Toffee Cabin, Tuesday Evening

[glacial_queen]

It was a soot-covered Karla that arrived back in Fandom that evening. There hadn't even been enough time for her to get washed up before she'd been tossed into a Coach for home.

After Jaenelle had released her shield over the Hall, Lucivar, Saetan, and several other burly male servants had rushed out into the wreckage of the kitchen--and skidded to a stop when they saw a pair of very guilty witches surveying the damage and trying to figure out how they could spin this.

Saetan's lecture--and Lucivar's laughter--had been cut short when Holt came running up from the drive. "Coach!" he said, pointing. "From Halaway! Sylvia! Beale! Mrs. Beale!"

Terror galvanized them all into action. Saetan had practically tossed Jaenelle at Lucivar, barking, "Ebon-Gray Wind to the Dea al Mon. Now!" Before they'd even had a chance to catch the Wind, Saetan was doing the same thing to Karla. "Take the Red Wind to the Coaching station," he ordered Holt, who'd caught her.

One very uncomfortable Coach ride later (Holt had kept trying not to laugh the entire way) and one hastily-ordered emergency portal back to Fandom, and there was Karla, looking for all the world like a chimney-sweep.

"Kiss kiss," she said tiredly to the cabin at large.

[Mostly establishy, but open for cabinmates and friends. SP warning in effect, as we'll be heading home...sometime?]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

"How badly did it hurt when you took in as much as you did?" Karla asked, already knowing that Raven would have taken as much as she could handle and then a wee bit more.

[trigons_child]

"That does not matter," Raven said. "That has never mattered to me."

That was Raven-speak for "A great deal."

[glacial_queen]

"It matters to me," Karla said softly, lacing her fingers through Raven's. "You are powerful, yes, but still mortal. You have limits like the rest of us and if you ignore your body's warning signs and push those limits...Raven, I don't know what would happen if I lost you."

[trigons_child]

Raven squeezed Karla's hand. "I do not want to be lost," she said, her lower lip trembling. "But Jono is my friend and I wanted so much for him to be happy and to see him smile.

[glacial_queen]

"Was he?" Karla asked. "Did he?"

[trigons_child]

"He was. He did," Raven said, swallowing hard to keep herself from crying again. "But by that evening it all came back and if I had not been there he might have harmed Didi unintentionally. And he was so filled with despair. I could not bear to think that I was the cause of it."

[glacial_queen]

"Raven, I'm not denying that Jono was hurt or upset or even despairing. But, overall, which do you think he'd prefer? A few hours of happiness and a cherished memory? Or never being able to experience those things again? You gave him those hours, darling. And even if it's disappointing now, because you all thought it would be forever, you'll see. He'll come to realize it for the gift it was."

If Karla had to whack him about the top of his head for awhile, so be it.

[trigons_child]

"I was afraid he would hate me," Raven admitted quietly. "That is twice now I have misused my powers upon him. I truly thought I could do it. My pride would not let me believe there existed any chance of failure. But he is not angry with me" -- so there was no need for any whacking -- "though I cannot help but feel so guilty for being unable to keep my promise to him."

[glacial_queen]

"Did you have his permission to try?" Karla asked. "If so, then you haven't misused your powers again. You tried to help him. You even succeeded--temporarily. But you tried, and that's more than anyone else has done for him, myself included."

[trigons_child]

Raven nodded. "I have been pestering asking him for almost a year now," she said. "He has carried so much pain inside him. I just wanted to take it all away."

One day she'd accept that she couldn't heal the world. But not today.

[glacial_queen]

"I know you did," Karla said with a sigh, holding Raven close again. "But we can't always Heal those we care about. Even when they let us try. It sucks, but it's true, too."

[trigons_child]

Raven leaned her head against Karla's shoulder. "I have never failed before," she said sadly. "I do not like this feeling." She felt bad about feeling sorry for herself, but though she'd experienced embarrassment before, it had never hurt like this wound to her Pride, and she didn't understand why.

[glacial_queen]

"I don't suppose it'll help if I say it isn't your fault?" Karla asked, doubting it. "You succeeded in Healing him for a little while, which is probably more than damn near anyone else could do. But, Raven, you have to understand that not everything is fixable."

This whole instance had a bright, blinking 'Life Lesson' label on it, didn't it?

[trigons_child]

"I am attempting to accept that," Raven said, "but it has been harder than I had thought it might be. My mind understand, but my heart will not."

[glacial_queen]

"It will, but it will take some time," Karla said, cuddling Raven close. "You've never run up against something you couldn't fix before, have you? Not something so firmly in your idiom, I mean. But that doesn't mean you've failed. It just means you've fetched up against your limits. Convincing yourself of the difference is going to be an uphill battle, though."