Everything Is Eclipsed by the Shape of Destiny

The cold morning air nipped at Emerson’s cheeks as she ran through the English countryside in the early hours of the morning. Her muscles ached in protest of the strenuous activity that they were being forced to perform, but Emerson forced the pain to the back of her mind, it wasn’t what mattered, what mattered was organizing her thoughts.

In the last few days, her life had undergone several drastic changes and she needed to prioritize it. She needed to make a list of what she had to do now that she was in England and at the top of the list was getting a place of her own, because as much as she appreciated Remus and Tonks letting her stay in their home, she knew that she would be better off somewhere that she wouldn’t be forced to hide her feelings for Bill, somewhere that she would be able to let the tears flow without worrying about being barged in on and somewhere that she would be able to phase without worrying about being caught. She was getting tired of being cooped up all day without being able to phase.

It was absolute hell for her.

Emerson was used to phasing at least once a day for an hour period. Even when she lived at the apartment in Egypt, she always found time to clear out her living room and phase so that she could stretch her body in its jaguar form but ever since she’d moved to England, she hadn’t been able to phase and the week without phasing was beginning to take its toll on her. Her body ached for the release that phasing afforded it, for the natural high that came from running through the fields and curling up on the ground next to a warm fire. She missed it desperately and with each passing day, she longed for it more and more.

There had been several instances in which Emerson had asked Remus if she could phase in the nearby field, but he had told her that it would be better if she only phased when she went on missions, that way people wouldn’t grow suspicious of the massive jaguar that was roaming the countryside. Emerson knew that Remus was right, but she didn’t like the fact that she had to be cooped up, she was meant to be free and after a week of not being able to phase, she decided that she was going to take matters into her own hands so when she got home from her run, she told Remus that she was going to have to go to Mexico to settle some business.

He asked her if she had to go right away, she told him that she wasn’t going until 10 pm so that when she apparated to Mexico, it would only be four in the afternoon, peak hours for getting stuff done. She told him that she had some stuff to handle, not important business but business that had to be sorted out as soon as possible.

That wasn’t a complete lie.

Emerson was going to Mexico.

Did she have business to tend to?

Not exactly, she didn’t have any important meetings to go to, she didn’t have anything to do at the Mexican Ministry but she was going to visit her grandparents, whom she hadn’t seen in a little more than a week and after she spent time with them, she was going to go out for a much needed run through the countryside.

Her grandparents were glad to see her at their doorstep. They had thought that it was going to be months until they’d be able to spend time with her again so sharing a meal after only a week was a very welcomed treat. They sat in the backyard, underneath their porch that was covered with flowers. It was a beautiful porch, one that was distinctively Mexican and for the first time in a week, Emerson felt at peace.

Ever since she had gotten into the argument with Bill, she hadn’t been feeling well. It was as if her hearth was slowly imploding within her chest and nothing she did made it better. She had tried the techniques that she’d used after Bill’s wedding, but none of them worked which led her to believe that she was going to have to talk to Bill and possibly apologize but her pride had been injured and Emerson was far too stubborn to be the one that first apologized.

In her mind, she’d been in the right.

Bill’s marriage was new and the pair was barely getting used to living together, adding another person to the mix could have disastrous effects on it and as much as Emerson wanted that marriage to fail, she wasn’t going to put herself in the mix of things. It would be too awkward to live with the woman who was making love to her imprint.

After having a late lunch with her grandparents, Emerson bid them goodbye and made her way to her favorite spot. It was a field that was filled with wild flowers, the field in which her father had proposed to her mother in when they visited Mexico during the spring break of their junior year in university nearly thirty years ago.

That field was one of her favorite places on earth.

Whenever she was there, nothing else mattered. All that existed was the brightly colored ocean of flowers that surrounded her, their sweet scent which transported her to a place more suited to be deemed heaven than earth. And as she stripped out of her clothing, she couldn’t help but close her eyes and just enjoy the feel of the flowers against her exposed flesh; that was the only feeling that beat Bill’s touch.

Emerson ran a hand through her unruly curls and when her fingers could no longer feel hair, she began letting the transformation take place. Her emotions ran wild as she stood in the middle of the field, she let herself feel her anger, her pain, and after only three seconds, she no longer stood there as a woman, but as a jaguar that was ready to have its fun.

For an hour, Emerson did nothing but run through the fields, a goofy grin plastered upon her face as she sprinted through the fields. She loved the feeling of the earth between her paws, of the flowers against her soft fur. When she grew tired of running she plopped onto the ground, letting the flowers swarm her being as she nestled her back against the ground, she was going to need a bath when she phased back into her human form but that wouldn’t be to hard to do. There was a river nearby where she would take a dip.

As Emerson lay there she didn’t think about Bill or anything. She was devoid of thought and as strange as it sounds, it was the happiest that she’d been in a long time. There was something incredibly satisfying about being free of thoughts, some would argue that that’s untrue, that no satisfaction can come from being devoid of thinking, but those people have never had their hearts broken because when a heart gets broken there’s nothing more enjoyable than being able to be alone and not have to think about the pain.

“I knew you weren’t handling any actual business,” stated a familiar voice.

Emerson snapped her eyes open, she immediately leapt to her feet but instead of landing on four paws, she fell on her face and expletives gushed forth from her.

“Are you alright?” Bill rushed to her side, worried that she had hurt herself.

“I'm fine,” Emerson wiped the dirt from her face. “I forgot that I wasn’t in my jaguar form anymore.”

“How can you forget that you’re not a huge animal?” Bill crouched down beside her.

“Because I was enjoying the warmth of thee sun and the sun feels the same regardless of the state my body finds itself in,” Emerson locked her eyes with his. “What are you doing here?”

“I went to look for you at Remus’ so we could talk and he said that you came to Mexico to take care of some business and since I know for a fact that you already closed your file with the Ministry, I knew that you came to visit your grandparents and then they told me that I could find you out here.” Bill paused before adding. “And they told me to close my eyes if you were naked, but it’s a bit late for that, isn’t it.”

“They’re right. You should close your eyes.” Emerson covered her exposed chest with her right hand.

“Seriously Marie?” his tone held disbelief. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you before.”

“That was before you were married so please turn around so I can get dressed.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” he grumbled.

“And you’re being rude by thinking that a person that’s mad at you wants you to see them naked,” retorted Emerson.

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Not so much mad, more like annoyed with you,” Emerson pulled on her panties and bra. Her pants and shirt followed suit. “You can turn around now.”

Bill turned. “I don’t see why you’re even annoyed with me. It’s not like it was a serious argument or anything.”

“It wasn’t a serious argument but you were acting like a snappy little child and I don’t put up with that behavior from anyone, let alone you.” Emerson slipped on her black running shoes.

“I know that I acted like a prick and I'm sorry about that but I'm just under a lot of stress and just before I went to visit you, my mom was hounding me about how my marriage isn’t working so you hit a sensitive spot.”

Emerson pursed her lips together. “I'm not your mother for you to be taking out your anger towards her on me. I'm your friend and I'm not going to act as something that you can get mad at when you can’t do it to the person that pissed you off to begin with.”

“I know and I'm sorry. I really am.” Bill stared at her hand; he reached towards it, letting his fingers trail up the side. “Can we just put this behind us?”

“On one condition,” Emerson stuffed her hands into her pocket.

“You stop trying to get me to live with you and Fleur.”

Bill furrowed his brow. “But it’d be loads better if you lived with us.”

“Stop it or else I'm going to hold this against you for a very, very long time.”

“Fine, but if . . .”

“No, buts,” Emerson interjected. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“I just wanted to apologize.”

“Apology accepted.” Emerson inhaled deeply. “Should we head back to England now?”

“Can we get something to eat first? I miss your grandma’s cooking.”

“You’ve only had it once. How can you possibly miss it?” Emerson chuckled lightly.

“Because it was that delicious,” a handsome smile spread across his face.

“Fine, we can have dinner but then we’re going back. I have to wake up extra early tomorrow.”

“Why?” Bill walked alongside her.

“Charlie’s taking me to visit the Twin’s shop.”

“Charlie’s taking you?” Bill shot her a quizzical glance. “He normally doesn’t travel here unless it’s Order business.”

Emerson shrugged. “Well he’s taking me, he promised he would the day that he came for the meeting, said it was the only way that I would be immersed in the ways of the Weasley’s.”

“I can accompany you if you want,” Bill offered.

“That’s fine, I know that you have work in the morning,” Emerson smiled reassuringly.

“I can call in sick, it’ll be fine and that way you won’t feel awkward since you don’t really know Charlie all that well.”

Emerson shook her head. “I don’t feel awkward around him. He’s like a shorter version of you so it’s fine. Trust me, its fine. What do you say we head over to my grandparents house? My grandma probably just finished making fresh tortillas.”

The pair made their way back to the main house where they expected to find Sophia and Pedro inside the kitchen but they weren’t the only ones inside the house. In the living room sat Emerson’s mother and father, the former was wearing a disapproving scowl on her face, a scowl that was accompanied with a glare that sent shivers through Emerson’s being.

“Mom, dad, what are you doing here?” inquired a baffled Emerson.

“We came to visit your grandparents. What are you doing here? They told us that you were going back to England after a run.” Her father’s eyes wandered to William, he had met him on several occasions but whenever he was in William’s presence, he couldn’t help but scrutinize his appearance in an attempt to learn why he had been chosen for his daughter.

“I was supposed to but then Bill showed up and I asked him if he wanted to come over for dinner since I know that grandma always cooks too much,” replied Emerson. “Is it alright, grandma?”

“Always room at my table,” responded Sophia in broken English.

“What are you doing here Bill?” spoke Eleanor.

“I was looking for Emerson at the house she’s staying and she wasn’t there so I came over here,” Bill tried to remain composed but Eleanor always made him feel uneasy.

“I suppose you had something important to tell her if you traveled all this way,” Eleanor folded her hands on her lap.

“Not really,” Bill laughed. “I just wanted to see if she was settling in alright.”

“And is she?” Eleanor’s words were cold.

“Mom, be nice,” mouthed Emerson from behind Bill.

“She seems alright, I mean, she likes the people and . . .” Bill trailed off.

“I don’t think she’s settling in that well, if she was, she wouldn’t be sneaking off to Mexico, would she?”

“She only came over here so she could run freely,” replied Bill as politely as he could.

“He knows?!” barked Eleanor.

“I told you that I joined the Order,” Emerson was embarrassed by her mother’s outburst.

“But you didn’t tell me that you told him about your shifting. How many other people have you told? Does everyone know? Are they going to put you in some test tube so that they can figure out what’s different about you and make a potion with it?” Eleanor was now pacing about the room. She always feared what would happen to her children if anyone ever found out about their abilities.

“They’re not trying to experiment on me,” Emerson stepped towards her mother.

“Not yet, but they will,” hissed Eleanor. “No, you can’t go back. I forbid you from going back! You’re going to end up chained in some cell while they take your blood to play with it.”

“Mrs. Figueroa, I would never let that happen to Marie, they’d have to go through me before they could lay a finger on her.”

“You have enough to worry about without worrying about Emerson.”

Bill stared her directly in the eyes. “There’s nothing I worry about more than her safety, she’s my best friend.”