Love Persevering

Disclosure

The days turned to weeks and by the end of their first month sequestered away Wanda and Y/N had both made great progress with their training. Y/N was now able to hold her own sparring against Wanda for more than just 2 minutes. Wanda had read the 5 largest tomes and with Y/N's patient tutelage, she had begun to see small results from meditation. Despite all of this, Wanda was itching to learn practical magic. She wanted to learn how Y/N had mastered telepathy.

Wanda's meditation- learning to control her abilities while at her most vulnerable was a frustratingly slow process. Most days she made valiant attempts to conjure memories from Sokovia or Westview but even her best days always ended with an uncontrollable crackle of red energy and a gentle touch from Y/N signaling her to stop.

Today the two women sat in companionable silence, meditating through the morning. Wanda knew she needed to master this ability but the grief from losing Vision especially was still strong. She took a deep breath and conjured images, sights and sounds of Vision's deaths. Moments of memories flashed through Wanda's mind.

Seeing Vision's body torn apart like a science experiment, the anger she felt but had suppressed- she let herself feel it. She tried to control her magic, to feel the current without getting caught in the undertow just underneath her emotions. Wanda felt Y/N shift beside her but there was no signal to stop, just advice "Don't forget to breathe".

So she did and within moments Wanda felt a shift from her chest to her fingertips. Though she still vividly felt frustration and grief, Wanda could also feel her powers- the ebb and flow. She willed them into action and opened her eyes to see an amused Y/N hovering a few inches off of the ground, all her hair standing up on end, held aloft by glowing red light.

Y/N smiled. "You're doing it!"

"This is great! Soon you can practice pairing this same control but with your more complex abilities."

Wanda smiled back, ecstatic to have finally made visible progress. She slowly lowered Y/N back to the ground and looked down at her hands, "Just remembering to breathe? It was really that easy?"

Y/N shrugged, "Sometimes we forget."

"Let's stay a little while longer and then we can go inside."

10 minutes later Wanda could feel Y/N growing restless. She felt the sand shift and opened her eyes. Squinting against the sunlight, she tracked Y/N as the other girl wandered away from their spot.

The past few weeks had been both incredible and incredibly challenging. Y/N dipped her toes into the water as she reflected on all of the movie nights and magic lessons. She really liked Wanda and now that she knew that, well it changed things. She went to sleep with nervous anticipation and woke with butterflies. On top of her new crush, she knew that it was only a matter of time before they were found. Even with the privacy and the wards of Cliff's Edge, Y/N knew this wouldn't last much longer. She stopped and looked out onto the water, closing her eyes and basking in the breeze. After a minute or so she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Y/N nodded and turned to face Wanda, "Just trying to think ahead- figure out how much time we have left here."

Wanda's hand slipped from her shoulder as the other woman began to speak. "I've been thinking, I'll keep working on my meditation but I should start learning some practical magic, don't you think?"

Y/N said nothing, not making eye contact.

"I've noticed you have some incredible abilities. How did you learn to communicate mentally? I can read minds, but two way communication would be so helpful."

"What?" Y/N replied, looking sharply back at Wanda.

"Back in London when we were leaving the Reading Room, you and Theresa just looked at each other? You communicated somehow, right?"

Y/N said nothing for a moment and then looked away again, "It looks like it's going to rain. We should go inside." She started walking back toward the cottage, leaving Wanda momentarily confused at the shore. Y/N stepped into the living room and through to the kitchen, wanting to put space between them but Wanda wasn't letting her get away easily.

Wanda trailed closely behind her, "Is it a big secret or something? You can just say that if you don't want to teach me."

It was times like these that Wanda was tempted to just read peoples' minds.

Across the kitchen counter Y/N's heart was racing. She hadn't meant to keep this a secret but it wasn't something she liked to bring up either. Somehow, omitting the truth had fooled Wanda into believing a lie. Outside the sky turned grey and rain began to pour, smacking loudly onto the roof.

She took a deep breath before meeting Wanda's eyes.

"I'm not a witch."

The surprise on Wanda's face would have been comical in any other circumstance.

"I don't have magic. I never have."

"But in London at the shop, and at your flat.."

Y/N shook her head, "You must have misunderstood."

"So the person teaching me about magic doesn't even have any? How does that make any sense?"

Wanda was frustrated, she felt tricked and a little stupid because she had assumed the coven would have sent one of their strongest witches to teach her. Her mind flashed back to the night of the coven meeting and she remembered that Y/N hadn't voted. 

Everything had happened so quickly back then, she had forgotten how strange that was. Wanda had never asked about it. Not even in their quietest of moments. Not through the nights of swapping secrets, watching Disney movies or insisting Y/N give her favorite sitcoms a chance. There had been so much time but she had been swept away with finally having a friend. Not a coworker, not an ally, a friend.

"Why would Theresa send you and not someone who actually knows what they're-"

Wanda finally looked at Y/N again and stopped talking. Y/N's eyes had turned steely, her body tense, fists clenched.

"-somebody who knows what they're doing? That's what you were going to say wasn't it?"

Wanda remained silent, immediately realizing and regretting what she had said.

"I was trained by London's most powerful witch my whole life and when we found out I wasn't one, all of that knowledge didn't just disappear. So yeah, I may not have magic coursing through my veins the way you do but I have enough smarts and experience to be the best, most trustworthy, teacher there is."

Tension hummed alive in the air between them. Y/N strode quickly back around the counter, towards the living room.

"And if you think you can do better without me- there's the door!" she waved angrily at the entryway and then stormed into her room.

Wanda knew she had spoken out of line. Y/N was a great teacher. It didn't matter if Y/N did or didn't have magic, she understood it better than anyone. Wanda ran her hands through her hair in frustration. How did she manage to offend the only person she'd felt close to in months? 

How was she going to fix this?