Book II: Two different worlds

Chapter 22: Let's grow together

Hazel's POV

I walked upstairs to my room and smiled. I was so happy, I didn't even know how much I wanted all of this.

I entered my room and saw Fay still sleeping. I smiled as I slowly walked to her. I sat down onto our bed, at my side. "Baby, wake up." I said while shaking her softly.

She groaned and turned around.

"Baby, I have something for you."

She slowly sat up and looked at me, she was so cute right now. "What?"

I smiled and gave her the breakfast I made. "Tada!"

She smiled and licked her lips. "That looks really good." she said while starting to eat. She was eating a lot, alongside me. I guess we were both really hungry after last night...

After breakfast, I put the plate back onto the ground and laid down. "So, what now?" I asked her as I looked at her.

She looked at me, her eyes were sparkling, she was really happy and I could see that in the way she was looking at me. "Now we announce peace."

I took a deep breath. "I hope everything will turn out well."

Fay pulled me closer. "Baby, everything will turn out perfectly, I promise." she said while stroking my hair softly.

I sighed in relieve and closed my eyes, just lying with my wife. It feels so weird to say that word again.

_______________________________

Here we were, announcing peace to the world.

Fay was on stage, behind the mics while I was still backstage, no one had seen me yet. So to them, this must seem like a normal speech.

"Good day fellow wolves, humans... other creatures." she started. I looked at the crowd, some were already looking at her. "I'm here to announce a special message." she said, looking at me.

I smiled and nodded.

She looked back at the crowd and the cameras, that were filming this for live television. "For years we've been fighting the witches. Many have fallen, we've lost battles but also won battles."

I looked down, this made me think about dad again. I hadn't visit him in a while, and he was dying!

"I'm sure a lot of you have thought the same thing as me: that we'd never get over this war, that we'd keep fighting until there's no wolf or witch left. Well today I'm here to tell you otherwise."

Some journalists raised their hands, obviously they had their questions by now...

Fay closed her eyes for a second while taking a deep breath. "The war is over."

And with those 4 words, all hell broke loose. Journalists got up, wanting Fay's attention. Fay's parents stood there, mouths wide open. Her staff were all shocked.

"Listen, people. I know this is a big decision. But I haven't just taken it, there's a reason for it." she said as she looked at me. She extended her hand to me. 

I smiled and took her hand and walked to her, revealing myself to the journalists and Fay's parents and staff.

"The witch leader, Hazel, and I are back together. We were once married and we still feel the same as all those years ago. We're deeply sorry for all the lives that got lost in the war but we hope people will be happy that the war is over." Fay said and looked around.

I looked too and saw them all hesitating. I felt like it was my time to say something now. "I know you're all afraid of this. It's a big change in how we're going to live now. Fay and I have decided that we'll bond both kingdoms together, like we originally planned on doing. We're going to be one big kingdom. We hope you all are going to live according to those new rules."

Fay nodded. "And for those who are wondering, yes we are serious. This is not one big prank or something like that. We're deeply in love and we finally want to be a family."

"Alpha, you know that this will change a lot?" Some journalist asked.

Fay nodded. "I know, I'm absolutely aware of it. But it'll all change for the better." she said and looked at me, smiling. She made sure to squeeze my hand a little, for comfort and support. "All we want is that this war stops. It has killed enough innocent wolves and witches and humans. Enough is enough."

"Why now though?" Some other journalist asked, and he had a point. We should've done this years ago.

Fay looked at me, as if telling me to answer this question. I looked at this journalist. "We - mostly I - was consumed with hatred towards Fay that I blamed all the wolves. And that was very wrong of me to do. I'm deeply sorry to all the people, wolves and witches, that have lost someone they love."

Fay nodded. "Today this war stops. Everyone that discriminates or uses violence against wolves, witches and humans gets punished and taken to us. There are severe consequences to these actions, and we won't tolerate it any longer."

"So does this mean that wolves and witches can be together again?"

Fay nodded, smiling. "Absolutely. I mean if we can do that, then so can our people."

I nodded as well. It's strange that this was ever difficult for me to agree to. I mean it's so easy, yet we had a 15 year old war about this super easy thing... It's so ridiculous, really!

I looked up. "I want to say something else." I immediately got everyone's attention. "I know that accepting this is pretty hard, because we were the enemy for 15 years straight. But trust me when I say that Fay and me really want to make this work. We want our kingdoms to be united so we're stronger together, stronger as a nation and stronger as a family." I took a moment, thinking about this next sentence. "We have two daughters, they're a witch and a wolf. I've raised them as best as I could. And seeing Luna grow up as a wolf, who also respects witches... It opened my eyes. Because once I was like that too. I accepted wolves and trusted them."

I felt Fay holding on tighter to me, as if supporting me.

I looked down, sighing. "I want to be like that again, open and full of respect for other creatures. Because that's the way to go forward, to grow as a nation, to grow as a person." I looked around and saw several journalists smiling, I just knew they were agreeing with me. "So please, grow with me, let's look at the future."