One year later, Amelia peeked into the gallery connected to OR 1, and found her sister-in-law sitting in a chair in the front row, watching a colleague perform a procedure. The procedure was a pretty standard one, so, other than a resident and an off-duty intern, Meredith was the only person in the gallery. Upon spotting Meredith, Amelia strode confidently into the room, a smile on her face and a skip in her step.
"Hey," Amelia said, taking a seat next to the other woman.
"Hey," Meredith replied suspiciously. "What's got you so happy?"
"Do you remember the neuro patient last spring…the magic synesthete and the band of misfits who lied their asses off to get her here?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah," Meredith said. With a little gasp and a look of concern, Meredith added, "Oh no, she's not back, is she?"
"No," Amelia said. "Magic necklace, remember?"
"Oh, come on, you don't really believe that necklace will stop a brain tumor from returning, do you?" Meredith asked.
"No…maybe…I don't know," Amelia said, changing her answer every few seconds. Off Meredith's look of disbelief, Amelia asked, "What?"
"Magic is a load of crap," Meredith said. "It's legends and fairytales."
"Yeah, but she practically threw that thing back around her neck when I pulled her out of the MRI machine last March, so it seems like they believe it," Amelia said.
"She's the patient," Meredith said. "She's superstitious."
"They're pretty intelligent people to whole-heartedly believe such a thing, though," Amelia said.
"Fear will do that to you," Meredith argued.
"True," Amelia admitted. The smile returned to her face as she said, "But I bet you ten bucks she wears it at the wedding."
"What wedding?" Meredith asked.
"The magic synesthete and the cowboy are getting married," Amelia said, triumphantly dropping the invitation in Meredith's lap. "I told you he loved her."
"Did you know they were together?" Meredith asked.
"No," Amelia laughed. She pointed at the piece of paper in Meredith's hands. "That was a total surprise. Well…not really, but…you know."
Meredith scanned the invitation. "And they invited you?"
"It was in the mail this morning," she said. "Check the note on the back."
Meredith flipped the invitation over and read the handwritten note from Stone out loud. "'Dr. Shepherd, you gave me a longer forever with Cassie. You should be there to witness the start of it. Stone,'" she said. She laughed and said, "Cheesy, but I like it. Are you going?"
"Only three hours away? Hell yes," Amelia said.
"This is about the necklace again, isn't it?" Meredith asked.
"What kind of library needs NATO security?" Amelia asked.
"Every time she comes in…" Meredith sighed, having heard the same questions a handful of times before.
"Or employs an art thief?" Amelia continued.
"You don't think it's a little weird that you've Googled all of them?" Meredith asked.
"Last time I thought there was something up with them, I was right," Amelia pointed out.
"I can't believe you're still talking about this," Meredith said.
"Well, hey, I was going to ask you to be my date, but if that's how you feel about it…" Amelia said. She made a show of taking the invitation back and starting to waltz out of the room.
"You don't want to take Owen?" Meredith asked. Amelia returned.
"I thought it could be fun," Amelia said. "Girls' day…road trip…"
"Find some magic along the way," Meredith teased.
"If it happens, it happens," Amelia said, putting her hands up in surrender. "You coming or not?"
"I don't know, Amelia," Meredith sighed. "A wedding?"
Amelia noticed the sudden cloud of melancholy surrounding her sister-in-law and softly said, "It's been almost a year and a half, Mer."
"I know," Meredith sadly mumbled.
"Hey, you know what? I'll take Owen," Amelia offered, suddenly feeling guilty for inviting Meredith in the first place. "We can add 'goes to a wedding to look for magic' to the long list of reasons why he should be running for the hills right now."
That brought a slight smile to Meredith's face. "No, don't take Owen. I'll go."
"You will?" Amelia asked happily.
"Someone has to stop you from making a fool of yourself," Meredith said. "And it might be nice to get away for a day."
"Under a bridge…interesting," Amelia remarked.
It was a warm Saturday in September, and she and Meredith had arrived at Stone and Cassandra's wedding. The wedding was to be held just outside the Annex. A makeshift aisle had been set up between the Annex door and the archway of white flowers that stood on the lawn, chairs lining either side. What was to be the reception had been set up under the adjacent trees with round tables and small lights strung among the lower-hanging branches. People milled about among the chairs as the ceremony would be starting soon. It was small but beautiful.
"It's pretty, though," Meredith said, taking in the sights.
"I wonder what's in there," Amelia said, gesturing to the Annex door where Cassandra would, presumably, be making her entrance.
"Easy, tiger…" Meredith mumbled.
Stone noticed the doctors from across the lawn and made his way over to them. "Dr. Shepherd," he greeted. "I'm glad you made it, and Dr. Grey, it's nice to see you, too."
"Congratulations," Meredith said.
"Don't you look dapper," Amelia noticed.
Stone adjusted his tie. "I'm not much of a suit guy, but I think this is working for me."
"Definitely," Amelia agreed.
"Thanks for coming," Stone said. "I wasn't sure if you would."
"Oh, no, thanks for proving me right," Amelia replied. "Just answer me one thing…when did you finally grow a pair and kiss her?"
Stone laughed, completely caught off guard by the doctor's blunt question. Before he could answer, a look of realization crossed his face. "That's why you kicked me out of the room at the four-month follow-up," he said. "You were askin' Cassie about me?"
"Guilty as charged," Amelia admitted. "She didn't tell you?"
"She just told me it was girl stuff," he said. "I assumed it was…medically girly."
Amelia grinned at Stone's obvious discomfort. "Not really my area," she said. "So, come on, spill."
He laughed again, a little embarrassed, and said, "It, uh...was actually right after that appointment, in the elevator on the way out. It's not much of a romantic first kiss story, but…"
His words were drowned out by Meredith's cackling and Amelia's hearty laughter. Meredith was laughing so hard, she clapped her hands together, and Stone looked confused.
"Alright, what am I missin'?" he asked.
"That's the elevator that makes everybody horny!" Meredith exclaimed.
"I heard stories about that elevator long before I ever stepped foot in that hospital," Amelia added.
The look on Stone's face upon hearing that made the ladies laugh harder, and luckily for Stone, Ezekiel wandered over and saved the day.
"Hey," Ezekiel said, grabbing Stone's shoulders. "You ready?"
"Yes, please," Stone said, a little mortified by what the doctors had just said to him.
"Hey, Dr. Shep!" Ezekiel said.
"Ezekiel," Amelia said with a nod.
"Let's go," Ezekiel said to Stone.
"Cassie doesn't know I invited you, so…fair warnin'…she might be pretty excited when she sees you," Stone said. "We'll catch up with you later."
"Good luck," Meredith said. Amelia shot her a strange look, and Meredith shrugged.
"Thanks," Stone said.
He followed Ezekiel to the front of the aisle and took his place next to Baird, who was serving as Stone's Best Man, a title she insisted upon keeping despite her gender. Ezekiel stood on what would be Cassandra's side as Cassandra's Best Man, a title he insisted upon keeping as he was, in fact, the best man, and Flynn stood in between them, ready to perform the ceremony. The only one missing was Jenkins, who remained inside the Annex, as Cassandra had sweet talked him into walking her down the aisle.
"In the elevator…" Meredith repeated with a laugh as she and Amelia headed to their seats with the other guests. "Hey, maybe there's your magic."
"Easy, tiger…" Amelia mimicked, pushing her into a row of seats.
After the wedding, Cassandra stood near her table under the large oak tree; it was the table where she and Stone had been greeting guests since the ceremony ended, but Stone had slipped away to talk to an old friend from Oklahoma, and no one seemed to want her attention at that particular moment, leaving her alone with her thoughts. A large arrangement of white roses sat at the center of the table, and she looked at them with a frown. The magazines had warned her that there would probably be something about her wedding that she would end up less-than-thrilled about, and apparently, the color of the flowers was going to be her thing.
The pure white of the roses clashed with her dress, she thought. Her dress wasn't traditional. It was short, the hem brushing her knees, with a champagne lining and cream-colored overlay. The dress was covered in gold appliqué leaves and flowers. Her up-do hairstyle was fastened in place with a matching gold accessory, and the white flowers on her table just weren't working for her at the event like they had in the store. Cassandra spent a few seconds with her back turned to the party, staring at the flowers and wishing she had chosen the colored ones instead when she cautiously glanced over each of her shoulders.
No one was too close to her, so she held her hand out in front of the flowers, keeping her arm close to her chest, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, visualizing a vase full of pink roses instead. She opened her eyes after a few moments, smiling with excitement when she saw pink radiating from the base of the flowers like pink flames dancing towards the top of the petals, slowly filling the offending flora with the desired color.
Before she could finish, however, Stone came up directly behind her and grabbed her waist. Startled, Cassandra jumped and dropped her hand, breaking the spell and leaving the roses a mix of pink and white. She rolled her eyes, silently lamenting the slow speed at which her enchantments were usually performed. Deciding to push thoughts of her magical education aside, she turned around. Stone's arms instantly encircled her waist.
"Hi, handsome," Cassandra said brightly.
"Mrs. Stone," he said in a low voice.
"Mr. Cillian," she countered, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
He chuckled and pulled her in close, pressing their bodies together. "I could get used to that," he said. "Did I scare ya?"
"A little," she admitted.
"Lost in thought?" he asked.
"Just…taking it all in," Cassandra said. "Good memories, you know?"
He leaned in for a kiss, which she gladly returned, her hands coming to cup his face in her palms. After three tender kisses, their mouths lingered until he felt her smile against his lips and take a step back. Stone opened his eyes and noticed the roses behind his bride.
"Whoa, these are wild-lookin'," he said, pulling one of the half-pink, half-white roses out of the vase. Cassandra opened her mouth as if expecting to have an explanation demanded from her, but all Stone said was, "Where'd you find these?"
"Oh, just…at a florist in town," she replied. She took the rose from his hands and laid it on the table behind her face. She playfully scrunched her face and said, "It's not important."
He kissed her again, and this time, when they pulled away, she noticed Amelia Shepherd and Meredith Grey walking towards her. Cassandra let out an excited squeal and hurried over to her doctors, immediately hugging Amelia.
"Oh, hey," Amelia said, thrown off by Cassandra's affection once again. "You look beautiful."
"The whole wedding was beautiful," Meredith said, giving Cassandra a hug as well.
"I thought I saw you guys!" Cassandra said. "I didn't know Jacob invited you."
"Invited her," Meredith said. "I'm just the date."
"Well, I'm glad you managed to tear yourselves away from the hospital," Cassandra said. "Even if I didn't know you were coming."
Stone joined them and, as he wrapped an arm around Cassandra's waist said, "Well, she's kind of important."
"That she is," Cassandra smiled. She looked at Amelia and nodded towards Stone. "He finally kissed me."
"I heard," Amelia said. "In the hospital's magic elevator."
Cassandra's face suddenly changed, and she looked warily over at her new husband. "You…have a magic elevator in Grey Sloan Memorial?"
"It's not literally magic, darlin'," Stone whispered.
"Yeah, not like that necklace," Amelia said.
Amelia glanced at Meredith, who she had collected ten dollars from during the ceremony, and Meredith rolled her eyes. Cassandra chuckled nervously and clutched the amulet in her hand.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were together at the appointment last spring," Amelia continued.
Cassandra laughed at Amelia's show of false offense; she had gone to the one-year post-surgical follow-up appointment alone. Cassandra cutely shrugged and said, "You didn't ask."
She held out her hand to let Amelia see the vintage engagement ring Stone had given her shortly after that appointment. She didn't notice the older, well-dressed couple walking towards them until it was too late.
"Excuse me," the man said. "We couldn't help but overhear. Did you say you know them from a hospital?"
Before Amelia was able to catch the look on Cassandra's face, she held out her hand for an introduction and said, "Dr. Amelia Shepherd; I'm Cassandra's neurosurgeon."
"Oh god…" Cassandra whispered as the man shook Amelia's hand.
Amelia noticed Stone's clenched jaw and the utter look of dread on Cassandra's face and glanced at Meredith in trepidation. Meredith quickly cringed, knowing Amelia had apparently just said the wrong thing.
"Cassandra's neurosurgeon?" the woman asked in surprise, turning to the woman in question. She pronounced Cassandra's name with the long version of the middle syllable, eliciting an eye roll from Cassandra.
"That's what she said," Cassandra confirmed in a sassy tone.
"You had neurosurgery?" the man asked with obvious disapproval.
"Ah-huh…" Cassandra nodded.
"On an inoperable tumor?" he asked.
"Turns out it wasn't so inoperable after all," Cassandra said.
The man and the woman shared a look before they both turned their attention to Amelia. Their faces were both rather unreadable, but neither looked terribly happy.
"How much of the tumor did you resect?" the man asked.
"Umm…" Amelia faltered, not willing to just hand out Cassandra's medical history to anyone. "I'm not really at liberty to…"
"All of it," Cassandra said in a flippant tone, wanting no part of the current conversation. "She got all of it."
"There's no tumor anymore?" the woman asked.
"Nope," Cassandra replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"When did this happen, Cassandra?" she asked.
"Oh, about a year and a half ago," Cassandra said. "Almost exactly a year and a half ago, I think."
The man and the woman shared another look, and the man took a step back, as if he just couldn't bring himself to deal with the situation. The woman put on a forced smile and said, "Cassandra, can I talk to you over here, please?"
Cassandra reluctantly shuffled over a few feet to converse with the older couple alone, leaving Stone with Amelia and Meredith.
"What did I do?" Amelia asked quickly.
"Those are her parents," Stone said.
"She has parents?" Amelia asked with surprise. "I mean, of course she has…I kind of assumed they were dead."
Their conversation trailed off as the rapidly rising voices from a few feet over pulled their attention. Cassandra was standing in front of her parents, arms crossed and looking anywhere but at them. Despite the wedding dress, she looked like a teenager who'd just gotten into trouble. Her father's arms were sternly crossed in anger, while her mother looked to be doing most of the berating of her daughter.
"You've been tumor-free for over a year, and you're…here…working in a library?" her mother asked, voice dripping with disdain. "All that intelligence…all that potential, and you're wasting it in a library."
"I like it here," Cassandra replied.
"And him…" her mother continued, pointing at Stone.
Cassandra stood up a little bit straighter, rage pooling in her blood. "What exactly is wrong with him?" she asked.
"He's just…a simple man from Oklahoma…" her mother said, a sense of superiority dripping from her voice.
A few feet away, Amelia, who held a very high opinion of the man standing in front of her, looked a little shocked.
"How can they not like you? Seriously?" Amelia asked quietly, glancing at Stone.
"I only met them two days ago, but I don't think they like Cassandra very much, either," Stone admitted.
They turned back to the other conversation on the lawn, where Cassandra audibly huffed and angrily looked away.
"He's just…not who we pictured you with, that's all. You don't have to get upset," her mother finished. "And what are you wearing? I mean, that necklace? Honestly, Cassandra, this is your wedding."
"Don't get upset…" Cassandra mumbled to herself in disbelief. She looked at her mother again and said, "I love him."
Her mother sighed. "I know you do, dear, but Jacob and this place and this job…you were supposed to be better than this, Cassandra. You were supposed to be extraordinary."
At this, Meredith groaned and quietly said, "Please tell me there's a bar in this place?"
"Over there," Stone said, pointing to a table near where people were dancing, none the wiser to the drama going on on the other side of the lawn.
"Why?" Amelia asked.
"I'm having Ellis Grey flashbacks. Excuse me," Meredith said, slipping away.
Cassandra's mother's voice grew louder as she said, "It was one thing when we thought you had a tumor, but to come here and find out you had surgery a year ago…"
Across the lawn, Amelia's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she looked at Stone and said, "They didn't know at all?"
"She hadn't been able to tell them," Stone said.
"Why?" Amelia asked as Meredith returned with the largest drink she could procure in her hands. "Good god, Meredith."
"Dead husband plus Ellis Grey?" Meredith reminded her.
"I'll drive home," Amelia agreed. She turned back to Stone and repeated, "Why?"
"Well…she…knew they'd react like this," Stone said.
"Should someone go save her?" Meredith pondered.
"I tried that after dinner the other night," Stone said. "I ended up gettin' a lecture on etiquette and interrupting from her pop over there."
A few feet away, Cassandra's mother continued. "You have to understand how disappointing this is for us, to see you choosing to throw your life away. You should've called us after the surgery; we could've helped you get somewhere more…appropriate. We still could, if you would just…"
"Stop it!" Cassandra screamed.
She drew the attention of nearly everyone at the small reception. Baird and Flynn, who were happily dancing, stopped and turned to watch with worry and sympathy. Ezekiel stood from his place at his table, instinctively moving a few steps closer to Cassandra, and even Jenkins, who was doing his best to separate himself from the festivities, looked on with concern.
"Cassandra, keep your voice down," her mother said upon noticing the stares of the other guests. She continued to pronounce Cassandra's name with the long second syllable, despite Cassandra's obvious distaste for it.
"You are not going to do this. You are not going to do this today or…or ever. You guys don't know what's best for me. If you knew what was best for me, you would've just held me when I was handed a death sentence at fifteen instead of throwing your terminal daughter's trophies literally out of a second-story window!" Cassandra screamed. "And you, not Ezekiel, would've been the ones moving pyramids to help me, and you, not Stone and Colonel Baird, would've been the ones taking care of me after the craniotomy, and you, not Flynn, would've been the ones making sure I had everything I needed, and then maybe you and not Jenkins could've walked me down the aisle today. That all should've been you! That shouldn't have been people I'd only known for a year, so you are going to be gracious to my friends, and you are going to be appreciative of the woman they found to save my life, and you are going to be nice to me, or…or you are going to leave!"
Mother and daughter stood in silence for a few moments after Cassandra's outburst before her mother turned, walked a few paces to her table, and began collecting her belongings. Cassandra scoffed in disbelief and crossed her arms against her chest again as she realized they were choosing to leave.
"Cassandra," her mother said coolly as she walked by, not even slowing down as she passed. Cassandra shot her a fake smile, and then looked towards her father.
"Call us if you change your mind," he said, touching her shoulders.
Cassandra bristled at the contact and mumbled, "Not likely," as he, too, walked away.
She stood by herself on the lawn for a few moments, utterly humiliated by the scene she had just caused before returning to Stone and her doctors. When she started moving towards them, everyone went back to what they had been doing before the explosion, and everything returned to normal.
Stone immediately pulled her into a hug when she got within reach of him, and Cassandra sighed, letting herself melt into his embrace.
"I made a scene," Cassandra mumbled.
"Yeah," Stone sighed.
"They couldn't do it," she said. "They couldn't even do it for one day…"
"I know; I'm sorry. I'm sorry I insisted on invitin' them at all," Stone said. He pulled back slightly and held Cassandra's face in his palm. "Don't let them ruin today, though, okay?"
Cassandra nodded, and Stone gently pecked her lips. She smiled sadly, and Stone kept his arm firmly around her as Cassandra turned back to Amelia and Meredith.
"I'm so sorry," Amelia said. "I had no idea…"
Cassandra cut her off. "I should've told them a long time ago; that was inevitable," she said. "I'm just sorry you all had to witness it."
"Welcome to the club," Meredith said.
"The club?" Cassandra asked.
"The Bad Mommy Club," Meredith said.
"Ellis Grey was…like that?" Cassandra asked.
"Right down to the 'you were supposed to be extraordinary, Meredith,'" Meredith said, mimicking her mother's tone.
"You named your daughter after that bad mommy," Amelia pointed out.
"I had my reasons," Meredith replied.
"So how do you handle being in this club?" Cassandra asked.
"You deal with it in whatever way best preserves your self-esteem and hope to whatever god you believe in that you can make that carousel stop turning if you're ever on the other side of it," Meredith said, swallowing the last bit of her drink.
At that, Stone gently nudged Cassandra, and she glanced up at him with an playful grin. Meredith held up her empty glass and shook it around a bit.
"Tequila and gin help, too," Meredith added.
"Don't advocate drug use to my patient," Amelia joked.
Cassandra laughed and hugged Stone a little bit tighter, and, just like that, the blowup that kicked off her reception was forgotten.
As the night was winding down a few hours later, Amelia stood in the middle of the lawn, quietly taking in her surroundings. One of Stone's little nephews had taken a liking to Meredith; she had spent the last several songs dancing with the little boy, a cowboy hat on her head. Baird was keeping a close eye on Ezekiel, having caught him slyly peering into gift bags and women's purses earlier that evening, and Stone was chatting with Flynn by the bar. The current song ended, and Amelia looked to Meredith, gesturing with a nod of her head to ask if she was ready to leave. Meredith signaled back to her that she wanted one more song, and Amelia nodded, looking for Cassandra.
Amelia hadn't gotten any closer to having her questions about the regular happenings in the lives or careers of her former patient and her friends answered, and while she still wondered what the now-locked building Cassandra had come out of was, she was beginning to accept that maybe Meredith was right. Maybe her hunches were wrong, and there was nothing unusual at all going on. She was ready to accept that hypothesis, that is, until she found Cassandra sitting still and silent at the table under the old oak tree, chin in her palm, her mind obviously elsewhere. Amelia's brow narrowed in contemplation as she observed the sights around the bride. She was sitting next to the vase of the pink flame roses, and the string of lights directly above Cassandra's head were blinking in rainbow colors, a noticeable departure from all of the other lights at the party that were only twinkling white.
Cassandra noticed the doctor walking towards her, and Amelia gave her a little wave. Cassandra smiled and stood as Amelia approached.
"Hey," Amelia said. "We're heading out."
"Thanks for coming," Cassandra said.
"Are you alright?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah, this day was just…a little more of an emotional roller coaster than I expected," Cassandra said with an embarrassed chuckle.
Cassandra took a few steps towards Amelia, walking away from the table she had been sitting at, and, as they hugged again, Amelia's eyes widened. The lights that Cassandra had been sitting under, the lights that had been blinking in rainbow colors when she was lost in thought underneath them, were no longer colored and instead twinkling white just like all the others.
When they pulled apart, Amelia tried to will herself to walk away, but curiosity got the better of her. She hesitated for just a second before saying, "Okay, I've got to ask…"
"What?" Cassandra asked.
"Between you and me…and I won't tell anyone…that amulet," Amelia said. Rather than instantly clutching it like she normally did when it was mentioned, Cassandra stood still, hands folded calmly in front of her. Amelia, unsure of how to best word what she was asking, finally said, "It's not modeled after the original, is it?"
"Not exactly," Cassandra said.
"You're never going to need my services again, are you?" Amelia asked.
"No," Cassandra said, confidently and calmly. Remembering there were no guarantees with magic, she shook her head a bit and amended her statement. "At least…I hope not."
Amelia felt a little disorientated, her suspicions a little bit confirmed. She glanced around in wonder at the multi-colored flowers and the lights and said, "And you're not really a librarian, are you?"
"Oh no," Cassandra said, nodding. "I am. It's just…"
"Is this one those I'd-tell-you-but-then-I'd-have-to-kill-you things?" Amelia asked off of Cassandra's hesitation.
Cassandra laughed. "No," she said. "It's just a special kind of library."
"In there?" Amelia asked, pointing to the entrance to the Annex. Cassandra nodded slowly, her lips pressed together. "Magic…magic's real?"
Cassandra repeated the slow nod, remaining silent, lest she give away any more information than she already had.
Amelia let out a breath and shook her head in disbelief. Her mind was swimming with more questions than she knew how to ask, and she noticed Stone rapidly making his way over to Cassandra, so Amelia simply grinned and settled with, "Cool."
You know what they say. If you wait until you're ready, you'll be waiting for the rest of your life…or until it's too late. So go ahead. Sign the papers; have the surgery; fly off the cliff; take that leap. You never know…you might end up exactly where you're supposed to be.
If you want to see Cassandra's dress - chotronette. tumblr post/110186421857/www -chotronette -com
I saw that on Tumblr and immediately thought of Cassie.
And we've reached the end of this (not so) little story! This is the first time I've written something this long in a loooong time, and this was my first substantial story in either of these fandoms, so thanks so much for coming on this ride with me :)