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She couldn’t believe it.
She couldn't believe it even with the proof laying cold in her arms.
Or rather, she refused to believe it.
It didn’t make sense.
It shouldn’t be real.
Enid was dead.
Wednesday blinked slowly, willing her eyes to stay dry but knowing it wouldn’t work.
Her best friend was dead because of her, her mind too paled by grief to fully comprehend the loss she had just experienced.
Enid’s unnervingly cold skin kept Wednesday from panicking fully, it was a small comfort to know that Enid was no longer suffering because of her. If only Enid had never known Wednesday, had never been forced to share a room with her and eventually become her closest and most trusted friend.
If only we had remained just that.
Wednesday was disgusted at the thought, but knew she wished it were true as she stared at Enid’s lifeless body in her arms. If Enid had never known Wednesday then she would still be alive, her vibrant smile and bubbly laugh bringing joy to those around her.
Her smile still remains fixed on her face, her last action before death, but now Wednesday only felt a hollow hole in the pit of her heart, scalding tears dripping down her cheeks as she carefully brushed strands of Enid’s pink, blue, and golden hair away from her face, revealing her scars in the early morning light.
You are so beautiful, Enid. I am sorry that my selfish actions have taken you from this world.
Wednesday could see her breath puff in front of her face, catching rays of dew as it filtered through the air. She steadfastly walked through the forest, cautious in her stride as fog engulfed the area around her. She chanced another look at Enid, dying inside every time she did.
Why did you have to save me?
I never asked you to save me!
I would rather have died than hurt you in any way, Enid!
I didn’t need you to save me.
I never needed you to save me.
…
But I am thankful you saved me, Enid.
I am thankful that I knew you and could call you my best friend.
I am thankful that I had someone so loyal and so close to me, someone I could trust throughout all trials and hardships in my life.
I am thankful you were kind to me and showed me a life I had never wanted except for when I was with you.
Even if I was the reason you sacrificed your life, I am thankful that you were a part of my life and that I could be part of yours.
Most of all, I’m thankful…
Wednesday took a deep sigh as she paused just inside the treeline, Nevermore visible through the fog in front of her. In her final moments, Enid had told Wednesday something she had long suspected and had silently hoped to be true. Although she had never shown an interest in it, the idea of knowing Enid and being with her in that way lit a spark in her dreary soul that she never hoped to snuff out.
“Most of all…I’m thankful that you could love someone like me, Enid.” Wednesday laughed sadly at the sky, wondering if Enid was watching her at that moment and could hear her. “I hope to one day become a person worthy of your love, I know I am not that person now.”
With one final glance back into the woods that would haunt her for the rest of her mortal life, Wednesday stepped through the trees onto Nevemore’s lawn, catching sight of a group of students and faculty members clustered on the driveway and watching her.
They began rushing quickly toward Wednesday, seemingly sensing that something was wrong, yet Wednesday felt surreally calm. One last whisper escaped her before the crowd reached her.
“I love you too, cara mia.”
━━━━❰·❉·❱━━━━
It was cold outside, but not unbearably so. She had been cold for years ever since she was a teenager, she didn’t even give a second thought to how cold it was outside anymore.
Her body seemed to float as she grew closer and closer to her destination, coughing into her hand as her feet came to a stop in front of large oak trees.
The forest was all too familiar to her.
In it held the memories of the worst night of her life.
The night she had lost her best friend.
The night she nearly lost all sense of self.
The night the woman she loved died in her arms protecting her.
It had been so long that she could no longer recall what had killed her beloved, all she knew was that an unholy rage overtook her when Enid’s blood first spilled onto the forest floor. If the creature still walked among the earth or was long dead was unclear to Wednesday.
Her breath caught in her throat as she took a single step into the woods, suddenly deathly cold. Wednesday’s feet carried her further past the trees, faint whispers calling to her from behind frail branches, not eerie, but comforting, as if from her own mother.
Faint glimmers of light sparkled in the snow-covered wonderland, and Wednesday followed them without hesitation. As insane as she knew it sounded, she trusted the whispers and glimmers of light. She had studied those supernatural phenomena most of her adult life while searching for a way to reconnect with her beloved, her final answer laying deep in the trees.
“~ Weds ~”
An energized shot soared through Wednesday’s worn and weary legs as Enid’s familiar nickname called out to her, a sudden spark reigniting in her chest that she had long thought dead. Wednesday’s physical body had little meaning to her now as she rushed toward Enid’s voice as quickly as she could, her eyes blurring as unrestrained tears took over her eyesight.
“Enid, I’m coming!” she called out.
The lights and voice suddenly cut out all at once, and Wednesday now found herself alone in the woods, snow falling gracefully around her. A sudden violet light erupted behind her, causing Wednesday to shield her eyes against it, only daring to crack open her eyes and peer out from behind her fingers several minutes later.
Wednesday could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest as she faced the one person she had stopped at nothing to see again.
Enid Sinclair stood before her in the woods, her smile as vibrant as Wednesday remembered, her hair perfectly styled to frame her face and highlight her scars, Enid obviously proud of them now.
“Howdy, roo-”
Wednesday flung herself desperately at Enid, overjoyed sobs bursting from her throat as she felt Enid’s body against hers. Wednesday clung on tightly to Enid, pulling her in for a hug that she was glad was reciprocated.
Both women stood unmoving for nearly an hour before Wednesday choked down her tears, finally meeting Enid’s shining blue eyes.
“I thought I lost you forever, Enid,” Wednesday’s voice cracked as she said it, and she suddenly felt weak, collapsing to her knees while keeping Enid’s hand clasped in hers.
Enid knelt on the ground in front of Wednesday, brushing strands of her slightly graying black hair out of her eyes and back alongside her twin braids.
“As if I could let my bestie live life without me!” Enid teased, giving Wednesday’s hand a comforting squeeze, “What kind of friend doesn’t look out for their best friend after they die?”
Tears kept Wednesday from replying, and all she could do was wrap her arms around Enid and hold onto her, unwilling to ever let her go again.
“Why?” Wednesday asked quietly after a few long minutes of silence.
“Why what, Weds?”
“Why?” Wednesday repeated, and Enid understood her instantly.
“Because can you really say you love someone if you aren’t willing to sacrifice something for them?” Enid replied, clutching onto Wednesday as she did and fighting down her own tears.
“But why did you have to sacrifice your life for me, Enid?” Wednesday demanded, her voice breaking even more as untold emotions overtook it. “I never asked you to, I never wanted you to die for me!”
“Weds,” Enid said softly as she tilted Wednesday’s chin up to meet her eyes, wiping stray tears from her cheeks with her thumbs. “Don’t ever act like my death was for nothing. I saw your life. You did so much to help the world, you were one of the best and brightest people that have walked this planet, Morticia, Gomez, Pugsley, and the rest of your family were so proud of you! Doesn’t that matter to you?”
“I couldn’t care less about the world, cara mia,” Wednesday cried. “All that has truly mattered for these last two decades was seeing you again, and now I can die happy just from hearing your voice and seeing your smile one last time.”
Wednesday was surprised to see Enid suddenly burst into laughter, a hand slapped to her mouth in an effort to drown out the noise.
“What?” Wednesday demanded. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Enid breathed slowly, calming herself down. “I shouldn’t be laughing, it’s not funny at all.”
“What isn’t funny?”
"You’re already dead, Weds,”
A sudden feeling of calm overtook Wednesday as she watched her beloved for a long moment. “What?”
“You’ve been dead ever since you entered the forest,” Enid explained as she climbed to her feet, pulling Wednesday up gently beside her. “You died of hypothermia. just because you couldn’t feel the cold anymore doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.”
“I’m dead?” Wednesday asked slowly, a tiny flame growing in her chest.
“Why do you think you look so young and that you were able to touch me?”
Wednesday looked down at her body after Enid’s question, shocked to find she looked just like her teenage self again. “But, how?”
“Something about how you truly died when we were 17 and you’ve never really been alive since then,” Enid said calmly.
“Then all of this is real?” Wednesday asked, the flame in her chest erupting.
Enid nodded as she faced Wednesday again, happily staring into her brown eyes as she answered, “All of it is.”
“And you’re real?”
“Ye-”
Wednesday was more than happy to cut off Enid as she responded to her, the building flame finally coming out in the one thing she had waited desperately to do for years.
Wednesday kissed Enid.
More hot tears streaked down her cheeks as Enid pressed her lips back against Wednesday’s, and Wednesday quickly caught Enid’s cheeks and deepened the kiss further.
Nothing else mattered anymore.
Wednesday was finally with the woman she loved, and they now had all of eternity to relive their lives with each other.
Wednesday had the feeling that this kiss was the first of many down their long road together, and she couldn’t wait to share the rest of eternity with Enid.
She was finally happy.