by CC Michele

Created on: June 06, 2009   Last Updated: June 07, 2009

Chapter 24- What Comes After Ever After; or Juliet Slays the Jabberwocky as Romeo is Bleeding

I don't want to work.

He noted the absence of anger in her tone, hearing just the slightest whisper of something much larger than he was ready to face head on. He looked away a moment, chewing his words carefully. A solitary cloud stood out in the otherwise pristine sky. Cumulus, like cotton balls piled high like a heaping plate of spaghetti and meatballs, he thought to himself, smiling absently. He had caught himself slipping into her Carebears in the Clouds mentality that, even now, made him gaze lovingly her way.

She lifted her hand to her face, fiercely brushing back hair that had fallen into her eyes as she stared at him unwaveringly, feigning rage though her eyes swam with tears. He couldn't do it; he couldn't break this little girl before him. So he gave her what she was asking for. Get over it; neither does anyone else. Newsflash, dollface, nobody cares. And it's just going to get worse until you admit that nobody's going to fix this for you and then get off your pathetic butt and make a life again. Take that.

Incredulous, her stare took focus now. For a moment she became human again, but just as quickly the hurt tiptoed away and ceased to ever have been anything more than a trick of light. Ice crystals glistened from her eyes, dutifully preparing to resume their assault against a love she was fated to destroy. Desperate to save them both by freezing all blood, by ending all pain, her howl shook the demon to its core as she thrust her tarnished blade into the darkness before her. Far away in another dimension, the love of her life heard only the whisper of the battle.

How? Her voice sounding hollow.

How should I know? The beast's blood stained the grass and soaked through the mud, settling into a syrupy puddle as she stood frozen, waiting to see signs of retreat. First just a flutter, then a more determined motion. Her assault had been enough; the threat crawled away.

Relieved, she brushed off her hands and stood up. Time to be a big girl; time to be normal. She inhaled deeply, reminded herself of her purpose, and tuned back in to the world. Her lover had moved to the chair while she'd been away and sat glaring at her now, challenging. You're the one who went to college for six years. Didn't you learn anything useful?

I thought so, she mumbled contritely. The words had barely left her mouth but she thought to herself, How true. I did think I'd learned

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