Free as a Bird

Asea

A few days had passed, with Newt and Tina delivering the good news to Queenie, Jacob, Theseus and Dakota. Even Albus Dumbledore was sent a letter. Credence was very happy for the both of them. He sort of knew this was expected, since they were awfully close during the war. Dakota put on a happy face, for them, but inside she was quaking. All of them had tried their best to comfort her. Heck, Theseus even tried to make her some comfort food, but she denied all of it.

Theseus saw her at work, a few days later, all sullen. He noticed something had changed.

"Did you cut your hair?" Theseus asked, indicating Dakota's chopped hair. She made a terrible job of attempting a pixie cut. Her red streaks were almost hidden.

"I wanted a change" she said, boldly, "I have a bunch of assignments I have to get to. See you at lunch".

"Dakota! Stop!" Theseus commanded, "You can't run away from your problems or overwork yourself to death! Why can't you talk to me?"

"Because. . I don't think there's a need to talk" Dakota snapped back, "It's over and done, alright? The autopsy is complete and the funeral is on Thursday. She died because she drowned End of story".

"Funeral? You never told me--"

"You can come, if you want to" Dakota added, hastily.

"Dakota, please. You have to talk to me about this. You can't just give me some invitation and avoid me throughout the rest of the day. You know you can trust me, right? I'm your friend and I've known Anna. She's a brilliant and a charismatic person and I've. . experienced loss before" Theseus said, "I learnt it the hard way to digest loss. And I don't want you to go through the same thing, because I care about you".

Dakota blinked away her tears. She felt guilty for using Theseus as her emotional punching bag. He's been through so much, too - with the loss of Leta Lestrange, Dakota had learnt about. Half of her wanted to confide everything to Theseus, but the other half of her had already erected barriers around her.

"I understand" she blurted, "But not now. Thanks for the help".

Theseus moved forward and pressed a kiss on her cheek, "Whenever you're comfortable".

Dakota looked startled, but she gave him a half smile. She gathered up her things to meet her Curse-Breaker friends for their next task. 

Suddenly, there was an announcement from the intercom. Minister Fawley's  secretary's voice boomed through the hallways and corridors as he said, "Calling Theseus Scamander and Porpentina Goldstein to the Minister's office. I repeat, calling Theseus Scamander and Porpentina Goldstein to the Minister's office".

"So, how is your wedding planning coming up? I mean, it must suck to not find a good time to talk about it, since Tina's spending days cooped up in her Auror office" Jacob said.

"Well, I for one, know that Tina would be fine with having a wedding here, in London" Newt guessed, "As for the wedding date, I was thinking New Year's Eve".

"Ooh, romantic!" Queenie commented, "What about Tina?"

"I don't know. She hadn't spent a lot of time since she left for work" Newt sulked, "Hey, at least, everything's back to normal, isn't it?"

"What about your best man, Newt? That's something to think about" Jacob hinted.

"Well, I'd choose you, Jacob" Newt laughed it off.

"What about Theseus?" Queenie asked, caressing her stomach.

Suddenly a horrible realization fell upon Newt, like a ton of bricks. He had to choose between his brother and his best friend. Theseus had supported him all through his life, helping him get out of tough spots, such as his travel ban and other legalities. However, Jacob had helped him find his creatures and served as a partner-in-crime.