=:= Sidney =:=

Sid wandered into the kitchen and glanced at the clock on the stove. Just past four in the afternoon. She sighed quietly and tried not to let herself get too anxious yet. She knew she was pacing the house, but it was hard to stay relaxed.

It was the fifteenth of November. There'd been no sign of Cindy for months, but today was the small sorceress's birthday and Sid was sure she'd come back today. She came back for Zoe's birthday in April, she wouldn't miss her own birthday.

On the other hand, she wasn't sure where Zoe was. The catgirl stopped visiting Charlotte in the summer, after she and Alexandra were reunited. She still came to visit here on an irregular basis, but Sid wasn't sure where else she was spending her time.

She decided to go check on Aeron and Ciara again. They were in the living-room and things were suspiciously quiet.

Sid made her way out of the kitchen, and stopped in the doorway. The two girls were sitting on the sofa, both were reading. Ciara was reading one of her novels, she'd recently become interested in a 'Young Adult' fiction series about witches and vampires and werewolves attending some sort of supernatural high-school. Aeron was reading a history book about conflict in nineteenth-century Europe.

As she looked on, Sid felt the buzz of magic in the air then Zoe appeared standing in the living-room. She had her backpack over a shoulder, and was holding a large plastic bag in each hand.

"Surprise," the catgirl smiled. "I brought Vietnamese take-away for dinner!"

Ciara and Aeron both looked up from their books and grinned.

"Zoe!" Ciara exclaimed as she got up. She gave Zoe a quick hug then started clearing the coffee table so there was room for the food.

Sid smiled, "Welcome back Zoe. I'll get some plates and some drinks."

A few minutes later the four of them were sitting together in the living-room enjoying an early dinner.

"I've been staying with some friends in Canada," Zoe explained as the four of them enjoyed dinner. "I doubt the coven would take me back since me and Cindy quit almost two years ago, but I'm still friends with most of them. The bosses have really settled down and gone domestic. Sam's got her hands full with Fiona, but she and Nikki are already talking about having another kid next year."

Sid hadn't met any of the people Zoe was talking about, but she'd heard a lot about them over the past two years. And Ciara knew them, she'd stayed with them for a month or two back then.

Zoe continued, "I'm still friends with Jessica and Maria, and of course Amanda and Sadie keep in touch with me, so do Ashley and Brittany. I was thinking actually, I might wind up just staying in Canada? I could maybe do some volunteer work for QSAW, that's the nonprofit that Sam and Nikki founded."

"You'll still visit us though, right?" Ciara asked.

Zoe nodded, "Of course. And none of this is decided yet. It's..."

Her expression shifted as she finally let out some of the sadness Sid knew the catgirl had been bottling up. "It's been over five months now. Not a word, nothing since June. If she doesn't come back today... I think I have to give up and move on."

After a moment she added, "I may have to anyways, even if she does show up. Last time she was only around for a few minutes? Less than a half hour, then she took off again without even saying goodbye."

"I'm sorry Zoe," Sid gave her a sympathetic look. "I know it's been hard on you. We all miss her."

Zoe looked at Aeron and asked, "Is there any way you can look in on her? Or can you go back to Caer Aeronwy and see if she's ok?"

The ten-year-old sighed as she shook her head. "When Cindy brought me here to stay with Sid and Ciara she did something to kinda lock me outta my own fortress."

She added with a frown, "It's very rude of her! But I think she was worried at first I'd kinda run away back home? And she wanted me to stay here and learn to be friendly and stuff."

The catgirl sighed, "I'm sorry Aeron. I didn't know she locked you out of your own place."

The kid shrugged, "It's ok. I like it here with Sid and Ciara, I'm glad she made me stay."

When they'd all had enough to eat, Zoe helped Sid pack up the left-overs while the girls stayed in the living-room. They put something on the TV, but it wasn't another war movie. Like the books she was reading, Ciara was getting interested in some more age-appropriate shows and movies. She was still rather unique in many ways, but lately she'd been acting more like any other girl her age.

While they were alone in the kitchen, Sid commented quietly to the catgirl "I'm getting a little worried about Aeron. And without Cindy around, I don't really know what to do."

Zoe gave her a concerned look as she asked softly "What's wrong?"

"I'm sure you've noticed Ciara's growing, she's starting to mature. She'll be thirteen in February. I'm worried as she begins to grow up, she won't want to spend as much time with Aeron. Ciara's already asked once or twice about going to high-school? Even if she has to take a bus or something to get there."

Sid continued, "Meanwhile I've noticed Aeron isn't growing. She's been here almost ten months, and she hasn't grown or changed in that time. If she's going to remain a ten-year-old girl, the age and maturity difference between them will just continue to get worse. Sooner or later, Ciara will reach the point she doesn't want to spend time with a child."

She sighed, "I'm worried what that will do to Aeron. What it may do to both of them."

Zoe shook her head and sighed as well, "I'm sure Cindy had plans for this sort of thing. But if she's no longer around to deal with it, then I suppose you and I will have to figure something out. I don't know what kind of power Aeron has access to, but it's possible she can make herself grow or age? We might have to talk with her about it. Or maybe I can get Maria to come visit and speak with her. She's a psychologist and she's got experience working with kids. And experience with 'unusual' stuff."

Sidney nodded slowly, "Thanks Zoe. I'm sorry to burden you with this, but it's well beyond my own experience."

She noticed the catgirl was sort of looking at her with a strange expression, and added "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Zoe sighed, "I don't know if you've noticed this Sid but you haven't aged or changed either. It's been eleven months since your hiking accident, you don't look like you've aged a day since then."

That caught her by surprise and she felt her eyebrows going up. Sid shook her head, "I hadn't noticed, no. What does that mean?"

"I don't suppose Cindy mentioned anything to you about it?" Zoe asked softly. "Did she say anything about not aging, or not getting sick, anything along those lines?"

Sidney shook her head again, "No. All she said was she gave me an athletic body since she knew that's the lifestyle I wanted. And she said she helped make sure I was comfortable with it? But she didn't mention anything about not aging."

Zoe scowled as she cursed quietly, "Damnit Cindy..."

Sid was about to ask what Zoe was upset about, when she felt a buzz of magic coming from the living-room. A moment later Aeron and Ciara both exclaimed "Cindy!"

She quickly followed the catgirl out of the kitchen. Sure enough the small sorceress was standing in the living-room. She had a backpack on her shoulder but she was just taking it off as she moved to a chair. Sid could already tell something was wrong. Cindy looked tired.

"Cindy what is going on with you?" Zoe demanded as she stalked towards her girlfriend. "You disappear for months on end! We miss you, we're worried about you!"

"I'm sorry," Cindy sighed. "That's why I'm here now. I came to tell you all what's happening."

There was a weariness in her voice that matched the tired look in her eyes, and Sid felt her concern jump up another notch.

Cindy added "Before we get into all that, I brought some little gifts for you all. To apologize for being away so long."

Sid remained worried as she sat on the sofa next to Ciara and Aeron. She commented "Traditionally you're the one who receives gifts on your birthday Cindy. Not the one who gives them."

The sorceress grinned, "I know Sid. But I wanted you all to know I've been thinking of you, I haven't forgotten you."

Zoe sat down on the arm of the chair next to her girlfriend. It looked like some of her anger had faded, Sid suspected the catgirl noticed Cindy wasn't looking all that well.

The sorceress reached into her backpack and pulled out a camera. "I know you've probably already bought a replacement Sid, but you left this at the bottom of Werribee Gorge last year. I thought it might have sentimental value though, so I've had it repaired. It works, but I left the dents and scratches since that's part of the charm?"

Sidney smiled as she accepted the camera. "Thank you Cindy. I honestly thought more than once about going back there to look for it but I ah, wasn't sure about tempting fate going back to the same place that nearly did me in."

Cindy smiled, then looked at Ciara. "I know you're probably getting a little old for this stuff, but I also know you still like cats, so..."

She pulled out a larger-than-lifesize orange tabby plushie from her backpack, and handed it over.

Ciara grinned as she accepted the gift. "Thank you Cindy. I still have the little black one too."

Zoe was next, Sid watched as Cindy produced a necklace with a small locket in the shape of a curled-up cat. It was made of rose gold, and opened to reveal a small photo of the two girlfriends together.

"I remember when we took this picture," Zoe said as she looked at it. "We were at Stonehenge, on our first trip to England."

Finally Cindy looked at Aeron. "I'm sure you'll enjoy this, but please be careful with it! I'm pretty sure it's an antique but it still works."

The sorceress pulled out a large chunky-looking black handgun. It was a revolver, and it did indeed look like an antique, though it appeared in excellent condition. As she handed it over she added, "Be careful, it's loaded."

Aeron's eyes lit up and a huge smile appeared on her face as she carefully accepted the gift.

Ciara looked at it too and grinned, "Ooh that's definitely an antique! It's a Webley and Scott Mark six. It holds a half dozen point-four-five-five calibre bullets."

A moment later the grin faded from Aeron's face and her expression shifted to sadness. She looked at Cindy and said "These are goodbye gifts. We're never going to see you again."

"What?" Zoe gasped, looking at her girlfriend.

Sidney just sighed, she suspected as much.

Cindy sighed too, but didn't respond right away.

"So that's how you did it," Aeron said softly. "I've wondered from the start how you managed to get me here."

"Cindy? What's she talking about?" Zoe demanded nervously.

The sorceress shook her head, "It's complicated?"

"A God cannot manifest directly on the mortal realm," Aeron explained. "We always have to go through a vessel. I've wondered all along how Cindy got around that limitation."

"Yeah but..." Zoe frowned. "What are you saying? What did she do?"

Sid and Ciara both kept quiet. All this was way out of Sid's depth, and she suspected Ciara could tell this was something serious and didn't want to interrupt.

Aeron replied, "Cindy manifested a physical body for me, but any God could do that. They still couldn't come here themselves. We simply can't do that, we can't exist on the mortal realm."

"But you're here," Sid stated. She looked at Cindy and asked "So you must have solved it. Right?"

Cindy shook her head slowly, "I cheated."

The small Goddess looked at Cindy and said softly, "You've been sacrificing yourself so I could exist here."

"Cindy?" There was a hint of panic in Zoe's voice now. "Tell me that's not true!"

"I was hoping I'd figure out a better solution before I ran out of time," Cindy sighed. "It was only supposed to be a temporary thing, until I solved it. I was positive I'd find the answer in Alexander since he managed it."

She shook her head and admitted to her girlfriend, "Then you figured out about Alexandra, and I realized what Alexander really did, and that meant I was wrong about how he did it. And by then it was too late."

Aeron stated softly, "She's given too much of herself to me. There's not enough left for her now."

The catgirl had tears in her eyes as she asked, "That's why you've been hiding over there all this time? You're trying to find another solution?"

Cindy slowly shook her head, "No. There's no solution, I'm out of time. I'm sorry Zoe. I came to say goodbye."

Zoe threw her arms around her girlfriend and pulled her into a hug. She wasn't bothering to fight the tears now as she cried "There has to be a solution! You can't just disappear forever!"

Ciara was crying now too, and she leaned against Sidney. Sid slipped her arm around the girl's shoulders, but she had no idea what to say or do, all this was way over her head.

Cindy held Zoe and tried to joke, "I just wish I managed to get internet over there. Eternity's going to be pretty boring without email or texts or streaming shows."

Zoe was still crying as she and Cindy held each other. Sid continued to hold Ciara. Aeron was the only one who didn't seem too emotional about the whole situation. She wasn't acting like her usual self though. Sid realized the past few minutes she'd been acting a lot more mature.

"Cindy," Aeron said in a quiet, calm voice. "You don't have to do this. Only one of us can stay here, but you don't have to be the one who leaves."

Sid felt another little pang in her stomach when she heard that. She almost felt like that made it worse. Instead of just losing Cindy, now there was a choice between losing Cindy or losing Aeron.

The sorceress shrugged. She sounded resigned as she replied, "I've done everything I wanted to do. I've helped people, I've given trans people a way to improve their lives. Given everyone the opportunity to be who and what they want. I've introduced the world to the idea of magic, opened people's eyes."

She sighed slightly as she continued "Even without this problem it was getting hard for me to just live here. So many people are looking for me? Governments, religious leaders. Lots of people want to kill me, or worse."

Cindy shook her head, "You're just a kid Aeron, you have a whole life ahead of you. You can't give that up for me."

"We both know that's a lie," the small ten-year-old stated. "This life you've created for me has been fun and I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed living with Sidney and Ciara. I appreciate all you've done for me, all you've taught me. And everything Ciara and Sid have taught me too. But you don't need to make this sacrifice for me, Cindy."

The small brunette set her shoulders and stated, "I am Aeronwy, Goddess of War. I've existed for millennia. I have more blood on my hands than any of you will ever know. Cindy, between the two of us I am not the child."

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