In Exchange for Magic

Four days went by before I left the basement. It was late when I finally trudged up the stairs, my heart hanging loosely in my chest. It was dark outside so the windows in the kitchen showed my hazy reflection.

I was a mess. My eyes were sunken in from lack of sleep and my hair was an unruly mane. I hadn't bathed since I'd gotten back, so my skin felt like it had a coating of grime over it. I couldn't even look at what was around my neck.

It was the only thing that was anchoring me to my sanity. That necklace, those few words scribbled in Ez's foreign language, and the odd humming of magic about it were the only things keeping me alive.

There was something about coming from an entirely magical world to an entirely non-magical world. There was some sort of residue left over in your bones, your blood. It wasn't exactly magic, more like the soft shadow of it. Just the memory of such power was enough to stay with you forever. I felt like I was pulsating with my heartbeat. Maybe it was the exhaustion. Maybe I just hadn't gotten all the Ez out of my system.

I opened the fridge. Without thinking, I reached for an apple and devoured it. I threw the core in the garbage. Something was different. I couldn't place it. I contemplated on it as I started on the second apple.

By the fourth granny smith, I was full. I had reached a conclusion. Eating these apples felt weird because I couldn't taste them. They were just food. I gulped down a glass of water that seemed to whisper down my throat. If it didn't help me get back to Ez, I decided, then it was of absolutely no use to me.

I glided up the stairs in a trance and stared at a spot on my book shelf. My children's book of fairy tales. Eventually, I fell asleep.

For the better part of the next week, I slept. There was nothing I wanted to do more than sleep. Because in my dreams, I was back in Attannia. Ez and I were sitting around the fire pit. Sometimes I'd try to convince him that I wasn't making up "pirates" just to trick him. Sometimes he'd tell me about his parents or his life. And sometimes... We didn't talk at all. We just sat.

I tried to figure out the Attannia to Earth time stretch. I soon gave up, as thinking about it made me feel angry and hurt.

Three weeks since I'd left Attannia.

I moved with a lifelessness that ghosts would be envious of.

A month passed. Two.

Just as the third month was rounding off, it sunk in. I was never going back. I was never going to see Ez again. I was never going to be whole.

-_-_-_-_-

"Rose?" Ms. Geller called.

She talked to me hesitantly. She seemed to sense that I had nothing to lose.

I sat up in my bed and stared at her.

"You're moving today," she said, flushing deep red when her eyes met mine. She took a sharp swig from a glass bottle that she kept in her shirt pocket and abruptly left my room.

"Moving Day" is code for "Happy 18th Birthday" here. I sighed and looked at the ceiling. I should be glad... I should be turning cartwheels.

An apartment had been set up for me in the downtown area. I didn't pack anything save for a few items of clothing. I told Ms. Geller that the only thing I wanted to take was the cupboard in the basement. She reluctantly hired two boys to haul the ancient thing into the bed of a dirty pick-up truck.

When they'd taken it away from it's spot in the wall, I'd almost expected there to be a black hole or something behind it. There was just a large water pipe and some dead bugs.

Another month passed.

I put the cupboard directly in front of my bed. I had to crawl across my bed to get to the other side of my room, but I didn't care. I wanted it to be the last thing I saw before I went to sleep, and the first thing I saw when I woke up. And for that entire month it was.

Until, that is, it exploded.

I'm noticing a strange and unfortunate pattern in my life. The things that make me happy generally tend to explode.

I thought I was dreaming at first. Colors swirled around where the cupboard used to be. Electricity and energy crackled through the air. It was certainly a dream. Which was why it was such a surprise when a large board smacked my forehead and... I felt it.

I yelped and hitched the blanket up over my head. The cabinet hadn't really exploded... But it had definitely collapsed in an unusually violent manner. My heart was speeding. A million things raced through my head. I was trembling, my palms were slippery with sweat but I kept them clenched onto the blanket that was covering my face.

I felt a slight pressure on the edge of my bed. I gasped and my heart stood on edge. The pressure grew. It moved on the bed until it stopped directly at my feet. I felt a tug at the blanket. In my fear, I let it be gently taken from my hands. The comforter slid down to my waist.

"Rose?"

I began sobbing. It was so cruel of this murderer or burglar to have a voice that so perfectly matched his.

"Rose?" the voice asked again. It sounded on the verge of tears itself.

I turned my head gradually, until I was met with a face that sent my stomach spinning. My eyes met his and he was so surprised that he bounced off the foot of the bed and landed in the pile of dust and boards that used to be the cupboard.

I backed away towards my headboard, my breathing ragged. I tried several times to say something, but my throat was sealed.

It was some time before I could bring myself to peer over the edge of the bed at him. He was curled up, his knees to his chest, and shaking all over. His shock of blonde hair was coated in dust.

It was the hair that brought me to my senses. That hair that I loved just as much as he did. And boy, he loved his hair.

I slithered out of bed and wrapped my arms around him, ignoring the rubble beneath us.

"What's wrong?" I managed.

He couldn't get himself to be still. He shook like a leaf in a tropical storm.

"You look the same," he said, climbing into a sitting position, but refusing to remove his head from my shoulder. He dug his fingers into my arm, as if I was going to disappear suddenly.
"Why's that bad?"
"It isn't."

I'd almost started crying then. It was just like him to make me feel so at ease.

"Ezekiel Jonas Sullivan Jr.," I recited very quietly to myself.
"Rose Collins," he replied. "Not to brag, but my name sounds quite spectacular next to yours."

Dust and debris settled on his eyelashes. I brushed them with my fingers and his eyes fluttered closed when I touched him.

"What's your middle name?" Ez asked, suddenly very concerned.

He was still shivering.

"I actually don't have a middle name."
"Well, then I have an idea," he suggested.
"For what?" I asked, suspicious.
"Your middle name, of course!"

It was as if I'd never left.

"I swear, if it's Harry Potter I'm going to-"

And he pecked me on the lips.

Startled, I opened my eyes wide.

"What...?"
"That's your new middle name."
"What's my new middle name?"
"This." He kissed me gently.

I was frozen. I could only blink in confusion.

"Rose?" Ez cautioned. "Are you okay?"
"I like my middle name."

He blushed so deep, I thought he was going to catch fire.

"Well... Yeah. Yeah, I like it as too. I mean, as well. I like it, too. I combined 'as well' and 'too.'"
I laughed at him and he grinned wryly.
"It's just been bothering me for so long," he apologized.
"Wait."
"What?"
"It's been bothering you for so long?"
"Oh."
"How long?"
"Oh."
"Ez..."
"You look the exact same."
"Ez!"

"Five years."

My face must have looked like I'd just been struck.

"Time moves very fast in Attannia," he shrugged.

And at that moment, I launched myself at him. Across the boards on the floor, I tackled him. He was shocked for a moment, but then recovered quickly.

His lips smiled under mine. He opened his mouth and the kiss deepened. All I can remember is wanting to hold on to him. Portal be damned, nothing was taking him away from me now.

Everything was just as I recalled. His hair, his face, his arms, his chest, his ears, his... Wait.

"Ez," I broke away. "Your ears."

He ignored me and reached out again, but I pushed his hands away.

"Ez, your ears are weird."
"Thanks, sweet. You're a real charmer."
"What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing!" he smirked. "They're normal."

I ran my fingers over their smooth, rounded edge.

"But... But..." I stuttered.

He laughed at my confusion.

"Your teeth!" I screeched. "You... But... You..."

Ez kicked away the dusty boards, clearing a small space for us to sit comfortably. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me directly in the eyes.

"Rose, I've changed in exactly two ways since you left."
I nodded, urging him to go on before I bursted with confusion.
"One, I'm human. Two, I love you."

Without thinking, I slapped him across the face.

"Ow! That actually hurts now that I'm-"
"Human?!" I bellowed.
"Giving up my magic was the only way to generate enough energy to forcibly split open the Portal!" he protested, raising his hands over his head - keenly aware that I could easily slap him again.

"You gave up your powers for me?" I asked softly, my voice wavering.
He began shaking again. "Yeah... Remember? I love you."
I could barely manage to get the words out. "I love you, too."

Beyond this, Ez and I are a mystery. I don't know what's going to happen when we decide to get out into the world. I don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow.

But that's okay.

Because I was with the only boy I was ever meant to be with. It had to be fate, right? I mean, I'd been dragged across the cosmic borders into a whole new world... And who did I crash land on? Ez.

All that mattered was that we were together. Ez was human. He would age. We would grow old together.

Do you know how it feels to know, without a doubt, that you've found the one person that you are going to want to spend every waking moment with? It's powerful.

All I knew was this: Right now, I am exactly where I want to be. Kissing Ez in my own apartment. I belonged in this moment.

Let tomorrow come. Let it come with all it's got.

We'll be ready.

And we'll be together.

THE END