Chapter 10

You watch, grinning widely as your younger sister plays enthusiastically with her new Barbie. Moving it up and down, side to side- giving it different, unique voices that actually sound nothing like a living Barbie would sound. You've never seen the appeal of a plastic, little human sitting on your self but Tracy adores it. Thankfully, Christmas morning brought more than dolls- the torn wrapping paper and strewn opened boxes covering the floor serve as evidence of that.

"Myka look at the snow!" Tracy squeals running to the window with her childish glee. You run with her, of course, with just as much Christmas cheer. "I love snow." Tracy leans against the window ceil dreamily. "It's the prettiest thing in the entire whole wide world."

Suddenly, Helena's face flashes through your mind. You know Tracy is wrong, but you chose not to correct her mistake of beauty... this time.

Minutes later and Tracy has nodded off. The hustling and bustling of the morning finally catching up with her. An eight year old can take only so much excitement before they crash. You simply shake your head at her and turn back to the window, that's when you notice the footprints down in the snow. Only one person could have made those.

Smiling brightly you race down the stairs as fast as you can. Sprinting to fling open the shop door before Helena even has the opportunity to ring the bell.

"Merry Christmas!" You exclaim pulling her into a bone crushing hug and swirling her around.

She laughs radiantly and hugs you back, "Happy Christmas!"

A cool burst of air blows through the open doorway, and immediately you feel Helena shiver in response. Let her in! A voice in your head screams at you, and you scold yourself for forgetting her sensitivity to the cold. You lead her into the shop and shut the door with a thump. She begins to take off her gloves and hat, but for some reason you think she's doing it much too slow so you help her along. Slipping off her jacket for her and uniting her winter boots until finally she's ready to go up stairs.

As you are walking there though, you do something completely innocent; you glance over at her. An innocent, think-nothing-of-it action, yet the moment your eyes reach her wind-blown face your feet just stop. Tracy was so wrong, snow is nothing compared to her beauty.

"Myka?" Helena notices your gaze, and you are surprised to see it's thrown her off guard. Maybe it's just the early morning, or the spirit of the holiday, but she seems different...

You take a hesitant step towards her to examine the newness with a closer eye. That's strange... her hair seems much silkier than usual... and her skin is glowing like never before. You reach up to run your hand through her black locks and to trace a finger across her face.

"Myka, is everything alright?" She asks blushing for some unknown reason. What in the world happened to her?

"Helena, are you alright?" You question staring at her deeper.

"I'm fine..." She says suspiciously, "You are the one acting odd."

Has her accent always sounded so heavenly? You don't think so, in fact, you've never felt this enchanted by it. "Say something else." You plead inching closer to her.

"Myka." She warns "You are honestly scaring me right now."

You pay no attention to the words, just the voice. The gloriously thick accented voice. Something must have happened, something must have changed with her in last couple days. Maybe it's the height? You have grown a couple of inches, and when standing face to face with her it's a noticeable couple inches.

Then her warm breath flutters across your lips and cheeks as she says your name again, and you know that your height is definitely not it.

"Myka, please tell me whats happening with you" she whispers.

"Me?" You say memorizing, for what seems like the first time, her gorgeous chocolate eyes. "You're the one who's changed."

"How?" She asks.

You don't know why she can't see it or feel it but it doesn't make it less real. "You just have..." You tell her over the insistent pounding of your heart in your ears. Lightly you cup her face in your hands and rub your thumb over her cheeks. "You are so pretty." You say breathlessly.

She blushes, actually blushes. "I-I umm." She stumbles taking a step back.

You step with her though, and smile at her stuttering. "And so perfect."

"My-Myka." Her eyes are wide, and you can't understand why but she is acting uncharacteristically nervous. Helena never acts nervous, especially around you.

You lean in closer letting your noses lightly brush. There have been so many opportunities to do this before but every time, you realize now, you would have been doing it because she loved it, not the other way around.

You slowly tilt your head and move forward until you feel her soft cheek under your lips. Her unique scent fills your senses and suddenly you begin to feel a bit dizzy. She's intoxicating, breathtaking and everything you can't live without. You knew this already, that she was stuck with you forever and ever with no chance of weaseling herself out of it, but now it feels real. She belongs at your side and you belong at hers, and nothing is ever going to change that.

And it may be irrational to think you'll feel this way even a year from now, heaven bid ten years. There are no guarantees, but you will do everything in your power to make it happen. Now that you've had this taste of her, you are never going to stop for as long as you live.

Reluctantly you pull back from the kiss, and yes it may have lasted much longer than a normal "peck on the cheek" but you aren't sorry. Never could you be sorry for doing that. For seeing her blush brighter than ever before, or causing her to stumble over her words. In fact it may be your new favorite thing, getting her adorably flustered like this.

"Myka?!" Your mother calls coming down the stairs not five feet away.

Your gaze doesn't waver as you take a step back from her. Her mouth is slightly parted, like she was going to say something but the words wouldn't come, and her eyes are still opened wide in surprise.

"Oh Helena, hello." Your mother greets warmly striding up behind you.

"Hi." She manages.

"I just made some hot chocolate if you would like to come up." She says, gesturing for you to follow her up the stairs.

You see Helena's face shift, her balance return, and her controlling and controlled nature seep back in. Now you are the one flustered and afraid, that's Helena's plotting face. "Thank you Mrs. Bering, we'll be up in a minute." she replies smoothly, finding her voice and honey covered charm.

"Okay." Your mother smiles.

The moment she's out of sight Helena takes a step into your personal space, eyeing you suspiciously. "I don't know what's going on with you, Myka..." She tells you evenly. Then a devious glimmer travels across her face. "But I like it." She decides with a smirk. She leans in to place a sweet, quick kiss on your cheek.

You smile and meet her stare head on, with no trace of shyness. Maybe her boldness is starting to rub off on you.

"Oh yes." She nods at your confidence approvingly "I like it very much."

You sip your hot coco greedily, it's the first thing you've had all day which means it tastes like liquid heaven. Setting down the mug you smile and hum in content, could you be any more relaxed?

Helena sits next to you just as satisfied with the drink, and by the chocolate smears all over her face you have to assume she is enjoying this stuff more than you are.

You giggle and take your little white napkin to wipe up her mess. "Oh Helena, when will you ever learn not to miss your mouth."

"Never Myka, it's much more delicious this way." She tells you teasingly.

You shake your head, but you can't shake your smile. "I think it's time I gave you your present." You say standing up. You run to the living room and find the last little gift still under the tree. You cup it reverently in your hands and walk back into the kitchen with a nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach.

You really hope she likes it.

Her face lights up as you take your seat next to her again. "Merry Christmas." You say holding out the small box towards her a bit pathetically.

You bite your lip as she gracefully tears at the layer of wrapping. You helped Mrs. Williams clean her jewelry shop everyday for a mouth just to get Helena this, and, finally, it's time to see if your hard work paid off.

She gently removes the lid and places it on counter. The moment her eyes fall on the item inside you know you made the right choice. "Oh, Myka, it's absolutely beautiful." She whispered in awe as she starts to pull the gold-colored chain form it's resting place. Soon, she holds the old-fashioned locket in her hands. And when you say old-fashioned, you mean it. It's a bit worn on the edges and you can tell that someday it could easily fall apart because of a loose screw or broken clasp, but on the front is the loveliest flower design- it's an object that just makes you pause, desperate to feel the message it's conveying, the history it must hold, and the thousands of memory's yet to come from it.

"I don't know what to say." She whispers, and you hear the unshed tears in her voice. She slips it over her head with ease, and lets it rest on her chest, completely at home. She stares at it for a moment longer before looking up to pull you into a hug. "This is by far the most wonderful gift I have ever received, thank you Myka."

"Your welcome." You reply letting your eyes fall shut in her embrace.

"Now I just need a picture of you." She states.

Your eyes shoot open, and you jerk back to gaze at her face. "A picture of me?"

"Well of course! Who else would I ever allow to hang over my heart?" She asks appalled.

"My mistake." You say deciding to simply be amused before moving your head forward again to rub your nose against hers "I'm honored."

"Hmmm." She hums returning the Eskimo kiss willingly.

"Come on" you twirl a strand of her silky hair around your fingers. "Let's go get that picture."

Helena snaps her locket shut with a satisfied grin. "There." She runs her finger over the front of it, most likely envisioning your small photo tucked inside. "Now I'll never take it off."

"Never?" You repeat surprised, to be honest you didn't think she would like it that much.

"Of course never!" She exclaims, shocked that you were surprised. "Myka, it's my favorite object in the entire world, why would I ever want to take it off!"

You stare at her for a moment, looking to see if she's exaggerating or not, but she isn't. Her words are genuine. "Okay then." You nod, smiling wide. "Then you never have to take it off."

"And now..." She begins, taking a step towards you. She lightly tugs on one of your curls and watches as it bounces back into place "It's time for me to give you your gift. Follow me."

You follow her curiously as she leads you through the shop. The moment you pass that section of books no one ever looks at, you know where she's going. You pass shelf after shelf, novel after novel, this is the path you took Helena on that first day you met her. It's hard to believe it was only three and half years ago it feels like you've known her forever.

Your reach the hidden, antique door and she turns to you thrill and excitement written in her features. "Myka, close your eyes." She instructs, placing a gentle hand on the doorknob. You do as she says, and slowly you feel her place your hand in hers, "Careful." She whispers even though you've walked these stairs a thousand times and it would be illogical to think you couldn't do it blindfolded.

But, as usual, she is right. No matter how many times you've done it, you are still a child, and your legs are still a bit off-balance and you are still clumsy. Just like you still struggle to keep your curls out of your face and your skirt on straight, your glasses love to slip down your nose and every time you think you've got pouring milk into a glass down, you spill it all over the counter. But that's what Helena is for, isn't it? To help you hold the large, white jug, and to push your unruly hair behind your ears. To be there for you to hold on to and to guide you in the dark. To stand by you when no one else will. To appreciate your useless facts when everyone else deems them unworthy.

You think these things knowing they are just silly little problems, problems every kid fights through, that you don't even understand what real suffering or loss is. You don't go through real hardships like adults and you have never felt on the edge of breaking down in sadness or anger. Yes, you know your problems are small and meaningless but you also know that the small things in life make up the big things. If you didn't have Helena to get you through the small things, to be your rock in every situation no matter how insignificant it may seem, then those small things would simply pile and pile and pile, until eventually those tiny, little problems are big problems and situations that would be too overwhelming for your childlike mind and emotions. Without Helena as your foundation you would drown.

When you reach the top and step onto the pallet of pillows and blankets, she lets her hand fall from yours. "Keep them closed." She whispers.

You hear her feet pad against the floor towards the window. The light you sensed behind your eyelids fades and the room is immersed in darkness. But something's wrong... Helena is still walking around... in the dark.

"Alright." Her voice ghosts over you from behind. "Open them."

You do...And it's nothing like you ever could have imagined. The entire room is covered in bright, glowing stars. The ceiling, walls, posts and beams, open spaces on the floor, the edges of the door frame, the newly hung curtains over the widow- all coated in thousands upon thousands of tiny stars. They emanate a soft, but bold kind of light and instantly you know Helena will never need a night-light in here again. "Helena..." You gasp, taking an admiring step further into the magic "How did you..."

"Does it really matter?" She follows your step, with her hands behind her back.

You shake your head absentmindedly. Carefully, you reach out to touch one of the twinkling lights, but the normal fake plastic you expected to feel isn't there. These are not store-bought... You turn to her, "Helena where did you find these?"

She shrugs and scratches her neck shyly, "I just found the recipe type thing online and, I suppose, built on that a bit... It's not a big de-"

"Built on?" You grab her hands and pull her to you. "You made theses?" You ask in disbelief.

"Well, more experimented on... they blew up a ton of times, actually, so you can't exactly call it 'making'... This was just a fluke-"

"Oh whatever." You laugh yanking her face close to press a kiss to her cheek. "This is amazing!" You release her to explore some more, still completely captivated by her invention.

"Yes well..." She mumbles in a daze, and if you weren't so enthralled you would have caught on to the fact that Helena now has another weakness, other than darkness, that draws her weak at the knees and leaves her mind practically useless, wandering without a map or an end. You.

"Helena I just can't believe you..." You trail off spinning to take it all in. "Thank you." You state stopping to stare at her, "This is a wonderful gift, Helena. Really, thank you."

She smiles at you, from ear to ear, and it just spreads. Suddenly she is brighter than any star placed in this room, or any real star in the night sky. It's a luring, addicting, contagious glow that only she seems to have and it all starts with that smile. But you've seen her grin at other people, teachers, classmates, neighbors- the brightness there is not the same. The rest of the world sees but a mere shimmer of her radiance, a grain of sand on a white beach, a droplet of water in an ocean.

Something makes you different to her, something about you makes her want to show the whole ocean, the entire beach, the magnificent, blinding light. Someday maybe you'll understand what that is, what everything means. Someday you'll see what everyone else around you can see. You'll be in on the "secret" of Helena's mysterious ways and your confusing feelings, but until then, you'll keep things the way they are- a confusing, jumbled mess full of endless wonder. You'll keep the childlike ignorance and the carefree days. Growing up will be at the back of your mind and you wont even notice it until it's over. Until the rush ends and you can finally breathe and reflect, and see things clearly for what they are and what they mean.

You are a child, an innocent, a gift, a piece of what is left of the world's pure love, and someday everything will make sense to you. Although, it will not be in the way you expect...

Hello to the people who read this story! Just wanted to thank y'all for all the reviews they've been amazing, and for reading this fanfic despite the grammar mistakes and such:)

Here is the deal, I've been thinking about moving the girls into middle school after this chapter, and I'd like to know what y'all think- like if you want me to stick with the elementary kids and have them grow up in a few more chapters, or if you never want to see them grow up, or anything really:) Just help me decide please!