I want it all... no... I want the world (TW)

It was the worst feeling in the world; weakness. Depending on someone to function was terrible! As Tidus helped her out of the coffin, she had to rest up against him, as she felt like the original version of The Little Mermaid; walking on pins and needles. Sharp pains would shoot up through her legs, making her whimper and curl her toes harshly to avoid the feeling. The muscles didn’t want to function properly, leaving her almost unable to stand on her own. However - it wasn’t the pain that bothered her. It was what happened the moment he had placed her feet on the floor. She turned her head away from him, as she tried to refrain from allowing the damn magic to take a hold of her. She had forgotten how magic felt like electricity in her veins when she had first discovered it. She took a sharp breath, as she muttered a ‘’no…’’ to his question. She wasn’t alright. She wanted to scream and cry; she wanted the feeling of being vulnerable to go away! Instead, she was left almost unable to stand on her own - and not only that, but also unable to control her magic. She grinded her teeth, hoping Bienvenido would turn up fairly quickly, as all she really wanted was to go home and hide - but only after she had seen him. she needed to see him - just to make sure he wasn’t collapsed like she had been back then with Tidus.
‘’… It feels like all there’s left is needles on the ground. Like walking on broken glass.’’ She wanted to pull out of his embrace so that she could sit down on the floor, but even that range of movements seemed impaired with her at the moment. ‘’I have to ask… What did I show you, right before I… You know?’’ she then asked, trying to remember, but she wasn’t sure. If she had shown him what she thought she had, it was a wonder he hadn’t left by now. Who would ever want something so used and broken as her?

Even though she was so strong and tried to hide her pain, Tidus could see through her like glass. She was in hell. In the end, she decided not to hide the pain anymore, by answering NO to his question. She wasn’t alright. Far from. He wishes he could help her more. But unfortunately, she had to overcome this pain herself.
“Yeah… I know… I´m sorry…” he said, his voice filled with compassion and a bit of pity. “It will get better, trust me.” Shortly he read her mind to figure out that she felt like sitting down. But instead, he chose to lift her up in his arms and sits down carefully on the ground himself. just for some time. Just until she had gotten used to be alive again.
The question he had hoped for never to come, now came and hung in the air, like a thick fog. He now sat there on the ground, holding her close, while rocking her back and forth.
“You… You showed me a vision of your past… I saw a young Collin and you… You were having dinner… your mom had made soup on your bunny… your stepfather… he… he…” The scenarios were stuck in his head. Forever… He couldn’t get it out. He instead hugged her tighter.

Tidus had seen right through her. Every time she thought he had learned to stay out of her head, she was reminded that he wouldn't consider that her safe space. Her safe space would do ever and always be in his arms. He lifted her up, only to sit down himself, cradling her in his embrace.
Cassandra didn't care for being weak. She hated the emotion related to weakness and being in dire need of others support. Yet, as all she could feel was the numbing pain in every muscle, she listened to the explanation Tidus presented. She had shown him the connection between her an Collin; the fact that he indeed was her brother, and that it had been his father who had forced himself upon her and met his end by her hand as the first of several men.
" he raped me, Tidus." she said, making it clear that the only way she could even comprehend that act was by saying it as it was. Keeping the taboo would only prove that it once had broken her. The only thing she didn't talk about, because she fear crumbling every time she thought of it, was when Tidus died. His death had crushed her, like if she had been a pillar of salt and he had been the only thing sheltering her from the pouring rain.
"for a moment, I hoped I had shown you one of our happy times... Guess I wasn't that lucky." she sighed. She rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at him. "I'm sorry for leaving you behind.." she then whispered, as she reached for his cheek, where her thumb caressed his skin softly. Even her fingertips felt like they were burning.

Raped. Yeah… he knew. He had felt it on himself as well.
Collin´s father had raped Cassandra. A big detail they had forgotten to tell him. But… he also understood why they hadn’t told him.
still with her cuddled close to him, he rocked her from side to side, waiting for her to get used to her body once again. As she whispered her apology, he quickly shook his head and hugged her even tighter. “No… no do not apologies. If anything… I should be apologizing to you… I shot you for Christ sake. I was the reason you…” he sighed and shook his head. “Nevermind. I´m sorry… but I´m so… so happy that you´re back… I was ready to go see some voodoo people, to see if I could get you back.”

She took a shaking breath as he told her the harsh reality; it was him who had shot her. A part of her wanted to say that it didn’t matter - but it did. It mattered, because he was one of the few people she trusted with her life, and it had turned out to be the most stupid decision ever. She would die for him, but she should never have been forced to say that she would die by him as well.
‘’You have to try harder to get rid of me,’’ she said, still caressing his cheek with her thumb. ‘’But I kept my promise, at least. To hell and back,’’ she mumbled. How could she be tired after a week of dreamless sleep? Or… It hadn’t been sleep; she was not Briar Rose. She had been dead. Dead and gone, which ached in her chest to know. ‘’I want to kill them…’’ she then said; her voice almost a whisper but her words as potent and strong as ever. ‘’I want to kill every single one of them. I want to trap them in that place for all eternity.’’ She closed her eyes, as she felt a rage burn inside her; a rage that shouldn’t be there. She shouldn’t be angry, yet she was. Darius had crossed a line.

He sighed and kept caressing her head. If he told her the whole story, would she see it as him trying to excuse his action? He hoped it wouldn’t be the case as he separated his lips and told her the truth.
“Darius… Darius created an illusion… all I saw was lazy attacking you… and winning… but… that must have been you… for when I fired the shot… it was you who was hit by the bullet…” his voice was trembling a bit as he told her this. Tiredly, he robbed his eyes.
as she said she had kept her promise, he smiled widely and nodded. He was happy. So happy. She was alright! He couldn’t believe it.
“You got Lazy you know…” he said. Even though they talked about the death of a person, Tidus smiled as he looked down at Cassandra, waiting eagerly for reaction. “He´s death and Darius are missing an eye.”
just as he was about to say more, the door swung open and there stood someone, who used to be Tivo. This young man, had his hair sticking everywhere, looking like something that could use a shower and the dark rings under his eyes shinned brighter than usual.
“Cassandra?” his voice trembled. The green emerald laid on her. Pain shinning through them. “Is… is that you?” with the legs shaking underneath him, he walked over to them and fell on his knees. Snakingly he placed a hand on her cheek. It was warm… she was…
Tears started to appear in Tivo´s eyes. “Cass… mi amor.” A bright smile was glued on his face.

‘’I don’t care how he did it. The bastard made you shoot me. I. Want. Him. Dead.’’ She said, looking at Tidus with little patience in her voice. Then, he told her that she ‘got’ Lazy. She was rather confused at first, since she had focused on keeping herself alive, which had led to her forgetting what she had done to Lazy. She had drowned him in her own blood. Damn… What a fitting death.
‘’You only took an eye? You’ve clearly not learned my ways yet, young one.’’ She said, winking at him - but everything got interrupted.
In the door stood a man who looked like hell was an understatement. His hair was tufted and was sticking out to multiple directions; dark circles underneath his eyes told her that he had either been sleeping poorly or not at all. The trembling voice of his made her close her eyes for a moment, as she heard him come closer; careful as the wolf he was. She wasn’t used to him using her full name - her real name - which sent shivers down her spine. He fell to his knees, right in front of her, making her stretch her neck towards him as he reached for her cheek. she looked at him; looked at his emerald eyes, as she reached out to him. At first, her touch was so careful - trying. She wasn’t sure if she was going to show him something she shouldn’t, or if that part of her still was dormant. As soon as she was assured that she didn’t harm him by her touch, she locked her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him closer; locking their lips in a tender, yet shaky, kiss. She was trembling all over once again; this time because of the fact that all three of them were alright. Shaken, but alright. She didn’t even manage to break off the kiss to whisper her words; they simply mixed with his lips; ‘’I love you,’’.

In the minute Tivo stepped through the door, Tidus was pulled back to realization. Into the universe were Cass had just been dead. The universe where him and Tivo had been completely lost for a week. Tempted to end it all. But… now… it was all going to lighten up. There was light in the end of the tunnel. A light Tivo know caressed with his hand.
Cass looked just shook as Tivo. The two lovers didn’t waste any time. She locked her arms around his neck, pulled herself closer and out of Tidus lab. The demon sat back, watched with a tender smile on his lips, while his heart got filled with happiness.
Tivo kissed her back and tenderly let his arms surround her in an embrace. Tears rolled down in between their lips. He still couldn’t believe it. She was alive. Right here in his arms.
I love you…
Those 3 little words hid him like a lightning. He therefore separated their lips and looked at her. Tears still running down his cheek. He looked like a mess. A mess in front of the person he loved the most. And the person who now sat there and told him she felt the same.
“I love you too,” he said in a whisper, here he pushed their lips together again, in a passionate and yet so shaking kiss.

It had never been easier to say those words, than when she felt his lips against hers. This was where she belonged; with the two men she loved the most. She felt his arms around her, and she tasted the salty tears which revealed that just like she had been heartbroken when Tidus died, so had Tivo when she passed away. She sighed against his lips as he stopped the kiss. They looked at each other, and for a moment she wondered if she would ever feel this way again; happy to even be alive. Then, the words came. His words - his four little words that made her heart skip a beat. They returned their lips in a dance, passionate and shaky. They both seemed to be trembling - and for a moment, she had forgotten that Tidus was right behind her, until she once more broke off the kiss, simply because her lips felt like they were burning. In that moment, she decided to avoid telling both of them what it had been like for her in that week. They didn’t need to know. ‘’Don’t you dare cry… Then I’ll just cry too!’’ she mumbled, wiping a defiant tear from her cheek.

Tivo chuckled lovingly. “I´m allowed to cry!” he softly grabbed her cheeks, removing the tears from her cheek with his thumbs. “I thought I had lost you… I thought you were gone forever… I… Mi amor.” Once again, he pulled her into his embrace, almost dragging her over in his own lab. Here he hid his face in her hair. His body still shaking. A shake of relieve and sorrow. “I thought… I thought you were gone for sure.”
his Spanish accent was getting heavier and heavier as the tears started to eat him up again. “Fuck.”
He removed his face from her hair, to look into her eyes, those gorgeous amber eyes. His large hands were still placed on her cheeks. “How… how are you feeling?”
Tidus still looked at them with a smile, before taking up his phone, giving them some privacy by writing to Collin. A simple text saying: call me as soon you can.
to be fair, Tidus was dying to know how she had survived. But he couldn’t make himself ask her. Not now. Right now… he just loved to see her breathing and in the arms of the man she loved.

‘’You are not allowed to shed on single tear over me, do you hear? Those tears are reserved for when you get to hold our child for the first time - not your girlfriend!’’ she said, trying to chuckle and be funny - although it all simply was a façade to prevent her from tearing up and cry herself. She was pulled into his embrace once more, which made her bury her face against his chest. ‘’I was… I don’t know what happened…’’ she said, in a low mumble. She was dead - she had been dead for a week! Whatever had happened made her nauseous to think about. His hands on her cheeks felt so incredibly nice… So gentle. ‘’I feel like shit. It wasn’t exactly beauty sleep.’’ She mumbled; clearly trying to be funny, although it was the truth. She wanted a shower; clean clothes… She wanted to brush her teeth!
She looked into his emerald eyes, before she turned around and noticed Tidus sitting with his phone. ‘’Please… Can we just go home…? This place gives me the creeps!’’ she sighed, looking pleadingly at Tivo, although she was sure it would be hard for her to even walk, due to her muscles being unused for a week.

Tivo chuckled and tried not to jump up in happiness by her saying, that they would have a child in the future. A future he sure as held looked forward to. Right now though, they should be focusing on the present. And the fact that they had Cass in it. He smiled bright one last time, before pulling himself together and raising himself from the ground. Here he reached down and lifted Cassandra up in his arms. Now he looked over at Tidus. The youngster who had put the phone away and focused on the couple in front of him.
“Yes,” he said, answering instead of Tivo. Here he placed a warm hand on Cassandra´s shoulder. “Lets get you home.” Just as he was about to make a portal, he remembered that he had drove over here. This made him slap his own face. “I drove here… wtf… why am I doing that… when I have my portals…” He chuckled and sighed annoyed over himself.
in the end, he did make a portal though. He smiled warmly at Tivo and Cass. “Go through. I see you back home in a little half hour.”
with a nod and a smile, Tivo walked through the portal, still carrying Cassandra in his arms. The portal closed behind them and they would now be standing in Cassandra´s living room. Tidus own house had far to many bad memories by now.

//Her livingroom

To Cassandra, this was all she needed. Bienvenido and Tidus, happy to see her. She had noticed how Bienvenido had glowed up as he had heard her mentioning a child in the future. Of course, they were going to have kids! Weren’t they?...
As Bienvenido got on his feet, he reached down and lifted her up in his arms - her resting her head against his shoulder. She felt Tidus place a warm hand on her shoulder, making her look over at him with a grateful smile, as he agreed to get her home. The facepalm made her look rather confused at him, until he explained that he had taken the car there, instead of one of his portals. She had had little to say, before Bienvenido had stepped through the portal and had transported them to her livingroom.
Everything looked normal; nothing had been touched since she had left. It felt weird, being back - considering that she almost had been lost completely. how had she survived?
As soon as the portal had closed behind them, she crawled out of his arms and placed herself on her leather couch. She curled up, clearly in need of getting used to her own body again. ‘’I have to ask,’’ she warned Bienvenido. ‘’I have to ask, and I fear that if I don’t ask now, I never will…’’ she said, as she looked straight at the werewolf. ‘’Will you marry me?’’

Back in her living room, he sat her back down, ready to support her if she needed it. As she sat down on the couch, he ran out in the kitchen, got her a glass of water and placed it in front of her. He then gently placed himself next to her.
“don´t worry. I have your sweet little bird back at my place and your dog of course.” Both Tivo and Tidus had immediately taken care of her pets, not forgetting them in all the chaos.
all though… it seemed to be the last thing on Cassandra´s mind now. Instead she now looked him deep in the eyes and popped a question. A question he never thought he should hear her ask.
Seconds felt like minutes, as he looked at her and expected her to laugh and tell him that it was just a joke. But it never happened. She meant it. Every word.
He smiled widely at her and nodded. “Yes. Yes… I will!”
It wasn’t the classic proposal, but who the hell gave a fuck, when it was all about love. He hugged her tight. “I will… I will… on one condition.” He here pulled out of the hug. “I´m buying you a ring and going down on one knee some time!”
He couldn’t believe it. He really got the love of his life.

She didn’t doubt that Tivo had taken good care of both Archimedes and King. Anything else would be cruel. The water placen on the table in front of her almost disappeared next to the décor; massive candles took up most of the space on the dark and ornate coffee table. A black vase with cream-colored eternity-flowers brought back a little life in the room, whilst a tray with red wine and glasses to match stood by the corner furthest away from where she sat.
It felt like yet another eternity before it seemed to dawn on the werewolf that she was being serious. How could she not!? The thought of leaving them behind had broken her heart… She wanted to secure them; make sure that if something ever were to happen to her again, her life wouldn’t waste away… then the wide smile she had hoped for appeared, assuring her that it was a yes that was about to pass over his lips. Two ‘yes’ later, he gave her a tight hug whilst stating the condition. A condition she had denied Josiah back in the day. She couldn’t deny Tivo that too. It was rather obvious, but she mumbled a ‘alright then’ to him, as she leaned into the hug. ‘’Before you say anything - we can’t tell Tidus about it… Not yet. Oh! And, by the way! He is going to be my maid of honor, so you can’t take him as your best man! I call dibs!’’ she mumbled against his chest, chuckling slightly to hide the tears in both her eyes and her voice. Tears of joy, mostly, but also tears of pain. Everything ached, burned and felt horrible right now.

What did she mean that they couldn’t tell Tidus!? He wanted to yell out from the rooftops, but he couldn’t tell his best friend!? This confusion was not to hide on the werewolf´s face. He looked puzzled and rather confused. With a big smile, he separated his lips and complained about the statement.
“But but… why not? Shouldn’t he be the first to know… and wooh wooh! He can´t be a bridesmaid, he´s a man! So it´s only fair that he´s gonna be my best…”
he didn’t get to finish his sentence, before none other than bestman/bridesmaid stepped in through the door. On his shoulder was Archimedes and by his side, the two dogs, who immediately ran to Cassandra in the minute they saw her. King and Queen wagged their tails around, licked Cassandra´s hands and almost barked in happiness. Archimedes flew over and placed himself on her shoulder with a high pitch noise.
“I hope it´s okay I brought company,” Tidus said, smiling all over his face, as he saw how the animals greeted Cass. “So… what did I miss?”
“Nothing!” Tivo said quickly and maybe a bit suspicious. This made Tidus raise an eyebrow and chuckle lowly.
“Oh okay,” Tidus sang and went over to their side.

Why didn’t it surprise her one bit that the blonde demon had decided to bring over their beloved crew of pets? It was their children, after all - their beloved babies!
As soon as she saw them, she reached out to them; allowing Archie to land at her shoulder and for the dogs to greet her as much as they would want to.
“You are so terrible at lying,” Cassandra chuckled, as the werewolf tried to brush off the question the blonde demon had asked. “Fine, tell him,” she said, winking at the werewolf before she felt King, the massive Rottweiler, jump onto her lap, making her fall as far down on her back as possible against the backrest of the couch. “Hey boy! Glad ya missed me!” She chuckled, giving the pup a massive smooch on the snout.

Tidus looked from Cass to Tivo. Smiling all over his face. “Tell me what?”
Tivo was like a dog wagging its tail. His smile grew wider than Tidus had ever seen it.
“We´re engaged!” the werewolf blurted out.
Now it was Tidus turn to smile brighter than ever. “are you… wow! That´s amazing! Congratulation!” Immediately he hugged Tivo tight, before separating and hugging Cassandra tight, without squishing her of course. She was still starved and newborn after all. “When… where… how?”
The blonde looked from one friend to another. Tivo jumped up and down in his seat. He could not find peach. “Right here… right now… she asked me.”
Tidus looked with a smirk and big smile on Cass. “Oh so you did huh??”

At least he reacted with a smile instead of panic, as she might have feared. The congratulation made her chuckle, as the guys went for a hug. She had, however, not expected Tidus to hug her as well, considering what had just happened. As he placed his arms around her, she rested her head against his chest for a moment, keeping him close.
Of course, Tidus found it amusing that she had proposed. It was kind of funny, after all.
''Of course I did. Knowing him, he would never ask.'' she said, winking at Tivo for a moment before she looked at Tidus.
''And I already called dibs on you to be my man of honor, so don't you dare bail on me!'' she then said, giving him a slight nudge and a smile, as she sat down on the couch once more.