Characters: Zinnia, Renee, Emmy, Aster
Warnings:
Vague allusions to suicide
It had been a month and a half since the incident, and Renee couldnât quite stop thinking about Zinnia – and she was pretty sure Zinnia was at the top of her mind as well. âHerâ being Emmy, of course.
After meeting on the night of the Litleonid shower, Emmy and Renee met up again the next day. And the next, and the day after that – leading up to Emmy moving in with Renee. Renee had never really been in love before, but just as Emmy had tumbled down the hill on their first in-person meeting, Renee seemed to have fallen head over heels for Emmy – and the same could definitely be said for the other party as well.
Just like ZinniaâŚ; Renee would think, recalling her describe her overwhelming love for Aster. It was bitter to think about, especially knowing Zinniaâs fate – Renee had only figured out what Zinniaâs final letter meant far too late. And as much as Emmy tried to cover it up, Renee could tell this hurt her a lot. They had a good, long heart to heart about it about a week ago, and Renee hadnât been able to get Zinnia out of her thoughts since.
Renee just sighed. It was too late now. It was about lunchtime, so Renee decided to roll out of bed and head downstairs to see whatever she had left – she hadnât gotten groceries in a while.
While passing through the living room, Renee could see Emmy watching TV, reclined on the couch. She was still binge-watching the DVD set of one of her favorite shows that had ended while she was gone for 10 years. Renee walked to the back of the couch and rested her hands on the couchâs back, looking down at Emmy.
âHey, I was probably gonna make some pasta – do you want some, or were you going to get yourself something?â Renee asked.
Emmy paused her show and turned over to look at Renee.
âYeah, thatâd be cool. You wanna join me watching this once foodâs ready? Itâs getting close to the storyâs climax, I can just feel it.â Emmy said, stretching herself out.
âSure thing! Youâll have to catch me up on the story so far though so Iâm not too in the dark.â
âOf course! Iâm sure I can do a good job of summarizing it for you.â
Once Emmy finished speaking, Renee kissed her on the forehead and went over to the kitchen. Examining the cabinets, it really did seem like she needed to get groceries soon, as she only had one box of spaghetti left – though she shrugged it off, as itâd be more than enough for both of them.
Renee got the water boiling and sat idly by, waiting. While waiting, Renee heard her phoneâs text tone go off. She grabbed it out of her pocket while leaning on the counter, expecting it to be Steven, but it wasnât – it was from an unknown number.
-hello?
-is this renee?
Renee wasnât sure how to respond – it had to be someone she had known⌠maybe they just got a new phone?
–Yes, it is. Who are you?
No response for 5 minutes, until… ping! The other party sent a photo. It took a while to download, but once it did, Renee gasped rather loudly, getting Emmyâs attention.
âWhatâs up? Did you burn yourself?â she asked. Renee didnât respond, she just stared at the picture, unable to formulate a response.
It was a picture taken with a front-facing camera, and in it, was someone Renee had never expected to see again – Zinnia. And in the picture, she was with someone – a blonde woman with purple eyes. They were both smiling, and their expressions looked genuine. Renee felt that the other woman looked familiar, before remembering that she had indeed seen her before in a dream. What was going on?
When Emmy didnât get a response after Reneeâs loud gasp, she paused what she was watching and got up to walk over to Renee, who was still staring at her phone. Curiously, Emmy asked if she could see, and when Renee turned the screen over to let Emmy take a look, she made a near-yelling noise and recoiled backwards before getting a closer look at Reneeâs phone, grabbing it out of her hands.
âWe need to go right now.â Emmy said in a fairly serious tone, though her voice was slightly cracking.
âWhy? Emmy, do you know the other person in the picture?â
âEverything will explain itself once we get to where they are⌠hope youâre ready for a joyride.â
Instead of waiting for a response, Emmy almost ran to get her boots on and head out the door. In the relative time Renee had known Emmy, she knew she could get quiet and let her actions speak when things became serious, but that didnât make it any less convenient. Still, Renee was curious, and she followed Emmy out the door. Emmy had already taken on her dragon form, and was waiting for Renee before she started flying.
Renee gripped onto Rayquazaâs horns tightly, and the two were off.
Despite the high speeds the two were going at, the wind resistance didnât knock the air out of Renee, as flying with Rayquaza always seemed to go about as smoothly as taking a plane. Renee assumed that Emmy knew where Zinnia and the mysterious woman were located through her legendary network, so Renee just held tight.
They flew for around 20 minutes, but time felt like it flew by fast. Once they reached their destination, Rayquaza circled in the air a few times before landing and reverting back to Emmy. Renee was still on Emmyâs back, so she slid off and looked around. The air was exceptionally clean, and they looked to be in some sort of heavily forested area, standing on a hiking path that led to a clearing. In the clearing, there was a quaint-looking house.
Emmy ran towards the house, and Renee did her best to follow her, though Emmy was definitely faster. Renee could see the door to the home open, and Emmy quickly ran inside without a second thought. As Renee caught up, she stopped on the porch and looked inside the home. It looked cozy, and very much felt like a rustic cabin. Aside from the decor, Renee could see Emmy hugging the blonde woman she had seen in the photo. There were no words exchanged between them, but Renee could tell the two were having some kind of moment together.
Reneeâs attention was then caught by something different – Zinniaâs voice.
âRenee! Hey! Itâs been a while.â Zinnia said, waving her arm towards Renee.
Renee stepped inside the house and closed the door behind her. She wanted to go in for a hug with Zinnia, but Zinnia interpreted differently – which led to an awkward handshake between the two. Zinnia just laughed it off.
âZinnia, I⌠didnât think Iâd ever get the chance to see you again.â Renee said, her voice softening after she spoke Zinniaâs name.
Emmy and the mysterious woman stopped their hug, and stepped back a bit from each other. Then, the mysterious woman turned to Renee.
âHello! Iâve heard and seen so much from you, Renee. I assume you wouldnât know me by appearance, but youâve heard quite a bit about me – my name is Aster.â she said with an elegant curtsy.
âOh, Aste- WAIT A MOMENT!! You canât be THE Aster, I thought you were dead!â
Aster chuckled a bit
âItâs me! I guess I was dead for a little bit, but Iâm here now. Itâs a bit of a long story, we can all sit down and catch up!â
Zinnia put her hand on Asterâs shoulder, while her other hand sat on the nearby dinner table to support her leaning.
âActually, before we do, I have a question.â Zinnia said with a bit of a smug look on her face.
âWhat is it?â Emmy replied, looking a bit concerned.
âEmmy, why did Renee come with you?â
The room fell silent – and while Renee kept her composure on the outside, she felt herself get beet-red in her own mind.
Oh, she knows, doesnât she; Renee thought to herself, almost unable to say a word.
She turned to Emmy, who had a similarly shocked expression at Zinniaâs question. It was going to be an interesting conversation.
And so, the 4 sat down and talked for a good long while. It seemed like Zinnia had betted on Emmy getting with Renee from the very beginning, much to Emmyâs annoyed dismay. Aster explained herself and her relation to Emmy, and also revealed herself to be the emissary of Cresselia. In hindsight, it made a lot of sense to Renee – given all the weird prophetic dreams involved during that week in April.
With all the formalities out of the way, Zinnia had explained what had happened while she was gone, and while it was a bit painful to hear what had happened, Renee was glad she came out of it mostly all right. Then, Renee and Emmy talked about what they had been up to, then the conversation went on as it devolved into bickering about cooking, talking about TV shows, and fascination with recent tech.
At the end of it all, Renee and Emmy had stayed much longer than they had intended on visiting, so they attempted to make a hasty retreat, as Renee had work she had to get done. But before they could leave, Aster stopped them. She asked if she could come with them to Reneeâs house, so she could set up a connection to the twoâs houses through the dreamscape. Renee decided there was no harm done, so Aster joined Renee on the flight back home.
Once back at her house, Renee located a storage closet she wasnât really using, and Aster pressed her forehead against it and mumbled for a few seconds. She thanked Renee, and said that she was welcome to visit at any time, before swiftly exiting through the door.
And with time, things went back to normal – well, about as normal as this strange new situation could get. After some initial awkwardness with talking to someone youâd thought had been dead passed, Renee found herself able to put a lot of trust in Aster and found her to be quite relatable.
Renee was also rather happy to see that Zinnia and Steven started to get along – quite well, in fact. After a rocky beginning, the two were able to find important friendships in each other, despite being polar opposites. Plus, their constant back-and-forth bantering was rather entertaining to watch.
—
At the end of the long day, Renee practically collapsed into bed, where Emmy was already laying, marking up a magazine with a marker.
âEventful day, huh?â Renee said with a sigh as she got herself comfy under the covers.
âYeah,â Emmy said. âItâs almost hard to put into words⌠Iâm just⌠so happy that theyâre alright. Iâm really happy I got to see Aster again.â
âI can tell, youâve been smiling ever since we got home.â
Emmy put down her magazine and put her hand in Reneeâs hair.
âI have? I guess I didnât notice, hah.â
Emmyâs expression softened, a smile still on her face, as she put her head down next to Reneeâs.
âItâs wild how all of this is connected⌠you, me, Zinnia, Aster⌠never would I have thought Iâd be around this many wonderful people.â she said in a hushed voice.
Reneeâs eyes were practically glittering.
âYeah, it really isâŚâ she replied. âI⌠Iâm glad I met you through all of this, Emmy. I hope we can spend a long time together.â
Renee paused for a second.
âI love you, Emmy.â
Emmy closed her eyes in a smile.
âI love you too. Goodnight.â
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