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The birds are chirping, old tunes perfected throughout generations.
They don't care for the end.
The leaves are rustling in the cool wind of April. They don't care for the end.
The sky evolves from pale yellow to light blue to a soft orange, and the days go on.
They don't care for the end.
Katherine takes Shelby's hands and raises one to kiss it softly, chapped lips delicate on her knuckles.
There's two similar golden bands on their ring fingers. They’re from an old clock, the mechanisms rusted and ancient.
The tower and the bells haven't rang in years, and if they did tomorrow, there would still be no one to hear it apart from Katherine and Shelby.
Glimmer Grove sits dormant, collecting dust and spiderwebs.
There's a cottage, not far from the ghost town, deeper in the country, where pine trees hover, sheep eat the grass and turkeys are wild.
It's where Katherine escaped, after the widespread deaths of her people.
It's where she lived the years after the Curse had taken the town and people and her.
It's still pretty, trapped in a bubble of time with magic, makes it look the same as it did.
Inside, the fireplace is crackling, warming up armchairs and the cross stitching projects they've yet to finish.
Dinner was beetroot soup and bread, then some wild berries.
Everything was cleaned up, everything is tidy and waiting for them to come back inside.
Katherine and Shelby are outside, sitting on the white bench they built together 20 years ago. Shelby had caught a splinter and Katherine had made a calming salve.
The night air is peaceful, owls hoot in the distance and the moon is rising ove the dark hills in the distance, barely visible through the thick of the trees.
Some wild animals have wandered nearby, attracted by the lights and the smell of food.
The world is waiting with baited breath, for a day that was long coming.
Katherine and Shelby, Princess and Witch, they hold each other with great love and have for centuries. Almost 500 years.
They marry under the stars, on the wooden porch, with only sheep and birds to witness.
The overhang is covered in greenery, yet moonlight passes through some cracks.
The pine and oak trees are thick around the cottage, giving them privacy and comfort.
The air smells of rain, the grounds littered with foliage and humus.
The lanterns and amethysts shards they hung reflect lilac light, while vines of wisteria and poison ivy grow and knot around the wooden beams of the patio.
Katherine is wearing an old white dress, cut and repurposed for the occasion. There's pink tulips stitched on the hems of the skirt and around the cleavage. One, too, is tucked behind her ear.
Their first meeting… In the Pink Tulip, where they dance and laughed and Katherine gifted the flower to Shelby.
Shelby is wearing one of Katherine's, cut and resized so she could fit in.
It's white and pastel pink. Soft, like meringue.
Shelby looks like a sun, absorbing the colors from the lanterns and smiling so wide.
She looks radiant under the moonlight, her pale hair absorbing its light to reflect it on the earth.
It's a very special night.
The path around the house is illuminated.
No monsters will come near.
Tomorrow, they'll leave for the Ocean Empire.
“Once we go, we may never return here” Katherine whispers, fearful and sorrowful.
Fingers lock under her chin and turn her face towards Shelby. Her eyes shine like gold, two coins of precious love.
Two suns, warming up Katherine's soul.
“My home resides in your heart. I'll follow you wherever, knowing that in your arms I'll find the walls of a bedroom, and in your smile happiness” Shelby declares, lips pink and cheeks flushing.
Katherine's hands tremble. She recites her own vows.
“You've kept me safe for centuries. We've shared nights of terror, and days of fun. You've known me before I was doomed to fell enemies not mine. You saw me bloody my hands and still you loved me”
A warm hand cups Katherine's cheek.
“The only way to help was to love you, and I did it. Because you were too precious to let go. Too precious to lose. I couldn't fathom what the world would turn to, if I let you die” Shelby whispers.
“You never treated me like the monster I was”
Shelby cups both her cheeks, squeezing them “You're not a monster, to me. You're a survivor, who, without choice, had to obey”
Katherine sobs, her own hands coming up to squeeze Shelby's.
“I loved you the moment I saw you, I've loved you ever since then. I love your mind and your spirit and your body. I love who you were, who you are and who you'll be.”
Katherine sobs again, her smile trembling. Her heart is weak at the sight of such a lovely being, who's loved her for centuries and Katherine has loved in turn.
“I've loved you for so long, I can't believe there was a time when we didn't know each other” the fairy whispers, sincerely.
Shelby laughs, kissing her nose.
“If we do die… In Death, we'll be able to say we were wives. We'll be able to meet again.” Katherine utters, looking down at their joined hands, their twin bands and then at Shelby's golden eyes again.
“I'll do everything in my power to make sure we don't die, not soon. And not for a war we've been fighting since our dawn”
“Promise?” Katherine exhales, heart wrenching.
“I promise.” Shelby nods, hands warm around the fairy's.
Katherine leans in, hugging her tight.
She whispers, breathless and scared, “I want to survive. I want to live, so I can still walk next to you. I want us to age together, to see a peaceful world.”
Shelby hugs her just as hard, arms steady and breath hot against her neck, hands caressing her nape and dark hair.
“You will. We shall”
The night sky overhead lights up with a shower of colorful shooting stars, and they observe, enraptured by the sight.
“To forever and more?” Katherine turns her head to the sky, then leans it back on her wife's shoulder. They're so warm like this, entangled under flowers and the sky.
Shelby's hand moves from her back, travelling up her shoulder, finger pushing on her cheek so she faces the witch again.
“To forever and more” Shelby murmurs against her lips.
It's a peaceful night.
Surrounded by nature, Katherine and Shelby are finally wives.