Lena and Nia slept in Lena's old room. They woke early, Lena explaining that as the hosts her family were usually up late and that it would be easier to slip away first thing in the morning. A footman directed them to where William was being held, it was a small bedroom not completely uncomfortable. Lena had a few sharp words for him, warning him that he could choose to leave with them now or sign a waiver and be left behind to face the Nightlands alone. He chose to go with them, though he didn't look happy about it. Muttering under his breath about having to fill out more paperwork when they returned, Lena swore to herself that she would not agreed to be his guide again.
The journey back to the Greylands was uneventful. They reached the boarder and crossed without incident. Lena handed over William to the medics who checked all returning humans in case of any modifications that would get them rejected by the Daylands, and went to hand in her report. She took Nia with her, letting her read the report over her shoulder and hoping that she would understand why certain information was being left out. Lena underlined the parts where William had presented a problem, and when she had finished, she offered the paper to Nia to countersign.
"My first official document," Nia smiled.
"You won't be so happy once you've filled out your hundredth," Lena assured her.
With the paperwork submitted, they were free to resume their normal duties. They attended Council meetings, Lena tested Nia on her knowledge of the laws and magics governing the Greylands, local holidays were observed.
As the weeks passed, Lena couldn't help but think about Kara. She'd said she would return, but part of her wondered whether the human would even remember her so she kept putting off a visit to her family. Instead she waited for a chance to return to the Nightlands through work, but after her report on William the Council implemented tighter controls on applications.
Eventually Nia passed her apprenticeship. Lena was so pleased for her. She invited Lena to the party her family were throwing for her and had the chance to meet Nia's parents. A couple of weeks after that, Nia came to find her.
"I'm going back to the Nightlands, on Council business," Nia told her. "Would you like to come with me?"
"I'm getting my new apprentice soon, I'll be pretty busy."
"Oh, okay, I just thought..."
"What?"
"You know the Nightlands so much better than I do, and I'll be escorting some humans to the Danver's medical centre. I thought you might like to see Kara and Querl again."
Lena looked at Nia, trying to understand if those were the only reasons for the invitation, "like I said, it depends when the apprentices are assigned."
"Well, I'm leaving in three days. Some of the humans are still making their way here. If you change your mind, let me know."
"Thanks."
Lena avoided Nia for the next two days. She kept changing her mind about whether to go, but when the Council notified her that the apprentice selections had been delayed due to a magical accident at the school, she took it as a sign. When Nia approached the border with five humans in tow, she didn't say anything, she just smiled at Lena and introduced her to them.
They followed the Council's map to the Danvers medical centre, the DEO (the 'D' stood for their surname, the others letters were for words in an ancient language that translated to their ongoing attempts to find medical cures). Querl met them at the door, offering refreshments while an assistant took the humans away.
"I do hope you don't have to return home right away," he told them, looking more at Nia than Lena.
"Just while the doctors carry out their initial checks, there's always a chance we'll need to escort someone back," Nia told him.
"Wonderful, in that case would you like a tour?"
They both accepted, and Querl led them around the centre, explaining the different departments and avoiding rooms with recovering patients. Nia was fascinated, asking plenty of questions and drinking in his answers.
"I love working in the laboratory, it's fascinating what you can see under a microscope. My sister prefers to visit the wards, she says a human face can be comforting to the recovering patients."
"Kara works here?" Lena asked, coming alert at the information.
"Well she's not a doctor or anything, but she brings plants into the wards and cheers up the patients. Sometimes she oversees the paperwork and supplies, other times she just comes with her guitar and gets them singing along. Dr Danvers is very impressed with her, patient recovery times have improved greatly since she started."
Lena smiled, she could imagine how grateful the patients would be to have Kara looking after them.
"If you would like to wait here, I could see if she is available?" Querl offered.
"Oh no, if she's busy, I wouldn't want to take her away from the patients," Lena told him.
"I'm sure she'd love to see you."
Nia nodded, and Querl left them in a waiting area before wandering off. Lena sat down, her hands clenched in her lap. She wasn't sure what she should say to Kara, or if the young woman would even remember her.
Querl was back quickly, Kara in tow.
"Lena! Nia," Kara smiled at them both and accepted a hug from Nia while Lena got to her feet.
"How are you?" Nia asked.
"Good, thanks. Congratulations, I hear you're no longer an apprentice."
"That's right, thank you."
"And you've brought us some new patients."
"Yes, five of them. Hopefully you can help."
"We'll try our best, they're in good hands with Dr Danvers," Kara kept looking over a Lena and smiling at her.
"I was going to take them down to the laboratory next," Querl told her. "Would you like to join us?"
"I really should get back to the patients, and if I don't fill out a requisition for more coffee before we run out I think some of the staff might revolt."
Lena laughed.
"Well, off we go," Querl told Nia and Lena.
"Actually I might wait here," Lena told him, "the tour has been great, but I could use a rest."
"Okay, we can wait for you."
"No, you go ahead. I'll be fine."
Querl led Nia away, not seeming to realise that Kara had stayed behind with Lena.
"So," Kara kept smiling at Lena, "you came back."
"Just helping Nia, she hasn't visited the Nightlands very often."
"I thought you might have returned for Lex's party."
"I was still training Nia," Lena returned to her seat and Kara came to sit down next to her.
"Yes, she wrote to tell Querl when she passed."
"She did?"
"Oh dear, was that not allowed? Witches writing to people in the Nightlands, I mean."
"No, I just didn't realise they had kept in touch. There's nothing against sending letters, I just don't think many other witches have friends outside of the Greylands, unless they've got family like Nia and I."
Lena looked at Kara, she really hadn't changed since they'd danced together. She was still so happy, and pretty...
"I hope I'm not keeping you from your work," Lena tried to cut off her thoughts.
Kara laughed, "no, I don't have an official role and I just sort of do whatever needs doing, or whatever I want. Do you want me to go?"
"No."
Kara moved her hand a little closer to Lena's, "I missed you."
"I, uh... I missed you too."
"I know we only met that one time, but..."
"Yeah," feeling brave, Lena placed her hand over Kara's. "I should have come back sooner."
"You're here now. Maybe we could..."
There were voices in the corridor, and Lena quickly pulled her hand away. Kara looked upset. No-one came near their area though and after a while Lena felt too guilty to re-instate contact.
"I should get back to work," Kara told her, breaking the silence.
"Okay. Sorry."
"What for?"
Lena shrugged, "I don't know what I'm doing. I like you, but I've never..."
"Dated a human?" Kara asked.
"Yeah."
"I'm pretty sure it's not that different from dating a witch, or Nightlander. Not that I've had much experience with either of those, or any experience really."
"You haven't?"
Kara shook her head, "nope."
"Oh."
"So, is that what you want? To try the dating thing?"
"With you?" Lena asked, then nodded.
Kara smiled and placed her hand over Lena's, "well I never leave the Nightlands, so that means lots of letter writing and planning any dates to happen here."
"Okay. I can get a pass to visit pretty easily because I've got family here."
"Great. How about next Saturday, I know a quiet spot and we can have a picnic."
"That sounds lovely. It's a date."
They were still smiling at each other when Nia and Querl came back. Lena decided not to tell Nia about their plans, at least not right away.
The End.
