I just received an invitation to AO3. I'm starting to X-post all my stories on the site under the name JamieGemini. Check it out.

I've found a system that works for me to help me write more. When I have some free time at work or moving on the bus, I write in a notebook, and when I get home, I copy it down in a word document. It takes less energy to copy something than to write something fresh and I can change or correct anything in the notebook that I didn't like in the word document.

It's working so far. I really hope this system will help me update faster.

Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or any of its related properties. Everything, other than my story plot, belongs to Julie Plec and LJ Smith.

I also do not have Bipolar Disorder. Most of my information came from the internet, from watching documentaries about Bipolar Disorder and I hope I portrayed this illness in a non-offensive way. Anything I got wrong, I deeply apologize for. I will take any criticism.

Special thanks to KurodaMikaelson. Hello and welcome to the story and thank you for your first review.

GUEST REVIEWS

guest: I'm not sure if you're relieved that Lora found her twin or for the chapter release. But I agree on both counts.

Dassa-chan: Thanks. I'm glad you like that I included this. Slater and Enzo have an army of vampires working with them that we haven't seen yet and we also now have witches. No matter how many times I think about it, the Originals should've had a network like this because not every vampire or witch or werewolf hates them. This would've helped so much when Klaus and the family were fighting their enemies in New Orleans. Their greatest weakness has that they had no allies to fight with them when their enemies banded together. It's either pride because they like to "keep it in the family" or idiocy on the writers' parts. In the future, if somehow Phoebe and her family and friends are indisposed, they can call upon the people loyal to them like this group of witches. It's a mix of Marcel's army and the Salvatore school, witches and vampires working together without prejudice. You have the right idea about Nora's husband. He'll definitely come hunting her and Lora will be there to protect her sister and her nephew. Elijah has been helping Jenna train since her friends can't due to their lack of knowledge of what it means to be a god's champion, especially Bia, whom they know little about. Jenna has told them about Elijah, but they know him as Elijah Smith, an old Vampire. They don't know his identity as a Mikaelson. Even if they did, they still hadn't deciphered the notes and the identities of the Mikaelson family as Originals, especially since most of the supernatural world believes the Originals to be myths. I know you'll probably bring up Slater who knew about Klaus and Elijah from his network, but Bia said that the Moirai placed a fog over their minds. So even Slater won't know the importance of the names Klaus Mikaelson and Elijah Mikaelson even if the two were to appear before him and claimed to be the Originals. I want the gods' to also be ambiguous and meddlesome. Their interference was the only way I could think of to make the individual members of the group form relationships with the individual Mikaelsons without jumping into the main plot yet. The fog also makes Elijah less suspicious. It's why he hasn't run a background check on Jenna's friends.

And gosh, I hated what the writers did with Vicki and the entire Donovan family. She was an eighteen-year-old girl addicted to drugs and abandoned by her family. Sure she made bad decisions but she needed help from the adults in Mystic Falls, not judgment. With Phoebe taking responsibility in the family, even with Kelly gone, Victoria was still able to have a normal teenage life and indulge her passions, which in this case are computers and coding. Magic is her life so mixing them seemed like the best step forward for her to accomplish something for herself. She's her own person so I never wanted her to start having self-esteem issues by making it feel like she's in Phoebe's shadow. I also wanted to show that this family is so different from the Mikaelsons. Even though not all of them are related, they treat one another as family and have a very healthy relationship. Phoebe, even though she's not the oldest, is the de-facto head of the family and she doesn't lord it over the others to control them like Klaus does his blood-related siblings.

Enzo's just not the type of person who will be scared away by Klaus and the Mikaelson brothers. And they can't just kill Enzo since Phoebe would find a way to make Klaus' life miserable even without killing him. Rebekah needs someone to show her how to live for herself, beyond her brothers' orbit.


"If you are not shocked by what you will do for your children; if you are not appalled by how far you will go for those they drag out of you while you scream, then you are not a woman worthy of the name." - Margaret Beaufort, The White Princess, Starz


Chapter 20 - Love of Family

"Hey, look at the screen." Everyone turned to the mounted computer monitor when Caroline spoke.

"Oh, that's odd." Ria looked at the globe as it began to spin. "It's locating something else."

"Hey." Matt tapped his sister on her arm and pointed at Lora. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and unfocused, an obvious sign of a vision, as her finger pressed on the table screen, her magic activating the locator spell.

"It looks like the digital spell can activate without the need for blood," Phoebe explained. "Like when we use an item to locate someone. Lora is locating whatever, or whoever, is in her vision."

The map stopped and the marker showed a satellite image of a familiar street. "It's showing someone outside."

The wine glass slipped from Lora's fingers, the red liquid splashing all over the floor among the broken glass. They exchanged a look when she turned and sprinted from the room. They ran after her, down the stairs and out the door to the front gate.

Ria, Matt, and Phoebe sensed the magic before they saw the woman. They stopped several meters from their friend but they could clearly see the face of the woman across the street. Their eyes widened in shock.

She was wearing black jeans with a wine-red graphic t-shirt that read, "You can't hold me down. I'm free" under a black leather jacket.

Her face was caked in heavy makeup and contoured to give her sharper facial features. With her pale skin, dark eyeshadow, and red lipstick, she looked like a lesser version of Abby Sciuto.

But none of that fooled their eyes. The face was the face of their friend. It was Lora's face.

"I'm not hallucinating, am I?" Ria asked.

"Nope," Phoebe replied.

"I see it too," Matt added.

Caroline said, "Then that's.."

"Lora's missing twin? Yep."

Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped when the woman ran into the street, not bothering to pay attention to the cars coming down the street in both directions. Their magic automatically rose to the surface to protect their sister's sister, not wanting her to lose her newly found twin.

Their hearts were beating out of their chests before Lora pulled the woman safely onto the sidewalk.

The cars swerved and several drivers cursed, but there were no casualties.

"Oh dear gods, I'm too young to die of a heart attack," Ria complained. She placed a hand over the left side of her chest in an effort to calm her wildly beating heart and rapid breathing.

The four kept their distance, with smiles on their faces, as they watched Lora reunite with her sister, hugging her tightly as she cried.

Caroline smiled warmly at the loving display of the two sisters crying on their knees in front of the gate. Her attention was pulled away from them when one of the charms in her bracelet registered an unknown magical signature. Her wrist warmed as she searched the property. "Hey…" she began. When she turned to look at the others, their eyes were all focused on the young boy who was standing beside the two sisters, still holding the woman's hand. His eyes were wide as he looked at her three magical friends and the charm pointed toward him. 'The magic must be coming from him.'

Nora laughed, completely unaware of the stare off that was happening between her son and her sister's adopted family. "Ok, ok. Don't cry. I missed you too, Lo."

Lora slowly pulled out of her sister's embrace as she sat on her heels, still in the middle of the sidewalk.

Nora pulled the boy beside her, snapping him from the stare off he was having with the magi. She presented him before Lora. "Meet my son, your nephew, King Arthur David Williams."

Lora wiped her tears and smiled kindly at the boy. "Hello, King Arthur David Williams. You have a wonderful name. I'm your aunt, Lora." She held her hand out to the boy, who took it and shook her hand.

A wave of magic power passed between the two when they touched. The boy gasped and Lora smiled knowingly at him. "We've met before through your eyes,' she explained. "We're the same."

"Really? What are we?"

"We're Magi."

"Magi. Magi," King repeated, trying the word on his tongue. "What does that mean?"

"It means we can do magic"

The boy's eyes lit up as he smiled wide, showing his two missing front teeth. "Like Harry Potter?"

Lora let out a watery laugh. "Yes, like Harry. You're a wizard, King Arthur David Williams."


Phoebe, Caroline, Ria, and Matt stayed with King - as he preferred to be called - in the parlor as Lora followed her twin, who was giving herself a tour of their house.

"Are you wizards, too, like my aunt?"

"Magi," Phoebe corrected. "That's what we call ourselves. You should -ow." Phoebe hissed when Matt pinched her thigh.

He smiled at King and said, "You can just say mage." He shot his sister a glare before she could lecture the six-year-old boy on correct terminology. Phoebe pushed his hand away and soothed her thigh.

"Yeah." Caroline sat on the edge of the table in front of King. "All of them, except for me, are mages. Just like you."

"Caroline, get your fat ass off the table," Phoebe whispered as she pulled the blonde off the commissioned oak burr coffee table.

King didn't notice the teasing glares passing between the two teens and simply said, "But I don't think I've ever done any magic before. I don't even have a wand."

The others smiled at the boy. "King, we don't need wands to use magic. But if you wish, we can make you one," Ria said.

"King, how did you find this place?" Phoebe asked.

"The voices told me," he said. He lowered his head as his small fingers fisted the fabric of his pants. "I could see you in my dreams. The voices in my dreams told me to find aunty. They told me where to go." When he looked up, fat tears were falling from his eyes. "The voices said that you'd protect mommy from daddy."

They all went still when the words fell from King's lips. From the tears in his eyes and his wish to protect his mother from his father, they understood the life Nora and her son had lived before arriving at their home. Phoebe took out her phone and began to record.

"Daddy hurts mommy. He hits her. I don't want mommy to hurt. The voices told me that aunty's family would help." He closed his eyes tightly, causing more tears to fall on his pants. "Please help my mommy. I don't want mommy to be sad or hurt anymore. Daddy said he would lock mommy away so she would never see the sun or me ever again."

Victoria was in tears as she held her hands to her mouth in shock.

Matt tried to hold back his tears as he gripped the cushion tightly. He turned away from King, finally letting his tears fall, but wiping them away just as quickly.

Phoebe's face was blank. Her body sat rigid as she pushed her back into the couch. There were no emotions on her face but she was raging inside. She had to physically restrain her magic from bursting forth in her anger. Lora had already told her that Nora had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder as a teen and she was left untreated. From the manic episode that she was having as she wandered all over the house to the knowledge that she was in an abusive relationship, Phoebe understood that Nora still had not gotten any treatment for her illness. She ran into a street full of speeding cars as she held the hand of her six-year-old son, for Zeus' sake. The man, her husband, not only abused her physically but neglected her health and used her illness to control her.

She was furious. She was furious for Lora who had been searching for her sister for over a decade. She was furious for Nora, who was used and abused, a victim of her brain chemistry that made her a hostage to her husband. And she was furious for King, the six-year-old boy who was a witness to his mother's abuse. A child like him shouldn't be worrying about protecting his mother from his father.

She was already planning all the dreadful ways she would make that man suffer for his crimes against her best friend's twin and nephew.

She kneeled on the carpet in front of the boy. She caressed the back of his hand softly until he looked at her with his watery blue eyes. "King, can you tell me what your daddy did to your mommy?"

Caroline lightly pushed Phoebe away from King, so he would not notice. She smiled at him. "No, King. You don't have to do that. You now have uncle Matt, and aunt Victoria, and aunt Lora, and aunty Phoebe here to teach you magic." Her tears had stopped but the tracks remained visible on her pink cheeks. "Uncle Enzo is strong. And you also have me and aunt Jenna. We'll protect you and your mommy from your daddy until you grow up to be big and strong. Then you'll be able to protect your mommy. Is that a deal?"

The boy sniffled as Caroline lightly wiped away his tears. "Yeah." He nodded and Caroline smiled.

"Why don't you go with aunt Ria and uncle Matt. They'll show you some magic tricks."

"Come on, King." Ria held her hand out to the boy, who took it. "Do you like puppies?" She and Matt led the boy to the bay doors that led to the back garden.

Caroline's smile fell when the doors closed as Ria and Matt disappeared in the pet pen with King. She whirled to face Phoebe. "He's six years old." Her blue eyes were wide as she went into protective mama-bear mode. "He came here to be safe. Forcing him to relive that trauma isn't going to help," she forced out through gritted teeth.

Phoebe stopped the recording. "I know. I don't want to but we need physical evidence of the abuse. Just in case…"

"In case of what?"

"In case he decides to use the law and family courts to take King from her."

Caroline's anger deflated as she understood Phoebe's intentions. "I understand that, but now isn't the time. What he needs right now is to feel happy and safe so he can heal. It's what they both need." With that last word, she turned around, her blond curls whipping behind her as she opened the door to the garden.


Lora followed behind Nora, wherever her feet led them around the house. Nora was almost bouncing off the walls with energy. Lora had researched Bipolar Disorder by speaking with several doctors to understand what her sister had gone through during her manic and depressive episodes. She wanted to be prepared for when she found her sister to be able to care for her so she understood Nora's hyperactivity and impulsiveness was due to her having a manic episode.

But she put that in the back of her head for a moment.

She was looking at her sister. Walking with her. For the first time in a decade, she could reach out her hand and touch her twin sister.

But…

The last time Lora stood in the same room as Nora, they didn't have a good sisterly relationship. In hindsight, Nora was having one of her manic episodes.

Flashback

"Let's go on an adventure!" The door banged against the wall when Nora burst into her room.

Lora rolled her eyes and decided to just ignore her twin.

Nora pointed and started shaking Lora by her shoulders. "Come on, Lo. You need to loosen up a little. You're working too hard. You need to go out and have a little fun."

Lora whipped around in her chair to face her sister. "You mean like you? You realize how you make us look when the police have to bring you home drunk from your stupid parties." Lora exhaled to calm her temper. "You shouldn't make trouble for mom and dad, Nor."

Nora scoffed. "I don't need the approval of people like mom and dad. I'm not going to change who I am just because they want to appear like the traditional American family to their rich friends." She looked at her sister. "You shouldn't either. Mom and dad's love will always be conditional. We'll never be good enough so why try."

Lora ignored her sister's words and returned to her work. She didn't want to acknowledge the truth in her sister's words.

She had seen how their parents treated Nora. Unlike Lora, who preferred to be meek and defer every decision about her life to their parents, Nora was assertive. She was always confident in her own decisions, never caring about their parents' opinions or caring for their approval.

But Lora was addicted to it. She had been since she was a child when she won her first gymnastics competition. It was why she had to continue doing it while keeping her GPA up so she returned to her homework. She has a lot to catch up on for school since she's been focusing on the national gymnastics competition.

The bedsprings creaked and squeaked as Nora was jumping up and down, making it more difficult for her to absorb the information she was reading in the textbook. She couldn't focus.

She turned around to face Nora. "Knock it off, will you?" Lora yelled. "Why are you even in here? Don't you have homework to do?"

"Already finished."

"Of course you did." Lora would never understand her twin sister. She had never met anyone so full of contradictions before. Sometimes she was so energetic, she could never sit still. She would always be bouncing off the walls like she was literally doing in the bed. She would wake up in the early morning, have a heavy breakfast, and leave hours before school doing nothing but wandering around the city. Then she would make her way to school, sometimes she arrived on time and other times she arrived late. After school, she would either participate in club activities or disappear into the city for hours on end. Sometimes she ended up in socialite parties in clubs and penthouses and God-knows-what else that the police had to go out to find her to return home. When she was asked about her whereabouts, she would simply say that she went on an adventure. The next morning, they would find her on the pages of the gossip magazines reporting on the escapades of one of Detroit's affluent families, the Heinz's wayward daughter.

It would be like that one day and then the next day she would be so depressed she wouldn't even be able to get out of bed. The windows and doors remained shut and the many phone calls from her many friends remained unanswered. She barely came out of her room to eat. Lora never understood why her sister's moods changed so often. She could spend weeks flying free as high as an eagle before crashing down in a deep depression that made her almost unresponsive. The depression could last weeks before her sister found her wings to fly again.

Nora was always a disappointment to their parents that Lora endeavored to be the opposite of her sister. She worked hard in school to get straight As while continuing her gymnastics competitions so her parents would always be proud of her. So they would not look at her and shake their heads with nothing but distaste and disdain in their eyes. Like they looked at Nora. She felt bad for her sister but she never spoke out against their parents' treatment of her because she could not bear it if they were to look at her with no love in their eyes.

She was jealous of Nora. She was jealous that she could not be like her sister and not care for the opinions of others. But she did. So she pushed her sister away so she would not be pulled into her sister's orbit and find herself influenced by the things her parents did not find to be proper.

But sometimes, Lora wished she could be free. She wished she didn't always seek her parents' approval. She didn't even like gymnastics anymore. It was no longer fun as the love she had for the sport in her youth had become a twisted tool for her parents to use to further their social prestige among their friends. But she was still shackled to it. She bartered her freedom for her parents' love.

She didn't want to be treated like Nora. She couldn't live if they looked at her with eyes that made her feel worthless.

Unlike the stereotypical party girl with peas for brains, Nora was exceptionally smart. Even with all her missed and late classes, she never failed an assignment. She used her excess energy to complete all her school and club responsibilities.

"How?" Lora asked.

"I didn't have anything else to do so I asked the teacher for all the assignments. You know genetics is so fascinating, especially with us considering we're identical twins. Damn, I really wish that we were part of one of those twin studies." Her lips moved fast as she continued to bounce on the bed. "You'd think the fact that we share the same DNA and the same environment growing up would make us more alike. I think it's our souls. I mean even if we share the same genes, we probably have different souls since God probably won't judge one of us for the other's sins. And just because there's no proof of the existence of the soul does not mean it doesn't exist." Another symptom of her Bipolar - though no one knew it at the time. She talked fast and changed topics on a dime. She could be talking to a person at one moment before she began having a one-sided conversation as though talking out loud was the only way to organize the quick thoughts.

"Nora, stop," Lora said, bringing her sister back on topic.

"Oh, it wasn't that hard. I aced the tests too. Miss A said I could test out but I don't want that." SHe stopped bouncing and jumped off the bed. She hugged Lora from behind, her arms wrapped tightly around her sister's shoulders. "I want us to always be together."

Lora didn't push her away. She reached up to touch Nora's forearm, finding comfort in her twin who always returned to her side no matter how many times she was pushed away. No matter how many times she felt ashamed of her sister, no matter how many times she never came to her rescue, Nora always returned to her side. Always forgiving. A constant presence full of warmth and comfort. Nora offered her nothing but unconditional love.

"Yeah, I want us to always be together too," she replied softly. "Help me with my homework?"

Nora pouted for a while as she raised her chin in thought before she replied, "Okay." She smiled at her sister as she pulled another chair closer to the desk. She ripped a sheet of paper from Lora's notebook, who gasped with incredulity. "Seriously."

"Sorry. Since you don't want to go out with me, I need something to keep me busy while I sit here helping you with homework."

"Fine."

A month later, Nora vanished without a trace. Her room was empty and some of her clothes were missing. When Lora realized it, she immediately told her parents and contacted the police. Lora was hysterical in her search for her sister. The authorities wouldn't help her. Due to Nora's "flighty nature" - they called it - neither her parents nor the police prioritized finding her 16-year-old twin. No one cared.

Lora searched and searched. She went to her sister's usual hangouts and met several of her friends. It was like pulling back the curtain on her sister's true life. A life Lora was unaware of because she never tried to learn who her sister truly was.

She learned that her sister's friends ranged from rich socialites to the homeless trying to find their way back into society. Nora was kind to everyone. She listened to their stories and helped them in any way she could. One of Nora's richer friends was a violinist whom she helped overcome his stage fright and supported his debut when she went to watch him perform in front of a large audience. Lora learned that Nora volunteered at homeless shelters all over the city, serving food and telling stories to lift the people's moods. She used several of her socialite connections to help the homeless find jobs to support themselves and their families. And she always checked up on them to find out how they were doing.

Nora's teachers praised her for being an excellent and respectful student. They overlooked her many absences because she always understood the subject, completed all her work, and never missed a class without excusing herself. She had a 4.5 GPA because of the many sports and other clubs she participated in. Nora was good at everything she tried and substituted for many of her peers in several sports clubs in the school.

Lora learned more about her sister after her disappearance than when they lived together in the same house. She learned that her sister was loved by many. Everyone Lora spoke to not only sang Nora's praises but also offered their help to find Nora and wished her a safe return home. Nora showed kindness and respect to everyone she met and received their love and loyalty in return.

Strangers showed more kindness and concern for her sister than her parents ever did; than she ever did.

It was like a slap to the face. Like a mirror was held in front of her and she was forced to accept the truth. She thought herself to be different, but she was just like her parents. Like her parents, her love for Nora had been conditional. She never defended her sister from her parents' cruel, unfeeling words. Nora gave her unconditional love. Her twin gave her warmth and comfort, but she never returned any of it.

She slowly began to pull away from her parents the more time she spent with the people who knew Nora. Lora wanted to acquit herself. She never wanted to become unfeeling and unloving. She never wanted to be like her parents. But she couldn't change if she remained under her parents' thumbs; under their influence. When Senior year came around and she was filing for college applications, Lora decided to get out.

End Flashback

"This house is amazing!" Nora said as they made their way to Lora's room. It was the last location on their tour. Nora looked at her twin. "It must've been really expensive. How did you afford it? Who are those people? You don't seem to be in contact with the rest of the Heinz family." She wandered the room before she made her way to the balcony door. She looked down to the yard where she saw her son playing with a litter of Newfoundland pups along with the teenagers who greeted her when she first arrived. Her eyes softened at the sight of her son laughing as the puppies licked his face.

Lora stood beside her twin and told her story as they watched her nephew play with her chosen family.

She started from the moment she realized Nora was missing. Lora told her how she searched for her. How she met Nora's friends and all the people she helped throughout the city. She told her how she escaped their parents when she went to college and how she met a young Phoebe. She told Nora of how she discovered her magic, learning about the supernatural, and training with the others to master her powers. She told her of their mundane businesses and their supernatural dealings. She told Nora about her travels across the world. Lora told her about their move to Greenwich and how she met their parents again. She told her about the many locator spells she had performed over the years to find her and how they failed. And she finally told her of the visions she had of her life through King's eyes.

They walked back into the room and sat together on the plush couch. Lora still kept her distance from Nora, not wanting to overstep only to be rejected by her sister. They had spent a decade apart and even when they lived together, she was never the best sister to Nora. It would hurt too much if Nora pushed her away now like Lora had done when they were young. Even though she would deserve her sister's indifference.

But Nora held no grudge against her. She simply smiled brightly and laughed. "That is amazing! You have to show me some magic sometime. And I can't believe the Greek gods are real. It brings things into perspective though. Do you think all religions actually worship the same gods, but just in different forms? Oh, and traveling? Really? You hated traveling."

"I still do but it's work."

"And we're twins. So why do you have magic and I don't?"

"We're twins. We share the same DNA but we don't share the same soul. A Magus' magic is closely tied to their soul."

"Oh, that makes sense. So, I guess the fact that King has magic has nothing to do with me and you."

Lora didn't answer. She was one hundred percent certain that Hekate was responsible for her nephew being born a mage. Hekate chose King's Thread of Fate and granted him magic perhaps especially because they are related. And the visions she had of Nora's life was due to the connection she had with her nephew. Although, as to the goddess' reasons, she could only speculate as she wouldn't dare think that she could understand a deity's mind or intentions.

She changed the topic to what she wanted to know. "What about you, Nor? Can you tell me what happened? Tell me about your life."

Nora smiled sadly, her eyes focused on her twiddling fingers. "Like I told you, I went on an adventure. George and Julia" - their parents - "told me that I was ruining your life. You were away and I woke up one morning to find my suitcase packed and you were gone. They said that I was giving the Heinz name a bad reputation, which ruined your chance in getting into some type of gymnastics program. They gave me money and told me that you went out because you didn't want to see me…"

A harsh gasp left Lora's lips. "What?! NO! I didn't. I would never…" She closed the space between her and Nora on the couch and grasped her sister's arm. There was no hesitation in her movements. Her fear of her sister's rejection had flown from her mind. "I reported you to the police. I searched for you. Even after I broke contact with the Heinz family, I still contacted the police for updates on their investigation." She shook her head as tears ran down her face. "I never wanted you to leave me."

"I know. It took me years and a friend's psychoanalysis to realize that George and Julia had tricked me. But at that time, I just didn't want to be a burden to you. I didn't care for them, but you… I couldn't live with myself knowing that I ruined your chance at happiness.

"I traveled through South America and I volunteered to help people in several countries in Africa, helping refugees learn English. Then I vacationed in Europe. I was in Munich when I met my husband who was studying abroad." Nora stopped. She raised her head toward the ceiling as tears shimmered in her eyes. She inhaled deeply as her fingers tightened around her sister's hand as if to anchor herself. "At first, he was kind to me. He anchored me during my mania, to keep me from doing anything too reckless or illegal or dangerous. When I crashed, he was there to cushion my fall. He held me up and supported me when I couldn't support myself. I fell for him. He gave me love and attention I never got from anyone in my life."

A stab of pain passed through Lora's chest, knowing well that her sister was right. It took her a while to realize it but she knew that she never gave Nora the love she deserved. She was ashamed of herself.

"He was my rock. My hard, stubborn, unmoving, uncompromising rock.

"We got married when we moved back to the States. He was the one who took me to the psychiatrist and got me on meds to manage my Bipolar Disorder.

"Then I got pregnant with King and stopped taking the meds 'cause we weren't sure how it would affect the baby. When my episodes became more extreme, I wanted to find you." She looked at her sister with tearful eyes, causing Lora to swallow hard. The more difficult part was coming up. The part where her sister suffered. "I was going to be a mom. I was so happy and I wanted to share my happiness with you, my family. I wanted to tell you that you were going to be an aunt and godmother." Identical tears ran down their identical faces. "He got more controlling. It wasn't just about the baby anymore. He said that I belonged to him; that I was nothing before he found me. He took my bank cards, my car, and my address book. He moved us to the middle of the Nevada desert. He put cameras around the house to watch me. He got me a midwife because I wasn't allowed to go to the hospital for check-ups. I didn't even know King was a boy until the delivery. I passed out from the pain during the birth. When I woke up, he wouldn't let me see the baby. He held him just out of my reach, made me beg, and promise that I would never leave. He threatened me. He said he could have me admitted into an institution for Bipolar and would petition the courts to give him full custody.

"King. My King. My precious, beautiful boy. I knew the moment I saw him, that I could never live without him. The day he was born was the first time I had ever been so afraid in my life. I couldn't lose my son. So I stayed. I stayed and made him a prisoner of his own father."

She stood abruptly and paced the length of the room as she sobbed. "Oh my God. I ruined him. He watched. My son watched as I was beaten repeatedly. He cried with me and tried to comfort me. He saved me. He's the one who forced me to take the chance to run. What if he now thinks that it's okay to beat women?" Her eyes widened with horror as she clawed at her face. "I'm a failure as a mother. He saved me when it's supposed to be me, saving him. What if he picks up his father's cruel tendencies?" Lora took Nora's hands away from her face as her nails began to puncture her skin. "I failed him. I can't protect my son. He's gonna come for us. He's going to take my son. He's gonna take King away from me."

"Shh. It's okay. I won't let him," Lora said through her tears as she wrapped her sister in a hug. She held her close as Nora's body racked with sobs. "You are not a failure. You are his mother. A mother's job is to always protect her children and give them love. You stayed with a man who abused you for the sake of your son. You taught him to read and write. And you taught him love and kindness over cruelty. You allowed him to flourish and thrive, even in captivity. You taught him to be strong and fly free. You defied a monster you feared to protect him. You took him to the hospital to save his life, regardless of the consequences. You trusted him and the two of you took the chance to escape. You are a mother, and that title is synonymous with strength."

Lora rocked Nora in her arms, her chin resting on Nora's head as she whispered words of comfort to her as she cried.

After a while, Lora came down with Nora and brought her to the back garden. The moment she walked out, King came running to her carrying a Newfie puppy half his size. "Mommy, mommy look. There's a pool and the puppies can swim. When they get big, they can save people in the water."

Nora let out a watery laugh as she tried to keep her tears away. "I see that. Are you going to learn to swim?"

King looked up at his mother. Her eyes were red and puffy like the times after his dad would hit her. He didn't like it when she cried. "Mommy, why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

Nora bent down and moved King's hair away, behind his ears. "Remember about what I told you about tears. There are sad tears and there are happy tears. These are happy tears. I'm so happy to see your aunt again that I couldn't help but cry. Family, remember?" She turned and pointed to Lora's face, which was also red with tear tracks. "See, aunty was crying again, like in the street before because she was so happy to see me."

Lora bent down next to him. "I'm happy to see you, too."

King let go of the pup and reached out to touch Lora's face. "Why do you have the same face as mommy?"

Lora laughed and explained. "We're twins. Most people are born alone but your mommy and I were born together. We have the same birthday so we look the same." She pointed toward the others, who were standing by the pool as the puppies ran around the yard and swam in the pool. "Have you met my family?"

Lora, Nora, and King walked back toward the others. "There's Matthew, but we call him Matt or Matty."

"Hey, King."

"There's Phoebe and that's Caroline."

"Hi, King," Caroline smiled and waved.

"Welcome home, King. You can stay as long as you like," Phoebe said.

"And that's Victoria. We call her Ria."

King ran up to Ria and looked up at her. "Your real name is Victoria?" He turned back to his mother. "Mommy, she's Queen Victoria."

Everyone laughed. Ria bent down in front of him and said, "I'm not Queen Victoria, we just have the same name."

"Then, you can be my queen. Mommy said that every King needs a Queen." King held her hand. "Does my Queen also have magic?"

"Of course, I do. Might I show you, Your Majesty?" Victoria said with a curtsy. When King nodded, Victoria walked with him to the edge of the pool, hand in hand. She bent down and raised her hand toward the water. Small waves formed on the surface as a large ball of water levitated in the air. "Can you feel the magic? It should feel tingly. Like something tickling your skin."

King nodded.

Slowly, from inside out, the ball of water froze before the ice began to shave and fall to the ground. Slowly, the ice took the form of a Newfoundland pup and floated over to King. She waved her fingers over the ice and said, "A protection spells so your hands won't get cold and a preservation spell so it will never melt."

King's eyes turned to saucers as he watched the display of magic. He held his puppy ice sculpture close and turned to show his mother.

"That was amazing," Nora said as she looked at the ice sculpture and looked between the group in the yard. "And all of you can do this?"

Caroline raised her hand. "I can't. I'm just a regular human."

"I don't think the word regular can ever be used to describe you, Care," Matt said only to get smacked on the shoulder by Caroline. "I mean, you're just so… much." He laughed and ran before Caroline gave chase around the yard.

Phoebe approached Nora. "Hi. You don't know me but Lora has told me so much about you. She's worked so hard to find you. I want you to know that both of you are welcome here for as long as you need. Anything you need, just ask. You're family now."

"Thank you," Nora said. "Um, how did you all meet?"

"Matt and Victoria are my siblings. Obviously, we only share a mother," she said as she motioned to her skin color. "Caroline is our childhood friend. I met Lora in college. There are two more of us, Jenna and Enzo. We're all family here. And as Lora's sister and nephew, that makes you family. It's the oath we swore to one another."

"Thank you," Nora replied. "So, you said King has magic, like all of you. He was born with it?"

"Yes."

Nora looked at King, who was placing a kiss on Ria's cheek. "It's a part of him. I always knew he was special. Can you teach him?"

Lora placed her hand in her sister's. "We'll teach him the fun of magic, but we'll also teach him some spells to protect himself." Lora turned Nora's head to face her. "If that man comes, we won't let him take King away."

They spent the rest of the evening in the yard, having a barbecue dinner that everyone worked together to make, even King and Nora. When Night fell, Matt and Ria performed a special magic show for King and Nora. Matt made a firebird chasing Ria's water horse on the surface of the pool before both creatures took on the forms of cars on a highway and then a pirouetting ballerina.

The young boy's eyes were full of joy and wonder as he watched what most believe to be the impossible.

After the long day, they had - walking to the house, finding Lora, and being bombarded with new information - both Nora and King were exhausted and retired for the night. Mother and son did not want to be separated so they received one of the guest bedrooms on the third floor, next to Lora's room.

As her nephew and her sister slept, Lora and Phoebe were talking with Slater, Enzo, and Jenna on Skype.

"Phoebe's right, you know. If there's one thing I've learned in medical school is that a patient can be declared unfit to make their own decisions. If he does, it's likely that he'll get the judge to give him full custody. You need to get ahead of this. Get her to a psychiatrist, get a diagnosis, and get her on medication to manage her illness. I'll send you some hospital recommendations that are best for dealing with mental illnesses."

"Yes. It would be better if we had physical proof of the abuse because a judge won't just trust the boy's words. The husband's lawyer can say that his mother told him to say that. And unless you can prove that the husband is also a danger to the child, it'll be difficult to get full custody."

"I don't care. We'll compel the judge if we need to," Lora said. "I don't want my sister or my nephew anywhere near the man who's had her imprisoned for over seven years."

Phoebe placed a hand on Lora's hand in comfort. "Nora said that he had cameras around the house to watch her. It's likely those cameras recorded his abuse. We need to get the recordings. Slater, his name is Antonio Rodrigo Williams. He's Spanish American: a Spanish mother and white American father. They lived in the Nevada desert in Searchlight Nevada. Nora assaulted a janitor and stole her car. Find the hospital King was admitted to. Do whatever it takes to make the assault go away. If they filed a police report, get rid of it. Send someone to get rid of all physical evidence and compel whoever you have to. We promised to protect them and that's what we'll do."

"It would be easy to just get rid of the father, love. Just say the word and I could stage a mugging…" Enzo said.

"No." Lora shook her head. "He's human so I want to try the human way first. I don't want to tell my nephew I ordered his father's execution."

Lora and Phoebe perked up when they heard the sound of the door sliding open. They turned off the monitor and ran down the stairs to find the wind entering the house through the open bay doors. When they turned on the yard lights, they found Nora swimming in the pool still with her clothes on.

"Nora, what are you doing?" Lora asked as she carefully approached her sister.

Nora had a smile on her face that she just couldn't seem to lose as she swam. "You know, I was in a desert- you'd think living in a desert, he'd at least get a pool but no - I haven't enjoyed a swim in so long. I almost thought I forgot how to. I'll have to teach King to swim."

"What happened?" Lora asked. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope. I haven't slept through the night in a while. Although, I was trapped on a train that was moving across the country… I just had to do it, you know. It's how I escaped. After I left the car, I took the bus to Las Vegas and took another bus all the way to Los Angeles. King and I rode the train up to San Francisco and we took the Amtrak to Boston. I think I was good at losing him. I only used cash and going to Boston would've kept him off our trail. King was such a good boy. He guided me to New York and to this house. Was that a magic thing?" She came to the side of the pool and pulled herself up to sit on the edge.

"I think so. Magic users have a strong sixth sense. And I had a connection to King that made it easy for him to find me." Lora sat beside her, her feet dangling in the water.

"That is just so cool." Her face contorted from happy to fearful as she looked toward the side of the house that turned to the front gate. "What if he comes here? There's nothing stopping him from getting in."

"We have a magic barrier. It prevents anyone without an invitation from entering the property, especially if they have malicious intent," Lora explained.

"But, King's going to have to go to school and I'll probably have to go to the doctor and start taking my meds again. I can't always take care of him." Tears came to her eyes again. "God -I guess I should be saying gods- gods, I hate him. I hate him so much." She wiped her tears away but new ones fell from her eyes. "I can't- I can't… I'm so scared, Lo. I'm scared." She began taking quick and shallow breaths that caused her to begin hyperventilating.

"Shh, Nora." Lora sat close to her sister, caressing her hair as she whispered in her ears. "Listen to my voice. Focus on my counts. One, two, three, four, five, Inhale. One, two, three, four, five, exhale…"

"I- I can, I can't st- sto, stop. I can't stop. I can't stop. Why can't I stop?" She hiccuped and gasped violently. "Mak- Make it stop, Lo. Make it stop."

Lora gritted her teeth as she watched her sister suffer. A tear fell down her cheek as she nodded her head. "Ok. I'll help you. I'll make it stop." She placed her hand over Nora's forehead and whispered the spell, "Koimámai."

Nora's eyes closed as she fell unconscious, slouched in Lora's arms. She turned to look at Phoebe, who had stood back to let Lora help her sister until she needed to intervene. "What should I do? How do I help her?" Lora held her twin close, letting her feet dangle in the pool, her salty tears dissolving with the chlorinated water.

Phoebe sat beside Lora. She wrapped her hand around Lora's and gave it a soft squeeze. "You are not alone, Lora. You have your family. We're here for you. No matter what happens, we'll always be here to help you."


Disclaimer: I don't have Bipolar Disorder. Most of my information came from videos and documentaries about the illness. I hope I portrayed this illness in a respectful manner. If anyone thinks that they have Bipolar Disorder, please talk to your doctor to get an official diagnosis and help from experts. This is a work of fanfiction and should not be used to diagnose a mental illness.

According to google translate "Koimámai" is the verb form of "Ypnos" which is sleep in Greek.

Thank you for all your support.