I told the stars about you, Hoping one day you'd answer

Chapter seven

"We might not have until morning."

He was dying. She could feel it. He was dying and there is nothing she could do to stop it.

"No, it wasn't, it is now."

It was dead. Her partner, her soulmate, would be fine. He was safe.

"We might not have until morning."

He was dying. He could feel it. He was dying and he was going to leave her alone.

"How is he?"

He was fine actually. He had felt it when the burned one had died. When she had killed it. When she had saved him.

"When school ends, you're grounded for the summer."

"Good to have you back."

He watched his best friend's son, his son, leave before turning to his friend.

"How is she?"

As though he hadn't heard, the healer continued to tidy his supplies back to their designated areas and muttered about certain healing herbs that would help his ordinary wounds.

"Ben."

The earth fairy sighed and turned around.

"Farah is... she's Farah. Holed up in her office, pretending to deal with a mountain of paperwork she doesn't have because she's too organised and ignoring what's going on in her head."

The specialist rolled his eyes and sighed, he knew exactly what the mind fairy would be doing, he'd just hoped she wasn't.

"She was worried about you and we both know she took more of your pain than she let on."

His friend's voice was quiet, as though he was airing a secret that wasn't to be told.

"You passed out pretty quickly when you were taken here so you didn't see it, but she was frantic. You'd never tell by looking at her, but her magic was rattling things and she didn't even notice."

"She was scared."

It went without saying. Neither of them knew exactly what their friend had been through, but they knew Rosalind had hurt her, and not just physically. Psychological warfare had been a strong tactic used by the woman.

"You can't be the hero anymore Saul. You can't take assignments anymore, not without her. She's not a housewife you can leave behind while you go to work."

"I know."

"She's your best friend who cares a great deal about you, and you waste that by trying to kill yourself you stupid man."

They laughed as he stood up.

"I'm going to go make sure she gets sleep."

"You do that, I'm going to check on my son and daughter."

Grinning, the headmaster made his way up to his other fairy friend's office. He knocked on the door and waited for it to open or a shout to be heard from within. When it didn't come, he opened the door himself. Quietly, he walked into the room, not wanting to disturb his friend if she was dealing with someone or something. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from the moon shining in through her window.

"Farah?"

She was slouched over her desk, head in her arms, face hidden.

"Farah?"

He spoke louder, hoping to attract her attention to avoid any flares of magic. When again, no reply came from the fairy, he moved to her desk, placing a hand softly on her shoulder. The only response he got was her tucking her head further away from him. He smiled at what he saw before him, it was rare to his friend so relaxed, leaving herself vulnerable and dropping her guard. It didn't happen often and might never happen again with burned ones returning. He squeezed her shoulder gently, crouching down beside her and shook her softly.

"Farah, you're going to have to wake up, you can't sleep in your office."

She stirred, lifting her head and looking at him through an unfocused gaze.

"Come on, just lean on me, I'll get you to your rooms."

She nodded and he helped her stand up, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her. She shivered and leant heavily against him, her eyes half closed, head lolling back slightly. It worried him, but he wanted to get her to her rooms as fast as possible, it would be more comfortable for her and would prevent any students from seeing her like this.

He brought her into her rooms and helped her sit on the couch, watching her as she sank into the soft cushions with a sigh. Her eyes still had an unfocused look to them, as though she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing, and her skin was pale, shining an almost ghostly white in the pale glow of the room's lamp. He crouched in front of her, placing a hand gently on the side of her cheek giving her plenty of time to tell him if he was over stepping his boundaries.

"Farah why haven't you gone to Ben; you've used far too much of your magic. You've made yourself ill."

The fairy sighed once again and closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. A single tear made its way down her cheek and the specialist wiped it away carefully with his fingers.

"You're exhausted. You should have told one of us."

Once again, he got no reply except for a small shake of her head.

"Alright."

He lowered his voice so that it was barely more than a whisper, and stood up.

"But you need to go to bed."

She opened her eyes and watched him, smiling tiredly. Reaching forward, he placed an arm behind her back and one under her knees.

"May I?"

She nodded and he lifted her gently into his arms, heading towards the bedroom.

"You're going to have to sleep in your clothes tonight, Farah."

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips in reply and she leant against his chest.

Pulling back her covers, he placed her onto the bed before kneeling down to remove her shoes. He covered her with the duvet and made to leave when a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Stay. Please."

Barely audible, he almost missed the mind fairy's words and she held tightly to his sleeve. He watched her for a few moments, hesitating before nodding and climbing into the bed beside her. She curled up against him and he wrapped his arms around her unable to resist pressing his lips against her forehead.

"Goodnight, Farah."