The second his mind caught the familiar chirp of Jack, he knew he had failed. He felt the familiar sizzling feeling the gems produced and realized that he was in his den. The warmth of a blanket over him was comforting, and he almost fell asleep again, when he suddenly felt something soft stroke his cheek. His eyes fluttered open and for a few seconds, the harsh sunlight blinded him. Blinking, his eyes focused on... a girl. Wolf sat up with incredible speed, causing great dizziness as he shook his head and stared. But no, it was not the girl he had expected. This girl had blonde silky hair that fell to her waist instead of black wavy hair, and caramel eyes instead of blue. But what caught his eyes the most was her skin. It was blue. Light pale blue.
"Nymph..."
The nymph laughed and the sound was soft and bubbly like a running stream. She kept stroking his face, her touch cool and soothing against his burning skin. He wracked his brain to remember what had happened, but try as he might, he only remembered himself drowning and then darkness, and then this.
"Why would you try to do such a thing?" the nymph asked, helping him sit against a wall of the den. She was wearing a very thin turquoise gown which seemed to shimmer silver in the dim glow of the gems. He gulped when his eyes caught her daringly plunging neckline.
"You nearly drowned yourself. I had to help you out. Your muscled weighed a lot," she said, running her fingers down his biceps.
She is terrible at this flattery thing, he thought. He knew very well that, although he had enough muscles not to look like a stick, it was not enough to weigh him down in any way. Either way, just for the sake of politeness, he smiled and managed a "Thanks."
"You're welcome. I'm Harmony," she said, kissing him lightly on his cheek. Wolf has seen plenty of nymphs before in the lake. They usually stay quiet during the day and come out at night. They live in the water and they're harmless most of the time. Before he met Dawn, he had had a few... sessions with some of the nymphs but he hasn't met Harmony before.
Harmony's silky hair tickled Wolf's arm as she leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Why don't you get some more sleep? You aren't in perfect condition yet." She was right. He felt exhausted as it the whole sky was on top of his shoulders. He slipped underneath the covers and watched blankly as the nymph tucked him in like a mother. He missed his mother. He hasn't seen her in a very long time. He closed his eyes and moments later, he was swirling in the land of dreams.
***
"Fuck!"
"Dawn! Watch your language, young lady," scolded Daniel as he glared at his daughter from the doorway.
"Woah, didn't see you there. Sorry, it's just, I keep setting stuff on fire," Dawn complained, and indeed, Daniel saw flickering orange flames on the pale blue blanket.
"Water! I... I need to go get water!" he stammered, and was halfway down the stairs when Dawn called, "It's fine, dad. I just doused it in water." Daniel let out a breath and climbed back up the stairs. He found Dawn drenched in water, sitting on the edge of the burnt bed. Her hair was a waterfall of black around her sagged shoulders and she was blinking water out of her blue-violet eyes. There was a pool of water around her bare feet and she stared intently at it.
"It's just, I can't control this stupid power. I was thinking, I'm hungry. I shall summon a few donuts from the kitchen downstairs, and then I started saying random stuff in some random language, the way I do when I'm using some ancient power inside me and all that crap. I swear I heard donuts in there, but after I finished chanting, my bed started burning. I panicked and thought, Oh my god, oh my god ohmygod, and then water comes pouring down on me like a fucking, sorry, hurricane."
Daniel shuffled towards her awkwardly and sat himself next to her, feeling the dampness of the blanket soak through his khaki pants. He pulled her against his chest in a big bearhug and whispered against her ear, "It's alright. We can work this out. How about we call it a break for now? I could prepare a little snack downstairs. Get changed and come down."
With that, he slid down the stairs and slipped into the kitchen. He reached up and opened the top cupboard, revealing several donuts. He set them on the table and poured milk into two glasses. This was the least he could do for her. He had abandoned her for so long, left her alone to grieve Elena's death. Dawn must be so confused, what with the witch thing revealed to her in the most unpredictable way. Daniel wished he could be more father-like. But he had spent his past several years painting and had left most of Dawn's caretaking to Elena which resulted in the lack of knowledge about being sympathetic and understanding. Frustrated, he ran his hand through his raven black hair just as Dawn walked in, wearing skinny jeans and a baggy grey sweater. She had fuzzy socks on.
"It's fall already. Getting cold," she said as she sat herself down at the table. She glanced at the food on the table and her mouth dropped open. "Donuts."
"Yes, donuts."
A wide smile spread across her face as she stared.
"I love you!"
Daniel looked at her with affection and watched as her hand reached across the table to grab one and... dropped. He looked up at her in alarm as she shivered slightly, not meeting his eyes.
"What's wrong sweetie? Do you not like chocolate donuts?" he asked, worry fogging his head. She shook her head and bit her bottom lip, exhaling a shaky breath.
"The last time I said that was to a guy."
This took Daniel completely off guard and he failed to mask the surprise on his face. But what had he expected? She was a teenage girl after all. He just suddenly felt very protective of her.
"Was he... did he disappoint you?" he asked, carefully picking his words. By the sag of her trembling shoulders, he could tell that this was a delicate topic.
"No, no dad," she said shaking her head, making her black hair whip at her cheeks. "I disappointed him."
Daniel fell silent and waited for Dawn to talk. Finally, she looked up and he saw that her eyes were full of tears.
"I met him, Wolf, one day in a forest and he has special powers like me. He heals other animals and people by taking their injuries onto himself," she started. Daniel arched his brows but didn't say anything.
"And we got along wonderfully, dad. He's so funny and caring and there were some ups and downs but in the end, we'd always make up. But then..." she trailed off. She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes and her hand came away wet. "Then, he figured out I was a witch. And he's had a bad memory about them. And he just told me to... go away."
There must have been lots of details missing from her story but she seemed done. She looked at the donuts blackly but not seeing them, while tears rolled down her soft pale cheeks. Daniel had no idea what to do. Here she was, crying over a guy he never knew existed. A magical guy. How crazy could the world get? He scooted his chair towards her awkwardly and held her in a sort of side hug. As a male, he knew that teenage boys could be jerks sometimes. Scratch that, most of the time. But he knew that Dawn would never go with anyone stupid. He knew her well enough to know that.
"You know Dawn, this guy, he seems nice. So he has a trauma over witches, but everyone has fears. And they get over it. You're going to have to help him with that. Imagine this; if a dog came to you and bit you, you would most likely be scared of dogs after that. And then one day, you realize that your pet cat was actually a dog."
Dawn looked at him incredulously but he continued. "You'll be scared of it at first, but then you'd remember how much you loved it. Love is a hard thing to shake away. Positive or not, you can not easily forget about someone you loved from the bottom of your heart. And instead of denying it or forcing yourself to forget, you should face it. Face it and if it destroys you, you will pick up your pieces. After you've pieced yourself back together, you will be stronger. Stronger than anyone who hasn't been shattered by love. So go, Dawn. Go face it."
Daniel watched Dawn stand up from the table, heading for the door. Her eyes were full of emotion, hurt, determination, hope, love. She slipped out the front door without a word, and from the kitchen window, he watched her walk steadily down the field. After a certain distance, she shimmered and disappeared. She was nowhere to be seen. Daniel blinked and stared, looking at the spot on the grass where she stood a second ago. He was too tired to be surprised.
Everything is possible, he thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair and munched on a donut. Everything.