lyras
in
myriadwords
(no subject)
You may already have seen this over at the Yuletide website, but I wanted to post it here by way of introduction. Hi. :)
Title: All the Worlds
Author: lyras
Pairing(s): Nita/Kit
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 3,500
Summary/notes: Written for evrwrldBB, who requested "Romance and perhaps sex between the two as their relationship develops over the years." Er, I failed to provide the sex, but otherwise this request serves perfectly as a summary for the story. Thank you to ragdoll, author_by_night and onehundredmoons for reading through this and helping to eradicate my Britishisms. All remaining errors (and Britishisms) are mine.
This is my first Young Wizards story, so concrit is especially welcome.
1.
Nita pulls back from the mirror to inspect the overall effect. Carmela has done a wonderful job, she admits to herself. The soft green shows off her suntan and dark hair to perfection, and the cinched-in waist makes the most of her not-very-curvy figure. Her heels aren't flat, but she should be able to walk without embarrassing herself.
All in all, while it hasn't been special the way she assumes it would have been with her mother, thrift shopping with Carmela for a prom outfit has been a remarkably stress-free experience.
She touches her mother's smile in the family photo she recently dug out of an album, and smiles in turn.
And then, as she turns towards the door, her wizard's manual flips open. Before she's done more than glance at it, Kit is banging on the door.
"Neets." He barrels inside when she opens up, manual in hand. "Hey, you look great! We've got work to do, though - there's trouble on Mars. That lava again..."
"Is that what it is?" She struggles to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Kit looks out of place in his tux, and oddly young, but he barely spares her a glance despite his offhand compliment, too busy reading over her shoulder.
Nita would never give up her wizardry, which has brought her joy well in proportion to the pain she's also endured. Nor does she have any illusions about her classmates. It wouldn't matter if she looked amazing tonight and Kit was the biggest jock in the school; she'd still be a nerd. She's over that. But just for once, she thinks wistfully, it would be good to be a normal kid with normal things to worry about on prom night.
In less than five minutes, they're sorting through charms and plugging in their variables: protective spells, a couple of small explosives in case they have to cut their losses, and a bar of Carmela's favourite chocolate.
At the last moment, Kit turns a grin on her. "You really do look great," he says, and her heart flipflops as they move into transit.
Later, when they've established that it's not worth turning up to the prom and are saying goodbye outside her porch, Kit says, "You know, Neets, if I were any guy except your partner in wizardry, I'd tell you you look like a real knockout in that dress."
Nita sends a mental vote of thanks to Carmela and forgets about her aching feet for a moment. "But?" she asks, keeping her voice light. She can hear the 'but' a mile off.
"Well, you do." He shuffles around to face her, and the warm air between them suddenly feels charged. "But..."
Maybe I should just kiss him, she thinks. Just get this over with, even if we're too embarrassed to ever speak to one another again. She imagines the reality of that, and the loneliness of never doing wizardry with Kit again.
"But we're partners, and there's no point messing that up because of teenage hormones, right?" Despite all her efforts, her voice cracks slightly on the last word.
"Yeah." His voice is high with relief as he takes her hand. "I mean, don't get me wrong, or anything; it's not like my hormones aren't going crazy right now, and you know I like you, right?"
No, she didn't. Not if he means like like, which she has to assume he does, since they're discussing hormones and teenage stuff.
"I like you too," she says before she can chicken out.
"I just - our partnership is more important to me than some weird teenage feelings." His hand is hot against hers, and her fingertips are tingling. "So I think we should be careful not to mess it up, you know? Maybe...experiment with a couple of other people so we understand more about what we're-"
She smothers whatever he was going to say with her lips, and his hand tightens on hers abruptly. Kissing Kit isn't at all like kissing Ronan; it's like kissing a river rather than a volcano, and she definitely prefers it. She knows precisely when he gives in to the moment and starts kissing her back, because it feels exactly like wizardry, both of them working together to create something amazing, but this time they're working on themselves, and when the magic starts she has no idea what to do except keep kissing him and see what happens.
When she thinks back later, she isn't sure which of them pulls away. Suddenly the river is gone and they are staring at one another, although it's too dark for their expressions to show.
"Sometimes I wish you weren't so logical," she says. Then she pulls her hand free and hurries inside before either of them can object. He's right, although she wishes he wasn't. Their partnership is more important than teenage hormones.
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2.
They experiment. Nita visits her Aunt Annie in Ireland and spends some time with Ronan. It's certainly enjoyable, and when sex comes up she is tempted. They've always had this weird spark between them; surely that would settle matters?
But somehow they never quite do it, and she suspects he's as relieved as she is when she heads home to New York.
Next up is a guy from her old math class, while Kit dates a couple of girls in the grade below. They're scrupulously polite to each other about these encounters: never invading each other's mind at potentially embarrassing moments; asking casual questions but not prying too deeply; never asking the killer question, 'Do you like him/her?'
They've taken the sensible path. They've ensured that their wizarding partnership will survive.
Except that they're not working so well together now. They're so circumspect around one another that sometimes they avoid communicating, and it shows in their wizardry. Nita knows it, and she knows that Kit knows it, but they never confront the problem, because what if the only answer is to split up?
They both go to school at Columbia, where Nita majors in Asian languages and Kit in ecology. They miss their exams at the end of their first year because of some interplanetary complications, but Tom talks to the faculty and they get to retake the semester. Meanwhile, neither of them has dated anyone in months, and they're so polite to one another it's embarrassing.
Nita's surprised when Helena Rodriguez invites her to her wedding: this is, after all, the woman who once accused her and Kit of selling their souls to the devil for magic. But she's missed the Rodriguez family, so she attends wearing the green dress that she never got to show off at the prom.
Kit's in an odd mood when they meet outside the church and doesn't seem to hear much of what she says. After the ceremony and the photos, while the other guests are sipping cocktails and waiting for the reception to begin, he pulls her aside.
"Come with me a minute?"
"Where?"
He cracks a grin that has pain just below the surface. "The usual place."
They haven't been there in months, but the good thing about the Moon is that it doesn't change. Seated on their favourite rock, they gaze down at Earth in silence until Kit grabs her hand.
"I talked to Tom yesterday."
"Yeah? Did he have some work for you?"
For answer, he leans in slowly, watching her mouth so intently that his gaze is almost tangible. He talked to Tom about this? she wonders. But she can't find it in herself to be embarrassed or resentful, because Kit's breath is making her lips tingle with anticipation and his thumb is rubbing little circles on the palm of her hand, and she feels as if all the worlds might change if they do what they're about to do.
"I think," Kit says against her lips, "I made you agree to something very stupid on prom night."
"I told you you were being too logical," she says, and when she kisses him it's as if someone has switched a light on.
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3.
It's not as easy as that, of course. They know far more about one another than is healthy for a new couple, and in their first fight they toss around grievances that haven't been aired for years - things that they both believed forgotten until the insults started flying.
When Nita can't take it any more, she dashes outside and down the sidewalk, running blindly until her fury has dissipated into hurt tears. Kit is almost unrecognisable as this furious person who knows how to hurt her so badly. Have they just ripped their partnership to shreds?
When he catches up, he's pale and the hand he lays on her arm is trembling.
"I'm sorry," he says as his arms go round her. A truck hoots in passing, but they pay no attention, too busy holding one another until their wounds are patched, if not healed.
"Let's not do that again," she says shakily.
But they do. And every time, they survive.
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4.
Beth is twelve when she goes missing one afternoon. They'd thought she was in her room, but when Kit pops his head in to ask if she wants a game of softball in the yard, she's gone.
There's half an hour of panic - maybe she's gone to see Grandpa at the shop, but she's pretty good about telling them when she goes anywhere - and calling around friends and relatives. Finally, Tom asks Nita if she's checked her manual.
Nita snaps her hand out and wrenches the book open to the address listings. There she is: RODRIGUEZ, Elizabeth Callahan, and her status is On Ordeal.
Tom has words of reassurance - they all survived their Ordeals, after all - but they both know that's no real comfort. She and Kit sit down to wait in the living room, both their manuals open in front of them.
"We should've warned her," Nita says.
Kit nods, then shakes his head. "We couldn't. First she was too young, and then when she was old enough to be trusted, it might've put pressure on her. Made her feel we were disappointed if it didn't happen."
"I know," Nita says. "I still wish we could've warned her. Our little girl is out there somewhere, probably facing up to the Lone Power right now, and there's nothing we can do to help her."
Kit squeezes her hand and they sit in silence for a while.
"She'll do great," Nita says when a lot more time has passed. "She's Beth. How could she fail?"
"Probably giving It hell," Kit agrees.
They huddle together and wait out the hours, watching Beth's name in the manuals.
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5.
"But why us?" Kit asks. The dogs are barking next door and he has to raise his voice, which possibly makes him sound more put out than he actually is. "I mean, I totally understand that you two want a break from all that responsibility - but why do we have to take it on?"
Tom's face is craggier now, but his eyes are still that dark shade of ocean blue, and his smile is as kind as ever. "Because you two are the senior wizards for North America," he says mildly. "You've got the most experience around these parts, particularly in treating with alien civilisations, and that's becoming an increasingly vital skill."
Nita nods. Her precognition isn't always reliable, but she's known this was coming for a while. "Are the seniors always partners?"
"Generally, yeah," Carl says. "Otherwise that kind of thing can drive a wedge between them. Besides, all that responsibility takes away from the partnership."
"I don't know." Kit grins at Nita. "I'd be kind of proud if you were made Senior and I didn't have to deal with all the crap that came with it."
"Don't lie - you'd be mortified," she says, sticking an elbow into his ribs. Then she grins. "Speaking of which, I don't know how Dari'll take this."
"She'll be fine," Kit says. "She's barely here anyway, what with all her off-world responsibilities."
Tom nods. "Actually, now she's settled down we do tend to leave Dairene very much to her own devices. She knows what she's doing - and as you say, she does have off-world obligations."
"Anyway, I really don't think she'd appreciate me playing the big sister card on her again," Nita puts in.
"You may have to occasionally," Tom says with an edge to his voice, "and with Beth. If you don't feel you can deal with being responsible for their wizardry, now's the time to say so."
What do you think? Kit asks Nita silently.
I think the Powers That Be are offering us a chance to do more, Nita answers, and it'd be discourteous to turn it down.
Come on. Kit's voice in her mind is amused. Admit it, you just like studying and extra responsibility. You were always like that at school.
I had to do something while you were messing around and inventing worlds with Ponch, she retorts. So, can you deal with it?
We can.
They grin at one another. "We'll take it," they say in unison.
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6.
Nita's been on some odd worlds before, but Demisiv takes the biscuit, if only because it looks so similar to pictures she's seen of the Scandinavian north - all lakes and pine forests. Except that all these trees are actually people. This forest is a city, or as close as it gets here. Tomorrow, many of these people will have moved on, and the forest may be just a wood, or a tiny plantation, or even a vast clearing.
"I hope we recognise him among all these others," Kit mutters.
"Kit! Nita!" The voice is behind them, and when they turn it's Filif, all right, berries shining with what Nita hopes is pleasure. "Dai stiho, cousins. It's wonderful to have you here. You look just the same!"
"Dai stiho, Filif! And - really?" Nita smiles, indicating her grey hair. "We're getting on by human standards."
"In the speech, you look the same as ever," Filif says gently, and laughs. "You must think me a young whippersnapper by comparison."
Nita grins at Kit. "It's great to see you, Filif. Why don't you take us someplace private so we can talk about your problems?"
Several hours later, Nita and Kit arrive in the centre of a range of mountains on the shores of a huge lake. There are no trees here, sentient or otherwise: Filif and the other Demisiv wizards are a safe distance away, feeding their wizardry into the aqua weapons Nita has prepared.
The Kindler of Wildfires looks just like It sounds: a vast mass of flames that coalesces at their greeting into a vaguely tree-shaped form, much taller than Filif or any of his people. It is one of the more frightening avatars of the Lone Power that Nita and Kit have encountered.
"This is not your world," the flames roar, "not your business. You have no errantry worth doing here."
Nita laughs. "You never get it, do you? That's precisely why it is worth doing."
"If it was about valour or worth, we wouldn't be here," Kit adds, and Nita feels his presence lending her strength, as well as the power he's pouring into the cooling spell. Despite all appearances, the Kindler of Wildfires is at bay on the brink of the largest lake on a planet full of lakes. Nita and Kit intend It to take a bath very soon.
"You two," It says. "Always together, always so sure you belong together. Always so happy. What happens when one of you has to be sacrificed to save some planet so far away from your world that nobody will ever care except for its own inhabitants."
"We've done that before," Kit says, "plenty of times."
"And you've survived," the Kindler of Wildfire muses. "What happens when one of you..." The flames surge towards Kit. "...has to sacrifice the other?"
Despite the stiflingly hot air, Nita feels as if someone has poured ice down her back. She meets Kit's horrified gaze and tries to look as calm as she can. She's laid down her own life before, because it was right. It wouldn't be fair to begrudge Kit this if it's necessary.
"Then I'd do it." Kit's voice is strangled, but he keeps his eyes on Nita. I love you, he says silently, and her fear is flooded by a river of tenderness.
The flames crackle. Nita smiles at Kit through a haze of heat. If this is what it takes, then she'll do it proudly, much as she'd rather be alive with Kit and Beth and the others. She focuses all her attention on him. I love you, too. There's so much more to say, but those four words will have to do.
Kit smiles back at her and then, without warning, wrenches himself around and flings the protective cooling spell, augmented a thousand times by what's just passed between them, directly at the Lone Power.
It roars once. Nita feels her skin scorching as she turns the aqua weapons on their enemy. She throws everything at It: all the power that she can muster, every charm she's had ready for every eventuality, everything Filif and his wizards have contributed. The Kindler of Wildfire's rage echoes around the surrounding mountains as it falls, very slowly, into the vast lake.
As the water boils, Kit and Nita stumble into one another's arms and hold on tightly.
"You took a risk there," Nita mumbles.
"Maybe," Kit says into her neck. "But I'm not ready to lose you yet." He coughs. "I had to try and take It down first."
"Was it the right thing to do, do you think? I mean, obviously I'm grateful..."
"Hey." He kisses her and they both flinch as they realise how bad their burns are. "It was bluffing. If it was the wrong thing to do, we wouldn't still be here, right?"
Leaning on each other for support, they trudge up the path to the pass where Filif and the others are waiting.
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7.
The cheering begins almost before Nita and Kit enter the living room, and they gaze open-mouthed at all the grinning faces.
"What's this?" asks Nita, while Kit tells Beth, "I thought we were going out for a quiet dinner?"
"Change of plan," Beth says airily. "We decided you couldn't celebrate being wizards for fifty years by yourselves."
"We?" Nita says as Dairene pulls her into a hard hug. Behind her are Carmela, Tom and Carl, Filif, Sker'ret and many others - people she hasn't seen in decades and others whom she said goodbye to only yesterday. She glimpses Ronan's sardonic grin somewhere near the back of the crowd and gives him a wave.
Beth leads them into the centre of the throng, and they stare at one another in the sudden silence.
Fifty years! Nita thinks at Kit, and he grins.
Yeah. Can't wait for the next fifty. His smile provokes butterflies in her stomach and she thinks of all the times he's looked at her that way, and all of the times they've defeated the Lone Power in all the worlds.
Then they turn to face the room. Nita says, "Wow!" and Kit says, "You guys!" and everyone laughs or smiles smugly. It's time to party.
Later, after all the guests except Beth and Dairene have left, Nita and Kit wander into the yard hand in hand.
When the moon clears the clouds, it's not their own backyard but the one belonging to Nita's parents, which her father kept so beautifully. Liused shimmers in the moonlight and gives a glad sigh when Nita lays a hand on her trunk. They sit in a curve of bark and watch as the world brightens around them. Inside the house, Nita can see her mom sitting at the kitchen table, probably doing the accounts for the shop like she always used to. A dog barks nearby and Kit gasps. She squeezes his hand.
All around, everywhere they can sense, the world is filled with happy memories of people they've loved. People they love, Nita corrects mentally, because this is Timeheart and everything that is loved is preserved here.
As the light becomes dazzling, she looks at Kit. In this place, his appearance flickers along with his memories, so that one second he is a teenager mourning Fred and the Lotus and Ponch, the next a middle-aged man. But when he meets her gaze, he is the person she knows today: the sum of all those parts that she's loved for so long.
"Ready for the next fifty years yet?" she asks.
He kisses her and pulls her to her feet. "Ready when you are."
Hand in hand, they walk away from the light and back into the world.
Title: All the Worlds
Author: lyras
Pairing(s): Nita/Kit
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 3,500
Summary/notes: Written for evrwrldBB, who requested "Romance and perhaps sex between the two as their relationship develops over the years." Er, I failed to provide the sex, but otherwise this request serves perfectly as a summary for the story. Thank you to ragdoll, author_by_night and onehundredmoons for reading through this and helping to eradicate my Britishisms. All remaining errors (and Britishisms) are mine.
This is my first Young Wizards story, so concrit is especially welcome.
1.
Nita pulls back from the mirror to inspect the overall effect. Carmela has done a wonderful job, she admits to herself. The soft green shows off her suntan and dark hair to perfection, and the cinched-in waist makes the most of her not-very-curvy figure. Her heels aren't flat, but she should be able to walk without embarrassing herself.
All in all, while it hasn't been special the way she assumes it would have been with her mother, thrift shopping with Carmela for a prom outfit has been a remarkably stress-free experience.
She touches her mother's smile in the family photo she recently dug out of an album, and smiles in turn.
And then, as she turns towards the door, her wizard's manual flips open. Before she's done more than glance at it, Kit is banging on the door.
"Neets." He barrels inside when she opens up, manual in hand. "Hey, you look great! We've got work to do, though - there's trouble on Mars. That lava again..."
"Is that what it is?" She struggles to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Kit looks out of place in his tux, and oddly young, but he barely spares her a glance despite his offhand compliment, too busy reading over her shoulder.
Nita would never give up her wizardry, which has brought her joy well in proportion to the pain she's also endured. Nor does she have any illusions about her classmates. It wouldn't matter if she looked amazing tonight and Kit was the biggest jock in the school; she'd still be a nerd. She's over that. But just for once, she thinks wistfully, it would be good to be a normal kid with normal things to worry about on prom night.
In less than five minutes, they're sorting through charms and plugging in their variables: protective spells, a couple of small explosives in case they have to cut their losses, and a bar of Carmela's favourite chocolate.
At the last moment, Kit turns a grin on her. "You really do look great," he says, and her heart flipflops as they move into transit.
Later, when they've established that it's not worth turning up to the prom and are saying goodbye outside her porch, Kit says, "You know, Neets, if I were any guy except your partner in wizardry, I'd tell you you look like a real knockout in that dress."
Nita sends a mental vote of thanks to Carmela and forgets about her aching feet for a moment. "But?" she asks, keeping her voice light. She can hear the 'but' a mile off.
"Well, you do." He shuffles around to face her, and the warm air between them suddenly feels charged. "But..."
Maybe I should just kiss him, she thinks. Just get this over with, even if we're too embarrassed to ever speak to one another again. She imagines the reality of that, and the loneliness of never doing wizardry with Kit again.
"But we're partners, and there's no point messing that up because of teenage hormones, right?" Despite all her efforts, her voice cracks slightly on the last word.
"Yeah." His voice is high with relief as he takes her hand. "I mean, don't get me wrong, or anything; it's not like my hormones aren't going crazy right now, and you know I like you, right?"
No, she didn't. Not if he means like like, which she has to assume he does, since they're discussing hormones and teenage stuff.
"I like you too," she says before she can chicken out.
"I just - our partnership is more important to me than some weird teenage feelings." His hand is hot against hers, and her fingertips are tingling. "So I think we should be careful not to mess it up, you know? Maybe...experiment with a couple of other people so we understand more about what we're-"
She smothers whatever he was going to say with her lips, and his hand tightens on hers abruptly. Kissing Kit isn't at all like kissing Ronan; it's like kissing a river rather than a volcano, and she definitely prefers it. She knows precisely when he gives in to the moment and starts kissing her back, because it feels exactly like wizardry, both of them working together to create something amazing, but this time they're working on themselves, and when the magic starts she has no idea what to do except keep kissing him and see what happens.
When she thinks back later, she isn't sure which of them pulls away. Suddenly the river is gone and they are staring at one another, although it's too dark for their expressions to show.
"Sometimes I wish you weren't so logical," she says. Then she pulls her hand free and hurries inside before either of them can object. He's right, although she wishes he wasn't. Their partnership is more important than teenage hormones.
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2.
They experiment. Nita visits her Aunt Annie in Ireland and spends some time with Ronan. It's certainly enjoyable, and when sex comes up she is tempted. They've always had this weird spark between them; surely that would settle matters?
But somehow they never quite do it, and she suspects he's as relieved as she is when she heads home to New York.
Next up is a guy from her old math class, while Kit dates a couple of girls in the grade below. They're scrupulously polite to each other about these encounters: never invading each other's mind at potentially embarrassing moments; asking casual questions but not prying too deeply; never asking the killer question, 'Do you like him/her?'
They've taken the sensible path. They've ensured that their wizarding partnership will survive.
Except that they're not working so well together now. They're so circumspect around one another that sometimes they avoid communicating, and it shows in their wizardry. Nita knows it, and she knows that Kit knows it, but they never confront the problem, because what if the only answer is to split up?
They both go to school at Columbia, where Nita majors in Asian languages and Kit in ecology. They miss their exams at the end of their first year because of some interplanetary complications, but Tom talks to the faculty and they get to retake the semester. Meanwhile, neither of them has dated anyone in months, and they're so polite to one another it's embarrassing.
Nita's surprised when Helena Rodriguez invites her to her wedding: this is, after all, the woman who once accused her and Kit of selling their souls to the devil for magic. But she's missed the Rodriguez family, so she attends wearing the green dress that she never got to show off at the prom.
Kit's in an odd mood when they meet outside the church and doesn't seem to hear much of what she says. After the ceremony and the photos, while the other guests are sipping cocktails and waiting for the reception to begin, he pulls her aside.
"Come with me a minute?"
"Where?"
He cracks a grin that has pain just below the surface. "The usual place."
They haven't been there in months, but the good thing about the Moon is that it doesn't change. Seated on their favourite rock, they gaze down at Earth in silence until Kit grabs her hand.
"I talked to Tom yesterday."
"Yeah? Did he have some work for you?"
For answer, he leans in slowly, watching her mouth so intently that his gaze is almost tangible. He talked to Tom about this? she wonders. But she can't find it in herself to be embarrassed or resentful, because Kit's breath is making her lips tingle with anticipation and his thumb is rubbing little circles on the palm of her hand, and she feels as if all the worlds might change if they do what they're about to do.
"I think," Kit says against her lips, "I made you agree to something very stupid on prom night."
"I told you you were being too logical," she says, and when she kisses him it's as if someone has switched a light on.
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3.
It's not as easy as that, of course. They know far more about one another than is healthy for a new couple, and in their first fight they toss around grievances that haven't been aired for years - things that they both believed forgotten until the insults started flying.
When Nita can't take it any more, she dashes outside and down the sidewalk, running blindly until her fury has dissipated into hurt tears. Kit is almost unrecognisable as this furious person who knows how to hurt her so badly. Have they just ripped their partnership to shreds?
When he catches up, he's pale and the hand he lays on her arm is trembling.
"I'm sorry," he says as his arms go round her. A truck hoots in passing, but they pay no attention, too busy holding one another until their wounds are patched, if not healed.
"Let's not do that again," she says shakily.
But they do. And every time, they survive.
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4.
Beth is twelve when she goes missing one afternoon. They'd thought she was in her room, but when Kit pops his head in to ask if she wants a game of softball in the yard, she's gone.
There's half an hour of panic - maybe she's gone to see Grandpa at the shop, but she's pretty good about telling them when she goes anywhere - and calling around friends and relatives. Finally, Tom asks Nita if she's checked her manual.
Nita snaps her hand out and wrenches the book open to the address listings. There she is: RODRIGUEZ, Elizabeth Callahan, and her status is On Ordeal.
Tom has words of reassurance - they all survived their Ordeals, after all - but they both know that's no real comfort. She and Kit sit down to wait in the living room, both their manuals open in front of them.
"We should've warned her," Nita says.
Kit nods, then shakes his head. "We couldn't. First she was too young, and then when she was old enough to be trusted, it might've put pressure on her. Made her feel we were disappointed if it didn't happen."
"I know," Nita says. "I still wish we could've warned her. Our little girl is out there somewhere, probably facing up to the Lone Power right now, and there's nothing we can do to help her."
Kit squeezes her hand and they sit in silence for a while.
"She'll do great," Nita says when a lot more time has passed. "She's Beth. How could she fail?"
"Probably giving It hell," Kit agrees.
They huddle together and wait out the hours, watching Beth's name in the manuals.
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5.
"But why us?" Kit asks. The dogs are barking next door and he has to raise his voice, which possibly makes him sound more put out than he actually is. "I mean, I totally understand that you two want a break from all that responsibility - but why do we have to take it on?"
Tom's face is craggier now, but his eyes are still that dark shade of ocean blue, and his smile is as kind as ever. "Because you two are the senior wizards for North America," he says mildly. "You've got the most experience around these parts, particularly in treating with alien civilisations, and that's becoming an increasingly vital skill."
Nita nods. Her precognition isn't always reliable, but she's known this was coming for a while. "Are the seniors always partners?"
"Generally, yeah," Carl says. "Otherwise that kind of thing can drive a wedge between them. Besides, all that responsibility takes away from the partnership."
"I don't know." Kit grins at Nita. "I'd be kind of proud if you were made Senior and I didn't have to deal with all the crap that came with it."
"Don't lie - you'd be mortified," she says, sticking an elbow into his ribs. Then she grins. "Speaking of which, I don't know how Dari'll take this."
"She'll be fine," Kit says. "She's barely here anyway, what with all her off-world responsibilities."
Tom nods. "Actually, now she's settled down we do tend to leave Dairene very much to her own devices. She knows what she's doing - and as you say, she does have off-world obligations."
"Anyway, I really don't think she'd appreciate me playing the big sister card on her again," Nita puts in.
"You may have to occasionally," Tom says with an edge to his voice, "and with Beth. If you don't feel you can deal with being responsible for their wizardry, now's the time to say so."
What do you think? Kit asks Nita silently.
I think the Powers That Be are offering us a chance to do more, Nita answers, and it'd be discourteous to turn it down.
Come on. Kit's voice in her mind is amused. Admit it, you just like studying and extra responsibility. You were always like that at school.
I had to do something while you were messing around and inventing worlds with Ponch, she retorts. So, can you deal with it?
We can.
They grin at one another. "We'll take it," they say in unison.
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6.
Nita's been on some odd worlds before, but Demisiv takes the biscuit, if only because it looks so similar to pictures she's seen of the Scandinavian north - all lakes and pine forests. Except that all these trees are actually people. This forest is a city, or as close as it gets here. Tomorrow, many of these people will have moved on, and the forest may be just a wood, or a tiny plantation, or even a vast clearing.
"I hope we recognise him among all these others," Kit mutters.
"Kit! Nita!" The voice is behind them, and when they turn it's Filif, all right, berries shining with what Nita hopes is pleasure. "Dai stiho, cousins. It's wonderful to have you here. You look just the same!"
"Dai stiho, Filif! And - really?" Nita smiles, indicating her grey hair. "We're getting on by human standards."
"In the speech, you look the same as ever," Filif says gently, and laughs. "You must think me a young whippersnapper by comparison."
Nita grins at Kit. "It's great to see you, Filif. Why don't you take us someplace private so we can talk about your problems?"
Several hours later, Nita and Kit arrive in the centre of a range of mountains on the shores of a huge lake. There are no trees here, sentient or otherwise: Filif and the other Demisiv wizards are a safe distance away, feeding their wizardry into the aqua weapons Nita has prepared.
The Kindler of Wildfires looks just like It sounds: a vast mass of flames that coalesces at their greeting into a vaguely tree-shaped form, much taller than Filif or any of his people. It is one of the more frightening avatars of the Lone Power that Nita and Kit have encountered.
"This is not your world," the flames roar, "not your business. You have no errantry worth doing here."
Nita laughs. "You never get it, do you? That's precisely why it is worth doing."
"If it was about valour or worth, we wouldn't be here," Kit adds, and Nita feels his presence lending her strength, as well as the power he's pouring into the cooling spell. Despite all appearances, the Kindler of Wildfires is at bay on the brink of the largest lake on a planet full of lakes. Nita and Kit intend It to take a bath very soon.
"You two," It says. "Always together, always so sure you belong together. Always so happy. What happens when one of you has to be sacrificed to save some planet so far away from your world that nobody will ever care except for its own inhabitants."
"We've done that before," Kit says, "plenty of times."
"And you've survived," the Kindler of Wildfire muses. "What happens when one of you..." The flames surge towards Kit. "...has to sacrifice the other?"
Despite the stiflingly hot air, Nita feels as if someone has poured ice down her back. She meets Kit's horrified gaze and tries to look as calm as she can. She's laid down her own life before, because it was right. It wouldn't be fair to begrudge Kit this if it's necessary.
"Then I'd do it." Kit's voice is strangled, but he keeps his eyes on Nita. I love you, he says silently, and her fear is flooded by a river of tenderness.
The flames crackle. Nita smiles at Kit through a haze of heat. If this is what it takes, then she'll do it proudly, much as she'd rather be alive with Kit and Beth and the others. She focuses all her attention on him. I love you, too. There's so much more to say, but those four words will have to do.
Kit smiles back at her and then, without warning, wrenches himself around and flings the protective cooling spell, augmented a thousand times by what's just passed between them, directly at the Lone Power.
It roars once. Nita feels her skin scorching as she turns the aqua weapons on their enemy. She throws everything at It: all the power that she can muster, every charm she's had ready for every eventuality, everything Filif and his wizards have contributed. The Kindler of Wildfire's rage echoes around the surrounding mountains as it falls, very slowly, into the vast lake.
As the water boils, Kit and Nita stumble into one another's arms and hold on tightly.
"You took a risk there," Nita mumbles.
"Maybe," Kit says into her neck. "But I'm not ready to lose you yet." He coughs. "I had to try and take It down first."
"Was it the right thing to do, do you think? I mean, obviously I'm grateful..."
"Hey." He kisses her and they both flinch as they realise how bad their burns are. "It was bluffing. If it was the wrong thing to do, we wouldn't still be here, right?"
Leaning on each other for support, they trudge up the path to the pass where Filif and the others are waiting.
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7.
The cheering begins almost before Nita and Kit enter the living room, and they gaze open-mouthed at all the grinning faces.
"What's this?" asks Nita, while Kit tells Beth, "I thought we were going out for a quiet dinner?"
"Change of plan," Beth says airily. "We decided you couldn't celebrate being wizards for fifty years by yourselves."
"We?" Nita says as Dairene pulls her into a hard hug. Behind her are Carmela, Tom and Carl, Filif, Sker'ret and many others - people she hasn't seen in decades and others whom she said goodbye to only yesterday. She glimpses Ronan's sardonic grin somewhere near the back of the crowd and gives him a wave.
Beth leads them into the centre of the throng, and they stare at one another in the sudden silence.
Fifty years! Nita thinks at Kit, and he grins.
Yeah. Can't wait for the next fifty. His smile provokes butterflies in her stomach and she thinks of all the times he's looked at her that way, and all of the times they've defeated the Lone Power in all the worlds.
Then they turn to face the room. Nita says, "Wow!" and Kit says, "You guys!" and everyone laughs or smiles smugly. It's time to party.
Later, after all the guests except Beth and Dairene have left, Nita and Kit wander into the yard hand in hand.
When the moon clears the clouds, it's not their own backyard but the one belonging to Nita's parents, which her father kept so beautifully. Liused shimmers in the moonlight and gives a glad sigh when Nita lays a hand on her trunk. They sit in a curve of bark and watch as the world brightens around them. Inside the house, Nita can see her mom sitting at the kitchen table, probably doing the accounts for the shop like she always used to. A dog barks nearby and Kit gasps. She squeezes his hand.
All around, everywhere they can sense, the world is filled with happy memories of people they've loved. People they love, Nita corrects mentally, because this is Timeheart and everything that is loved is preserved here.
As the light becomes dazzling, she looks at Kit. In this place, his appearance flickers along with his memories, so that one second he is a teenager mourning Fred and the Lotus and Ponch, the next a middle-aged man. But when he meets her gaze, he is the person she knows today: the sum of all those parts that she's loved for so long.
"Ready for the next fifty years yet?" she asks.
He kisses her and pulls her to her feet. "Ready when you are."
Hand in hand, they walk away from the light and back into the world.