A/N: I will first start off with a warning that it's my first fic and all.
If you don't like how i incorporated magic into the already magical love story of Brittany and Santana then i am so very sorry. i did this in a rush and ask of you to forgive my mistakes ):
Description: Santana and Brittany are just two people in this big world full of magic who have found love in each other. They love each other, but they don't know, not yet. However, one day, the tiny town of Lima which they live in, gets raided by magicians who have gone rouge and Santana gets abducted. Will they find each other again? Will Brittany live to find Santana?
Disclaimer: there's nothing here i own (:
"Mommy! I'm going to see if I can catch Mr Tanaka!," Santana shouted over her shoulder to her mother. Her excited hands were fiddling frantically with her sandals, eagerly trying to put it on as quickly as she possibly could.
"and I'll get fruits and some vegetables as well!" she added as an after thought, buying extra time.
"okay honey! Remember to be careful!" her mother shouted back from the kitchen.
Santana sighed at her caution.
A few months ago, neither Santana nor anyone in the magical little town of Lima would have to be careful. The recent unusual increase of hoodlums in the tiny town was frightening.
Murderers, Rapists, Burglars, you name it and they've had it. It had gotten so bad that the tiny, usually redundant, local police force had to pull able bodied man from random households to add to their useless troop.
Under the cruel hands of fate, Santana's father had to be chosen.
It was a silent night that the Lopez family spent huddled closely around the miserable fire place. No one dared to squeak a word for it was clear that everyone was on the verge of tears from the fear of the unpredictable future.
The wait for Martinez Lopez to return home every night was pure agony for the two woman, but it wasn't as agonising for Santana as it was for Maria Lopez. Santana had a simple routine everyday that kept her distracted and hopeful.
Just the thought of what laid ahead of her today, albeit it was almost the same as every weekend before, made her hands tingle with excitement and heart soar with unperturbed happiness.
A smile crept up to her face.
"alright!" she shouted back to her mother after giving her shoelace, that had been tied neatly into a ribbon, one final tug to make sure it was tight and wouldn't fall out.
"I'm leaving now!" Santana announced and stood up. She swept away any specks of dust that might have settled on her white dress, grabbed the old wooden basket by her side and sped out the wooden door of her blue cottage.
The weather was amazing and peaceful, as it had always been. It was hard to imagine how anyone could harbor any ill intentions towards this town, much less defile it by putting these ill intentions to motion.
Inhaling deeply and thrusting her head back to face the boundless bright blue canvas of the sky, she extended her arms freely to the her sides and closed her eyes. The familiar smell of flora and fauna wafted into her nose and she held her breath.
If the town, although as peaceful as it may seem, was going to be brought down into ashes just as her father had said then she wanted to capture this smell and keep it locked up in her brain as memory for when it was as peaceful as this.
She made her way down the cobbled pathway that led straight to the market, looking left and right, soaking in her surroundings.
The Evans have done a good job.
If Lima was going to go down in flames, just as her father had said, then she'd want to remember the sight of the myriad of bizzare flowers that seemed to bloom solely of Lima huddled close together in a long stretch of shrubs, seeming to go on for infinity.
For if Lima were to be burned down into ashes just like her father had said, then she'd want to remember it exactly as it was right now.
"Hey ya gal! Ya better hurry! The tides are getting stronger and stronger and my crew have to go so there'll be fish for you and your mother tomorrow!" Mr Tanaka shouted from his portable cart, drawing her attention away from the magnificent and enormous clock that was built as an extention of the equally magnificent house of the mayor's.
She skipped gaily towards the cart, swinging her basket that was now filled with fruits and vegetables.
"just the usual Mr Tanaka!" she said with a wide smile.
He grabbed a fish from the pile at the middle of his cart. Santana made sure to notice how dry and stale the fish looked, because the next part was, in her opinion, what made the insipid act of shopping for fish so interesting.
Mr Tanaka simply ran his hand down the length of the fish, his brown eyes twinkling as he does so and the fish was moistened, looking as fresh one still swimming in the sea. Santana never fails to get fascinated by it.
Brown pieces of paper were used to wrap the fish and squid separately before a bigger piece of white paper wrapped the separate brown bundles together, keeping the magical moisture in.
He slid the bundle towards her as she slid the copper coins towards him, it was a familiar, routinely trade.
"thanks", She sent him a grateful smile and skipped off.
But she doesnt go back down the old cobbled path back to her blue cottage like she said she would, she skipped down the market at a completely different direction from home and stealthily slipped into an alleyway inbetween a yellow barber shop and blue shoe shop, a self made duck soft toy tucked under her arm.
The alleyway was a tiny space between the two shophouses thus anyone who used it had to squeeze themselves in sideways. Santana had to bring her basket of groceries an arm above her head where the shophouses would dent in as part of it's design.
The destination wasnt far after she emerges from the alleyway.
Just a right turn into some shrubs, simply wriggle your way through them and then you'll appear at an opening.
The opening was akin to a tiny garden, hidden away by the trees and bushes. The surrounding thick fauna blocked away the hustle and bustle of the town.
It was peaceful and beautiful.
She poked her head out of the thick overgrown shrubs and scanned the opening for her.
Spotting her would never prove to be a difficult feat for Santana's eye. It wasn't because the opening was small but it was simply because Santana's eyes always seemed to be able to find her in an instant, as if it was constantly on a look out for her.
As usual, Brittany sparkled like a fairy.
Santana watched, riveted, as Brittany's sparkling blonde hair flowed gracefully under the gentle harassment of the wind while she twirled around and around clad in her usual guise of a poor boy in common brown slacks held up by a simple leather belt with a pocketed old army shirt tucked into it. Brittany was completely lost in innocent bliss, oblivious to Santana arrival and the evil that was slowly plaguing the world.
She certainly was a spectacle to behold.
"Britt Britt!"
Santana ran towards her after setting down the basket of groceries and placed her hands behind her back, hiding the surprise she had prepared for her.
When she didn't stop, Santana stuffed the duck into the extra cloth tied around her waist and grabbed hold of her hands.
As usual, their body reacted pleasantly upon contact. Santana wasn't sure if it was simply Brittany in all her glory that sent her body into a tingling mess, or if the blondes hands were just so warm and soft that it made her body buzz with wonderment. Either way though, Brittany's hands were a delight to hold and Santana knew she'd hold on to it, as tight as she could, as long as she could.
She stilled her twirling the moment she felt warm hands around hers and she let her eyes settle onto brown ones.
Sky blue eyes sparkled and twinkled with a child like beauty that only Brittany ever possessed and it made Santana's insides flip and flop.
An unconscious smile tugged at both their faces.
Slowly, Santana slid her hands from where they were gripping Brittany's wrist, to her hand, then twisted them in a practiced motion and slowly interlaced their fingers, shuddering when the sensitive skin in between their fingers grazed along the way.
Brittany looked down at where caramel skin and pale skin merged perfectly, too perfectly, and smiled at how the hands fitted just as perfectly as it looked.
Brittany looked back at Santana with that sparkle in her eye that only ever appeared at the sight of a certain pair of chocolate brown orbs and smiled shyly, cheeks tainted a slight pink.
Santana's smile emboldened at Brittany's display of bashfulness upon her appearance.
She was as delighted to see her as she was to see the blonde.
They spent several serene moments simply taking in the features of the other and searing it into their minds. It was how simply how every one of their meetings started.
Santana was the first to break out of their trance because she knew that if Brittany allowed, she'd be able to stare straight into those inimitable cobalt eyes till kingdom comes.
"I've got something for you" Santana smiled slyly, squeezing their interlaced hands and tugging Brittany backwards along with her.
"Really?" the blonde asked with enthusiasm. Her eyes were wide and her lips were set in a one sided smile where her teeth were slightly apart.
Santana couldn't help but find the blonde immensely adorable at this point, if she could only capture Brittany's expression and paste it up upon her wall where she could wake up to it every day.
"Mmmhmmm!" Santana hummed, nodding her head and slipping her hand out of Brittany's as she backed away, smirk widening.
The girl whimpered immediately, longing for that warmth and affection the hand gave her.
Brittany took a long stride towards the playful Santana with her face pulled into an expression of impatience.
"Come on San~, just give it to me already!" Brittany whined, extending an arm out towards Santana.
"not until you guess what it is" Santana sing songed, continuing to taunt the girl although she knew full well that she'd be forced to give in soon because Brittany's next move would be the trick card; a pout.
True enough, Brittany jutted her pink bottom lip out in a cute pout and instantly, Santana's resolve diminished and dissipated into the air.
"That's no fair Britt..." Santana whined, not missing the devilish smile on Brittany's triumphant face when she tugged the duck out of its place where she had stuffed in the cloth at her back.
"Here" Santana said softly and held the duck that was sewed out of her old clothes and stuffed with a bit of pillow stuffing. She had spent copious amounts of time sewing it and small amounts of blood were inevitably shed during the process of making the duck, but all was worth it for Brittany.
"It's a really ugly duck San." Brittany remarked with a big bright smile splayed across her affection filled face, contradicting her comment completely.
Brittany took a big step towards the shy Latina and pulled her into a hug, trapping Santana's one hand in-between their two bodies, clutching the duck.
Santana let her body meld into Brittany's and burrowed her face into the crook of Brittany's neck, taking in the scent that was so very Brittany.
"Honey," Santana thought "and floral scented powder."
"I made it myself Britt..." she whispered, her hot breath tickling the sensitive skin at Brittany's neck.
A shudder rode through the blonde's body at the sensation.
"I know San," Brittany replied softly, chest overflowing with affection "Thank you so much. It's the most beautiful thing in the world."
Her melodious voice was heard crisp and clear by Santana's left ear before she turned and pressed a kiss to the side of the Latina's head, pulling their bodies impossibly closer.
"I thought you said that it was ugly?" Santana craned her neck back, lips twisted into a mocking purse. She had her arms rested around Brittany's small waist and locked together with interlaced fingers at her back.
Brittany squinted and darted her eyes around jocularly, searching the sky for a comeback. Santana had a small smile on her face as her eyes ran across the face of Brittany's over and over and over again, remembering every freckle, every dip every crinkle and every glint.
When her eyes met the boundless cobalt eyes again, she noticed it was dulled into a depressing grey. Santana's brows furrowed worriedly at disapproval towards the dolefulness in her favourite cobalt coloured eyes but her brows quickly turned the other way around when she discovered the reason for the dulling in those lovely eyes.
A cold gust of strong wind hit the warm bodies and bit into their bones, alerting Santana to the fact that the wind was already picking up, signalling the impending setting of the sun, which also meant that they didn't have much time left to spend with each other.
Santana sighed when Brittany's eyes darted down to the stuffed duck dejectedly.
Good things always come to an end. Santana thought sadly.
Since that was the case, then she wanted to keep Brittany as happy as she could, for as long as she could.
She brought her hands up to cup the blonde's face and grazed her thumbs lightly across the freckles sprinkling creamy defined cheekbones and urging blue eyes to meet hers.
Forcing a smile when they did.
"Come on, let's go sit down," she soothed not halting the movement of her thumbs, "I brought..."
"Oranges and potatoes?!" Brittany exclaimed excitedly, grey eyes quickly filling with colour again. The skin of her cheeks stretching against the pad of Santana's thumbs as her face spread into a smile.
"There it is" thought the Latina.
She grabbed the duck out of Santana's hands, skipped towards the wooden basket and flopped down on the grass beside it.
Santana never understood why Brittany liked the odd combination of the vastly different tastes but Brittany had always been special like that.
"Yes Brittany, oranges and potatoes" Santana giggled, shaking her head.
"Here", Santana handed her the whole piece of orange after peeling the skin out, proceeding to pull out one of the two handy knives she kept in her ankle high socks to skin the potatoes next.
After Santana's father had joined the local police force, he had given her two handy knives, both with her name engraved on it with his beautiful cursive handwriting. He even taught her how to defend herself with it, saying that she would definitely need the skill some time.
Brittany took the orange from Santana's hand and smiled at her knowingly,
"Thanks San, you know me best,"
She took a huge bite of the orange and turned to face Santana. The tell tale sign of a deep breath and halted chewing alerted Santana that she was about to explain her unusual eating habits, again. Santana understood why she always does so; because she appreciates that Santana knows her as well as she does, because she wants Santana to know her as well as she does.
"you like eating oranges the way you do because you don't like separating those individual pieces of oranges from each other yes?," Santana sent a smug side glance towards Brittany.
Her face lit up and her head bobbed up and down frantically. "if they have to die, which they do because they're so delicious, then they shouldn't have to die alone."
Santana's smile was curious when she looked at Brittany. How could someone ever be so nice?
"You have one too" she ordered and poked an orange in the basket, not bothering to hide her disgraceful eating habits as the orange bolus peeked out from inside Brittany's mouth.
"I can't Britt, too many lost oranges would be too suspicious"
She stopped chomping her orange and stared at Santana with a pout, blonde brows meeting in the middle.
Santana chuckled, sliced a tiny piece of potato skilfully with the blade of her knife and handed it to her,
"have your potato"
After she was finished with her potato and orange, Santana covered the basket with a red cloth and pushed it to the side so that they could lay unhindered on the grass and admire the sky.
"I wish we could stay like this forever Sanny Bananny" she sighed contentedly as she crossed her arms beneath her head to prop it up.
Santana turned her head to face her with a brow raised, "did you just name me after a banana?"
She let out a giggled and turned her head to look at Santana, "S'cute." she shrugged.
"Your idea of cute is bonkers." Santana sighed shaking her head, "You think your cat is cute, which it's not, because I don't even think it's a cat, you think ducks are cuter than dogs although that's quite the opposite and.."
"And I think you're cute" she interjected the ranting Latina off and poked her cheek. Heat ignited from the point of contact and spread like wild fire until her face was completely encapsulated in heat.
Brittany's playful toothy grin transformed into a simple lopsided smile as she admired her Latina best-friend. She loved the way Santana's hair cascaded down her shoulders in beautiful waves.
"told you your idea of cute was bonkers.." the Latina mumbled shyly as she turned her head away from blue eyes back to the sky. The sky and the sun paled greatly compared to Brittany.
"What did you say?" Brittany asked. The slyness in her tone told Santana that she was heard loud and clear.
"nuhhhh-tinggg" Santana sing songed, rolling her head from side to side and playing along with Brittany.
Brittany pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth in concentration as she pushed herself stealthily up into a crouch, "you sure?"
"mmhmm"
In a flash, she lunged and straddled the Latina's hips.
Santana body stiffened in flabbergast from both the sudden weight and the shocking agility of Brittany.
"Britt what are you-"
Santana trailed away when she saw the familiar glint in cobalt eyes, hers widened in recognition and horror
"no Brittany Susanna Pierce, No" she said firmly, holding a finger out to warn the blonde.
Brittany pretended to be discouraged. "No?" she asked softly, looking down at Santana with wide puppy eyes.
Santana's brows curved up and a small smile started to tug at her lips, insides already melting from Brittany's cuteness overload, then, she realised what Brittany was doing; Taking advantage of how Santana caved oh-so-easily with the simple protrusion of her lower lip.
"No." Santana said again, more firmly this time, quickly transforming her expression, crossing her arms across her chest and looking away from the blonde's adorable expression. She knew she'd cave and allow Brittany to do anything in the world if she stared at it any longer.
"Fine, if you say so." Brittany pretended to sigh despondently before poking and prodding Santana's sides mercilessly and abruptly, enjoying the sight of the Latina squirming and writhing under her weight
"p..please... Britt!," Santana pleaded between her uncontrolled spasms of laughter.
"You said nope!" Brittany countered with a laugh.
"I...I'll do anything! I'll even let you call me a banana"
Santana's previous declarations seemed to please her captor, but Brittany still had that devious glint in her darkening blue eyes.
"You'll do anything?" she looked down at Santana with an expression the Latina had never witnessed before swimming in those cobalt blue eyes she admired so much.
"as long as you don't tickle me anymore, anything" Santana nodded breathlessly still trying to catch her breath.
Blue eyes seemed to get bigger and bigger, burning into chocolate brown orbs with increasing intensity as she edged her face closer to the one underneath her.
"Anything?" Brittany whispered eyes darting to Santana's lips with a mixture of lust and curiosity, sending hot breaths of wet air against plump lips.
The weight against Santana's hips increased as her captor inched forward, pressing into a place and sending a humongous wave of tingles from her crotch to all parts of her body, until a shudder broke through. Santana clasped her thighs together, hoping to quell the heat.
Brown eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and anticipation as the new and unfamiliar feeling started to envelop her body.
"Y...yes" she stuttered, shocked by how much the sky blue eyes were darkening.
"Then you wouldn't mind me doing this..." one last hot breath engulfed her face before Brittany had lowered herself completely and brought her lips to the unassuming hostage. It came as a shock at first when soft lips pressed against Santana's and her eyes widened considerably from the odd sensation.
Santana's initial thought was about how unhygienic this was, pressing their mouths where food was placed into together.
But then, Brittany's lips were just so, so soft; just like her eyes, and their steady movements against hers were incredibly convincing.
Santana's shocked eyes flitted close and her mind went blank as she started to move her lips against Brittany's
Brittany's lips spread into a smile when she felt plump lips finally moving against hers, albeit hesitantly.
Their lips moved in tandem, massaging and pushing, gliding and popping. Brittany couldn't help but feel that the way their lips were gliding against each other was akin to a simple dance, those dances at the opulent balls her parents loved to host.
Brittany had always loved dancing, she loved how the partners involved in the dance always seemed to know where to step, when to turn and where to hold, as if their bodies were having a conversation of its own.
Kissing was much like that; exactly like that actually.
And Brittany had decided, kissing Santana had just officially become Brittany's favouritest dance, ever.
Santana didn't know what they were doing, much less what to do, but she simply allowed her body to react according to Brittany's. Just as it always had been.
Most things between Santana and Brittany had been matters of the heart instead that of the mind.
When they were together, there wasn't a need to think too much, their bodies simply reacted according to the other.
Brittany and Santana never knew the peculiar action of attaching their lips together would be so incredibly intoxicating and addictive.
Neither of them wanted to ever stop.
However, Brittany felt the need to explain the significance behind her actions.
"this is called kissing" Brittany offered when she pulled her lips away from Santana's abruptly, lips stretching a little from sticking together by the mixture of saliva.
A throaty groan sounded from Santana, displaying the dissatisfaction she felt from the lost of contact. she hadn't wanted to stop yet.
Brittany didn't go very far away, though, she allowed her face to hover just inches away from Santana's, allowing the sweet breath of the breathless Santana engulf her face.
"Mother used to say kissing is an act of showing affection" Brittany continued to explain, moving her hand up to brush a stray lock of hair away from hindering her view of Santana's face
"and we should perform it only with those we care deeply about."
Santana listened and nodded but kept her eyes locked on Brittany's previously pink lips that were now slightly swollen and tainted a much darker pink.
Santana wanted to kiss those soft lips again.
"Losing your first kiss is important too! The first person you kiss is a person you'll remember all your life. I want to remember you all my life and I care about you plenty. So I decided to kiss you first."
This caught Santana's attention, her eyes darted up to meet Brittany's that were staring off ahead of her.
"First?" The Latina questioned with deeply furrowed brows.
Cobalt eyes moved down to look at Santana quizzically for a brief second, "yeah, first" before jumping back up to look ahead again, "I have so many people I care about. There's Sam, Tina, Puck..."
Santana's lips curled further and further into a snarl at every name mentioned, just the thought of Brittany sharing such an intimate moment with anyone other than her had her blood boiling.
"no" she ordered, voice low with authority.
Brittany could feel Santana's eyes burning the flesh at the skin under her chin forcing her to look back down at Santana.
Immediately, she was taken aback by the intensity and fire burning behind the warm brown eyes, now turning into a red. Santana had always been a little possessive, but she didn't mind it this time. It made her feel all tingly inside, like a thousand butterflies had just hatched from it's cocoon in her tummy.
Warm hands snaked to the back of Brittany's head before she could even respond, gentle fingers weaved through her soft blonde locks and she was tugged down to meet Santana's lips again.
"Mine" Santana growled against Brittany's lips, before sticking a tongue out to gently graze upon the pink lips.
It was a little rough, though very soft and utterly drenched when it brushed against the tip of Brittany's sensitive lips. Although it was but for a fleeting moment, to Brittany, it felt like slow motion. A slow motion movement that sent, not one jolt but multiple jolts of electricity from the point of contact straight down to her crotch, before combusting into a thousand fireworks.
The action was universally known, or in Santana-Brittany's universe was it universally known that when you lick something, it's automatically claimed as yours and only yours. They've been doing this since they were much younger, licking the food they didn't want to share, licking the toys they wanted for themselves. It wasn't until a few years back that Brittany realised that Santana rarely ever licked anything, Brittany was always the one claiming things for herself. Santana always gave Brittany anything and everything she wanted. The only thing Santana never wanted to share, was her.
So it wasn't exactly shocking when Santana daringly stuck her hot tongue out to lick her lips, although that didn't stop Brittany from pulling back abruptly.
She pulled back abruptly, not to petulantly declare that Santana couldn't just claim her lips, because, well, Brittany would let Santana have her lips in a heartbeat, Brittany pulled back because of the sudden tightening at the pit of her stomach and considerable heightening of her senses.
Santana's every touch begun to burn.
Brittany wonders if Santana's coating the surface of her hand with heat again. Just like the time when she lost her long coat in the winter night and Santana helped warm her up.
But then she thought, probably not.
This felt, different.
Clueless to the inner turmoil, Santana snapped out of her possessive haze.
"w-what? Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!" Santana apologised frantically to the dazed blonde and sat up to examine the wound she seemingly caused, hands hovering over the blonde's face, too afraid to touch it in fear of hurting her further.
She ran her eye along the contours of Brittany's face, finding no trace of any cuts or bruises that might have caused Brittany to pull away abruptly. Brittany's face was flawless as usual, so what was the problem? was it something she did wrong?
All Brittany was doing was staring intently at her, or into her, with those shiny blue eyes and Santana was starting to feel extremely self conscious under the intense gaze of Brittany's darkened cobalt orbs.
"Britt why are you staring at me like that?" she whispered, darting her eyes down to look at nothing in particular, as her cheeks tainted a little.
Brittany licked her lips, slowly running her taste buds against her lips, savouring a foreign yet incredibly intoxicating taste she could only describe as Santana.
Brittany wanted more. She needed to taste it again.
"mmm" was all Brittany offered to Santana's question before she pinched the girl's chin inbetween her thumb and forefinger and applied pressure onto her thumb, pushing Santana's lower jaw down.
By now, Santana's heart was thumping frantically in her chest as her eyes darted from one blue eye to the other, searching them. She didn't know what Brittany was doing nor has she ever seen Brittany stare at her with such hunger in those cobalt eyes. But she liked it. She was absolutely basking in the way Brittany was looking at her now.
Before any more protests could be made, Brittany brought her mouth to the confused and unassuming Latina's and wiggled her tongue into the girl's mouth.
A gruff, low sound emitted from the pit of her throat when her tongue touched the wet and hot yet soft surface of Santana's tongue, filling her with the taste she was quickly getting addicted to.
Santana was flabbergasted at first when Brittany enveloped her mouth with hers and invaded her mouth with her tongue, but then, she got a taste of Brittany when their tongues touched and all she could think of was tasting that for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.
Brittany tasted, so, good.
The strange sweetness that was just so undeniably Brittany.
From the moment she tasted it, she knew it's be etched in her mind forever, urging her to ask for it over and over and over again.
Santana tilted her head and placed her palms against the grass behind her, pushing herself forward as she tried to get deeper into Brittany's mouth, hungering for more of that sweetness.
They ran their tongues against the others and traced the inside of each other's mouths eagerly and relentlessly, teeth knocking, heads rocking back and forth from the fight for dominance and saliva dripping to their chin.
It was a slow, extremely wet and incredibly sensual kiss they shared, exploring and familiarising themselves with their partner's mouth. Hands wandering and exploring every inch of the other's body.
Both Brittany and Santana couldn't get enough of each other.
Time, rusting of trees, singing of the crickets seemed to stop, the world, seemed to pause for the two as they invested all their hearts and senses into the kiss. Many years of unsung affections all pouring into each other's mouths. Sounds of endearment and ardor were exchanged in the form of grunts and moans.
It could go on forever.
(or not)
The anomalous sound of rustling leaves cut through the air and broke Santana's trance, causing her to be the first to break away and cautiously scan their opening for an intruder. If they were caught together they could be in grave trouble, much more if they were caught doing whatever they were doing.
She realised that the trees, shrubs and even the grass were swaying towards the left as if they were in a dream like trance. The wind was definitely acting abnormally.
Her father had taught her that the wind was an element of indications, be it impending danger or imminent peace.
In the presence of danger, fire would crackle and flicker because the air of omniousity is disruptive and chaotic, if what was impending was peace, the fire would be steadfast and remain a steady, strong ember.
Santana sticks out a clenched fist into the air and rubbed the tip of her thumb against the inside of her bent forefinger. Her left hand gripped the material of the back of Brittany's old army shirt, just to make sure Brittany doesn't get taken away from her.
Santana would never let Brittany be taken away from her.
Orange and yellow sparks splinter from the tip of Santana's thumb before an ember ignited from them.
The ember had a blend of three distinctly different colours, burning a yellow at the middle, slowly growing into a deep orange before it blooms out into a dark red. Santana's fire had always been this way-with that extra touch of red at it's fraying edges.
She watched intently with glowing brown eyes at the tiny ember burning at the tip of her thumb that was stuck up the sky.
The ember flickers slightly for a second before finally coming to a still and burning with fervour at a fixed position. Santana lets out a heavy breath she didn't know she was holding.
No indications of aggression.
Yet.
Before Santana could lower her heightened guard again and refocus her attention on the blonde, the colours of the ember starts to get hazy, mixing together before blending into a swirl of crimson red flame then dissipating into the air in the form of grey smoke.
That wasn't a sign of anything she'd ever been warned about. She has never seen this before.
Panic started to fill every ounce of her body as her eyes darted around frantically, searching and searching for an answer, for an indication, anything. Anything to tell her what's going on. Anything to tell her that she'll be fine, that Brittany isn't in danger.
Then, her glowing brown eyes glazed over shiny water-like gems. Intense blue, glimmering and shimmering like sapphires under the scorching sunlight.
Brittany's eyes were glowing.
Glowing in the way her father's does when he's starting up the fire in the fire place, glowing in the way Mr Evan's does when he's caring for the beautiful flowers in the garden and glowing in the way Mr Tanaka's did when he ran his hand over the dried fish and brought life to it's stale body.
The abnormal attitude of the wind that was causing the entire opening to shift under it's immense power was all Brittany.
Brittany's face was unmoving as a blue light swam back and forth in her already cobalt eyes that was staring at Santana with a mixture of curiosity, hunger, contemplation and not to mention immense power.
"B-Britt?" Santana breathed after the moment of revelation passed and curiosity started to settle in.
There were so many questions she wanted to ask.
How could Brittany not have told her she could handle the wind? Wind handlers were sparse in Lima, surely someone would've known and in the case of Brittany, that would surely have been Santana.
So how was it that she hadn't known?
However, the most pressing question of all was; why was Brittany acting this way?
Santana's brain churned and turned itself inside out, searching frantically for a feasible conclusion as Brittany remained motionless, pestering their peaceful opening unconsciously.
"Brittany?" Santana ducked her head, hoping Brittany's eyes would move and halt her trance.
To no avail. Brittany was limp on her lap.
Santana started to get worried. Why wasn't Brittany responding? Was something wrong?
Brittany's mind was a blank.
Blank, except for the burning of the insides of her thighs where Santana's hands had unconsciously wandered to during their heated kissing session. All she could feel was the tickle of Santana's thumbs dangerously close to the place she wanted it at most. Brittany wanted to snap back to reality and get back to her private dance with Santana, but she couldn't. She couldn't move because of the overwhelming throbbing and uneasiness at the most inappropriate area.
It had been awhile since she had started feeling this way. Ever since Santana's 14th birthday.
Santana didn't know what to do, so she simply ran her hands up the length of Brittany's surprisingly toned legs, dragging them up until they were caressing the blonde's creamy cheeks and then her thumbs instinctively started their soothing routine of brushing over freckled cheekbones with a practised rhythm.
Patiently, back... And forth... Back... And forth.
She knew it was working when Brittany's eyes started to regain it's natural twinkle and the unnatural glowing of her eyes started to disappear, when the trees and bushes begun to placidly sway back and forth with calm the evening wind. And she knew it worked when Brittany's cobalt eyes rolled back to look at her.
Santana supplied a small smile and cocked her head to the right a little as if to say, "welcome back"
Brittany's face automatically morphed into a lop-sided smile, cobalt eyes twinkling more than usual as she wondered why Santana was watching her so adorably. Has Santana always been so adorable? Oh, who was she kidding, of course Santana had always been this adorable. There was this one time when they were but 7 years old, Santana stole a duck from...
Then it dawned on her why Santana was looking at her like that. She'd done it again, she'd spaced out and done that... That thing that destroyed everything around her.
Her step mother had called her an abomination that one time she did it. An abomination. A monstrosity. She didn't know exactly the definition of either words, but she'd heard Old Freddo, the beggar down the street, mention that dragons were a monstrosity; it didn't take much for her to put two and two together after.
Monsters were feared because they cause harm and destruction. She was a monstrosity, she was a monster, she, causes harm and destruction.
What if, what if she'd lost her bearings again and hurt Santana? What if she hurts Santana?
Her agile legs jerked and she launched off of Santana's lap, tearing away from the wonderful embrace she was held in and landing just a few inches away with her butt on the grass and legs stretched out, wide eyes staring at brown ones that were widened in shock as well.
"B-Brittany?" Santana calls for what seems like the umpteenth time that hour. She didn't know what to think of a Brittany like this, much less what to do.
"Britt Britt?." she continued to call the stunned girl sitting uncomfortably rigid opposite her. Santana stretched her arm out to touch the frozen Brittany and possibly give a bit of reassuring warmth as well, but the leggy blonde edged away just as her finger tips grazed against the hairs of her forearm.
"Don't come near me" the blonde quickly scrambled to her feet to get as far away as she could from her best friend, to make sure Santana's protected from her body's impulsive destructiveness with distance.
"huh" and a frustrated frown was all Santana could supply to the abrupt distance Brittany felt the need to create, robbing Santana of the comforting close proximity she was so used to.
"I..I might hurt you" the blonde confessed softly, backing away.
By now Santana's frustration had built up from her stomach to her chest and if it were anybody else she was having this 'roleplay' with, she'd already have burnt them to ashes with her bare hands, but since it was Brittany, she knew she wouldn't be able to do that, her worst would ever only be screaming at her and that was only if she blows her top and her mind was blinded by raw fury, so she decided to give Brittany that extra second of patience.
Getting off her feet in a huff, she takes tentative steps towards the trembling blonde, "why would you hurt me Brittany?"
"I said don't come near me! Why can't you just stay away?"
She was not expecting that sudden outburst. Why was she being screamed at anyways? She doesn't recall having done anything to have deserved such a rude outburst.
In short, she'd blown her top.
"What is up Brittany. If this is just one of your damn role playing games then stop it. I don't even know who you are or who I am and what the hell you're doing."
"I-it's not a game!"
"Then what is this!" Santana huffed, throwing her arms skywards in disgruntlement, "Everything had been fine! Everything has been going very well actually. I don't..."
"yeah! Everything had been going fine until I had to go around destroying everything around me again!" Brittany interjected with the fire of same intensity burning behind her usually calm blue orbs, Santana could even feel the wind picking up, but that was short lived, Brittany's eyes dulled again and she'd retreated back to her cowering stance.
"I mean... What if I hurt you?"
Santana's insides flipped and her heart rammed itself against the inside of her ribcage in an attempt to lurch towards Brittany, so she followed her heart and proceeded towards Brittany.
"S-stop!"
Santana broke into a sprint.
"Santana, I said - ummph!"
Before she could finish, Santana had closed the distance between then, grabbed the blonde by her head and pulled their lips together forcefully.
Swift arms grabbed the smaller girl's shoulders and tried as hard as they could to pry the two bodies apart, but Santana was too driven by the adrenaline and affection she was feeling, managing to keep their lips connected as she pushed Brittany backwards until the blonde's back knocked onto the trunk of a tree. Even then, she kept their lips together.
A warm sensation trickled like the condensation on a cold mug of root beer down Brittany's body. With every hot breath heaved out of Santana's nose onto her right cheek, she felt her body sag more and more into the warm body pinning her to the tree, agitation and fear sipping out from all the pores in her body and disappearing with the wind. Her mind started to get hazy and Santana's soft plump lips and palms against her cheeks begun to become the only things she could feel (besides the erratic thumping of her heart) and think of.
Then she understood why Santana wasn't afraid to come near here, why Santana knew she's never get hurt even when she was close to a girl who could control the wind but couldn't control herself; for that girl was Brittany, and hurting Santana would've gone against every single moral and physical threshold in Brittany's being.
Santana could feel warm wetness against the pad of her thumbs and on the edges of her lips. Her heart twisted and ached. For she had made Brittany cry, she'd allowed Brittany to cry. She'd broken the promise she made to Brittany, at this very place.
"what's wrong Britt Britt? Why are you crying? Who was it? Who do I have to burn!" yelled the 8 year old Santana as she moved her short legs with quick succession towards the quaking blonde who was hugging her legs with her face buried on her knees.
"n-no S-San. D-Don't hurt P-Puck." The blonde heaved, shoulders lifting a great deal before deflating again with shudders. "H-He. he didn't mean to ca-call me st-st-stu..." and the blonde broke into a series of sobs again.
Santana's chest, besides being constricted from the ache she felt for her crying best friend, started to burn as a fire built on rage ignited in her chest.
"Puckerman..." she growled, fist clenched tightly and upper lip curling into a menacing snarl.
The tone of Santana voice alerted Brittany to the preceding fight that would undoubtedly unfold if Santana were to be allowed in the presence of the mohawked boy right now, so, she sucked in a deep breath and looked up.
"D-Don't San. I... I'll cry m-more if-If you g-go hurt yourself" her lungs quaked with the sharp intakes of air invading her lungs.
The crimson red orbs of the raging Santana began to dissolve as she looked at the despaired blonde; eyes missing that extra child-like twinkle, fresh tears glistening on the swollen cheeks that were red from pressing against knees and the inevitable trembling protruding lower lip. Those were all it took for Santana's fury to dissolve and for the Latina to quickly drop to her knees in front of the blonde.
"Okay. But it's just this once Brittany. It's just this once, for I'll never let anyone or anything hurt you ever again," she lowered her head and pressed her lips tenderly to the wet cheeks of the previously sobbing blonde, "I'll never let you cry again."
When she pulled back and locked her eyes upon the blue eyes that were quickly regaining colour, hers had so much sincerity and determination that it was simply seeping out of her brown orbs.
"Never" she confirmed again, with a resolute shake of her head from left to right.
Santana pulled away after the muscles in her calf started to throb from her standing on the balls of her feet for a second too long and rested their foreheads together.
They both breathed in deeply, revelling in the mixture of both their breaths intermingling at the small space in between their mouths.
"why...," Brittany breathed, sending a burst of hot air onto Santana's face and then shocking the Latina with the piercing coldness of her hands as she cupped Santana's cheeks. Brown orbs peeked out of half hooded lids as Santana's eyes flitted open and drifted upwards to look at Brittany, whose shining cobalt eyes were staring right back at hers. "why are you crying?" Brittany asked, forehead bunching against Santana's as her brows turned upwards in a worried crease.
Santana's brows in turn furrowed down in puzzlement. "what? I'm not crying-"
She reached up and lightly tap her cheeks only to feel the wetness on her cheeks she didn't know about.
"why are you crying Santana?" Brittany urged again, giving Santana's forehead a light push with hers.
A wave of hot breath tickled the skin of Brittany's neck as Santana sighed, preparing to reveal the reason for her embarrassing emotional breakdown.
"because I-I'm sorry" She confessed, hands that have dropped to the small of Brittany's back bunched the material of soft army shirt in a tight fist and eyes dropping to look at the fine hairs on Brittany's creamy neck.
When Brittany didn't respond, she flicked her eyes up to look at the taller girl, only to see patient blue eyes shining back at her even when they were under the shadow of the large tree Brittany was still pressed to.
Why was she embarrassed in the presence of Brittany? Brittany always understands. Even so, admitting to the reason she cried or even to the fact that she had even cried at all was a large step out the threshold of her personal morals.
Brittany, had the answer for that inner turmoil unfolding in Santana.
"come on San. I'm Brittany, not anyone else"
And that's when she realised just how dumb she was to have even allowed the verbal dispute to unfold in her mind. What personal morals? Santana's personal morals? The Santana that everyone only knows as the queen bee of the school, Santana the girl you should never trifle with. Santana the girl who's too strong to cry, Santana 'the girl on fire'?
But that's not her.
She's Santana Rivera Lopez. She's The real Santana. The real Santana isn't all that front everyone think she was, she was, well... Brittany's Santana.
"I'm sorry I allowed you to shed a tear. Sorry I didn't keep the promise I made to you. I know it sounds silly an-"
"yeah, that's silly because we've both broken that promise, because you've cried too," The thumbs on her cheeks begun it's light motion, much like hers had before. "that promise was made by both of us. Not just you. It's you and me Santana. It's always you and me."
Santana had never, felt her heart beat so erratically in her chest before.
nothing more was said as understanding passed between the both of them.
"Do you hear the birds?" Brittany broke the comfortable silence forcing Santana to open her eyes.
Shiny chocolate brown orbs stared affectionately at their favourite pair of eyes before widening. Santana sat up immediately, looking up at the already darkening sky.
"Britt!," she exclaimed, face blanched, "we should've been home hours ago!"
They scrambled up to their feet, smoothing their attire and fixing their hair, Brittany simply stuffing her blonde hair into a greyish-green army cap.
Santana had already gripped the handle of her wooden basket full of groceries but Brittany was still scurrying around the opening.
"what are you doing Brittany! We've gotta go! Your mother is going to kill you!" Santana scolded.
This was the first time Brittany didn't cower under the name of her mother, she was always the one rushing home in fear that her mother would disallow her out the house the next day.
"I can't!," Brittany shouted across her shoulder to Santana who was already crouched at the shrub, all prepared to go out.
"I can't find Ballad!"
"who's Ballad" Santana shouted back, brow furrowing with confusion. When did they have a friend called Ballad?
"The duck!" Brittany flung her arms to the air in frustration, pacing back and forth the diameter of the circular opening.
Santana giggled when she saw the head of the disfigured duck bobbing along in the back pocket of Brittany's brown trousers.
"Brittany?," Santana called with a giggle, "Ballad's in your back pocket."
Brittany stopped pacing abruptly and twisted her body seeking for the duck, true enough, Ballad was sitting in her back pocket with it's head tilted down to the side. Her blue eyes started to sparkle as if it was the most expensive and precious thing in the world.
Santana's right hand was stretched out when Brittany skipped gaily towards her with a smile so big, her eyes were hardly even open. The blonde laced their hands together and proceeded to crouch into the shrub to tug them out, but was pulled back forcefully. Brittany spinned back to face Santana and a sharp intake of breath was heard before a pair of lips were pressed onto hers forcefully.
"mmm," Brittany chuckled at Santana's forcefulness, noting that it was the third time that day that this had happen and smiling onto the girl's lips before wrapping her arms around the girl's neck to push her lips harder onto plump ones, revelling in the way it made her body tingle and her heart soar with delight.
When they pulled away, Brittany looked down at Santana, who was looking up at the taller girl through dark eyelashes and a red tint on her cheeks, with curiosity and amusement at Santana's fervour "thanks Britt," she whispered, "thanks for not caring for the rage of your mother to search for the Duck." she sounded so small and timorous, almost on the verge of tears.
To Santana's astonishment, Brittany didn't reply but instead tore their bodies apart and pulled both of them out through the shrub and into the alleyway.
The short walk towards the exit was engulfed in silence.
But Brittany wasn't one to end the day with Santana without clearing the air, thus, before they remerged out and into the noisy evening market, Brittany turned and faced Santana with an angry expression.
"You're thanking me for silly things again Santana. You've always had and will always be number one for me."
Santana's vision started to grow cloudy around the edges and all she could see was the perfection standing in front of her. Even her tears were in favour of Brittany.
Her heart swelled with an unidentifiable emotion and all she could think of was how much she never wanted to see the retreating back of Brittany ever again, all she could think of was how much she wanted to never ever leave Brittany, of how her heart leaps with every glance Brittany sends her, how her heart always seemed to ram against her chest like a frenzied hammer wanting to leap to the gorgeous blonde girl or how Brittany was made of everything beautiful and happy.
She vaguely remembered her mother had mentioned such an overwhelming emotion previously, when they were at the topic of her father, but no matter how she racked her mind she couldn't bring the word to the front of her mind.
so,
"You're number one for me too Britt. You'll always be my number one" was all Santana could offer, for now.
But never-mind cliche and simplicity, that simple statement was more than capable to elicit that smile,
that Santana smile Brittany had.
The smile where her lips edged more to the right with only a hint of pearly whites peeking out from the slightly parted soft pink lips and that's when her eyes are at its bluest with the most distinct shade of cobalt.
Santana was aware of the smile Brittany reserved solely for her, but she wasn't aware that more often than not, that smile was a response to a rare smile only Brittany had the fortune of witnessing.
Santana had her very own Brittany smile.
They parted with a chaste kiss pressed each other's lips (their new favorite thing to do) and lingering glances before emerging from the alleyway one before the other so that no suspicions will be raised and no attention will be caught.
Santana's heart twisted a little as she watched the figure of Brittany disappear down the same cobbled steps she would be stepping upon later on.
Santana was tucked into bed by her father that night.
"Daddy," she called her father back from the door, remembering something.
Martinez Lopez turned around and sat down beside Santana at the edge of her bed, stroking his daughter's cheek with the back of his hand. He missed tucking his daughter in and wouldn't hesitate to steal that opportunity whenever it presented itself in the form of an early dismissal by the sheriff home.
"yes miha?" he asked, getting an idea of what his daughter wanted to talk to him about, judging by how her face was flushed a deep red, her eyes darting around the room and her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her quilt. His heart ached a little then, realising just how much of his precious daughter's growth he was missing out and now without even a single squeak of a signal, she has already grown and troubled with the matters of the heart.
"um... M-mummy talked about you that day." she started, still looking so small in the eyes of her loving father.
"yeah?, what did she talk about?"
he probbed, swiping a stray bunch of her long raven mane away from her face.
"she, talked about how she felt about you. About how happy she was to have met you and married you." Santana smiled at how loving her parents we.
"and I feel the same about her." Martinez Lopez replied with a smile that looked strikingly similar to his daughter's.
"yeah. I was. Um," she stalled, picking at the loose thread of her quilt before taking in a deep breath and looking her father in the eye.
Martinez Lopez's breath hitch in his throat as he saw the familiar fiery passion behind his daughter's brown eyes. They looked exactly like his wife's when he proposed to her.
"I was wondering what that feeling was called." Santana finished, trapping the cloth in a tight fist.
"it's called Love miha, amor." a feminine voice said from the door way, causing the father and daughter to jump slightly in shock.
Santana watched as her father's eyes lit up and a smile tugged upon his lips as he stood up and walked towards his wife.
"te amo, cariño" Martinez Lopez whispered, resting his arms on his wife's hips, forgetting about the extra pair of eyes.
"Mami! Papi! Go be disgusting somewhere else!" Santana shouted from her bed, eliciting a giggle and groan from her parents.
Martinez Lopez hugged his wife from behind and placed a kiss on her cheek, "good night miha. Sweet dreams!" he shouted before waddling with his wife's feet upon his out of his daughter's room.
"our daughter is in love cariño." his wife whispered to him.
"I know," he replied, "and might have a clue who the person might be" remembering a scene between a Latina girl that he recognised immediately and a blonde boy who really was a girl if you looked closely.
His wife tore her body from his quickly and kissed away the pout that formed from his lips before asking excitedly, "who is it!"
His dark brows furrowed slightly, worried that his wife might take it harshly, "her childhood friend"
Maria Lopez's eyes darted to the ceiling as she thought of all the children Santana played with as a child and only one person came to mind, "Brittany?" she inquired, looking back into her husband's eyes.
He simply nodded his head, watching his wife's face for the impending reaction.
To his bewilderment, a smile splayed across his wife's face.
"why are you smiling?"
"why shouldn't I be?" Maria Lopez countered, walking away to the living room and plopping herself upon the couch for she knew it was going to take some convincing for her husband to believe that she was fine with it, if the person her daughter had fallen for it was Brittany.
Martinez Lopez wasn't buying it, he crouched down in front of his wife and kept her under his intense scrutiny.
"what Cariño." she rolled her eyes, running a hand through his head of curly short hair and leaving her fingers tangled up in those soft locks.
"why are you fine with it. I expected you to be more..." he gestures with his hands, trying to think of a word.
"perplexed? Disturbed? Angry? Disgusted?"
Martinez Lopez's head bobbed in agreement with every expression his wife came up with.
She sighed heavily out of her nose before cupping her husband's cheeks with her two hands.
"she's our precious daughter Martinez," she started, looking straight into his eyes so he could see she the ingenuity behind her statements, "all I want for her is happiness and for her not to get that delicate heart of hers broken. If i want all that, then Brittany's the answer. Brittany gives her all the happiness in the world, you should see the way her eyes sparkles when she's with that blonde. And that smile, that smile she gives Brittany? Makes my heart melt. That's how I know she makes my daughter happy."
"how sure are you that Brittany won't hurt her?," he asked, perplexed.
"very sure," Maria Lopez replies without a fraction of a second's hesitation.
"how? Why?" her husband continued to test a theory.
"because Cariño, Brittany looks at Santana with that same look in her eyes as the one you give me"
That was it. Martinez Lopez was officially, thoroughly convinced.
In the dark room of the teenager, Santana laid under her quilt with only one thing on her semi conscious mind.
"te amo." she says to the room,
"te amo Brittany" She breathes hoping Brittany gets her heart felt message.
And Brittany does because at the same town, under the same sky, Brittany's heart pounds erratically against her chest and she face spreads into a lopsided smile, feeling as if her heart and Santana's had just touched.
There it is. Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave your thoughts and critics. and have a great day!