Behind Lock & Key

Chapter 11

I wake up with my arms loosely wrapped around another, warmer body. I hum in delight and snuggle closer to the warmth, painfully aware of the light streaming through the window.

"Time to get up sleepyhead," Agatha says and moves beside me, but I groan and press my nose against her shoulder while I tighten my arms around her, "Y/n you've been knocked out for over twelve hours, you cannot still be tired, I remember you as the early bird."

"I did it again," I mumble. Agatha runs her fingers through my hair. She's soft and gentle when her fingers unknot my tangles. She's brushing hair behind my ears and rubbing my scalp whenever she starts working on a new lock. It's sending goosebumps down my spine. Even my magic squeals of pure joy while my brain is a lovely lilac. My heart is not my own in this moment. It belongs solely to the woman beside me.

"What did you do again?" it's hard to focus while her fingers are massaging my scalp. I try to find the words I'm supposed to say, but I feel myself about to drift off when Agatha calls my name and pulls her hands away. I widen my eyes, trying to keep them open by letting as much uncomfortable bright light in as possible, but I close them again.

"That magic drain thing, I did that again," the softness of her body beneath me disappears. Limp for limp I feel her freeze up. Her shoulder I had just used as a pillow turns hard as stone as she tightens her muscles. Her calm breathing is held back for a moment, and when it returns, it's more rapid.

"And how are you feeling now? Y/n, are you all right? Were you alone?" The questions keep coming, streaming towards me like a river. But I start wondering how I can answer her questions without breaking my promise to Rio.

When I don't reply, Agatha sits up in her bed and pulls me up along with her, but when she turns her body towards me, she places her hands on my shoulders with stretched arms. Her eyes are searching, the sparkles in her eyes aren't out of joy, it's from the invisible tears she doesn't dare let fall.

However, it's not enough. She crawls out of the bed and walks around it, and pulls me up as well. Her hands start searching my arms for any wounds. Her eyes follow her movements. I shiver as they run along my sides, her hands are warming my skin through the thin fabric of the pyjamas I'm wearing. When she's somewhat satisfied, she pulls me closer with her hands on my hips, "Are you okay?"

I cub both of her cheeks with my cold hands, "I'm okay now," I look at her, "but it made me realise I owed you a huge apology. I should've never gotten angry with you, we haven't seen each other in centuries, and here I come expecting you to change your way of surviving just because I showed up. I am sorry, Aggs, about your coven and your mother, I- it was awful and I... I wish I could've been there for you afterwards, I'm truly sorry I didn't check up on you."

"You're not mad?" She asks, her eyes pleading. I brush her hair behind her ears. It's been a very long time since I last saw her standing in front of me, aware that I was older than her. As soon as the first couple of decades passed, our roles switched naturally; I was always more gentle, not ready to pick a fight like Agatha. She was our leader, the one who stood up for us and made sure we were safe, I was the one to comfort her, make sure she was okay even when I didn't feel okay myself. She has always been the same, and I've always loved her no matter what she was up to.

"Of course not," I place a firm kiss on her forehead, "you survived, and to me, that's all that matters." And as I stand here with her, I know I'm telling the truth. I don't care whose or how many lives it costs, Agatha's safety is all that matters. Because Agatha is so beautiful as she stands in front of me with her hair tangled after sleep and her eyes not yet recovered from the light of the bright sun. She's here, in my arms, and in my heart.

She looks at me with glaced eyes, so beautifully fragile I can barely stop my magic from sparking through my palms. Both it and I are willing to tear down the world if it means she'll be safe, my love.
Agatha sighs softly and rests her head on my shoulder. I pull my arms around her body and start swaying.