Stay - Mattheo Riddle

War

Kirra's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and confusion, shaking her head softly. She tried to process the words that had left his mouth. Maybe she had misheard him, or maybe he had mis-spoken? "The resurrection stone? No... what... that's impossible," she muttered out, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure it all.

"I dont know much else yet... and we dont have time to talk about it, the longer you stay here, the harder it will be for you to get back," Regulus mumbles out

"I'm so confused... the resurrection stone? Go back," It was an odd sight to see her look so confused. She was an extremely bright witch after all, but this had clearly knocked her off course. 

"You could stay..." Evan mumbled out sadly, looking at his best friend. It had been so long... so so long since he had been able to talk to her, and he missed her. He missed her so fucking much, he didn't want to lose her again, "you could stay here with us."

"Ev," Regulus warned softly, looking over at him, shaking his head. But the look on his face contradicted what he was saying. He wanted her to stay too, he wanted it more than anything... but he knew that she can't. It wasn't her time yet. 

"Come on Reg, I mean..." Evan looked at her, tears brimming his eyes as he looked at her desperately, "come on Em... you've been through so much... if you stay here with us, you can finally be at peace, no more pain, no more suffering," he said softly. Kirra wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his neck as she cried with him

"You know I can't do that Ev," she choked out. Evan's plea tugged at her heartstrings, his sorrowful eyes mirroring her own internal conflict. She had missed her friends terribly, and the thought of staying with them was pounding in her head. "Ev," Kirra whispered, her voice trembling with emotion, "I wish I could stay with you all, but I have to go back. There are people who still need me, people I love and care about deeply. Mattheo..."

"We know trouble maker," Marlene spoke up sadly, "just don't forget about us yeah?"

"Never again," Kirra shook her head softly, her lip trembling as she looked over at Marlene. She gnawed at the inside of her cheek as she tried not to break down before them. But they knew how it worked by now... she couldn't help it. Every time she died, her slate was wiped clean, she would forget them again. 

"Why am I here though? I dont get it? I've never been here before even when I died the first two times," Kirra spoke in confusion. 

Regulus quickly spoke up, "because you aren't fully dead yet," he lied smoothly. He had apparently gotten better at that. Not even Kirra caught onto the lie... she didn't see the small twitch of his left eye... that had always been his tell tale, but it had been so long that she forgot to look for the cue. 

"Not fully dead? Th-thats why I can go back?" she asked softly

"You gotta go back Em," Lily whispered. 

Regulus nodded in agreement, though his eyes betrayed the longing in his heart. He understood the importance of Emily's return, even as he wished for more time with her. "You have a life waiting for you, love. Don't let the past hold you back."

"At least give me one more hug before you go," James whispered from behind her. Evan squeezed her once before letting her go. Kirra pulled away from Evan, giving him a sad smile before hugging James

"Thanks for looking after him so much Em..." James whispered into her ear, holding her tighter than he ever had before. This was the hug that he wanted to give her so badly after he had found out what she had done... when he heard what she had done to herself... that she was gone.