Myka's Tail Ch. 06

She smiled up at him, and patted him on the cheek before squaring her shoulders and taking the first steps towards a new life. I could see the cords of their love that had them bound tighter than ever, and I smiled as I saw the tears gleaming in Stuart's eyes in this bittersweet moment. Again, the distance to the altar was short, and it was only a few moments after Jess took Ali by the hands when all eyes there turned to me.

I took a deep breath and sent out a silent hope that Stuart was right, that dad was here somewhere watching me. Before I could take the first step towards Kelli and the rest of our lives together, Jax hit another button and the music suddenly changed. The more traditional music that might have been heard at any other wedding was replaced by the first notes of Rachel Platten's Fight Song, and I felt an iron fist grip my heart as I struggled to breathe.

The memories that this song brought back to me were almost crippling in their way, and from the feeling over our bond I realized that Kelli had arranged this in advance. I remembered my first semester in college, and being away from home and my parents for the first time. It was also the year that Fight Song had been released.

The lyrics, the beat, and the message that the song had held for me then were so powerful that I listened to it over and over again, most often to the great irritation to those around me. Dad was especially annoyed every time I came home for the weekend, on holidays, and over summer break, because of my listening habits. He even tried to convince me to let the song go for a month or two, hoping that I would move on and gain some musical variety again.

I had ignored him, of course, and that made him even hotter under the collar about it, even though it wasn't a big deal. The argument we had before I went back to school for my second semester was pretty bad, and we didn't speak for a few weeks. I was mad because he and mom had always been there to support me, but I was on my own for the first time in my life, and I had found the strength to make it, no matter what, in Fight Song's message. I thought he was making fun of me for that.

Dad came to visit me in the middle of my second semester, and he looked like he was feeling really lousy about something when I answered the door. He took me out to lunch and apologized for being such a jerk, and he let me know that he had listened to the song over the past few weeks and had finally realized what it meant to me. He told me that if it helped me to stand on my own two feet and to live life, then I should keep on listening to it as much as I wanted, and he also promised that if it was somehow not enough, that he would always be there to catch me if I needed it.

I closed my eyes and struggled to keep myself from weeping at the thoughts that were running through my mind, and the burning desire to have my dad here at my side was making my legs weak. I didn't know what to do, and I was suddenly not sure if I could even make it the short distance to the altar and Kelli, the love of my life. The music that had once sustained me in hard times was now beating me into the dust and I was not strong enough to stop it.

I was about to give up, and let myself collapse back into the depression that I had so recently started to heal from, when a warmth beyond even that of the sun seemed to wash over my body and I could feel its steady glow from the inside out. I nearly jumped in fright when I felt a hand slide across my skin, only to link arms with me. I turned my head and looked at the nearly blinding white form that stood next to me, and I stared in shock at the shimmering form of my dad, who was surrounded by a golden glow that almost matched the brilliance of his smile.

I could feel nothing but the overpowering warmth of his love for me, and I let my self be lost in its comfort, as if we were the only two people in the entire world. Time seemed to have no meaning for me at that point, and I knew that I could just stay there with him forever and I would be content, but dad didn't give me that choice. He motioned with his other arm in a silent indication that it was time to make our way to the altar, and because there were so many other things going through my head, it never registered that he had not spoken a single word since his appearance.

While the two of us made our way from the pavilion to the altar, I managed to look at the faces of everyone there. I saw confusion on some, understanding in Millicent's eyes, and complete shock from most everyone else. Apparently I was not the only one who could see dad, and the implications of the whole situation were staggering.

It was both the longest and the shortest walk of my life, and I could still feel nothing but love coming from him the entire time. Soon enough we were standing next to Kelli, who was smiling even though I could feel her surprise coming through our bond. Both of our moms had come to the front where we all were, including Kelli's dad, and as we took each other's hands dad turned to where the rest of our families were standing.

He was still silent, but he placed a hand on the shoulders of Kelli's parents, and I could see that things were communicated that did not require words. Then dad turned to mom, and for the first time I saw sadness in his eyes. It was not his own sadness that I felt, rather it was the feelings that he was getting from mom. With the gentlest of movements, he placed his hand against her cheek, and she leaned her head to the side to nuzzle her face into his palm.

For a brief moment, I felt the love that was a part of dad's very being change slightly as he interacted with her, and I was able to experience the tiniest part of what she had described as a love so deep that I couldn't understand it. She was right. I could only fathom the smallest part of what they had shared together, but I knew that in time, Kelli and I would have our own understanding as we grew closer.

Almost as soon as he had turned away from us, he turned back and gave Kelli a kiss on the cheek, and left me with a burning sensation where he had kissed my forehead. Then he looked at Millicent and gave her a nod, and that was when the ceremony began.

Everything started with Paul and Kass, and as Millicent bound their grasped hands together with blue, yellow, and white cords, they spoke vows of love and commitment to each other. I was not sure how far Millicent would take the ceremony, but I was not terribly surprised that since dad had chosen to appear to everyone here, she chose to use a little more actual magic than she had originally planned on. After she had moved to Ali and Jess, it was plain to see the four runes and glyphs that now decorated the backs of the other's hands.

The second binding went just as smoothly, but both Ali and Jess were speaking to each other in a language that I did not understand, and when I looked to Kelli for help all I got in return was a confused shrug. It was apparently good enough for Millicent, because after she finished tying off the black, white, and grey cords into another intricate pattern, she let her hands hover over theirs while she also spoke in some unknown tongue and when she withdrew, similar markings were now on Ali and Jess.

When Millicent took her place in front of Kelli and I, she spoke to us in a voice that meant what she was saying was for us alone.

"Oh my dear little ones," she almost whispered, and I sensed a great hope in her voice. "I never thought I would be a part of a day like today. Myka, your father sacrificed himself as a hero, to a cause that he didn't understand completely, but which he felt was more important than his own life. He did it for you, and for your future."

She began wrapping our hands with white and yellow cords that seemed to match the color of dad's apparition, and they almost seemed to glow like he did. Millicent was nearly as surprised as Kelli and I were when dad placed his hand over ours while she was binding us, and even though the cords seemed to pass right through him, I had the sense that he was either part of the binding or more probably, he was adding his blessing and his love to our ceremony in the ultimate personal touch.

"His blood resides in this circle and in this land, just as much as it resides in you," Millicent said as she continued to bind us together once more. "He gave his life in a supreme act of heroism, and the fact that you could draw his soul here to be with us, Myka, speaks to the goodness of your heart, and the power of your love. That is worth more than any magic, than any gift, and I can only say that I love you both, and that I am more honored than you can possibly know that I could share this with you."

She finished tying off our cords, and spoke her arcane spell over our bound hands, and like the others, we ended with the strange mystic symbols on our skin as well. Once finished, she took her place again at the altar and began to speak the words of the final binding, and I felt the markings begin to heat up the back of my hand. As Millicent continued casting the spells that she had begun, I felt the circle add to her considerable power, and I realized that dad was growing brighter with each word she spoke.

All of the elements were resonating within us all, singing in time with Millicent's chanted spell, especially the elements of earth and water, which were stronger in this place due to my link. It was like listening to a choir of thousands that always managed to stay just out of eyesight no matter how much you turned. It was both extraordinarily beautiful and absolutely maddening at the same time, and just when I thought it would overwhelm my senses, the three sets of cords burst into bright white flames and vanished in puffs of smoke.

The marks that Millicent had left on the backs of our hands had disappeared along with the cords, and when my eyes had cleared from the flash I saw that my dad was no longer with us. I could still feel the sense of comfort that his love had brought to me, even if it was to a much lesser extent, and I knew that he was still here with us in an unexplainable way.

Kelli and I looked over at the other two couples who were talking with barely contained excitement with each other, and with family and friends. One of the subjects that everyone but Ali and Jess were going on and on about was the way that their binding cords had been transformed into a braided wristlet that each of them now wore. When I looked at Kelli's wrists, and then my own, I shook my head because the two of us had apparently been marked by magic yet again.

Around each of our wrists was a tattoo of the braided cords, still in that bright white and shimmering gold color, and I wondered if dad had somehow been the cause of the difference in how the spell Millicent cast finished for us, than for the other couples. I knew it was something I would have to ask her at some point, but right then Kelli and I broke away from the rest of the group to go and stand in silence with our parents. We held each other in one large hug, and without words we were supported together in our happiness, our sadness, and in our sheer amazement at the morning's events, and everyone else let us have our time without interruption.

Later, after the entire group had made it back to what would soon be Kelli's and my house, we all sat around talking about the many things that had happened, most of which defied rational explanation. Stuart was especially insistent in his questioning of Millicent, and to her credit she managed to give him most of the answers he was seeking, without giving away so much that the true extent of the nature of witches and witchcraft became apparent.

"Millicent, I have stayed silent up to now," Cassandra broke in during one of the many explanations she had been giving. "But you are carelessly exposing secrets, which we and all those who have come before us have sworn to keep hidden from the world, due to the general ignorance of the mortal population. You cannot continue as you are doing because of the danger to us all, and because other sisters in other covens will not stand for it. You risk everything we have accomplished over the years."

"Cassandra, I know you are concerned, and you of all people have every right to be, but I must agree with Aliara on this. The world we live in is shrinking more rapidly every day, and the use of technology is bringing to light things that have remained hidden from the eyes of man since the dawn of time. And none of us here had any control over Daniel's appearance at Myka's side. We need to come out of the shadows and let our ways and our skills be known once again, and I can think of no better place to start than with those we consider family and friends."

"But how can we stay out of the hands of those who would try and bend us to their will, and who would attempt to take our gifts from us and use them as their own? You are certainly the wisest among us, sister, but I beg of you to please be careful and keep to the covenant. It is all we have left."

Cassandra's request came out barely above a whisper, and it was plain to see the grave concern that she had with letting those outside of the craft know about magical workings. I could understand her trepidation, and I was grateful that whatever magic had altered me initially, seemed to have a built in protection that altered reality just enough that those around me could accept that my being a Neko, while strange, was still within the realm of normal. Kelli and the others didn't have that luxury.

"We must start somewhere, and I would trust those here with a greater knowledge. Myka's family have proven to be some of our greatest friends, and we certainly owe a debt to them that can never be settled for the price they paid in aiding us. I trust their judgement in this matter, along with their friends, but I would ask that you all be judicious in what and what is not revealed. That is all we can ask."

The trust that Millicent was giving me and my family was priceless, and I could sense that none of us would do anything to violate that gift. I was also able to get a sense of the others there. Paul, Kass, and the band, even Stuart and Kimberly McAlister. While I could not say for sure, my instincts were telling me that they would keep this trust as well, and might even be able in some ways to help when the time for more publicity came.

What was most important to Kelli and me, however, was that we were clear to talk to Paul and Kass about our suspicions of their roles in us having children. That was going to be one awkward conversation, but with how both of them felt about us, we were hopeful it would go well.

Talk soon turned to other things, like how classes were going, what new things I was doing with the preserve and with all the research that was going on there, and some happy stories about dad. My heart was healing, even if it was doing so slowly, and having my friends and family around was a huge part of that.

Eventually, all the newly wed couples started making several excuses, and we all started hinting that things should wrap up. We each had different plans on where we would honeymoon, and it was clear that we were all quite eager to get going. Goodbyes were said, a few last minute gifts were given, and as quickly as the day had begun, it was over. After the ones who had driven here had left, those that were using magic to transport finally departed. Even with an agreement to be more open with a limited number of people about the existence and scope of magic and its power, old habits certainly died hard.

"Well, my two beautiful daughters," mom almost cried as she gave Kelli and me a goodbye hug and kiss. "Both of you have fun, and don't forget to send pictures. Steve, Amanda, and I will be more than pissed if you don't."

"Don't worry mom," I replied, a little irritated that she felt she had to ask. "We will email you lots of pictures, and bring back some trinkets too."

"Yeah, we will," Kelli added with a grin. "And I will make sure it happens, just in case Myka forgets."

"Hey, it was only that one time," I complained, and we all had a final laugh before mom said goodbye and left for Kelli's parent's house.

It was three days after the wedding when Kelli felt the need to ask me a couple of relatively serious questions. We were sitting on top of a small hill somewhat outside of Glasgow, Scotland, with a blanket wrapped around ourselves. Penelope had been kind enough to allow us to transport to her house there, and had put us up in the guest cottage that she had on her property as a wedding present. The view from the hill we now sat on overlooked the very circle of stones where Mathias had tried to gain control of me, and where so many bad things had happened.

"Tell me again, sweetie," Kelli asked as she pulled me closer into her side for the extra warmth. "Why did you want to come here for our honeymoon?"

I was caught off guard by her question, and I had to take a deep breath to gather my thoughts so that I could explain something that I really didn't think I could explain. Earlier in the day, we had walked hand in hand through the stones of the circle, and I had used my connection to the earth while Kelli used her magic, to wipe away the taint that Mathias had left with his misuse of the magic that permeated the area. Most people would have understood if I had never wanted to set foot here again, but I felt a certain sense of responsibility to use the power that I had accepted.

"I'm not sure," I began, after I had been thinking for a few moments. "I did feel the need to cleanse this place, and I am thrilled that it felt so right to do so. There are some bad memories here and I wanted the chance to make some good ones. There's more to it, but I just can't explain it well right now."

"That's ok. I was just curious, and what we did here today was a very good thing for which Penelope's coven will be very grateful for. But you've also been somewhat preoccupied since we got here, and I was curious about that too."

"You don't ask the easy questions, do you," I chuckled, and Kelli couldn't help but laugh with me. "If you must know, I have been thinking about having children. Ever since the night of Paul's bachelor party, and now after the wedding, the desire to have kids seems to hit me at the most random of times. And when it hits, it takes hours, and sometimes a couple of days, before I can get it off my mind. I haven't reached the point yet where the call is overpowering, but I do feel a sense of urgency about it."

"So what are we going to do about it, sweetie?"

"Like you don't know," I grumped as I gave her a loving shoulder check in mock irritation. "We are going to have to sit down with Paul and Kass. Sooner rather than later. I would love to wait until after I finish my PhD, but the feelings I'm having might not wait that long. I know for a fact that Paul is supposed to be the father of our children, love, but I am unsure how Kass is going to feel about that."

"Well, from what we have seen, and from how she reacted after you danced for Paul, if she is allowed to watch while he does his fatherly duty, she will probably wonder why we never asked any sooner."

Kelli's comment sent us both into a fit of hysterical laughter, and it felt really good to have that kind of joy and happiness back in my life again. The night was cold, but we were warmed by our love and by each other. Our relationship was continually being forged and tempered by events that were binding us so tightly that we would probably never be parted. And the midnight sky was crystal clear and filled with stars that shined like jewels, the very eyes of the universe, constantly watching over us, ready to provide guidance when we needed it most.