Title: Why Do Words Lose Their Meaning?
Disclaimer: I don't own this show.
Anti-Cosmo says all there needs to be, Anti-Wanda doesn't need to. Then a plan for world dominance goes awry and causes a rift between the two. Suddenly they can never communicate the same again.
The Anti-fairies castle, situated at the centre of Anti-Fairy World, and home to the two top dogs in the entire system; Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda. However, Anti-Wanda acted as the sidekick of the duo, letting her husband take the reigns of all their schemes to take over the world. Although they hadn't quite succeeded yet, Anti-Wanda was certain that her husband would think of the most foolproof plan yet. It was only a matter of time, and she had so much faith in him. She was always readily able to give him support from the sidelines.
Anti-Wanda accepted that she was the runt of the litter of anti-fairies, knowing full well there isn't a whole lot of activity going on upstairs, but she was completely fine with it. Anti-Cosmo was the smartest man she knew, yet he's able to look past all of that. He saw beyond her thick skull is a woman who was lost and afraid, yet she was sweet in her own right despite her evil morals. She agreed to date him because of their similar perspective of right and wrong, and she agreed to marry him because he doesn't treat her as an idiotic minion.
However, sometimes she felt as if she was just a hindrance to him. She had more than once put Anti-Cosmo's plans in danger of failure, and almost all of the time ruined every single scheme she was involved in. She felt guilty, like a useless thorn in his side that he could easily get rid of at any time. Yet every time a plan had gone awry, due to Anti-Wanda's mishaps or not, Anti-Cosmo would never hold it against her.
It would always come as a shock to her. Although he would be angry for a short time, his anger would subside almost immediately, and he kept himself together the best that he could. He always seemed to be on top of things, he was like a professional criminal with no time for wallowing in self-pity over the countless failures he's endured. He always seemed to get back up on his feet and try again.
Anti-Cosmo's persistence was incredibly admirable, so was his ability to uphold a professional reputation and calm demeanor. It made Anti-Wanda almost weak at the knees. Every time he'd go over evil schemes with her, every time he would put aside his negativity and anger to focus on the task at hand, Anti-Wanda couldn't help but observe with nothing but admiration.
At that moment, Anti-Wanda was watching her husband from afar. Anti-Cosmo had hatched up an idea to upgrade and improve his machinery, hoping that working on these upgrades would inspire him to think of the ultimate plan for Fairy World domination.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, sighing from the hard work he was putting into his upgrades. His wife watched him with a fast beating heart, observing him as he rolled up his dirty sleeves and stretched for a moment, putting a determined expression on his face before busying himself inside a panel of a large laser gun. Anti-Wanda was in charge of the circuits in case anything had shorted out. However, she was finding it hard to concentrate, focusing mainly on her husband.
She was simple, a little sweet, but mostly easy for Anti-Cosmo to please. She leant her elbow on the circuit board and placed her cheek to her hand, dozing off slightly and smiling to herself. Despite her whole purpose of bringing bad luck to others, she felt pretty lucky having Anti-Cosmo by her side. She knew even throughout all of his evil plans, almost all of them being failures, she would go along with them for the ride because they made him happy.
She daydreamed with her eyes closed, thinking of him. She loved how he'd dream big, she loved how demanding and determined he was, despite countless failures, to keep dreaming for what he wanted.
Although he was cruel and evil to others, and his sole purpose was to bring bad luck and misery to every one around him, there was always one person that he would always turn to with love in his eyes.
Anti-Wanda, his darling wife, he loved to call her sweet names, not being afraid to prove to anyone that he treasured her the most out of everything. She was incredibly grateful, having a powerful husband and yet he'd treat her with the utmost respect. She couldn't fully wrap her head around it, but she knew whenever he would do a total turn around and go from intimidatingly evil to an incredibly loving husband, she couldn't help but feel complete happiness. He'd do anything for her, she knew that much, and she found herself dozing off with a drooling smile on her face.
Anti-Cosmo stepped out of the machine, looking over to his wife and raised his eyebrow to her.
"Thinking about that ten-foot tall sandwich again, dear?" He asked her with a grin, noticing how she was gazing off into nowhere with a big smile on her face. He sighed with a smile when she gave him no reply, instead a small dozy giggle escaped her lips.
Anti-Cosmo walked over to her, looking at her for a moment to observe her. She was completely out of it, trapped in her own thoughts, and Anti-Cosmo couldn't help but quietly laugh. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and snapped her out of it, suddenly her eyes opened wide as she looked up at him with surprise, before laughing whole-heartedly to him. He knew her so well, she thought, and Anti-Cosmo beamed at her laughter.
"Huh? Sorry?" She said cheerfully, her ditzy smile never faltering.
"I said are you thinking about that ten-foot tall sandwich again, dear?" He said more softly than before, leaning one arm on the circuit board in front of her... the one she was supposed to be looking out for.
"Why, are you gonna make one for me?" She asked excitedly, completely serious about this.
"If I do, will you pay attention to the circuit board this time?" He said, teasing her with the idea and moving closer to her, his face only inches away from hers. She took a sharp intake of breath as he did, her cheeks slightly flushing red, "Last time a blasted electrical wire shot my finger and damn near electrocuted me."
Anti-Cosmo held up his finger, slightly charred from the incident and Anti-Wanda gasped. Suddenly, she grabbed his arm forcefully and dragged him away from the machinery towards the kitchen.
"You're hurt!" She exclaimed worriedly, rummaging through kitchen drawers to find bandages, medicines and ointment that might help him. Anti-Cosmo only went along with it, standing behind her at a distance and rolling his eyes at her.
"Honestly Anti-Wanda, I'm fine. Don't get yourself all worked up about it, it's just a little scratch." He shrugged his shoulders before looking over at his slightly blackened finger.
"Are you sure?" She asked him, intense worry for him in her eyes as she gazed at him.
Anti-Cosmo blinked, finding this situation all too familiar. She wasn't all that smart so she's had to rely a lot on him and his word, but it wouldn't stop her from worrying about him or doing what she can to help him.
It was completely apparent to him that she would drop everything and do anything for him. He was very grateful, his heart beating faster as he looked at her loving face and placed a hand under her chin to cup her face. He brought her closer to him and smiled, noticing how she seemed to melt within his grasp.
"I'm very sure, so don't fret. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." He moved closer and kissed her gently for a moment before moving back a little to take her arms and look at her face, now beaming with colour, "I love you, you twit."
"My Anti-Cosmo!" She said softly before bringing herself close to him for a tight embrace.
She buried her head under his chin, feeling completely safe in his arms and loved by him as she heard his heart beating quickly against her ear. She was happy with the fact that she had the same effect on him as he had on her. He leant his chin on the top of hair and held her like that for a short while. It had been a long day of planning and scheming, it was nice to take a step back and hold the person that was the most dear to him out of everyone else.
Anti-Wanda moved back out of his arms slightly, holding his hurt hand in hers and brought his charred finger to her lips. She kissed it gently, hoping that this would help a little bit, and it did.
Anti-Cosmo took a short intake of breath as she did this, knowing that she was the type of person who would show how she felt for him rather than put it into words. It's not because she wasn't capable of doing so, it was because she felt it better for her to put her words into action and Anti-Cosmo was completely comfortable with this. He was humbled, and felt even more loved by this. As Anti-Wanda felt loved by his words, he felt loved by the things she would do for him.
"Once I rule the world," Anti-Cosmo told her quietly, looking sincerely into her eyes, "I'll have you reigning supreme by my side, and I'll give you everything."
…
Another plan failed miserably.
Anti-Cosmo had been silent on his way back to his castle alongside his wife. Jorgen had caught them once again, but this time the plan hadn't even been put into action yet. It was Anti-Wanda who stood out in the open for Jorgen to find, breaking apart all they had worked for and almost caught them. If it wasn't for Anti-Cosmo's quick thinking, Jorgen would have caught his wife and thrown her in jail. Then who knows how long it would take to get her out of there.
Anti-Cosmo entered the castle and Anti-Wanda sheepishly followed him inside, then almost jumped out of her skin when she heard her husband slam the wooden door behind her. She was almost afraid to look back at him, fearing how angry he might be at her.
She bravely turned her head, finding Anti-Cosmo leaning on the door with one arm. He was looking vacantly towards the floor, his hair falling over his face, casting a shadow over his unknown expression.
"Anti... Cosmo..." She breathed in terror. She'd never seen him this way before. It scared her.
"Don't ever do that again!" He shouted to her suddenly, making her jump once again,
"I... I'm sorry..." Anti-Wanda said with hardly any breath left inside her, feeling as if her heart was tightening so much in her chest that she couldn't breathe anymore.
He slammed his fist to the door. The impact made the crashing sound echo throughout the entire castle, creating an eerie tension between the two.
Anti-Wanda stared at him with so much fear in her eyes, she wasn't quite sure what he was going to say to her. She wasn't stupid enough to realise that she had messed up, she made a large enough mistake to see her husband crack under the pressure at last. She hated seeing him this way, hated how it was entirely her fault, hated how he refused to look her in the eye as he silently seethed to himself.
She began to tremble, fighting back the tears in her eyes and swallowed her visible sadness that was clear as day on her face. But she couldn't look away from him. She couldn't move an inch.
Anti-Cosmo's fist unclenched to rest his palm on the wooden door, and as he sighed with depletion he rested his forehead to the door.
There was a long pause between them. Anti-Wanda remained frozen in fear, finding the silence to be cruel and deafening.
Finally, Anti-Cosmo turned to lean his back against the door and slowly shrunk down it in defeat. He hid his face again as he sat there, placing his palm to his face and crouching forward to hide his expression from her. All he managed to sound out without losing his voice to his emotion was,
"You made me worry."
Anti-Wanda could barely speak.
What was that meant to mean? She wondered. Her shoulders fell as she relaxed, her fear turning to confusion. Was he sad? Did I make him sad?
She took a few steps towards him, boldly approaching him and crouched down so her face was at his level. She observed his hidden face, shivering underneath his hand as if he was failing to cover himself away from her.
Suddenly, she heard a drop of water drip beneath them.
Anti-Wanda's confusion fell to complete and utter despair. He was crying. Her Anti-Cosmo, the confident, aggressive ruler of Anti-Fairy World was breaking down into tears front of her. He was visibly shaking as silent sobs erupted from his throat. He couldn't stop it, no matter how hard he tried to conceal himself from his wife, he was completely torn.
He wanted to get away from here immediately, run far from Anti-Wanda so she couldn't see him at his worst. He had hoped never to reveal himself at his weakest to anyone, especially his wife, who admired him so much because of how resilient he was as a leader and as a husband.
However, no matter how hard he tried to hide his face or mask his sobbing, he couldn't find the strength to move. He was stuck. The ground had captured him and he had silently hoped it would swallow him whole. His legs were motionless, he felt all the energy had been knocked out of him and all he could feel was sadness and grief.
Just get me away from here... so she can't see...
"Anti-Wanda..." He sobbed in pain, as if he struggled to find his voice in his throat.
Anti-Wanda was at a loss on what to do. Never had she seen him this way before, she didn't know how to comfort him at all. Especially since she felt it was her fault for failing his plans in the first place, she couldn't find the right words or actions within her.
This was so unlike Anti-Cosmo. They were in sync with each other so often, each knowing just what to do and say to make the situation even better, but this time the frequency was completely off. Way off.
She was at a complete loss. Finally, it hit her that they were two separate people. No matter how many years of marriage, she still couldn't read his mind. She was still finding out new and interesting things about her beloved spouse, but now she had wished with all her heart that she knew what to do now.
She hated this, feeling lost and helpless as the man she loved suffered before her.
I don't know what to do...
Please tell me... what do I do...
Before she herself burst into tears from feeling completely useless, Anti-Cosmo's head lifted up slightly. Anti-Wanda looked at him immediately with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Is he going to tell me? Anti-Wanda hoped with all her heart.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but immediately closed it to bite his lower lip. He took a few seconds to compose himself again. He was thrown by looking at his wife's face, it was washed over with nothing but hopeless worry. He hated how she looked, how he couldn't find it within him anymore to hide all his sadness so she wouldn't have to worry anymore. But he had to tell the truth, he had to tell her.
Finally, he bravely returned his gaze back to her.
"Anti-Wanda," his voice was hoarse with sadness, "Don't ever put yourself in danger like that."
Her head shot up.
"You were right in the line of fire from my laser gun just before I set it off," he covered his face with his hands, "I was about to shoot you, I could've killed you... I don't... I don't know what I would've done if..."
Anti-Wanda stared at him with her eyes as wide as they could go.
It wasn't her fault after all.
Jorgen had caught her just in time before the laser gun shot her square in the chest. Anti-Cosmo's evil plans had been stopped and Anti-Wanda's life was saved by Jorgen. After that, Anti-Cosmo grabbed his wife and immediately escaped, leaving the machinery and plans behind for Jorgen to occupy himself with while the anti-fairies left with their lives.
Her mouth hung open for a moment before receding, realising that if she were to comment then she may say something that might make the situation a lot worse. She didn't trust her words, she could never say what she really wanted to say to him.
So she looked at him carefully and patiently, watching him as he continued to sob at the idea of losing his wife.
All that time while he was escaping with her after the plan failed, the time that he had been angry to that moment when he was reduced to crying, he couldn't forget the terrible, morbid horror that fell upon him when he noticed Anti-Wanda's life was in danger at the hands of his inventions. He couldn't shake the heartbreaking moment when he saw her smile towards him, innocently unaware of the laser gun pointing towards her chest, and realising that may be the last smile he'd ever see from her.
Then Jorgen appeared, like an unlikely hero, and scooped her up in his large fist just before the gun had fired.
Anti-Cosmo leapt for his wife's hand, pulling him out of Jorgen's grip with all his strength and flew as fast as he could out of the scene. He held on to Anti-Wanda's hand as tight as he could, refusing to let her go for a second, which she mistook for unimaginable fury at her.
It all made sense now, like pieces of a puzzle fitting inside her mind.
Anti-Cosmo had his head buried in his hands, sobbing a lot more audibly now, before he was interrupted by the feeling of Anti-Wanda's hand placed on his head.
He lifted his head up out of his palms, tears visibly streaked down his cheeks and blue hairs messily framed his face. His monocle had fallen away from him and rolled away somewhere close by, so he could only look at her through his glassy eyes.
He was surprised when he met with Anti-Wanda's warm smile. He gazed at her, met with equally watery eyes and looked at her with slight confusion on his face. He was sure that Anti-Wanda would be frantic about this whole situation. In fact, he wasn't sure what he was expecting after revealing his weakness to her. This was the first time he had let himself break down in front of her.
His line of thought was interrupted again by her as she ruffled his hair playfully a bit, much to his surprise. He looked up at her once she was done and noticed she was smiling sweetly towards him, her eyes were sympathetic and she remained silent.
It was strange, but it was comforting to him. Like their roles had been completely reversed where Anti-Wanda was the strong, vigilant one while Anti-Cosmo was the inept one at a loss for words. It was a nice change, they felt, that they didn't always have to act one way around each other. In fact, a large weight was lifted off of Anti-Cosmo as he watched his wife inch closer towards him, her comforting smile still remained on her face.
She gently placed her hands on his wet cheeks, slowly wiping his eyes with her thumbs and softly looked at him. He noticed that she wasn't shying away from him at all, in fact she was boldly getting closer and closer to him, until she gently placed her lips against his.
Anti-Wanda lingered there for a while, holding his face with her hands as a sign that she refused to let go. He sighed into her, finding so much comfort in her kiss, until she pulled back a little. He seemed to have calmed down a lot more now.
"You know, I'm actually really happy," she said quietly, shifting uncomfortably as she tried to put the words together, "I mean, I'm not happy that you're sad... that makes me feel sad too... but, um, I'm happy that you're sad about me. I'd be very sad too if I were to... lose you..."
Anti-Cosmo could only look at her. He watched her as she struggled to try her best to say the right words. It felt impossible for her to grab all her feelings for him and form them into sentences. So, as her voice trailed off into the distance, she looked into his eyes with a longing gaze.
"So don't be sad," she said in a whisper, "I'm here."
Anti-Cosmo's eyes widened.
It was incredible. That was exactly what he wanted to hear, what he needed to hear, at that moment. He was too busy wallowing in the 'what if's of it all, he failed to appreciate the fact that she was still alive and healthy beside him. She was there safe and sound, holding him close and loving him so openly.
Suddenly, he leapt on his heels and grabbed a hold of her, bringing her down towards him. She squeaked in surprise as she was pulled to him all of a sudden, holding her tight as if he was holding on to her dear life.
Anti-Wanda was surprised at first, until she finally sighed with satisfaction.
Maybe I did say the right thing after all, she thought to herself triumphantly.
He held on to her for a long while, unwilling to let her go just yet. It was as if he was re-enacting the moment just before she was going to be shot with the laser gun, and he had pounced as fast as he could to shield her from harm's way. He would gladly lay his life on the line for her, he noted to himself.
Anti-Cosmo shook as he held her, his hands grabbing on to a handful of her shirt as he buried his face in her lap.
She gently ran her fingers through his hair, attempting to soothe him as she heard his sobs growing louder. She felt she needed to be there, let him know she wasn't going to leave him and silently caressed his hair whilst she allowed him to let go of all his sadness on to her.
And he let go. His crying became loud and pained, choking out every last sob as he let his tears fall on to her legs. It was as if all of his anguish that he had bottled up inside was released all at once in an explosion of agony. Every time Anti-Wanda was separated from him, he would fight the urge to lose his way. Every time she was close to being imprisoned by Jorgen, he'd try to compose himself the best he could. However, the hardest times were the moments Anti-Wanda was on the edge of life and death, and he could barely find it within him to function. It had only taken one more time when Anti-Wanda's life was at risk, that one time pushed him to the edge, and he couldn't bottle it up inside anymore.
All of his pain and misery couldn't be stopped, it felt like an uncontrollable river. He couldn't take the torment of suffering in silence anymore.
He finally freed his true feelings openly, right on his wife's lap. All of his fear, all of his anger, all of his sorrows, and all because of her.
She could hear that in his voice. He treasured her, with every fibre of his being, and he couldn't hide his fear of losing her any longer.
She understood this now.
As she placed a longing, gentle kiss on the top of his head, she let her welling tears escape and fall down her cheeks. She felt so loved, so wanted, and finally felt his anguish at the idea of losing him as well. Anti-Wanda rested her head on top of his, grabbing on to his clothes as he did hers and quietly cried, although she wasn't sure if he could hear her as his own sobbing was much louder, drowning her out.
They looked like two lost children, holding on to each other in fear of this big unknown world. What else would they face together, what other hardships are in store for them? World conquest domination is in their grasp, but at what cost?
But as Anti-Wanda held him, as she stayed there to comfort him and refused to let him go, he felt his sadness slowly going away. He could definitely hear her quietly sniffing and feel her fingertips shaking as she held on to him as best as she could. Anti-Cosmo eventually stopped and wiped away his grief with the back of his hand, taking a few deep breaths to compose himself for her.
Then he pulled himself back from her, squaring his back against the door and looked her straight in the eyes as he said sincerely,
"You have no idea how grateful I am for you being here." He said, his desperation subsiding as his smile began to soften, "I suppose I was a little afraid of showing you my weakness. My weakness being you, that is. As silly as it seems now, I was hesitant to show you anything other than my dominant self. It felt like if I wavered, even for a moment, you wouldn't look at me the way you're looking at me now."
He laughed bitterly to himself as he shook his head, his hands gently placed over Anti-Wanda's arms protectively.
"It was pretty silly, I know. But, my dear Anti-Wanda, as you can see I'd be crushed if I lost you. In all honesty, as macho and confident as I may appear to be, I'm an absolute coward when it comes to you."
She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his forehead and lingered there for a few precious moments. Anti-Cosmo had leaned forward to welcome her, closing his eyes as he felt her softly against him. When she finally moved back, her smile was still there and it was as large and as sweet as ever.
"I know the risks. I know going into the field with you is life-threatening. Even so," she continued softly with a goofy smile to lighten the mood, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm..."
"Here, I know, I know." He laughed whole-heartedly, wrapping his arms around her contentedly and she laughed even louder in return, burying her head into his neck. As she wrapped her arms around him as well, they fell into a comfortable silence. Neither of them wanted to say a thing, there was really nothing to be said. They just felt completely content being together in their arms like that, pressed up against their wooden front door as if everything else around them was totally insignificant.
Anti-Wanda continued to sniff, sheepishly wiping away any escaped tears that would build up in her eyes. But she didn't feel sad, not in the least. She was moved to tears. She loved how precious her husband would make her feel. She decided she would stay right there, resting happily in his arms until...
She felt him sigh against her, and she looked up to see his face brighten up with a large mischievous grin. Anti-Wanda was taken completely off guard as he seemed to be immediately perked up. A fleeting glimmer of determination and hope shone in his eyes. Suddenly, he stood up quickly, leaving Anti-Wanda stumbling up to her feet with her arms still wrapped around him.
"Well, another diabolical plan has been compromised, but I suppose sitting around sulking isn't going to do much good for us." He turned to his wife, letting his hand stroke her cheek for a quick second and felt how hot her cheeks became from the touch. "C'mon, let's go think of a new plan, and this time I have no doubt that we will succeed as rightful rulers of the universe!"
He began striding away proudly from her with a spring in his step, directly towards the study where they would hatch their next plan for domination.
Anti-Wanda was stunned into silence, her face still slightly red from earlier, noticing how much he had returned to his old self in no time at all. She was incredibly relieved. And her heart felt as if it had skipped several beats.
It seemed no matter what hardships they faced or whatever obstacles they would come across, in world domination or with each other, he would always think of her first. Despite having a colossal meltdown in front of the one person he tried to hide it from, he had confidentially perked up in no time thanks to her efforts to comfort him.
She smiled to herself. They were an inseparable team. And it was incredible how even though they were born as polar opposites to their fairy counterparts Cosmo and Wanda, their feelings for each other wasn't the least bit different.
Anti-Cosmo turned around, flashing her a smile as he held out a hand for her, inviting her alongside him. He looked broken, dry tears still fresh on his face yet his smile was wide and genuine. But, he felt just fine. Because as Anti-Wanda broke out of her thoughts, as she grinned when she took his hands to lace her fingers between his, he felt so happy living in the moment. He had his dear wife alive and well with him, feeling his heart jump into his throat when she gently placed a quick kiss on his cheek.
Hand in hand, they walked away from the damp floor beneath the door and all their anxieties had been washed away with it. In fact they walked away feeling even better than before all this had happened. Anti-Cosmo felt as if he wasn't afraid of relying on his wife anymore, and he wasn't afraid of showing her all the weak sides of him.
Anti-Wanda felt relieved, knowing that he would let her become a pillar of support if he needed it. That's what she was there for, that's why she married him. She loved him because he could be all powerful, aggressive and gentle all rolled into one, and she also loved him when he was sad or hurt, when he held on to her like a lost child and spilt his soul to her. She loved everything about him, she accepted every one of his perfections and hidden imperfections. If he could accept all her flaws, then it would be completely unfair if she couldn't do the same.
They were both far from perfect. They needed each other because, at the very core, they were scared little children, although they were unwilling to show it. But at last, they sighed as they realised, it would be alright if they did.
