Gold | Disney Descendants

Chap 14

They're back in only a couple days, dirty and tired and almost completely out of pixie dust. It's night time as they arrive, bleary-eyed and heaving a sigh of relief. Squeezing together in a hug, they finally separate to head off home. Twyla sneaks back inside, careful not to wake her mother as she slips off into her own room. Spritz flutters down into her own bed and Twyla flops onto her own. She doesn't even bother to pull up the covers before she's fast asleep. The next morning, she wakes late in the day, the midday sun blinding through her window.

Stretching her wings, she yawns widely, her jaw popping. Her fingers reach up for the bauble at her neck and she smiles again. As she leaves her room, she's instantly pulled into a hug by Zarina. As they settle down for Zarina's lunch, and Twyla's breakfast, she retells how they found the necklace and how it worked. As she finishes, she watches as Zarina frowns, expression solemn.

"You're ... planning on leaving again then? Soon?"

Twyla barely notices the look on her mother's face or the tone of her voice, entirely distracted by the necklace. "Oh yeah, within the next few weeks probably."

"Ever the adventurer, aren't you, love?" Zarina murmurs softly, her frown snaps into a tight-lipped smile as Twyla glances back over to her. Twyla scarfs down the rest of her lunch, kisses her mother on the cheek and then she's hurrying off out the door.

When she zips into the dust distribution, Saffron smiles at her.

"You're late," she drawls, a hint of amusement in her voice. Twyla just chuckles, closing her eyes as Saffron dumps the dust over her head. Shaking herself, the dust trickles out of her hair. When she looks back at the dust-fairy, there's a slight frown on Saffron's face. "Hey ... Can we meet up later? Tonight maybe?"

Twyla flashes a smile: "Sure. Meet above the firefly farm? Where we used to?"

Saffron just nods in reply and Twyla is darting out of the centre, off towards the laundry-talent fairies. Back before she left, it was rare for her to interact with the laundry fairies. Usually it was Zarina taking all the clothes to them. She drops in, the odd smell of the mixtures they used to clean the clothes. Bubbles rose out of a large pool of water in the middle of the room. One of the sparrowmen stroll over to her as she enters.

"Usually we don't see fairies so empty-handed," he says, smiling kindly. Twyla flashes one back.

"I wanted to ask something. My boots are ink-stained, I was wondering if you had a way of fixing that?"

Had she known that one question would lead to an hour of laundry fairies and sparrowmen explaining various ways of cleaning clothes and shoes, then she wouldn't have asked it. Finally though, she's able to tear herself away, waving a quick goodbye to them as she shoots off.

—— §

As night falls, Twyla and Spritz drop off the last of the collected light with a few other light-fairies before flying off to wait for Saffron. She settles herself down onto the branch, letting her legs swing in the breeze, her hand resting atop Spritz's head. A little while later, Saffron flits down next to her, dusting leftover pixie dust off her hands. Twyla lifts her hand in a small wave, smiling softly. Quietly, Saffron sits, squeezing her hands between her knees.

"So ..." Saffron starts.

"So?" Twyla echoes.

"You're gonna leave again ... aren't you?" Saffron doesn't look at her, instead staring out at the dimming orange sunset on the horizon. Twyla sighs quietly and it's all the answer Saffron needs. Finally, she looks towards Twyla and grabs her hand. "Stay."

"Saff-"

"Just ... stay. If only until the end of the year. Come on." Saffron's eyes are desperate. "Please."

Twyla sighs softly, squeezing Saffron's hand back. "Sure. I'll stay an entire year even. But I made a promise to my friends that I'd see them again, so I have to go."

Saffron smiles, bobs her head in a small nod. "A year then."