A/N: Here it is at long last, the epilogue. Sorry for the long wait, a whole number of things came in the way, what with finishing at the university and all. But it is here and I hope you enjoy the very last chapter of my little foxxay series. I sure had a blast writing it and I'm going to miss these two. Merry Christmas to all!

Misty had had her very first influenza in the weeks after putting Damian to rest. In truth, it wasn't the flu at all, but when she told Cordelia how she felt, she was told that that was what the flu felt like. So if anyone asked, Misty had the flu. Only the habitants of the Goode mansion knew better.

Now, sitting in the summer heat twelve years later, Misty found herself thinking back. There was nothing special about the day, except it was exceptionally hot and sitting in the sun all day made her feel a heat she could almost compare to the fever. Despite that, she didn't move, because this was a natural heat, and nothing natural had ever bothered Misty Day.

Behind her, the door to the porch opened and she could hear his footsteps across the wooden terrace and then through the grass. She turned to find him walking straight to her, still in his school uniform.

"Hey pup, how was school?"

"Ma, didn't I tell you to stop callin' me that?" He said with a grin on his face. He had complained that it felt like being babied, but Misty knew that he secretly liked it.

"No, you told me not to call you baby boy. Though you're still a baby boy to me."

He shook his head and gave her a look. He looked so much like Cordelia when he did that. The same blonde hair, the same strange but fascinating eyes and the same look of exasperation. "School was fine. I'm not sure I did so well on the biology test though…"

"I'm sure you did great. And you're always good at biology. You're smart like your mom."

"I'm a lot of things like mom, aren't I?" He said and Misty gave him a look. There was an underbelly to his remark that made it not rhetorical and Misty waited for him to explain, but he didn't. Instead he sighed and stared into space.

"What's worryin' you?" Misty asked then. Cage met her gaze, but the hesitance shone in his eyes like a fading flame. The unease was suddenly tangible and Misty turned to face him. Finally, he caved.

"I was thinkin' about mom's illness and… I've read up on it and so they say that these conditions are often inherited by the children and you how I sometimes get really anxious about tests and the future and I get in a really dark mood-"

"You don't have it", Misty said. Cage's eyes widened a bit and he opened his mouth to speak again, but Misty was quicker. "Not like you mom anyway. Pup, I've known her since she was nine and even though I didn't know what any of it meant I always saw the signs. I'm sure the books are right, but that don't mean your mind's exactly the same, right? Everyone has dark moods and you and your mom are two very different people."

"But you always say we're so alike."

Misty smiled. This was especially true when they worried. Which they both did a lot and it always became Misty's place to talk them down. They could sometimes coil each other up just by thinking in the same room and the atmosphere would be thick with it, when Misty came in. And then she would bring them both into the sun and that usually helped. "Yeah I do. But you're also very different and have very different ways of growin' up. Cage, do you hear anythin' you're not supposed to hear?"

He looked at her for a long second. Then shook his head. "No. But that don't mean I won't someday."

"True", Misty admitted. "But you also know that ain't the end of the world if you do. Look at your mom, she's doing fine, ain't she?" Ever since Marie Laveau disappeared from their lives and Hank moved back up state, Cordelia had had little trouble from her demons. In times of stress, they would surface, but she knew how to handle them, oftentimes without Misty's help. Cage was a perceptive child and had been so throughout his entire childhood, but after their lives calmed down, he had been less and less aware of his mother's mental instability. Misty knew he still carried imprints of the time when he was four and all those troubles happened, but they were watermarks in his brain, not solid memories. He would sometimes ask and Misty told him the truth – much to Cordelia's concern – but in less graphic detail and finally he stopped asking. He seemed to have made his peace. And so had Cordelia.

Cage nodded now. "Yeah, she is. I'll try not to worry, 'kay?" He smiled and then added: "But maybe don't tell mom I said this? I don't like secrets, but it might just worry her, you know?"

"Yeah I know."

There was a silence for a while, and the air around Cage calmed again. When he asked: "So how's the flower nursery?" Misty knew he had let the troubles go for now.

"It's fine", she answered. "Slow business these days though. Zoe's over there now doing the numbers for this month." To Misty's luck, Zoe had agreed to be her accountant while she looked for a full time job in the city. They all claimed it was temporary, because Cordelia and Misty agreed that Zoe shouldn't waste her fancy education on a suburban shop like Misty's, but at the same time it felt like Zoe was a part of the family business.

"Yeah", Cage said with a laugh. "You ain't so great with the numbers, but I've never seen anyone keep flowers alive like you. You're like a dryad."

"I don't know what that is, pup."

"A dryad, c'mon ma, I explained this to you last month! If you'd only let me teach you all the rules."

"Cage, I ain't gonna play this paper pen game with you."

"It's called 'Pen and Paper' and you should! You got the mind for it. Mom and Aunt Zoe get bored so quickly and Kyle knocks the table over when the dice don't roll him favors."

"You know Kyle doesn't have that kind of patience." While Kyle had done a remarkable improvement in humanity and all it's corky features, patience would never be his strong suit. Zoe had said that it wasn't much his strong suit before either. She rarely spoke of the before now. Somewhere down the line, she had learned to accept that all he would ever gain from his before had been achieved. It was enough for him to fool the living. He could help Misty in the shop and he could butler the house, but he would never be an educated man. Or a patient one.

Cage gave her a knowing nod and got up. He went for the house and was gone all but two minutes before he sat back down beside her with new urgency in his gaze.

"Mama, I have another question for you."

"Shoot."

"You love mom, right?"

"'Course I do. You know that."

"And you'd do anythin' to make her happy, wouldn't you?"

Misty tilted her head and shot Cage a weird look. "Why do you ask that?"

Cage didn't answer, but instead continued: "Even if you don't understand why it makes her happy?"

"You know I'd do anythin' for her, Cage. What's you point?"

"My point is just marry her already."

Misty opened her mouth and closed it again. She hadn't been prepared to hear Cage say that. Zoe perhaps, but not her son. It seemed that over the years, she sometimes forgot how perceptive he was.

Misty and Cordelia had lived together in this house for sixteen years now. And the last twelve of those had gone by like a dream, Misty thought sometimes. Ever since Marie disappeared and Hank went away they had led lives of perfect serenity. Living moment to moment in a stretch of life that couldn't possibly have lasted more than a decade. Their ups and downs had been those of ordinary people, like where to send Cage to school and how to manage the startup troubles of Misty's new shop. How to integrate Kyle in their daily life – and getting Cordelia to trust him again – so to provide him some meaning as well. Occasionally fighting off Cordelia's demons. Misty realized that the whispers might not be a thing normal people struggled with, but then again, maybe it was. At some point during these years, their lives had shed the chaos and taken form of something healthy. Misty found that she loved that. Even if she couldn't bring herself to set foot in her old shack. The Goode mansion had finally become home.

Misty never needed more than that, but she knew there was another layer to normalcy for city people like Cordelia. She may not be the flustered, forest-frightened little girl she was when Misty met her, but she treasured the rules of society just as much now as always. Yes, there was one thing missing and while Cordelia never asked, she might still want it in secret.

Cage was talking through her thoughts: "…It's legal here now. It's 2015, no one's eyeing you weird anymore. It won't change anythin' for you, but it will for her. So I think you should do it. Just don't spend all my college money on it, please." The last he said with a wink. Misty loved it when he did that. It was the one thing that made him look more like her than Cordelia.

"You got your mother's smarts, you know that?"

The whole house had a sort of tension the night Misty made her move. It was quiet, because Cage was spending the night at a friend's – the spontaneous plan was so convenient that Misty was sure he had done it on purpose – and Zoe had taken Kyle to her place. They had the whole house to themselves. Misty hadn't thought she would be nervous at all, because this didn't change anything about their lives really, yet she felt a stirring in her stomach as she ascended the stairs that evening. She felt for the ring in the pocket of her dress, the small diamond ring that Cage had helped her pick out. She would have asked Zoe, but Zoe was terrible at keeping a straight face. Especially around Cordelia. Cage had a sort of cunning nature sometimes and he had kept a perfect poker face all day, despite being in on the whole secret from start to end. And the end was closing in.

Cordelia was already in bed, reading a book. Misty took a moment to stand in the doorway and gaze at her. The changes in Cordelia, the late blooming of emotional maturity as she sometimes called it, had been gradual over the years and now that she was in her early forties, she was confident as ever. Yet tonight, the little girl shone through. Perhaps it was just all the reminiscing Misty had done lately. Her hair was shorter again, the same length she had had it as a teenager, and she was just as beautiful as she was then.

Finally, Cordelia looked up from her book and her eyes found Misty's.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"A minute I guess. Just wanted to look at you."

Cordelia smiled and put the book down. She looked back at Misty and suddenly that stirring riled up. Misty realized she hadn't felt butterflies like this since they first got together. She thought herself silly, but she also cherished it. Her hand made a twitch towards her pocket, but she stopped it before she could give herself away.

"What's the matter, love? You look a little…" Cordelia trailed off, perhaps wanting to say that Misty looked tense or nervous, but founding that it wasn't quite true. It was more of a thrill and it must be all over Misty's face by now.

Misty smiled and walked over. Her steps weren't as light as a minute ago, the stirring of the butterflies took the bounce out of them. She sat down on the bed in front of Cordelia.

"Nothin's the matter, just gotta say somethin' to you." Now she couldn't keep the smile off her face, like a little kid bursting with secret, and she saw how the mounting worry dissipated from Cordelia's features.

Misty swallowed once and said: "Delia. There are some things that don't matter much to me. But just 'cause I don't understand 'em at first, don't mean they ain't important. And I love you. Whatever makes you happy makes me happy, so…" Misty reached for her pocket, her eyes never leaving Cordelia's slightly confused face, and snatched up the ring. She drew it out, unfolded her hand and presented it to Cordelia. It took a moment for Cordelia to fully register it. She looked down and then her eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out and Misty asked her the question: "Cordelia, will you marry me?"

When Cordelia looked up again, her face was painted in astonishment and tears were forming in her eyes. Her voice was breathless when she said:

"Are you… I never thought you would… Are you sure you want marriage? I know it never meant anything to you."

Misty smiled and something about it brought more tears to Cordelia's eyes. "I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. Rings and papers don't make no difference to me. I can make the vow right here that I'll love you and protect you for as long as my soul exists. Don't need no church to do that, but you like normal. And I'll be just as happy married to you as I am now. So I wanna do it for you. So will you?"

Cordelia stared at her for just another wide-eyed second, before the tears took over and a mixed sound of a sob and breathless laughter ended it.

"Yes", Cordelia said. "God, yes, Misty." She stretched out her hand and Misty placed the ring on her finger. She felt the tremble of their hands and realized that some of it was herself. Then Cordelia pulled her in and kissed her, kissed her long and sweet and it some ways it felt just like the beginning.

When they came apart again, they both giggled like teenage girls and Misty felt the butterflies settle.

"I was nervous to say this", she confessed.

"Did you think I would ever turn you down?" The teasing tone of Cordelia's voice rang like music and the last of the tension disappeared.

"No. But I think this is the most normal thing I've ever done." Then they laughed again.

"There are going to be a few expenses here, but I think we can manage", Cordelia said after a while and Misty nodded.

"So maybe we don't invite the whole town. I don't need big either way, but you should decide what-"

"I don't a big wedding either", Cordelia agreed. "I just need you and our family. Perhaps a few colleagues. We have a big, lovely garden. It won't be too costly. All that matters is…" Cordelia trailed off again and looked at her new ring. The tears welled up in her eyes again and she looked up. "I love you more than anything. Thank you for giving me this."

Misty had no more words, so she just kissed her fiancé and thought about what she would look like in a white dress.

O0O

It was an early autumn wedding. Misty had picked it out, because she thought the garden would look the best when all the trees started blooming red and golden. And she was right, Cage thought. The two of them stood out against the blazing trees in their white dresses and it was a sight of a lifetime. Cage had never thought his mothers beautiful, it wasn't a notion on his mind – they were just Misty and Cordelia, his ma and mom – but now he realized that they were. They looked stunning, both of them. Simple dresses; Cordelia's a slim, formfitting one and Misty's loose one with embroidered flowers that matched the ring of leaves in her hair. Even though he hadn't known her then, Cage thought he was getting a look into what Misty must look like as a kid in the woods. Only cleaner perhaps.

Cage had been wedding manager since day one. He had helped them set it all up – in every sense of the phrase, as he made his ma propose in the first place – and he kept to the porch to keep an eye on everything. He liked being withdrawn from the crowd. It was a crowd he knew, but even so, he loved observing at a distance. Misty always said he got that from Cordelia, but he secretly knew he got that from both.

"Hey kid, how's everything coming together?" Hank, his father, approached him from the inside of the house, where he had gone to pick up a glass of water. He never drank alcohol, not even on occasions like this.

"Seems like it's all going well", he said, his eyes fixed on his mothers. "They look beautiful, don't they?"

"Yes. They do", Hank said with reluctance. Cage had been the one to ask if his father could be there. He saw the exchange of looks between Misty and Cordelia and knew what their non-verbal communication was about, but in the end Misty agreed. However fierce their fight might have been when Cage was little, it had ceased to cool politeness now. "Hey, thanks for inviting me, kid", Hank added. "Wasn't sure it was a good idea, honestly, but I'm glad I'm here to see it. This was meant to be. I hate to admit it, but it was."

"Misty's talkin' about adoptin' me, legally. Even though it's a bit late."

Hank eyed him with surprise. "Really? That's allowed? Well..." He shrugged and didn't say more to it. Instead Cage asked how things were in Boston and Hank filled him in. They talked as they watched Misty and Cordelia dance around in front of the band, laughing and hugging. They looked like two teenagers in love.

To the right, down the passage to the front yard, Cage heard a low distressed growling. He turned his head towards the sound and moments later, Kyle came tumbling into view. His speech had improved remarkably over the years, only when he was scared did regress to wordlessness.

Aunt Zoe and Cage saw this at the same time. Cage excused himself and went to Kyle, just as Zoe reached them.

"Kyle, baby, talk to me. What's happening?"

Kyle grunted and gestured, but no words came out. From the middle of the garden, the guests and the brides had shifted their attention, but Cage waved them off.

"We'll handle it!" He called and turned to Zoe again. She made a hard fist in the shoulder of Kyle's suit and forced him to meet her eyes.

"Use your words."

"Lav- Voodoo queen… here." He whined and hid his face against Zoe's shoulder.

Zoe and Cage stared at each other.

Cage saw the worry and the emerging of fear in Zoe's eyes. He had none in his own, none in his mind either. Only fuzzy memories of a screaming child and the terror in his mom's face. Rage from his ma. Perhaps there were fear there too, but all of this, it was fright in the periphery. He knew instantly that this was a woman who had managed to scare the living out of his entire family and Zoe's gaze only confirmed it. Yet he didn't feel frightened. Because she never hurt him.

"I'll go", he said.

Zoe's head snapped up. "Cage, no. She's dangerous! We should get Misty or-"

"No, don't you ruin this day for them. I'll call out if I need any help. Ma said she ain't dangerous anymore, so just stay here, and keep Kyle in check."

Cage turned on his heel and went, before Zoe could protest anymore. She might have run have after him, if it wasn't for Kyle needing her attention. Cage hadn't seen him this upset in a long time, perhaps not since those early memories he had, but couldn't quite recall. They were all imprints of feelings rather than pictures, but he would lie if he said the resurfacing of those feelings didn't make him uneasy. Still, he stood by his first impression; she had never wanted to hurt him.

He wasn't sure he would recognize her, but when he turned the corner and found her waiting by the front door, there was no mistaking. Mostly because of those feelings, the stirring sensation that he knew this woman, that he had shared important moments with this woman, however short and frightening their time together was.

But she was a shade of her former self. Her once beautiful, golden brown skin had turned a muddy grey, her eyes had lost the light and her posture had sunken into one of pain. Her body spoke of death even though she was still breathing.

Her eyes widened when she saw him. A defensive position, he hadn't noticed at first, loosened and her mouth dropped open. Her left eye grew blank with the beginning of tears.

"Cage Goode?" Her voice was thin and croaked, just like the rest of her.

"That's me."

"You have grown into a man. I'm glad. I wasn't expectin'... I thought the w- or the lady of the house would greet me."

The near-slip of the word witch did not escape Cage. He knew what Marie Laveau thought of his ma. He also knew that Marie was half the war back when his grandma died, even if he had never gotten the details. The guilt on her face, the scars that probably originated back to that war, made him want to ask now, but that would be something for later. Now he wanted her gone.

"You'll have to deal with me. I don't want them knowin' you're here."

"You speak just like the Misty girl", she said. Her eyes flickered when she did and Cage found himself doubted whether she was entirely lucid.

"What do you want?" He asked, sternly but not unkindly.

That snapped her back into focus. Her posture straightened a little and while it sounded like it cost her dearly in energy she managed to sound demanding. "I want my boy. My Damian. I can't… I can't find him." The harshness went out of her voice again and the whine of an old woman took its place. "I've dug up every inch of the grounds now and I can't… can't find him."

"That's 'cause he ain't buried there", Cage said. This much he was told. He had even been to the grave. Misty thought it important that someone visited the child. "Ma thought they were cursed lands, so we buried him somewhere else. I'll show you, if you keep quiet."

Marie nodded eagerly. "I'll do that. I don't wanna see 'em, if it can be avoided. I'll follow you."

Cage nodded and gestured for her to follow. Before they left the premise, he looked around the corner to where Zoe was still trying to talk Kyle down. She looked up and he nodded silently at her to let her know everything was okay. She didn't need to know more or she would prevent him from going.

They walked in silence then. Cage didn't need to think of the way; he knew the road to the swamps by heart. Marie followed him, side by side with him, so he could keep an eye on her. She might not have done him any injury, but he knew better than to trust her.

The close proximity made the sense of death about her stronger. It leaked of her like a thin wave and he knew he recognized the glow from somewhere.

"Are you sick, Marie?" He asked.

To his surprise, she nodded and confessed. "I am. After I lost my powers and my Damian, I went mad trying to get either back. Or madder, I realize now. Your family had taken my home, but they had not taken all of my materials. All I had left of my glory and former life was the potions I had not yet used. Most of them similar to those I used to wake that boy. You know about him, don't you? The boy who lives with your mothers?"

"You mean Kyle?"

"I don't remember his name, but he was blonde. He was the one to come find me just now."

"Yeah, that's Kyle. I know you got him back to life, somehow." Having been too little to understand, Cage still had trouble comprehending the lot of it, but he accepted it, because he could feel how different Kyle was. And suddenly he recognized the glow about Marie Laveau.

"Did you raise yourself from the dead?"

Marie laughed, a dry sound that was closer related to a cough than laughter. "I've never been physically dead and I doubt I could make me alive again if I was. But I used it in hopes I'd regain power. Instead it's made me sick. And now I'm too tired to keep takin' it. I just want my boy and be done."

"Were you going to kill my parents?" It rushed out of him, before he could stop to find a more tact for his question. Marie turned her grey face towards him for the first time.

"I don't know. That's my honest answer. The- Misty, yes, perhaps, because she scared me, but your other mama, no. She wasn't important to me. I'm sorry, Cage. I was blind with grief and rage. I'm not gonna tell you all the horrible things I did to you family. Let your mothers do that, if they wish it. Just know that I'm sorry you were hurt. In any way. I never wanted that."

They had reached the edge of the forest now and Cage lead Marie further into the tight growth. He didn't head for the shack or the riverside, but to a different part of the forest, which held no special meaning to Misty. That had been important to her as well. That way this spot could be Damian's alone.

Cage considered Marie's apology and then said: "I know. I remember you saved me once from Damian. You made sure your boy didn't hurt me. But why did you take me?"

"Because I thought you could help him." She was crying now. The tears were reluctant to fall, but they were in her voice. "You always knew magic in a way no other child ever did. You were special. I imagine you still are. I hoped you could be a good support for my Damian. But he was too…" She never got the last word out, but Cage understood fine. He wanted to berate her, tell her what a horrible thing that was and selfish too, but one look into her wrecked, dead face told him that it wouldn't matter. She knew and the best he could do was to forgive her. On behalf of his family. So he did.

"I don't know all that you did and I ain't sure I wanna know. But I forgive you. That's the best I can do. You just have to promise never to come back to the house. They are doing so well and that's the best they can do, I think. Okay?"

Marie nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Cage. You're very unique boy."

He didn't answer that, but stopped instead and pointed ahead. "It's right through there. Your boy's spot. I'll leave you alone with him and head back. Can you find your way out?"

"That don't matter none. Thank you."

Cage gave her a smile and then turned back, before Marie walked into the little clearing that was Damian Laveau's final resting place. It was a beautiful spot that Cage had always liked as a child, but he wouldn't visit today. Perhaps the grave would be gone the next time he came by, but that was Marie's choice.

When he returned to the wedding, his mother was waiting for him by the front door. She was still in her dress, but for the time being the celebration had left her. Cage cursed inwardly; he would say a curse out loud in front her.

"I'm guessin' you know everythin'?" He said with a cautious voice, not sure if he was in trouble or not.

"Zoe is terrible at keeping secrets", Cordelia said. "Are you okay?"

"Yes", he said and smiled at her. It undid some of the worry.

"You should have come to your mama or I."

He stepped up to her and put a hand on each of her shoulders. He was taller than her by now and it had made him feel protective of her, ever since he realized it. Misty said that was just how Cordelia made you feel. "You're right, in theory."

"In theory?" She repeated with an incredulous voice and a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, because I know it was your war, but I'm part of it too and I didn't want your day ruined. All she wanted was to see her son, so I took her there. Then I left. She did nothin' to me. She never hurt me before neither."

Cordelia looked like she wanted to say a load of things, but kept it in. Instead she sighed and put her hands around his neck. "You're a wonderful boy and you always believe the best in people. I wish I could do that. You've given her something none of us could have. I want to think she deserves that."

Cage didn't say anything, only accepted the confirmation of what he had thought just before. It made him glad he had provided Marie with some form of forgiveness.

"Perhaps someday, you can learn the whole story. If you want to."

"I'm not sure I do. How 'bout for now, we just enjoy you guys finally being married?" He gave her a wink and she smiled. It made her shine.

"Sounds like a good plan to me."

O0O

It became years before they finally told Cage the details of the war with Marie Laveau. By then Misty and Cage had both gone to find Damian's grave empty and the clearing deserted. No one ever saw the voodoo queen again. Cordelia didn't miss her, but she accepted that her mother's old enemy found a scrap of piece in the end. The whole story came out to Cage in the week leading up to his leaving for college. Cordelia had gone into the habit of bursting into tears at the thought of her boy leaving home and she finally cracked and told him part of the reason it was so hard to see him go. Even then it wasn't the whole story. She left out the part where she was in fight with Misty. Even all these years past, if hurt to admit it, but at the end of the line not all honesty serves to protect. He didn't need to know, she and Misty agreed. They sometimes revisited the memory, just the two of them, but by now it was just a dent in the long and crooked road of their relationship. It had shaped them both and made them stronger and it didn't need to mean more than that.

Every now and then, Cordelia would wander into the room that used to hold her son and was now only occupied for weeks at a time, when he came home for holidays. He had gone to New York to study and Cordelia missed him so much it broke her heart. When it was at its worst, she would go into Cage's room and cry. Then Misty would find her, wrap her arms around her and sing until the voices calmed and the yearnings for their son's return became bearable. Misty always missed him too, but she handled it better. She was always more in control of her own emotions, Cordelia often thought.

"I ain't worried, 'cause I know he'll return home once he's done. The Louisiana swamps are too temptin' for an aspirin' marine biologist." She always winked at Cordelia, when she said this, and it both calmed her and made her miss Cage even more.

A marine biologist he became, around the same time Cordelia became the school librarian in addition to her teaching. It was a few extra hours, but she enjoyed it. She had been offered the position of headmistress on one occasion and turned it down. She had never needed to rise to the top, something her mother would never have understood, but Misty did. And her son as well. She and Misty traveled to New York to see him on graduation day and Cordelia cried throughout the entire ceremony. She looked to her left to find Misty with wet eyes as well.

"Darling, are you crying?" Misty flinched ever so slightly at the mention, but turned her head with a smile.

"Sometimes I can't believe it, Delia. I can't believe we got all this way. I can't believe those two tiny girls who met in the swamp got to growin' up together and get married and now we're watchin' our baby boy finish college. And he said he's comin' home, didn't I tell you he would?"

Cordelia laughed with delight at the incredulity in Misty's voice, leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"I'm delighted your doubt is only surfacing now, love. Now that I no longer have enough for the both of us."

That made Misty laugh too and she cleaned up in time for Cage to come down and greet them.

"I can't wait to have you back, pup", Misty said on the way back to the airport days later. There was a strange tone of relief in her voice and it was the first time Cordelia realized her wife's constant reassurance of Cage's return was nothing but wishful thinking. It made her smile and she drove on without saying anything.

And life went by for Cordelia like the dream, just like Misty said it already had for her. It was moment to moment, full of life, but looking back, Cordelia realized that a dream was the only way to describe it. She was old and grey now, but there was light in her eyes yet. She thought back over her life, as she realized the dream-like harmony of it. The day Cage married his girlfriend of seven years. The day they had their sons. The hard winter when the roof broke in, where she and Misty had to live with Zoe and Kyle for a week. Even that period following the death of Misty's alligator, Nick. He lived a long life that one, 60 years thanks to Misty's healing hands, until he was killed by one of the younger ones at the lake. Misty said it was the way of nature, but she couldn't quite hide the heartbreak even so. Cage came and attended the funeral, cried almost as much as Misty. His wife and kids stayed home, and while that seemed an ignorant thing at first, Cordelia understood. They were city people from the heart of New Orleans and a dead alligator was not something they could ever feel a loss for. Cordelia herself attended the funeral, not because she had ever felt close to Nick, but because she understood the strange bond between him and her loved ones.

Misty had since accepted the passing of her old friend and with him gone, the guilt forcing her to visit her old clearing dissipated. She had since blessed many rescue animals with her love and came to work part time at an animal shelter, despite being far past the retiring age. Cordelia laughed at the memory of Misty, cocking her head to the side, throwing her a lopsided smile and saying: "Darling, you know city rules never applied to me." And she worked for free too, so no one bothered to tell her to go home and knit.

Cordelia breathed a sigh of inner peace and looked out her window. It was a clear day, almost cool by Louisiana standards and a lovely sight, but she was too tired to go outside. Her old bones ached now and she settled for the loving warmth of Misty's embrace.

The sigh had Misty looking down at her and a hand lifted to her heart.

"How're you feelin' today, darlin'?"

"I'm fine. I told you it was just a passing flu."

"Flu's ain't a good thing at your age, Delia. You didn't used to get them." Cordelia stretched up to kiss the worry off Misty's face.

"I know, love. But it's okay." In truth, she hadn't had any kind of illness in decades. Misty had fought off every evil before it could take root and had done so for ninety years now. The voices had silenced a couple of years ago too and Cordelia had heard nothing since. She knew it was for good this time and she didn't miss them.

"I don't know if I can keep fixin' you, darlin'. Nature always wins in the end." When Cordelia looked up again, the worry was right back in Misty's beautiful features. She was at the beginning of her own nineties, but she still didn't look a day over sixty. Just as Misty never got sick and could heal up any cut inflicted on her body, she aged slower than the rest of them. She almost looked younger than their son. She was a magical being, would always be. Cordelia had accepted that she would be here for many years after Cordelia herself passed on and in some way that gave her a sense of calm.

Cordelia took Misty's hand and squeezed it. "There's nothing left to fix, Misty. I'm good, love. You did everything and so much more."

"But I don't want to live forever without you."

"Cage is still here, live for him. He's a tiny boy version of me, remember?"

"He ain't so tiny no more. He's as tall as me. But he still looks like you." Misty gave her another crooked smile and the air became light again. Misty had somehow become the worrying one, while Cordelia felt strong, secure. They had years still and the realization made her suddenly want to get up and live them. She tucked at Misty's wrist and got up standing, with some support.

She gave Misty one look and Misty nodded. Their wordless connection had only gotten stronger through the years. It annoyed Cage to no end, but it filled Cordelia with love and that's what she told Misty, as she suggested they take a walk.

Misty nodded and answered with a gaze that said: I'll follow you anywhere.