Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Chapter 17 - We're Not That Different

Leah's POV

I sat between Momma and Daddy. Aunt Harper, Uncle Justin, Uncle Max, Nonna, Poppy, Hannah, Jeremy, Will, and Bazzy were sitting in the rows behind us. I looked back. Nonna gave me a small grin, but it faded when a booming voice filled the room.

"GUILTY!" it shouted loudly enough to make my ears ring. Guilty? What did that mean?

Daddy stood up. Before he could do anything, the room started to shake. I grabbed Momma's hand and squeezed my eyes shut. Then, it stopped. I open my eyes. A shriek came from someone in the rows behind us. Hannah probably. The wall began to crack. A growl louder than thunder boomed across the room. I large deep blue tentical broke through the wall, followed by six more. They wrapped around Daddy. I screamed.

"Mason!" Momma cried. A crash came from the other side. More tenticals broke free and harshly wrapped around her.

"Momma!" I yelped. I looked at the front wall. History repeated itself. Only this time, the tenticals came towards me. I tried to run, but they were too fast. They wrapped around me and started pulling away. Momma grabbed one of my hands. Daddy grabbed the other. We clung to each other like our lives depended on it. The monsters pulled and pulled until I slipped right out of Momma and Daddy's hands.

My eyes flew open. I flicked on my lamp.

"Mommy!" I cried.

xXxXxXxXx

Alex's POV

Leah explained her dream to me in vivid detail, tallking a mile of minute. Her heart was racing, making her voice shake. My heart raced with every word she said. Her dream scared me too. Not because of what happened, but because of this: every time Leah has a nightmare, it gives her a feeling that something bad will happen. A majority of the time, her feeling was right. What scared me even more was that this was the worst nightmare she had ever told me about, so I had a bad feeling too. And it had something to do with tomorrow.

Tomorrow, is the trial.

"Momma?" Leah asked me after she had calmed down a little.

"Yes, baby?"

She stroaked her stuffed giraffe's fur. "Am I, well... am I..different?"

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Daddy, Jeremy, Will and Bazzy are werewolves. Hannah and Uncle Justin are wizards. Poppy, Nonna, Aunt Harper, and you are humans. Where do I fit in?"

I looked into my daughter's eyes. She looked serious and scared. I didn't know what to say. It never occured to me that she could be insecure of who she was. She was perfect to me.

I settled myself next to her. "Leah, what do you think you are?"

She looked down. "Yesterday the beard man said I was an abomination," she sighed.

"I didn't ask what beard man thinks you are. I asked what you think."

She figited with the buttons on her red pjs. "I...think I'm Leah."

"Good anwser."

"But there's nobody else like me. Nobody else is a wizard and a werewolf!" She looked down. "Nobody but me."

I pulled her into my lap. "Leah, being different isn't a bad thing. You're not different, you're special. You're perfect in your own way."

"Really?"

"Yep! There's no one else just like you. You're unique. Don't ever change. Never lose who you are."

"Momma?" She took my hand. "Are you afraid?"

"Of course I am," I told her. "Frankly, I'm terrified."

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought mommies weren't supposed to get scared."

"You thought wrong, baby. Everybody gets scared sometimes. Its part of life."

"Even Daddy?"

"Even Daddy," I smiled. "He's as scared as I am. If not more."

"Momma?"

"Yes?"

"What's gonna happen to us if the beard man wins the trial?"

To be honest, I had no idea. I had been trying to think positively, keeping the negativity in the back of my mind. But hey, once a pessimist, always a pessimist.

"Well, I don't know, sweetie. We won't know until it happens. But we're gonna do all we can. We're fighting for us."

She was silent for a minute. She wasn't frozen, so she wasn't going anywhere. She was just thinking. I decided to break the silence.

"How about a song?" I offered.

"You are My Sunshine?" she asked.

"Not tonight. I have a better one." She smiled and nodded in her adorable way. She settled in my lap as I sat in crisscross applesauce. I hugged her to my chest and rested my cheek on her head. I slowly swayed back and forth.

"Come stop your crying, It will be alright," I sang softly. I squeezed her hand, "Just take my hand, hold it tight.

I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don't you cry."

She squeezed my hand back. I smiled. "For one so small, you seem so strong." I hugged her tightly. "My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us can't be broken, I will be here, don't you cry..." She rested her head against my shoulder.

"..Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forever more.

You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart, always."

Leah looked up at me with a soft smile that made my heart melt.

"Why can't they understand, the way we feel? They just don't trust, what they can't explain.

I know where different but, deep inside us," I kissed the top of her head, "We're not that different at all...

..Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forever more. You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart, always." I looked down at my daughter, who's eyelids were fluttering as she tried to stay awake.

"Don't listen to them, cause what do they know? We need each other, to have, to hold. They'll see in time, I know.

When destiny calls you, you must be strong. I may not be with you, but you've got to hold on. They'll see in time, I know, we'll show them together...

..Cause you'll be in my heart, no matter what they 'll be here in my heart, I'll be there always..."

I slowly lifted Leah out of my lap and settled her into her bed. She tensed up, but loosened after she got used to her surroundings. I listened to her steady breathing pattern. In, out. In, out. I kissed her cheek and pulled her covers closer to her. I started to the door, but something stopped me. I couldn't leave. I looked back at my daughter. My heart melted. She just looked so peaceful. I snuck back into her rocking chair and started thinking.

What if this was my last night? What if this was her last night? Would we be put in different jails? We'd never see each other again. What about Leah? What would happen to her if they only arrested me and Mason? They'd probably just ship her off to some wizard foster home or something. But there's no one else like her. No one will understand her. No one will get her werewolf side. No one will know that she only phases once a month instead of every night. They won't know to check on her every hour on that night. No one will know that she's afraid of being alone. Her whole life, ruined before it's even started. But why? She shouldn't be punished when it wasn't her fault. It wasn't right.

What about me and Mason? Our love is so much stronger than any magic in the entire universe. It's not fair. It wasn't my fault that my brother was a better wizard than me, so he won. We weren't about to let everything we had been working for slip away. We followed our hearts; is that such a crime?

I finally regained the strength to leave the room. I slipped out of the chair and made my way to the door. I turned to look at my daughter, sleeping peacefully in her bed.

"I'll be with you," I sang softly as I smiled down at my beautiful daughter, "I'll be there for you always. Always and always. Just look over your shoulder, I'll be there always."

For those of you who don't know, the song is that freaking adorable song from Tarzan. "You'll be in My Heart" - Phil Collins :) that's probably one of the most appropriate songs for this family. And this is probably my favorite chapter. What was your favorite chapter? :)