"And you're sure you want him to live with you?" Klaus asked for the millionth time as he set his tea cup back in its saucer, eyebrow raised.
"Yes, Klaus. I super-duper-no-cop-no-stop, over the top, ready to pop sure I want him to live with me." Catrina propped her chin with a hand as she grinned at her old Prefect and friend.
Since Azusa was such a high security risk, he wasn't allowed to traverse unsupervised. He was meant to have weekly meetings, now monthly, with a designated person from the Ministry. And low-behold the irony as Klaus became his supervisor.
"I still don't understand what you see in him, but I suppose that's part of your own personal charm." Klaus remarked with a sigh. Given that Azusa lost his temper and harmed a civilian, he was supposed to be sent back to the institution to be rehabilitated. But, as luck would have it, Klaus still had a soft spot for the little wizardess so it only took a batch of chocolate cookies and some batty eyelashes to convince him to help smooth over the ordeal with the heads of the Ministry. After some tests and observations, it was proven that Azusa was, in fact, better off in Catrina's care than he had been anywhere else. So, under the unique circumstances, the Ministry decided it was best to leave Azusa with Catrina given that Catrina gives full consent and that Azusa continues his meetings with Mr. Goldstein.
"Very well, I'll write to headquarters confirming your decision. And, as per protocol, I'm responsible for informing you of all the regulations regarding his condition. If at any point you witness these traits, I urge you to contact us immediately..." Catrina sat and endured Klaus's rehearsed terms and conditions for the next fifteen minutes before leaving his office.
"Oh, and Catrina?"
She stopped just as she had one foot out the door. "Yes, Klaus?" She smiled sweetly.
"Thank you." The sincerity in his eyes left Catrina speechless. Thank you for what? Thank you for accepting a crazy man and making him a better person?
"If you're thanking me for giving him a chance, there's no need. If anything, I should be thanking you. You're the last person I expected to help him. So... thank you." With that, she was gone.
Klaus fiddled with the pens on his desk, "Yeah..." He sighed, "Me too."
Azusa perked up as soon as he heard the click-clack of her heels enter the waiting room. "Shall we?" She beamed at him. "We shall." He grinned as he took her hand.
Almost a month had passed since everything went downhill, but it felt like maybe a week to Catrina. Time flew with Azusa around and everyday seemed to brighten a little more. There was an obvious skip in her step as they walked along the sidewalk to their house just barely on the outside of the city. Well, it wasn't quite their house. It was technically Trevor's, but Catrina had been living there for the past two years, so it was home for now until new arrangements could be made. A pretty loft apartment two streets down caught her eye but she needed to save up more money to afford a moving company. She was still unclear about how Azusa gained income. Was it a monthly check from the government? Was he allowed to work at a normal job? Did they have specific, designated jobs he could do through the ministry? She wanted to ask but also felt it was too private a topic to bring up yet.
"Would you like to grab some coffee on the way back?" Azusa's suggestion blew all of those previous thoughts away as Catrina grinned up at him.
"I'd love to."
A few minutes later, they were in the same cafe that they'd rekindled their relationship in. As per routine, he ordered a blonde roast, she ordered a peach green tea, and they sat in the farthest nook with window space. They've been taking their relationship rather slow despite living together. Most conversations were idle in the day and grew more serious at night. Right now was time for idle conversation.
"So, how've the years been with Klaus as a supervisor?"
"A big pain in my ass." He heaved a heavy sigh, getting ready to rant. "He's so immaculate it's exhausting. I had to do every little thing perfect to the finest detail. If he thought I slacked at all in the slightest, he'd make me redo it. Like, this one time the ministry had me assist cooking for a big event- something about a Ministry Judge's birthday or something- so I was stuck with prepping food. He'd watch my every move then critique me if the vegetables weren't cut right or if I was holding the knife wrong. If I wiped the sweat off my brow, he'd make me wash my hands immediately. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to grab a fist full of lettuce and throw it at his face."
At that, Catrina burst out laughing. The image in her head was comedy gold- Azusa, completely annoyed, tossing chopped lettuce at Klaus's face- Klaus, stunned for a moment before throwing his own handful of lettuce at Azusa- a food fight ensues. Her laughter was contagious as Azusa began to chuckle at the thought as well. When the laughter died down, Azusa seemed pensive. Catrina, ever the observer, asked him what was on his mind.
"I just... I want to ask but at the same time I don't want to trigger any bad memories if it's too soon..." She caught on to what he meant instantly. Trevor. He wanted to ask about Trevor.
"Go ahead and ask- I don't mind." She smiled sweetly at him, almost completely unphased by the topic of her murderous ex-boyfriend. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned by her lack of trauma or impressed. Maybe she was made of stronger mettle than he initially gave her credit for. Or the therapy was just that great.
He cleared his throat before continuing, "Um, how'd you two even meet? Honestly, I'd figured if you fell in love with anybody it'd be one of your classmates like Elias or Yukiya."
Catrina was sipping her tea, nodding in acknowledgement. "Yeah, that probably would've been the most logical course of action, but something about dating a man from the same wizarding school you attended kind of... felt off. Like, I was completely abandoning you or replacing you. I needed a completely fresh start to truly get over what happened. That's not to say I'm not still great friends with them- we've all stayed in touch, surprisingly. Luca's as aloof as always, but he flies into town once a blue moon. Elias is now a teacher at Gedonelune; he started a class for making magic tools. Yukiya finally went home and took over the family property which he turned into a farm for magical plants. He even rehabilitates animals and magical beasts when he can."
She was avoiding the subject. Maybe it was too soon. Azusa nodded along anyways, mildly relieved that all of Catrina's friends moved on to live normal lives. He may not have known any of them particularly well but she cared about them, so he indirectly cared about them as well.
"But, about Trevor..." He was surprised she actually brought him back up. His interest peaked tenfold as his eyes studied her intently. "Well, we actually met about two years ago- right after the new law was passed. I was having trouble reaching something from the top shelf in a grocery store, you know, really cliche. He saw me struggling and decided to help. He introduced himself immediately and was quick to ask me on a date. I was flustered enough to say yes without even really thinking about it. No one had actually approached me so directly in so long, I just kind of went with it. The rest is pretty much history. We kept going on dates, getting to know each other, slowly falling in love... it was an ordinary relationship. Until recently..." She trailed off, staring into her tea as a means to meditate before the depression could sink in.
Azusa bit his lip before saying, "Kind of the opposite of us, huh?"
Catrina's eyes widened before she chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. We did everything in reverse."
"At least now you can trust that our relationship will be smooth sailing from now on. Kind of." Catrina giggled again as Azusa made a comical face.
"I'm sure if we can survive our past traumas, we can survive anything." She grinned at him, eyes brimming with kindness. His heart fluttered at that face. His heart fluttered at everything she did, honestly.
