Wow it's the end guys O_o
I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who stuck with this crazy story through all the insanity.
I love each and every one of you! :D
So without further ado...
(p.s. don't forget the epilogue)
~Ever After ~
Clara does not speak at all during the hike to Broken Bridge with Oswin beside her. Nina could not make it the hilly trek in her condition so she left them at the trail head. It was an odd moment with nether woman knowing what to say to the other. Nina opened and closed her mouth, staring wide eyed at Clara, clearly at a loss. She knew how Nina felt; it was like saying hello and goodbye again without a moment's pause. Clara could not leave with just that empty feeling between them so she threw her arms around her friend and hugged her tight.
"Tell my parents, well, I don't know … think of something good and tell them I said it." She smiled.
"I'll see you again." Nina whispered squeezing back just as tight. "I know it."
Clara nodded, the words caught in her throat. With that she turned and headed into the woods unable face the moment any longer. Oswin said something to Nina that she did not quite catch before following her into the gathering twilight.
The rickety structure comes into view as the trail bends around a large pine. The pressing discomfort of the era does not even register this time around. That prickling pressure sensation has been with her since the second she caught sight of Oswin. It is a constant itch under her skin like the shock from an electrical socket making the hairs on her arms stand on end.
"I remember this." Oswin says shattering the silence built up between them.
Clara glances at her questioningly. The prickling intensifies at their sudden proximity as they both pause on the dirt path.
"When I woke up here." Oswin explains, staring around the surrounding trees intently.
Clara turns to face her fully, looking at her mirror image is a shock every time. Is this what twins feel like all the time? "Are you ready?"
Oswin worries her bottom lip absently, staring down at the water below the bridge. "No. Not really." She says with a soft sigh.
She has not given much thought as to how Oswin must be feeling by this point and instantly feels guilty. She spent her life in that madhouse only to get trapped in the real thing. Ignoring instinct Clara reaches out and takes Oswin's hand.
In that moment the world breaks.
The sky splits open in a howling storm. Dark clouds roll impossibly fast across the sky chasing thunder and lightning which forks over the horizon. Both girls scream at the sonic boom which shakes the air around them. Sparks of green and gold magic crackle in twirling patterns in the winds, spinning a web in the violent sky.
The trees grow, the grass towers, flowers bloom and die over and over. And Clara can feel it; she can feel Oswin and their power together. Their eyes lock and they both know. Together they can do anything, their magic - the magic of two universes and one soul - is unstoppable.
As suddenly as it begins it stops.
Clara and Oswin collapse to the ground panting and gasping for air. Nausea and dizziness and an acute sense of loss threaten to overwhelm her. Part of Clara's mind she never knew before is missing and she wants it back, badly.
"Oh my stars." Oswin keeps muttering. "Oh my stars."
"You felt that right?" Clara gasps.
Oswin's wide brown eyes glance up from the boards of the bridge. She nods. "You have magic too."
"Yes but I don't know how. We don't have magic in my world." Clara sits back on her heels trying to regain her control of herself.
"Believe me I have noticed." The other girl says hollowly, if still a little breathless.
"Oh my god! Look at the forest!" She scrambles to her feet spinning around to take in the increasable sight.
"Dear Darkness." Oswin breathes, slowly standing up as well.
Everything has grown up around the bridge. The trees are taller and thicker, the bushes and vines have run wild completely obscuring the path. It looks like a hundred years or more have passed in the space of a few seconds.
"Even Martha could never do something like this." Oswin sounds almost fearful and Clara fully understands.
She is not sure what to say now or what any of this even means.
"I guess we should go." Oswin says after a long moment.
Clara nods. "I'm ready."
Martha, Jack, and Alonso are there to pull them out of the water the moment they break the surface. Clara flails for a minute still disoriented from the portal. No matter how many times she does it, it will always be a horrible experience. Jack catches the back of her tunic with a strong arm and quickly hauls her up and onto the shore.
A couple of soldiers are giving Oswin the same treatment. The princess seems even more concussed than Clara feels as she drops unceremoniously onto the gray sand looking faintly green.
"That was fast." Jack exclaims as he checks her over for injuries. Honestly all the jostling is only making her head hurt worse.
"How long?" She manages to choke out grabbing his wrist seriously. God only knows how time could have transferred this time around.
"Just over an hour." He says, pressing fingers to her skull to check for lumps or whatever it was he is looking for. "How long was it for you?"
Clara is about to respond when Oswin starts laughing. Hysterical laughter shakes her shoulders violently and causes everyone to freeze. The desperate sound echoes off the black pine trees until it become racking sobs. Oswin collapses in on herself sobbing with everything she has bottled up for three years.
Clara watches and wants to cry too.
King Toby runs out of the palace before their carriage has even stopped. She has never seen so much emotion from him before.
"Oswin! Oswin!" He screams catching his daughter in his arms. They fall to their knees in an unroyal heap, both hugging too tightly. Neither of them stops talking long enough to breathe.
Clara smiles at the sight, but it is slight. She fulfilled her end of the bargain and now all she wants to do is sleep. Maybe she will sleep forever or grow old in the library lost among the stacks. She once longed for adventure but it came at too high a price. Now all Clara wants is peace.
A feast is arranged and a hurried, yet resplendent, ball is announced in their honor for that evening. Oswin and Clara are whisked off for much needed food, and baths, and clean clothing. There is a slight confusion at first since she has been living in Oswin's bedroom, but Clara never wants to see it again and is more than happy to escape to the guest wing.
Amy, Vastra, and Jenny are with her in a heartbeat with kind words and hot soup. They simply sit together without speaking for a long time and it is exactly what Clara needs.
Despite the beautiful beaded-lace gown that hangs just below the knees and glitters in the candle light, Clara does not go to the party. She cannot. Instead she descends down worn stone steps leading below the palace.
The candles seem dimmer here or perhaps it is only an illusion brought on by the dark stone walls. The palace crypt is vast but Clara knows precisely where he will be. In a room with an arched ceiling rests the glass coffin which sparkles in the light, displaying the handsome young man within.
John looks as though he is only sleeping, as though at any moment he will rise smiling to kiss her again. And he always will, Martha promised her that.
Clara approaches the side of the coffin and carefully slides back the crystal. She touches his cool cheek softly. "I got all dressed up to see you." She whispers, tears constricting her voice. "Do you like it?"
She wants so desperately for him to answer.
"I love you." Clara breathes finally into the silence. "I always will."
A soft sound behind her makes Clara jump and spin to face the doorway. Oswin stands at the entrance to the room flushing slightly at having been caught.
"I am sorry." She says sincerely. "But I thought you might be down here."
Clara wipes her eyes turning away. "Did you need something?" It sounds harsher that she means.
Oswin pauses and Clara can hear the uncertainty in the silence. "It is just - I had an idea." She moves over to stand beside Clara and holds out her hand. "That is if you are willing to try?"
Clara stares at her dumbfounded for a moment, barely able to process what the princess is suggesting. Could it work? Were they really that powerful?
"Yes." She says firmly and seizes the out stretched hand.
This time the world does not break. This time Clara is focused. She is focused on one thought and one alone. Nothing else matters and nothing else exists but that thought.
Bring him back.
Slowly Clara closes her eyes and leans over the coffin. Her warm lips meet John's cool skin and she wills her magic - Oswin's magic - all power that is or ever will be - on that single thought.
Then a hand touches her cheek, warm lips press back against hers. John is kissing her back. Clara gasps letting go of Oswin, eyes flying open in disbelief.
"John?" She sobs taking his face in her hands.
"Why are you crying?" John's voice is confused and beautiful and exactly as she remembers. His gray-blue-green eyes narrow with concern. "Clara are you alright?"
She laughs kissing him over and over again. "Yes. Yes I'm alright."
He holds her against him, soothing away her tears of joy and sadness. Finally John glances around him at the coffin, the crypt, and finally Oswin watching the happy scene quietly.
"I think I missed something important." He says slowly.
Clara laughs again with the ridiculousness of it all.