CHAPTER FIFTEEN

A/N: The very last chapter! I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you to all my readers/reviewers! I really appreciate it!

Three weeks after she met the Hamadryad, she felt her Magic welling up inside her, pulling her inexorably towards some unknown location. She could feel the Wind pulling at her, trying to lift her into the air. As long as she did not have her umbrella with her, she was fine, but when she picked it up, she felt an inescapable longing to be in the air, flying.

Her lessons had finished – Aileen had taught her all she knew – and she had met her relatives, her family, friends from her childhood – all of them.

There was Uncle Albert, her kindly, genial uncle who had the tendency to float on the ceiling on his Birthday, rolling around with laughter. It was hard not to get sucked in, hard to resist the Laughing Gas that permutated the room, lighter than air, almost. And then it was hard to think of something sad, to sink back down to the drudgery of ordinary days.

There was the Man in the Moon, another one of her Uncles – she pitied him, she did, always watching life on earth, without ever taking a part of it. He was relegated to watching life from afar, collecting those things that people lost.

The Hamadryad – the King of the Jungle and certainly her most esteemed relative – was certainly the most imposing of her relatives. He possessed a regal air (naturally), though he certainly practised noblesse oblige. He was kind to all of his subjects – Mary was included in that number – and she hoped to appropriate his behaviour to use in her life.

And then friends, friends she only now remembered. There were the Corrys – Mrs. Corry, Fannie and Annie – Mrs. Corry was so full of life, so energetic and cheerful while Fannie and Annie were morose. But they were such kind people, so lovely and friendly – so unlike some of the people Mary had known during her childhood – well, what she had remembered of her childhood. Nellie-Rubina was one of her favourite newly-rediscovered friends, as were the Pleiades. So many wonderful people – she was glad that she had chosen her Magic, for these people, and her newly-remembered past, were such an essential part of her.

But she did miss Bert – she did miss what she would have had. They might have been expecting a baby by now, would most certainly be married. But then she would have been not a whole person – maimed, almost – without knowing such an essential part of herself.

And now it was time to go – well, almost. She had one more night – one more night with Bert, one last night to sleep with him, to be with him, to love him.

She locked him out of their bedroom – well, really his bedroom – while she prepared herself. It was the last night she would stay with him for quite some time, and she wanted to make it special.

Undressing carefully, she folded her dress neatly and let down her hair. She produced a comb, running it through her long, dark hair, soft waves framing the delicate oval of her face. Slipping out of her remaining undergarments, she readied herself and opened the bedroom door.

He was waiting for her, rising when she exited the bedroom.

‘Mary, darling,’ he whispered, nearly struck dumb by her beauty. ‘Oh, Mary, my Mary...’

He folded her into his embrace, kissing her forehead softly.

‘Bert,’ she replied, tilting her face up for a kiss. Her eyes were filled with emotion – sadness at leaving him, anticipation of the night to come, love... He bent and kissed her, the soft blossom of her lips expanding under his.

‘My darling,’ he whispered, slipping his hands lower. ‘Let’s go to bed.’

Her eyes, trusting, looked up adoringly at him as he lifted her in his arms. ‘My love, my love...’ she whispered, placing gentle kisses on his face. ‘Oh, my darling...’

He laid her onto the bed, beginning to undress himself. She watched him eagerly, stretching out her arms to him when he had finally discarded his clothes. Gently he lowered himself on top of her, resting his body on top of her. She embraced him fully, kissing him as she twined her arms around him.

‘Oh, I love you,’ he whispered, his words soon becoming incoherent as she slipped her hands lower.

She responded with a moan as his hands, his lips, worshipped every curve of her body. She had never felt more loved, more complete, than in that moment, with his hands on her body, his lips caressing the curve of her throat.

Mary rested her hands on his tanned skin, feeling the muscles of his back move as he embraced her, slipping her hands lower and lower as he moaned.

Finally he gently parted her legs, settling himself between them. She arched her back under his touch, gasping and crying out as he moved within her.

‘God, I love you, I love you,’ he groaned.

‘Bert...’ she drew out his name, her mellifluous voice lingering on each letter. ‘Oh, Bert...’

‘Mary,’ he sighed, falling on top of her. ‘Mary, Mary, Mary.’

She wrapped her arms tightly around him, clutching him almost desperately. As he made to roll back against the pillows, she held on, rolling with him.

Comfortably ensconced against him, her body resting against his, she slept.

***

They woke up early the next morning, anxious to spend as much time as they could together before she would have to leave. He tried to prolong her departure as long as possible, but finally, after breakfast, they could delay no longer.

Her new carpetbag clutched in her hand, she dropped it again as she threw her arms around him, kissing him desperately.

‘I love you, Bert,’ she whispered. ‘I love you so much.’

‘I love you, Mary,’ he replied, wiping away her tears. ‘Don’t worry, love – it will be all right.’

She pressed another tender kiss to his lips, tears streaming down her face still. Finally they broke apart, and Mary once again picked up her carpetbag and Archibald, her parrot-headed umbrella. Bert walked ahead of her, opening the front door. She stepped outside, opening the umbrella. The Wind rushed around her, lifting her up higher and higher. She watched Bert until she could no longer see him.

‘I love you, Mary Poppins,’ Bert whispered, watching as her small figure vanished.

In the air, Mary gave a trembling smile. ‘I love you too, Bert.’

END.