The Other Side of the Mirror

You Won't Forget Me

TRIGGER WARNING: mention of miscarriage.

It was about five and a half months after the twins third birthday when I first dared return to the realm.

By some miracle I had managed to persuade Nora with a bit of help from Albert to let me keep the mirror just as a memento of the realm on the solemn promise I would never return there again.

I had kept my promise for almost ten months but I couldn't stay away any longer.

I had waited until everyone was asleep before whispering the incantation and heading to the realm. Under the cover of darkness I had made my way to Morpheus' house in the pouring rain, anxiously looking around in case anyone saw me.

I was soaked through when I reached his house around one in the morning. I hesitantly chapped the door, wondering if he would even be awake to open it. But he answered in a heartbeat, a look of hope on his face.

When the dim light from his hallway hit me, his face lit up with joy and he pulled me into an embrace.

He led me into his house and dashed off to fetch me a towel and lit the fire to warm me up. I crouched down beside it, watching the flames dance and twirl in an elegant manner.

He returned moments later with a fluffy white towel and took my sodden coat from me and hung it up to dry before disappearing again somewhere.

Despite the heat from the fire I shivered slightly in my thin nightgown and wrapped the towel tightly around myself. I shuffled closer to the fire, rubbing my hands together. At that moment Morpheus returned with two mugs of tea and sat down next to me on the worn navy rug.

"I'm so sorry Morpheus. I should have come back sooner." I said before he could say anything. He placed his mug down on the little coffee table behind us and wrapped an arm around me.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." His warm voice made me start crying.

"I'm so sorry." Was all I could manage.

He held me as I cried, rocking me gently back and forth in a comforting way almost as though I was a baby.

After a few minutes I managed to compose myself and wiped my tear stained face with the towel before turning to him and grinning. "I also bring news with me."

He grinned instantly, sensing what I was getting at. "Yes." He prompted excitedly.

"You're the father of not one but two beautiful girls."

He sat shocked for half a second before widening his already impossibly wide smile, his eyes the brightest gold I had ever seen.

"I can't believe this! I truly am the luckiest man alive. I'm only so sorry you've had to bring them up all on your own Rhea, I wish there was some way I could help out."

It was my turn to tell him he didn't have to apologise. "If you like, I might be able to bring one of them to visit you." He smiled again. "I would love nothing more, but why just one of them?"

I sighed. "Only one of them is a Wisp, the other is human."

"Oh I see." He said, slightly deflated that he could only meet one of his daughters for the moment. "I do so wish I could meet both of them but I completely understand how risky it would be to bring them both along given one is a human. Just as long as they both know I love them so much."

I smiled at him. "They do."

"What are their names?" He asked.

"Vivian and Nyx." I smiled.