Revenge, and A Little Bit More

Chapter Twenty One: Belladonna Blooming

"Bela!" Alcina called, sitting at her vanity, applying her makeup. Lilith was sprawled on the bed laying on her stomach, fast asleep. Bela came swarming into the room, standing next to her mother. 

"Good morning, mother." she smiled warmly. She glanced over to the heap of sleeping mess on the bed and laughed, Lilith's gray hair sprawled all over her face, her one arm tucked behind her back. 

"I am happy for you, mother." she beamed. Alcina gave her a kiss on her cheek, leaving a deep red lipstick mark.

"Thank you, draga mea. Will you do a favor for me?" Alcina asked.

"Of course, mother. Anything." both of them stopped smiling however, when they heard a terrible ruckus coming from the laundry room. Bela rolled her eyes.

"Daniela and Lily is at it again. I'll deal with them. Will you please go and spend some time with Donna? You always loved spending time with her." Alcina asked, looking at Bela through the mirror. Bela's eyes widened and she blushed softly.

"I am no fool, Bela. A mother always knows." she commented, seeing how Bela became more and more flushed.

"Knows what, mother?" she tried playing innocent. She glanced away from her mother, avoiding her intimidating golden gaze. Alcina turned to her and gently took her by her chin, and turned Bela's face to hers.

"I've seen the way the two of you steal glances at each other. You must have been so frightened at Beneviento Manor?"

"I... I was. But, doesn't it bother you, mother?" Bela asked, frowning.

"It did bother me at one point, yes. I'll admit to that. But I just want to see my daughters happy. I've realized how mortal we're all still are. I honestly just want to see everyone happy." she said softly, standing up form the vanity, moving to the door.

"Thank you, mother. This means a lot to me. Now I just have to get her attention." Bela sighed.

"Oh no, dear. You've got her attention, believe me." she smiled, standing at the door. Alcina looked back to Bela.

"I love you, draga mea." she said in a loving voice before moving out of the room. Bela smiled excitedly to herself, checking her makeup in the mirror. 

"I love you too. mother." she called. Bela glanced at Lilith as a soft snore came from the sleeping witch. 

"DANIELA AND LILY! ENOUGH!" she heard her mother yell, the loving tone now replaced with annoyance. She listened as the sound of her mother's heels disappeared. Once she's satisfied with her makeup, Bela made her way downstairs. She came across maidens dusting expensive vases.

"Make yourselves scarce. The redheads are coming." she a=warned them.

"Thank you, Lady Bela." a maiden smiled, listened carefully for the sound of Donna's heartbeat, a soft and slow beat .She followed the steady rhythm to the abandoned greenhouse. She wondered why Donna would be here, since it was derelict, and all the plants and trees were dead. Her nose filled with the sweet floral scent as she opened the glass doors. She gasped as a warm breeze run across her arms. The first thing she noticed is the green. Everything was green, no more dead plants or trees, huge trees and plants filled the greenhouse. A kaleidoscope of different flowers caught her eye, blooming in the warms sun. She looked around and a few of the flowers she recognized as her mother's favorites. A huge tree stood in the middle of the colossal greenhouse. She recognized it as a tree that's from South Africa - a huge River Bush Willow, it's ghostly white bark in stark contrast to the big dark green leaves. She then spotted Donna, dressed in her usual black dress, with her veil covering her face. She was tending to a beautiful be of flowers .

"Donna?" she called, walking over to the grieving woman. Donna turned and lifted the one half of her veil, and the most beautiful smile graced her delicate face when she saw it was Bela calling. A smile that made Bela's heart melt.

"Hi there, Bela. What brings you here?" she blushed as she lowered her head a little, smiling. Bela stood next to her, looking at the flowers she was tending.

"I thought I'd spend some time with you today. How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing much better actually. Since I moved here, I feel at home. More than I ever felt at the Beneviento Manor to be honest. I miss Angie, of course, but I am happy to be here." she answered, gently watering the flowers. Bela gently touched one, running her finger on the soft purple flower's petal.

"What kind of flower is this?" Bela asked.

"It's uh... it's called a Belladonna actually." she giggled.

"Really? I love the name if I must be honest." Bela said blushing.

"Belladonna means 'beautiful lady' and was named so because of a risky practice in Italy. The belladonna berry juice was used historically in Italy to enlarge the pupils of women, giving them a striking appearance." Donna explained. She took Bela's hand and lead her behind the giant tree in the middle. 

"That's quite interesting. Women would do anything to look beautiful. You, however, don't need to do anything to enhance your beauty. You're already striking." Bela said nervously.

"Thank you, Bela. You're beautiful too." Bela  said nervously. She led Bela to a massive bed of flowers, black and red colored ones.

"I know your mother likes them especially these colors. It's a way for me to her how truly show for what I've done to her and to you. "

"You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn't your fault." Bela said, taking her hand again.

"What kind of flowers does my mother like?" 

"To name a few; dahlias, fiddle roses, calla lilies, snapdragons, scabiosa, black velvet petunias, hellebore, irises, black and red roses, black magic hollyhocks and belladonnas." she pointed at each of them as she named them.

"They're beautiful." Bela said, no longer looking at the flowers, but rather at Donna's face. When she looked at her, Bela saw for the first time that her eye wasn't just black, but a deep, navy blue. When Donna looked at Bela and saw that she was looking at her and not the flowers, she blushed.

"Bela..." she whispered when she pulled her closer, holding her by her hips. Donna rested her hands on Bela's shoulders, both women extremely nervous and shy, a burning desire to tell each other how they feel. Bela gently took Donna's veil off, exposing the other half of her face.

"So beautiful." Bela whispered, their faces mere inches from each other. Without thinking, Donna leaned in and kissed Bela, softly at first. They were so captured in this perfect moment of their first kiss, they didn't even hear or see the two redhead maniacs run past the greenhouse, laughing hysterically. 

They were like fire and ash. So similar, yet so different. She was beautiful, lively and destructive. And  she was lost, scarred and totally in love with her. They savoured the kiss, enjoying every second, slowly becoming more eager, when they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of exploding windows.

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Leave a comment on what you think about the story so far! Be safe out there awesome people! 🌟
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Song inspiration for this chapter: Chaos Chaos - Do You Feel It.