SMOKE AND ASHES
This chapter is a combination of my notes and some connecting interfaces to provide an epilogue to Smoke and Ashes.
Chapter 47
Endings I
And just what happens to Jefferson and Emma
The House, along with Jefferson and Smokey, continue to try to push Emma into a relationship but true to form, she resists and it takes An Event that shakes her to the core to get her to commit.
Archie knocks on their door one night when he has felt that something is wrong, very wrong in the city. Emma, grousing, gets up and dresses to go out and investigate. She finds a rogue gang of juvenile powries have come up through Carolina Lane. She realizes quickly that she is in over her head – despite her powers there are just too many of them. She sends out a distress signal to any and all Talented to come to her rescue. Jefferson and Archie charge in like the cavalry as does David (as well as some younger folks, unaware of their own abilities, but nonetheless, hearing the call). They are all quickly overwhelmed by the little blood-seeking creatures and it is only from last minute intervention from a fearless and fuzzed-up little Smokey that they are able to defeat the miscreants. Jefferson is hospitalized in critical condition.
Emma tries but is unable to heal him. She finally, at her lowest point, calls in her old mentor, Gold.
Gold arrives, looks over the situation. Jefferson is in ICU with tubes and IV's and bandages. Emma, still covered with blood, is pacing outside of the unit, near tears, but swallowing down her fears and anxieties, putting on a brave, determined face.
"Emma do you need another fireball to your head?" he leans against the wall next to the unit door and speaks softly.
"What do you mean? I don't think that anyone could have taken on that entire batch of powries by themselves. Well . . . I mean, besides you," Emma is hurt and angered, defensive.
Gold shakes his head. "You did fine with the powries, my dear. I wasn't taking about how you handled the little redcaps."
"Then what?" she asked him.
Gold pushed away from the wall and walked around her, his eyes narrowing. "Tell me you don't know."
"I don't know!" she shouted at him. "What are you talking about?"
He grabbed her by the collar of her leather police jacket and pulled her face to his. "Why you can't heal Jefferson." He released her.
Emma dropped her eyes. To someone who didn't know her she would have still appeared defiant. But Gold knew her well. There was the slightest tremble in her lip and the merest increase of tears in her eyes.
Strong Emma.
Tender, sensitive, vulnerable Emma.
Gold knew how to get to her.
"Emma," he began. "You only seem to see what's in front of you. If you can't touch it, smell it, hear it, see it, taste it, fuck it – it doesn't exist. Least imaginative woman I've ever met. You love Jefferson. When you tried to heal him you touched that part of yourself and you, you, my dear girl, you pulled back."
Emma's large green eyes puddled up in front of him. She sniffed. "I don't know that I love him."
"I'm not healing him," Gold told her. "If you want him to live, you'll need to confront your inner . . . well, in my case it would be my inner demons, but in your case it's your inner . . . what? walls? Whatever, you need to accept yourself and your feelings."
"You aren't going to help me?" she asked him in a small, soft voice.
"I just did, Emma," he said kindly.
So a very uncomfortably introspective Emma is left by Jefferson's side to come to grips with her feelings.
+ + + + Several Weeks Later
"So you just left her? You didn't heal him yourself?" Belle was a trifle upset with her husband.
"I know Emma. She needs a hard push now and then," Gold had not initially told his wife what he had done but eventually, in full disclosure mode, shared what had happened with Belle, even though he knew full well that his wife would not be happy with his actions.
Belle glared at him. "Well, I would be more upset with you if we hadn't just got this," and she held up a small white envelope.
"What is that?" Gold asked her.
"An invitation to their wedding. They want to talk to Elspeth to see if she'll be a flower girl."
What happens to Moe and Ruel
Moe and Ruel spend an increasing amount of time in Fairyland. They had planned to rotate one week there and one week in Avonleigh, but Moe quickly became increasingly comfortable in Fairyland.
"It's a seductive place," Gold warned him. "Make sure it's want you want."
The two were out sitting on one of the outside porches that looked over the large palace gardens in Fairyland.
"I think it is. I never felt quite alive after I lost Miranda and only now that she's come back into my life do I feel as if I'm complete. I think Belle will be fine in Avonleigh and she could always come back here to talk to me if she needs help."
"So how does this happen?" Gold asked him. "Do you abdicate, fake your death, retire? That would make Belle the Queen of Avonleigh. Or do you just go on as you've been going with the semi-retired thing while Belle handles all the day-to-day stuff?
"I think semi-retiring will do for a while. Kings don't actually retire or abdicate and I'm certainly not going to fake my death," Moe took a sip of the wine they were sharing. "There's been enough of that in my family," he said to himself.
Gold looked at him. "Perhaps I shouldn't say this. But if you spend too much time in Fairyland it can get hard to leave. I mean . . . like you may not be able to."
"Well, if that happens, I guess I would be essentially dead to my people." Moe smiled and took another drink.
What happens to Zelena and Omaha
This was such an awkward, painful pair, lacking in social graces, missing out on insight and maturity. It seemed likely that these are the very things they had in common. But there were other things. They were both devoted to Gold, seeing him as their own personal savior – and by extension devoted to Belle and Elspeth.
Zelena found that her warped and stunted path to adulthood did enable her to understand children – since in many ways she was still a ten year old. And Omaha, being newly congealed, or whatever he was, was also a youngster at heart. They did find that they both related well to children, at least to Elspeth.
They spent much time with Elspeth, with Omaha always on hand to protect the child, and Zelena working to entertain and teach the child.
They also began spending more and more time together and at first didn't recognize that they were developing feelings for each other. It was a seven year old Elspeth who informed them that they were just like her mommy and daddy, "Always smoochy, smoochy," she told them (in disgust).
"But we don't ever kiss each other," Zelena protested.
"Well, maybe you should," Elspeth told them.
It made them both start thinking.
Omaha went to Gold to ask him for advice.
"I am not one to give advice on the ladies," Gold told him shaking his head. "It took me forever to realize I was in love with Belle, but I think she knew the moment we turned that corner. And even if I had realized it, I wouldn't have known what to do about it."
"But how? How do you know what you feel?" the young Bocan asked him.
"How do you not know? You're made of feelings, more so feelings than magic," Gold observed. "It's because of that, that the Bocan weren't destroyed by the Curse Spell which took away magic. They were diminished but because they were born of emotions they lived on."
"I don't know about this," Omaha told him. "I just want to know how you know what you feel."
Gold ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, Omaha. It's just there. Sometimes it feels good and right and sometimes . . . not."
"You and Miss Belle . . . you have True Love. How do you find True Love?"
Gold wasn't sure if he should gnash his teeth or suck wind. "I was over three hundred years old before I found True Love. Belle spent time in a mental hospital and alone on the streets before she found it."
Omaha was puzzled, "So I need to live a long time or suffer a lot first?"
"Nooo," Gold was struggling. "It happens when . . . if it's going to happen. You can't make it or force it."
Zelena worked up her courage and she approached Belle.
"How do you know if you're in love?" she asked the Empath.
Belle didn't answer immediately but gave the matter some thought. "Love is different for each person, Zelena. I think there are those few that it is a thunderbolt, a lightning strike . . . but for most of us it is slow growing, like a flower opening just a little more each day. Every day is an adventure. We learn more about the other person. We learn more about ourselves. We begin to realize that this other person is more important than anyone else. We don't lose ourselves, mind you, but we start to include this other person in our decision-making, their wants, their desires, their opinion is worth getting, is worth weighing."
"It's not like you know you're in love if he's happy, then you're happy too. If he's sad, then you're sad?" Zelena asked.
"No dear, you're not a mirror." Belle paused. "Zelena, take things slowly. Listen to your heart. If things are meant to be, then they'll happen. They'll happen in their own time."
She smiled to herself as Zelena went off and Belle began singing to herself the old Supremes' hit, "You can't hurry love. You'll just have wait. You know, love don't come easy and it's a game of give and take."
This couple continues to dance around themselves but do slowly discover their real feelings and mutually decide that they are, indeed, in love. Once Elspeth begins to come into her own powers (and it well able to take care of herself), Omaha and Zelena join the staff at Gold's Royal Academy for the Gifted, working with the younger children.
What happens to Elspeth
Elspeth easily meets the qualifications to enter the Royal Academy for the Gifted (where her father serves as the head master) when she turns ten (the youngest they will accept a student). Her Talents are myriad. The abilities emerge slowly. Early in her training she shows promise for some of the more challenging abilities, including teleporting and some minor telepathic skills. She easily manages Water Magic (and gets a lot of special attention from her Aunt Emma), easily manages Air Magic (and gets the special attention from her Uncle Jefferson). She continues to develop and over time new skills begin to emerge (but no empathy).
She is thirteen, now a slender pretty blue-eyed girl, with hair perhaps darker than Belle's. She comes to talk with her mother.
"Momma," she begins.
Belle looks up from the book she is reading. "Yes darling?"
"I met a boy."
Belle puts the book down. "That's nice," she says neutrally.
"He's a little older than me, maybe fifteen. He's new. I think he's just visiting. He's really cute and all the other girls were acting silly and I was working on my assignment for transmutation, which is really hard and. . . and he came and sat by me."
"That was nice," Belle was still keeping her voice even.
"That's when he told me that he was just visiting. He said he noticed me because I was studying," Elspeth continued. "He said he liked that I was studying instead of being silly."
"I like that too," Belle told her.
"We have this dance coming up at school and . . . " Elspeth paused.
"Did he ask you?"
"He said he thought that you and Daddy might want to meet him first and then if it was ok with you, then he wanted to take me to the dance."
"What a proper young man. Why don't you invite him over for supper. . . "Belle leaned over her desk to check her calendar, "tomorrow night"
Elspeth grinned. "Thanks, momma. You're the best." Elspeth gave her mother a hug. "Actually I already invited him."
Belle had to smile, "I thought as much. Now what's this young man's name?" Belle asked.
"Howard Phillips," Elspeth told her mother.
Belle considered the name after Elspeth had skipped on back to her room. "Howard Phillips, indeed," she said to herself, laughing. "Well, now I understand."
+ + + + The Courtship Begins
The slight young man, with copper colored skin, black hair and slightly slanted eyes bespeaking an Oriental or Native American heritage, dressed in dark jeans and a pristine white dress shirt, came promptly at six. Gold and Belle greeted him warmly.
"Sir, Ma'am," the young man nodded to the two adults. "Thank you so much for having me."
"Tell us about yourself," Gold said Belle had prepared him and he was immensely enjoying himself.
"Nothing remarkable. I'm just in the area visiting with one of my sisters," he told Gold. "My parents are no longer with me. I do have a bunch of sisters and brothers that live all over the place."
"He's an honor student," Elspeth spoke up.
"That's nice," Gold told her. "I understand that you are interested in taking my daughter to the school dance."
The young man, Howard, smiled and nodded. "I didn't know who she was when I first met her, sir. I just thought she was this very pretty, very smart girl. I wanted to ask her to the dance right away before somebody else asked her but after talking with her, I understood that I would need to make sure you and Princess Belle would be all right with me taking her."
"Quite so," Belle told him.
"Damn straight," Gold muttered to himself.
They continued with small talk and, before the evening was over, Gold had given his blessing to the young man.
Gold walked him out the door and, after making sure that Elspeth was not in hearing range, pulled the young man aside. "Howard Phillips?" Gold asked him.
"I figured Miss Belle would make the connection with the initials H P.," the young man told him.
"She did, right away. Now, Lovecraft, exactly what are you doing?" Gold asked him.
"Wooing the exquisite Lady Shivat. I've known her over several incarnations and she's never given me a sideways glance. But since Elspeth liked me as a cat, well, I'm hoping those feelings will carry over."
"So that's been your other mission all along. You know, if you try anything improper, she'll tell her mother and I'll have to try to kill you," Gold warned him. "And when I'm finished with you, I'll turn you over to her mother."
"Oh, of course. I would expect nothing less," Lovecraft responded immediately. "I'm in this for the long run, Rumple. I'm going to go slowly and respectfully and I'm going to take my time, but I'm very determined. This time, I'm going to win the elusive Lady and get my own happily ever after."
"Good luck. Belle and I won't stand in your way but we are going to encourage Elspeth to make her own decisions."
"I would expect no less."
That was the first dance. Howard would come and go over the next two years, often showing up unannounced, calling on Elspeth, joining the family for different events, taking Elspeth out to different public gatherings and events.
Elspeth enjoyed his company and looked forward to being with him. He was always careful to be the gentleman. He promised her he would be back to Avonleigh for Elspeth's fifteenth birthday.
By that time, there was no question that she was blossoming into an extraordinary beauty as well as a very powerful mage. Gold watched her carefully and he saw no signs that the Lady was bubbling up into any part of Elspeth's consciousness. Her mother made sure she didn't spend time moping about Howard. Elspeth would see other young men, usually going out on group dates with her classmates.
Howard, true to his word, showed up in time for the birthday party.
"Where do you go when you aren't here?" she asked him.
"My brothers and sisters. I go and spend some time with them."
"Where do they live?" she asked.
"All over the world."
"Who do you visit here?"
"One of my younger sisters. She's one of my favorites."
"Can I meet her?" Elspeth asked.
Howard hesitated, "Yeah, I don't see why not. Tomorrow, perhaps? Think your parents will be all right with it?"
"I'll talk with Momma," Elspeth promised him.
+ + + + + H. P.'s family
They met at the Library. Howard's sister, Whisper, turned out to be a striking blonde with pale blue eyes. She was very nice.
"Where do you live?" Elspeth asked her.
"At the Library," Whisper told her laughing.
"She means she spends all her waking time there," Howard quickly explained.
"Whisper is an interesting name," Elspeth remarked.
"It is. But it suits me. I'm usually very quiet and I talk softly."
The three spent time walking around the capital with Elspeth sharing some of her favorite places with the brother and sister. Whisper bid them goodbye as it was nearing supper time.
As Howard and Elspeth walked back to the Palace, Elspeth remarked, "Your sister's very nice."
"She is. That's why she's one of my favorite."
As they went in one of the back entrances, Elspeth put her hand on Howard's arm. "You're not human, are you?" she asked him.
"Is it that obvious?"
Elspeth did not flinch away, "I feel that I know you," she told him. "That we've met before."
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Howard asked her laughing.
"It's bothering me," Elspeth would not let it drop.
"Bothering you enough that you don't want me to come to your birthday party?"
Elspeth nearly blushed, "No. I . . . I'd like you to come. You know, you must know . . . I like you a lot." And Elspeth stood on her toes and kissed the young man on his cheek before scampering off.
+ + + + + The Birthday Party
Howard bided his time at the birthday party. Elspeth was a popular girl, smart, pretty, (usually) nice. She stood with a bevy of her girlfriends around her and circling on the outside were quite a few boys hoping to connect with her.
She was too good for any of them, he had thought. None of them could possibly appreciate Elspeth, the precocious, darling of his dreams. With enough power to level the palace, hell, the whole town, enough power to damn near raise the dead, and just beginning to hit her stride. His goal was to keep her interested . . . in him. His many sisters had all advised him, but each one had told him to do something different. He had finally gone to Belle - earlier, before the party.
"I . . . I really like Elspeth," he told Belle. "I like the Lady Shivat and there aren't too many entities that would admit to that."
"You've known her a long time?"
"A long, long time," Howard Phillips Lovecraft told Belle. "We met when I was very young. There were no people in the area when I first became aware. She would walk in the sunlight in those days, so strong the light didn't hurt her. She was powerful and dark and beautiful beyond measure. I was just a youngster feeling the first tendrils of power gathering together around me. When I first saw her, I fell in love. There's never been anyone else. She had taken various forms across the centuries, as have I. We've been acquainted in some lives, friends in others. In this life I want to take the next step."
The skinwalker had then turned to Belle, "Belle you must realize that if Rumple had not been around, I would have pursued you myself."
"I don't know that I knew that," Belle told him surprised. Her empathic skills did not read him well.
"Rumple was my charge and it would have been bad form for me to have done anything to harm him. We'd bonded and we've been together a long time. When you came to The House, I had long given up on the Lady Shivat. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd seen since the Lady, but . . . I knew . . . you weren't for me. But then Rumple brought Elspeth home and she looked so much like you and, of course, I recognized who she really was. . . . and I knew, I knew she was the one I'd been waiting for, not you."
"What's your question, Lovecraft?" Belle finally asked him.
"How do I win her heart?"
"Tell her how you feel," Belle suggested.
"But," and the handsome young-looking spirit guardian ran his slender fingers through his hair. "I know she likes me, she's told me that. But what if I tell her how deep my feelings run and she tells me to get lost or she doesn't feel the same way or she laughs at me?"
Belle laid her hand on his shoulder. "When you share yourself, your feelings, you risk so much, everything, yes. But if you don't share, then you've already lost." She looked at him kindly. "Tell her"
He nodded but as he was leaving, he turned back to her. "Do you already know something about this?" he asked.
Belle just smiled at him.
And later that evening, at the birthday party, while dancing together, Howard whispered something into Elspeth's ear and was able to lead her out onto one of the balconies that were placed around the large room where the gathering was occurring.
And it was there that little Elspeth got her first grown-up kiss.
"Would you like me to stick around?" he'd asked her, placing little kisses along her chin and down her neck.
She nodded, "Uh huh."
"Then, I'll talk with your dad. I think he'll work out something for me to do at the Academy," Howard promised her.
"Okay," Elspeth nodded again, really, really enjoying herself. None of the other boys made her feel this way. She liked kissing Howard.
"You're so beautiful. I think I've . . . I really care about you Elspeth," he was going to try the honesty thing.
"I really like you too," Elspeth told him breathlessly.
Elspeth rushed to see her mother after the party. "Oh Momma, Momma!" She called out and seeing the door open, burst into her parent's bedroom.
"Darling, what happened?" Belle asked.
Elspeth was grinning. "It was wonderful. He kissed me, Momma. He said he really cared about me."
"Did he?" Belle asked.
Elspeth hadn't realized her father was in the room, reclining in one of his favorite chairs that looked out upon the city.
"What! What happened? He kissed you! Howard kissed you?!" Gold was up and out of his chair.
"Oh Daddy, it was all very proper. I mean we were two steps from the ballroom," Elspeth told him.
"Where were his hands?" Gold wanted to know.
Elspeth considered, trying out her own hands in different places on her body. "I . . . I . . . don't know," she admitted.
"I'm sure it was as proper as a kiss could be," Belle tried to calm her husband who rolled his eyes.
"Oh Daddy!" Elspeth rolled her eyes in an unintentional imitation of her father. "Howard is a gentleman. He is going to ask you for a job at the Academy."
"That sounds like a terrific idea," Belle spoke up before Gold could sputter out a response. "Having Howard as an assistant would be perfect. You would be able to keep an eye on him," she reminded Gold.
Gold snorted and returned to his chair. "I don't know. I don't know that I like this."
"Elspeth, why don't you go wash your face and get ready for bed," Belle was smiling at her daughter and Elspeth nodded.
"Thanks Momma. Thanks Daddy. This was the best birthday," and she left confident that her mother would help things work out.
"You want him where you can see him," Belle told him. "And he does have remarkable abilities. I'm sure he'd be an asset to your teaching staff." She rose and came over to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began a gentle massage. "You know you complain about how much you have to do. Lovecraft could really assume some of the duties that you despise – like the first years."
"The first years are too vulnerable. I need to stay involved with them," Gold told her.
"Then the graduating class," Belle suggested.
"Oh no! That wouldn't work! I'm working on helping them fill in whatever gaps they might have. It's the last opportunity I have with them. It's all finesse. I couldn't trust anyone else with that."
Belle sighed. "Third years then," still rubbing her fingers along his shoulders.
"But that's when they begin with some of the more dangerous magics!"
Belle sighed again. "Pick a level. He'll be helping you, not taking over from you."
"Well maybe the second years. They're a bit of handful. . . " Gold groused.
"There. He can spend time working at The Academy and have some supervised time with our daughter." Belle was leaning over and had begun to place little kisses down her husband's neck.
"I don't want him tom-catting around my daughter!"
"He's been perfectly up front about what he wants," Belle tried to reason with her husband. "He's in love with Elspeth. He's been in love with her."
"He's in love with Lady Shivat," Gold corrected his wife, leaning into her magical fingers as they gently relaxed the tension in his shoulders.
"They're the same thing," Belle told him, kissing him again along his chin.
"Not yet, they aren't. I don't want Elspeth writing checks that Lady Shivat will have to cash. I want the Lady on my side."
"Elspeth is a smart girl. She's made good decisions."
"Yeah, but a teenage girl who thinks she in love with a smooth talking operator . . ."
"Lovecraft is not a smooth-talking operator! He wants what's best for our daughter. He's in love with her. He wants her to be happy."
Gold was not convinced. "He wants to get in her pants! He's thinking with his dick!"
Belle pulled back, "Well, what do you suggest? Do you think we should not allow her to see him? Don't you think they would end up sneaking around to be together and lord knows what they would get up to! Having him over for dinner, for family events, having him at The Academy where you can keep an eye on both of them, letting Elspeth know that we trust her, that she's too young for a physical relationship, those are things that we can continue to do."
Gold reluctantly agreed with his wife, knowing that she was almost certainly right. She always was.
Lovecraft approached Gold at the Academy the following day. Despite the extreme age of the cat-turned-young man, Gold addressed him as if he were a misbehaving student.
"You want a job here?" he asked him.
"Yes sir," Lovecraft answered him and realized that Gold was going to put him through the wringer. "I think this would be a good place to put my energies. I would be able to see Elspeth but we'd be supervised which should make you feel better about the situation."
Gold glared at him for a long time without saying anything. "You know if you hurt her, if you push her into a physical relationship before she's ready, before she's legal, I will come after you."
"Yes sir. I realize that. I want what's best for her too."
Gold glowered at him some more, "You can start here tomorrow morning. I'm putting you with the second years."
Lovecraft broke into a big grin. "Thank you sir."
Belle and Gold were able to keep a close eye on the Lovecraft and Elspeth's relationship over the next few years. There were ups and downs and at least twice, Elspeth decided they needed to start seeing other people . . . but that didn't last.
On her seventeenth birthday , Elspeth began to put H.P. (as all the other students called him) together with Lovecraft. One morning, as those that were able to change form were led through a class with H.P. as the instructor, she suddenly sat up open-mouthed. H.P. could see the shift and wisely did not call upon her.
After the class she did not move on with the other students.
"You're Lovecraft?" she accused him.
"Oh Elspeth!" He dropped his eyes. "I didn't want you to find out like this. Are you all right with this?"
Elspeth sat a moment. "You're Lovecraft," she said again.
"I'm not really a cat, you know," he told her.
"You're not really human."
"You figured that out earlier, Elspeth. You know that hasn't stopped your parents from being together, from being happy," he gently reminded her. He was not going to be the one to tell her that she wasn't exactly human either. "Or Omaha and Zelena. Or Miss Belle's parents."
"I need to think about this," she told him.
Lovecraft held his breath, but let The Love of his (long) life think about it. She didn't really seem angry, more puzzled. He suspected that she had run to her mother for advice. He hoped he'd read the situation correctly and that Miss Belle was supporting him.
Elspeth did seem all right with who he was, actually talking to him about having been Lovecraft. "You were never a friendly kitty."
"You were a wild-woman three year old!" he told her.
"I guess I was," she admitted. "Did my parents know?"
"Yeah. Your dad knew quite a while ago, having lived with me for about eighty years. I let your mom in on the secret about . . . I guess it's been fourteen years now. Elspeth, I'm still Lovecraft," he told her. "Part of me is that big fluffy cat that you would corner somewhere and drag out. I would remind you that I never hissed at you or swatted you, like a real cat would have."
"When did you decide you wanted me for your girlfriend."
"The first moment I saw you," he told her. "You were the cutest, most beautiful child. And sweet, really nice."
"I thought I was a holy terror," she told him grinning.
"That too," he told her and kissed her lightly. He held her a moment. "Elspeth, I don't want to rush you. But I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you. And . . . no matter what you decide, I shall stay in love with you."
"Give me some time, Howard. I'm very young and there are so many things I want to do."
And Lovecraft did give her some time. Elspeth graduated, spent some time in Undertown, spent some time in Fairyland and spent some time with her favorite Aunt Emma and Uncle Jefferson (and their four children, including The Twins). She got to know Smokey, the new guardian and Lovecraft's baby sister. Smokey morphed into a pretty young woman with odd grey-white hair with black streaks and the two began to hang out together on the roof of The House or, if the weather was too rugged, in the Loft apartment.
"My brother's in love with you," Smokey told her. The two young women were sipping flavored coffee and lounging on the rooftop.
"Yeah, he's a great guy. And you know what? I love him too. But I'm not sure I'm ready to settle down just yet."
"What's your mom say?" Smokey asked her. "I'd take relationship advice from her any day."
"That I should follow my heart," Elspeth told her.
"And what does your heart say?"
"It tells me that I can still enjoy life, travel, do interesting things with Howard by my side, just as I can without him. Why wouldn't I want to be with him? I think maybe we're kinda destined to be together."
Smokey smiled. "I think maybe you are," she told her friend. "Has he asked you to marry him yet?"
"No. He's told me he loved me, that he'd wait for me, but he didn't want to pressure me."
"Tell him to ask you," advised Lovecraft's sister. "He'll figure it out.
And Elspeth and Lovecraft enjoyed a Spring Wedding in Avonleigh with her parent's blessing. Gold and Belle had gifted them with a Paris honeymoon via one of Belle's portals. After Elspeth had hugged each of her parents and Lovecraft had done the same, the newlyweds departed.
Gold sighed. "I keep wondering when the Lady will wake up."
Belle kissed her husband. "I think she's always been awake on some level."
"Really? Then she's ok with me? With how I took care of her?" he asked. Belle could tell he was actually nervous.
"She adores you. For completely different reasons than I adore you, but for whatever reasons, the Lady Shivat thinks you're a cutie-pie."
"I'd ask how you know this, but I don't think I want to know," Gold turned, as he always did in the evenings, to his wife.
I had really, really planned for this to be the final chapter, but I got caught up in the courtship of Elspeth and Lovecraft. I know I still have to say what happens to Belle and Gold, so there will be one (probably short) more chapter to go. (If there's anyone else you want to get more on, let me know – thx). -twyla
Thanks so much for all your support: EevyLynn, CharlotteAshmore, jewel415, orthankg1, Robin4, onlyinyourdreams77( more mischievious) , deweymay, Aletta-Feather, cynicsquest, MyraValhallah, Grace5231973, and Erik'sTrueAngel
Anne Andrews (Guest) – wasn't familiar with RotG Pitch Black – I looked him up – I think Lovecraft is probably a bit cuter
NEXT: Gold and Belle - what happens with them and a couple of final notes on thsi story.