Longing
Wynnona
Giovanni moves so fast only I register his movements. Oriana has pulled Lillian behind her protectively as she gasps. Giovanni now had Billy against the wall, holding him up by the shirt around his neck.
"What do you mean he's not going to make it?" Giovanni all but growls. I can feel the power radiating from him, matching my own when I was younger and couldn't control it.
"Giovanni, calm down." I take a cautious step towards Giovanni. He ignores me, eyes completely focused on the poor man he's holding. Instead, I step towards Jake's life support. I find where it's plugged in and grab the cord, turning to my idiot brother. "Hey!" I shout at the boys. Giovanni turns to eyes me with hate. It's in that moment I notice the slight difference in his eyes colouring. "If you want to make it a definite fact Jake won't survive then please keep fighting. Giovanni, outside. Now." I tell them sharply. Giovanni is still angry; Billy looks like a child just scolded by his mother. I follow Giovanni into the hall.
"You had no right." He almost yells at me. I cross my arms and look at him blankly, something Dad used to do with me and papa when we were upset. "He's dying, I could lose him. I have a right to be upset!" He starts to pace back and forth in front of me. I sigh, knowing the feeling well. I don't know if Star is alright or not. He was hurt, I know that much, but I don't know to what extent. If anything happens to that fox, I'll kill everything in my path for revenge.
"Are you done yet?" I ask him sarcastically. "I get it, you're upset. You don't know if he's going to be okay. There is no way of knowing if he will survive. You're blaming yourself. You weren't at his side to protect him; you were there too late. But that's not fair to yourself. You can't be blamed for this." The image of Papa bleeding out in my arms flashes through my mind, but I ignore it. "He's strong and he will survive." I finished. Giovanni has calmed down, tears welling in his eyes. His legs start to give out, causing him to fall into my arms. I'm not a touchy-feely person, but I hug him back as he cries into my shoulder. After a bit, we head back into the room.
"I'm so sorry, Billy." Giovanni apologizes. The doctor gives him a warm, knowing smile as he leads Giovanni to sit beside Jake's bed.
"It's more than alright. I consider you both a friend and I know I would react the same way, if not worse, if something were to happen to Maylynn." Billy taps his shoulders reassuringly before turning to me. "Follow me Miss Allen and I will take you to your friends." I nod and follow him.
He leads me down the hall of the medical wing, headed to the set of rooms opposite the one we were just in. I stay silent, praying to whatever higher being will listen that my fox and friends are alright. We get there and I see my friends perfectly fine, Keya cuddles into Brett's side as someone stitches his head closed. The woman is beautiful with long legs and perfectly light tan skin. I spot what looks like dragonfly wings peeking out from the bottom of her lab coat. Her dark brown hair is cut in a pixie cut. Her stomach is very full and swollen.
"Maylynn, you should be resting." Billy speaks softly but worriedly as the woman finishes her stitch work. He wraps his arms around her waist, resting his hands on the top of her stomach. She is obviously at least two feet shorter than he is.
"These two needed help, I helped them. I'm not completely useless." She tells him sharply. I notice the loving way they look at each other and smile softly, moving to my idiots.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect Keya or the book." Brett apologizes immediately.
"Shut up Smith." I tell him sharply. He looks slightly scared at what I'm about to say next, but my voice and eyes soften as I smile at him just slightly. "You did nothing wrong. It's not your fault." I hug them both as I spot a deep royal purple colour glow from my pocket. I pull the book out of my pocket and watch the purple stone fade, still just as mesmerized at the process as I was the first time.
"We're getting closer and closer to the end." Keya says, though I notice the little amount of excitement in her voice. I see the sadness in her eyes that replicates the one she felt back on earth when she was Cobra's property. I grip her hand and give her a meaningful look.
"But what's at the end of this journey?" I ask aloud with a tired sigh. The adrenaline has now started to wear off and the exact amount of strain I put on my body has caught up with me.
"Your fox is all fixed up now." Maylynn tells me as she taps my shoulder, handing me a moping fox with a cast around his front right leg. "He broke his leg, make sure he doesn't walk on it too much. Bring him to me or Billy every week for a check up." I nod along and give her my thanks. The three of us leave with Star nuzzling into my arms. I can hear his soft whimpers of fear, pain, sadness, regret, I can't fully pinpoint what he's feeling. We make it to our room, Keya and Brett going to bed instantly and passing right out. I set Star on my bed beside the book and strip off my clothing, changing my jeans for pajama shorts. I crawl into bed, turning off the lights and cuddling up to Star who lays with the book clasped in his paws.
I am surrounded by white smoke. My eyes can't see anything, but my feet move me towards something without my knowledge, or consent. The smoke clears enough for me to see people in front of me. A person stands with his back to me, a faceless woman standing in front of him. She looks to be fighting for her life. The man raises his arm and fires his gun, killing the person before him. I then see myself run into the scene.
"Kmfya." I can hear a muffled, fuzzy name escape my mouth as the me before myself runs to the faceless girl. The copy of me knocks the gun from the man's hand but he grabs her throat, snapping her neck. My eyes follow him as he walks over to what I think is a table, it's hard to see with the smoke surrounding everything, he raises something and is talking to someone I can't see. His words are clear as he speaks, however.
"She never should have drunk the rose petal drink."
The scene fades away after his words. My feet move me forward again until I come upon a new scene. I am involved in it again. It looks like I have a beautiful white-haired girl pinned up against something, kissing her passionately. Her hands are in my hair and my hands are up her shirt, one of Keya's shirts. The scene shifts to her and I laying in my bed on my ship, blankets covering our bare bodies. It looks like the woman is sleeping as the me in this scene brushes a couple strands of hair from her face. I lean forward and kiss her forehead, allowing her to snuggle into me.
The scene starts to fade away and I'm greeted by someone I've never met before.
Giovanni
Jake lays still on the hospital bed, deathly still. I grip his hand tighter. Cold and pale, something Jake is not. He was always full of life. Always warm to the touch. He would always be cold though, cuddling into me to steal my warmth. Maybe if I hold his hand just a little tighter, just a little longer he will wake up and come to steal all my warmth again. He will yell at me for being reckless. He will hold me and tell me it will be okay.
My other hand reaches up to the heart locket around my neck. It's been a week since everything happened. In that time, I managed to snap a photo of Wynnona and Stardust, both unsuspecting of my actions. Wyatt was sitting talking to Athena with Star asleep on her shoulders. She looked happier than I've yet to see her, even if her smile was unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it. It was now stuck on the other side of the locket. My sister, her fox, the love of my life, and my chosen sister. All four stuck in a locket given to me by Jake as a reminder of what I'm fighting for.
"I brought you something to eat and drink." Wynnona says as she comes into the room. I don't answer or look up at her. The warm blanket that was insulating me is ripped from my shoulders, the cold of the room nipping at my once warm skin.
"Hey!" I shout and turn to see Wynnona holding my fuzzy blanket.
"Hello brother dearest. Lovely to see you." She says in a sickly-sweet voice. "Now, eat everything on this plate and drink that whole bottle of water, then you can have your blanket back." She tells me, voice back to normal.
Wyatt's been regulating my health. She will come in with food and make sure I eat it. When I refuse, she takes something away from me and waits for me to comply before giving it back. Last time it was my phone. I regret letting her take it because of what she found on it from years ago. I feel slightly like a child.
"What does Billy think?" I ask her through bites of my wrap.
"Billy gives Jake a year to wake up. He may wake up sooner or later then that, but he estimates a year." She tells me softly, wrapping my blanket back around me and hugging me. I finish eating and give her the plate. I open the bottle and start to drink, planning to finish it before dinner. She takes it and leaves.
Wynnona, Brett, Keya, Oriana, and I were invited to a dinner on Billy's home planet. He told his family about Wyatt and the book. As news does with his kind, it traveled up to the rulers and they requested a dinner with them. Wyatt was trying to get me to come along, so far unsuccessfully. I can't afford to ever leave Jake's side again.
Athena
I take a breath to calm my nerves. I have a bad feeling about the group heading out to Billy's home planet. Wynnona is packing her ship right now, Star on her shoulders and me safely tucked away in her jacket's hidden pocket. I was about to take a nap, strange I know, when something stopped me. A feeling. The next stone was going to happen while they were away from the rebel's base.
The stones were never distinct. I never knew what challenge they would present until it started. Before the challenge would happen and the stone activates, I get a feeling then race against whatever is attacking to stay ahead of the threat.
But this was a different feeling. The invisible chains holding me in this prison seemed to lighten every time Wynnona and her team completed a challenge, getting rid of another stone. The chains currently felt like they were almost unlocked, what that meant I've no idea.
I'm pulled from my thoughts when I hear a soft yip echo through my endless cage. A small fox with beautiful nebula's around his mismatched eyes bounds towards me.
"Star." I say with a happy smile. The only company I get other than Wynnona in this prison was one of my closest friends. With a wave of my hand I return him to his full form, a tall dark-skinned man with unruly orange curls. He stands at 6'1'' easily towering over everyone. His curls are pulled back into a bun on the back of his head, messy as always. His skin is a perfect balance between dark brown and pale white, the skin colours of his parents. His jaw is strong and sharp with full lips and a slim nose. His eyes are almond shaped, two separate colours, framed by the same nebulas he has as a fox.
"Hello auntie." He greets me in a sweet, sultry voice, breathtaking smile tugging his lips up showing his perfect teeth. He opens his arms to me and hugs me tight. "It's been too long."
"I agree." I say softly, nuzzling into his chest. A chest I have to get onto my tiptoes to reach might I add. "How are things where I cannot see?" I ask as I pull away reluctantly.
"Wynnona is strong, you were right to pick her." He sounds so hopeful as he speaks. He was always just as hopeful as a child. "Maybe she will be able to reunite all of us once again." He hides it well, but I can see the longing and pain in his eyes.
"You miss her." I say simply, knowing he understands who I am talking about.
"I do. It's been too long since I last saw her. I don't know where she is or if she is okay, or even if she is alive." I cup his face as all the emotions he has bottled up for so long come out. Tears spill down his face from the bottle finally being uncapped and spilling over.
"Oh, my love." I hug him close again as he weeps into my shoulder. "I promise you Stardust, Riddle is not dead."
Wynnona
I finished packing the ship. I'm walking out when I hear a soft whimper from the bundle of fur around my neck. I look over at the sleeping Stardust on my shoulder and see the fur under his eyes is wet with what I assume to be tears. I start to pet his soft head, not entirely sure why he is crying, but knowing I will comfort him to the best of my ability.