It's complicated...
On the day of Wizard competition
Justin slowly walked over towards his siblings. "You guys okay?"
"Good job, bro," Max said earnestly, albeit with a tinge of disappointment.
"I am really happy for you," Alex agreed, blinking back her tears.
Alex's words and her face were contradicting so he had to be sure this is what she wanted. "Do you mean it?"
"I really mean it," she replied trying to put on her best fake smile she could.
Unfortunately for Alex, that façade would have perfectly fooled anyone else but Justin saw right through it. Before Justin could say anything or do anything, she continued. "Nobody deserves it more than you. You are going to make a great wizard," she said with utmost sincerity.
He just smiled and turned around. He understood what was going on. She is sacrificing her happiness for my dream.
Justin was soon engulfed by his friends and family. Even though he was celebrating his mind was just not there.
Alex won it. She should be the family wizard not me. I should just come clean. He decided.
But soon his mind retorted. No, you can't do that. You can't let Alex use magic unsupervised. Do you know how many times she has gotten into trouble because of using magic? Every time she messes up you have to go fix it. Every time she gets into trouble you have to go save her. Think about it Justin, if she becomes the family wizard then its guaranteed that she will get into trouble and you as a mortal would not be able to do anything to save her. You would not be able to protect her. Can you risk losing Alex like that?
Sometimes… Justin just hates his mind. It is so damn logical.
It might hurt her now but you know that she will be safe and protected.
Justin was convinced and he decided to keep his mouth shut. It might look as if he was being selfish but he had a very justifiable reason to be selfish.
It was for her own good. He tried to convince himself.
Present day
Alex and Mason were sitting side by side on a bench at the park, holding hands. Mason was surprisingly quite today and that did not go well with Alex. Something was obviously bothering him and he wasn't talking. After thinking of various witty and suave ways of asking what was wrong, she simply decided to bluntly ask, "Mason, just spit it out. What's wrong?"
Mason hesitated for a while before starting. "Alex, I don't get it. Why did you do it?"
"Do what?" she asked, confused. Alex is known for doing nothing, and now she was accused of doing something? Preposterous.
"Alex, why did you throw it all away? You had almost won the Wizard Competition but then you went back to help Justin and…" he paused for a second before continuing, "…and you lost the competition."
For once in her life, Alex stayed quite.
"You knew it all along that if you lose the wizard competition then we can't be together. I thought being together meant the world to you. You gave up your entire future to help Justin. You gave up on us for him," Mason said, knowing well that this was a sensitive topic. But he had to know.
A long and awkward silence ensued.
She took a deep breath and replied, "When I saw Justin's leg stuck into that tree root, at first, I was happy. I was happy that I would win the family wizard competition. I was happy that I would get to keep my powers. I was happy that I would be able to be with you. But when I saw his face…"
She gulped, trying to suppress her tears before starting again, "When I saw his face I saw hurt. I saw pain. I saw desperation. I saw a boy who had always dreamt of becoming a wizard. I was a boy who had worked day and night in pursuit of that dream. I saw a boy who had protected me from the moment I learned how to walk. I saw a boy who cared for me, who broke rules for me, and who suffers for me through his entire life. That's when I realized that I couldn't do it. I had no heart to shatter his dreams for the sake of my happiness."
Grabbing Mason's hand before wiping her tears, she continued in a soft, shaky voice. "I knew it that I would be miserable and lonely without you. But I couldn't do it to Justin. I am so sorry Mason." She confessed as more tears trickled down from her eyes.
"It's okay, Alex," he said, wrapping his left arm around her shoulder to comfort her. "You did a very noble thing. You were willing to sacrifice you happiness for your brother's dream."
"Besides, there is this little fact that he actually helped me when I was trapped really badly in the maze. But unlike that idiot, I am not going to come out and say that in public," she finished her sentence with a chuckle.
"You know, Alex, I really don't understand you and Justin."
"Don't try. Even we don't understand each other," she said jokingly, slightly regaining her jolly mood.
"I mean you guys are always at each other's throat," Mason pointed out. "You guys act as if you can't stand each other but you can also not live without each other. You guys try everything possible to make each other's life miserable. But when Justin is actually miserable you can't stand that and you do all sort of crazy things to make him feel better, and you don't get satisfied until he is happy."
Making each other miserable… that's what we do best.
A wide grin formed on her face because this was the question she could totally answer, or so she thought. "Well duh! Justin exists to make my life boring and miserable. All he ever talks about is rules, responsibilities, compassion, manners, all the sciences, and aliens… god, that guy is the personification of boredom. I hate him so much that I actually enjoy making his life miserable. I get this sense of victory when I make him feel miserable, which is different from him being miserable because of his relationship issues or weather or WizTech or whatever else. But when Justin is actually miserable, he gets super-boring and super-annoying and I can't stand that. Besides, if he is already miserable, then I can make him more miserable so I have to actually help him to make things better, so that I can ruin it all over again. And knowing that I am the cunning one who masterfully manipulated everything to make his life miserable, this all eventually leads to sense of satisfaction, and that leads to happiness."
"Oooooh… I get it," Mason said tentatively, more out of fear of annoying Alex then actually 'getting it.' But then he just shrugged and admitted, "Ya, I still don't get it. I mean you were willing to sacrifice all your magical powers just to so he can be happy instead of you."
That idiot did the same for me.
"I really don't understand you and Justin," Mason repeated, shaking his head.
Honestly… even we don't understand each other.
"It's complicated," Alex said with a smile.
On the day of Wizard competition
"I am so proud of you. You did so great," Juliet said with compassion and gave Justin a hug.
Justin returned her hug, but something did not feel right in his heart. He kept on telling himself that this was for Alex's own good. She will be safer without magic.
Even though he was hugging Juliet, his eyes were fixated on Alex.
Alex looked at Mason with sadness visible her eyes and on her face. "You know that since I didn't win," she paused for a second to blink away her tears, "We can't be together." Hurt and pain was more evident in her voice than she showed on her face.
She was a strong women and Justin always admired that about her.
"In my heart we will," Mason replied in his romantic charm.
Alex hugged Mason as tears trickled down her face. They both knew that this was the end of their fairytale. No happily ever after, after all.
Justin couldn't look at it anymore and turned his head away with a feeling of guilt burning inside him.
The music started playing in the background and Justin knew it was his queue to go up to Professor Crumbs to receive his wizardship.
Justin kneeled down in front of Professor Crumbs almost automatically as his mind was elsewhere.
Justin how can you do this to Alex? She is your sister. She deserves to be happy. Isn't that what you always wanted, for her to be happy?
Justin looked at Alex as she wiped off her tears. He watched her struggle trying to put her best smile for this momentous occasion for him.
That's when he realized that he had to trust her. He had to trust her with magic. Maybe he was just being too over-protective.
Look Alex might be unruly, lazy, spontaneous, and adventurous, but her heart is in the right place. When it really matters she would always put her family and friends before herself. Maybe instead of teaching her, it's time to trust her.
Professor Crumbs started, "It is with great pride I hereby confer full wizardship on Justin Vincenzo Pepé Russo…"
Justin looked up to Professor Crumbs as he announced his name. This is the moment he had been waiting for his entire life. This is the moment he had dreamt for.
Then he looked at Alex. This was the moment she was dreading for her entire life. It was a moment where she would be separated from her lover.
The look of hurt and agony on her face made his heart sink. To him, Alex looked wounded and hurt and the worst part was that he was the one causing that pain.
If I go through this, there is no way I would be able to live with myself. I can't destroy her life, her happiness, just to fulfill my dream. I managed a week without magic. I am sure I can handle living without it for rest of my life.
Just as the magic from Professor Crumb's wand was about to touch Justin he jumped back, "Wait."
The entire room silenced.
"Wait," he repeated. "I can't accept this," he confessed and then gulped.
Now the entire room was shocked and confused. The chorus of 'what', 'what's going on', 'why', filled the ambient noise.
He looked at Alex and their eyes meet. There was no communication needed. She knew what he was thinking. He broke away the eye contact and stood up to face Professor Crumbs.
"What do you mean?" Professor Crumbs asked his being equally confused as everyone else in the room.
"Justin, don't do this," she pleaded, knowing fully well what he was about to do.
"I have to." The words were simple, but he sounded broken. Their eyes locked once again and Justin carried on, "I have to tell everyone what happened."
Alex continued to stare at him, shaking her head, begging him to stop. But he could tell that somewhere, a small part of her was rejoicing and thanking him ten times over.
"Alex was just ahead of me going into the tunnel of mist. She got through the lasers and was headed towards the finish line when I got caught in a tree root. I kept pulling but it was no use. I thought it was over. Alex was about to cross the finish line, but then she came back," he narrated.
Seeing Justin in pain tugged few strings of her heart. Almost automatically she rushed to Justin's aid.
"What are you doing?" he asked in shock.
"I don't want to win this way," she said with determination and continued assisting him.
They had finally managed to free his leg from the tree root when Max joined them.
"What's going on?" he asked unsure of, well, pretty much everything, actually.
"The finish line is right there." That's all that needed to be said. They looked at each other and made a mad dash for the finish line.
"My sister would have won the competition," he declared to the audience. A boat load of guilt vanished from his heart as he said those words. He stared straight at her as he finished, "She came back to help me."
He walked towards Alex and said sincerely, "I think you are the one who deserves it." There were so many things he wanted to say; there were so many things she wanted to say; but the words would not come out.
They looked at each other and they both understood that no words were necessary.
"Is this true Alex?" Professor Crumbs asked with a minor hint of surprise in his voice.
Instead of replying to Professor Crumbs she just turned around to face Justin. She had to be sure this is what he wanted. Unable to form a coherent sentence all she was able to say was, "Justin,"
Her eyes were asking him to tell what she was supposed to do. She needed to know. Justin understood her confusion and assured her, "It's okay. You deserve this more than anyone."
You deserve to be happy.
"I um…" he paused for a second and smiled before continuing, "I think you are going to make a great wizard."
Looking at him smiling genuinely she knew this is what he wanted. It did not make her feel guilty for taking away his dream.
She smiled to Justin. He turned her around and pushed her towards Professor Crumbs.
"Very well," the old man started in his authoritative voice, "I decree that Alex Russo is officially the Russo family wizard." He brought his wand towards her head as the light from his ward radiated through Alex's body. The unfathomable magic surged through her body as she smiled to her heart's content.
Somewhere in the back of the crowd, Justin smiled knowing that he had done the right thing.
For once in his life, losing made him happy.
Present day
Somewhere in the same park, Justin and Juliet were sitting side by side on another bench, holding hands. Neither of them were talking much so Justin decided to break the ice, "Juliet, what might thou be pondering about?"
"Justin, I don't understand. Why did you do it?" she finally asked, ignoring his ridiculous Ye Old English.
"Do what?" he asked, confused. He does so many things that she would have to be more specific than that.
"Justin, why did you throw it all away? You had almost won the Wizard Competition but then you gave it up for Alex and…" she paused for a second before continuing, "…and you lost the competition."
For once in his life Justin wasn't sure where to start.
"You knew that winning the competition was the only way for us to be together. And I really thought that being with me was the most important thing to you. But you jeopardized our entire future just for Alex. You gave up on us for her," Juliet said with a hint of irritation, still fully aware that this was a sensitive topic. But she had to know.
A long and awkward silence ensued.
He took a deep breath and started, "When I was about to receive my power, I was so excited. I was happy that I would finally be able to fulfill my dream. I was happy that I would win the family wizard competition. I was happy that I would get to keep my powers and all my hard work was about to be paid off. I was happy that I would be able to be with you. But when I saw her face…"
He gulped before starting again, "When I saw her face I saw hurt. I saw pain. I saw desperation. I saw a little girl who had always dreamt of living a life of a fairytale. I was a little girl who had always dreamt of living happily ever after. I saw a little girl who loved magic more than anything in her life. Magic made her feel alive. It made her truly happy. That's when I realized that I couldn't do it. I had no heart to take away her happiness for the sake of fulfilling my dream."
He grabbed Juliet's hand before saying, "I knew I would be lonely and heartbroken without you. But I couldn't do it to Alex. I am so sorry Juliet." He confessed as few tears escaped from his eyes.
"It's alright, Justin," she said, wrapping his left hand around him to comfort. "What you did was very honorable. You were willing to sacrifice your dream for your sister's happiness."
"Besides, there is this little fact that she actually helped me win the competition. I wouldn't have won it first place had she not helped me. I couldn't live with the guilt…" he drifted off without finishing his sentence.
"You know, Justin, I really don't understand you and Alex. You guys are always fighting with each other pretending that you don't care for each other. You guys try everything possible to make each other's life miserable. But when Alex is actually miserable you freak, you panic, you break rules, you fix her mistakes, you save from trouble, and you don't get relax until she is happy."
Making each other miserable… that's what we do best.
Now this was a question Justin could answer, or so he thought. He cleared his throat and started in his Professor Russo tone, "It's very simple. Alex exists to make my life miserable. So the more miserable she is, the harder she tried to make my life miserable to make herself feel better. On the other hand, the happier she is, the less diligently she tried to make my life miserable. But in order to feel the sense of victory over her, I have to make her life miserable, which is often accompanied by a sense of guilt and paradoxically enough with a sense of gratification by the knowledge that I actively made her life miserable, which is totally different then her being miserable from the set of unfortunate circumstances which she usually ends up in. So if I help her get out of her circumstances-induced misery, then I can actively cause misery in her life as part of my revenge for causing years of distress in my life, which in turn leads to satisfaction, which eventually leads to happiness."
"Oooooh… I get it," Juliet said with uncertainty, more out of a reflex then actually 'getting it.' For a second Justin was happy that he finally found a student who was able to keep up with his lecture. But then Juliet busted his bubble and said, "Ya, I still don't get it. I have no idea how you guys work. I mean you were willing to sacrifice all your magical powers just to so that she can be happy instead of you."
That silly girl did the same for me.
"I really don't understand you and Alex," Juliet said, shaking her head.
Honestly… even we don't understand each other.
"It's complicated," Justin said with a smile.
Justin and Alex.
They made each other strong and they were each other's weakness.
They love causing distress in each other's life, yet they can't bear to see each other's sorrow.
They fight as if they don't care for each other, yet they would fight against the world for each other.
They would not like to be associated with each other, yet they would not be identified without each other.
They would love make each other's life miserable, yet they would sacrifice anything and everything to make each other happy.
They were so different from each other, yet they complemented each other perfectly.
One thing that they would both agree on is that they made each other's life complete.
They both knew that they were not normal. There was something always so forbidden, yet something alluring about their relationship. They both knew that they shared a bond with each other that was very unique. It's a bond which is very hard to describe or define.
It's complicated.
Perhaps, this is the best and the only way to describe the dynamic relationship of Justin and Alex Russo.
A/N: Please take a moment to post review. I would love to hear your thoughts on this fiction.
Very special thanks to a good friend of mine blueSKIES247 who did beta-reading for this fiction.
Drop a line in the review if you like the story.
Thanks for reading :)