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It had been about 24 hours since Eda and her family had been admitted into the Covens Against the Throne.
Which meant they had one day until the day of Unity was here.
One day until the fate of the isles was decided.
Titan, could things be more messed up?
Eda watched from far away from the balcony of the hideout as several witches left their homes in Latissa, entering carriages with Coven Scouts leading them to the head of the Titan. Leading them to their impending death.
One of the quirks of her curse, she came to realize years ago, was that Eda had an amazing night vision and could see things so far that a normal witch couldn’t.
This meant she could see the smile and excitement on the face of those witches as they entered the carriage, no bags in hand because they thought they would still have a home to come back to once the Day of Unity was over.
She sighed, running a hand through her hair, confined now on a ponytail. She rested her cheek against her palm, trying to remain an optimist.
Things could be worse, she supposed. At least now, Eda had allies, she has a home away from home. Sure, she misses her nest, she barely got a blink of sleep tonight because the Owl Beast made sure to say how much it was uncomfortable and disappointed with her breaking her sleeping patterns and sleeping on a cot, not a nest, but hey. It's better than sleeping in a conformatorium cell. Definitely better.
She rubbed her eyes before looking up at the starry sky, trying futilely to count the stars on it.
Then she heard a crash inside the hideout, she turned around and saw the commotion inside the house through the balcony door. They were currently having a small get-together to celebrate the fact that they had found more allies (a Hexside rebellion of all things) and they had been making plans to meet up with them at the earliest tomorrow morning.
Eda watched as Eber and Amber (who seemed to be nurturing a friendship of sorts) laughed at Darius who had just accidentally spilled Apple Blood on his cape. Then he turned to both of them, possibly screaming but Eda couldn’t make out what he said by the fact that the house was soundproof and that he had turned his back to her.
Eda chuckled to herself and her eyes turned to Raine who seemed unamused by his screaming. Then their eyes met hers and Eda felt her heart skip a single beat. They smiled at her before saying something to Darius and walking towards the door.
Eda turned her gaze towards the horizon once again, hoping that all the warm lights of the balcony strung around were enough to mask her blush.
She heard the door open, close, and steps getting closer to her until Raine was with their arms on the railing of the balcony like her.
They spent a few moments in silence, just listening to the busy sounds of Latissa.
“Needed a break?” They asked after a good silence.
“Maybe. The last week has been crazy. I think I just needed a breather, you know?”
“I do. Juggling this rebellion, keeping up the appearance of an amnesiac Coven Head and still teaching classes has been a lot.” They chuckled more bitterly, their fingers gripping the sleeve of their shirt tightly.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Rainestorm. Isn’t this why we’re having an awesome party?” She dragged the awesome part and rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.
“What? You used to love going to parties exclusive to Wild Witches 20 years ago. Isn't this your taste anymore?” They asked, their voice laced with fondness.
“You’d be surprised what motherhood, 3 to 4 hours of sleep per night and a middle-age crisis 10 years earlier than usual does to you.” She smirked back, but saw their smile slightly falter, “You okay?”
“I- Even though you’re here now…” They stopped, gathering their thoughts and rethinking their words, “I haven’t stopped being worried about you.”
Eda’s eyes widened just slightly.
“I know you can handle things, you always could. You’re the first and only witch to escape petrification from Belos. You’re the hell of one tough cookie, but still-” They sighed, their hands gripping the railing of the balcony, “I worry about other stuff too. Like, are you eating well? Sleeping? Taking some time for yourself? Little stuff that matters too besides being away from Belos and his goons.”
“Raine…”
“I know you don’t need coddling, you never did. But I’m still worried and-”
She put one hand over theirs and immediately felt the intense grip they had on the railing lessen.
“I get it. I worry about that about my kids too, about Lilith and about you. You’ve said yourself that you’ve been under so much stress and that isn’t good too. Tell me, did you even sleep last night?”
She was met with silence from them, a small embarrassed blush on their features.
“That’s what I thought.” She smiled softly, ignoring how much her brain wanted to kiss their red cheeks just like she had so many times during their relationship just to embarrass them further.
“I guess we both need a change of habits.” They rubbed the back of their neck with the hand that wasn’t being held by her.
“Oh definitely.” She snorted, “If I survive the Day of Unity, I’m taking a long overdue vacation, visit my parents for a day, let my body relax.”
“You will.”
“What?”
They interlaced their fingers with hers before squeezing her hand, looking directly into her eyes.
“You will survive the Day of Unity. All of us will. The entire Isles will.”
She smiled at their hopefulness and squeezed their hand back.
“Okay. I’ll trust you Rainestorm. But on one condition.”
“What is it…?” They arched a brow at her.
“You’ll come with me on my vacation. Along with Luz and King. Maybe your BAtTs too if they want.”
For a second, Raine remained motionless, the grip they had on her hand faltered and Eda’s brain panicked.
“O-Or not, you’ll probably be really busy with all your duties and classes even after Belos is defeated and-”
They buried their face in her shoulder, letting out a shaky breath.
“I want that. Like, a lot.” They breathed, falling limp against her.
She was still getting used to Raine being around her at all times, sharing glances across the breakfast, across strategy meetings, across the room when they passed by each other.
She thought she would need more time to get used to Raine openly touching her, leaning into her space, but that thought immediately flew out the window when their so familiar warmth embraced her.
She wrapped her arms around them, holding them tightly. She felt a few stray tears go down their face and fall on her shoulder but she kept holding them.
Eda has no idea how much time they spent there but she didn’t care. Like with her kids, she would give them all the time in the world if they asked.
Finally, Raine pulled away and Eda loosened her hold around them but did not let go completely.
Raine took off their glasses for just a moment and wiped away their tears before putting them on again and looking at her.
The soft yellow lights of the balcony reflected and danced in their eyes, mixing every single shade of green in them.
She had spent entire evenings in their youth counting those shades and every time she found one new. That definitely hadn’t changed.
In her small quest of looking into their eyes, she didn’t notice the way Raine had snaked their arms around her waist, bringing her even closer to them.
One calloused hand came up to push a stray piece of gray hair behind her ear, making Eda snap out of her quest and look at them quizzically.
They just smiled, their hand now on the side of her jaw.
“Raine…” She whispered, her voice almost breaking.
They just smiled at her before whispering something that made her heart rattle.
“Can I kiss you?”
Eda swore her heart failed for a second before she eagerly nodded.
She watched as Raine stood on their tiptoes and connected their lips.
Eda closed her eyes, melting into their touch.
Once, 20 or something years ago, she had tried to describe what kissing Raine felt like, just to make them laugh and embarrassed. Turns out, she couldn’t describe it at the time. Kissing Raine made her overwhelmed but in a good way. In the best way.
What she could put into words was: warmth, love, butterflies, wanting to do it again, again and again. That still held true after so many years.
Raine pulled away and Eda opened her eyes a few seconds before Raine did, blinking slowly up at her.
“D-Does this mean you like me again?” Eda asked on the verge of crying again.
“I don’t think I ever stopped liking you or even loving you. Meeting you again maybe made me fall even more for you. If that’s even possible.” They let out a short chuckle, still holding her face in their hand.
“Raine…” She leaned her forehead against theirs, “I never stopped loving you, either. Maybe there was a time I forced myself not to love you and I thought I had succeeded, but having you back made me realize how much I missed and still loved you.” She didn’t stop the tears now, “Having you back made me fall in love so much more too.”
Raine used their thumb to wipe away a tear too, smiling up at her.
“After Belos is gone, w-would you be… willing to try again? I promise to do better than last time.”
Their smile only got wider and they kissed her again.
“Of course. There’s nothing I want more.”
Eda felt another tear fall as she laughed and pulled them closer to her.
Was it selfish of them, to enjoy this happiness while the world threatened to end? Maybe. But they didn’t care.
Under the string lights, with the world possibly ending in less than 48 hours, they chose to be happy. And neither of them would change a thing about it.