The end, finally!

I didn't exactly re-write the whole series, but if you remember the last episode, it is smooth sailing. I hope you'll like it!

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This was for the best.

You repeated this like a mantra.

This was for the best.

You had no chance to face the crisis unfolding now: between Burned Ones, an old war hero, a teenager who was stronger than she let on and a rich sponsor on the outside, Alfea was doomed.

Farah Dowling was doomed.

Your potential soulmate.

Who were you kidding? You knew it was her. You knew your soulmate was at Alfea, teaching for years; impromptu visions told you as much. Given your tendencies, you knew she was a woman, and since magic bound souls around the same age, you knew she would be in the same years as you.

Still, to think it would be the Fairy prodigy, the youngest headmistress of Alfea, the war hero and the one who pushed barriers to a whole new kind of skills...

Any other day, it would have puffed you with pride. Fate paired those with similar aptitude; to have such a powerful soulmate meant your own magic was too unequalled, powerful, and innovative.

A majestic clapback to all the teachers who said you'd never be able to accomplish anything.

But it was useless, knowing she had no chance to get through the day. If she didn't die from the Burned Ones' attack -there was a high chance, given she would put herself between her students and the danger without care for her own life- the old general would kill her or, at the very least, destitute her.

Some part of you tried to reason with the facts.

Didn't she kind of deserve it? She seemed prone to ignore law, lie and imprison even underage young women. If she could put a war hero in stasis, there was no telling what she might do to the rest of the world.

Except she would have done that long ago, wouldn't she?

If she were planning to throw over the world, she wouldn't have stayed sixteen years in the same post, fighting hard to provide more chances for education, even for disabled students. She wouldn't have retired from war, but would've continued it until she too was a hero too frightening to be put aside.

Farah Dowling wasn't fundamentally a bad person, but her morals were a little grey.

And who were you to judge?

You stole hundreds of artefacts, paintings, sometimes statues, all for money. You worked for people whom you knew had certainly killed people before, and you did it anyway. You certainly weren't a saint.

No reason for your conscience to come knocking now.

You've always favoured your own life or comfort above anyone else's.

Going straight into a battlefield was so far out of your comfort zone that it was stupid, and you weren't stupid. You weren't even remotely concerned by Alfea's future, and Farah Dowling had never asked anything of you.

Then why, as you approached the barrier of Alfea, ready to cross it and forget everything, you hesitated? Why weren't you walking past it, why were you stuck in place, why were you seeing again and again that woman in your mind?

"It has to be your choice, as well"

No one had ever told you that.

Everyone has always decided what was best for you, with your disability, your peculiar power, and rejected you for your parent's life choice (they were petty criminals, not even close to where you are now), your inability to read, and your strange gift that made it sound so easy to give them right.

Farah Dowling wasn't asking anything of you, when she had every right to.

"It has to be your choice, as well".

No, dammit! You'd be useless, and you'd just die in a fraction of second. It was ridiculous to risk your life for someone you'd just met, without any assurance she actually was your soulmate.

Your decision made, you stepped through the barrier...

Who wasn't there anymore.

Alfea was unprotected against the tens of Burned Ones you felt rummaging on earth.

You swore, and ran.

This was stupid. You weren't a fighter. You had no idea how to protect something, you had only ever broken into protections.

Then why were you already under the vibrating earth, hearing the snarling of those creatures?

This was stupid.

You pulled.

Immediately, the earth melted, letting a few Burned Ones sink into it; you pushed, and the earth became solid again, imprisoning them under the surface. Surrounded by dirt, heavy compact dirt, they couldn't move.

You weren't a fighter.

Still, you could try to do something.

Weakened by this stunt, you resolved that it was the best you could do. How many were left, now? Six? Seven? You couldn't take them on your own, but maybe future soldiers could. You just had to warn them.

When you surged in front of Farah -since when did you think of her as Farah?- she flinched, combat ready; only then she recognized you, mute from what you hoped was a good feeling. You'd loved to be a Mind Fairy, right now, if it allowed you to somehow try to make things right with her.

-Just like Sam... she whispered.

Who was Sam? Why were you jealous? Not that you had any right to. Now was not the time.

-I captured ten-something Burned Ones, near the forest, underground. They won't be a problem.

-How...?

-I can push others the same way I push myself.

It wasn't the best vocabulary, you were aware, but you never had a teacher for this. You had to learn on your own, and only based on feelings; words were only too lacking for feelings.

This being said, doing it for others was nowhere as simple as doing it yourself; while you've been walking the earth for decades, you had only a few tries with others. It was exhausting, and you hoped you'd never have to do it again.

-You have a few secret tunnels here. You should check that out before the Burned Ones feel them too.

-Where?

-Behind the counter. One right under our feet... No, my bad, it collapsed. One leading to... You know. What I found.

The woman in stasis.

You felt her tense, but she thanked you, grateful, before barking a couple orders. She was hot, you decided. You had different criterias for beauty, of course, including contact and voice. The impression one person left on you.

Right now, even stressed, her hands were still just as soft, and her voice just as reassuring.

You wanted her safe.

-You should... Get away. As far as you can.

-You know I won't.

-You know I had to offer.

Farah had a humourless chuckle.

-Thank you for your offer. I might take you upon it another time.

-Anytime.

A silence stretched between the two of you, filled with comfort. The room was bustling, you felt inquisitive eyes on you, but you wanted to stay with her as long as you could.

-Why... Why are you helping me?

-Because you offered me the choice.

And that was it, really. All your life, you have needed to take control of everything, trying to find comfort and recognition from others, without realising what you really needed. Oh, you were still a thief with grey morals, but...

Maybe there was more to you than you thought.

Strangely, there was no grand battle. After one Burned One got through, he escaped, and Farah seemed to realise something, muttering after a flower "Bloom"? And then got out, you followed cautiously under her feet.

You were really happy to be underground when you felt the waves of magic above you, and you didn't dare to ask. Right now, your self appointed job was simply to check on Farah, make sure she was alright; be it when she was talking to students, or...

Burying Burned Ones.

The woman was too noble for her own good.

-You buried them. How noble.

A voice echoed your thoughts, and you shivered. Without ever meeting her, you knew who it was.

Rosalind.

Heart beating, you waited for the other shoe to drop. You couldn't muster any kind of attention to the conversation, already decided that the secrets didn't hold any interest to you at all; if it wasn't about a hidden treasure, you wanted none of it.

Farah was the only non-treasure you'd want to care about.

When you felt her get up from that bench and get away, you had a sigh of relief. Maybe that Rosalind woman wouldn't want to kill Farah after years in stasis; maybe a political attack would be her only problem.

Maybe...

You felt her feet leave the earth and for a terrifying second, you couldn't feel her.

Then a sudden surge of her magic went to the earth, to you, while you dizzied from the information. Farah was calling you. No. What was she calling? What was she doing? Why was a seed growing, in front of you?

-What the fuck are they gonna do about it?

The passive, cold voice, and the muffled "crack" that resounded were burned into your mind.

It couldn't be.

Then you felt Farah's body slump on the ground, motionless, while a silent scream opened your mouth. No, not now! You just found her, you couldn't lose her! She was yours, her life was yours, not Rosalind's.

No, it was impossible.

You felt her body seeping through the ground, the earth closing around her.

Even if her heart was still feebly beating -probably not for long, but Fairies were much harder to kill-, if her mind and magic were still in that seed growing, Rosalind wanted to bury her alive. Anger and pain took over your heart, but you gently pulled Farah's body to hold her.

Her neck was broken.

Her heart was still beating, but if the blood couldn't go to the brain, she would be dead in a couple minutes. But you knew nothing, your talent wasn't healing people, like Earth Fairies often did.

Slowly, you made a minerva out of smooth dirt and rock, solid but -you hoped- comfortable for the neck. Gently, you pushed everything back into place that way, flinching at every noise, whimper and everything.

Then you realised.

She shouldn' be alive. She wasn't, not really.

Her mind was in that growing fern, nestled above her in the dirt that cleared around you both.

-Farah, please...

You didn't know what else to do, but begging her. Surely she could do something; surely she had a plan, with that seed. She wouldn't let Rosalind kill her, just because she realised she was a little bit more grey than she'd have liked?

-Farah, I can't lose you. Please...

Sluggishly, you opened your eyes, not used to the movement. You didn't know if your eyes still worked, after years of being unused; but they had to work, because you couldn't let her die without at least trying to see her. Trying for her.

-I need you to open your eyes. Please.

This was your last chance.

The bond between two people, once formed, released an unreasonable amount of magic. When two people's energy melted together, the result was first an explosion, before dust settled and fusion took place, allowing them to really become one.

She could use that... Probably.

-Farah, I am begging you. If you want to live, if you want to fight for your student, if you want to... If you want to try our chance... Open your eyes.

You were crying, now, not that it changed much to your vision. She laid still, too still in your arms, her breathing too slow, too deep. She had stopped making any noise, and her heartbeat was erratic.

-Please...

Then, like a crackling, an almost inaudible rasp, you heard:

-Are you... sure?

Hope took over, bubbly and warm. She was there, she wasn't dead, not yet. You tried to project calmness, knowing she could feel how distressed you were; she needed all the support she could get.

-I am very sure. You left me the choice, and I choose you. Open your eyes.

Slowly, her eyelids went up, until you discovered the most beautiful brown you had ever seen.

With a gasp, you felt magic swirl around you, in the confined nest you made for you both under the surface. Still, you couldn't look away, as your vision became clearer, and that you could now distinguish her features.

Farah was beautiful, even more than you imagined.

-You're my soulmate, you whispered with awe.

-And you're mine.

Magic did its miracle, mending her neck, allowing her to tap into your magic to heal. Your heart beat faster, pure happiness dancing inside you, and you discovered what it was to not be alone. To live with someone, for someone.

-Take what you need, you murmured. I'm yours, and you're mine.

-I am yours, and you're mine, she repeated.

Farah looked like she couldn't believe it, while you were stupidly smiling, pressing your head against her, opening yourself up fully. She had access to all your life, every success and mistake, and she understood you; you had access to hers, and you understood her.

You didn't know what the future would hold for you, but you would fight for her, and her for you.

Together.

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Tadaaaa! A rather open ending, I know. Writing all of season two would have taken me more time and energy than I could muster, but I hope this little fiction entertained you at least a little bit.

It was fun, considering a world full of soulmates, and I think I will continue to write on this theme. If you have any good ideas, don't hesitate to share!

If you could vote or tell me in the comments what you thought about it, it would make me the happiest author ever.

See you soon for a last bonus chapter!