Chapter Four
Confessions
Petunia and Neo were famous together. They danced under the stars, talked about the future and their children names, (Neo preferred the name Dudley, for a boy). They wrestled like children, cuddled like the elderly, and made love like beasts. For years they had the world at their finger tips. Every year at spring Neo would take Petunia back to his grandfather's orchard. Those trips were always special to Petunia, but one, the last one, was particularly special.
Petunia lay asleep in the small wood cabin Neo's father owned, the soft trickle of rain exuded there way into pleasant dreams -- dreams of Neo serenading her on a Mexican terrace. It would be something he'd do. His voice, so harsh when it came to singing in the real world, resonated like a French opera singer. His song tumbled out of his mouth in visible waves of rouge, cyan, canary, and plum, bouncing off the terra-cotta walls. Petunia crossed her arms over the black metal railing and smiled. She completely ignored the large insect hurdling itself at her arm. The heat, the peace, and the jet black sky, lulled her dizzyingly into a sense of utter serenity. But she soon had just about enough of the insect.
"Shoo!" she said loudly. "Get out of hear!" A loud screech brought her back to her senses. She looked over blearily. "Natina?" she said hoarsely. "What are you doing hear?" Natina, my owl, dropped a small rolled up letter on the mattress. "Oh, I see. You should know better then to wake people up in the middle of the night. I'm going to have to have a talk with your mommy. Where's Neo?" she said, suddenly noticing that he wasn't there. Natina pushed the letter closer to Petunia with her beak.
Petunia looked suspiciously at her, then said, "Okay. I'll bite." She unrolled the small letter; it had only three words on it:
Look Down
XOXO
Curious, Petunia looked over the bed. A trail of white rose peddles lay on the floor in the rough shape of an arrow. She smiled looking from Neo's side of the bed, to Natina, to the rose peddles on the floor.
"Neo put you up to this?" Petunia asked. Natina hooted. Petunia sat there and thought for a moment. This could be a trick. He could be trying to get her out of bed only to dowse her with ice cold water. Why else would he send an owl? It wouldn't be the fist time. But then, she thought, what ever it was surly could be worth a laugh. "Okay," she said to Natina, who was looking at her impatiently. "I'm going."
Slowly she got out of bed, and in the back of her mind she couldn't help noticing how cold it was. She opened the door by kicking it in case he had hung something on top of it. Nothing fell so she proceeded. It was dark and her breath rose before her in a white mist. The rain landed softly on her cheeks like a hundred wet fairies playing tag with her pores. There was a gravel path leading from the cabin to the canopy, normally, but now the gravel was lined with red and pink candles; the colors of passion and love. Some had been extinguished by the rain but they still emitted a romantic sort of faint glow. White rose peddles were strewn all across the floor and a single whole flower lay at her feet.
Natina flew out from behind her in a great theatrical rush of wind that ruffled Petunia's hair. Petunia kneeled down and picked up the flower, sniffing it. It's delicate fragrance filled her nostrils and ensnared her brain. She slowly started forward, the candles flickering in her wake. Passing the sycamore trees she became enveloped in a light pink haze of cherry blossom peddles falling from the trees. The sensation was amazing, and she through out her arms, swirling in a heavenly lust. Her hair flew out behind her in a gold vale. She couldn't help feeling like an elf from the Lord of the Rings.
She stopped swirling because it made her a little too dizzy. A few minutes on she reached the make shift curtain. A note was pinned to it. It read: Close your eyes… hold your breath… make a wish… count to ten… and step into a world of pure imagination.
Her eyes shut tight she said allowed, "I wish always to dream of this time." Ten seconds latter she opened her eyes, but still couldn't breathe.
There her gazebo stood, glimmering under a crown of strung white lights. The candles on the ground rose up two gold step latter holders with and intricate grape vine pattern. The rose peddles ran along the steps, slowly turning into down feathers. And there, standing in the middle of it all, was her love looking over the lake that set as a back drop. It rippled lightly as the rain drops fell to join it's depths.
Neo himself looked unreal. He stood with his hands behind his back and his feet slightly separated. He wore all white; the ankles of his suit were just visible under the hem of a flowing trench coat. Diamond cufflinks greeted her in their sparkling manner. His sandy hair, which he had been letting grow, was neatly tied in one long, thin braid.
He turned his head first, letting his body rhythmically fallow the motion. "Come far lady and speak of thy name. Certainly no mortal man could have spawned such a heavenly creation as thee?" He smiled slightly and held out his hand.
Petunia was more then willing to play along. "Oh dear sir I can not. For earthly father I do have and he would surely have your head."
"Do my ears deceive me?" Neo said stepping forward a little. "This can not be true! Mild mannered maiden, goddess above all feminine deity, keeper of thy heart, womb of thy child! I shall willingly die a valiant death for thee if destiny dictates it to be. Be from that solitary kiss your humble servant begs of you!" His other hand was now on his hart and he got down on one knee.
"Humble thy servant most certainly is not. Knights have failed to woo thee. And short of royal crest do I see."
"Knights know not of the heart but of duty. In the absence of kin and swords men I beg of thee, come!"
"Very well." Petunia walked over to him and kneeled so they were face to face. "Presenter of thy flora, are you not?"
"'Tis true maiden. Token of affection and desire. I dare confront thee with a query. Wilt thou reply?"
"If thy query be admirable, without hesitation I will respond."
"Allow me the honor of taking thy hand in marriage." He said taking a ring out of his pocket. It had a ruby set in rose gold and surrounded by several small diamonds. "Trust, far maiden, that flora is the lest of thy treasures."
Petunia frantically shuffled about to retrieve her jaw from the floor as well as to search for her heart, which seemed to have vacated her body entirely. She found it quivering behind a candle, and after shoving it back into her chest she stammered. "I-I-Wh-Ha..." evidently her brain seemed to be missing as well.
"Say yes," said Neo, looking a bit worried. "I don't think I could live without you."
Her response was to audibly let out a long held breath and fling her arms around Neo's neck. She squeezed him so tightly that Neo couldn't breathe, but he didn't dare ask her to let go.
"Yes!" Petunia was finally able to force out of her star struck body. "A million times, yes!"
Neo picked her right off her feet and spun her in a burst of exuberant, joyful energy. Petunia lifted her face to the sky and laughed like she had never laughed before. She watched as the tumbling drops of water crashed into the top of the canopy; exploding in bursts of cosmic glow against the velvet sky. Slowly Neo lowered her back to the ground. They stood face to face, frozen in time, held by amour. The gods and goddess' of life, love, hope, and hereafter spun around them, drawing them ever closer until their lips delicately touched. There, in one kiss a million and one fairies lived, and loved, and died... all for them.
Preparations for the wedding began immediately. Petunia knew that I already knew about the engagement, but even so, she braved a trip to the nearest owl post to mail me a letter (Natina had long senesce left). I walked around with a wide grin on my face for weeks after ward.
Petunia would have nothing to do with a wedding curator, so, after living with James for two years, I went back home. My parents were simply ecstatic to hear that I was coming home. They threw a big party and completely ignored the fact that I was only there to help Petunia with the preparations.
We stayed up late into the night, talking, laughing, and cooing over the daily love notes Neo sent to Petunia. We were supposed to be looking over cakes and dresses, but we kept getting lost in idle conversation.
"Oh, I like that one," Petunia said pacifically, lightly running the back of her finger over a fabric sample attached to a picture of a Victorian stile dress.
I smiled and came over from a pile of names for the guest list (which was remarkably smaller then mine had been).
"Do you think they can make this dress," she said flipping a few pages back to a much more alluring dress, "with that fabric?"
"I'm sure they can arrange it. I expect not very many brides want a cookie cutter dress."
She giggled slightly, scratching the back of the cat's ear.
"I can't believe this is happening." I said, shaking my head in a playful sort of way.
"What? You reckoned I'd be single all my life?"
"No of course not. It's just, what ever happened to Miss 'I'm not getting married to any one but a corporate executive that has enough bulk to bulldoze a buffalo. I won't look at a man that has more balls then brains. Only a man with intelligence can give me a normal life. A normal, stay at home mom, that's my perfect existence.'"
Petunia laughed at the naive little thing she once was. "I gave up that vision when I got it through my thick head that dad wasn't going to walk me down the aisle. It doesn't matter any more."
My smile faded a bit. "You don't mean that you're giving something up by marring Neo, do you?"
"Of course not," she said, leaning over and grabbing my hand. She sat and thought for a moment, then said, "When we were little, our whole world revolved around the future, around perfect dreams, 'when I grow up,' and things like that. Perfection comes in so many different lights. When I would talk to you about that 'corporate executive' I always felt a bit... empty. Sure we'd have the two story suburban house with a tidy little front garden. Sure I'd never have to worry about him throwing me a surprise party after I'd come home from a long day at work. Sure I could have lived like Mrs. Beaver. But I would never, truly be alive. It doesn't matter any more because I've found my prophesy, my angel, the one I never thought I could have, and it's beautiful. All my life I've looked at you and thought 'why not me?' And it hurt, Lily, it hurt so badly. And I hated you for it. Why couldn't I have gone to Hogwarts? The way you describe it... Why couldn't I have all the friends? Why?! For thirteen years I lived my life regretting that I had been born! And then Neo came along and taught me what it meant to see a better day." She reached over and touched my face. "Lily, he taught me what it meant to forgive. He taught me to live. All of that with one kiss. If he can do all that with a kiss, there's no telling what he could do with his life."
There was a very long, dense pose, broken only by the seemingly distant purr of the everlasting black cat. "I don't know what to say."
"Say I won't be breaking the rules by wearing a maroon trench coat over my dress," she said, holding up a blood red piece of fabric. I stared at her, determined to keep a strait face... but the imps rolling around in the pit of my stomach jostled and tickled every nerve, and I burst out laughing. Petunia laughed too, starting first with a small giggle and slowly growing into a full blown belly laugh. It was brilliant.
Confessions
Petunia and Neo were famous together. They danced under the stars, talked about the future and their children names, (Neo preferred the name Dudley, for a boy). They wrestled like children, cuddled like the elderly, and made love like beasts. For years they had the world at their finger tips. Every year at spring Neo would take Petunia back to his grandfather's orchard. Those trips were always special to Petunia, but one, the last one, was particularly special.
Petunia lay asleep in the small wood cabin Neo's father owned, the soft trickle of rain exuded there way into pleasant dreams -- dreams of Neo serenading her on a Mexican terrace. It would be something he'd do. His voice, so harsh when it came to singing in the real world, resonated like a French opera singer. His song tumbled out of his mouth in visible waves of rouge, cyan, canary, and plum, bouncing off the terra-cotta walls. Petunia crossed her arms over the black metal railing and smiled. She completely ignored the large insect hurdling itself at her arm. The heat, the peace, and the jet black sky, lulled her dizzyingly into a sense of utter serenity. But she soon had just about enough of the insect.
"Shoo!" she said loudly. "Get out of hear!" A loud screech brought her back to her senses. She looked over blearily. "Natina?" she said hoarsely. "What are you doing hear?" Natina, my owl, dropped a small rolled up letter on the mattress. "Oh, I see. You should know better then to wake people up in the middle of the night. I'm going to have to have a talk with your mommy. Where's Neo?" she said, suddenly noticing that he wasn't there. Natina pushed the letter closer to Petunia with her beak.
Petunia looked suspiciously at her, then said, "Okay. I'll bite." She unrolled the small letter; it had only three words on it:
Look Down
XOXO
Curious, Petunia looked over the bed. A trail of white rose peddles lay on the floor in the rough shape of an arrow. She smiled looking from Neo's side of the bed, to Natina, to the rose peddles on the floor.
"Neo put you up to this?" Petunia asked. Natina hooted. Petunia sat there and thought for a moment. This could be a trick. He could be trying to get her out of bed only to dowse her with ice cold water. Why else would he send an owl? It wouldn't be the fist time. But then, she thought, what ever it was surly could be worth a laugh. "Okay," she said to Natina, who was looking at her impatiently. "I'm going."
Slowly she got out of bed, and in the back of her mind she couldn't help noticing how cold it was. She opened the door by kicking it in case he had hung something on top of it. Nothing fell so she proceeded. It was dark and her breath rose before her in a white mist. The rain landed softly on her cheeks like a hundred wet fairies playing tag with her pores. There was a gravel path leading from the cabin to the canopy, normally, but now the gravel was lined with red and pink candles; the colors of passion and love. Some had been extinguished by the rain but they still emitted a romantic sort of faint glow. White rose peddles were strewn all across the floor and a single whole flower lay at her feet.
Natina flew out from behind her in a great theatrical rush of wind that ruffled Petunia's hair. Petunia kneeled down and picked up the flower, sniffing it. It's delicate fragrance filled her nostrils and ensnared her brain. She slowly started forward, the candles flickering in her wake. Passing the sycamore trees she became enveloped in a light pink haze of cherry blossom peddles falling from the trees. The sensation was amazing, and she through out her arms, swirling in a heavenly lust. Her hair flew out behind her in a gold vale. She couldn't help feeling like an elf from the Lord of the Rings.
She stopped swirling because it made her a little too dizzy. A few minutes on she reached the make shift curtain. A note was pinned to it. It read: Close your eyes… hold your breath… make a wish… count to ten… and step into a world of pure imagination.
Her eyes shut tight she said allowed, "I wish always to dream of this time." Ten seconds latter she opened her eyes, but still couldn't breathe.
There her gazebo stood, glimmering under a crown of strung white lights. The candles on the ground rose up two gold step latter holders with and intricate grape vine pattern. The rose peddles ran along the steps, slowly turning into down feathers. And there, standing in the middle of it all, was her love looking over the lake that set as a back drop. It rippled lightly as the rain drops fell to join it's depths.
Neo himself looked unreal. He stood with his hands behind his back and his feet slightly separated. He wore all white; the ankles of his suit were just visible under the hem of a flowing trench coat. Diamond cufflinks greeted her in their sparkling manner. His sandy hair, which he had been letting grow, was neatly tied in one long, thin braid.
He turned his head first, letting his body rhythmically fallow the motion. "Come far lady and speak of thy name. Certainly no mortal man could have spawned such a heavenly creation as thee?" He smiled slightly and held out his hand.
Petunia was more then willing to play along. "Oh dear sir I can not. For earthly father I do have and he would surely have your head."
"Do my ears deceive me?" Neo said stepping forward a little. "This can not be true! Mild mannered maiden, goddess above all feminine deity, keeper of thy heart, womb of thy child! I shall willingly die a valiant death for thee if destiny dictates it to be. Be from that solitary kiss your humble servant begs of you!" His other hand was now on his hart and he got down on one knee.
"Humble thy servant most certainly is not. Knights have failed to woo thee. And short of royal crest do I see."
"Knights know not of the heart but of duty. In the absence of kin and swords men I beg of thee, come!"
"Very well." Petunia walked over to him and kneeled so they were face to face. "Presenter of thy flora, are you not?"
"'Tis true maiden. Token of affection and desire. I dare confront thee with a query. Wilt thou reply?"
"If thy query be admirable, without hesitation I will respond."
"Allow me the honor of taking thy hand in marriage." He said taking a ring out of his pocket. It had a ruby set in rose gold and surrounded by several small diamonds. "Trust, far maiden, that flora is the lest of thy treasures."
Petunia frantically shuffled about to retrieve her jaw from the floor as well as to search for her heart, which seemed to have vacated her body entirely. She found it quivering behind a candle, and after shoving it back into her chest she stammered. "I-I-Wh-Ha..." evidently her brain seemed to be missing as well.
"Say yes," said Neo, looking a bit worried. "I don't think I could live without you."
Her response was to audibly let out a long held breath and fling her arms around Neo's neck. She squeezed him so tightly that Neo couldn't breathe, but he didn't dare ask her to let go.
"Yes!" Petunia was finally able to force out of her star struck body. "A million times, yes!"
Neo picked her right off her feet and spun her in a burst of exuberant, joyful energy. Petunia lifted her face to the sky and laughed like she had never laughed before. She watched as the tumbling drops of water crashed into the top of the canopy; exploding in bursts of cosmic glow against the velvet sky. Slowly Neo lowered her back to the ground. They stood face to face, frozen in time, held by amour. The gods and goddess' of life, love, hope, and hereafter spun around them, drawing them ever closer until their lips delicately touched. There, in one kiss a million and one fairies lived, and loved, and died... all for them.
Preparations for the wedding began immediately. Petunia knew that I already knew about the engagement, but even so, she braved a trip to the nearest owl post to mail me a letter (Natina had long senesce left). I walked around with a wide grin on my face for weeks after ward.
Petunia would have nothing to do with a wedding curator, so, after living with James for two years, I went back home. My parents were simply ecstatic to hear that I was coming home. They threw a big party and completely ignored the fact that I was only there to help Petunia with the preparations.
We stayed up late into the night, talking, laughing, and cooing over the daily love notes Neo sent to Petunia. We were supposed to be looking over cakes and dresses, but we kept getting lost in idle conversation.
"Oh, I like that one," Petunia said pacifically, lightly running the back of her finger over a fabric sample attached to a picture of a Victorian stile dress.
I smiled and came over from a pile of names for the guest list (which was remarkably smaller then mine had been).
"Do you think they can make this dress," she said flipping a few pages back to a much more alluring dress, "with that fabric?"
"I'm sure they can arrange it. I expect not very many brides want a cookie cutter dress."
She giggled slightly, scratching the back of the cat's ear.
"I can't believe this is happening." I said, shaking my head in a playful sort of way.
"What? You reckoned I'd be single all my life?"
"No of course not. It's just, what ever happened to Miss 'I'm not getting married to any one but a corporate executive that has enough bulk to bulldoze a buffalo. I won't look at a man that has more balls then brains. Only a man with intelligence can give me a normal life. A normal, stay at home mom, that's my perfect existence.'"
Petunia laughed at the naive little thing she once was. "I gave up that vision when I got it through my thick head that dad wasn't going to walk me down the aisle. It doesn't matter any more."
My smile faded a bit. "You don't mean that you're giving something up by marring Neo, do you?"
"Of course not," she said, leaning over and grabbing my hand. She sat and thought for a moment, then said, "When we were little, our whole world revolved around the future, around perfect dreams, 'when I grow up,' and things like that. Perfection comes in so many different lights. When I would talk to you about that 'corporate executive' I always felt a bit... empty. Sure we'd have the two story suburban house with a tidy little front garden. Sure I'd never have to worry about him throwing me a surprise party after I'd come home from a long day at work. Sure I could have lived like Mrs. Beaver. But I would never, truly be alive. It doesn't matter any more because I've found my prophesy, my angel, the one I never thought I could have, and it's beautiful. All my life I've looked at you and thought 'why not me?' And it hurt, Lily, it hurt so badly. And I hated you for it. Why couldn't I have gone to Hogwarts? The way you describe it... Why couldn't I have all the friends? Why?! For thirteen years I lived my life regretting that I had been born! And then Neo came along and taught me what it meant to see a better day." She reached over and touched my face. "Lily, he taught me what it meant to forgive. He taught me to live. All of that with one kiss. If he can do all that with a kiss, there's no telling what he could do with his life."
There was a very long, dense pose, broken only by the seemingly distant purr of the everlasting black cat. "I don't know what to say."
"Say I won't be breaking the rules by wearing a maroon trench coat over my dress," she said, holding up a blood red piece of fabric. I stared at her, determined to keep a strait face... but the imps rolling around in the pit of my stomach jostled and tickled every nerve, and I burst out laughing. Petunia laughed too, starting first with a small giggle and slowly growing into a full blown belly laugh. It was brilliant.
