Disclaimer: Much as I'd love to say I do, I don't own W.I.T.C.H.
Cornelia looked the strip of white paper and prayed for it to turn blue.
"Turn blue, turn blue, turn blue, please turn blue." She muttered under her breath. The strip turned red.
"Noooo!" she cried out quietly, but in truth, she knew it wasn't going to turn blue. Her period was two months overdue and she was shooting up bra sizes faster than she'd ever done. The pregnancy test in front of her merely confirmed what she, deep down already knew. It couldn't have come at a worse time either. Her ex boyfriend Caleb and one of her best friends Will had started dating and they were just right for each other, you could tell it by the glances they gave each other, the way they acted around each other, even in the way they kissed. No, she couldn't bring herself to break up their relationship, now they had finally gotten together, after denying their feelings for each other.
It had been roughly two months since Cornelia and Caleb had last slept together. It had been Cornelia's seventeenth birthday party and both of them had gotten pretty drunk. One thing had led to another and they ended up in bed with each other. Which was something they very specifically said that they weren't going to do, especially with their relationship on the rocks. Less than three weeks later, their relationship had fallen apart and they separated. Two weeks after that, she told Will that it was ok to date Caleb. Now it was Will and Caleb, not Cornelia and Caleb and there was nothing she could do about it.
A wave of loneliness swept over Cornelia. It wouldn't be fair to ask the other members of W.I.T.C.H to keep this secret from Will and Caleb. The same could be said for the various people who managed to attach themselves to W.I.T.C.H, through one way or another. Then it hit her out of the blue. She could always talk to Elyon about this. Yes, as soon as Elyon came over to visit next week, she would tell her.
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A young Asian woman watched as her Sya'tal friends swarmed her attackers. But they were too late to save her. She knew she was dying. All that mattered to her now was that her baby girl, Laura survived. Only a few days old, little Laura had captured Lisa's heart.
"Promise me you'll look after her until the time is right." She begged the approaching Sya'tal workers. "Promise me I beg you!"
"We will raise her like she was one of our own, friend Lisa. The hive will miss your presence." The Sya'tal replied in their mechanical voices.
"Thank you." She said with a small smile on her face. Less than three hours later she died, the Sya'tal medics had done all they could to make her last hours comfortable, for there was nothing more they could do. Her baby girl Laura was crying as the flood of voices overwhelmed her mind. In time she would adjust to the neuro link to the hive.
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"Elyon, hi!" Cornelia said as her friend emerged from the portal, a smile on her face. But Cornelia couldn't fool Elyon, Elyon knew her far to well for that.
"Cornelia, what's bothering you?" Elyon asked her in a commanding voice. Being queen had given her an aurora of authority over the years, in a way she never thought possible when she had started all those years ago. Cornelia gave Elyon a rueful smile.
"Never was good at fooling you, was I?" she answered, before continuing "Well…" She paused, unsure of how to continue. "I'm pregnant." She blurted out. A look of shock crossed Elyon's face.
"What!?!?!" she exclaimed. "But you're only seventeen! Are you sure?"
"Cornelia sighed. "Yes I'm sure. Three pregnancy tests, two missed periods and I'm shooting up bra sizes faster than I've ever done, so yes I'm sure."
"Does Caleb and the others know about this?" Elyon asked.
"No, I don't want them to either. I'm going to have an abortion. I won't be responsible for the break up of two of my friends." Cornelia replied
"Surely Caleb should know at least?" Elyon challenged.
"And then he'd insist on doing the right thing and marrying me. And all the time, wishing it was Will and not me. It would destroy us." Cornelia replied. "I won't do that."
"If you're sure…" Elyon said questioningly
"I'm sure. The abortion is happening this coming Wednesday." Cornelia answered with a firmness she didn't feel. Elyon raised a disbelieving eyebrow at this. "And if, by some chance I change my mind, I'd like someone to help me tell the others."
"Ok then." Elyon said.
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Rachel looked at the portal once more, then turned to face her husband.
"Is this really the only way Harry?" she asked, her voice filled with doubt.
Harry nodded. "It is, you know it as well as I do."
"But to raise our daughter in the past, how will she meet the other guardians?"
"We must trust the Oracle. Besides, I would rather our daughter have a chance to grow up, than be killed by the Sycaw before she can grow up at all."
Rachel smiled sadly at her husband's words. "I wish that she could grow up in her own time, but you are right. May Candracar help us all."
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Cornelia and Elyon sat in the waiting room waiting Cornelia's turn to be called in. Or rather Elyon was sitting, Cornelia was pacing like a trapped animal, her nervousness radiating from her.
"Cornelia Hale?" a nurse called from the doorway. Cornelia shot a look at Elyon, who gave her a reassuring look and Cornelia stepped towards the nurse, when suddenly she felt a sudden kick from the baby and suddenly she knew she couldn't do this. A sudden wave of unreasoning panic overtook her, in a way that she had never felt before and for no logical reason she fled the clinic, determined to escape. She drove her car out of there like a bat out of hell.
Elyon stared at the rapidly disappearing Volkswagen Beetle that was Cornelia's car with annoyance. "When I catch up with her, I'm really going to let her have it" She murmured to herself. Walking out the gates, she turned in the direction of the Silver Dragon and started to walk there.
Cornelia, meanwhile was beginning to calm down, her overriding sense of panic receding. Elyon would be furious at her and if Cornelia was honest with herself, she had every right to be. But there was no way Cornelia could go through with an abortion now, she couldn't do that to her child, no matter what. The enormity of what she was committing herself to hadn't quite sunk in yet, her brain seemed to be determined not to accept the facts.
"Face it Cornelia, you're going to be a teenage mum." She said to herself and then she let out a bitter laugh. "I'm seventeen years old and I'm about to become a single parent."
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Elyon walked into the Silver Dragon and was engulfed in a tight hug by Hay Lin, who still looked like she was to small to be real, despite all the growing up that she'd done.
"Hey, you're early, did you and Cornelia have a fight or something?" Hay Lin asked in a concerned voice. Elyon shook her head.
"Things didn't go as planned." Elyon paused. "Cornelia will be by later and she has something to tell you, all of you."
"Really? What?" Hay Lin asked curiously.
"Let's just say it's something she should tell all of you herself." Elyon replied cryptically.
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Cornelia was driving towards the Silver Dragon, firstly to apologise to Elyon, something she rarely did, preferring to pretend not to have made a mistake. The second reason was that she and Elyon had agreed to meet the others there and now she was on her way to tell them.
Cornelia focused on the stretch of road ahead. This part of the road was tricky, a tight turn beside the sea. A huge lorry came up behind her and started to push her car. Cornelia screamed and desperately turned hard on the steering wheel in an attempt to get out of the lorries way, but her car spun out of control and headed towards the barrier that was supposed to stop cars going into the sea. Even then, her car would have avoided going over, but the lorry driver had other ideas. The lorry rammed into her car a second time and Cornelia's car was sent flying off the cliff. The lorry driver, satisfied with his work, drove off.
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Will looked at her watch again and sighed. "Ok, I know I'm bad with timing but this is ridiculous. She's over two hours late."
"She's being a right diva isn't she? I vote we start without her." Irma added
"I second that." Hay Lin said as her stomach gave a grumble. But before they could say another word, a familiar face walked through the doors
"Dad!" Irma cried out in recognition, before noticing the grim look on his face. "What is it dad? Has something happened to mom? Or Chris?" Tom Lair shook his head.
"No, it's not them. It's your friend Cornelia." He paused, unsure of how to continue. "We've found her drivers license at the scene of what appears to be a road accident. A car went over the cliff at the Darrow turn and there's lots of debris from the car that went over, that is consistent with a Volkswagen Beetle."
"That's not conclusive proof though is it?" Irma challenged. Tom shook his head.
"No, but I thought you should know." He said.
"There's something you should know." piped up Elyon. The others turned to face her and she paused, unsure as to whether she should say any more, before deciding that this was a case where Cornelia would think it justified to break confidence. "Cornelia's two months pregnant."
A flurry of questions came at her. "Why didn't she tell us?" "Who's the father?" "Is this what she wanted to tell us?" "Do her family know?" She held up her hands to slow them down.
"She didn't tell you because she didn't want to tear you apart. Even she acknowledges that Will and Caleb belong together. She was going to have an abortion earlier today, but she suddenly changed her mind, for some reason. She didn't want anyone to know, so no her family doesn't know. Yes Caleb is the father, he's the only person who fits the bill." Elyon answered them.
"Well I hope she's ok, even if I do want to kill her for not telling us." Irma said, her voice clearly worried.
"Well Irma, let's hope you're right." Will added.
Several miles down the coast, a young woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes was washed up on the beach. With a groan, she rubbed her aching head and looked around her.
"Who am I?" she asked aloud. Then she looked around. "Where am I?" As she pulled herself to her feet, all she could remember was that she had to get away, but from whom or what she had no idea.
"Hey lady, you ok?" A muscular young man with short blonde hair and dark red eyes asked as he approached her.
"Yeah, I think so." She replied.
"What's your name?" he asked as he eyed her critically. She cast around her mind for a name to give him.
"Julia." She answered. It didn't feel completely right, but it was the only name she was able to think of. And she was far too proud to admit to a stranger that she couldn't even remember her name.
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Fourteen years later.
Detective Irma Lair looked at the scene of devastation that greeted her at the accident site. A truck had crashed into the fast food joint and killed the woman who had been working behind the counter at the time. Now, you'd be hard pressed to see whether the person was a man or woman. Irma turned to face the girl she was interviewing.
"So Rebecca, tell me what happened here, in your own time." She said.
"W-w-well Julia and I were running the late shift. Things were quiet and we were talking about fashion." Rebecca paused and Irma felt a twinge of nostalgia, remembering Cornelia's obsession with the subject. She had a feeling that she'd have gotten on well with Rebecca "When this truck comes spinning into the diner." Rebecca paused once more, as she broke down into tears. After a few moments, she composed herself once more and continued. "Anyway, the rear of the truck came flying at us and Julia, she threw me out of its path and the truck got her instead of me." Irma nodded at her.
"Thanks, that'll be all for now." Irma said calmly.
"But what about Julia's daughter?" Rebecca asked as Irma turned away.
"Daughter?" Irma asked as she turned to face Rebecca once more.
"Yeah, Julia's a mum." Rebecca paused, uncertain of how to continue. "A thirteen year old girl, who's a deaf mute. All they've got is each other."
Irma rubbed her head. "I'll go and pick her up after we're finished here, ok?"
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Two hours later
Irma looked at the block of decrepit looking flats in front of her and sighed. This wasn't a nice place to live, by any stretch of the imagination, but for many people at the bottom rung of society, it was all they could afford.
"Not exactly the Ritz, is it?" commented her partner Paul. At almost two meters in height, with short blonde hair and memorable grey eyes, Paul was a reassuring presence to have as back up. Not that Detective Lair needed it, but for legal reasons, she was required to be accompanied by another officer.
After knocking on the door several times, Irma removed the keys to the flat and opened the door. She'd been able to pursuade the coroners office to give them to her, from the corpse of the woman. Irma and Paul cautiously entered the building. As they entered the main room, a picture in the corner caught Irma's eye. It was a photograph of a mother and daughter, smiling at the camera. The daughter was a longhaired brunette with all to familiar green eyes and an oval face. But the mother was a face Irma certainly knew very well, even if she hadn't seen her for fourteen years, at least.
"Cornelia?" Irma murmured in disbelief as she moved towards the photograph and stared. But as she picked it up to get a better look, she heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked. Gently putting the photo down, she turned to face the sound with her hands up. Standing in the doorway was the girl in the photograph, this time in the flesh. And she was pointing a shotgun at Irma.
AN: The name Julia is a bit of an in joke to myself and anyone who cares to look up Julius Caesar. (I have a very tweaked sense of humour) I've taken liberties with Cornelia's baby giving her a kick. I don't know whether it's possible, but it was necessary for the story.