the storm inside | kitty (boyxboy)

29 | Finding Dru (Part II)

A silence washed over them.

Emma tried to comfort Julian, but he locked himself into the room and refused to come out. Through the door cracks, Emma could see the dents in the walls. They had locked Hale away into a cell so abundant with magic, even Magnus couldn't escape.

But it wasn't enough for Julian. Nothing was, until they found Dru. Though their parabatai bond had long been severed, Emma could feel Julian's pain as she crouched outside his, no, their room.

"Please, Jules—Julian, come out," she begged, hammering on his door. "We can't find Dru if you're not here."

The door swung open, revealing Julian in all his chest-god, dishevelled hair, harsh eyebags glory. Emma could see the sweat glimmering on his cheeks—or were those tears?

"Stop saying that, Em." He ran a hand through his curly hair absentmindedly. "It's pointless. I'm useless and nothing I do will work."

"You're the strongest person I know," said Emma, cupping his face in her hands. "Don't give up. Not just yet. We'll work out something. We always have."

"We were so close," Julian said, his voice strained with the effort of not breaking down. "And she slipped through my grasp, just like that, like she always has. I've never been able to hold on to her."

"Nonsense," said Emma firmly. "You're her anchor; you always have been. Just like you have always been to me and Ty and Tavvy and Helen and Mark and..." She trailed off, not knowing how to put her next words.

Julian pulled her close, fingering her loose strands of blonde hair. "I couldn't protect Livvy, I couldn't protect Dru. I couldn't protect any of you. I'm a failure of a brother, of a boyfriend, aren't I?"

"That is the biggest crapload of rubbish I've ever heard." Emma pulled away. "Come walk with me on the beach. It'll help you think."

She took his hand and dragged him out of the Institute, to the sand and waves that she had known her entire life. He grumbled after her; Emma caught words like "something wrong with you" and "Emma why are we doing this". She smiled.

They padded along the soft sand, holding each other's hand, as they always had been. Emma left Julian to his thoughts, not saying a word. But Julian did speak, she nearly jumped in surprise.

"Can we go back now?"

Emma mentally facepalmed. "What's wrong? Haven't you always loved the beach?"

"Well, yeah," Julian said. "It's just... too many memories, of, well, everyone. Remember when we used to all come down to the beach, just for fun?" Emma saw a small smile appear on his lips. "I want to go back to those times."

"Is that why you don't come down to the beach anymore?" said Emma quietly.

He nodded slightly. "And maybe... maybe it's because I'm afraid. I'm afraid of making anymore good memories here, ones that I won't be able to forget." He stopped, turned towards her. "But I'm failing. Every memory I have with you are ones I'll never forget."

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Livvy—I—can't really explain. I feel like she's been... how do you say? Semi-replaced. By Kit. In a good way. Tell you something—I saw them kissing outside the Accords Hall."

"Did you?" Emma cocked her head to one side.

"Well, at least the end bit. They were pulling away, and—Emma—the look in their eyes was—I don't know how to describe it—but I feel as though Ty—my Ty—has really grown up." Julian's words stumbled out. "Do you remember when Ty was injured by Hale at the Wayland manor? Right, you were unconscious. Kit drew iratze after iratze, and Ty finally woke up. Do you know Ty kissed Kit there?"

"Wouldn't be surprised if he did, honestly. I didn't actually know Ty was gay, but ever since Kit came, Ty's seemed to change completely," said Emma. "But I know you're trying to avoid the topic. Come on, Julian, you'll have to try better than that."

Julian gave Emma a peck on the nose. "I didn't know you were so smart."

Emma glared at him.

"Kidding. Really, can we just savour the moment here and enjoy a second of peace without you nagging at me?"

Emma opened her mouth to deny any fact that she nagged at Julian, but he leaned in and swooped her up in his arms, kissing her. "I take that as a 'yes'," he murmured.

He held her delicately, as if any movement would break her, yet his lips didn't seem to agree. Emma remember many nights when they would sneak out on a rendezvous on the beach, just for fun.

As Julian had said, those were fun times.

Perhaps she really should let him indulge, once in a while.

Emma returned the kiss, pushing Julian playfully onto the sand as she crawled onto him. She dragged her fingernails across the front of his shirt, making him grunt and shift to reach for the hem when he stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," replied Julian, reaching his hand behind his back. "Just something protruding out of the sand—wait a minute—holy crap, Emma!"

He pulled out a sea-glass bracelet, jolting back memories of Emma comparing his eyes to it. Emma didn't understand what the fuss was about. Couldn't it have fallen from Julian's wrist—hold on—what? Why were there two?

"This is Dru's!" said Julian, waving the bracelet excitedly. "It means she's been here recently, because there's a fresh crack on one of the glass!"

Emma's eyes widened. Wordlessly, they scrambled up and towards the Institute, searching out Magnus. They gathered their team around the bracelet and another tracking rune was drawn.

Then Julian, Emma, and everyone who had tried so hard to get Dru back, burst through the Portal Magnus had created to the other side, where Dru, Emma's and Julian's Dru, was lying on the ground, a pool of blood around her head. 

***

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~𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭, 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓮~