A New Beginning

Disclaimer: Some people write books. I "borrow" their characters.

A/N: Happy New Year everyone. How much of a loser am I? Every single one of my friends is at the same party, and I'm baby-sitting. Oh, well. At least I get paid. This story is dedicated to anyone in (more or less) the same position.

I apologize if this is a little ooc.

Nita Callahan stared at the clock. Thirty minutes until the New Year, and of course, She was sitting at home, alone. Her father was off a flower shop convention in the City. Dairine was off celebrating with… well actually, Nita didn't know where she was. And Kit – the one person she had counted on – was at home, celebrating a required "Family New Year"

I t wasn't his fault, really. Who could have known that his sister, Helena would show up at the last minute. With a fiancée, no less. Since, A) Helena didn't accept Kit being a wizard and, B) The fiancée (Benjamin) didn't know Kit was a wizard, and C) Helena wasn't particularly fond of Nita (she blamed her for Kit's "deal-with-the-devil" phase) Kit spending the New Year with his partner would not have been a wise idea.

Twenty-five minutes. Unable to deal with boredom anymore, Nita flipped on the T.V. Click. 'I Love Lucy' reruns. Click. Random TV movie. Click. Celebrity news stories. She finally settled on a show dedicated to criticizing all current and past fashion trends. One word came to mind: pathetic.

Twenty Minutes. As Nita sat watching (but not really seeing the screen) she began to think. Thinking is usually a good thing, but when left on your own for hours at a time, thinking can become dangerous. For, when one is given the opportunity to "lay things out" he or she begins to see and understand things commonly invisible to the average thinker. In Nita's case, it was life.

Not so much as life the way wizards view it, with entropy, and always fighting it, but the simple pleasures of the human world. Nita began to think about how people's lives intertwined and affected each other.

Her parents had been the perfect match. It had been love at first sight, a wedding as soon as they were both out of college. Together, they had been two halves of a whole, almost unable to exist without the other. They balanced out each other's strengths and weaknesses. They supported each other to no end. Simply put, they had been in love. Two strands of life, twisted and formed until perfectly fitted. And then, her mother had died, leaving only a fragment of what had been.

What if that happened to her and Kit? What if the chemistry of the two ceased to exist in the same way it had been? Their partnership would be destroyed. The idea of working alone terrified Nita, and in that moment, she truly understood how her dad felt.

Ten Minutes. The New Year was almost here, and only negative thoughts poured from Nita's mind. Thoughts about the "what ifs" and the "one days". Thoughts about the destruction of lives.

Roshaun. Despite what her sister said, Nita knew Dairine loved him. Well, maybe not yet, but all the signs were there. The two had been thrown together for two weeks, and Dair had been depressed for months after his "death". In fact, she was still in denial, and convinced Roshaun was out there somewhere, and of course, was determined to find him. Another two halves of a whole, destroyed in a second.

Seven Minutes. What would happen in the next chapter of Nita's life? Would it be good? Bad? …or just different? She know nothing lasted forever, but why? Change had never been Nita's idea of a fun time.

Five Minutes. Being lost in thought, Nita didn't hear the nearly silent "pop" of displaced air. She didn't even notice there was another person in the room until he sat down right beside her.

"Kit! I thought… You said…"

"Neets, calm down, or I might think you weren't happy to see me."

"But what about Helena? And the rest of your family"

"Don't worry about it, Carmela and Dairine said they'd cover for me."

"Dairine?"

Kit gave her a look. Apparently Nita would have to get the information out of her sister later. The two friends just sat for a moment.

"So, why did you really come over here?"

"You were projecting."

"My thoughts?" Okay, this panicked Nita just a little "That's impossible". Of course, nothing is ever really impossible.

Kit was looking uncharacteristically serious. "Neets, you have to stop thinking like that. You know your mom and dad had time, at least, to love each other. And maybe Dairine really will find Roshaun one day." He grinned a little "Somehow, knowing that guy, I doubt he's gone for good." Then, he was serious again.

"And then, there's that other thought."

No, no, please say he didn't hear that.

"Neets, change isn't always bad. As cliché as it sounds, sometimes change is for the better." Where was he going with this? One minute.

"But, what if something does happen? A wizardry goes wrong? A fight that can't be resolved? What happens then?"

"We go on with our lives. What else can we do?" Why was Kit being so deep?

Thirty Seconds. Time seemed to slow down.

"Nita, there's something else… another reason I came over." Twenty seconds.

Nita looked him in the eye, afraid of what she might see. Ten seconds.

"Neets….I…" Five.

Their faces were centimeters apart.

…Four

…Three

…Two

…one

As the clock struck twelve, he kissed her. At first, Nita was surprised, but then, she wasn't. Somehow, she had seen this coming. It felt so right. As the kiss deepened, Nita felt emotions she never knew existed between the two. In a split second, she could have sworn a jolt of electricity passed between them. And suddenly, she didn't even have to speak with him mind-to-mind. His head was open to her, and hers to him. They were each other.

Finally, after seconds, minutes, or maybe even years, the kiss broke. Maybe change wasn't so bad after all, but could "change" really describe something that had always been there, even something not realized until that very moment?

So this is my next chapter.

"No, Neets. This is a whole new story"

fin.

R&R