Moongrace

Part 52

Her eyes started gleaming in bright starlight and her already glowing skin shined. The light frightened the family, yet the amazement overweighed. Zoe and Arlen took a step back, while the children were clued to the sight. Arlen, still banned by her utter beauty kept gawking as she turned even prettier, lost to the sight.

A shine started forming within her hands, highlighting the withered cornflower. Which now stretched and turned from brown to a healthy green. Beautiful leaves grew where old ones had broken off. The petals closed to a bud, which grew in size. Only to open with a spark, revealing a shining blue flower. The ray of petals was of a very intense blue, that reminded Evan of Eleeza's previous eye colour. The flower was prettier than before, mesmerizing even. Eleeza added a bit more magical shine and some glittering lights.

Then she released the magic. While it faded, the glow left her eyes and body. Her skin returning to its natural glow.

"Here, Wylie. It's for you!", she smiled and held the flower towards him.

Everybody released the breath they had been holding for different reasons. Carefully Wylie took the still glowing flower, glitter raining down to the floor.

"It won't stay this way forever, I'm afraid."

Already the glow left had reduced the moment the flower left Eleeza's hand.

Eleeza tried to hide a yawn then and Evan noticed how pale her skin had gotten after the spell.

"That's enough for today. I'll take the two girls upstairs. They need to rest. We'll further discuss this tomorrow. Dad, I let Cathryn sleep in our spare bed in the attic. All the others, close you mouths. You know April, what she showed you is just another side of hers. There is nothing to be afraid of and no reason to be angry." Evan's speech was decisive and didn't let room for discussion. He pulled up Eleeza and motioned Cathryn to come along. Then he led both up the squeaking stairs to their rooms.

While Eleeza pealed the remnants of the dress from her body in Evan's room, Evan showed Cathryn her bed. Finally, he joined Eleeza in the bed. Eleeza was filled with relieve, only now fully realising that she indeed managed to come home. The rough cotton on her skin and the familiar smell of the room did wonders to calm her. Evan cuddled her a bit, cradling her into sleep. Later he slipped out again and tried to calm his shocked family.

When Eleeza woke up late in the next morning, Evan was by her side. Happily, she laughed. Mesmerized by the fact that she truly managed to escape Lenrio, Meino and Nioru. She had met her old family and found back to her new one. She truly was lucky. Taking in Evan's scent she snuggled deeper in his embrace.

"Good morning, my angle!", Evan cooed into her ear.

She gave him a kiss and smiled: "Good morning."

Then she took in her surroundings. The sounds from the farm and the face, that the sun was warming her skin: "It's midday already, is it?"

"Yes, my dear. You had quite a lot of sleep to catch up. By the way, I prepared a bath for you."
Gladly she washed away the dirt and the stress of the past days. Feeling anew, she changed back into her human form in a whirl of sparks. With fresh clothes she then made her way down towards the kitchen, where Evan had saved some breakfast for her. Cathryn seemed to have been even more deprived of sleep, for it took her several more hours to wake up.

Looking human again, she repeated her explanation to Oliver, Aren and Zoe. They were more comfortable, seeing her as they had gotten to know her. Still it took them a while to accept that they hosted something not human. None the less she was taken back like a missing family member.

Cathryn was a great help on the farm. Not only did she know how to work, take care of the kids and gave Zoe the needed time to relax, she was also helping Eleeza settle back in. The two of them talked a lot and developed a lot of ways, Eleeza could help on the farm. They got very close friends. Especially in the days before Zoe gave birth to Evelyn, Cathryn was of irreplaceable help.

The baby filled the farm with plenty of happy noise. After the birth it got very full in the house though. Which led to Cathryn moving out after a short while to work in a tavern in the village. She regularly visited Eleeza and the kids, since Eleeza still didn't dare to walk into the village with her strange eyes. Evan did take her along sometimes though to get her outside the familiar grounds, which she acknowledged very much.

Together with Cathryn she often used her mother tongue, something she enjoyed on one hand very much, yet made her melancholic. Lay, by the way, started learning Acuandela, too. She was very fascinated by fairies and often accompanied Eleeza when she went flying.

With the help of the others and over time, Eleeza learned more how to adapt being blind. It still bothered her more than she admitted to herself. Learning to sense the feelings in a room, to extinguish the others faster by smell and step and to walk freely within the grounds of the farm were abilities that made life much easier for her. Though she enjoyed the deeper connection to the beauty behind the first layer of the world, she still found that she missed out on most beauty. Sunsets and -rises lost its charm, while she discovered the beauty in the awakening of the animals in the morning.

She still practiced her magic. Sometimes she could use it to help on the farm. Aside from that she led a farmer's life. She specialised on herbs and helped Zoe preparing medicine. By her excellent sense of smell, she could easily extinguish herbs and ingredients of a substance, which ultimately led to her responsibility of all treatments of Zoe. While Zoe now concentrated on patients only, Eleeza prepared the ointments and collected the herbs for it.

Eleeza's siblings visited only seldom and Eleeza missed them a lot. Esalaa made her promise true and they had spent a full day together hidden in the forest. Eleeza had enjoyed it a lot. But aside from two or three visits a year, she never met them.

Time passed and her bond to Evan grew only stronger. It didn't take long for his proposal. They stayed with his family for the first time though, saving their money for their own house.

Eleeza was happy. Finally, she had found a place in this strange world and in her new life.