COLOURS || Seth Clearwater

TWENTY ONE

Lucinda walked through the graveyard, a bouquet of blue roses in hand. She was alone. Virginia had decided to give her space, and the cemetery was empty.

For a plot of land specifically created to house the dead, it looked quite nice. The sun shone brightly, the light twinkling off grave stones and onto her pale skin. There was a thicket of trees surrounding it, a well paved road the only proper entrance.

Her steps were silent as she passed the other graves, her expression cold. She could feel her breathing grow shallow as she tried to hold back tears. When she found out Virginia had to move him from the original grave site in Galway, she had been heartbroken.

But when her friend told her they were turning that land into a museum of sorts — one for 'The Warlock of Galway' — it hurt slightly less.

Though she did miss that Willow Tree.

As Lucinda approached the grave — the largest one in the cemetery because along with herself, Virginia was quite rich — she felt her heart grow heavier with each steps. She blinked away tears as she stopped in front of the plaque.

It didn't have a name, no one knew who Kane was, but someone who did facial recognitions for missing persons seemed to have created a sketch of his face. Lucinda reached forwards, her fingertips softly tracing his features over the glass case.

A soft, sad, smile formed on her lips and tears filled her eyes. "Hello, my love," she whispered, setting the flowers down below the drawing. "If only we'd had cameras back in our time, hmm?" She murmured, sitting herself down on the bench next to it.

She was happy to know Virginia had been taking good care of the land plot.

The same soft, warm, wind surrounded her body and she felt her heart lurch. "I miss you, Kane," she choked out, her hands absentmindedly grabbing a fistful of her black dress. "And I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

It's alright, the wind seemed to reply. A strand of her hair was lifted, and she closed her eyes. She could almost feel Kane's touch. You did your best.

"I have so much to tell you," Lucinda continued, delicately wiping mascara from beneath her eye. "It's been a very eventful two weeks." She practically felt Kane's laughter, and it paired well with his smiling sketch. She inhaled an uneven breath, then pursed her lips into a thin line to keep herself from sobbing.

"One of the mutts — shapeshifters, sorry — in La Push is somehow connected to me," she murmured sadly, playing with the ruby ring on her finger. "He's quite sweet, and he's much nicer then I thought, but I'm scared, Kane." She stared longingly at the drawing. "I don't know what to do. Seth is being so patient and kind with me, and he's helping me take care of myself and making sure I don't become the monster I was for all those years. But I'm not sure I'm ready for love yet."

Lucinda continued to tell him everything that had happened since the last time she'd been to France. Before she knew it, she'd been there almost four hours.

She stood up and brushed her clothes off, then with a sad sigh, she pulled her phone out of her purse and snapped a good photo of the drawing.

She then allowed her fingers to rest over the image of his face one last time before walking away.

•••

"It sounds to me like you found the one," Virginia snorted, gesturing the empty vile hanging from Lucinda's neck. She sighed in response and ran a hand through her fiery red hair.

"I think I have," she admitted softly. "And that's what worries me. Kane wasn't even my mate, and look at what happened to me when I lost him."

Virginia nodded slowly, setting her tea cup onto the table beside her. "So you're scared then," she deducted.

"I'm not scared," Lucinda snapped in annoyance, throwing a cookie at her oldest friend.

Virginia raised her hands in surrender, noticing the purple mist surrounding Lucinda's fisted hands. "I'm just saying," she shrugged, picking up the cookie and taking a bite. "To me, it sounds like you're scared."

Lucinda slouched in defeat, knowing full well that Virginia was right. "So I'm a little nervous," she muttered, angrily tearing a piece of angel food cake off with her fingers and eating it. "It's been a long time since I felt this way." She narrowed her eyes as she pointed. "You made sure of that."

"I was simply doing what you asked," Virginia defended herself. "You said you didn't want to feel the grief, but all emotions come hand in hand."

"How so?"

"In grief there is sadness. In sadness there is self doubt. In self doubt there is worry. In worry there is love, and in love there is happiness," Virginia explained casually before taking another sip of her tea. "If you think about it, when you're happy, you're subconsciously sad because you know that moment will come to an end."

"I don't understand how there is worry in love," Lucinda spoke after allowing the information to sink in.

Virginia rolled her eyes before delving into her explaination. "When you love something — when you love it more then anything you can even imagine — you worry. You worry constantly. You'll worry if you're good enough, how they're doing, if they're okay. You'll worry that one day they will leave you without looking back. But most of all, you'll worry about their safety. If they've caught a cold. If they brought a sweater. If they used sunscreen. We worry about the things we love because if anything happens to them, we'd tear the world apart to right the wrongs."

Lucinda pondered that thought, slowly taking another handful of small cookies off the fancy tray. She then used her magic to bring the tray back into Virginia's kitchen and refill it. "I suppose you're right," she sighed, playing with the empty vile out of habit. "But I don't see, exactly, how that's advice that will help me with my situation."

Virginia rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "That's because it wasn't advice," she groaned, "it was an explanation."

Lucinda pursed her lips in mild annoyance. "I suggest you make your point then," she muttered, stabbing a strawberry — in an extremely violent manor — with her fork.

Virginia rolled her eyes, moving her bleach blonde hair from her face. "My point is, Darling," She hummed, "would the heartbreak be worth it?"

Lucinda furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?"

"Would the agony of his loss be worth it in the end. The universe could have picked anyone for him, Lucinda," Virginia explained softly, "and it picked you. He knows you won't grow old with him — it's probably causing him heartache too — but it's quite obvious he thinks it's worth it; do you?"

Lucinda opened her mouth, then closed it abruptly.

A/N
AAAAHHHHH
So here's part three.
I'm not going to lie, this was one of my favourite chapters to write.
Thoughts so far???
H.