Fire Meets Water - A Kotlc Marellinh Fan Fiction

Chapter 19 - Linh

A crowd had gathered by then. Most of the fighting had stopped and the defeated Neverseen members had lept away. So plenty of people had been there to see Fintan jump. Everyone just stood there for a beat, not sure what to do. Death was so rare in the Lost Cities that someone taking their own life was practically unheard of.

Finally, Sophie walked forward and looked over the edge. Linh saw her posture stiffen as she peered down, bracing herself for the worst. The look was quickly replaced by surprise, as she stepped closer to get a better look.

"He-he's not there," Sophie said, eyebrows bunching together. A murmur rose from the crowd and people came closer to see what was happening. Linh followed suit and looked over. She saw only rocks and the ocean's white-capped waves.

"Wha-what if he fell into the sea?" someone asked.

"He couldn't have," Sophie said, "unless he could fly. There are at least 20 feet of rock before the water." Some breathed a sigh of relief, but that still left a big unanswered question.

"So...where is he?" Linh asked, speaking for all of them.

"I-I don't know," Sophie said. How could she? She was just a kid after all, she shouldn't have that kind of pressure or expectations on her. Woah, that was weird, Linh thought I wanted to punch her in the face a minute ago and now I'm feeling sorry for her? What is happening? Linh shook it off. She could deal with that later, right now, she had more pressing matters at hand.

-----

Weeks blended together as things returned to normal. Whenever someone told the story of the wedding catastrophe, they changed it a little bit, so now stories ranged from a huge wave swallowing them all to fire demons attacking them. Linh didn't feel the need to correct them.

School was as it was, Linh didn't think anything could change that, Kids gossiped and spread rumors. Linh usually tried to keep away from that but being Marella's girlfriend sometimes made that difficult. Sometimes she found herself caught between two groups fighting or something dumb like that.

Linh chuckled to herself, reliving the moment when Keefe had put up a giant picture of an edited Dame Alina that had demon horns and a mustache. He had gotten detention for a month, but he said it was totally worth it.

Combing through her hair with her fingers, Linh looked over at herself in the mirror. She clipped a red hairpin onto her black locks. Linh walked down from her room to the Leapmaster, the skirt of her Foxfire uniform swishing as she walked.

Linh couldn't help but remember that only a few months earlier, she had been standing here, her biggest worry being whether or not Marella had talked to her that day. It felt like so long ago.

"Foxfire!" Linh said and made sure to focus on keeping a protective bubble of consciousness around her the whole time she was leaping.

She arrived at the glittery school palace in one piece - a promising start to the day. Linh was there early and the morning dew glistened on the green grass. She walked along the gravel path, her shoes crunching as she walked to her favorite spot on the Foxfire grounds.

A tree with pink and purple leaves that hung down obscuring the top of the tree grew out of the earth from gnarled roots. The trunk was rough but felt good if you rubbed your hand along it. Linh wrapped her knuckles against the tree in a specific pattern. She had barely finished the code when a wooden ladder descended from somewhere atop the tree. Linh slung her bag over her shoulder to free up both of her hands for climbing, as she ascended the ladder.

Linh let out a happy sigh as she pulled herself up to the wooden platform. It was the perfect place. You got a gorgeous view of the Foxfire grounds, but no one could see in, giving you a special kind of privacy.

Marella was already there, seated on a white and red checkered blanket, a whole breakfast feast displayed before her. Ever since Sophie had introduced Linh to human breakfast foods, she had been obsessed. Roasted potatoes, pancakes, sausage (vegan of course, who in their right mind would eat a dead pig?), and waffles were laid out before her, ready to be devoured.

Linh sat her bag down and took a deep breath, letting the warm pancake smell encase her momentarily. Linh and Marella had started coming to this little treehouse almost every week recently. It had become their place to get away from it all.

She traced her fingers along the carved M+L they had put into the panels (not the living tree!) when they had first discovered it.

"Not even a good morning kiss for your loving girlfriend who so kindly brought you this feast?" Marella teased, wagging her finger at Linh. She laughed, then leaned forward and pecked Marella on the lips.

"Better?" Linh asked.

"Much," Marella replied. She noticed Linh eyeing the meal and said, "I know it's killing you not to be eating those waffles right now." Sure, you could call it a date, but Linh didn't really like labels. It was just her spending time with her girlfriend.

She smiled. "Say no more," she said before shoving a whole entire waffle into her mouth at once. The fluffy goodness overwhelmed her senses in the best possible way as Marella laughed and picked up a waffle of her own.

"Mmmm. These really are good!" Marella said, swallowing.

"I told you so!" Linh teased, but with her mouth full it sounded more like "I fold do poh!"

Marella giggled then looked up and said, "You, uh, got something on your face." Linh tried in vain to whip it off with her finger.

"Oh my gosh," Marella said with faux annoyance, "let me get it." She reached up and swiped off the pancake residue. Linh felt little sparks erupt on her skin where Marella's finger touched her cheek.

"Did you get it?" Linh asked, looking into Marella's strikingly blue eyes. Ass elves had blue eyes, but Marella's were by far the prettiest.

"Heh, yeah I did," Marella said, running a hand through her hair. God, she was so gorgeous. Linh scooted over so she was sitting right next to Marella and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I really want to kiss you right now," Linh said, blushing a little and looking up at Marella.

"Well, no one's stopping you." She replied before leaning forward to meet Linh's lips with hers. A tingling sensation shot up Linh's spine as she pulled Marella closer, hoping to savor this moment forever.

The rising sun seeped through the foliage and warmed their backs as they ate and talked and kissed each other. The grounds around them came alive and started buzzing with the anticipation of the day ahead - oblivious to their presence, watching it all from above. 

A/N: Omg I can't believe I finally did this. There were times when I honestly didn't think I would ever finish. But here we are! I just wrote this over the pandemic to keep me sane and didn't plan on posting it on Wattpad at first, so thank you so much for all of your support! I wrote an epilogue and will post that at some point soon, so you still have a bit to look forward to.  See you then!

Word Count: 1.2k

Art Credits: @InsaneAvacodo99