One hundred and five years later, Helen Magnus still stood alone. The only difference today was that her fourteen year old daughter and a teenage lycan were tucked in their beds, waiting for another day of running around the Sanctuary. Her dear friend was preparing breakfast, and the abnormals living there were at peace. She'd spent decades building what she had, this Sanctuary network. She always looked forward, moved on, built more, gave more.
Today was not for celebration. She'd never been one for birthdays after all, she'd had too many of them. And what was a birthday without the person who was supposed to share it with you? This pre-dawn hour was for introspection, dwelling on someone she hadn't seen in over a century. She'd allow herself this moment of weakness, of heartbreak and loss, then she would move on.
Helen stood on the roof of her Sanctuary. The shawl she'd wrapped around her shoulders blew just a bit in the cool breeze of the pre-dawn August morning. She spoke three words softly into the wind. "Happy Birthday, Amanda."
Behind her was a soft flutter of feathers. Sudden appearances and odd noises weren't unusual in the Sanctuary, but Helen knew better. The sound was unique to one type of creature. One she hadn't had contact with in over a century.
She didn't turn around to address the creature she wanted nothing to do with. "Why are you here?"
"You know why." The voice was so familiar, but it'd been over a hundred years since she heard it. Amanda's empathetically developed American accent lacked the soft quality that had been a characteristic of her twin. This wasn't Amanda, nor would it ever be. Amanda was dead, her body taken over by this…angel.
Helen finally turned. The angel had clad Amanda's body in a grey suit and a button up shirt that was far too stiff for the kind-hearted woman that her sister had been. Amanda's hair was back in a neat bun and there was nothing familiar behind the bright blue eyes that were staring back at her.
Naomi clasped her hands in front of her. "I mean you no harm. I…came to see you, but not for my sake. Amanda has been a good partner for me. Her memories are… curious, admirable. She loves you very much."
"Loved." Helen corrected. "You took her away, from her family, from meeting her grandchildren. She's as good as dead."
"She is still very much alive. In here, with me." Naomi said.
"What life is that? Trapped in your own body for all of eternity." Helen said. "No control…nothing to do when you watch loved ones die."
"Her children lived full lives. There children's children as well. I kept my word. They flourished. And you…well I'd like to say you've done the same."
Helen's expression was stoney. "What do you want?" She demanded again.
"To give you a gift." Naomi's pink lips shifted into a smile. But she didn't say anything else.
It was then the angel receded and her sister came back. Her eyes closed. Her entire demeanor and posture changed. Rigid shoulders slouched, arms relaxed, and bright blue eyes opened again. A so familiar smile covered her features, it was a smile Helen had seen on her own daughter, and the moment alone was enough to make her chest clench.
Amanda didn't look around at the view of the city, she simply stared at her sister as if she were the only thing that existed. "Hello Helen. I missed you."
Helen willed herself not to cry, but it was going to happen anyways. She stepped down from the ledge, slowly putting one foot in front of the other until she was close enough to touch. "It's you…you're still alive."
"I am." Amanda didn't waste any time and pulled Helen into an almost crushing embrace. As if one hundred years hadn't passed. She tucked her face into Helen's dark hair. "I'm here."
"I missed you, Mandy." Helen created in deeply as she returned the embrace in equal strength. "So, so, much. I have too much to tell you. So much has happened."
There was a bit of a pause before the twin spoke. "I know. Naomi's been…keeping an eye on you…sharing your story with me. I…I am so proud of you. Father would have been as well."
Helen wouldn't let herself cry, but her eyes watered all the same. "I've done my best." She said. "I don't have anything else."
There was silence between them, words going unspoken as they held each other. The physical embrace all that was needed for comfort in the face of their unique situation.
"I don't have long." Amanda told her. "Naomi has business to attend to on Earth."
"But…but you need to meet Ashley." Helen said, pulling away instead to look at her in the eye. "She…she has your impish smile, and she looks so much like Samantha did. Blonde, of course. Clever blue eyes."
Amanda's expression both spoke of the loss of her daughter so many decades ago and the joy that came from Helen having her own. "I'm glad you have her, and I hope she takes after you in more than just appearance."
"She doesn't even know about you, about what happened, she's so young yet."
"Everyone is young compared to us." Amanda joked with a smile that spoke of years of teenagers and quiet humor. "We are one-hundred and fifty today."
"Celebrating a birthday seems rather futile to do at this point." Helen said, cupping her twin's face in her hands. "But seeing you…I believe that's the best gift I've gotten all century."
"I would agree with you." Amanda teased again, but her face was so soft and loving. So contradictory to the impassive angel she hosted. "I love you, Helen. And I always will, no matter what happens. No matter the storms you weather or if I never see you again. You are a woman of strength and character. Of passion and ambition." Her eyes teared up as well. "I'm so happy. So, so happy with what you've done with the years you were given."
The two held each other again, crying softly in each other's arms. Crying was not a weakness in this time, crying was strength. And a reminder that they were both, at this moment in time and after decades, very much alive.
Naomi and Amanda didn't stay much longer. Amanda never got to meet Ashely, nor see the rest of the Sanctuary. Naomi had work to do and the ten minutes the twins got to be together was more than the angel had anticipated giving upon taking the vessel.
Amanda gave Helen one last goodbye. A soft kiss to her twin's forehead. And then she was gone. Her eyes flashed a white gold as Naomi took over Amanda's mind and body. She didn't speak, she didn't offer words of parting or assurance. She just snapped her wings and took Amanda away.
In a flutter of feathers as the sun was rising over Old City, Helen was left alone again.
