It was the 22nd of December and there was a party going on. It was the Winter Solstice and, due to the large amount of witches in Circle Daybreak, there were three parties in under a fortnight at the home of Thierry Descouedres. The current one was for the Solstice, and then in a few days there would be a Christmas one, and then, a week later, a New Years one. Everyone was in the common room (that had been converted into a ballroom for the next few nights), dancing and enjoying themselves.
Everyone except Ash.
Sitting upstairs on a comfy chair next to a balcony overlooking the common room, Ash was lonely. Looking down he could see James and Poppy, absorbed in each others eyes, Lord Thierry and Lady Hannah, him stroking her birthmark tenderly, and even Rashel and Quinn, doing something that was somewhere between dancing and a method of fighting. It looked artistic and slightly dangerous; people were giving them a wide berth.
Everyone with their soulmates. Ash was the only one alone.
He had written to Mary-Lynette at the year mark of their meeting. He had been busy with Circle Daybreak work and knew she would understand. That hadn't made it any easier. She had written back, commending his choice. He could tell she had struggled just as much as he had. That didn't make it easier either.
A new song came on the stereo as Ash got up and moved onto the outside balcony. It was colder than usual, but as they were in Nevada, it was still warm. Leaning on the railings, Ash caught on to the song drifting through the open French windows.
"Nobody ought to be, all alone on Christmas…"
Darlene Love had it right. He missed Mary-Lynette. He missed her badly. Looking up at the sky, he thought of the last thing he had said to her. And now, he hoped she remembered.
And maybe, just maybe, she would be looking up, and thinking of him too.
