Won't feel like Christmas without you

DATE 25th of December
TIME morning
ATTIRE Link
TOPIC FOR @Birdie
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Christmas morning. Not that Amelia really celebrated it, she had no one to celebrate it with, or at least no one who invited her. So, when she had learned that a old friend was at the psychiatry center in Athena, where Amelia lucky enough had arrived in after Oscar had moved here - not that he had contacted her since. So, as always Amelia just got by, looking around waiting to figure out her next step. And next step was Christmas morning at the center, she had even brought a small set of presents. Getting in she had found her friend and they sat down and talked by one of the tables while eating breakfast. It was around then the magical energy in the room changed, or increased enough to make Amelia turn her head around. Her jaw could have dropped, enough to make her rush up from the chair almost like a child who had lost in the mall and finally finding their parent - which was very much the case here, it was just over a thousand years too late. It however in the moment did not stop the blonde fairy from spinning around to facet the woman who was her mother - she was sure of it, the energy, the aura - those eyes, it was impossible to forgot, also by the means of her powers to recall every single dream and nightmare she ever had - her mother's gentle face and soft warm voice had been used to make herself fall asleep many times over the year. "Hey," she breathed out looking for some sort of sign that her mother recognized her, but it just didn't seem like she did.

Today had been harder than Birdie had foreseen. Which only made her happy that they had insisted on her staying throughout the holidays before they could release her. So, she had been sitting by her window once again, watched how the snow had covered the land. And it had helped a little hearing people laughing on the halls. Doing small Christmas pranks and coming with gifts. But it wasn’t only laughter, there was also crying and screaming, making her conflicted whether if she should just break out of the ward now, or stay because it helped her in the long end. It was very confusing, only making her hope even more that Clay would be able to come and visit her. She had even been close to calling Willson because it had all become very overwhelming for her. But she couldn’t do that to him, when he had his daughter and family to be with this normally nice day for families. So, she had overcome it, like the big girl she was and after some time she had finally gotten in some clothes after getting herself into a shower. Then she had joined everyone in the common room.

A little confused she took a step back with the very strong reaction to her presence from a woman standing up and turning towards her. Making some big eyes, she took folded her arms around her body not taking her eyes of the blond woman that didn’t let her eyes waver from her. “Ehm, Hi?” Birdie tried, looking from side to side, making sure that it was actually her that the woman was talking too. “Something I can do for you?” she then continued to ask, not really understanding any of this.

There was nothing in the woman's eyes to tell her that her mother recognized who she was. It broke the inner child's heart to face, but Amelia was a big girl, she could handle it. "Ehm, I just - I'm sorry, you just looked so familiar," even the voice made Amelia sure. What had happened? Why and how had she forgotten? "Merry Christmas," she breathed out taking a respectful step back. "I'm Amelia," the fairy then presented herself with a surprisingly low voice, a bit defeated from not getting the respons she had wanted, but she still held her hand out - then at least she could feel the familiarity of the energi. Not that she had ever expected to see her mother again, she had thought she had died a long time ago - and that had had to be the reason why she never came home. And now she was standing here looking at her like Amelia was a complete stranger. "I'm an old friend of Marie," she pointed over at the slightly older lady by the window closest to the exit. "Looks like you have a visitor as well," she looked towards the guy showing up, looking at them, which made Amelia draw back and step back to Marie.

Clay walked in giving Josephine a warm smile, "Merry Christmas," he walked over to give her a warm hug. There was something in the air, and it wasn't hard for the hybrid to pick up on it, which made her embrace a little bit short as he looked towards where the blonde fairy sat down. "Who was she?" He wondered, well he could smell it, but to Birdie she seemed like any other stranger.

At first Birdie still looked a little confused, maybe even scared a little. But it turned into a small warm smile, as the woman explained she had just looked like someone she had known. Not that Birdie actually believed it was only that, because how she had reacted, she had to have known for sure. There was also a small voice in the back of her head telling her, that she might not be ready to understand what was actually going on. “Josephine” Birdie introduced herself, knowing that it wasn’t her real name. But it was her legal one at this point, so she might as well just use it. Especially since she had no idea who this woman was. Her eyes followed the direction that Amelia pointed and nodded once more understanding that she had just been here for another. Looks like you have a visitor as well. Birdie turned around, and the smile that formed on her lips could not be mistaken by anything else, then a woman that was very happy to see this man. Overly happy even.

“Merry Christmas” she breathed, folding her hands together in front of her, as he walked over to her. “Oh” she laughed, as he went straight in for the hug, and she managed to open her arms so it would get awkwardly stuck between them. Her arms snaked around his neck, closing her eyes while she breathed him in and felt how tension slowly left her while they hugged. As he let go, she took a step back and looked over to the woman when Clay asked. Birdie shrugged “I have no idea, but she had a very odd reaction when I stepped inside here, but she told me she just thought I was someone else” she turned towards Clay “I’m really happy to see you” she said quite honestly, even though she didn’t add the; I thought you might not.

It had been a rush over the night, luckily for Clayton long hours were something you got quite used to as this point in his line of work. So, after a quick nap and a few shots of expresso he had made it here. An odd reaction. Yeah, he understod why, he could smell the familiarity so clearly that it made him tense his jaw a little bit. "I see - did she say who?" He wondered before moving his eyes from the blonde fairy starring at him for a brief moment, then looking towards Birdie. "Of course, I said I would try to make it, didn't I?" He gave her a little smirk. Clayton took a sharper breath in licking his lips a little, clearly a bit distracted by the fact that he knew that it was Birdie's family sitting there over by the window, and Birdie didn't remember. But he couldn't just unlock her memory and overload her, or he could but he wasn't going to. "Wanna sit down?" He asked moving his eyes back to Birdie, before with a small movement of his hands gestured to a free chairs. "So, I did get you a present - but I couldn't bring it, or I wasn't sure if I could bring it - so I did the next best thing." He handed her a rather flat present, wrapped in nicely. When she opened it, it would be a framed image of a little puppy he had went and gotten that needed a new home after the owners had left it behind - and some adoption papers, after all the entire hospital had the place with puppies with no places to go - he had taken Nia there once when she had been overwhelmed. "Merry Christmas." And Birdie had talked about getting able to get a dog again, so here was the best thing he could think of her getting - a little spark of joy.

Birdie shook her head. “No, but she’s her visiting someone” the fairy scratched the back of her head “It’s just odd, she seems familiar, but not really, do you ever get that?” she asked, looking towards Clay and gave him a big smile, as he told her that he had said he would make it. That he had, but one thing was saying, and another thing was making it work. She knew that he had a lot of work cut out for him. And his family wanted to be with him these holidays. So, who knew, maybe it wouldn’t have been possible after all. But he was here, and that was all that mattered to. her. She nodded as he asked if she wanted to sit down. Walking with him towards the chairs that he had gestured to and sat down. She widened her eyes as he told her that he had gotten her a present. But she hadn’t gotten him anything. Well, he could get one of her very badly made Christmas stars, but other than that she hadn’t really been able to do much. “You really shouldn’t have” she breathed out, as she took the present that he was handing her. Shaking it a little with a laugh, trying to figure out what it was, before she opened it. Her eyes widened and looked up towards him, as a hand glided over her mouth. “You didn’t” she mumbled muffled against her fingers, as she looked at the adoption papers. Tears formed in her eyes, as she put down the papers and then leaned over and pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you, so much” she mumbled closing her eyes, not able to hold back the small sob as she hugged him a little closer.

Clay licked his lips a little bit, yes, he did not the familiarity of meeting someone - well most of the time when it happened, it could be because of family. Now, Clay didn't have a trouble with forgetting giving the powers he was gifted with. "Sometimes, but most of the time I also know there is a reason for it," he licked his lips a little bit giving her a warmer smile. Not being able to go home till he had least have found some sort of solution to this. But he wanted to wait just a little moment, just a few seconds at least before blowing something up in her face. Maybe he shouldn't have, but he wanted to there was a difference. Clay saw it as his time to step up, so this was him stepping up. "I did," he smiled so brightly, because he couldn't anything but do that to how she looked at receiving the present. Placing his arms around her as she leaned over to hug him tight. "You are so welcome," he breathed out letting himself hold her close for a moment, just this moment. "He is at my place, so whenever you are ready he will be there waiting for you," Clay added with a warm smile, once again finding himself in a place of pieces being pulled back together.

She really couldn’t believe that he would do something like this for her. A big smile of gratitude blossomed on her lips. She even felt that warm feeling spread in her chest, as she looked at him after pulling out of the hug. However, she was proud that she didn’t immediately jump to the conclusion that it meant everything would go back to how things had been before. Which also was a feeling of success, which meant she was slowly readjusting to the fact that they were starting over. Which also meant they were only friends, and she was okay with that. More okay with that in fact. She was just happy that he was back in her life, and she would take anything at this point. “I can’t wait to pick him up” she chuckled, letting her fingers glide over the picture of the small pupper that he had gotten for her. A soft grin left on her lips “are you sure you can give him up, when I’m there to collect this present?” she teasingly asked, knowing just how fast you could get attracted to animals, and she didn’t think it would be any less easy when you had part werewolf in your blood. Where attaching bonds to canines were in your genes.

The question was of course if he could let go of the puppy again, which was always harder with being part werewolf actually. You just developed a deeper connection to canines, but he would for the sake of giving Birdie some comfort and perhaps peace. "It might be the battle of my life, but we will figure it out," he confessed with a still warm smile on his lips. "Okay, there is something I do have to get off my chest regarding the fairy over there," he didn't even look towards the blond fairy, but Birdie did deserve to know that someone or something had taken away some of her memories, important onces. "I tabbed into her memories, to find out why she looked that strangely at you - and she knows you, and I reckoned since you didn't recognize her that you might have some things you don't remember," he spoke with a very warm and smooth voice, knowing it could be quite scary when you found out that something you should remember wasn't there. Then, he couldn't imagine if he couldn't remember his children or the pain of having forgotten them. But didn't she at least deserve to remember her daughter that clearly remembered her? "If you want to, I can find it and unlock the door - and if not that is okay too, but I can tell she has been looking for you for quite some time," Clay licked her lips a little bit not taking his eyes of Birdie.

She nodded; a smile was still on her lips. Especially after he told her, that they would figure it out. She wasn’t sure, but something about it just told her that it was more than just the dog they were going to figure out. It gave her hope, and right now it was a powerful thing. It was a reassurance that she would get out of here and everything would be good again. It had to be.  
Her eyes turned from the picture towards him as he told her that there was something he needed to get off his chest. About the fairy? She turned her head towards the beautiful blond woman sitting with her friend. “What about her?” Birdie asked letting out a soft exhale, putting the picture down on the table in front of her. Her brows pressed towards one another as he explained that he had tabbed into her memories. She knew her? She couldn’t remember? Well, she knew there was parts of her life that she knew nothing about. Entire parts of when she had been in wonderland was gone. But she had never had the need to figure it out, and lived quite happily just forming a new life for herself.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, she tried to calm herself. Turning her gaze from the blond woman back at Clay. Unlocking what was forgotten. It sounded dangerous. But if she was being fair, she wanted to know if there was something here. “Yes” nodding she licked her lips “yeah, I’m ready” she whispered, closing her eyes bracing herself on what was going to happen.

One could say in case of a meltdown or it being overwhelming, this was perhaps one of the safest locations to have one in. Clay was very confident in his powers, and other than when he by accident had tabbed into her mind, he hadn't had many accidents with his power after having gotten control over them. Danica had helped him a lot with mastering his skill. And he wouldn't be offering it if he wasn't sure he could do it. Then she nodded, and closed her eyes. It was a warm feeling and made him happy that she still trusted him after everything that had happened. He reached out and gently took her hands in his, and then placed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. At least it could just look like they were praying or just finding a moment of peace, rather than if he had placed his hand on her head to gain access. He reached inside her head, flipping the pages of all the active memories - which was endless, till he found the locked door where it was almost like chains kept it from actually be opened.

Clay could hear the noise from the other memories begging for him to look, but no, she trusted him, there was no way he was doing anything but go after what they were looking for. So, he got closer to the door and reached out to pull the chain off the half broken door, watching it slowly heal up like new, before he then opened it and thereby unlocked everything that was hidden away. Like a blow from a heavy wind everything almost pushed him back, but he wanted to make sure the memories didn't just hit her all at once, but they got back to her in a speed that was able to be at least processed a little bit easier. Then he slowly let himself out of her head and slowly pulled back so he could look at her.

It was a surreal experience to have someone wander through your mind like that. To have complete control over everything, what he would invade what he would leave alone. Doors that were locked, either for her own protection or something had made sure she wouldn’t remember. She had no idea what would be on the other side, but she was ready. Or so she thought, then the memories started to take over. Even after he had let go, she saw them, almost like a film passing in front of her own eyes. A happy life.
Birdie looked around; a man called out to her. Cerise, what? She looked at him, she knew him. He, he was her husband. Her heart started aching. Her hands pressed against her chest, tears started gliding down her cheeks, as a soft whimper left her.
She looked down, pregnant. She had been with child? Another whimper, as tears didn’t stop. How could she have forgotten that she had given birth? That she had a daughter. Amelia.
Fire. She pushed her hands in front of her closed eyes, as if she was experience it all right now. No, no. “No! Run, Millie, run” she opened her eyes and got up. She was just about to run as she fell down to her knees. Even though her eyes were open now. She could still see the fire burning hot in front of her eyes. A silent scream left her, everything she thought she had. It was gone, in the fires or the woods had taken it from her. Then she turned her crying eyes towards her daughter, she stood up again. Staggering, “Amelia” she whispered, walking towards her daughter, lips quivering “Please forgive me” nurses came in, clearly thinking that Birdie was having a mental break. Grabbing her arms. “No! Stop! You don’t understand, she’s my daughter! I thought, I thought she had died!” she wiggled in their arms, getting to the daughter she had forgotten, but now remembered.

Then she got up, Clay pulling himself out of her head in a small shock by the way she still seemed to be in her own memories and present. Amelia had completely frozen by her nickname being said and looked towards her mother as their eyes finally seemed to met. She remembered. Slowly the fairy got towards her feet. Then, the nurses came in, grabbing her. Clay got up on his feet, looking towards the nurses. "It's okay, it's okay. I got this one," he looked towards one of them using his compolsion to make them let go of Birdie's left arm. Then followed by the other one. Amelia just stood a bit still and took a sharper and longer breath in looking towards her mother, feeling how her tears were on the edge of falling down her cheeks. "Mum?" She asked in an almost whisper, feeling the fear of her pulling back and realizing it wasn't - it was dangerous to have hope like this, she had tried to find her for so many years - and here - could she trust it? But the fairy was scared, it was clear. Scared to be let down, scared to experience the loss all over again, because she wasn't sure she could handle that.

They finally let go of her, she didn’t even realise what had done it. She was so occupied with looking at her daughter standing there, right in front of her. She was alive, she was truly alive. A small snivel left her as she nodded her head. It was her; she was a mother. She was her mom. There was no doubt about it. She took a small step towards Amelia, offering her hand. Just so Amelia could see that she actually remembered that she wanted to have contact. But she also understood why it would be overwhelming. Because she first had looked at her daughter with no recognition at first, and now she suddenly did? Birdie swallowed the water that had formed on her tongue. Not knowing what else to do, other than to just wait. “Yes” she managed to whisper, even though her voice came out a little rusty, as if she had just screamed endlessly for hours. But she remembered that she had. Wandering the village and seen the destruction. Seeing Reginald dead, not being able to do anything before they had chased her away again. Making her run so fast, through the forest before she had fallen through another portal.

Amelia could feel her heart skip ahead, so heavily that she feared it could or would drown her. Just pull her under the dark sea and never let her see the surface again. The blueish green eyes looked at the offered hand, feeling her lips shiver and like the world just stopped. It was like the world had stopped for a moment, and she didn't breath. The whisper, the simple whisper made Amelia turn her watered eyes up towards her mother, blinking one time and let a single tear leave the corner of her eye and dance down on the cheek. Amelia lifted her hand up, slowly, feeling the small shakes on the tip of her fingers as she moved closer finally letting their hands meet. First then she took a deeper breath in blinking a few times letting a series of a few more tears run. Amelia was somehow good at keeping herself in check, but nothing could prepare her for this moment. Neither the rejection she had felt when she first had gotten in here, both like slaps across her face, and yet she was so relieved by her mother actually looking at her and knew her right here and now. So, she couldn't anything but let go of her hand and just rush to embrace her, wrap her arms around her and just hold her close. Making sure this was real.

Birdie waited till Amelia was ready to take a step forward and take her hand. She understood her being reserved after she hadn’t remembered her a moment ago. It had to be a lot to take in, for Birdie as well. A whole life she had forgotten. With a husband, and a daughter that she had loved so dearly. How everything had been taken away, by men that had set the entire village on fire, killing Reginald in the process. It was a lot of grief that she suddenly needed to deal with. But not now, that could wait. Her other hand glided up and moved away some of the escaped tears that was running down her daughter’s face. A small chuckle and a breathless exclaim left her as her daughter let go of her hand and rushed into her arms. Birdie closed them carefully around Amelia, and after a while her eyes closed as well. Holding her daughter close, almost afraid that she would disappear if she would let go. Once again tears well up in her eyes, and glided down her cheeks, as she placed her head against Amelia’s hair. What a crazy year this had been.