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Mira stood quietly at Rumi's door, looming like a thunderstorm. It had only been a few hours since they'd sealed the Honmoon for good, their blades and voices coning together in perfect, practiced harmony. Together and clothed in angelic white, their greatest triumph.
It had also only been a few hours since Rumi's secret was finally revealed. Her girls, betrayed. The world at stake. Fractured, the Honmoon and their bond shattered like glass, and they almost lost it all.
Mira's chest tightened, reaching for the doorframe to hold her steady. She blanched at how terribly things could have gone and how close they were to watching the world burn, how close they came to truly losing Rumi. It was unthinkable.
She'd felt something was wrong in the weeks prior, of course, because Mira noticed everything. She had immediately felt the shifts in Rumi's demeanor, to the point where Mira felt it necessary to confront Rumi about it multiple times despite preparing for the biggest show of their lives. If only Rumi felt she could have been truthful with them. With her. They were supposed to be family.
"I can feel you staring," Rumi said, back still to Mira as she unlaced her knee-high boots. "Are you going to come in? I know we have a lot to talk about..."
"I mean, if you want..." Mira mumbled, venturing inside. She didn't flop onto Rumi's bed as she usually did, keeping her distance with her arms folded across her chest and her expression sullen. Like a cat, Mira just watched her, as she always did.
Despite being observed so closely, Rumi moved freely, loosely, like she had just stretched after a long road trip. Like a baby bird that had just spread its wings. She looked… good, better than good, patterns shimmering as she slipped off her boots. Guilt clawed at Mira's chest, along with the hurt and the runny ink of bitterness that seemed to leak out into the ends of her fingertips, seeping into the frown that sat on her face.
Unable to contain a scoff, Mira said, "How did I not see it? How could I be so blind?" Her voice threatened to crack despite the efforts to stay even, stay stoic.
Rumi, eyes already glassy, glanced at her over her shoulder, not yet ready to fully face her. "Please don't, Mira..."
"It's so obvious now, and I missed it."
Rumi sighed, shoulders slumping. Every word Mira had ever spoken carried weight, but this felt especially heavy. Like a tidal wave knocking at her door. Ashamed, and admittedly a little afraid, Rumi did not respond.
"Can you at least look at me?" She begged. Rumi obeyed, turning slowly as if she didn't want to spook the other woman.
For a long moment Mira studied her, face unreadable. She took a half step forward, stopped herself. Reached out, put her hands in her pockets. She rocked back on her heels.
Rumi allowed the leering, sliding off her bracelets and placing them on her nightstand. She struggled to unclasp one of her chains, and in an instant Mira was behind her, lowly asserting, "Let me help you."
It wasn't an offer. It wasn't a question. It was, 'if I couldn't help you then, at least let me help you now'. Or perhaps it was control. An excuse to get close without seeming vulnerable.
Silently, they sat on the edge of Rumi's bed as Mira reverently moved her intricate purple braid out of harm's way. She bit her lip in concentration, hands unbelievably gentle for how lethal they could be. Mira undid the necklace, catching it before it could fall into Rumi's lap.
With her hair and chain out of the way, the patterns were on full display, creeping up her shoulders and covering her arms in a beautiful mosaic. And they were beautiful— a stark contrast to everything Mira had been taught and thought she knew about demons. That they were hateful, ugly creatures, with their only purpose being to meet their demise at the end of her blade.
Her entire worldview was shaken, and admittedly, so was her trust in Rumi. But mostly, her surety in herself. Mira prided herself on her perception, her instincts, but look how easily she had been fooled.
"For years, Rumi..." Mira mumbled lowly. She didn't mean to harp on it, but it was the only thought she could verbalize. That she was hurt and didn't understand why. "You hid this, hid you, for years."
Rumi took a long breath, relaxing as Mira continued to undo her jewelry, guilty at how much solace she took in it. "I know. I'm sorry."
Mira couldn't care less about apologies right now. She wanted answers. "Why didn't you trust us with it? Trust me?"
"It wasn't about that, Mira. It's not about trust, or about you. This was different, it was... I don't know. I'm different."
"You know you could've told me. I would've understood."
Rumi bristled at the insistence. "Really? Is that why you pulled your weapons on me?"
Mira hissed in protest, a low grumble. “Oh, come on. We could never hurt you. Zoey could barely hold up her shin-kal. We were just in shock and... scared, honestly. It was a lot to take in, Rumi."
"I'm a lot. I know."
"Don't self martyr. Not now." Her anger flared, but Rumi could handle it. She never cowered from Mira's intensity. "I'm still dealing with the fact that the last seven years of my life were a lie. That my- my best friend wasn't who she claimed to be. Rumi, I thought it was over. It was really too good to be true."
"Mira..."
"You two are all I have! You're all I've ever had. So feeling like I could lose you without even knowing why— Rumi, that's why I was pressing so hard. I could feel us breaking apart. I wasn't about to lose what we had without a fight. I asked and I pleaded, and you still wouldn't let me in."
Rumi stayed silent, at least for now. She knew better than to interrupt a Mira rant, as it would all come out one way or another. Better to let her have at it now.
A tear fell down Mira's cheek, dropping onto Rumi's shoulder. "It took me so, so long to finally let myself feel comfortable with you two. I know Celine thought I was a ticking time bomb, that she couldn't believe such a difficult person was actually chosen. I was so on edge, constantly, just waiting for you and Zoey to be ripped away from me. And you know what changed that?"
Rumi wiped her tear, transcendent voice barely even a whisper. "What, Mira?"
"You did!" Mira took a moment to compose herself, hand covering her mouth as if she was shocked at the pain in her own words. Rumi could feel her struggling to keep her breathing under control. "You both did. You made me feel like I actually belonged. For the first time in my life I could just be me, and have it be enough. So, yeah, when I felt you drifting away... I clung harder. It's all I knew how to do."
At the strained sob that escaped Mira's mouth, Rumi turned, pulling her into her chest so quickly she was afraid she may crush her. She ran a patterned hand over her pink hair, gently shushing her. "I'm here, Mira."
Mira reached more desperately for Rumi than she even thought possible, arms tight around her waist, face buried in her chest. "I just- I never want to be that lonely kid again."
"No more secrets," Rumi promised. "No more lies. You have me. I'm with you, and I'm not going anywhere."
Taking a steadying breath into her shuddering chest, Mira nodded, not protesting when Rumi gently led her up to lay against the headboard. Her long legs nearly reached the foot of the bed, white and gold boots still shining.
It took a moment for Mira to relax, to release the vice grip she had on Rumi's collar. Her knuckles were white, hands shaking. Rumi held her through it, offering what little support she felt she could give. For Mira, it was enough.
Mira had only cried, really cried, like this a handful of times, at least from what Rumi saw. Mira was extremely aware of her emotions and knew when to ask for- or take- support, or she would hide away for a few hours, punching a boxing bag or mashing angrily at a keyboard to decompress. It was rare that Mira truly fell apart like this, stoic mask cracking. She was always so strong, such an intimidating and sure presence. She was a lighthouse that Rumi and Zoey relied on.
But given enough time, even the strongest of statues crumbled.
Rumi helped pick up the pieces she broke, shushing her, holding her. It was unclear how much of her whispers Mira even heard, but she recognized the intent, and slowly her cresting wave of emotion broke evenly on the shore.
"Can I ask you a question?" Mira ventured, voice raw. Her cheek brushed against the cold metal of Rumi's zipper as she looked up at her.
"Of course."
"What the hell happened on stage? You seemed relieved to see us, but..."
Rumi winced. "It was so awful, Mira. The two people I trust the most betraying me on the biggest stage. Revealing my patterns, my lies, to all those people. To the whole world. It was humiliating."
Mira squeezed her hip, wishing for a moment Gwi-Ma wasn't sealed away so she could kill him again. "We were up there? Me and Zoey?"
"Yeah, but it was an illusion. Demons."
"Zoey and I ran into demon Bobby. It was terrifying. It's how he lured us away from the stage."
"Oh..." Rumi said, face falling at the memory of what happened next. She rested her chin on the crown of Mira's head, brows cinched together. "Realizing I was there alone, that everything was falling apart..."
"I'm sorry we weren't fast enough. I would've smashed demon Mira's incredibly hot face for you. I probably couldn't hurt demon Zoey, though..."
"Where is Zoey, anyway?"
A smile briefly tugged at her lips at the mention of her maknae. "Decompressing for a little. I told her I was coming to talk to you, to absolutely nobody's surprise."
Rumi managed a short chuckle. "Add 'doesn't beat around the bush' to short-fused and highly aggressive."
"I'm sure she's coming soon, though. She wanted to give us space."
"Mm."
Mira ran a hand along her shoulder, rings reflecting the slight shimmer in Rumi's patterns as she traced them. Her touch was ghosting, like the edges of her patterns were pieces of broken glass. "These are pretty badass."
"I should've known you'd like them."
"How do you even— why do you have them? Were you cursed or something? Made a deal with Gwi-Ma to take us to the top of the charts?"
"I viewed it as a curse, I guess, but my father was a demon. So here I am, half-hunter, half-demon."
"Rumi, what?"
Mira sounded more shocked than Rumi expected, drawing her eyes. The taller woman's expression was pained, gaze piercing. Still, Mira let her hands roam freely across the roadmap of Rumi's patterns. Her touch grew bolder, more sure.
Rumi looked down at her, eyes growing heavy, tired. "What is it?"
"I just... that's such an easy explanation. You couldn't control any of that, you didn't choose it. Zoey and I both know fucked up family dynamics pretty well. You didn't think I'd understand that?"
"Mira, please, I told you it wasn't about that. Even before I met you, I was taught to keep this part of me locked away. I was dangerous and needed to be fixed. All I had to do was turn the Honmoon gold, and I would be free. All of my shame gone in an instant."
"Still..." Mira mumbled, losing her conviction. It was difficult to be mad at Rumi when she was willing to be this vulnerable, holding Mira so closely and baring her soul, her marks. "I'm sorry you had to lock all of that away for so long. I only wish Zoey and I could've helped you carry it."
"You did. You didn't know it, but you did. You may not have seen my patterns until now, but you had all of me. You still do."
Mira kissed her bare bicep in appreciation, not sure what else to say. As she quietly sat up to undo the last of Rumi's earrings, she noticed a few strands of her braid coming loose, evoking memories of Rumi stumbling off the stage looking like a wounded animal. Her eyes had been crazed, spacey, chest heaving. It made Mira shiver, hands freezing.
"Are you okay, Mira?" Rumi asked softly.
"I don't know," she replied truthfully. "I just can't stop thinking about you coming down those stairs. How it felt in that moment realizing I was right. I've never hated being right before."
The memory, though fresh, was one Rumi knew would linger. Mira and Zoey backing away from her, terrified. The disbelief and uncertainty in Zoey's face, and pure heartbreak and anger in Mira's. Rumi could still hear the wobbly 'I knew it' echoing in her mind.
"I never wanted to hurt you two," Rumi continued, tilting Mira's chin up. "I should've told you ages ago, and I wanted to for so long, but Celine always—"
"Oh my God," Mira cut in. "Celine knew?"
"I— yes, Celine has known since I was born."
It was a twist of the knife. "Fuck, of course she has. Even Jinu knew before us."
"He found out by accident, if it helps."
"It doesn't. Okay, maybe a little," Mira sneered. "But, God, the next time I see Celine..." What was almost certainly a threat stopped short as Mira caught a little shadow at the door, timid and hesitant. "Hey, baby, you can come in."
Zoey padded over, one of Mira's oversized hoodies draped over her. The pink-haired hunter reached for her, pulling Zoey into her side as she crawled into bed. Mira pressed a consoling kiss to the side of her cheek and a brief one to her lips, whispering something that Zoey smiled at.
Rumi watched them, slightly jealous but knowing it was unjustified. When Rumi had become so distant, how could they not turn to each other?
"What about Celine?" Zoey asked, sounding like she had been crying.
"She knew," Mira said, equal parts venom and betrayal coating her words. "She knew the entire time."
"Oh."
The silence was awkward, filled only with Zoey's intermittent sniffling. Mira stroked along her arm, Zoey nearly in her lap. Rumi sat with her hands folded, missing Mira's warmth.
"It- it makes sense, though," Zoey finally imparted, wiping her nose with her too-long sleeve. "Celine knowing. I'm sure she didn't want you telling anyone, even us."
"She didn't," Rumi said, remembering all the times she'd begged to reveal her secret, finally share the burden she'd been carrying, and how many times Celine had solemnly said no. "Still, I should've told you two. It's not like we've never defied her before. I'm sorry I kept it from you for so long. I didn't want you finding out like that."
"You didn't want us finding out at all," Mira countered, honest but without malice. "Which I get. Celine was in your ear. It's not as easy for you to defy her as it would've been for me, princess."
"We need to talk to her soon," said Zoey. "And I mean really talk to her. This is... it's a lot. I have a lot of questions."
"Yeah." Mira's jaw tightened. "I have more than questions."
Rumi grimaced. "Yeah, um… maybe we should... I don't know. Let's wait to talk to Celine."
"What?" Zoey asked, confused. "Why? Don't we want everything in the open?"
"Well, yeah, I guess— just, maybe we can wait in that. At least with her."
Mira's lip curled, venom rising in her throat. Rumi fumbled for an explanation of her too-quick answer, but could do nothing but stare guiltily at her hands.
Mira's eyes darkened, intently trained on Rumi. "What else happened?"
Rumi's head snapped up. "What?"
"Something else happened. Between you and Celine. Lay it out in the open, Rumi. No more secrets."
"Um..." the half-demon didn't know where to start. Tearing up, Rumi truly felt just how tired she was. Her body ached, mind fatigued, but she couldn't put the conversation off any longer. She could only imagine how Mira would react if she proposed to continue this in the morning.
Without words, Zoey offered a hand, and Rumi took it without hesitation. Turning her arm over, the lyricist studied Rumi's patterns with more wonder than Mira had, more curiosity. Zoey was always more forgiving, less jaded by the sting of betrayal.
For her part, though, Mira did put a hand on Rumi's knee, offering her usual stoic support.
Rumi looked to her girls and took a deep breath. "After I left Idol Awards, I went to Celine. I don't even know why, just... she was the only person I could think of. I felt like I had ruined everything, all that my mother and generations of hunters had worked for. The golden Honmoon was at my fingertips..." her breath caught. "But it was slipping away before my eyes. So I went to her."
"And?" Mira prompted. Zoey seemed too anxious to speak, free hand clutched over her heart.
"And I asked her to fix it— to end it. To put an end to me. I- I offered her my sword, I begged her, but she—"
"God, Rumi!" Zoey cried, all but leaping into her arms. Rumi fell back against her mountain of pillows, shocked as Zoey sobbed into the crook of her neck.
Mira scooted closer, sullen. She sat shoulder to shoulder with Rumi, any hint of anger extinguished for the moment. Their decadent white outfits felt gauche, gold accents almost morbid.
"Rumi..." Mira said, but fell short of anything else. What could she possibly say to that, other than, "Rumi, I love you, and I'm glad she didn't go through with it. I'm— fuck, you didn't ruin anything."
Zoey's incomprehensibly garbled response seemed to be affirming, but her cries did not subside. And they probably wouldn't until she drifted to uneasy sleep, so Mira offered to take her, feeling as though Rumi had dealt with enough for one day. Not that Zoey was ever something to be dealt with, but Zoey was hers, and for now Mira liked feeling helpful, feeling strong.
The visual held Zoey against her, stroking her hair to anchor her through the sobs. She couldn't imagine crying this hard against her bedazzled outfit was comfortable, but Zoey didn't care about that. The poor girl just whined, burrowing further into Mira.
"God, we should've changed, Rumi," Mira mumbled, kissing Zoey on the temple.
Rumi took her hand, agreeing. "But I'm so tired I don't think I could walk another step."
Mira squeezed her hand, firm and reassuring. She still had a lot of questions, a lot of pain, but for now she was satisfied. All was not forgiven, but Mira looked into Rumi’s eyes and knew everything was going to work itself out. Rumi was here, still hers, and they could go from there. Together.
For what felt like hours, Mira held Zoey steady until her sad little sobs turned to snores, and though Mira’s chest still ached, she was glad her maknae would at least try to get some rest. Mira's lips ghosted along her hairline. "She'll want to talk to you in the morning."
Rumi nodded sadly. "I know."
"I probably should've waited, let us ride out that rainbow Honmoon high..."
"But you couldn't," Rumi finished. "I know."
"You know us," Mira said idly, just a mundane statement of fact.
"I know you, Mira. I knew you would want to talk tonight, and... I knew if anyone was going to figure out my secret, it would've been you."
"I came pretty close."
"Yeah." The half-demon sighed, partly content and mostly tired. "What did you think I was hiding, like, if you had to guess?"
"A really ugly birthmark," Mira joked, laugh soon losing steam lest she disturb Zoey. "I don't know. That you had made a deal with Jinu, or something. Which I guess you did. I was just jealous of him, really."
"Jealous of Jinu? Why?"
"Like you said, he knew before we did. It felt like he got a part of you that we didn't. I... I didn't like that. Feeling deprived."
Rumi hoped the dim lighting hid her blush. "I don't know how you can feel deprived. You look like you've got your hands full."
Possessive, Mira held Zoey tighter. "I do, but... we wanted you, too. Still do. I guess that's a conversation for the morning."
Rumi nodded. It was sensible. They were really in no shape to even be awake right now, much less talking about subjects with such weight. But on the other hand, this felt easy. Falling asleep together, in each other's arms.
"Yeah..." Rumi said, kissing a sleeping Zoey lightly on the cheek before looking up to Mira, expectant. "In the morning."
Mira gazed searingly back down at her. She was always so intense, either a burning flame or a chilling frost. She never did anything halfway, and this would be no exception. Eyes asking for permission, and receiving a nod in return, Mira leaned in and pressed Rumi's lips to hers.
It was effectively a good night kiss, brief and noncommittal, but it felt like a promise. Mira exhaled with relief, biting her lip. Rumi squeezed her hand, wishing she could do the same for Zoey. Sweet Zoey.
“You should get some sleep, too,” Rumi mumbled.
Mira looked halfway comatose already. Sleep always made her softer, smoother her rough edges. Her eyes lost their glinting suspicion and calculation, glossing over. Her scowl melted, replaced with something resembling sadness. Holding Zoey like this and being as tired as she was, sleep was soon coming.
“You should too,” Mira managed.
Rumi pulled her sheets up over Zoey’s back, covering them both. “Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s all I do…” she yawned. “Rumi?”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad you’re still here.”
Rumi could only smile, soft and rueful. She settled in next to Mira, closing her eyes with a long sigh.
One little conversation didn’t fix everything, but it was a start. Rumi was thankful for Mira’s insistence, her refusal to let any thought go unsaid. She was grateful her Zoey, for her big emotions and bleeding heart. Her girls.
More peaceful than she could’ve imagined a few hours ago, Rumi drifted off, consoled by the fact that even though she had broken everything, shattered her life into a million pieces, the girls next to her would always be by her side to pick up the pieces, undeterred by the jagged edges or blinding stained glass.
They couldn’t go back to how they were before, but they could build something better in top of it. Something deeper, fuller. And they would build it together, no more secrets, no more lies. And for that, Rumi couldn’t wait.