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A/N: Okay so I lied and there are only four chapters. Here's the final installment, please read and review!
Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapter.
By: Ada C. Eliana
Chapter 4
“What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.” – George Eliot
Lena hoped she had done the right thing by suggesting that maybe Karen could take Tara in, because hadn’t Karen told her just a year ago that she’d lost everyone she had? And Tara was an orphan with no close relatives. Paige’s husband Mark arranged the guardianship papers after both parties agreed to try it out, and the Halliwells held a goodbye party for Tara.
The day after her panic attack Lena and Tara talked to each other, and Lena made sure the girl knew that she did not, and would never blame her for what happened. Tara spoke more after that, and she confessed to Lena the other things she had done while with Saarn; terrible secrets Lena would take to her grave.
Tara slowly became more comfortable around men, allowing Chris and Wyatt to visit with her and help her socialize some more. She still had a long way to go, but she was determined to try.
Two months after her rescue Lena arranged a meeting between Karen and Tara, and the pair seemed to take to each other immediately. Karen’s face had shown of the utmost gratitude when Paige asked if she would like to take the girl in, and Lena had to look away when Karen thanked her over and over. Even though legally, Karen would be Tara’s family now, the girl assured Lena that she would always hold a place in her heart for her ‘older sister.’
She couldn’t help but wonder if she had been used by the Elders again however. After all, she had been led to Karen because of Tiffany, to make Tiffany’s spirit move on, and now she had been led to Tara in a different fashion, and had brought the two together. But thinking that way would never get her anywhere.
“Come on, Lena,” Chris whispered, pulling gently on her arm and leading her away from the house. The minds inside the building were light and filled with joy, and so Lena let herself be led away.
“So Wyatt, just how far did your jaw drop when you realized your date, ‘Carey’ was really ‘Gary’?” Lena smirked.
“Lena, you wound me, why do you always say these things?” Wyatt asked, a hand to his heart. “But let me tell you, Gary looked pretty good in a red dress, if he hadn’t spoken, I never would’ve figured it out.”
“Aw, then Chris would’ve had a brother-in-law!” Lena pointed out with a smile.
“At this point I wouldn’t be surprised, few women seem interested in Wyatt you know,” Chris said with an elongated sigh of disappointment.
“Really now, I expect this behavior from her, not from you. Do you forget that I live in the same house as you? That I could orb you into a bog while you’re sleeping?” Wyatt asked.
“Do you forget that I’m the baby brother so you have to be nice to me or Mom’s going to put you on cleaning duty for the rest of your natural-born life?” Chris laughed.
Lena laughed at that one and then stretched out on the blanket the three were sitting on. She stared around them, enjoying the scenery. “I’ve never been to Morocco before,” she said over the sounds of the crashing waves. “But I’ve gotta say, it’s a nice place.”
Wyatt stared around at the deserted beach and the sinking sun and had to agree with her. “Hey Lena, it’s getting cold, want to get that fire started?” he asked.
“Sure,” Lena responded, sending a burst of flame from her hand into the wood-filled pit. The flames caught immediately and the fire burned hot and tall next to them.
“It’s not cold yet, you big baby,” Chris muttered, sliding back from the heat of the fire.
“Hey Chris, pass me an orange soda,” Lena requested. Chris lifted his hand and the bottle floated over to her dodging from her grasp a couple of times.
“Now see Lena, what you’ve missed recently as you’ve been fighting the good fight and whatnot is that Wyatt is now entertaining not-so-secret aspirations of becoming a racecar driver,” Chris announced. Wyatt smacked him lightly in response.
“What?!” Lena laughed. “Are you serious?” She crawled over to where Chris was lying on his back so she could look at his face.
“It was just a thought…” Wyatt mumbled.
“But you can barely drive as it is Mr. Always-Distracted!” Lena pointed out.
“Yeah, but how could I get distracted on a racetrack?”
“He just thinks he could get more action from the various females who attend such events,” Chris said.
“Yeah but with all the girls flashing the drivers and his good vision he would get distracted. Well… at least he could orb out of the wrecks to keep from breaking his skull open or worse….”
“…getting his face bashed in so he won’t even have his pretty looks anymore…”
“…the only attractive quality to him, aside from...”
“…his ‘sensitivity’ – aka ‘girliness’ – which some women find attractive for reasons that elude me to this day.”
“It is a mystery.”
“Oh yeah, well what about you Mr. Apathy,” Wyatt turned to Chris. “Girls think you’re ‘mysterious’ before they realize that’s just code for ‘jerk’,” Wyatt sniped.
“Did you just call me a ‘jerk’?” Chris asked, laughing. “What’s next – ‘butthead’ or ‘stupid face’? How old are you anyway, ten?” Lena joined in the laughing and Wyatt turned his joking to her.
“Yeah well who’d want to date you? You know guys are intimidated by girls who can kick their ass.”
“Who wants pansies like them anyway?” Lena said carelessly. “I mean really, wimpy guys are so annoying – take Wyatt for example,” Lena laughed. Chris chuckled at Wyatt’s annoyed expression.
“Damn you two, you always turn everything back on me!” Wyatt cried in defeat, slumping back on the blanket.
“We’re all out of soda, I’m gonna go back home and grab some. Anyone want anything else?” Chris asked, standing and reaching for the cooler.
“Get me some fritos,” Lena requested. Chris nodded, and then glanced in Wyatt’s direction; holding his gaze for a moment. The oldest of the three mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ in his brother’s direction and Chris could only smile and disappear.
“For what it’s worth, you’re not a wimp,” Lena said quietly, staring out at the deserted beach.
“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself,” Wyatt responded. “Lena…” Wyatt began, turning to face her. He climbed around so he was seated directly in her line of vision. “I’m just… I’m sorry, you know, about everything, about how I’ve acted and how I’ve handled things this past year. I just… I thought I was helping, but I know now that everything I did was wrong, and I’m really sorry.”
“I’m sorry too Wyatt. I guess I just forgot what family’s all about,” Lena sighed.
“Love and compassion?”
“No, people to dump all your problems on,” she said with a smile.
“I’ve missed this,” Wyatt sighed.
“Missed what?”
“What it feels like when we’re all getting along. I missed you, Lena. I just want everything to be right again.”
“It will be, Wyatt. I’m not sure when exactly, but it will be,” she said with a sigh, turning her body so she could lean against his shoulders.
“Hey, I have something for you,” he said reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a long silver chain, and at the end dangled a shiny locket. He held it out to her expectantly and she stared at it in surprise.
“Last time I saw this I was chucking it at you and telling you to get out,” Lena said softly as she took it from him, shining it with her thumb and staring at it.
“Not exactly our best moment,” Wyatt said.
She opened the locket and found a photo of the three of them together in it. It was outdated, from before everything happened, and it held a piece of the past that they could never recover. It made her sad for a moment as she stared at the smiling faces, and thought on how many times like this they had missed out on because of her own stubbornness. “I love you, Wyatt,” she whispered thickly.
“I love you too, kiddo,” Wyatt said, ruffling her hair and putting his arm around her. “Here let me help you,” he added, clasping the locket around her neck.
At that moment Chris appeared again, a full cooler in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other. “Oh God,” he said as soon as he arrived.
“What?” Wyatt asked.
“You’re both teary-eyed. Thank God I missed whatever ‘moment’ you two just shared,” he laughed. “Couple of prepubescent girls, the two of you,” he sighed as he sat down beside them.
“Oh you know you’re sensitive on the inside,” Lena joked, throwing her arms around him. “Get him from the other side, Wyatt!”
“I’ll just orb out!” Chris pointed out.
“Nooo!” Lena cried. Wyatt leapt on his brother’s left side, hugging him uncomfortably tight. “I looooooooooove you!” Lena shouted into Chris’ ear.
“And I love you little brother!”
“Yeah well I can’t stand the sight of either of you.”
“Then why haven’t you orbed yet?” Wyatt asked.
“I refuse to give you the satisfaction.”
“You old softy,” Lena laughed.
“I’m not old, Wyatt’s old.”
“I am not.”
“Yeah you are. I swore I saw a gray hair on you the other day. And you do realize that in like ten years you’re going to be older than Dad, right?”
“Eww.”
“Yeah.”
As the boys argued, Lena saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned from where she was still hanging on to Chris to see two figures smiling down at them. She froze for a moment, eyes welling with tears, because there stood Tracey and Tiffany, side-by-side and smiling. They waved at her and then they were gone, and Lena felt a lightness fill her heart. Beside her Wyatt and Chris bickered on, and she would soon join in, but for the moment she just wanted to hold the image of two of her lost friends standing together and never let it go. And she remembered Tiffany’s last words to her, and Tracey’s love of life, and knew she would try her best to make them proud of her.
“But at least I’m pretty,” Wyatt said defensively, bringing Lena back to the present, back to where she belonged.
“Yeah – like a girl maybe.”
“Handsome then.”
“In your dreams.”
“You two and the fighting,” Lena chided.
“What was that, Greek-girl?” Chris asked.
“Badass demon hunter wannabe!” Wyatt shouted at her.
“Best daydreamer in the class!”
“Voted most likely to be on Cops – exposing magic to the world.”
“Short stuff.”
“Puffy hair.”
“Knock it off goldilocks and rat-nest hair!”
“You knock it off!”
“Yeah you!”
“Um… why are we still hugging?”
“Loooooooooooooooooooooove!”
The cousins continued to bicker into the early morning hours, and finally everything seemed to be exactly as it should be.
Thanks for reading,
Ada