Notes: Oh my goodness guys, guess what?! This is the last chapter! There's still the epilogues of course, but this is the last chapter! We finished even sooner than expected! Thank you all for your continued encouragement and support, it means so much to us! Enjoy :)
Kai's POV
It's late at night, possibly even early morning, and I'm swimming fitfully around my pond, unable to drift off to sleep. Perhaps it is the excitement of the previous day, but every time I close my eyes I see Newt promising to take me to Hawaii, his eyes looking anywhere but at me. I find myself wondering if that's truly what he wants for me; then chastising myself for even caring. I will remain here, even if I have to fight tooth and nail to stay. I thrash my tail restlessly, moving in small, tight circles.
At one point in this internal debate I glance habitually up at Saja, only this time she is no longer laying quietly on her side. She thrashes in her sleep, whining and throwing her arms up as if to protect herself from a blow. I swim over to where she is sleeping and pull myself out of the water. She has the same black dust from before swarming around her from before, and she's quickly being engulfed by it.
"Saja! Wake up please!" I shake her fervently, but all she does is whimper loudly.
"NEWT!" I scream for my wizard, and I hear a responding crash, followed by some muffled yelling. In a matter of seconds, Newt is out of the workshop and running towards us. He notices Saja, and his eyes widen with fear.
"What happened?" He demands.
"I don't know! I was swimming, and she started having a nightmare, and now the Obscurus is back! We need to save her Newt!" I shout, holding Saja in my arms, steadily ignoring the dust creeping around my body.
Newt nods grimly.
"I'll do my best. Wait here with her, I'll be right back." He says, and rushes to his workshop. I just stay where I am and hold Saja tighter.
"We won't let anything happen to you, I promise." I whisper to her, but she doesn't seem to hear me. Saja's eyes are still pressed closed, and the black dust swirls faster and faster with every passing second.
"Shh, shh, shh. It's okay darling, it's okay." I tell her, and start humming a lullaby, since it worked last time. I start singing softly, afraid to wake her up and worsen the problem. I gently rock her back and forth, my throat burning at the thought of losing her. Already, I am too attached.
After about ten minutes the black dust slows, now hovering in the air around us, as though frozen in time. I keep singing, wondering how long I can keep this up, when Newt finally comes jogging back to us, his arms full of various potions and magical artifacts. He sets them gently on the ground and pauses a moment to watch me sing, his face unreadable.
"I need you to keep holding Saja, don't let her go, even if she wakes up." Newt says, finally looking away from me. I stop singing, and nod. Newt nods back once, and pulls out his wand. Then he starts chanting a series of spells, and the green grass around us shrivels and dies, forming a perfect black circle around me and Saja. I take a shaky breath.
"Keep singing." Newt tells me, and goes back to chanting. I do as he says, as the dust begins to swirl faster again. What could he possibly be doing? Saja huddles closer to me in her sleep, and I stroke her head. I hope this won't hurt her. I glance over at my wizard. His eyes are strained and he's sweating from all the magic he is using up.
As he casts spells, more lines begin to trace themselves in the ground, catching fire and spreading, connecting to form geometric shapes. Suddenly Saja's eyes snap open, burning with black fire. The dust starts going crazy, whipping around us like a tornado, and Saja tries to get away from me, but I remember Newt's instructions and hold tight.
Newt's voice takes on a new tone, deeper and ancient sounding. It makes the ground rumble, and sends all the creatures running and hiding to their various habitats. Saja starts struggling harder, kicking and thrashing, but I don't let go, even though the dust is now so thick I can barely see.
I try to sing a different tune to help calm her down, and she does quiet in her efforts to get away from me. I glance over at Newt and hope that this ends soon. I don't know if any of us can handle this much more. Newt's chanting slows down. Suddenly, like an explosion, all of the dust snaps out of Saja and she slumps down into my lap. Newt says another spell and incases the dust in a bubble-like trap. He did it!
Relief floods through me, but even that is short lived. Newt then collapses, and the fiery circle around us spreads even further, burning more of the grass as it goes. In my arms Saja is unconscious and her breathing is shallow. I stand up and carry her over to Newt's prone form, setting her down gently before turning to the wild flames.
"FRANK!" I call for the Thunderbird at the top of my lungs. My heart beats painfully in my chest as I wait. "FRANK!" I yell louder. Then, thankfully, he comes swooping overhead, large wings beating powerfully. He screeches, as lighting booms overhead and rain starts coming down on us in sheets, soaking me in seconds. The fires go out quickly, leaving only singed grass behind.
"Thank you, Frank." I say to the enormous bird. Frank screeches again in reply and flies away. I slide to the ground in exhaustion, but still manage to drag myself over to Newt and Saja who are still unconscious. I sit up and pull Saja against my chest, desperate to reassure myself she's okay. And she is; her breathing has steadied out and her face seems peaceful as she sleeps.
I'm more worried about Newt, at the moment. I rest the back of my hand on his forehead, which is burning up. I can't imagine the amount of energy he must have used up to save Saja. I glance over at the bubble containing the Obscurus. The dark black cloud churns violently inside its new prison.
I tear my eyes away from it, holding on to Saja with one hand and running my fingers through Newt's tangled hair with the other. I sit on the burned grass, clinging desperately to my humans, rain pelting down mercilessly, and promising myself to never let go.
After what feels like hours the rain stops, and Newt slowly comes to. He groans and blinks his eyes open.
"Newt!" I help him to sit up.
"Did it work?" He asks, his voice scratchy. I fight back tears and tackle him in a hug. He catches me and hugs me in return.
"You saved her Newt." I say, letting the tears fall. "She's alive because of you."
Newt breathes a sigh of relief, and I can feel his shoulders relax.
"Thank Merlin." He mutters. This wizard is truly amazing. We stay like that for a while, wrapped in each other's comforting embrace.
"You destroyed the grass." I murmur into his chest. Newt laughs a bit.
"Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry about that." He says.
"It's your grass." I shrug. Newt doesn't reply to that, and I wonder if I said something wrong, but before I can ask, Saja wakes up and effectively distracts us.
"Saja!" I pull away from Newt and sweep the girl up into my arms. "You're okay, thank goodness."
She looks at us confused, and immediately notices the Obscurus. She whimpers and shrinks away from it.
"Is—is that what was in me?" She asks, terrified.
"Sadly yes, but we were able to get it safely out of you." Newt tells her, and gently pets her head. "How do you feel?"
"I hurt a little, but I feel better. I feel lighter. Not so scared of myself now." She says, and smiles at him tentatively.
"Newt? If the Obscurus was her magic, and now that it's gone… Does she no longer have magic inside her?" I ask him, and he frowns, looking thoughtful.
"I will have to run some tests later, but I am not sure how it will affect her magical levels. As far as I know, she is the first child to ever be successfully separated from an Obscurus." He explains, and Saja tenses.
"Don't worry, darling you're safe now." I promise.
"If I'm not magic, can I still stay?" She asks Newt.
"Of course, you can still stay! If you want to, that is. You can also remain at your old home if you like." He reassures. Saja shakes her head.
"I don't want to."
"Then you don't have to." He says, and Saja relaxes.
"Okay." She mumbles quietly. She closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep again
"Will she be alright?" I ask Newt.
"She should be fine. She'll be tired for a while, but I think she's out of danger." He reassures me. I look down at the girl sleeping in my lap, still all wet and shivering slightly.
"I think she's cold." I say. Newt pulls out his wand and casts a drying spell on the three of us.
"Let's bring her to the workshop, she can sleep on the bed in there." He suggests. I nod and pick up Saja, following after Newt.
I set her down on the bed and wrap multiple blankets around her to make sure she's comfortable. Newt watches me from the other side of the room.
"You love her, don't you?" He asks, suddenly. I nod silently, refusing to look over at him.
"I really do. How can someone not love her? She's amazing." I tell him.
"You are correct. I find I'm rather attached to her, myself." He says, and sighs. I finally look at him, and he smiles at me softly, though he seems very worn down.
"Newt, I think we really need to talk." I tell him, and he nods in agreement.
"Let's talk and check on the other creatures," He says. We start walking, checking on all the creatures. Pickett is a bit traumatized, and the occamies are unhappy about their unexpected bath, but everyone seems mostly alright. Newt and I keep glancing at each other as we make our rounds, though neither one of us speaks.
Finally, fed up with waiting, I grab his hand. Newt looks at me in surprise.
"I don't want to go to Hawaii." I blurt out, and cover my mouth quickly. That was not what I was planning to say. Newt raises his eyebrows, looking amused, and a bit hopeful.
"Are you sure? I thought that's what you wanted more than anything." He says.
"I did too, before we went to Egypt. Then everything happened at the warehouse, and I knew I couldn't leave until I had made things right between us. And then everything just happened with Saja, and now I know I can't leave her. Or—or you." I mumble, wringing my hands nervously. Newt steps closer to me and takes my hands, his blue eyes brightly with… something.
"I love her, and I can't imagine leaving and never seeing her again. I love Pickett too, and Niffler, and Frank even. The occamies, the graphorns, the moon calves. I love them all! I don't want to leave them. Living here has been the time of my life! I can't imagine anything in Hawaii being better than all this." I say.
"Better than all what?" Newt asks quietly, watching me intently.
"Than—than this case! Than these creatures! Than—" Than you.
I don't say it, I can't. Not after everything that's happened. He still hates me, he must, he…
"I don't want you to go either." Newt says.
"Why?" I ask, hardly daring to breathe. Newt's eyes flicker up to mine for an instant, then back down to our clasped hands.
"Because... because I love you Kai." He whispers.
"No, you don't. You said you didn't trust me." I say, shaking my head, unable, or unwilling to believe him.
"I know. but it wasn't true. I was scared. Of your power, and of the fact that you were willing to use it to save me. I was scared Kai, and I said things I didn't mean, things that were horrible, selfish, and cruel. And I know I don't deserve you Kai, but I do love you. I do, I love you!" Newt says, his blue eyes lighter and clearer than I've ever seen them. Like the crystalline waters of Hawaii.
"I'm so afraid that this is all a trick. That maybe one day you will realize what a horrible mistake I was, and you'll fear me all over again. I can't change who I am Newt." I tell him. He sadly smiles, and puts one hand on my cheek. I resist the urge to lean in to it.
"I know you can't, and I should never have made you think that being you is wrong. I love you for who you are. I want you to stay here with me, with my creatures, and I want us to raise Saja together. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I should never have made you think otherwise." He says, voice shaking with emotion and regret. Tears stream from my eyes, making it hard to see.
"I would like to stay here with the creatures, and with Saja, and with you Newt." I say, and I truly want nothing more, nothing less, than that.
Newt beams, his old smile, the one he gave me when we first met, and he pulls me into a kiss. It's sweet and gentle, yet passionate. Everything I've come to expect from Newt. We cling to each other knowing that while we still have some issues, they will be worked out in time; because we love each other.
"I love you." I whisper.
He brings out the best, and the worst in me, but I wouldn't change it for anything, because it's Newt. My silly, aggravating, handsome, clever, stupid, loving, sweet, dorky, clumsy, caring wizard.