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In the soft autumn breeze, leaves of all color twirled around joyously in the air as if performing a show for no one in particular to watch. They bowed and jumped, dancing and spinning as if the air itself was a stage and the audience were the trees stretching high above them. White Lily Cookie stood with her face to the wind, letting the cool zephyr play with her hair and explore her robes. It was a soundless morning, much like the earlier days White Lily had stood there, waiting, expecting something to happen that seemed to drag its feet instead. She knew that the other was going to come; it was inevitable, with all that had happened. Whether with open arms or a hostile glare, was what she didn’t know. Only the future held those answers out of her grasp.
In these peaceful moments, White Lily would have a chance to think. To part with her duties as the guardian of the silver tree for a mere second as she thought over everything that she had once done. How she had hurt other Cookies just like that. How she had hurt her friends.
…
A hostile glare seemed more likely.
A strong gust of wind snapped White Lily Cookie back into her surroundings in a snap of one’s hands, and she lightly stepped back. She had anticipated her arrival. And it seemed like she had finally decided to come. For confrontation, conversation, or even just to brood, White Lily would have yet to find out. She turned her gaze towards the sky. There, hovering just above the leaves that had been forced back by the sheer power of her wings, stood Golden Cheese Cookie.
Her stance was strong but stiff, and her grip on her spear seemed only to tighten when she caught White Lily’s eyes. She didn’t look away, didn’t blink. She only quietly swooped to the ground to stand a clear distance away from White Lily Cookie. Her expression…was confusing, to say the least, but it certainly wasn’t friendly.
“…Golden Cheese Cookie,” White Lily said, as more of a statement than a conversation starter. In return, she caught a hissed, “White Lily Cookie.” For a moment, the two stood in utter silence, just taking in the other as if viewing a mural in a museum. It had been a while since the two had spoken. They looked quite different, to say the least. Golden Cheese Cookie’s frown only tightened.
“It’s been a while,” White Lily Cookie whispered into the wind, the words carefully drifting across to where the other stood, hand gripping her hip almost frighteningly hard. After a beat of soundlessness, Golden Cheese responded, “Yes.” Both cookies hesitated, seeming to want the other to continue the conversation for them.
Golden Cheese Cookie’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s get straight to the point,” she shot, her tone harsh and dark like a tattered crow’s caw. “You know why I’m here.” White Lily Cookie hesitated for a quick moment, then shook her head gently, eyes finding a spot on the floor. “I know not of your intentions. I only anticipated your arrival. Not what your plans are.”
“Is it not obvious?” Golden Cheese scoffed, shaking her head. “I come for revenge. For my people, for my treasures, for my kingdom. Everything that you so easily snatched from my loving hands the moment you decided you were bored.” Her grip on her spear tightened, as she slowly started to raise it from the ground and point it towards the former. “I come in honor of everything I lost. Everything you took from me.” Golden Cheese’s eyes narrowed into slits, her voice hissing barely above a whisper. “I’ve come to end this, once and for all.”
White Lily Cookie’s expression shifted; she knew this was a possible outcome for the confrontation, but she had still hoped it would take a separate turn. Her eyes softened in guilt and sadness, which only seemed to raise Golden Cheese Cookie’s anger. “…I’m sorry, Golden Cheese Cookie. Truly, I am. I did not mean to harm you or your peo—”
“NONSENSE!” Golden Cheese Cookie boomed, her words shaking the trees and sending eavesdropping birds into the distance. “You made your decision. You chose to do it all, regardless of everything we used to stand for. You may regret it, but that does not mean you didn’t mean it at the time!” Yet, with all her pride, White Lily could still find the quiet shakiness of the other’s voice in the air. White Lily Cookie’s gaze found the ground again. “Golden Cheese, I apologize. I was in a very rough place, but that does not excuse my actions. I truly regret everything I inflicted on you and your citizens.”
Golden Cheese Cookie’s eyes saddened, filled with memories flashing through her mind like movies of torture and pain. “Apologies doesn’t fix it,” she growled, pointing her spear sharply upward, towards White Lily’s forehead. “Nothing fixes it! We need to finish this!” And with that, Golden Cheese flew forward, forcing White Lily into a pinned position against a tree with her spear just barely grazing the latter’s neck.
White Lily’s expression flashed of a mix of fear, guilt, and something uncertain. But Golden Cheese Cookie’s stayed strong and proud, anger clear in her slitted eyes and clenched teeth. Yet, a drip of sadness and contemplation leaked barely from deep within her mind. “Golden Cheese Cookie, please, it doesn’t have to end like this!” White Lily rasped, her tone filled with regret, sadness, but mostly fear. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Golden Cheese Cookie just shook her head. “No,” she said, her expression fading from anger to something softer, as if sad about her own actions. “No. It was always going to end like this. I’m sorry, White Lily Cookie. This is what I must do.”
White Lily Cookie’s eyes squeezed shut, feeling the spear’s sharp prick inch ever closer to her dough. She could feel her internal systems freaking out, insure how to prevent the incoming attack. She couldn’t just die like this. There was so much she had yet to confess! She couldn’t just let it all rot with her crumbled body, forever unsaid, trapped in the mind of someone who couldn’t speak up. No. She had to say something, anything. “I—I can’t just go out like this,” she coughed, more so to herself. So, in a moment of panic, as the spear poked ever further into her neck, White Lily whispered, “I love you.”
The confession was raw and quiet. It held so much emotion in such a simple statement, so many unsaid words seemed to pour into the three words. It was barely above silence, the wind taking it and snatching it away from the moment, as if to protect White Lily from something so sensitive like this.
…
The movement of Golden Cheese’s spear halted abruptly. “…What did you say?” her own voiced rasped, quiet and confused, as if she had been struck with complete shock. Unable to repeat something so pure, White Lily quivered, “I’ll miss you.”
“No,” Golden Cheese murmured, the spear prodding lightly into White Lily Cookie’s dough, but not enough to draw jam. “No. That’s not what you said.” The two sat in tense silence for a minute, both filled with hesitation and…guilt. Hesitantly and gently, White Lily Cookie opened her eyes, staring deeply and sadly into the other’s. “I said I love you, Golden Cheese Cookie.” White Lily managed to gasp out, pain evident in her neck as her vocal cords shook. “I always have. Since we were young. I’ve made so many mistakes. I’ve gone to places where no cookies should ever go, went to lengths no good person would ever do. But I can’t just sit here and let it all end without saying something. I can’t crumble with this on my conscious. I loved you, then and now. I’ll miss you, but I understand your decision. Goodbye, Golden Cheese Cookie.” With that, she closed her eyes, letting it all happen. Accepting her fate.
…
Nothing happened. The spear wouldn’t move. It stood there, shaking, confused yet still angry against White Lily’s neck. She didn’t dare open her eyes this time. She only waited.
…
The spear carefully removed itself from White Lily Cookie’s dough. Her eyes shot open, shock evident in them, as she let out a breath she hadn’t been able to take. She stared at Golden Cheese Cookie, confusion and fear stretching her eyes open wide, staring deep into the other’s own sight. Golden Cheese Cookie’s expression was…conflicted, to say the least. To say the most, it was a huge mix of emotions. Her eyes filled with guilt, confusion, anger, sadness, and…longing.
Golden Cheese Cookie took a step back, her expression never changing, too shocked to mask what she truly felt inside. Slowly, but surely, it shifted. Her eyes deep and gold, her mouth still frowning but quivering silently at the edges. Hesitantly, she hissed out, “…Why do you do this to me?”
White Lily’s eyes softened, filled with sadness of her own and deep regret. “…I don’t know.”
…
After a beat of silence, Golden Cheese Cookie suddenly swooshed towards White Lily Cookie, getting a startled gasp in reply, her spear clanging to the ground as she used both hands to cup White Lily’s face and smash it against her own. The kiss was filled with intensity, tension, and so much longing that had built up over the many years the two had spent together and apart. Both ends deepened the kiss as White Lily leaned in, letting her breath be taken with the wind. Golden Cheese Cookie pressed deeper, her lips almost acting on their own but firm, as she took in White Lily’s embrace like the world itself was ending. The kiss lasted what felt like minutes, both cookies refusing to let the other one go, as if ending it would be the worst thing to ever happen. After a couple more savored moments, White Lily leaned back.
Golden Cheese stared deeply into White Lily Cookie’s eyes, sadness and pining graved into her expression. She said nothing, but her hands didn’t move away from White Lily’s face. Instead, they silently rubbed her cheeks, and White Lily closed her eyes and leaned into the contact. After a couple minutes of silence, both just enjoying the other’s presence, Golden Cheese whispered, “…Why? Why after so long, do you choose to do this to me?”
The repeated question hung heavily in the air, and White Lily Cookie sighed, leaning further into Golden Cheese’s gentle grip. “I wish I could tell you. I just needed to get it off my chest. I truly regret everything I’ve done. I have always loved you. Even as Dark Enchantress Cookie, I felt that longing for you. I just pushed it down and hid it instead of embracing it like I should’ve.” White Lily Cookie’s eyes fluttered open. “And for that, I’m even more sorry.” Golden Cheese Cookie said nothing, but she softly pressed another kiss on White Lily’s lips. This time, it was gentle; it was still filling with longing, but this time, it was soft and tender.
And so, the two stood there, in silence, basking in the warmth of each other’s arms. Nobody knew what tomorrow would hold. But for tonight, just for tonight, they don’t have to worry about that. They can just love each other, like it always should’ve been. They can just…be.