Zoey's Goodbye
Disclaimer: I DONT OWN HON:(
Author's Note: I had to continue! I couldn't leave it that sad:( I hope you review!
"Stark...do you ever think about Zoey?"
"Aphrodite, what kind of stupid question is that?"
"I'm serious. Do you still think about her?"
"Of course."
"It's been fourty years."
"I know that."
"How have you stayed faithful that long?"
"I'm her Warrior. I love her. I can still feel her, sometimes. She's gone, but it feels like she's still here sometimes. I'll always miss her."
Zoey was looking in on her friends again. Wow. Had it really been fourty years already? It seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Oh, how she missed her friends! Especially Stark. She missed him so much.
It is a full moon, tonight. The goddess said, coming up behind Zoey.
"I know." Zoey said, massaging her temples. It always gave her a headache to look in on the human world for too long.
Do you? The goddess asked.
"What do you mean?" Zoey asked.
It is not a normal full moon, Zoeybird. It is the Samhain full moon. And I believe that you gained enough power over the last fourty years to make the transition from my realm to the human world for a single night.
The news stunned Zoey silent. She could really go back? For an entire night?
What do you say, Zoey? Do you accept? The goddess asked.
Zoey prepared herself to leave the Otherworld.
She said goodbye to Nyx and Heath, and flung her spirit towards Earth.
When she got there, her friends were all in the same place. They were having a Samhein ritiual on the Island of Skye. Zoey had heard of the Island of Skye. It was apparently where the Warriors used to train. Sgiach ruled and lived on the island, and her friends had somehow gained entry there years before.
When she appeared, no one saw her at first. It took some major throat clearing before anyone even turned.
"Who's there?" Damien asked, shielding Jack.
Zoey was surprised. It had been fourty years, but her friends all looked about twenty; it had to have been awesome to be a vampyre.
"Damien?" Zoey asked.
"Who's there?" Damien asked again.
"Damien, it's me; Zoey."
"What?" Everyone asked at once.
"It's Samhein, guys!" Zoey said, emerging from the bushes which had been concealing her. Her friends jumped with joy, and engulfed her in an enormous hug. There was even a knew addition to the group; a young Indian boy, who was apparently with Stevie Rae. He was sooo cute!
But there was also someone missing.
"Guys, where's Stark?" Zoey asked.
No one answered her.
"Guys? Where's Stark?"
Finally, Stevie Rae whispered, "The shore."
Not liking the silence that had consumed her friends, Zoey flung her spirit towards the seashore.
She heard Stark.
He was shooting arrows from a bow, and hitting the center of the target repeatedly, just as he had the night he had rejected the Change. It seemed almost unreal, seeing him now. He looked almost exactly the same as he had the last time she'd seen him. But he also looked a little different. His eyes were a little bit colder. His jaw was set, his lips were pressed in a thin line, and he was really, really pale.
Zoey didn't know the right way to approach him. He would be surprised, shocked, maybe even scared. How would she ever tell him?
"I know that someone's there. Might as well just come out." Stark said, shooting another arrow.
"Sorry." Zoey whispered. "I didn't want to sneak up on you. I didn't want to scare you."
"I'm not easily scared." Stark said, a ghost of his old, cocky smile playing at his lips.
"Are you sure?" Zoey whispered.
"Positive." Stark smirked.
"Okay. Then turn around." Zoey said.
And he did.
What shocked Zoey was that Stark didn't scream. He didn't pass out from the shock of seeing her. He didn't even ask if it was all a dream. He just dropped his bow and arrows in the sand, and engulfed her in a hug.
Both of them were crying. Zoey hugged Stark back, and didn't realize how much she had missed him until he was back in her life for that single night.
"How?" Stark whispered.
"It's Samhein, Stark. And Nyx is, like, the best goddess ever." Zoey said.
Stark chuckled, and kissed the top of Zoey's head. She felt so good in his arms. It felt so unreal, but also too real. This was his Zoey. This was his Priestess. This was his love, here, for an entire night.
"You'll have to leave again." Stark said sadly.
"Yes. But I don't want to think about that. Let's just pretend I'm here forever." Zoey said, blocking any thoughts of leaving from her mind.
"Okay." Stark said. "Zoey...I missed you, so much."
"I missed you, too. More than you will ever know. But one day, we'll be together in the Otherworld, forever. And there won't be anymore pain or loss, and we can just be together." Zoey said.
Stark stood back a moment to look at Z. His eyebrows knotted in confusion, and Zoey asked, "What?"
"When did you get so deep?" Stark asked incredulously.
Zoey hit his shoulder playfully. "You act like I was so shallow before."
"You weren't. You just weren't deep." Stark said. "But you've also never been so beautiful."
Stark was staring at Zoey intently, and it was no surprise what happened next. He kissed her. Under the light of the Samhein full moon, Stark kissed Zoey. The kiss was pure and passionate and just somehow right, and the entire world - if only for a second - felt something. A moment of pure joy. There was a moment of utter peace in the world as Stark and Zoey kissed. That was how life should always be.
The sound of the crashing waves was all that Stark and Zoey could hear besides each other. It wasn't fair to keep them apart; they needed each other. They couldn't live without each other like they couldn't live without air (or in Stark's case, blood.)
"Zoey, you're only here for a night. As much as I don't want to say this, I think you should spend some time with your friends, too." Stark said.
"Stark?" Zoey asked.
"Yeah?"
"Make love to me, first."
Zoey and Stark walked back to the ritual, smiling like idiots. He held her hand in his, and the broken thing inside of him seemed to be completely healed.
"Oh my goddess. Could you two be more obvious?" Aphrodite snorted, putting her arm around Darius's muscle-y shoulder.
It was then that Zoey noticed the tattoos around her face, and that she was still young. "Aphrodite...you Changed?"
"What? Oh, um, yeah. After you...Nyx gave me these...and I Changed." Aphrodite said, looking uncomfortable.
"I couldn't see them from the Otherworld. Congrats. And what's your name again?" Zoey asked the Indian boy with Stevie Rae.
"Rephaim." he said, bending down to kiss Stevie Rae's cute little nose. Stevie Rae giggled, and hugged her boy.
"Hm...that sounds familiar..." Zoey said, trying to remember where she'd heard that name.
"Oh, I almost forgot! Zoey has been filled in on the Days of our Lives drama going on between the hick and birdboy." Aphrodite said snootily.
"I am not a hick!"
"I am not a birdboy!"
Stevie Rae and Rephaim opposed Aphrodite's comment at the same time.
"Whatever. Z, this hunky Indian used to be a Raven Mocker. Stevie Rae saw good in him, fell in love with him, then Nyx came down and said that he could be a bird by day and a boy by night and badda-bing badda-boom; happy ending." Aphrodite explained.
On a normal day, Zoey would have asked a bajillion questions, but she figured she could just ask Nyx later. She didn't want to waste any time she had left with her friends.
"I can't stay long, guys." Zoey said sadly. "I can only stay for tonight."
"We know that, Z." Jack said sweetly.
"Yeah. We know that. So we're going to make the night count while we can." Damien said.
"I'm assuming that this is the Zoey you are all so fond of?"
Everyone's head turned to see Sgiach aprroaching them. Zoey had seen her from the Otherworld, and she was every bit as lovely as she'd seen. Sgiach smiled fondly at her, and offered Zoey her arm for the traditional vampyre greeting. Zoey grasped her arm, and the two were acquainted.
"Yeah. I'm Zoey Redbird." Zoey said, smiling.
"I should have known that you would come this night. It is the full moon of Samhein." Sgiach said. Then, she turned to Stark. "This is your Priestess and mate?"
"Yes." Stark said, nodding his head in either agreement or respect. "I love her with my whole heart, as Seoras loves you."
"Such a love should not be kept apart. I do not know what Seoras would do without me, or me him." Sgiach said sadly.
"It hasn't been easy." Stark said, looking down towards his feet.
"But you have tonight." Sgiach reminded him.
Stark's grip on me tightened, and he nodded. "Tonight." he whispered.
"I will leave you fledglings to speak with your lost friends. I will see you in the morn." Sgiach said. "It was nice to finally meet you, Zoey."
"Likewise." Zoey said.
Then, Sgiach left.
The rest of the night was what you'd expect from the 'Nerd Herd'. There were stories shared, laughs, joy, games, and fun. Zoey felt the old pattern coming back, and slipped into it with ease. It was an amazing feeling to be with her friends. She was happy that their lives were filled with joy. But even so, their lives would have been happier with her around.
When Rephaim turned into a raven, Zoey knew her time was almost up.
"The sun is coming." Zoey said. "I'll have to leave."
"No!" everyone said, tears beginning to form in their eyes.
"Don't worry." Zoey said. "The Otherworld is beautiful. When you go there, I'll be waiting for you. And we'll all live together in Nyx's castle; we never have to leave. Even Rephaim can come, Stevie Rae. We can be together, without pain or loss or anything."
"Okay." They all sniffled.
Each one came and hugged Z, and then, she turned to Stark.
"I will see you again, my Warrior." Zoey said.
"I would have been your Guardian. Had you stayed, that's what I would have become for you." Stark said, trying his hardest not to cry.
"You can become that for me one day." Zoey insisted. "You will. I promise. I love you, Stark."
"I love you, too."
And with those words, Zoey's spirit went back to the Otherworld.
How was your time on Earth? Nyx asked as Zoey appeared.
"Fufilling. Full of love and happiness. Tears, too. But there was love. Always love."
Hope you enjoyed! I'm thinking about doing one more segment of this when everyone enters the Otherworld and is finally permanently reunited with Z! Until I get to that, I hope you liked this and review please!
~PeachyKeen13