Archive of Our Own

It was a quiet afternoon, time for relaxation.

After almost seven months of not using her gift by request, Pepa had finally felt ready to give to the community once more. She had started small though, only one rain storm every couple of days as she adjusted to once again doing chores and duties, not several. No one wanted her to get overwhelmed right when she had just started to feel good enough to do her work again after her recovery, especially when it came to the nature of her powers.

The easiest way to create rain was via negative, sad emotions, after all. Félix especially had been afraid she would become overwhelmed and shut down if she tried to conjure rain on purpose, which is why he had followed her to the crop field.

The first time she had conjured a storm on purpose after months, she almost shut down, just like Félix had predicted. He had carried her home in his arms as she sobbed into his shoulder, the loss they had experienced several months ago once again feeling fresh in her memory.

Thankfully, the next conjured storm had gone much better, as well as the third. Yes, she had to be more careful than usual to not overwhelm herself, but it was doable. Félix’s watchful eyes over her was the perfect reassurance she needed in that situation, the fact that she wasn’t alone as she was trying to go back to her regular life and duties. He was there in case she needed him, and it was the greatest comfort she could ever ask for.

During the last conjured storm, she had actually felt somewhat good , or as good as one could feel after having purposely awoken a lot of negative memories to make yourself cry. It was a weird feeling of relief that she couldn’t quite explain in words, a gratefulness over the fact that it felt like she was slowly taking her life back, the grief not being the main focus of it anymore, but rather something in the background. At least, she no longer felt selfish for trying to move on and live her life, she didn’t feel disgust at herself for feeling happy around her family, as she dared to think of the future in happy terms. She didn’t feel mad over the fact that she now felt other emotions than grief, she finally allowed herself to feel them. She knew she would probably never stop mourning, not fully, but she still had a whole life ahead of her.

When she had told Félix about her inner thoughts on their way back to Casita, as the dark clouds on the sky were slowly turning white, he had stopped right in his tracks to give her a warm embrace as he told her he was happy to hear her thoughts. He would be there for her whenever she needed to talk, and she truly appreciated that.

The moment that they returned home, Félix and Pepa had retired to their room to relax, something that had become the norm every time they left the home. Félix wanted to make sure Pepa had time to recharge and process, especially after using her powers. They would miss lunch, that was for sure, but both Pepa and Félix knew that Julieta would be kind enough to give them a few plates later.

As the door closed behind them, Pepa let out a sigh of relief. She had actually been feeling a little overwhelmed, especially with the soaked dress currently stuck on her body. She felt cold, the dress was heavy, and the texture became all wrong and icky to her when it wasn’t the usual pleasant dryness. She instinctively reached towards her braid to run her fingers through it as a way to calm herself down, the repetitive motion bringing comfort.

Yet before she can do that, her husband speaks.

“Do you want me to get you a new dress?”

She nods, but doesn’t answer with words. He simply nods back, and Pepa sees how Félix opens their wardrobe and pulls out another yellow dress. It was her favorite color, and the reason most of her clothes were in the yellow and orange range, she liked the color more than she could describe, it was so captivating, and she enjoyed the consistency of her clothes having a theme.

“Will this work, mi vida?”

Pepa nods once more and thanks Félix as he hands her the dress. He helps her out of the soaked one and throws it in the laundry as he hands her a towel to dry off, and another for her still wet hair. Pepa was really grateful her room had been blessed with the ability to dry things much faster, both objects and people. If she caused a storm in her room, it would only take about half an hour for her bed to once again be so dry that no one would have even guessed that a storm had taken place in the first place.

Once she’s dry enough she hands Félix the towel and puts on the dry dress and flourishes in the feeling of wearing something soft with the right texture. She runs her fingers through the fabric as she lets out a sigh of relief.

“Feeling better?”

“Very,” she answers with a nod. Félix presses a soft kiss onto her forehead that makes her heart melt. That was just what she needed after a tiring experience.

“Do you want me to put on the gramophone?”

She nods again. Some music would really help her relax, she thought. So Félix did just that, and their room was filled with music as Pepa sat down on the couch by her reading nook, gesturing for her husband to follow. Once he does, she places her head onto his shoulder and as her body feels safe and happy by his presence, she doesn’t even have to look up to know that there’s a rainbow above them.

Pepa cuddles him close through several songs, until he has to get up and wind it up once more. After that, he returns to the seat beside her. She truly feels relaxed like this.

After a while, Julieta knocks on their door and gives them their plates of lunch. They eat in silence as the music keeps playing, echoing between the walls in a pleasant relaxing way. Pepa feels pleased when she’s full, the exhaustion of conjuring the storm slowly becoming a distant memory.

They cuddle some more, and Pepa slowly regains her energy. So, when Félix once again winds up the gramophone, she stands up with him and embraces him in a tight hug out of nowhere. She almost makes him fall over from the force, and their combined laughter gets mixed in with the music.

“Careful Pepita, I don’t want you to hit the ground,” he says before he presses a sweet kiss onto her lips. He tastes like freshly pressed juice and fruit, and Pepa can’t help but kiss him again. It wasn’t like Félix would ever complain about more kisses, after all.

“Well, maybe I want to hit the ground, ever thought about that?” she jokes as she tightens her embrace around him. Félix laughs and moves his hand over her forehead, putting a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He’s so gentle with her, and she feels the temperature in their room heat up by a few degrees.

“You’re so beautiful, you know that right?” he asks, and the sudden praise makes electricity sprout between her fingertips, accidentally giving Félix a light zap. He simply laughs it off.

He tells her that sentence every day, several times a day. He says it so often in fact, that Pepa had lost count long ago, but each time she’s still filled to the brink with joy as her face gets flushed.

“You just keep telling me that every day.”

“That’s because it’s true, mi vida.”

He kisses her neck, and Pepa bites her lip at the ticklish sensation.

“Are you just trying to flatter me as an excuse to take me to our bed?” she asks him with a tease, laughter leaving her body as she sees the slight embarrassing look on her husband’s face. “I knew it! You are!”

She teasingly shoves his shoulder with her hand, laughter continuing as she kisses his cheek.

Félix looks away, still flustered as he speaks.

“Well, it was just a suggestion.”

Pepa takes his hand in her own and leaned closer.

“Well, I didn’t say no , did I? But right now I feel very energized, how about a dance or two first when you’ve already set the mood?” she asks as she points at the gramophone that was currently playing music perfect for bolero. Their room had a big enough open space for them to dance without risking damaging anything in the heat of the moment.

“I love dancing with you mi vida, all you need to do is ask.”

She rolls her eyes with a fond smile.

“I already did, estúpido .”

The last part is said with a warm fondness as a joke, and Félix laughter quickly follows as he kisses Pepa’s forehead. Afterwards, his grip around Pepa’s hands tighten as he takes a step backwards to the music. Pepa immediately follows, getting lost in the music as she gently follows Félix’s lead. She does her best to follow the rhythm and the beat, and laughs as Félix spins her around.

“You’re as good at this as I remember,” she says as she takes his hand once more as they take a few steps forward as they wave their free arms in the air. Félix chuckles as he guides Pepa forward, making her walk around him to the beat.

“Well, with such an exquisite dance partner as you, I want to do my best.”

He touches her hip as they keep dancing around the room, Pepa laughs as the warmth inside of her keeps growing. Their room is getting dangerously hot, and she can see the sweat forming on Félix's forehead.

“Remember when we just started dating?” Pepa asks with a dreamy expression on her face as she spins around. “We used to dance almost every day.”

“Those were wonderful times, we need to make more room for that.”

After those words, Félix grabs Pepa by the waist, spins her around and then dips her. She stares at him for a few seconds in complete awe before she presses a kiss onto his lips. The song ends, and another begins. As she stands up properly and looks up, she notices the several rainbows above them, and she bites her lip from excitement as she begins to flap her hands when Félix lets go of her.

“Did you enjoy the dance, mi vida?”

“Look over our heads and you’ll get the answer to your question,” she chuckles before kissing him.

“How about another one then?”

Pepa simply shakes her head as she grabs him by the wrist, leading him towards their bed.

“Maybe later, but I remember the other suggestion you had in mind.”