Twisted Returns

There's a knock on the door, but I don't even look up. I hear Dean quietly getting up to answer it. I feel him leaving the room as someone else answers.

"Dana," the person says, and I recognize it as Lorraine. I still don't look up. "Dana, I heard..."

"About what?" I ask, and internally cringe at the sound of my own voice. It still sounds like a beautiful melody. A sad, depressing, beautiful melody.

"Lynda."

I finally look up at her. She wears a concerned expression on her face, and all blue clothes on her body. "Oh."

"Are you okay?" But I don't answer her. Even she knows the answer. "I escaped the hospital to come here."

That explains the clothes - Lorraine hates monochromatic schemes. "Didn't they notice?"

She shakes her head. "Everyone's so busy. There's always people coming in with more injuries."

"Like Lynda."

"Yes. Dean told me all about it."

"Oh."

She walks over and takes a seat on the bed. "We hate her."

"We?"

"Yes, don't deny it. We hate her. What she did... it was selfish. The worst. And now we want to rip her apart, give her what she deserves."

"What good is that gonna do?"

"We can get rid of Wessley. Exchange him for Connor. They deserve it."

The idea is very appealing. But even I know it's wrong. "We can't."

"We can't. But you can. You're Diana Crystal, the legend."

"But Lorraine, Connor doesn't even remember me! I can't restore all those memories."

She stands up. "Then we'll bring him here and make him remember!"

"I don't even have magic!"

"Neither do I. But we'll find a way. There's always a way."

"Face it, Lorraine. There's nothing else to do," I say. "Spells are called irreversible spells for a reason."

"Remember that book you showed me? You could reverse the spell. I know you can."

"Just... forget it. I don't want to break up Lynda and Wessley or anything either."

"Why not?" Lorraine shouts. "Look at what they've done to you!"

"I know." Maybe before I would agree with her. But not now. "It's done, I'm not going to ruin their happiness because of this. It won't make anything better."

"I don't know what happened to you." Her fury fades into simple disappointment. "You're all so... perfect."

"Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't perfection mean flawless?"

"I guess. I don't know. You're just... not the same."

I look at her again. And she looks different. She's been my best friend through both fairy and human life, no doubt. But now, looking at her, I don't see a mixture of Crystalline and Lorraine anymore. All I see is a human.

And I'm not a human anymore. Maybe things won't work out between us for much longer.

This is when I finally see it. Lorraine and Crys are not the same person, and neither are Dana and Diana. If things aren't working out with Diana and Lorraine, why would they with Diana and Connor?

But I know they would. I can feel it. I still want to be in his arms. Still want to spend everyday with him...

"Well, I guess I'll have to get going now," Lorraine says.

"Back to Nicole?"

She shakes her head, and for the first time I notice her tangled, matted hair that usually looks so pretty and carefully arranged. "I'm not going back there."

"You're just going to abandon your kid like this?"

"No, I'm not. We've been over this already."

"You can't seriously be doing this," I say, my voice coming out flat and dead.

"Well, I am."

"Okay. Your choice," I tell her. She gives me a strange look, and then shakes her head. "What?"

"Nothing." She leaves the room. I resume my task of staring at the beige sheets. And for the first time since I became... myself again, I begin to cry.

Like a human.

----

Eyes red, puffy. Looking out of place on such a beautiful face.

Looking in the mirror, I know I'm stunning, that I turn heads. Yet I find myself missing that other face. The human one that Connor fell in love with.

Am I Dana? Am I Diana? Or a combination of both? But none of them feel right. They can't be used to describe me. I am not any of those.

I clean up my face and head back into the bland bedroom. On the small round table sits a tray.

Being the person I am, I should really be cautious. An unattended tray of food is suspicious. This is a secure room, though. And at this point, I don't really care.

Examining the contents, I find all of my favorite foods. From this, I know that Dean left it for me.

Maybe Dean can replace Lorraine. We've never had fights before, and we know each other so well.

But war is no time for getting closer to people. You could lose it all at any moment. I've seen it happen myself, too many times.

Now I know that something has to be done. This war is ruining people's lives, and all to keep me alive. When being alive isn't even that great right now.

Fighting against them isn't working. It's going to get worse and worse. The planet will be destroyed, and all in an attempt to save one helpless girl. I should just give myself up.

Because sooner or later, they're going to get me.