Herbs and Spices // snowbaz

a picture is worth a thousand words

Agatha stood in front of the closed apartment door, willing herself to knock. As hard as she pushed inside her skin, begging her fist to rap against the hardwood door, she couldn't. She knew that once she did, things would be different (as if that meant anything anymore.)

Penelope had called her days before, speaking in a low tone, sounding rushed and overwhelmed as she relayed the message: 'Simon found a letter from his mum, the Mage was his dad.' And the rest had been noise, she heard herself say the words Penny wanted, and then silence, as Penelope clicked off the phone.
Now she stood before their apartment door, one fist hovering above the wood, poised to knock, as the other hand clutched the photo she had been given, what felt like many, many years ago. The photo that had spurred her shift from the magical world, that willed her to run away and never look back; the photo of the Mage... and Lucy.

She couldn't say for certain it was Simon's mum, but it was the only logical choice, and he deserved to know that. Agatha had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that seemed immovable, unshakable as she looked at the bright faces of the young couple. It had to have been Lucy, she almost laughed at the thought of the Mage with a woman other than Lucy, and a baby, Simon, seemed like a solid reason why Lucy left the world of Mages.

Agatha had felt a stirring of familiarity when she first looked at the portrait of Lucy, her face illuminated in the picture, and now she could put a name to what that familiarity was... it was Simon's mother.

Before she could talk herself out of it further, she knocked on the door. It swung open sooner than she expected, almost like the person had been waiting on the other side.

"Agatha? What a surprise! What are you doing here?" She stared into Simon's beaming face, and tried to smile at him. She didn't know why she felt so bad, so conflicted about showing Simon the photo. Maybe it was guilt, maybe if she had shown him earlier he would've connected the dots, confronted the Mage, had a family. But she would never know for certain what would've happened, only what will happen now.

"I have something for you," she paused, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, despite his smile still on his face.

"Well come in, Penelope and Baz are out, so it's just the two of us," he stood back and let her pass through the door, growing concerned at her vacant, distant expression.

The pair sat down, a pillow space between them on the couch, and Simon swallowed back his concern for Agatha, until she spoke, "Penelope told me about the letter from your mum. And I think I have something else along those lines," she paused to extend her arm, her hand opening to reveal the photo.

Simon tentatively wrapped his fingers around the corner to pull the photo up closer to his line of sight. He took in the people in the photo, the Mage jumping out at him immediately. And then, Penelope's mum who looked so similar even after all this time. His eyes stopped short on the third person, a woman, a girl really, who had her arm wrapped around the Mage. His breath caught in his throat.

"This is... she's my mum?" His voice came out choked and Agatha shifted closer to him, putting a hand over one of his.

"I can't say for certain," she said, gently, "But she was with the Mage, and Penelope's mum told me she left the world of Mages without anyone knowing why... although there were rumours about a baby."

The room dove into silence, interrupted only by Simon's breathy hiccups as he cried silently.

"Her name was Lucy, Simon."

Lucy. His mother. Simon couldn't ignore the similarities they had in appearance, and he felt stirrings in his stomach, telling him he was right, Agatha was right, this had to be his mother.

"Thank you, Agatha," he looked up at his friend, his eyes red and his cheeks tear-stained but a small smile on his lips, "You have no idea how much this means to me."

The two friends hugged, one crying, the other holding back tears as she felt happiness wash over her in waves, lapping at the corners of her mind.
In a short time, Simon had not only read words his mother had written, but had a picture of her and a name. Lucy. He smiled over Agathas shoulder, and sighed contentedly, his eyes closed.

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Idek but here it is! I thought it was only likely that if Simon had found out about his mother then Agatha would connect the dots with the picture - SO HERE IT IS.

Thank you for reading! Vote and comment if you liked it, and let me know what else you want to see these characters do :)