arms as they glided gracefully along the balcony outside the Great Hall. Where it felt like they were the only two in the world, if only for that brief private moment. Where they were able to drop their guards and allow their emotions to freely flow.

Their eyes were locked much like they were now before Charlie leaned down to close the distance between them, moving instinctively. However, the fear suddenly struck that maybe she didn’t want this and maybe he was putting her in an awkward and uncomfortable situation, a situation that could ruin their close friendship. But when she leaned up and her lips met his all his fears and doubts melted away as a spark ignited within him.

His arm around her waist tightened to hold her securely against him, to bring her closer to him as if they couldn’t get close enough, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. The sensation of her lips on his was intoxicating; the feeling of her in his arms, her hand in his, caressing his face, running through his hair, brought a sense of comfort – it felt right. And he wanted to feel like this all the time.

It was addicting.

Now he understood why so many couples were caught snogging all the time. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it throughout the summer, replayed that moment over and over again in his head as he remembered all those sensations. And he’d be lying if he said he had no desire to feel that way again when in actuality it was all he wanted. They had had so many “almost” moments and he was quickly growing tired and, frankly, frustrated by them; and now that they finally had their moment he greedily wanted more.

When they eventually parted, slowly, he rested his forehead against hers, their eyes remaining shut as they savored the moment. And he would have kissed her again, kissed her all night if he could have, but their pivotal moment was brought to an end as one of their friends found them to spend one last moment at the ball with Bill – the whole reason they even went to the ball that year – surely including pictures since Penny was around.

He was very reluctant to let her go, to no longer have her near him, leaving him feeling cold and incomplete. But when she reached down to grab his hand and led him back inside the Great Hall that spark she always ignited within him returned, spreading her signature tingling warming sensation through his body.

The rest of the evening and the next day at the End of the Year Feast were dedicated to Bill, and packing up to head back home, but primarily for Bill, filled with tearful goodbyes and bone crushing hugs – both mainly from Keira herself. They even had a goodbye dinner at the Burrow over the summer for Bill, which Keira would have attended but she spent most of this summer in Canada. Therefore, they never discussed the events of that night. They never determined where they went from there, what they were now. And maybe because of the fear and anxiety of the uncertainty of what either of their response would be – possible rejection after putting their feelings so boldly out there, an excuse of being swept up in the moment, fear of losing a close, dear friend – neither of them had brought up that night in the few letters they shared throughout the summer, a lot fewer than previous summers.

She was busy and far away and this wasn’t really something that should be discussed in letters anyway, right? This should be something to discuss in person. Which may be why he was so eager to get to the train station that morning, to finally see her again. He wasn’t sure why, but he just had this feeling that once they saw each other, in that moment everything would be made clear.

However, this was definitely not the reunion he had planned for.

Instead of sharing a knowing look where they both somehow understood each other’s unspoken thoughts and feelings and ending on the same page he had knocked into her, almost fell on top of her and squashed her, and now they found themselves in a compromising position in front of a large portion of students at Hogwarts, including new First Years and his brothers.

But none of that even registered to Charlie at the moment. All he could see was her. And all he could think about was how he was finally holding her close again in his arms, where she belonged. And how that electricity flowed through them when their hands touched, even just brushed up against each other, and how that initial spark lit a fire that burned hotter within them the closer they grew. Her warm, dark, alluring scent with her signature hint of ocean air enveloped him. It seemed every time he was around her he found himself drowning in her, completely entranced by her, but it was one of the best feelings he’s ever felt; it was exciting but calming, an adventure and home, dizzying yet grounding all at the same time. It was an overwhelming, intoxicating feeling he couldn’t get enough of. He imagined this would be how he would feel when he finally came face to face with a dragon, but never imagined a person would cause these feelings to stir within him. Suppose he had to admit he had become utterly enamored with her. He loved being completely immersed in her, yearned to be lost in her. Without even realizing it, he had begun leaning down towards her, longing to reclaim that captivating, pleasurably blissful feeling once again that only her enticing lips allowed.

“Bloody hell, Charlie, are you going to start snogging her right here in front of everyone?”

“The train hasn’t even left the station yet! Bet mum can still see you through the window.”

The teasing from the Twin’s caused Charlie to freeze, his nose brushing against hers, successfully halting his actions. Suddenly their surroundings crashed into him like a freight train. Students were still shuffling behind him trying to locate a place to sit for the ride, his brothers were right there staring at him from the doorway of their compartment and – Oh Merlin, what if his mum really could see them through the window of the train?! Part of him feared he would hear his mother storming aboard any moment now – ‘Charles Weasley! What are you doing to that poor girl?!’ She didn’t raise him to be like that!

“I expect this type of behavior from Bill, but not from you Charlie!”

“Never from you, Charlie!” The Twins continued to taunt their older brother.

Charlie pulled away as much as he could, which wasn’t much considering the hoard of bustling students behind him trying to frantically find a place to sit before the train took off to Hogwarts, stammering out an apology to the young woman he still had trapped.

Fortunately for him, she somehow always managed to diffuse the awkwardness of a situation like this for him. “It’s okay,” Keira assured with a small amused laugh. “I missed you too.” She patted his chest playfully a couple times before a mischievous smirk played on her lips. “Ooo, someone worked out over the summer.”

“What? No,” Charlie awkwardly replied with a sheepish chuckle, glancing away a moment as he felt the familiar feeling of heat rising to his face she always brought upon him.

“Clearly you spent a lot of time outside,” Keira observed. “I think your freckles have doubled – at least,” she teased.

“Yeah? Are you trying to tell me I look fit,” Charlie asked her with a charming smirk.

“You’re looking very fit,” Keira confirmed with a flirtatious smirk of her own, her infamous House of Black genes showing, causing Charlie’s brothers to groan.

“I think I preferred it better when they were about to snog,” George leaned over to whisper to Fred.

“This is only the beginning.” Percy muttered his warning to the Twins – he would know, he had already spent a couple school years around them making eyes at each other and all their flirting and blushing – it got annoying.

“She’s right, Charlie, you are looking very fit.” The group of primarily red heads turned to look at the girl who interrupted their private moment with her unsolicited, overtly flirtatious comment as she eyed Charlie like he was her favourite treat on the Honeyduke’s trolley. She appeared to be in Charlie and Keira’s Year and brought her own little posse of Charlie fangirls with her for an added bonus.

“Oh, thanks mate,” Charlie replied, ever the oblivious one to his throngs of adoring fans for his amazing Seeker skills, particularly towards the ones who practically threw themselves at him. Honestly, they could be laying on a bench in the Quidditch changing room in lingerie with candles lit and smooth jazz playing and he still wouldn’t get it.

“But if anyone here looks fit, it’s Ady,” Charlie said, taking a moment to admire the Slytherin fully in front of him. “You look great,” he gushed sincerely, causing a light blush to appear on her face.

“W-well I did play a lot of Quidditch this summer,” she stammered, suddenly nervous.

His adoring fan did not take too kindly to the attention being taken away from her and glared daggers at the Slytherin who received such high praise from him. “Did you play a lot of Quidditch this summer, Charlie,” she asked in an attempt to get the attention back on her.

“Uh, yeah, not as much as usual with Bill leaving,” Charlie awkwardly replied. He missed his older brother and best friend.

While one of his admirers continued to swoon over the Gryffindor Seeker, coming on a bit strong in Keira’s opinion… Keira managed to slither out from under Charlie and give the Twins a proper greeting, hugs and all. She couldn’t help but gush about how excited she was that they were all going to be going to Hogwarts together while also voicing her concern about dealing with them and Tulip and Tonks – the four of them and their pranks were going to end up being her downfall long before ‘R’ ever got to her.

Much like with Bill and Charlie, Keira bonded rather quickly with the Twins, and seemed to share a particular closeness with them. And as soon as the Twins caught on to Charlie’s little crush they definitely used that to taunt to him. Not like Charlie was really going to be jealous over his little brothers and worried the now eleven year olds were somehow going to “steal” Ady from him, something they liked to tease him about, but she did seem much more comfortable with physical affection with them – the hugs, sitting close together, sharing a blanket, arms around each other. And at first he thought it was because they were little kids, but he couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t like that with Ron or even Ginny much! Sure she’d give Ginny a hug and let her play with her hair if she wanted but it was nowhere near the same level of physical contact as with the Twins.

Any time she visited the Burrow or they somehow managed to run into each other while shopping in Diagon Alley, the Twins always gained her attention and did, much to their smugness, steal her away from Charlie to spend time with them. Which led to more taunting such as how she loved them more than him, how they were going to ask her to the ball and she’d of course say yes to one of them and reject Charlie. Ugh, little siblings…

Honestly, though, he was worried about the quick close relationship she had with his Twin brothers because the three of them and their mischievous nature concerned him and what trouble they were bound to get into. And like Keira, the thought of George and Fred with Tulip and Tonks was anxiety provoking. Oh what was going to happen to poor Ben… The Weasley’s were known for being a very close, tight-knit family. Charlie and Bill always visited each other’s room, Percy visited both his older brother’s rooms and now the Twins – who had to be sorted into the same House, right? – were going to barge into Charlie’s room. Or worse. Sneak in and leave traps everywhere. His poor roommate Ben…

“No way, you guys are totally Slytherin!” Charlie glanced over as he heard Keira inform his Twin brothers they belonged in her House instead of the family Gryffindor one. And actually, he wouldn’t mind it if they were in Slytherin. Give him a little bit of break to not worry about pranks set up around his room. Let them terrorize some other people for a change! “Whatever happens, you guys belong in Slytherin and nothing will convince me otherwise.” Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as her proclamation.

“Charlie? Did you hear what I said?” Charlie looked back over at his fellow Gryffindor as she sweetly – sickeningly sweet – called to regain his attention back on her.

“Uh, no, sorry,” he apologized politely.

“I asked if you would help me with my Charms homework some time.” She repeated her question as she reached up to place a flirtatious hand on his arm.

“Oh, well actually Ben is the one who’s really good at Charms. I’ll let him know you’re looking for some help,” Charlie told her, continuing to be blissfully unaware of her advances.

Keira had to admit those types of people who tended to throw themselves at him and shamelessly flirt with him did bother her a little bit, but since Charlie showed no interest in them whatsoever – that, and he appeared completely unaware he was even being chatted up – she wouldn’t say she was necessarily jealous. Maybe if Charlie showed interest in someone else, connected and grew closer to them, then she would be jealous. But this, while it annoyed her, didn’t make her jealous. That being said, if necessary, she would rip that girl’s arm off and beat her to a bloody pulp with it.

“Okay, that’s enough. Piss off!” The girl was suddenly shooed away from Charlie by his best, although never recruited, wingman.

“Hey! We were just talking!”

“Yeah, we heard you chatting him up, being all cheeky. We get it, you’re up for it, but he’s not – at least with you – so begone,” Andre demanded as he continued to usher the girl and her little friend group away. She called back to Charlie to come by so they could finish their talk but Andre was adamant that they keep moving and get out of there.

“Honestly, the nerve of some people,” Penny huffed as she folded her arms after assisting Andre with escorting Charlie’s small group of admirers away.

“She just wanted to talk about Quidditch and asked for help on her Charms homework,” Charlie said with an ignorant shrug.

“Sometimes you’re dafter than Barnaby,” Andre informed him. “She fancies you – they all do.”

“Who?”

“All those girls – your fans,” Penny chimed in.

“You guys think everyone fancies everyone,” Charlie said, waving off their supposed warnings.

“Shouldn’t you guys be in the Prefect Carriage,” Penny suddenly reminded them.

“Oh right! That’s where I was heading,” Keira said from her new position of leaning against the compartment’s doorway, an arm lazily draped across Fred’s shoulders. Charlie couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at his little brother’s smug look – it was the smugness that got him and he would wipe that smug little look right off his face! Everyone thought Bill was the one Charlie was supposedly jealous of with how close he was to Keira but turned out that maybe it was the Twins instead!

“Right, so we better get going then. The train’s about to take off any minute now,” Charlie said before turning his attention to his brothers. “Now what did we discuss?”

“Only cause mischief when you’re not on patrol.”

“Don’t listen to Percy, he has no authority whatsoever!”

Charlie sighed while Percy slammed his book down on his lap and glared at the Twins. That was not true! Keira however found this quite amusing. “Don’t cause any mischief while I’m on patrol either,” she requested to which the Twins happily obliged.

“I can’t believe you became a Prefect with all the trouble you get into,” George amazed.

“According to all the stories we heard from Bill and Charlie,” Fred added for a further explanation.

“I know. If I can become Prefect, anyone should be able to, right,” Keira joked.

“Tell me about it,” Percy muttered, earning himself a glare from the Slytherin Prefect.

“I don’t think becoming Prefect is in the cards for us.” The Twins had to agree on that. It was added responsibility and duty that would get in the way of their fun.

“You guys could if you wanted to be! How cool would it be if all of us became Prefects?” Charlie couldn’t hide his excitement over that thought.

“If we wanted to be-“

“But we don’t really.”

Charlie’s grin fell at the Twin’s admission. “Come on, Charlie.” The Gryffindor looked over as he felt a cool hand on his arm which began to lead him away from his brother’s compartment. Keira smiled up at him reassuringly before another realization dawned on her. “Oh!”

She quickly let go of the redhead and hurried over to Penny, throwing her arms around the Hufflepuff. She had almost forgotten to give her friends a proper greeting as well! Her and Andre shared a special handshake – no hugging since it would wrinkle his outfit, plus much like her, he wasn’t really one for physical affection, but she had clearly grown more comfortable with her friends over the years, opting to give them hugs at least. Charlie walked back over to partake in the friendlier greetings as well. There was brief chitchat over how everyone’s summer went – Good? Good! – and promises to talk more about what they did over the summer, and what they planned to do that year regarding the Cursed Vaults, before Charlie and Keira had to part ways and finally make it to the Prefect Carriage.

“You’re late.”

The warm greeting welcomed the pair of Prefects as soon as they opened the door to the Prefect carriage and stepped inside.

“Uh oh, are we grounded now,” Keira snarkily replied as she plopped down in an available seat, smirking playfully at the Head Girl who scolded them upon arrival.

“We were helping some First Years find a place to sit,” Charlie explained as he took a seat next to Keira. He conveniently left out the fact that those First Years were his brothers earning a small smirk from Keira as the Head Girl accepted his reason for being late.

Fortunately the debriefing in the Prefect Carriage and distribution of patrol schedules was brief and they were able to return to their regular compartments with their friends.

Keira plopped down on the seat across from Barnaby, who was getting a head start on his tutoring lessons with Rowan, resting her feet on the seat across from her between her fellow Slytherin and the wall of the compartment. “Hey roomie,” she greeted, causing the Slytherin boy to beam. Charlie closed the compartment door behind them and took a seat next to Keira.

Ah, that’s right, Charlie recalled hearing something about Barnaby moving in with Keira over the summer when they ran into each other in Diagon Alley for some back to school shopping. Well, he saw her, she didn’t see him because he made sure to hide and avoid her, somewhat awkwardly according to the Twins and Percy. He wasn’t sure why but seeing her put him into a bit of a panic. Well that wasn’t the complete truth, he did have a good idea why…

For one he had lost the snitch, sort to speak, let it slip right through his fingers and didn’t keep in better contact with her over the summer. Especially after spending the End of the Year Ball together…

And for another…

He had first spotted her hanging out around the entrance to Knocturn Alley with Barnaby, Jae, and Merula and Ismelda, of all people, who probably saw the others there and went to investigate what they were doing per their nosy selves. Charlie knew how his mum felt about that place and the people that hung out in the shady shopping area, banning all her children from even thinking about entering that place or anywhere like it, so he clearly did not want his mum catching Ady there! She was initially put off by the idea of her two eldest boys befriending a Slytherin, changing her mind once she actually got to know Ady better, but if his mum saw her in Knockturn Alley… he did not want to deal with that. So there was some awkward rushing of his mum past the Knockturn Alley entrance.

They didn’t seem to spend too much time there, however, and soon Charlie saw her walking around Diagon Alley with Barnaby and he, once again, awkwardly hid and avoided her, ducking into the nearest store as she approached and was warmly greeted by his mum and family. Unfortunately that store was Twilfitt and Tattings, a store that his family never entered since they could never afford the high end prices which therefore earned him a lot of confused and disdainful looks from the wealthy, primarily pureblood, shoppers…and Andre. Commence more ridicule.

“Charlie?!” The second eldest Weasley spun around from watching his family through the store window from behind a mannequin at the surprised call of his name to come face to face with his fellow Quidditch aficionado, Andre Egwu.

“Uh, y-yeah, h-hey, Andre. What’s up? How was your summer? Doing some back to school shopping?” His attempts to act cool and casual clearly failed since the Ravenclaw saw right through him. That and he was, again, in a store he never shopped at.

“…What are you doing in here,” Andre questioned suspiciously.

“Umm…. Shopping?”

“I’ve never seen you in here before. I’ve also never seen you wear anything from here before. Normally you’re in Bill’s hand-me-downs,” Andre observed.

“W-well, maybe I thought with Bill graduated and gone now working in Egypt I should get myself some nice, new clothes,” Charlie attempted to reason.

“Really? Is that so? Then why are you hiding behind a mannequin,” Andre questioned.

“I’m not hiding! I’m just looking at this piece of clothing,” Charlie defended, turning to admire the article of clothing on the mannequin before grimacing. Bloody hell….

“Those are women’s dress robes,” Andre pointed out. “Not that I’m one for gender stereotyping, of course, I think anyone should wear whatever they want. As long as it’s stylish and properly tailored, of course. But you’ve just never struck me as someone who would wear something like this… Not even something feminine but something so lavish. You and your family manage to pull off the casual, second-hand look.” It was a compliment, he swore!

“…Maybe I’m looking for something for my mum,” Charlie quickly thought, earning an unamused look from Andre.

“Really? We’re going to keep doing this?”

“Okay, okay,” Charlie sighed exasperatedly, running a hand through his hair. “I’m…hiding,” he awkwardly admitted.

“From what,” Andre asked quizzically.

“Not what, who,” Charlie answered before begrudgingly motioning out the shop window where Keira and Barnaby were talking to his family. Andre peered out the shop window before a devilish smirk spread across his face.

“Ohhhh…. I see. Why are you hiding from her? I thought you guys had a great time at the Ball last year,” Andre recalled, his smirk widening.

“I haven’t really talked to her much this summer,” Charlie admitted.

“What,” Andre cried out in surprise, earning the attention of most of the shoppers although he didn’t seem to notice or at least not to mind. “But… why?! I thought we were finally over all the oblivious feelings and then the awkward realization of feelings and embarrassing behavior around each other. You had your chance, you took it, I was so proud of you! And now –“

“I know! I know!” Now it was Charlie’s outburst that caused the shoppers in the store to once again look over at the two boys. “I blew it! I buggered everything up!”

Andre frowned as he watched his friend wallow in his despair. “Maybe not. Why don’t we go talk to her and –“ The mere mention of going out to talk to Keira instantly horrified the Gryffindor, his eyes widening, face paling, and adamantly shaking his head no. And they’re supposed to be the brave House… “Alright, how about I go out and talk to her. See if she’s upset with you ditching her after one night together. If she thinks you were just using her to get what you want and then once you got it you threw her away or you didn’t enjoy your time with her, think she’s a bad kisser –“ Charlie let out a groan of despair. This was not a good pep talk if it was supposed to be one! “I’ll go do damage control,” Andre rephrased before handing Charlie a robe he was looking at before heading out of the store and joining the group catching up in front of it.

Meanwhile, Charlie watched them nervously from behind the mannequin in the store. Ugh, what was he doing? What had become of him?! He was a Quidditch Seeker, a future Dragonologist, a big brother! He normally was braver than this and more calm and collected. Dragons didn’t scare him but this girl did? What was happening to him?!

He just couldn’t bare it if he hurt her and he was afraid he did. He didn’t mean to! And he wanted to fix it! He just wasn’t sure how to do that… This whole situation, having these types of feelings for someone, everything, was entirely uncharted territory he was trying to navigate with a map he couldn’t read. Normally he would turn to Bill for help but now he was embarking on the next chapter of his life in Egypt as a Curse-Breaker.

“So? What happened,” Charlie questioned eagerly but nervously once Andre returned into the store.

“I think you can rest easy, she doesn’t seem mad at you,” Andre informed him, causing the Seeker to visibly relax. “Actually she said she felt bad she didn’t keep in better touch, like it was her fault, so doesn’t sound like she’s blaming you. She asked about you, wondered where you were. Sounded like she missed you.”

Charlie took a moment to process what Andre told him before finally speaking. “She blames herself? Why? She shouldn’t do that! I didn’t write to her either –“

“Yeah but even if you did it sounds like she wouldn’t have gotten it for a while or have a lot of time to respond back. According to Barnaby she was away from home a lot this summer. Spent most of it across the pond in Canada,” Andre informed him.

“Oh… Guess Barnaby did a better job of keeping in touch than me,” Charlie chuckled.

“Well it was easier for him. They’re living together apparently.” Charlie immediately tensed back up at this new information that completely blindsided him.

“They’re living together?! What does that even mean?!”

Andre shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I was sent to go see if she was mad at you. Which I did. And since she’s not, you can go ask her about her living situation. Now give me this,” Andre said, taking the robe he was looking at before all this drama started from the Gryffindor, “You can’t pull this off.”

Charlie admitted, at first, the news of her and Barnaby living together came as quite the shock to him and he may have been a little… jealous… and confused and worried what that meant exactly… And he tried to listen to Andre, despite the Ravenclaw being only somewhat helpful, and prepared himself to step out of that store and rejoin his family and greet Ady and Barnaby but as he began to do so, the owner of Quality Quidditch Supplies stepped out of their store and attempted to get Ady’s attention who quickly grabbed Barnaby’s arm and said her goodbyes to the Weasley’s as she hastily took her leave before the owner of the Quidditch store caught up to her.

Charlie wasn’t really sure what that was all about but he was more focused on figuring out what was going on between her and Barnaby. He knew they had always been very close friends, and Charlie and Barnaby were good friends as well, sharing a common passion for Magical Creatures as well as in interest in Quidditch since Barnaby was Ady’s Beater partner on the Slytherin Quidditch team. He just wanted some clarity on the situation because the uncertainty was causing a lot of crazy thoughts to swarm through is head.

He had started a letter to Penny about twenty times, scribbling out each attempt and throwing away a lot of parchment that evening when he got back to the Burrow. Bill’s empty bed was now covered in crumbled up pieces of parchment from all of Charlie’s failed attempts at trying to figure out how to casually ask the Hufflepuff, who knew everything that was happening with everyone at Hogwarts even during the summer months, if she could shed some light on what was going on with Ady and Barnaby. But every time it was too awkward or obvious why he was asking and Penny, like Andre and Bill…and the rest of his siblings, loved teasing him about his secret feelings for Ady…which may not be so secret anymore…

Ultimately Charlie scrapped the whole thing and instead had the brilliant idea to ask Tonks instead. Tonks, who surprisingly discovered was related to Ady which only brought the two closer, who also did not care much, if at all, about who fancied who, or who was dating who, or who was caught snogging who unless it was a funny, embarrassing story. Tonks who also was his first, and still one of his closest, friends since he first starting attending Hogwarts (clearly not including Bill).

Tonks proved to be quite the reliable source, although Charlie had to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand a few times since Tonks could lose her train of thought and get distracted easily. According to her, Barnaby had spent most of the last summer and holidays with Ady at her place or at Hogwarts with her. This summer it seemed he officially moved in to one of the spare rooms in 12 Grimmauld Place (Keira taking over the old House of Black home was a sort of revolutionary act and having her friends visit during the summer and hang out there was surreal. Walburga was probably rolling over in her grave). It was pretty common knowledge, at least in their friendship group, that Barnaby did not have the best childhood with his father or being cared for by his grandmother. Apparently things with her continued to be bad, possibly growing worse, and none of their friends felt Barnaby should continue to live in such a negative, stressful, and toxic environment. And Ady was the one friend who finally took action.

First she opened up 12 Grimmauld Place to all her friends whenever they needed a place to go, to get away or just to hang out, and then she practically packed up Barnaby and his things herself and brought him over to live with her and her elusive guardian. Barnaby still visits his grandmother, checks on her to make sure she’s doing alright since she is getting older, and run some errands for her (apparently that’s what they were doing in Knocturn Alley that day and ran into Jae and the others) since Barnaby still cares for his grandmother and feels responsible for her and her well-being. However, he does seem to be doing better since no longer living there, like a weight has been lifted and he even seems well-rested.

Charlie appreciated Tonks sharing this information with him. Not only did it ease his anxiety but it just made him admire and fancy Ady even more than he already did. Plus she didn’t tease him about his crush on Ady like Penny would have. That Hufflepuff was part Slytherin, he swore!

“Oh thank Merlin,” Andre breathed a sigh of relief as he entered their compartment. “I hope it’s safe in here. Tulip and Tonks are getting an early start on their mischief making and rumour has it they have two little apprentices with them as well,” Andre informed them as he closed the door behind him and took a seat next to Rowan after she shifted over for him. Charlie tensed up at the mention of the two apprentices although he did his best not to show how anxious he actually was. But his worst fear was happening. And they hadn’t even made it to Hogwarts yet!

“Shouldn’t you two go and stop them as Prefects,” Rowan asked the two sitting across from her, giving them a pointed look from over the top of her glasses.

“It’s safer in here. I’m not going to get caught in a dung bomb explosion or worse,” Keira replied.

“And I deal with this kind of stuff every day when I’m home, can’t I have a little bit of a break,” Charlie pleaded.

“Besides, there are other Prefects who can handle it, ones who are on duty right now. We’re on break,” Keira added. Rowan sighed but dropped it, resuming reading her book.

“So, how was everyone’s summer,” Andre asked in an attempt to change the subject to a less anxiety provoking one. The small fraction of their group of friends began to share their summer holiday stories, the popular Hufflepuff even managing to join them from her busy task of greeting and catching up with essentially everyone on the train (she was the most popular person in Hogwarts for a reason), sometime during Rowan telling everyone about her time on her family’s tree farm.

When it was Charlie’s turn to talk about his summer he had to admit it was bittersweet with Bill leaving for Egypt. He didn’t mean to bring the train compartment down but he missed his brother and they all missed their surrogate older brother. Or crush in Rowan’s case. And as proud as his family obviously was for him becoming a Curse-Breaker and achieving his dream, of course they all missed him and worried about him, especially their mum. But he promised to write them often and so far had kept his promise, writing to them almost every day, mainly to assure their mum he was safe and eating and had clean clothes and he was okay. “You might get some letters from him too this year, who knows,” Charlie told them, trying to end on a positive note.

“What about you, Keira? How was your summer,” Penny asked, peering around the Gryffindor who sat between them.

“Fine,” Keira answered with a shrug. The rest of the compartment stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

“Just…fine? That’s it,” Penny asked with a frown.

Charlie didn’t want to pry or urge her to speak when, he assumed, bringing up the topic of Bill had upset her. She wasn’t one to normally show her emotions, at least not the negative ones, in front of others and only a select few had actually seen her stress, frustrated, and depressed, himself and Rowan being a part of the select few. Keira and Bill were close. Very close. Best friends. Partners. Family. And him graduating and leaving had to be just as hard on her as it was on him and the rest of the family, if not possibly harder. She had lost one brother and now it was sort of like she was losing another one. But he was sure Bill would write to her and keep in touch with her. Didn’t matter the distance between them, nothing would break their bond.

“You were gone a lot,” Barnaby finally spoke up when it was apparent Keira wasn’t going to say any more on the matter. “It was kind of lonely. Luckily Tonks and some of our other friends were around to hang out with,” he added with a grin, but it was obvious he missed her.

“Gone? Where did you go,” Penny asked curiously.

“Canada,” Keira answered. These one word answers were clearly starting to annoy the Hufflepuff as she narrowed her eyes at the Slytherin girl.

“And what were you doing in Canada,” Penny asked.

Keira shrugged as she stared out the window. “Stuff.” Charlie swore he saw her smirk briefly but she quickly hid it to continue messing with the Hufflepuff.

“Must have been really busy since I didn’t hear from you much over this summer,” Penny continued.

“Yeah, I was really busy,” Keira confirmed sincerely. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t write more often. To you and everyone. Plus travelling that much distance is exhausting,” she added.

Penny perked up once she got a genuine answer from the Slytherin that was also more than one word. “What was keeping you so busy? Something exciting?”

“More Curse-Breaking adventures,” Rowan asked, intrigued as well because she was also worried that she hadn’t heard much from her friend over the summer holiday but learning she was not the only one was a relief.

“Did you get a Thunderbird,” Barnaby asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.

“Was it a guy,” Andre asked with a smirk, causing Keira to look over at him curiously. Why would he assume that? His suggestion seemed to capture everyone’s attention in the compartment as they looked over at him in shock over that possibility, since it never crossed any of their minds, before looking back at the Slytherin being questioned curiously.

“A guy. Twenty guys. You don’t know my life,” Keira replied with her usual sass. And while everyone else chuckled Charlie was filled with dread - he may have just missed the snitch and lost.

“World Cup is happening next year,” Andre announced excitedly to change the subject once again. “Teams are already competing for a spot.”

“Did you get offered a position, Andre,” Penny asked curiously. He was working towards playing professionally after all.

“No, unfortunately but they only choose a few select Keepers so it’s more difficult to get offered a position as one compared to say all the Chasers,” Andre explained.

“Guess that makes sense. One Keeper to three Chasers,” Penny replied.

“Right, but since this is the World Cup and not any normal match, games in the tournament can last for days or weeks! So they want to have two to three Keepers and a few lines of Chaser and Beaters to switch out so players can get some rest,” Andre continued to try and explain. “So teams may have nine Chasers but only two or three Keepers, so the odds are slim. I’m not taking it personally. Or letting it discourage me from playing professionally,” he assured.

“That’s good to hear,” Penny replied with a grin before Andre turned his attention to the red head next to her.

“While I may not have gotten an offer, someone here did…”Charlie tensed up slightly as all eyes turned to him.

“You got offered to play,” Rowan asked excitedly.

“Uh… yeah… I was offered a position for England,” Charlie admitted awkwardly, clearly a bit embarrassed by all this attention. Also because he knew when he told them he turned it down they were all going to throw a fit.

“Congrats! I knew you would, mate,” Andre congratulated proudly. “I can’t wait to watch you play and beat all those other teams and win, and oh you think you have fans now, wait until they see you -“

“I’m…not going to play for England,” Charlie interrupted nervously. But he didn’t want Andre to get himself all worked up only to be let down by his decision.

“What? But you said you got an offer to –“

“I did. But… I turned it down,” Charlie admitted.

“YOU DID WHAT?!?!” Charlie winced and looked down as the entire compartment yelled at him followed by a lot of scolding and questioning. He was afraid Andre might hit him in an attempt to knock some sense into him!

“Are you insane!? It’s an opportunity of a lifetime!”

“Why wouldn’t you want to play in the biggest Quidditch tournament in the world?”

“What is wrong with you?!”

“What?! What do you mean you’re not playing for England?” Charlie glanced over at the Slytherin next to him whose question, although a cry of surprise and outrage, was not as rage filled as others (Andre) but instead filled with disappointment. The look on her face confirmed the tone in her voice and Charlie’s heart began to ache slightly.

Keira had sat up when Charlie made his announcement, her feet dropping to the floor from the seat across from her. She was definitely not expecting him to say that. And she couldn’t hide the shock and disappointment from her face as she stared at him awaiting an answer, an explanation for his poor life decision, in her opinion.

“Can we all stop yelling, please!” The compartment went silent and for a brief moment everyone’s attention turned from the red head to Barnaby. “I know you’re not fighting but I still don’t like all the yelling,” he explained. The compartment quietly apologized to the Slytherin boy before turning their attention back to the Gryffindor Seeker.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself,” Andre demanded, folding his arms over his chest as he watched Charlie fixedly.

“It was an honor being asked and I am very grateful for the opportunity, like I told them, but… after thinking a lot about it and how much time and energy it would be asking of me, and travel, and everything it meant… it’s accepting a huge commitment and that means it would take time away from school and studying and working towards becoming a Dragonologist. It’s my dream to work with dragons and I’m not going to let anything jeopardize that, even Quidditch. And if my grades slip or I’m unable to master necessary spells and skills I need to be able to work with dragons I’ll never forgive myself.” His passionate speech seemed to settle the questions everyone in the compartment had, even if they were still disappointed in his decision.

An awkward silence fell throughout the train compartment until Keira finally dared to break it. “I guess it’s for the best. I would hate to see the disappointed look on your face when Canada beats England and wins,” she told him with a small smirk.

Charlie blinked at her a couple times, not expecting some trash talking, before a small smile crept onto his face. She, and everyone else, may still be disappointed in his decision but at least they accepted it, or were at least trying to.

“You’re right, it is a big commitment and you have different goals for yourself and your future. It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make but I think it is the right one for you. Takes a lot of courage to be able to turn down an opportunity like that and maintain your focus on your aspirations that you know will make you happy overall instead of just for a moment,” Penny spoke up encouragingly.

“Thanks, Penny.” Charlie was really touched by the Hufflepuff’s words. He was very fortunate to have such understanding friends and it meant a lot to him that they thought so highly of him.

“Very focused on your career goals… Very ambitious… Very Slytherin of you,” Keira teased with a small smirk earning a small smirk and chuckle from the Gryffindor.

“Well, you know-“ Charlie started before being interrupted from the Ravenclaw across from him.

“Wait, hold on,” Andre said suddenly, holding up a hand as he took a moment to gather his thoughts. Charlie prepared for another tongue lashing but instead, to his surprise, Andre turned his attention to the Slytherin next to him. “You think Canada is going to beat England? And win?”

“Yeah, I do,” Keira replied confidently.

“Really? I’ll take that bet,” Andre replied just as cocky.

“Oh no, here they go,” Rowan sighed, shaking her head.

An evil, mischievous grin spread across the Slytherin’s face. “Are you sure? Without Charlie they don’t really have much of a chance to win, do they,” Keira pointed out with a smirk before looking at the Gryffindor Seeker. “So really I should thank you for turning down playing for England. Makes England far less of a threat.”

“Your maple drinking team is the nonthreatening one,” Andre barked suddenly.

“Alright you two, calm down.” Penny attempted to calm the two Quidditch obsessed friends down. This was not the first time they got into passionate arguments over Quidditch teams and players and it wouldn’t be the last. She had a feeling this was going to be a long year with the World Cup coming up.

“Hey! Maple is delicious,” Keira snapped back. Not exactly the point but still she felt she needed to defend it.

“It really is. She brought me back pure maple sugar candies – those things are amazing,” Barnaby informed the compartment blissfully.

“Did someone say maple sugar candy?” The compartment’s residents all turned to look at the new voice that graced them with their presence. Jae stood in the now open doorway of the compartment with a bag of what they all assumed was full of some of his merchandise slung over his shoulder.

“Hey Jae,” the group greeted prompting Jae to go into his sales pitch. The train ride to Hogwarts was a long one! They needed snacks, rarer ones they couldn’t get from the Honeyduke’s cart, and things to keep them busy! Plus now was the best time to get their hands on last minute school supplies, like auto-answer quills, before they arrived at Hogwarts. And since they were his friends he’d promise to give them a deal… He had a bag full of stuff for everyone! Like Santa except they had to pay him…

“We’re fine, Jae, thanks though,” Charlie answered. Every day that kid pitched him something, being roommates, so he had gotten used to turning him down without any feeling of guilt.

“Alright but if you do decide you want anything, you know where to find me. And speaking of maple sugar candy, I believe we have our own deal to make,” Jae told the Slytherin girl who sighed and stood up to grab her own bag from the overhead luggage compartment.

“Keira! Have you become one of Jae’s suppliers,” Penny asked, sounding rather shocked by this turn of events.

“He asks me to bring him some candies and snacks from Canada that he can’t get here to sell. It’s not a big deal,” Keira assured.

“Yeah, and it’s not like I’m taking advantage. We’re splitting the profits,” Jae assured Penny as Keira grabbed a package out of her bag and began to hand it over to him. “70-30.”

Keira paused at Jae’s distribution percentage and quickly pulled the package back to her before Jae could get his hands on it. “70-30? It’s supposed to be 50-50.”

“Did we decide on that though? I mean, I am the one doing all the work, making all the deals, doing the sales pitching, putting myself at risk by carrying the merchandise around so if I get caught that’s it,” Jae debated.

“And I’m the one who smuggled these in for you and without me you wouldn’t have any merchandise to sell,” Keira pointed out.

Jae frowned and considered her point. “Fair enough. 60-40.” Keira’s eyes narrowed at the shady dealing Gryffindor. But since she knew he did this to get money to send back to his mum she didn’t mind him getting the majority of the profits. Besides, she had enough money.

“Alright, deal,” Keira agreed before they shook hands and she handed over the package to him.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Jae said with a smirk before placing her package in his bag. “I’ll come back around later and see if you guys want anything.”

“You could also come back just to say hi and hang out with us because we’re friends,” Penny pointed out.

“I would, Penny, but I’m working,” Jae pointed out.

“You know, if you put in half as much effort into your school work as your do with this little business of yours you could be top of the Gryffindor students in your year,” Penny informed him.

Jae blinked at her a moment before bursting out into laughter. “Oh Penny, I had no idea how funny you were! Studying about plants and writing essays on Goblin Rebellions doesn’t help me, but perfecting my business skills and making money does.” And with that the shady dealing Gryffindor took his leave to get more sales, closing the door to the compartment behind him.

“There goes all the pure maple candy,” Barnaby sighed, looking down in disappointment. That was short lived, however, as suddenly a box of the candy he was just mourning plopped down in his lap. “Maple candy,” he exclaimed excitedly with a grin.

“I wouldn’t give him all of it,” Keira assured. “Have to save some for ourselves. For free,” she added. Keira began distributing some more candy and snacks she brought back with her from her visits to Canada around the compartment. “Oh, you know who may like some of these? Talbott.” Since, thanks to Penny, she learned he had a bit of a sweet tooth. “I’m going to go find him,” she announced, standing up. “Besides, I have to do my rounds soon anyway. Tonks and the rest of them better take a break from their mayhem.”

“I’ll go with you,” Penny said, standing up as well. “I want to go check on Beatrice.” Of course she did. She was going to be even more overprotective of her little sister after what happened last year and no one blamed her.

Barnaby stood up suddenly as well and wrapped Keira in a tight bear hug. “Thanks, Keira! You’re the best!”

The Slytherin girl blinked in surprise before laughing slightly and reaching up to pat Barnaby on the back a couple times. “Thanks, Barnabas. Any time.” After their hug, Barnaby took his seat and began devouring the maple candy while the two girls left the compartment.

As soon as the door to the compartment closed, Andre looked over at the Gryffindor with a devilish smirk.

“No –“ Charlie started.

“So….” Andre started innocently.

“Don’t –“ Charlie warned.

“You two-“

“I’m not talking about this right now with you,” Charlie informed him.

For a brief moment Charlie honestly thought Andre had dropped it but he just lulled him into a false sense of security. “So do you think she has a boyfriend back in Canada,” Andre asked suddenly. “Maybe it was just a summer fling,” he suggested as Charlie groaned and slumped over to thump his head against the wall of the train. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she actually dated or did anything with twenty guys,” Andre added, trying to make Charlie feeling better…or mess with him more, Charlie wasn’t sure, but it didn’t help him feel any better and instead let out another groan. “Could always ask her roommate,” Andre suggested with a smirk, glancing over at Barnaby who was preoccupied with stuffing his face full of candy.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Charlie attempted to say but Andre just spoke over him like he wasn’t even listening.

“Hey, Barnaby. Do you know what Keira was busy doing in Canada this summer,” Andre asked curiously.

“She went to see her family over there,” Barnaby replied after a moment. “And… I know there was something else… but I forgot.” The Slytherin paused a moment to think. “I think it’s supposed to be a secret. So guess it’s good that I forgot,” he laughed.

“That’s it? You can’t remember anything else,” Andre urged prompting Barnaby to think hard once again.

“Umm…. I think I remember her mentioning someone named Patrice?” Charlie and Andre shared a look at Barnaby’s possible recollection.

“Is that…a woman or a man,” Charlie eventually, carefully asked.

“It depends,” Rowan spoke up from behind her book, the boys forgetting she was even there for a moment since she was so quiet! “Typically in English it’s a feminine name but in French it’s a masculine name.”

“Well that doesn’t help much,” Andre sighed. Charlie still wasn’t sure if Andre was actually trying to help him or if he just liked messing with him. Probably both. But guess he should appreciate his friend taking an interest. Unfortunately, none of this made Charlie feel better or clear up anything for him.

After Keira returned to their compartment, with Tonks in tow – whether she came as a friend or as a prisoner from getting caught in her mischief making while Keira was on rounds was unknown – Charlie left to go on his rounds.

“Did you find Talbott and give him some candy,” Rowan asked curiously.

“I did. I think he was happy. I told him where we were sitting and he said he might come by,” Keira replied as she took her seat back across from Barnaby and next to the window.

The group of friends chatted idly, quietly read or watched the scenery go buy, and snacked on their various snacks. Charlie’s mum of course made her children plenty of delicious homemade snacks, as did Penny’s mum, and they were nice enough to share with their friends. Although Keira also joked she might go shake down Percy for more. At least Charlie thought she was kidding…

Rowan even attempted to hone her teaching skills by discussing what she was reading about and quizzing her friends but that did not last long since they decided they weren’t even at Hogwarts yet and they would have plenty of lectures and homework and studying this year so they wanted to continue to enjoy the last bit of their summer holiday; although of course Rowan thought this was fun! Penny came back for some time but left again to check on her sister once again, and once again no one was going to blame her for her overprotective nature. Honestly, the fact that she didn’t keep Beatrice chained to her was astounding. Jae also returned and attempted to sell them some of his merchandise once again but they all refused; however, they did manage to get him to stay and hang out for a while before he continued with his side hustle, taking Andre’s place as Andre went to visit with some other people for a moment.

It was hard having so many friends and such small compartments on the train and they did their best to squeeze in – it became like a revolving door of friends in an attempt to get to sit and hang out with each of them during the ride up to and from school. They basically needed their own train car at this point.

Eventually, the part of the eight hour train ride came where everyone began to get tired, or aka: nap time. Tonks leaned against the compartment wall, snoring slightly as she dozed. Jae pulled out a pillow from some unknown magical place to help him sleep, apparently needing that break from the hustle and finding the perfect place to do it with them, while Rowan fell asleep in her classic style with an open book across her lap and her glasses askew on her face. Keira meanwhile had fallen asleep with her arms folded and legs still propped up on the seat across from her next to Barnaby. At some point she slowly began to fall over and ended up using Charlie’s shoulder as a pillow – something that was becoming a bit of a habit – which he of course didn’t mind and instead gazed down fondly at her with a small smile from his newest book on dragons as she slept peacefully, reminding him of other times he had the privilege of watching her sleep over the last couple years.

“Hey, Barnaby,” Charlie called out softly to the only other person awake in the compartment, possibly due to all the sugar candy he ate earlier. Barnaby looked up from his own book on magical creatures where he was probably more admiring the pictures rather than reading it. “What does etrall mean? Keira said it earlier…”

Barnaby frowned quizzically as he repeated the word under his breath a few times. Was this some sort of trick question? “Oh! Do you mean étoile?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Charlie confirmed. “Couldn’t quite remember it. Do you know what it means?”

“Don’t worry, I have that problem all the time,” Barnaby assured when Charlie apologized for not remembering. “Étoile means star.”

“Star,” Charlie repeated before looking over as he heard voices coming from their compartment doorway.

“Looks like it’s full,” Penny observed. “I’ll go sit with Beatrice and come back later,” she assured with a smile as Andre continued to stare at Barnaby.

“You speak French?!” Barnaby smiled proudly up at the Ravenclaw who was astounded to learn this new bit of information. He shook his head as he slowly closed the door and went to go find somewhere else to sit for the time being and needing time to process that Barnaby, who he thought had a hard time with English, apparently spoke two languages! Maybe more! Barnaby continued to grin proudly as he resumed looking back at his book.

Charlie’s gaze once again turned to the sleeping Slytherin on his shoulder, his eyes softening as he admired her a moment. “Star,” he repeated again softly, the memories of asking her to the Ball last year during her Astrology class and dancing with her under the stars before they shared their first, and only, kiss playing in his head. Maybe he hadn’t lost after all. Maybe he still had a chance.

A/N: I know the song I’m referencing isn’t the best to use for a romantic relationship (since it’s about drug addiction) but it has some great lines I think that are perfect for them (it talks about a dragon okay?! =p) I’m going to continue using the lyrics throughout each part that I think correspond to the mood.

Again, apologize for the rough editing and that I have a problem being brief... Too many commas, too many adjectives/details... I’m sure there’s a support group out there somewhere =p

I decided to make a sort of series instead of just one about them admitting their feelings because I have a lot of ideas that happen this year. I also wanted to finish Year 5 fics before getting into Year 6 but this has been sitting around waiting to be posted and I love writing the sibling banter with the Twins so I’ve been excited to get this posted and this series started - so many ideas! But I will try to get the last Year 5 fic written and out soon too I just haven’t had any motivation to write it, all my inspiration has been taken up by Year 6! (I’ve also been looking into AO3 and Wattpad to post my fics on as well so if anyone has any experience with these platforms please let me know =)  )

I hope you enjoyed, hope you laughed, and if you did please let me know which parts you enjoyed and laughed at the most! As always feel free to comment and/or reblog with your thoughts and comments and let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list (and I’m sorry if I forgot anyone, I have to find a better way to do this!)! And as always my Masterlist is linked in my bio =)

Thank you for reading! 😄 ❤️

Tag List: @sly-vixen-up2nogood @sungoddessra @cinnamoncam @bexeris @urban-eagle @thatbritishcanadiangirl @abravelittlefangirl @justducky0423 @tatlikar @otpshipper93 

[ravennawritesfanfiction]

Souls of Time- Eomer

Chapter Summary: Recounted is the original life of the soul mates as Eomer and Rohana/Reyna. They mark the first known pair of soul mates that Gandalf knows of (though they aren’t the first occurrence ever). 

Taglist: @schatzi-89

Éomer and his sister Éowyn were orphaned and adopted by their Uncle Théoden, King of Rohan. Éowyn was given several Ladies in waiting to care for her. Most of the job consisted of being her friend. She hated having so many people around, fussing over her every move. It didn’t take long for her to find a reason to let each one go until only one remained.

           This one single Lady had been different from all of the others right from the beginning; unlike the others who wanted the attention from the Riders for being apart of the court, this one had taken her role seriously and always been there for Éowyn. She had even become friends with Éomer and took on the role of counsel to him as well, though she was never asked to. It was rare for him to take comfort in someone outside of Éowyn, but here they were. So, when it was all said and done, she remained on the court.

           Lady Rohana often kept to her duties, only stealing away when one of her friends needed her. She was the same age as Éowyn, so her duties, which she inherited from a young age, started off small and grew as they got older. When she was younger, her major duties included etiquette lessons with Éowyn and Éomer taught her how to ride for her troubles, though she knew it was a ploy so he wouldn’t have to be alone. He always told her that a Lady of Rohan should know how to ride.

           After the riding lessons, which took them far beyond the village, they would sit in meadows and enjoy each other’s company. Had she been anyone else, this would have been wildly inappropriate, but taking care of the siblings had fallen to her as a guide. Somedays, they would sit in silence and listen to the breeze as it rattled the tall grasses. Their hair would blow into their faces and abstract the view. Other days, they would talk of their hopes and dreams for the future. Éomer said he enjoyed teaching others to ride so much that he thought that teaching his kids to ride was the one thing he hoped for the most. Rohana said she wanted to marry someone who understood her and would honor her. She wanted a child, but she also wanted to be important to others. She had been born to a farmer and status wasn’t something that was held by her family. Éomer never said much, but he would watch her as she spoke with a quiet understanding.

Théoden King often enjoyed her company; finding that even though she was not of noble lineage, she had a noble mind. She did not seek out fights or battles, but the Lady wasn’t one to shy away either. Éomer would join in discussions and debates between them. He learned more from her then he would have thought. She was a kind leader, but fierce when threatened. Skills, Éomer thought, would be best suited of a King and Queen.

Éomer became the Third Marshal of the Ridermark and he led his men as he had always seen Rohana do. He treated his men fairly and for that, he had their undying loyalty. They also knew that he would fight with everything that he had in him until the very end. He was one of the well-received Marshals in Rohan history.

Rohana was given a place on Théoden’s court of advisors. It was rare for a woman to hold such an office, though no one complained. She added composure to the room that kept heads level and egos to a minimum. She had nothing to prove, and that is why she had earned the King’s favor.

When Grima came to Rohan and took Théoden’s mind from him, Rohana was the first to be removed from the council. She saw through his deceptions and tried to fight him off. She was banned from the throne room. Grima Wormtonuge was made Chief Advisor to the King and the Realm of Rohan fell into deep despair. The Riders started finding Orcs where there had never been Orcs before. Saruman’s grasp on the world was getting tighter with each passing day.

When Théodred was killed, the king did not react, and it was clear then to everyone, what had been known to Rohana, Grima had Théoden under mind control. It was all one could do to look back at times long past. It was then that Rohana realized her feelings for Éomer were more than those of duty and friendship. Before anything could be said, the Riders were banished. Éomer had tried to attack Grima for acting a way towards Éowyn. When he was stooped and thrown from the palace, the Riders went with him.

Rohana feared for Éomer above all others. The Orcs were everywhere and the men had not been granted all the weapons they would have been traveling with. Nothing was looking good for Rohan. Every night Rohana would lie awake, terrified that the next day would bring news of Éomer’s death.

Éowyn had receded into herself out of fear of being thrown out herself. No one was safe and anything the worm said, Théoden King when along with. Never had times been so dark.

There was very little that Rohana was still allowed to do, so most days were spent riding. She was the first to see the Ridermark banner cresting the hill when Éomer and the riders returned with Gandalf and Aragorn. She rode out to meet them, afraid that she was imagining it all. Éomer, now safely in Rohan, removed his helmet so that he could talk with Rohana face to face. When she saw that he, as well as all the others, were safe, she started to cry.

Rohana and Éomer rode side by side back to the palace; everyone else followed out of respect. Everyone was instructed to wait outside until Gandalf was through with Théoden. Now that they weren’t on horseback, Rohana didn’t even try to disguise how much she had missed him. She was stuck to Éomer’s side. He had his arm around her; strangely protective of his dearest of friends.

No one said anything. The silence was only broken by the sound of Grima being thrown out by a freshly released Théoden King. Everyone kneeled for the first time since this whole ordeal began, before their king in light of their new hope.

Théoden’s first act of business was to apologize to Éomer and the Riders. Next, Rohana was restored to all of her former positions. After much convincing, Théoden was persuaded to joining the war efforts and everyone was moved to Helms Deep. All men and boys old enough to hold a weapon were enlisted and the women were sent deep into hiding.

After the initial attack and victory of Helms Deep, the men left the city for the final battle. Éowyn went with to help the hobbit. Rohana was placed in charge of the people. She was given a crown to show her role and she rode to the gates with the men. For the first time, she addressed Éomer as an equal. Those who heard her words, repeated them to no one, for they were meant for him and him alone. It had always been him.

“You return back to me, my Love.” He didn’t have to respond, his gesture was enough. With a soft caress of her face, he was off. He had a reason to return.

For days, she rode through the city as a sign of unity. She helped those who needed it and aided the nurses with the wounded from Helm’s Deep. A beacon was to be lit when their men returned. Until then, she kept busy to avoid thinking of the war raging outside.

It was late in the afternoon when the beacon ignited in all of its glory. She was taken to the gates where she waited on horseback to welcome their soldiers. Man after man entered the gates and bowed their heads to her as they passed. She stood there until every man was in, not once seeing Éomer, Éowyn, or Théoden. Her heart plummeted. She turned to follow the men into the city. She was to be Queen permanently in the event that none of them returned.

The gates were closing as shouts filled the air. A wagon approached with two escorts. It flew the Ridermark banner. The King was dead. She turned to stand at attention; praying that Éomer and Éowyn weren’t in that cart too. She could make out Aragorn leading the wagon. He never wore a helmet. The second was a rider, and as they approached closer, she knew the horse before she could see the rider. She took off in a bolt. He had seen her and ran ahead of the caravan. They were both off their horses and in each other’s arms before words could be spoken.

The wagon came to stop beside them. In it was Théoden, in his eternal sleep, having been killed in battle. Éowyn was with him, but she thankfully wasn’t dead, just hurt badly. She would live. She took off her crown and handed it to Éowyn and turned back to Éomer. She kissed him before he could process what was happening. He kissed back and picked her up. Éowyn took Rohana’s horse as she rode back into the city one Éomer’s horse.

Éomer was crowned king of Rohan. At his coronation, all bowed before their new king, including Rohana. She was back to being a Lady in waiting for a much improved Éowyn. Éomer approached Rohana and knelt down beside her.

“Lady Rohana,” he cradled her face just as he had when he had left, “will you be my Queen?” He helped her to her feet as Gandalf came over with a second crown.

“I’m not Noble. I am not fit to be Queen.” Rohana avoided eye contact.

“You are not Noble, but Théoden trusted the crown to you, now I am offering you something you have always wanted; someone who understands you and will honor you unconditionally. I am offering you the respect of an entire realm. Will you honor me as husband rather than a king?”

“Yes, my Love.” She was tearing up.

They didn’t want a huge wedding, but there was no reason to delay, the entire realm was already present. That day Rohan got a new King and Queen. Éomer became Éomer Éadig, King of Rohan and Rohana became Reyna Queen of Rohan.

Gandalf requested the right to perform the Soulmate test after they were wed on the grounds that her plea for him to return brought him home. Not expecting anything, they both agreed. The test was straight forward. They both represented half of a heart. If the two halves of heart smoke failed to join and be one, they were not soulmates; but if it did for a single, united heart, they were in fact soul mates. Of the dozen times Gandalf had tested couples, never had he seen a full heart. He also had not heard of a successful formation in this age.

The ceremony started and the two halves drifted up towards the sky until it hung over their heads. Then once it was high enough, the two halves started to swirl around each other until they were joined. There was hushed awe that fell over all who bore witness. Gandalf’s eyes twinkled and neither Éomer nor Reyna had ever felt so complete.

Just as Éomer had fulfilled all of Reyna’s hopes for the future, she fulfilled his. She bore him two children; a daughter, Rhoswyn and a son, Baylor. They ruled together for years; restoring Rohan to its original glory. Their rule is marked as one of the most prosperous in Rohan history and their descendants sat on the throne until the new age of man.

Reyna passed away first with her loving husband at her side. Her grave is marked with the Ridersmark and it bears two names. He had called her Rohana in private for the entirety of her life. Éomer passed not long after of a broken heart. He was laid to rest by his son and daughter next to Rohana.

Legend has it that the hill they were laid upon is still intact. Some say that the elves have protected it for all of these ages. It is a symbol of good faith they have in man. Before they both passed, Reyna was tasked with the duty to remember each life she lives with Éomer and to guide him in the next life as she did in the last

[silviasutton1989]

T.T.K. Chapter 15 “Riot”

A/N: Hey guys so today IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! I feel old, happy, tired all at the same time. 

When I started this series I knew that I wanted to end it on my birthday...well that’s clearly not happening but we are moving along. Now I’m posting this quickly because I have to leave in a minute so if you see some issues my apologies in advance.

Word Count: 2300

Rating: M course language

Summary: Olivia talks with her aunt Liam and Riley try to date.

Catch Up: Chapter 1  1.2  2  3  4  5  6  7 8  9  9.2  9.25   10   11   12.1 12.2

       13  14

Olivia loved watching her mother get dressed for the many balls her parents attended. On those nights she would zoom through her bath and grooming routines, just to run into her mother's room to watch her pin her long red hair above her head in a perfect bun. She would watch the lines form on her face as she decided which pairs of jewelry to wear and which shoes went with the beautiful gown. 

Olivia climes into their bed and studies the two scurrying around the room. Even at 5 she noticed that something was different about her mother tonight. Her hands shook and she drops her perfume bottle.

"Shit."

"Ohh Momma you said a bad word..."

"Leave your mother alone Peppa." Olivia's father walks over giving his young daughter a kiss on the forehead. "You should be in bed."

"I just want to watch you drive off...so we can wave bye."

"Ok dear just this once." He smiles at her knowing full well he says this every time. "Prue, you ok?" He walks over to his wife whose trying to dab the perfume out of the carpet, and bends down to help her up. Her nerves are on end and he rubs her shoulders to sooth her. "Hey look at me."

The two lock eyes. Oliver takes a deep breath and his wife fallows suit. "We don't have to do this. We can call everyone and stop it. We can stay home...what ever you want I'm with you, my queen."

Olivia giggles hearing her father's pet name for her mother. The sound of her daughter's laughter gives her more strength than she ever had before. Straightening her shoulders and looks to her child then back to her husband. "No we will do this tonight. I'm going to give my daughter what belongs to her. And if it has come down to this ...then so be it. By the time she wakes up tomorrow she will have it all."

The couple kiss and Oliver quickly leaves the room giving his daughter a wink, "See you in the morning, Peppa."

"Not if I see you first, daddy."

Her mother kneels at the edge of the bed, looking at her daughter as if she held the world in her tiny hands. "What have I always told you, Peppa?"

"That I wear a crown even if I can't see it." Olivia says proudly sticking her chin out into the air, her bubbly smile filling her face.

"I don't want you to ever forget that ok. Never. In case something...if I don't make it back....just don't forget it please."

"I won't momma. I promise"

Persephone opens her mouth to say more but she stands to her feet. "Walk me out?"

"Yes!"

Olivia holds her mother's hand as they walk down the hallways of the mansion only letting go when they reach the front door. That night she dreamed about her mother and father dancing the night away at the ball, but instead of being Duke and Duchess they were King and Queen.

"Don’t you know who you are?” Lucretia spoke the words in a huff, Olivia wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.

“I know I know. I am a Nevarkis. I kill first and take names later.” She states rolling her eyes.

“Yes you are a Nevarkis. But... Olivia, don’t you know you are so much more than that?” The range of expressions from Lucretia’s face went from curious to surprise to visible rage. “My god you don’t know do you? You honestly don't have a clue?” She shakes her head grabbing her things from the ground and marching away from her hut. The confused duchess follows behind. "All your answers just inches away and you were too busy having a crush to figure it all out for yourself!” She wasn’t really talking to her niece, but the words were for her, Olivia knew that much.

“Well maybe if you had actually been in my life I would have known more about my parents.”

“I had to protect myself! He would have killed me had I tried to take you….”

“Don’t try to use the King as an excuse Starchild. You didn’t want me! No one did! No one ever had. I was an afterthought for my parents. They just wanted the king dead some failed attempt for power and…and they deserved—“

She doesn’t get to finish the sentence as a slap to her face silences her. No one had ever dared to put a hand on her, before. She felt the tears well up in her eyes; they were already falling from her aunts. Lucretia sits in the grass taking her niece’s hand and forcing her down with her. The words she speak are in a whisper. As if they weren’t alone.

“Your mother deserved so much more than what she got. She...she would have been so great if it wasn't for ...love... There’s so much you don’t know. So much you should know. That I…” she wipes away the tears from her face.  “You are right. I could have been there for you. But… “

“Tell me then. Tell me about my mother.” Olivia’s green eyes meets her aunt's brown ones. “What is it that I don’t know?"

"How bout you stay with me. Spend a week here and prove that you're ready to know about her, about what she did and why...about who you truly are. We can stay in the billets for a week find you some clothes. You clearly need some time to reflect." Her aunt gives a smirk that reminds her of her own. Maybe her mother smiled like that too.

Riley's heart flutters as she takes in a breath. Her body rising into the air, exhaling a moan as she comes back down just to rise again even higher. Her moans become screams, the euphoric sensation tingling up her body as they fall back to earth then in seconds back up again into the heavens. She holds Liam's hand tight bracing herself as the thrills wave over both of them.

"Open your eyes...you're missing it!" She screams, Liam's eyes stay tightly shut, he tried his best to enjoy it and he loved the feeling of adrenaline rushing over him but only when he could control it.This he could not control, he could not stop it. He was only a passenger in the twist and turns of this ride not the leader or the king or even a man. Just a person in a hunk of metal being thrusted into the air before plummeting back to the ground.

The roller coaster ended sooner than Riley had liked she turns to Liam with a pout. "Let's go again!" As they get out of the cart.

"How about we find something more leisurely to ride on...Like bumper cars or something."He fidgets with his sunglasses, the disguise may help with the citizens not noticing the king but does little to hide how uncomfortable he is. "Or maybe we can go somewhere else if you are ready to go."

Riley gives him a hard look as they walk through the carnival. "You aren't having fun Liam?" She bit her lip to suppress her annoyance. It had been a week since Drake left and the two had barely spent any time alone together. "I just thought that with all the security meetings you've been having this week you would enjoy something fun for a change. Drake would have loved--" she bit her tongue the second his name slipped out. She saw Liam make that face again, the same face he made when she told them that they would not be having sex during her break with Drake, the same face he made when he told her about the anonymous threats he was receiving and her first reaction was to call Drake (he didn't answer), it was a look of hurt that he quickly hid with a smile.

"I'm sorry...I just meant..."

"Hey how about we get our fortune told" Liam points to a tent with a crystal ball above it. "How about we see what fate has in store for us?" He takes her hand and leads her into the tent.

"Welcome children I am Cleo would you like for me to tell you your future?"

The two take a seat, Riley beaming like a toddler. "I have never done one of these before. So are you gonna tell me how many kids I will have or when I die or if I will be in love forever?"

Cleo waves her hands around the ball. "I will tell you all you need to know my child. I know all. I see all."

"So my fiancee and I would like to know will we be together forever?" Riley winks to Liam waiting to see if she would take the bait. Her words make Liam look at Riley's hand the ring she refused to take off still there. All this was hopeless wasn't it?

"I see great success. Your children and children's children will prosper and flourish" Cleo stares hard into the crystal ball as Riley and Liam look to each other in surprise.

"Apparently we are having children, Riley" Liam whispers to her, a smile growing over his face.

"Shh... she's not finished"

"Though you will see much success you will experience hardship at every turn. Cling to your friends, they will be the source for your strength."

"Well that was lovely thank you." Liam stands to pay the old woman she grabs his hand tightly finally looking at him.

"The spirits are not done. Sit."

He immediately does. 

"You two search for love like a bird searching to fly. Look within for your answers. Daughter I see you with one and only one great love. A kindred soul who has waited calmly for you to return to him.  That love will only grow it will never falter. Squander it and you will never know love in its purest form again."

The words sends Riley back in her seat. 

"My son your great loves are long and plenty. You love many and many many more love you. I see sacrifices beyond measure in love for you. It is because of all of these great loves you cannot open to your kindred spirit...your greatest love. The spirits tell me that it is too cloudy to see into that world because of your doubts, but I see you with a partner who rivals you in every way. Who makes you stronger wiser and more powerful than you ever thought you could be. Though that world looks treacherous I see fulfillment and happiness and the success of a life. But..."

She stares into the ball Liam's knee begins to bounce as he sits on the edge of his seat.

"But what?"

"You will sacrifice much for this love. Your name, your power of position, even you life itself will be jeopardized for her. And...you will kill for her. One will be justifiable but one... it will be one of the strongest bonds, the greatest loves you have ever had."

The words of the teller play over and over in Liam's mind. He would have to kill someone ...no 2 people for Riley...but who? Drake? Not Drake he would never kill ....

the greatest love you ever had. 

A voice in the background of his thoughts brought him back to focus.

"Liam did you hear a word I said?" Riley fusses.

"I'm sorry a bit in my own world there."

"Do you want to go on the Ferris Wheel?"

"Um.. yeah sure--I oh I'm sorry." Liam was too consumed in his thought to notice the man he knocked over. He reaches down to help him up but the man doesn't take his hand.

"Do you think those sunglasses are fooling anyone?" The man sneers as he stands to is feet, His words are so  loud the bring attention to everyone around them. "Our crops are gone. We are loosing our jobs from floods and fires. And here is our leader with his American mistress spending our tax moneys to ride the Tilt A World."

"Sir, you have me confused with someone else...I'm not..." Liam tried to remain calm but a crowd began to form around them murmurs of accusations began to quickly grow to full loud protests.

"Lovely dress you have there girly who did you have to do to get it?" A protester states pushing Riley into another person.

"Look at this gem." the man Riley falls onto holds the pearl necklace around her neck in his hand. "this could feed us for at least a month don't you think?" He snatches it off of her pushing her back into Liam.

"People, I see that you are upset, but we mustn't act out of anger we must--"

The sound of gunshots ring out as the crowd scatters. The once peaceful carnival now filled with the chaotic sounds of mothers screaming for their crying children.

Riley stands still, the mayhem around her is petrifying. She feels someone lift her into his arms, carrying her through the crowd. It wasn't until they made it into the limo that she realized the man was Liam.

"Drive now!" he orders as the car begins to accelerate. He looks to the shaken Riley cupping her check in his hand. "You are ok we are safe now."

With shaken hands grabs his shoulders, their lips a breath away from each other. "You saved me Liam...you saved me." She closes the space between him letting her fear dissolve through the kiss.

Tag List:  If you want to be on the tag list permanently (this one is randomly selected with some permanent in as well)  let me know. If you DO NOT want to be tagged ever just send me a message I will not be upset.

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[calwrights]

Origin Stories

A birthday gift for my soulmate.

June 26th 2017

Legit went meta towards the end

Fate often times tore people apart,

but,

sometimes fate brought people together,

But only if,

they were meant to be together,

in this life.

Age 7-8

Two kids were lost in a supermarket.

In the same supermarket?

On the same day?

In the same time?

In some lives,

they were not.

But at least once in their lives they were indeed lost in a supermarket on a hot summer day.

Supposed to cling to their mothers skirts and stay close like they were asked to, while their mothers shopped.

But,

well,  

there’s only so much a child can listen to.

Which is why child number 1 found herself lost in a throng of people.

And child number 2 found herself hiding behind one of those new freezers the frozen food was stored in.

Child number 1 didn’t mean to get lost.

An old lady had dropped something from her cart and her mother always told her to respect her elders.

So as an obedient child she help get the old lady’s piece of paper back to her.

Child number 2 did get lost on purpose.

Because in her mind-

It’s what her mother dared her to do.

Child number 1 started panicking.

The nice old lady gave her the pizza coupon as a reward for getting her coupons back to her.

But when child 1 turned around she was lost.

Her mother nowhere in her sights.

Just strangers milled around in an unfamiliar place.

As one would suspect, it’s overwhelming for a kid.

Tears started welling up in child number 1’s eyes as anxiety settled into her bones.

Child number 2 was starting to think that actually taking her mother’s words to heart was a bad idea.

She also started to think that sitting behind a dusty, old, cold freezer eating frozen food straight out of the bag without asking was a bad idea.

What her mother actually said was:

“If you get lost I’m going to leave you and you’ll live here forever.”

Living at the supermarket didn’t seem all that bad to child number 2.

But the loneliness felt terrible.

Child number 1 started to run.

With no aim in mind.

Well, she actually hoped that at least one of the people that she literally ran into would scold her and she would cling to her skirts like she was supposed to and never let go.

But well, fate didn’t end up going so well for child number 1.

Fate just created a misunderstanding.

She ran past the same old lady who gave her the coupon.

And in her haze child number 1 didn’t realize the old lady calling after her.

She also didn’t realize the old lazy still calling out for her and that she started to follow child number 1 through the crowd.

She also failed to see the security guard taking notice of the commotion and coming to the wrong conclusion.

With two people yelling after her the girl ran faster before slipping in front of a CAUTION WET sign.

Child number 1 yelped as oily, crumbly, cold hands dragged her behind a freezer.

Child number 2 had witnessed the small disturbance and decided to take action.

However she didn’t think said action will get her punched straight in the face.

“I saved you! Geez...” child number 2 muttered harshly while holding her aching nose.

Thankfully it wasn’t bleeding.

Child number one responded with a sharp: “I never asked for your help!”

“Well, if you want to go back outside-”, child number 2 accented her words by trying to shove child number 1 through the small opening that was used to get behind the freezer.

“No! No, fine ok! I’ll stay- Stop pushing me!” child number 1 whispered.

Child number 2 stopped and propped herself back up against the freezer.

Child number 1 sat against the wall,

the old woman and the security guard having long since ran past the freezer.

“You should apologize.”

“Why do I need to apologize?”

“You punched me in the face.”

“You dragged me behind a freezer.”

“Do you want to go back outside?”

“...”

“Fine, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. Besides I think I scared you, haha!”

“I wasn’t scared by some weird… freezer dwelling...chicken nugget eater?- Why are you eating-”

“I’m not eating chicken nuggets!”

“I saw them. Hiding them under the freezer won’t help.”

“You can go back out-,”

“You’re supposed to pay for things before buying them!”

“Shhhhh!-”

Child number 1 looked at child number 2 distrustfully.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Child number 2 said sniffing.

“...”

“You’re crying-,”

“You’re the one who was crying while running into people.”

“I was looking for my mom, ok!”

“...”

“You lost your mom too? I mean- I didn’t lose lose my mom I just…”

“So, we’re both lost?”

“I’m not lost.”

“Yeah, right...Nugget.”

“Yeah, well...Pizza coupon?”

“I’d take just the Pizza part.”

“...ok.”

They eventually came out from behind the freezer and explained to the security guard the misunderstanding.

Then they went off to search for their mothers.

Child number found her mother immediately, and ran straight into the folds of her skirt.

Child number one was so wrapped up in her mother scolding her she totally forgot about child number- Nugget.

And when Pizza turned back around she couldn't find her friend.

Nugget was also searching for her friend from her post on the side of a grocery cart.

Finding her mother was easy with her parent yelling for her.

The cart rattled through the parking lot.

The texture of the asphalt making it quite a bumpy ride.

Pizza helped her mother put groceries into the car.

Nugget took the keys and started the car to get the AC running like she was asked to.

And while their mothers drove out of the parking lot.

Two girls met eyes from two different cars.

One car going left.

The other turning right.

Neither knowing how important, or how painful the other will be in their lives.

And by painful...

It’s painful by how they never quite meet.

No matter how close fate brings the two individuals together.

Age 14-15?

School field trip sounded cool until Nugget got lost.

She wandered off looking at the flock of sheep on the farm.

The class was supposed to be learning about farm animals, but Nugget had already read about them from the books in the library.

Eventually she came to a rusted chain link fence.

And that was the second time she met Pizza.

Pale skin, glasses, and white clothes.

Pizza was coming back from the bathroom when she heard rattling from a fence and a voice shouting nonsense.

She turned around and almost didn’t recognize the kid- no teen now.

Messy curly hair, tan skin, and scars.

Pizza was about to open her mouth and respond when-

“Where have you been?” a loud voice bellowed. Nugget flinched at the loud voice, the rusty fence mimicking her.

One of Pizza’s chaperones came stomping over. Kicking up dry dust and dirt as she went about.

“Ms. W-!”

“We don’t have time! The buses are waiting on us, let’s go!”

The chaperone totally ignored Nugget as she grabbed ahold of Pizzas hand.

Pizza was being dragged back to the buses.

“Wait! What’s your name?”

“It’s-!”

Pizza was cut off by the buses started up, having caught sight of the last lost student.

Nugget was trapped behind the fence. She almost had the idea to climb over.

As Pizza was driven off in a mass of screaming kids, their eyes met once again.

But Pizza was the only one who was behind glass.

And Nugget was only left with imprinted rusted hands,

from grasping the fence too hard.

Wishing there were no barriers to get to know her mysterious friend more.

Age 17-18?

Senior trip usually sucked.

Which is why Pizza opted to go to a medical program.

While her peers were probably getting drunk and making bad life decisions, she was furthering her career.  

She was performing an analysis on a deep shock dummy patient.

Her and other top students were put into the window lab.

Where visiting schools can see what it will be like for their students that join the program.

And as fate would have it,

Nuggets school was visiting.

Pizza didn’t notice the smooshed up face against the glass staring intensely at her, until most of her colleagues were distracted by it.

Time froze for both girls.

Until, staff in white lab coats were ushering Nugget to get back with the main group.

Nugget didn’t want to leave and was causing a ruckus until Pizza make a motion for her to just go.

Pizza’s heart broke at the rejected expression Nuggets face wore.

Nugget reluctantly followed the staff.

She looked over her shoulder through the glass again.

And Pizza had half a mind to leave her simulated patient and find Nugget.

But,

Nugget was already gone.

And the exit only led to the other side of the building.

It was useless.

This time, not only separated by glass.

But by duty, and law.

Age 25-26?

There were so many instances where they just were about to meet.

But something was always between them.

Tearing them apart.

Fate was getting frustrated.

Which is why fate made Pizza miss her alarm at 6:30 am, and that forced her to get coffee from a shop closer to her internship job.

Unbeknownst to Pizza or Nugget.

Nugget was working the shift there during 7-10 am.

Pizza literally fell into the shop, her papers falling all around her.

The sound of the bell literally being killed and a girl falling into the coffee shop at 8:10 am startled Nugget, which caused her to fall off her stool behind the counter.

Thankfully it was just them in the shop at that time.

Pizza called up from the floor while gathering her papers:

“Hey! I know you guys are a coffee shop, but do you have any tea? Coffee really doesn’t affect me and I just need something this morning. I woke up late, green tea would be best, no honey or sugar thank you-!”

“Coffee doesn’t affect me either!- I mean- You got it ma'am!”

Nugget turned her back and started brewing hot water and setting out the leaves required.

Pizza finally captured all her escaped papers and walked up to the counter, placing down money to hurry and get out of there.

“Sorry, the tea is going to take just a minute to brew-”

Nugget froze.

Pizza looked up when the barista stopped in the middle of her sentence.

Their eyes met,

again.

Time froze.

Again.

The timer for the tea went off and out of habit Nugget turned around sharply and started pouring the tea into a cup.

They couldn’t think of anything to talk about, yet.

Nugget ringed up the cup of tea, and Pizza blew on the steaming surface of the cup.

“So, are you late or something?”

“I am, actually.”

“You should go then, you’re in a very worthwhile profession.”

“Kicking me out already...Nugget?”

“Ha! Funny because the last time we met I got the feeling you were the one kicking me out, Pizza.”

“Oh, how the roles have reversed.”

They chuckled into an awkward silence.

“...We never got each others names-”

Pizza’s sentence was cut short by the jingling of the shop door and a crowd of loud businessmen walked through.

“Go, you’ll be late.- Yes! What can I get you sir?”

Frowning as Pizza realized Nuggets words were true she found her feet walking towards the door.

She walked outside,

just to rush back in and-

“I’ll come back! I live near here! I will learn your name!”

All she received from Nugget was a small smile.

And now, thinking back.

Pizza should’ve realized that her smile was forced.

Sad, tense.

Pizza should’ve known.

No matter how much fate can dabble its hands into time and space.

Sometimes, it’s not enough to save someone.

Pizza’s internship was hell that afternoon.

There was a shootout between a gang and a couple of policemen working undercover in a few shops.

Many people were dead or requiring surgery to survive.

Throughout the entire afternoon all Pizza was assisting in surgery were doctors with civilians.

No policemen.

Yet.

Not until Nugget.

Goddamn it, Nugget.

Pizza’s hands shook as she read the report in the operating theater.

       There was just no way they should save her, looking back.

She didn’t have a bulletproof vest on, like the others.

The report didn’t say where it went, but later it was found on a dead kid.

The sacrifice,

went to waste.

Pizza glanced back at the body through the glass.

And in a bitter twist of fate, they were once again separated by glass,

duty, and law.

Pizza read Nuggets information.

  So, Chayanne was your name.

Age 26.

Born June 4th.

Daughter to two Marines.

I watched you go up, kinda.

And you, me.

Mine is Nahil.

I should’ve just told you my name.

Just yelled it.

I’m sorry.

Fate,

Sometimes brings two people together.

Sometimes it doesn't.

And sometimes it brings them together.

Just to rip them apart.

But in another life.

Nugget survived.

Pizza wasn’t late, but decided to try out a new coffee shop.

Nugget was in the medical program with Pizza.

There was no rusty chain linked fence.

Or even the roles were reversed and Pizza was the one on the table.

And in some other life.

This is all a story

Maybe even written by one of them.

In a universe where they know each other's names.

And in that life.

Fate finally succeeded.

Happy birthday moon.

“You will never be completely at home again,

Because part your heart will always be elsewhere.

That’s the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

[lilacmoon83]

Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Dreaming Out Loud

Chapter 48: Smoke and Mirrors

The first thing Belle noticed upon waking was the smell of soot and when she opened her bleary eyes, she found her surroundings to be shrouded in darkness. And she was not alone. She heard voices, male from the sound of them and she lifted her head. Around her were walls made of rock and she looked down to find herself in some kind of mining cart. The mines...that's where she was. Then the memories all came crashing back to her. The portly man in the red cap had come after her and despite fighting her way to escape, he had put something over her mouth. The smell of the substance on the cloth had rendered her unconscious. But her mind still swirled with questions as to why. She had never seen this man before and had no idea why he might want to kidnap her.

Most in this town knew Rumple well enough to know that doing something like this to someone he cared about was as good as a death sentence, never mind that she would never approve of killing under any circumstance. But when she heard her name, things started to become horrifyingly clearer. Especially when she realized her wrists were handcuffed to the inside of the cart

"Belle…" Moe uttered, as he noticed she had awakened.

"Father...what's going on?" she demanded to know.

"Relax Belle...I promise you'll understand soon enough. This is for the best," he said. She looked at him with confusion written on her face.

"For the best? What does that mean?" she asked again in a demanding tone.

"That monster will ruin you. You will be better off forgetting him again...you were going to leave him behind before and it would have been the best thing for you," Moe explained. She stared at him in disbelief.

"You don't get to decide what is best for me! This is wrong, father! Let me go!" she pleaded.

"I'm sorry Belle," he apologized, but she didn't believe he meant it.

Cora looked around Regina's home with an impressed air about her.

"A lovely home...you've done well for yourself, dear," Cora mentioned and Regina found herself resisting the urge to preen under her mother's scarce compliments.

"Thank you, Mother. It is this world's version of a castle," she replied.

"Yes...now our real work begins. Persephone and her precious daughter must pay," Cora added. Regina frowned.

"How long have you know that Snow is Persephone's daughter?" Regina asked with scrutiny.

"For many years now...I'm actually the one that told Leopold that his fair little retch wasn't actually his," Cora responded. Regina's eyes widened.

"Leopold knew?" she exclaimed, as she clenched her teeth.

"Of course dear. I wanted him to know exactly who the daughter he doted upon really was and where she came from. I wanted him to realize that the pride he had in thinking she was his little girl was untrue; that his heir was illegitimate. My only regret is not being able to tell Queen Eva the same," Cora responded.

Regina was stunned. Were she and Snow the only ones that didn't know about her true heritage? For she knew if her mother and Leopold knew that Rumpelstiltskin certainly knew, probably from the time Snow was born, knowing the imp. It didn't matter though. It didn't change the fact that Snow still needed to pay. She and her perfect little family had taken Henry away from her and turned him against her. And that would not stand. But it had to be done carefully.

"Mother...we must be cautious on how we deal with the Charmings. Not only is Persephone powerful, but Henry will hate me forever if I kill his family," she mentioned.

"I've been waiting a long time to deal with the woman that cursed us with that wretched girl,"

Cora cooed.

"And Emma and her parents. We can't just kill them," Regina reminded..

"Yes, we can," Cora stated. Regina's face fell.

"Don't worry, dear. Henry will be made to understand that what we're doing is for his own good," she added. A cold chill slithered down Regina's spine at those words. Her mother had killed Daniel for her own good. She had accepted Leopold's proposal for her own good and put her on the Throne for her own good. And somewhere, deep inside Regina, the need to protect Henry from her mother bloomed. But turning against her would spell only her own doom and the need to still make Snow and her perfect little family pay was still very present. There was a war inside her, a war she had not felt since before she had descended down the path from young Queen Regina to the Evil Queen. She clenched her fists and her anger at Snow threatened to boil over. It was so much easier to hate her step-daughter and blame everything on her. Yes, if Snow was gone, then her problems would be solved. But deep down, she knew that wasn't true.

Maleficent had warned her about casting the curse and the emptiness it would leave inside her. And it had...it was an emptiness that not even Henry had completely filled. She thought he had, but that was when the curse was keeping everything and everyone in order. But now...it was all gone and again, because of true love's kiss. She was sure other villains were somewhere laughing at her being defeated now twice by something such as a kiss.

With Persephone protecting the Charmings though and David's weird pseudo friendship with Gold, there was no way she could take all of them on without her Mother's help. Could her Mother really be the lesser of two evils?

"Mother, we must handle Snow's demise delicately. It's very important. Her husband has developed somewhat of an unlikely friendship with Rumpelstiltskin," she informed. Cora seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"Perhaps, but I have something he wants and I assure you that he won't bat an eye at tossing his friendship with some pauper turned prince when he sees what I have," Cora promised. Regina swallowed thickly.

"Then what do you plan to do to Snow?" she asked. Cora smirked.

"Let's just say that I happen to know that the plant I used to have in Eva's court is somewhere here in Storybrooke and I believe it's about time that she come back to work for me. She failed to help me undermine Snow White when she was a girl, but this time, she'll help us see to a very tragic demise for her," Cora stated in a pleased tone.

Red led them through town, tracking Belle's scent from the article of clothing provided. David's phone buzzed insistently again and he finally answered it.

"What is it, Leroy?" he asked.

"It's the Queen...she's gone," he reported. Snow watched her husband's expression go from concern for the task ahead of them to hard edged and rigid.

"Check the cameras," he ordered.

"Yeah...those are gone," he reported. David clenched his teeth.

"Dammit...we'll be there as soon as we can," he responded, as he hung up.

"Regina is gone," he growled, as he balled his fist.

"What?!" Emma cried.

"The cameras are gone too…" he added.

"Gone?" Snow asked.

"Like magic," he answered bitterly.

"I'll go to the station and assess the situation while you all keep looking for Belle. Obviously, Regina found a way through my magic and I'll need to see the cell to determine how," Persephone said. Snow nodded, as her mother squeezed her hand and then disappeared in a puff of lavender smoke.

"You should have let me take care of her from the beginning and this wouldn't be a problem," Gold growled.

"This isn't the time to play the blame game...and killing her is still wrong," Emma countered, as they stopped near the Game of Thorns flower shop.

"Red?" Snow asked.

"The scent...it's muddled now. It's the flowers…" she said, as she struggled to keep the scent. David looked to Gold and saw he was seething with barely contained rage. He stepped into the shop and found it empty.

"You think he's behind this?" David asked.

"Oh, I know he is, dearie. Suspend your thinking that a father would never abduct his own child. Sir Maurice is not you," Gold replied.

"What the hell does he get out of kidnapping his own daughter?" Emma wondered.

"To keep her from me," Gold responded, like it was obvious.

"Yeah...but keeping someone under lock and key isn't as easy as it sounds. He knows we were gonna check his shop and his home. If I had to guess, they're not there either. So where would he keep her?" Emma reasoned. Just as she said that, Snow noticed something on the ground and knelt down.

"What is it?" David asked.

"I think it's part of a footprint. Whoever's shoe it was is really dirty," she mentioned, as they looked at the substance on her fingers.

"That's soot...I know where he took her," David said, as they hurried off after him.

Persephone rushed into the station, where Leroy and Happy were in the process of locking Keith up.

"Well...hello doll face," he leered. She glared at him.

"Call me doll face again and I assure you it's the last thing you'll ever be able to say," she snapped, as she waved a hand over the lock on the other cell where Regina had been.

"What are you doing?" Happy asked curiously.

"Trying to figure out what magic was used. The spell I used isn't easily nullified," she explained.

"Ain't it obvious, sister? Regina got out and then blasted the cameras," Leroy retorted.

"No...she didn't. All magic leaves a signature and this is not Regina's," Persephone replied.

"Then who would have freed her?" Happy asked. Persephone swallowed thickly. Thankfully, she knew it wasn't Hades. She'd know his mark anywhere, but the sinking feeling in her didn't disappear. She didn't know her signature, but instinctively she knew it had to be Cora. She was the only one that would have the magic to free Regina. She almost felt faint at that. They had expected her to eventually find a way to this land, but they had not expected it to be so soon.

"I have to go," she said, as she disappeared and then reappeared in front of Regina's house.

"Cora...I know you're here…" she called. But there was no answer.

"So...that's how you want to play it? Lurking from the shadows...fine by me. Just know that if either of you hurt my family or think of employing anyone else to do so...I won't hesitate to turn you to mulch!" she called with vehemence. She let her warning carry for a few beats, before she disappeared again.

Cora peeked through the curtain with a smug smirk. The Goddess was unnerved by her presence in town, which made staying concealed for now all the more fun. Like a game of cat and mouse, with her as the cat of course. As matriarchs of their respective families, Cora could already feel the coming stand off between her and the Queen of the Underworld. And she relished it. She couldn't wait to cause Snow White to lose yet another mother and give her everything she so justly deserved. Of course, that meant making the Princess truly suffer by taking away what she loved most. Her Prince Charming and lovely daughter. And then, only when Snow White was finally nothing more than a broken shell of a girl at her feet, would she grant her the release of death by allowing Regina to finally crush her heart.

"Let the games begin," Cora said quietly to herself.

"Father...you have to let me go! This is wrong!" Belle pleaded.

"I know it seems that way now, Belle. But I promise this is for your own good," Moe reasoned.

"You don't get to decide that! You cannot continue to try to force me to live the way you want me to. Why can't you understand that?" Belle exclaimed.

"Belle…" he started to say again.

"No! This is my life and if you do this, then you are the true monster!" she interrupted.

"Belle...that beast is the monster! I don't know what he has done to you, but this will fix it," Moe said. Her brows furrowed in confusion, as she watched him put a hand on the lever that controlled the mining car.

"Father...what are you doing?" she asked fearfully.

"Sending you over the town line. At least as Lacey, you can be free of that beast. Even if you leave and I never see you again, at least I know that monster won't be ruining you," he replied. Her mouth dropped open in shock, as he admitted he'd rather never see her again than allow her to be happy as herself.

"Please don't do this...I have friends! I don't want to leave them again!" she pleaded.

"This is for the best, darling," Moe said tearfully, as Emma and David rushed in with Snow and Gold behind him. Moe hit the lever and the car started speeding away, as Belle screamed. Emma drew her gun and pointed it at Moe, making him move away. David stopped the mining car and ran down the tunnel. The car screeched to a halt, barely a few feet before the line and a frantic Belle looked up.

"Belle?" he asked. She breathed in relief and nodded.

"Still Belle," she confirmed, as he unlocked the cuffs and lifted her out of the car. When they returned, she saw Emma had cuffed her father and she ran to Rumple, as he enveloped her in a hug. Snow sighed in relief, as she felt David's arms encircle her waist and she leaned back against him, relishing it, as he pressed a kiss to her hair. She turned in his arms and he cuddled her against his chest, folding her into his arms.

Dark magic swirled in Gold's palm, as he threatened to virtually vaporize Moe for what he had done.

"Rumple...no," Belle pleaded.

"He needs to pay, Belle. How can you defend him after what he almost did to you?" he growled.

"I'm not...but I don't want you to kill him," she countered.

"No...he has to pay," Rumple argued. But she put a hand on his forearm.

"And he will...because I never want to see him or have anything to do with him. Ever again," she said firmly.

"Belle…" he started to plead, but she put her hand up.

"No...just stop," she said, cutting him off.

"Belle...I'm your father," he reminded.

"No...you're not. Father's do not do what you just tried to do," she hissed. Emma nodded.

"She's right…" Emma agreed.

"And you think you know so much about father's, Miss Swan? Or mother's for that matter?" Moe questioned, glancing at Snow and Charming. Emma smirked and gave him a smug glower.

"Oh yeah...I know about having parents, in a way no one ever expected. And my parents...they'd never even think of doing to me the things you've done to your daughter. They're real parents, who love and support me, no matter what. If I thought you weren't a lost cause, I'd say you could learn a whole hell of a lot about parenting from them. But...I don't think you're worth their time," she replied. The looks on Snow and Charming's faces at that clearly stated they were both surprised and touched by their daughter's staunch defense of them.

There had been times over the years in the dreamscape that they had truly felt like horrible parents. There were even times in Emma's anger that she had told them such. And though, they knew she hadn't meant those words at the time, it was never lost on them that in many ways, she could have been right. So to hear her so passionately defend them nearly brought them both to tears. It's not something they would expect from her, so perhaps that was exactly why she believed they deserved such. Emma may have saved them all, but Snow and Charming were determined that there would not be any more challenges or battles that she would face alone.

Moe could only glare at her though and Emma never really expected to get through to him. She had a feeling he was just one of those people that would never change and this instance, perhaps Belle would be better off without him in her life. It wasn't for her to say, but she certainly wouldn't blame the brunette if she truly did cut him out of her life.

"Let's go...you can have your phone call at the station, because I'm booking you for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. And if I manage to get to the rat you hired to do the job before Gold, he's going to jail too," she informed, as she marched him out of the mines and back toward town.

Snow and Charming followed behind Belle and Gold with their arms around each other's waists. They couldn't help but exchange looks filled with so much love and emotion that anyone noticing probably would have felt like they should avert their eyes, for the looks passing between them seemed so intimate.

Unfortunately, when they reached the station, they found a nearly frantic Persephone waiting for them.

"What's wrong?" Snow asked in concern.

"Besides Regina being gone," David added.

"Because I don't think Regina was the one that freed herself," Persephone responded.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I thought you said she couldn't get through your magic?" Emma questioned, as they took Moe into the station and locked him up.

"She can't, which is why I don't think she did," Persephone responded, as she watched Gold hobble over to the cell that had once held her and examine the lock. They shared a knowing look.

"Then who did?" Emma asked.

"Cora…" Gold hissed and Snow felt dread knot in her stomach.

"She's here?" she squeaked, as she felt Charming's arms encircle her waist again.

"I'm afraid so, snowdrop. I knew she'd come...I was just hoping for more time," Persephone replied.

"So...if she's here and hasn't shown herself yet, what's her ploy?" David asked.

"She is patient...she'll lurk in the shadows and bide her time until she's ready to make her move. What that move will be...is uncertain," Gold responded.

"He's right, which means none of us should move about the town alone, no exceptions," she warned, as she looked to Gold.

"And you…" she started to say.

"She's going to come to you wanting to make a deal," Persephone warned.

"And she has nothing I want," Gold retorted.

"Really? So when she offers you the globe that will allow you to pinpoint Baelfire's location, you won't sell us out?" she challenged. He went silent and Belle looked at him in disbelief.

"Rumple!" she scolded.

"How can you expect me to turn down an object that will allow me to find my son?" he questioned.

"Because the price is too high!" Belle exclaimed.

"Or maybe you don't turn it down," David said, earning incredulous looks from all the women in the room.

"Do you think you could play double agent?" he asked, cluing them in on a plan of sorts.

"You want to double cross Cora? That's gutsy, even for you, dearie," he warned.

"What other choice do we have? She's going to come to you and probably evade the rest of us until she's ready to strike. Let's not let her get the drop on us," he suggested.

"I think the question is what is she going to want from you in exchange for that globe?" Snow asked.

"Probably a truce. A promise that I won't kill her on sight," Rumple responded. Emma's brow furrowed.

"What did she do to you?" the blonde asked.

"Never mind...making deals with Cora is almost as bad as making deals with Hades. However...without that globe, I might as well kiss the possibility of finding my son goodbye," he replied bitterly.

"Cora may say she wants a truce, but you and I both know she only wants that for one reason," Persephone countered. He nodded evenly.

"The dagger," he agreed.

"The dagger?" David asked.

"Quite simply, should Cora find my dagger and use it to kill me, then she becomes the Dark One. And I don't think I have to tell any of you what that would mean for all concerned," he responded. There was dead silence, as they let that sink in.

"What do we do?" Emma asked, breaking the silence.

"When she comes to you...let her convince you into a truce and get the globe. Let her think she's in control and then we track her. Once she thinks she has you at a truce, that's when she'll search for it," Persephone reasoned. Gold nodded.

"It sounds like it's our best bet, even if there's a lot of room for things to go wrong," David mentioned, not missing the troubled look on his wife's face. Emma checked the time and started for the exit.

"I gotta get Henry. He'll be getting off the bus any minute," she mentioned. The others followed, with Gold and Belle returning to the shop and Persephone letting her daughter and husband have a few moments alone.

"Snow…" he started to say.

"Cora is evil…" she blurted out.

"I know," he responded.

"No Charming...you don't know what she's like! She used my dead mother to manipulate me into telling Regina's secret. Then she killed Daniel in front of Regina," she reminded, as he put his hands on her arms.

"She won't stop until she takes away everything I love...everything her own daughter loves. That means Henry, Emma, my mother…" she lamented, as she trailed off and tears filled her eyes.

"You…" she finally managed to choke out, as he folded her into his arms and kissed her hair.

"I know you're scared...I am too. I'm terrified of losing you and our family. I don't even want to think about my life without you..I lived that when I thought we couldn't be together back in our land," he confessed. A tear slipped down her cheek and he brushed it away.

"I know...so did I," she recalled.

"Without you...I felt dead inside," he continued.

"I took a potion to forget you...it was the worst mistake ever," she reminded. He smiled gently and caressed her cheek.

"I understand why you did...I was in misery without you, but that's why I'm going to fight with everything I have for you...for Emma and Henry. Because I refuse to ever be separated from you again," he said passionately. She swallowed.

"And I'll fight for you...even if it means ending Cora myself," she realized darkly, before her green eyes flicked up to him again. She could see his worry, but he brushed it off.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," he replied.

"But if it does, I will do it...I will do anything for you," she promised. He hugged her close at that.

"And I you," he confessed, as he slowly led her out, tucked closely to his side.

They joined their daughter and Snow's mother at the bus stop to greet their grandson. He dipped his head down to capture her lips in a tender kiss, just as the bus pulled up and deposited Henry. With that, the five of them headed home to the loft.

Regina parked her car on the curb. A simple glamor spell had disguised her easy recognizable car as something less conspicuous and they watched Emma arrive at the bus stop with Persephone.

"These carriages are strange," Cora commented.

"They take some getting used to, but I've found they are a preferable way to travel when magic isn't an option," Regina said idly, just as they spotted Snow and Charming join the other two women at the bus stop, arms around each other.

"Ugh...are they always this nauseating?" Cora complained.

"Yes...as a matter of fact, they are. True love…" Regina said, hissing the last part with contempt.

"Love is weakness, darling. True love will be Snow White's undoing," Cora stated.

"Believe me, I've tried to get rid of her Charming multiple times, but that love always seems to save them," Regina warned. Cora smirked.

"Yes...Snow White seems quite willing to do whatever is necessary for him. It will be interesting to see how far she really will go," the former Queen of Hearts cooed. Regina gave her mother an odd look in response, but Cora didn't elaborate.

"It's time to find the person I asked you about earlier," she added. Regina nodded curtly and started the car, all while casting a longing look at Henry's retreating form.

"Don't worry sweetheart, you'll get him back and then everyone that has crossed you will pay dearly," Cora promised. Regina resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably and then slowly drove off for their intended destination...

[deusaeverythingcomestoanend]

D. Series: The Pirate

“Life is a game of Bullshit. We are each dealt a hand, and we worry about the one we don’t have.” Aroldo plays a card game with Cronus. He wants him to not only be book smart but also street smart. In life it is important that you are able to read people and not just books. 

Chapter 13

Am I lying?

Can you distinguish my lies,

Before you meet your demise,

You foolish little lamb,

Falling easily for a scam.

Cronus fell face first out of his bed. Luckily he had fallen so many times prior that now he knew to leave a pile of bed sheets and clothing to cushion his fall. Even though he was well prepared for such an event, did not mean it hurt him any less. He pet his nose to check for blood. Finding none he proceeded to rub it. A few minutes later he stretched out and got up from the floor.

“Ahhh, wha time ish it?” yawned Cronus as scratching his belly as he walked over to his closet. He rubbed his eyes and looked out his window. He sighed with relief. It was still dark outside. He wanted to crawl back into bed but his instincts told him that it was already day time.

“Oh, no... Mom is going to kill me,” trembled Cronus sweating nervously, “Mom, had told me to give her all my dirty laundry. Now, I have got nothing clean to wear.”

Cronus got dressed in a hurry. He then rushed over to scoop up the dirty pile of clothes he had fallen on top of earlier. He used the large bed sheet to help him carry it down the stairs. The pile was larger than him and it almost looked as if it had grown a pair of legs on it's own.

Cronus opened his bedroom door and closed it behind him. It was not an easy task to say the least. He wobbled down the stairs making sure not to drop any of his laundry. Cronus already had a feeling that Godiva would be disappointed with him. He did not wish to upset her any further.

“Good Mor- Cronus, is that all of your clothes?!” shrieked Godiva spotting her son's legs behind the large pile.

“No,” argued Cronus stopping dead in his tracks.

“Oh, really? Tell me how many sets of clean clothes do you have?” glared Godiva placing her hands on her hips.

“Along with the one I am wearing?” gulped Cronus trying to bury his face into his laundry pile.

“You know exactly what I mean,” growled Godiva hovering over her son.

“One,” admitted Cronus wishing the earth would swallow him whole.

“I told you to bring me your dirty clothes a few days ago,” sighed taking the pile from her son, “Hand it over. I will take care of it.”

“I am sorry, Mother,” apologized Cronus when he released his grip on his laundry.

“Don't be sorry... Be better,” scolded Godiva walking away with the laundry.

“Good, I see you are awake,” called Aroldo rocking enthusiastically.

“Would you please act your age,” groaned Clement sitting right next to him.

“Alright listen up. Regardless of what other adults might say age does not equal maturity. You will meet younger individuals who are more mature than you are. While at other times you will meet the most immature sets of adults. Your age does not mean anything,” commented Aroldo as he continued to rock on his rocking chair, “Damn, I sure wish this was a swivel chair.”

“You are an instructor! For crying out loud!” reminded Clement crossing his arms, “Shouldn't teachers carry themselves to a certain caliber at all times.”

“That is why first impressions always count. Let's say that you were on your way to greet someone. This is your first encounter and on the way to said location a cart splashes a mixture of mud and fecal matter at you. Now regardless of what you do to this person you will always be Poop man,” contoured Aroldo as he continued to mess with the rocking chair.

“It does not mean you should continue to mess with one of my chairs,” groaned Clement glaring over at Aroldo. Cronus walked over to Aroldo's side and started to fidget.

“Is there anything you want to ask me, Cronus,” smiled Aroldo, noticing Cronus' nervous state.

“...Then Bob said that the year was 2051. How is that even possible? It wouldn't be blowing my mind if they had said the year was 1551, but no he said 2051. How can I still be alive and look as young as I do?” questioned Cronus frantically widening his arms.

“I apologize but I cannot answer that question for the time being,” lamented Aroldo avoiding eye contact with either Cronus and Clement.

“Why not? It's my life,” complained Cronus stomping his foot, “I have every right to know.”

“It's true you have every right to know. I cannot argue against that; however, you are still too younger to understand. I will tell you everything and more when the time is right,” compromised Aroldo giving Cronus a weak smile.

“That's not fair!” bellowed Cronus stomping his foot, “What give you the right to decide what I should and should not know?!”

“You are right, Cronus. I have not right in denying you information about your future. After all it's your life and not mine,” acknowledged Aroldo crossing his arms, “Nevertheless, having said that it is clear to me that you are not mature enough to get the answers you desire. You are acting like the child you are. I do not feel you have reached the maturity level you require to have me answer such questions for the time being.”

“Aren't you one to talk, Aroldo? Considering that not too long ago you were playing with rocking chair,” berated Clement looking down at Aroldo.

“Have you even told your son how babies are made, Clement?” taunted Aroldo grinning at Clement.

“I- Uh don't think he is old enough,” whispered Clement pulling at his shirt collar.

“Wait, how are babies made?” asked Cronus directing his focus on his father.

“You know what, Cronus, I am sorry for saying this. I am going to have to side with your teacher,” regretted Clement leaning his head on his fist.

“How can you just say that? What makes it alright to be denied my own future? I get these visions for a reason! I have seen how great things can get! It's not my fault you are a coward! I am nothing like you!!” raged Cronus turning a deep shade of red as tears fell down his cheeks.

“Of course, you are nothing like me. If you were I would be deeply disappointed in you, Cronus. I would be forces to watch you make the same mistakes I did when I was your age. Granted I was stripped of my childhood way before I had reached your age,” reprimanded Clement as he glared at Cronus, “When I was your age and denied any sort of information as you are now. It had already been beaten into to me to not press the issue any further. You should thank your lucky stars you are not me. Cause right now you would not be standing after your little temper tantrum.”

“Hey now, don't you think you are being a bit harsh on your son,” argued Aroldo noticing how upset Cronus had gotten.

“I am going to go outside and take care of my chores,” growled Clement standing up and leaving the room.

“Once more, I am sorry I am not allowed to tell you what you want to hear. Instead how about I teach you a how to distinguish truth from deception,” offered Aroldo extracting a deck of cards from his coat.

“I have two issues with that lesson. First thing shouldn't you be teaching me math and science in order for me to understand my visions. So I am able to recreate what I saw. Second problem how exactly are cards going to help me distinguish truth from lies,” stated Cronus walking to the seat his father had abandoned.

“It may sound ludicrous to you, but everything I teach you is of great importance. I do not waste my time in unimportant pass times. Sit down so that I can tell you how to play Bullshit, Cheat or whatever you would like to call it,” commanded Aroldo as he extracted the deck from their box.

Aroldo spent fifteen minutes explaining what each card meant along with their value. Afterwards he spent another half hour explaining the rules of the game to Cronus. It wasn't any easy task. Then he took the deck of cards and shuffled them. He split the pile between himself and Cronus.

At first Cronus believed that he would easily win the game. Then as time went on he noticed that his pile kept on increasing; meanwhile, Aroldo was only left with less than five cards. Cronus was starting to get annoyed he wanted to call his instructor a cheat. Then again whenever he claimed Aroldo was lying it turned out he was actually telling the truth. When Cronus tried to lie about his card, Aroldo seemed to know the truth. Forcing Cronus to not only reveal the card he held, but also take the deck of cards on the pile.

“How are you so good at this game?” complained Cronus frustrated that he had to take the large pile of cards once more.

“To be blunt... experience. I have been playing this type of game longer than you have. Most people you will come across who are far more talented than you it’s because they worked hard. They not only learned the same lessons you did but they also applied the work.

Do not get discouraged if you are not able to beat your opponent right off the bat. Instead take your defeat and learn from it. Also I did say this game is going to teach how to distinguish the truth from deception. You are failing miserably. Aren't you, Cronus?” observed Aroldo looking down at Cronus’ large pile.

“You are not making it easy. You are difficult to read,” complained Cronus glaring down at his own cards, “Why is it so important I know how to tell a lie from the truth?”

“So you are able to both charm and manipulate those around you,” shrugged Aroldo waiting for Cronus' next move, “Life is a game of Bullshit. We are all dealt a hand and we spend the rest of our life worrying about the one we don’t have. If you are able to tell when they are lying then you won't be easily fooled by them. Instead you will be able to lead them into your own trap.

We can stop our game if you'd like. There is no shame in loosing. Now, go get your things. I do believe we should get started on today's lessons. Once we are done we will go outside and take our little game of Bullshit to the next level,” promised Aroldo seeing how disappointed Cronus appeared.

“Fine,” sighed Cronus dropping his cards on the table, “How were you able to tell I was lying?”

“You kept giving yourself away,” stated Aroldo collecting the cards.

“In what way?” questioned Cronus standing up from his seat.

“When you lied you seemed more nervous then when you told the truth. Granted that is to be expected from someone as young as you. You are taught by your parent's to feel ashamed of your lies. It isn't until you are older and wiser when you realize lying can save your life,” explained Aroldo returning the box into his pocket, “I thought I told you to go get your supplies.”

Cronus ran upstairs and came back with all the items Aroldo had gifted him. He laid them down in front and took his seat. Aroldo waited for Cronus to get ready.

“Yesterday I recall you complain about the lessons. Saying they were far beneath you and required more of a challenge. Well, today I am here to deliver such a challenge,” beamed Aroldo taking out four one inch workbooks, “We will start with English and make our way to your other three lessons. Let us begin.”

Cronus took the English workbook. He opened the first page and noticed that it was mostly focused on grammar. When Aroldo had said “make our way to the other three lessons” he meant they would be working through the entire workbook. Before they could even touch the other three workbooks. The English grammar book was about one hundred fifteen pages long and it contained around a total of one thousand twenty eight problems for Cronus to solve. At first the tasks seemed pretty straight forward then he got to a certain page and things started to become difficult. During those pages Aroldo would shine and he would take time to clarify what the workbook wanted from Cronus. By the time Cronus had reached question one thousand twenty seven his wrist was starting to ache.

“Giving up so soon,” taunted Aroldo noticing Cronus’ pain.

'Common, Cronus, don't give just yet,' thought Aroldo forcing himself to smile.

“You would like that wouldn't you,” growled Cronus shaking his wrist. He gritted his teeth as he pressed forwards and completed the grammar book.

“Good you finished the workbook. Here take this test; while, I go over your answers,” stated Aroldo exchanging three sheets of parchment for the workbook, “You did not think I would make you go through an entire workbook. And not have an exam prepared. Did you, Cronus?”

“Uh... N-no?” gulped Cronus as he took the sheets, “Anyways how long did it take me to comple-”

Cronus stopped himself seeing how the world appeared to be frozen in time. He noticed it first when he spotted his mother right outside the window. Godiva's long skirt was blowing in the wind but it looked more as if she was made of stone. Cronus searched for any movement in the world.

“I do hope you know I am only giving you forty-five minutes to finish your exam. Once that time is up... I will be taking back your exam and grading your work. Regardless if you fill out any answer or not,” droned Aroldo keeping his attention on his own work.

“Di... Did you stop time?” wondered Cronus his eyes wide with shock. He stared at Aroldo just trying to understand what he was.

“Of course,” dismissed Aroldo not moving his gaze from his work, “How else am I suppose to teach you all these subjects in one day? I need you to at the very minimum master the basics of all these subjects. Concentrate on your exam. You can worry about my powers at another time. I suggest you skip the ones you do not understand then move back to the ones you skipped.”

Cronus shook his head and started to work on his exam. He looked down at the first question and answered it with ease. He went on like this until he reached the tenth question. Where his brain started to go blank. He skipped that question then the next and the next until he had reached the end of this exam. During this time he would glance back over to Aroldo for help.

“Do not look at me, Cronus. This is an exam. You should have been paying attention during our lesson,” sighed Aroldo already half way through the workbook, “You have twenty minutes left by the way.”

Cronus mopped as he looked back down at his sheets of paper. He tried to calm himself as he went back to question twelve. This time he felt that his only option was to guess. Hoping that he would at least get points for trying.

“Time is up,” informed Aroldo placing the workbook down, “Fork it over.”

“I... I don't have a fork,” mumbled Cronus as he concentrated on the remainder of his exam.

“What are you tal... Cronus, I am talking about the exam,” mentioned Aroldo extending his expecting hand at Cronus, “We have to go over the other subjects.”

The rest of this other lessons were the same as his English one. They would spent what felt like hours going through a workbook followed by an exam. By the time they were done with the last subject, Cronus had become emotionally exhausted. Aroldo collected the exams and got up from his seat.

“I will be back in one hour. Help you father like you did yesterday,” suggested Aroldo as he walked out the door. The world appeared to have gone back to normal. Cronus returned his items back to his room. He walked outside to help his father with his chores.

Clement gave Cronus specific set of tasks. It was mainly lifting heavy objects and transferring them only a few feet away from their original location. Cronus was beginning to wonder if there was even a purpose of moving the items. Since Clement never seemed quite satisfied with their new location. The only chore Cronus felt had any goal was when Clement told him to get water for Godiva. Everything else seemed meaningless.

On multiple occasions Cronus just wanted to shout at his father. Wasn't anything he did good enough. After being told to move the same bucket of grain for the umpteenth time. He screamed out and fell down on the grass. He punched and kicked at the grass underneath him. All the while Clement smiled and shook his head at his son.

“You are such an embarrassment,” mouthed Clement as he rubbed his forehead. Secretly grateful that his son could not hear him.

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