I walked across an empty land

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

"Bye Mom! I'll see you Sunday." Alex called over her shoulder as she walked out of the Sub Station. She didn't understand why her mom was still so clingy. Alex wasn't a child anymore. She was an adult in every sense of the word. She supported herself by selling her paintings, she owned her own apartment, she'd let go of all childhood things, including the magic she loved so much. The only thing she still held onto was Mason. She held onto his memory tightly, never able to completely let him go. If she'd wanted to and put in all her effort she could've easily moved on, left him as her first love who she only vaguely remembered. But the 26 year old just couldn't do it. He was all around her even though it'd been years since she'd last seen him. Every time she heard an English accent she searched for his brown hair. If she saw one of those stupid dogs in American history paintings she checked the signature. And every wolf she'd ever seen in her life was reminiscent of him. The entire Russo family thought she'd moved on. Justin was the only person she thought might know how she was feeling. What she was going through.

Years before at the family wizard competition, when she was 19 and happy as she'd ever remember being, Mason had held her close to him. He wrapped a lock of dark hair around his finger and kissed her forehead. "Whatever happens Alex, I'll always love you." She said it back to him, before disappearing into the lair. Being the gentleman he was, he waited there. He drank iced tea and his fingers kept going to his pocket to make sure the ring was still there. Alex emerged defeated and heartbroken. Mason hid his disappointment well. He congratulated Justin and while the rest of the family left to celebrate, he dragged the crying Alex upstairs. He tried to make her walk but ended up carrying his sobbing girlfriend into her room. He laid her on the bed and curled up beside her letting her cry. "I'm so sorry Mason, I screwed up. We can't be together now." Mason rubbed her back and kissed her forehead until she had calmed down and her breathing returned to almost normal. "Mason, we can't be together. The wizard council… The rule… I'm so sorry." Her voice held immense strength, but her eyes betrayed her. The bright glow of happiness had disappeared leaving her with a dull hopelessness. He sighed, "We don't have to think about that right now Alex. We have time. Surely wizards get time to tie up loose ends before they give there powers to their sibling after they win, right?"

"No, I've got 2 hours before I have to be in the lair ready to give up my powers. And you." Alex sighed dejectedly. There was nothing she could do and she knew it. It was something Mason never thought would happen. She wouldn't give them up with out a fight…Would she? The poor Brit didn't have much time to ponder this before she suddenly hopped up, grabbed his hand and he felt the all too familiar (although still uncomfortable) feeling of her flashing them somewhere. When his feet hit solid ground he released the breath he'd been holding. When his eyes opened he realized that with the flash of her red wand they were suddenly at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Alex looked down at her cell phone, and then back up at him. "Alright we have roughly an hour and forty minutes to live what would have been the rest of our lives together." Mason leaned down to kiss her, but they were interrupted by a loud crash.

The couple turned to look and found that Justin had knocked over a garbage can when he flashed in. "Alex? What are you doing?" Justin looked shocked. "Me and Mason are about to live out what was going to be the rest of our lives together. We've got like an hour and thirty-nine minutes now." Alex was clearly annoyed with her brother. He was intruding on her precious Mason time. "Alex that's a bad idea. And how much could you possibly have to live with him? You guys are teenagers. You could have broken up a week from today." Alex walked up to Justin and slapped him across the face. "I thought you of all people would know how Mason and I feel. Especially now that I have to let him go." Venom shot from her eyes. Mason took a step forward to lay his hand across the small of her back. He knew it wasn't his place to speak, but still wanted her to know that he supported her.

Justin staggered back for a moment, surprised by the force his little sister possessed. "Alex. I know it's insensitive. But I'm speaking statistically. And I know you probably don't want to hear it but this is only hurting you. And I don't want you to feel that hope I felt when I thought Juliet was back, only to have to let go all over again. Your just tricking yourself into actually thinking you can have him when really can't." Justin sighed, these things never came out right. He only wanted to protect her from the emotional uproar he felt.

"But Justin." Alex's tears were now cascading down her face, "He's all I want. I can't just let go. Don't you remember what it was like the first time? I don't ever want to go back there again. I love him." It was honestly heartbreaking for him to watch her like this. Almost as heartbreaking as watching all the years of his hard work go to waste. He couldn't give her the powers. He'd earned them. He deserved them. Didn't he?

"Alex, you can't keep holding on. A clean break is what's really best here. Otherwise you'll want what you can't have." He held out his hand, "Come on, let's go."

Alex shook her head, and grabbed the hand of her werewolf, who'd been quiet throughout the entire exchange. She spoke softly as her tears began to subside, "Go Justin, I'll follow you back. Give us a minute." Justin gave the teenagers one last look before pulling his wand out of his back pocket and flashing out.

Mason brushed away the last of Alex's tears with his thumb. "I hate him for always being right." Mason smiled at her failed attempt to lighten the atmosphere. "I love you Alex. I always will. You know that right?" She smiled at his well-known confession. She'd been hearing it every day since they began dating. She felt her heart shatter when she realized he'd never say it to her again. "I love you too Mason. I wish we didn't have to do this. I'm never going to stop loving you."

Alex wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her lips to his intensely. She knew she may never get the chance to do it again. Mason's arms wrapped tightly around her small frame. She smiled against his lips as he pulled her up off the ground. Alex felt something that wasn't quite right in the way Mason's body molded into hers. Suddenly Alex pulled away from Mason, a look that was a cross between disbelief and sorrow gracing her features. She slowly reached up, pulling his jacket away from his body and reaching inside to pull out a small velvet box. She knew exactly what it meant. "You were going to propose to me?"

"Yes, Love. I was planning on giving it to you after you won. Then I was thinking maybe here. But just forget it." Alex kissed the sweet Brit. He wanted her. Wanted her to be his forever. Yet, she had just given him up without a fight and he still loved her. She knew she didn't deserve this type of unconditional love. "Mason." Alex was now whispering into his ear. "Come see me after the ceremony tonight. I want to say goodbye the right way. Just meet me outside the sub station at 8:00. I love you." Alex forced her mouth against his once more, Lifting a foot so she could pull her wand out. She broke the kiss, closed her eyes, and disappeared. Mason sighed, "Love you too, but how am I supposed to get back now?" In answer to his question, he once again felt the feeling of being flashed.

He landed with a crash on the middle of the stairs in his apartment. With a sigh he stood up and bounded up the stairs to prepare for the night. His mind was bubbling. Alex…Alex…Alex…Alex. It was the only thing he could think of. Oh, the things he would do for that girl. It really wasn't fair the way he was wrapped around her fingers. Mason wondered if she had a plan. Of course she did, It was Alex, she always did. Or at least he hoped so. Which brought him back to his earlier thought : Would she fight for him? And there was that hoping again. By the time the Brit had gotten out of the shower it was 7:45. He was as good as late. He tumbled out of the yellow cab, having almost forgotten to pay the angry driver, amazingly at 7:59.

Alex was running out of the front doors. She ran up to Mason and wrapped her arms around his neck. "They're gone, my powers, and I don't even care. I don't need them. Just this. Me and you. Forever and ever." Mason smiled, "So long that you said ever twice?" Alex laughed. Apparently she'd used that one before.

The mood turned solemn once more as Mason looked back to her, "But we can't, Alex. The wizard council has rules. And we can't just break them." Alex smiled at the poor confused boy, who couldn't grasp why she was smiling. "Yeah the wizard council has rules, but I'm Alex Russo and I'm an exception. Rules don't apply here." Mason smiled, she would fight for him. He took her hand and they began to walk down Waverly Place. "So…" Mason asked, "Now what?" Alex looked so excited she honestly could've burst. "Well first we're going back to your apartment because you, my lovely boyfriend, are going on a trip." Mason couldn't have been more happy with the sweet girl that was tightly gripping his hand, as if she thought if she let go he would float away. She didn't need to be so worried, he wasn't planning on leaving her anytime soon.

But there's a funny thing about planning. You can plan and plan as much as you want. To the point where everything is going to fall perfectly into place. And then something goes wrong. Instead of everything falling into place, things fall through, and fall apart. So all the planning in the world is completely useless the second that things don't go as plan.

Out of the blue he felt himself being pulled. Like being flashed, but much more powerful. It couldn't be Alex, she'd lost her powers no more than an hour ago. He pulled Alex into his body and held her against him. He'd protect her at all costs. When the pulling stopped, he found himself standing in the center of wizard court. Professor Crumbs and Chancellor Tootietootie were glaring down at his and Alex's tightly entwined bodies. Mason pulled away from Alex, but refused to drop her hand before turning to face the court.