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Sheila Bennett didn't care much about Elena. She was Bonnie's best friend, this much she knew but far more importantly, the child was a doppelganger. When the time would come, and with the comet's path crossing over their sky in only a few years it would come sooner than Sheila liked, the doppelganger would drag her granddaughter into the turmoil and tragedy that was her fate. It wasn't her fault, it was only her destiny, after all.
But, no, Sheila didn't particularly care for her.
And yet, the girl stood in front of her with her wide child's eyes, hope glimmering in them and she could not believe what had been asked of her.
"You want me to tell you about magic?"
"Bonnie says you talk about it all the time." She said, her voice pitched up as it was want to do, puberty still a ways away.
It was true, Sheila did talk of magic to her granddaughter but it was supposed to be their thing, not secret perhaps but still sacred. But Bonnie hadn't cared about magic since Abby had left and Sheila supposed she shouldn't be surprised by the careless way Bonnie treated their talks.
But it still hurt.
Of all things she would have expected to do, explaining magic to an eager doppelganger was not one of them. But, it only made sense that the child shoul know what the consequences of her actions could be so Sheila would tell her.
"What do you want to know?" She asked and a wide grin split the child's face as she let out a breathy little glee filled noise, the gleam in her eyes shining bright. The tales said that the doppelgangers had a way about them, a certain charm. It was only now that Sheila could believe it.
"Everything."
Miss Sara leaves her presents. There is no rhyme or reason to them, Elena doesn't wake up on her birthday to find a gift box, she doesn't find things on the anniversary of the day they met, no.
They are entirely random. Some of them are magic, like the paper cat that comes alive when Elena is near, the one she named Mr Worcestershire, a little pendant that when opened has music come out of it, Miss Sara singing a soft song in a strange language that helps Elena sleep when she has nightmares or a clear ball that when rattled smells like the ocean. Some are entirely plain, a hair clip with apples on it, a box of caramel fudge, a keychain with a phone box decoration, Russian nesting dolls and more.
Elena loves them all equally but she loves it even more when she gets to meet Miss Sara. Years stretch between the times she meets her but every single occasion is just as precious as the one before. On those times Miss Sara tells her stories of the world from many years ago. Of Vikings and French queens, of Russian royalty and Salem witches. Elena's favourite story was of a little Spanish lord's birthday with a swan made of cake and meringue that his mother, a witch, enchanted to so it would fly, dropping little pieces of nougat over the room.
Sometimes Elena wishes she had magic but then she remembers what Bonnie's grandmama said about the Balance. Elena doesn't think she'd be very good at it. Sometimes she worries how Bonnie will do it but Bonnie doesn't believe in magic at all and her grandmama wants to wait until she grows a bit before showing it to her. Elena can't wait for it, then maybe Mr Worcestershire would play with Bonnie too.
Elena is fourteen and it's her second date with Matt. She is nervous, more so than on the first one. Elena's developed a bit of a reputation for being odd, all because she still believes in magic, something her peers grew out of long ago. But Elena believes. She listens to what Grandmama Bennett says, goes hiking into the woods to collect the herbs Grandmama Bennett wants, tries to be a good and understanding person so that she doesn't disturb the Balance.
She doesn't talk about it as much, though, and so people accept her. She is odd but not an oddity.
But she is still odd. So she hadn't expected Matt to ask her out. Hadn't expected to say yes in the moment of shock. Hadn't expected it to be fun enough that he would ask her out on a second date.
She stares into the mirror wondering what to do with her hair, shaking with nerves. The sudden sound of Mr Worcestershire's happy purrs distract her though, he only purrs when he is petted and she turns to see Miss Sara sitting on the little seat in the window niche. She grins, nearly squealing in excitement and does a little mental math. It has been a year and a half since she saw her last.
"Today is my second date!" She blurts out. No greeting, no hello, no I missed you. And when Miss Sara gasps she thinks it must be because she was rude.
"But you're only ten, that's not old enough to go on dates, is it?!"
Elena laughs, "I'm fourteen Miss Sara."
"Fourteen?!" Miss Sara frowns. "I'm very bad with time." She says apologetically.
"Is that why you haven't visited me in nearly two years?"
"Two years? How odd, I didn't think it had been that long." Miss Sara sighs, "I'm afraid then that it might be very long before I get to meet you again."
The smile Elena's been sporting drops. "You're leaving again?"
"I'm looking for some people, you see. Only...I don't think I'm very good at it at all. Nearly two years, you say?"
"Can't they just call you or something."
"The dead can't call. Well at least, they can't call me. I'm not really very good at magic."
Elena blinks and points at the paper cat that is licking itself indulgently. Miss Sara seems plenty good at magic to her.
"Oh no, I meant useful magic like the bits the Bennett witches and their likes do. This is little stuff. A bit of happiness isn't complicated."
Elena would disagree. From what she's seen of all the people around her, happiness seems to be very complicated.
"Who are these dead people you're looking for?" Elena brightens, "Maybe I can help!"
"Oh no, it's difficult. I'm looking for my family and they're spread all over the world because of the European diaspora that went hand in hand with colonial times. There's a dig in Israel that's going on and it might turn up a few relatives of mine who died in the Crusades."
"What's it like?" Elena asks, all wide eyes. She's never been out of the country before. She's been to Washington on school trips but nowhere farther than that.
"I-Oh, but it's a long story and I thought you had your second date?" And all the nervousness that Elena had forgotten to feel while talking to Miss Sara returned.
"I don't know what to do with my hair!"
Miss Sara laughs, "Let me see what I can do"
Within minutes, maybe using one of her 'little magics' she braids a crown onto Elena's head and just in time too as the bell rang.
"That must be Matt," Elena says and turns to Miss Sara, trying to burn her image into memory. It would be a long time before they would meet again, Miss Sara had said.
"Go have fun," Miss Sara smiles, "I'll get you a present when I come back."
And with a little wave of her hand she disappears.
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