Mira and Zoey unable to move past Rumi’s patterns pre-reveal and instead trying to make her cover up more and more.
Yea, ok. Let’s see!
(TW for my followers who cant stomach angst very much, this one’s heavy. Not my heaviest, but certainly heavy. As always, happy ending, but Resh if it won’t hurt first.)
It’s also really freaking long.
—
It was a stupid trip during training.
Of all the ways for her patterns to be revealed, she never would have guessed something as simple as training would be her downfall. The three of them had been practicing evasive maneuvers using tennis ball launchers, courtesy of Zoey’s training ideas journal. It had been going good, very good, in fact.
Right up until she stepped on one of the balls.
Rumi’s leg shout out from under her, sending her careening into a fall that likely would’ve done little more then stun her.
But Mira.
Sweet, kind, wonderful Mira, reached out to grab her. That’s always been something she’d do. Trying to catch Rumi whenever she watched her stumble or trip. Always there for her. Always giving her longing looks as if wanting more than friendship with her.
She grabbed her by the arm, but just barely missed the limb itself. Instead, her nails caught on the sleeve.
The rip was a minuscule sound compared to the still firing tennis ball launcher and Zoey’s yelp of surprise. But to Rumi, it was deafening.
She landed hard, one of the balls under her back causing a spike of pain. She had sat up, rubbing at the sore spot, only to freeze at the glow of the Gok-do pointed at her chest.
Mira had demanded to know where Rumi was. Rumi had tried to scramble back, only to bump into Zoey’s legs where she’d stepped behind her. Zoey had grabbed her by the jacket, turning and throwing her while still holding it.
It had ripped almost all the way off at that. Her shirt, a short sleeve shirt she’d worn in a desperate bid to not overheat while training, didn’t cover the rest of the patterns. She’d slammed into the wall with a grunt, her head snapping back into the concrete.
Stars had danced in front of her eyes, and she’d barely managed to focus as Mira had stalked forwards. Mira asked again, putting the tip of the Gok-do against Rumi’s upper arm, right over the pattern.
Rumi had tried, desperately, to say she was Rumi, and was rewarded with a burning chill that singed her to the bone. Mira had stabbed into her bicep, cutting into her as if it had been paper.
Rumi screamed then. She thinks she blacked out for a few seconds because holy hell it hurt, but she wasn’t sure. The next thing she knew Zoey had been pushing Mira back, pulling the Gok-do out of her arm and grasping the limb gently as Rumi tried to regain control of her erratic breathing.
At Mira’s confusion, Zoey held up her blood covered hand and simply said demons don’t bleed.
They’d patched her up quickly after that, not saying much to her. Zoey was a little rougher than necessary, Mira refusing to touch the limb directly just like Celine.
They’d sat her down on the couch, forgetting to give her anything for the pain, and demanded an explanation. When Rumi told them about it, about how her mother was a traitor to hunters everywhere, they’d called Celine. The two of them had stepped into Mira’s room so Rumi couldn’t listen in, unaware her hearing was easily able to make out the words.
Oh, how she wishes she couldn’t.
Celine had said how she “tamed” Rumi, kept her from running around too much like a demon does or defending herself attacking Celine during endurance training. She told them that so long as they ensure she remains covered, it’ll be ok. The Golden Honmoon will either get rid of the patterns, or eliminate all demons. Either way, they need to focus on the work.
It hurts so much worse then she thought it would to hear that the removal of her patterns was an uncertainty. She’d hoped that maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to free herself of her fathers blood and shame to be with her the girls.
But no.
No, instead she has to spend nights with a padlocked door, because Mira wants to make sure Zoey’s safe. She can’t go out alone in public, but neither of them want to actually touch her so they keep back.
When they go to fan signing events, the two of them will tell the fans Rumi is feeling a little under the weather the second she showed a hint of frustration, that most of the time only they could tell she felt. They claimed it was to protect the fans and keep one of them free to go fight demons when needed. She knew it was actually just to keep her away from the fans.
But all of that wasn’t the worst part.
It was the little things they’d say.
“Get a jacket, Rumi, your patterns are showing.”
“You should wear a mask in the house Rumi, to avoid showing your teeth.”
“You should put on a jacket. Can’t be too careful!”
Every comment was like a blade to Rumi’s heart. Was it really so bad? Was her birth so accursed her supposed soulmates would treat her this way?
Was she truly that unlovable?
The patterns had been spreading a lot faster, since they’d started making the comments. She had taken to wearing pants and full length shirts to avoid showing any, and opted to where a face mask around the apartment to hide the growing ones on her face.
She hated it.
Every time one of them would flinch back from her. Every time they’d make a passing comment about her mom in joking and serious contexts. Every single time they’d decided she needed to do something else to make sure they were safe.
She loved them.
She hated them.
And they seemed to hate her right back.
It was an uneventful day that signaled the end. A day Rumi’s nightmare plagued dreams woke her too early, and she’d decided to get some water to rejuvenate herself as best she could. She was wearing her favorite pajamas, the train pants Mira gave her and one of Zoey hoodies she’d borrowed years ago.
It was the last semblance of physical affection they’d given her since that day.
She over heard them, then. In the living room, facing the tv with the volume turned way down.
She heard them say it.
——
“Do you think she’d be willing to wear waterproof makeup?” Zoey asked.
Her black hair had been let down, flowing over the back of the couch. She was staring blankly at the tv. The two of them had been talking about Rumi, how they’d been treating her. They know they’re being unfair, know they’re hurting their leader for no reason other than doing what Celine had told her to do.
But those accursed patterns. They just… every time the two of them saw them, they couldn’t help it. Sometimes the fight or flight response would kick in, and they’d barely avoid summoning their weapons again. Other times it made them angry, angry knowing she’d willingly hid something so crucial from the two of them.
…they were being cruel.
Mira sighed, rubbing at her neck. “Maybe? She’s… she keeps doing what we tell her to. I…” she trailed off, not able to finish the thought. It’s one she’s had before.
I hate that we can’t seem to stop.
Can’t seem to stop hurting her, being cautious around her, treating her like a living threat. Tonight, they would finally try and put a stop to it. A desperate gamble, as Mira had put it.
Zoey nodded. “We can ask her then. If she says yes, then we can finally try and move past it.”
Mira breathed deeply, letting the faint sounds of Bluey calm her. “Alright. Tomorrow, we take Rumi to the bathhouse and ask her out. We try to… we try to ignore her demon half. It’ll work. It has to.” She says.
Then, under her breath, she mutters, “if Rumi says yes. I wouldn’t blame her if she doesn’t want to, after how we’ve been treating her.”
She didn’t know it in the moment. Didn’t know she’d managed to speak so quietly under her breath that not even demonic assisted hearing could make a difference.
But she did hear the shatter.
Mira and Zoey spun at the sound, eyes landing on Rumi in the kitchen, wearing the clothes the two of them had gifted her last year. Her patterns were pulsating in a way she’d never seen, lighting up a sharp, violent purple that lit up the kitchen.
How much had she heard? What was she doing up at 3 am? How did she get out of her room? Zoey’s mind raced as she tried to understand.
She didn’t realize it. Neither did Mira.
But they both flinched when Rumi lifted her hands to grab at her face.
Silence permeated the area. No one said a word, the stupid cartoon still playing in the background.
Rumi broke it first, whispering something neither of them could make out.
“What?” Zoey asked?
“Fuck you.”
Rumi’s voice dripped with malice, the kind of loathing she had only ever directed at demons. It made them both flinch hearing her use it against them of all people.
But don’t they deserve it for what they’ve been doing?
Rumi looked up, a single eye glowing golden as she snarled , “Fuck both of you.”
They were stunned. Neither woman said anything, the surprise of Rumi cursing and the vehemence with which she spoke to them stalling anything they could’ve said.
“For six months, I put up with this.” Rumi says, holding up the unlocked padlock. “For six months, you two have told me that I’m unstable. That I’m a danger. That you need to be cautious.” Her words were heavy with sarcasm, and it made that small indignant part of Mira want to fight back, to argue.
“Well, obviously we needed it if you cou-“ she began.
Rumi cut her off. “I didn’t take this off you fucking asshole. It was unlocked, on the desk next to my door. Because someone forgot to lock it tonight.”
Mira was stymied so Zoey tried to jump in next, arms crossed as she stood from the couch to better face Rumi. “Rumi, we just needed to make sure you were safe to be around. There’s no records of half demons, there’s no way for us-“
Rumi snarled. Full on, animalistic snarled. Mira reacted instantly, drawing her weapon from the Honmoon and pointing it at Rumi. That cut off the growl as Rumi took a step back, a flash of fear crossing her face as her hand unconsciously touched the spot where Mira had already stabbed her with the weapon. Then the fear was replaced with fury.
“Oh, bravo Mira. Proving your parents right, are you?” She mocked.
Mira bristled, glaring. “You have no right-“
“I have every right! You call me dangerous but the second I show frustration at your treatment of me, at me lashing out in any aspect, you resort to the same thing.” Rumi gestured to the weapon, the pink blade a glaring accusation with its color. “Yet you call me the violent one when I’ve done nothing but protect people. Congratulations, Mira.
Your parents would be proud.”
That hit her harder than she thought it would. The blade slipped from her fingers, disappearing before landing on the couch.
“Rumi!” Zoey glared. “That’s unfair, and you know how much it hurts when you bring them up! You want to claim you’re not a demon when you act like that?”
Rumi flinched, the false smile dropping for a moment before returning. “Better than your act, Zoey. How you pretend to be nice to our fans, pretending like you care about me, only to turn around and treat me like I’m something else just because of these stupid patterns. As if being half human means that half isn’t worth anything.” She tapped her chin in faux thought. “Sounds almost familiar. Of course, your bullies also did that because of how you acted, not just because of your heritage.
You’d fit right in with them now.”
Zoey flinched harshly, hugging herself tightly as the image of her notebooks being destroyed flashed in her mind. She had known they were being a bit unfair, but they were being cautious! Rumi was…
Was born as a half-demon, who hadn’t actually done anything wrong.
But Rumi didn’t give them time to think about what she’d said, the bombs shed set off within the two of them. She saw a weakness, and now she went for the kill.
“Yet, somehow, the two of you thought of this master plan. A way to, what, get over my patterns?” She spread her arms theatrically, voice thick with scorn. “You’d get me to cover my disgusting patterns, take me to the bathhouse, and you’d. Ask. Me. Out.”
She slow clapped at that, smiling cruelly.
“I don’t know why you would think, after everything you two have done, that I’d want to even go out in public with either of you anymore outside work.” She turned, striding down the hall. They didn’t miss the tears beginning to track down her face. “Seriously, Fuck both of you.”
She slammed her door shut, leaving the two sitting in stunned silence. Zoey turned, meeting Mira’s gaze as her own tears finally began to fall.
“Mira… are we… are we bad people?”
——
Rumi had moved out that night. She’d waited until the two had gone to bed, unable to sleep but too tired to stay on the couch. A single note was left on the couch, telling them she’d show up to rehearsals if Bobby attended, and would always have a personal assistant with her at all times.
Mira and Zoey felt wretched. They knew, they had known, that they were being ridiculously unfair. That every time they’d step between her and a younger fan, that all the times they moved away from her the second they were away from the public eye, that it was hurting her.
They’d tried to claim it was to protect themselves and others from Rumi. But that wasn’t true. They just didn’t want to acknowledge that the woman they’d fallen in love with was willing to keep such a massive secret from the two of them. Didn’t want to think about the patterns, the betrayal, the way Rumi had screamed when she was stabbed.
So they’d made her cover up.
And in doing so, lost her almost entirely.
Rumi kept her word. She showed up for all Huntrix events. She arrived at rehearsals, sat down with them to write songs, all of it.
But never alone.
She always had an assistant with her, interchanging them weekly. Bobby often would be there too, cheering on their practice like usual. They couldn’t find a moment alone with Rumi, a moment to apologize or try to fix it or anything!
They knew it wasn’t fair to keep wanting Rumi. To keep wanting her forgiveness, even if they still sometimes flinch when she touches them with a patterned hand. To keep wanting her to talk with them after spending months avoiding talking with her.
They knew this.
Just like they knew they were hurting her.
And just like then, they still couldn’t stop themselves.
They’d bring her favorite drinks, her favorite snacks.
She’d eat the exact same drinks and snacks her assistant would bring.
They tried to send her stuff, small items they knew she loved. Or at least, thought she’d love, because it would always get sent back, every single time unopened.
Zoey and Mira talked about it, and eventually tried to talk to Celine. It went… poorly. Celine had simply told them Rumi was acting out because she was finally being treated the way a demon, even a half demon, should be. Just like with her treatment at the compound she’d come back to them. It was inevitable.
“She doesn’t have anyone else, after all.”
The words hurt Mira and Zoey so much more than anything before that. Rumi had no one else.
No one else but them.
And they had done this to her. Made her think they couldn’t stand the sight of her, when she was the most beautiful thing they’d ever seen. That they couldn’t touch her without recoiling in disgust, when they used to treasure even a passing graze of Rumi’s hand.
It was the patterns, always the patterns that were the problem.
So, they began searching.
They searched the hunters archives during one of Huntrix’s breaks, searching for any way to remove the patterns. They did, actually, find a spell that’s supposed to remove Gwi-ma’s influence from a person with Celine’s help.
They could only hope it would work.
The next dance session, Bobby borrowed Rumi’s assistant for some help. Just to move some equipment left conspicuously in the gym. Rumi had sighed, turning to face Mira and Zoey, only to fall back with a strangled gasp as Zoey’s Shin-Kal (tied with a rope together) caught her throat and pinned her to the floor.
The two began the spell immediately, chanting and bidding the demonic influence to leave her body.
And Rumi burned for it.
She couldn’t scream, couldn’t move, couldn’t think.
Everything hurt. Her arms, her legs, her chest, her heart, her lungs, somehow even her blood was in pain.
A flash of light enveloped Rumi as they finished the spell.
The patterns now covered her entire body.
They were so surprised that Zoey’s shin-Kal vanished, leaving Rumi gasping for breath as she shoved herself away from them, back pressing against the floor to ceiling mirror. They stared at one another for a heartbeat. Then a second.
Then Rumi bolted.
Mira tried to call out, Zoey began to chase her.
And Rumi teleported.
In a single instant, Rumi was just gone. Like a demon, she’d teleported. The spell hadn’t done anything to Rumi.
They didn’t understand until later. After explaining away Rumi’s sudden lack of being there, they’d gone home to review the spell.
Remove Gwi-ma’s influence. Because Rumi was born with the patterns, they were her’s, not his. They’d tried to cut out half of Rumi, and had almost killed her in the process.
Rumi, for her part, was terrified. She had thought they were, in fact, killing her. That they had waited for the perfect moment to strike, pinning her and ending her in the most painful way imaginable.
That’s when the line is crossed for her.
She sends Bobby the details. Tells him she can’t explain. He’s super upset by it, but he did promise years ago never to come to Celine with this kind of paperwork.
He cheats a little and goes to Zoey and Mira instead. He finds them in the tower, knowing Rumi won’t be there since she moved out (though he still doesn’t know why). When they see the papers, their scared, a little angry, and riddled with regrets.
They shouldn’t have tried to force the spell onto Rumi, she deserved better than that. Shouldn’t have done it without explaining it, and without warning.
Shouldn’t have hurt her in the first place.
But they know what they’ve done. They know she’ll refuse to talk to them in person unless it’s 100% necessary.
So they make it necessary. They tell Bobby to bring lawyers and agree to Huntrix breaking up if it’s an in person meeting. Bobby informs Rumi, and does admit Zoey and Mira will be there as well.
She almost doesn’t come.
At the last moment she teleported in, scaring the crap out of a nearby intern, and steps into the meeting room. The entire room goes silent for a moment, shocked at the new look. She didn’t cover her patterns with any makeup or cloth, wearing a simple pair of pants and a sleeveless crop top.
Zoey forces herself to look, really look. Mira can’t bring herself to meet Rumi’s gaze, letting it drop to her arms where the patterns covered her porcelain skin. Where a single, long scar sits as an accusation.
She sat, not meeting their eyes, and calmly set out the terms to end her career. She wouldn’t continue to be an idol, but she ensured the three of them would still own the songs they made, and receive royalty’s from them.
The meeting concludes quickly, but Mira and Zoey move faster. They manage to grab Rumi’s hands, neither noticing them touching the patterns until after the fact. Still, they tighten their grips. She doesn’t yank out of them, knowing how it would look for everyone in the room.
She waits until they’re all out, before jolting out of their grip, and moving to the door again. She starts to open it, but Mira slams her hand against it, stopping it.
Rumi tells Mira to move. Mira refuses, saying they need to talk.
——
The echo of the door slamming shut was nothing after Mira’s words. Rumi can’t help but give her an incredulous look.
“Seriously?” She folds her arms, taking a step to the side to get out from under her still extended arm. “We have nothing else to talk about.”
Assess exits. Consider your options. They have you trapped in an office room that the lawyers and Bobby knows you stayed in with them. Don’t drop your guard.
Rumi’s thoughts race as her eyes dart around the room. Last time they had been alone had been proof enough to her that their intentions with her, now that she wasn’t playing along, were less then ideal. She could teleport, she thinks, but has only managed to do it when her life was in danger or she had a burning need, and would rather not risk the latter happening.
Zoey is on her right, Mira in front of her, walls on her left and at her back. No obvious exits.
“Rumi, we’re sorry.” Zoey says it like she’d been holding something far too heavy. As if she was unsoldering a pack filled with stones and guilt. It’s the kind of thing someone says that can only carry the weight they let it hold.
Rumi scoffs. “Oh really? For which part; the treating me like shit for months on end, the plan to date half of me, or the trying to kill me?”
Mira winces, letting her hand fall from the door. Rumi notes the movement, but doesn’t run. Not yet.
“Rumi, we… we’re sorry for a lot of things. Right now, though we’re sorry for not explaining it first.” Mira avoids looking at her still, words laced with guilt. “The spell was supposed to remove your patterns. We… we didn’t realize it can only remove Gwi-ma’s patterns.”
Rumi chuckled darkly. “Oh, that’s what that was. No wonder it’s familiar. Honestly, it’s been so many years I didn’t recognize it.”
Zoey blanched, and Mira looked up sharply. “What?” They asked it in sync, not looking at each other as the word drops like a thrown stone in their hearts.
“Celine tried it,” Rumi explains with false calm.
Rumi could see the tears beginning to form in her former maknae’s eyes. She forced herself to ignore the guilt twisting at her, not wanting to let them know how she felt about it.
After all, for six months they didn’t bother telling her how they felt. They just did what Celine did.
And that was somehow so much worse than most of what happened.
Mira rubbed her chin. “Wait, but Celine was the one who told us which books to find spells. Why would she…?” She trailed off, contemplating.
Rumi answered the unfinished question. “A reminder for all of us, I think. A reminder that spells made only for demons hurt me.” She pointedly touched her arm, right where the scar lingered.
Mira looked away again. “I… I’m sorry about that day. About how I reacted. I don’t think I ever actually apologized about it and you… you deserved that much at least.”
Rumi sighed, rubbing at her temples. “Ok, great, glad you’re apologizing, now move. I have a train to catch.”
Zoey flinched. “You could stay? We cou- we can talk. We can all talk, right?” She ended her sentence by trailing off, becoming more and more quiet as she speaks.
It’s so painfully Zoey.
“No, Zoey. I might come back in a few weeks or not at all,” Rumi sighed, “But either way I need space away from you two and Celine. I can’t… I can’t only have half of what I am loved. It’s not healthy, and sure as the Honmoon it’s not fair.”
Mira hesitated, glancing at the door. “Is there… anything we can do? For you to forgive us?”
Rumi shrugs in answer, moving around Mira to the door. “I don’t know, Mira. I really, really don’t.” The door shut behind her, and then she was gone.
Nearby, an intern who’d watched Ryu Rumi appear watched her disappear. He set an appointment for a psychiatrist.
——
They didn’t hear from Rumi for several months.
She’d changed her number, or maybe just blocked Celine and them, but either way they couldn’t contact her. Celine insisted they keep performing as a duo now. After all the Golden Honmoon needs to be formed.
They reluctantly get back to work, but the question still lingers from that conversation, the one that sent them on the spiral that led to treating Rumi like she was dangerous; what would happen to her if they made it golden? As impossible as it sounded to do without her, they still worried for her.
The fans were disappointed Rumi had quit suddenly. Mira and Zoey said Rumi needed to take time for herself, after spending her whole life performing for others. Most fans were understanding about it, and those that weren’t were non-stop bombarded by hate.
The months took their toll on Mira and Zoey. They hadn’t realized how much admin Rumi had taken upon herself for them, how little they truly were involved on the paperwork. This had been intentional, but not on their part. Rumi had wanted them in the best shape possible for any breach’s.
It was exhausting. They ended up hiring two people to just help, and even then barely kept up. How Rumi did all this solo is something they will never understand. They lose sleep over clothing misshape, get angry over corporate jargon, and seethe at the intern trying to convince other interns that Ryu Rumi was covered with tattoos and could teleport.
The first thing they got was a letter. It was short, only a few sentences, and undecorated. It had a single photo showing Rumi walking through a temple of some kind, looking around it as someone else takes the picture. The letter tells them she’s been investigating some ancient ruins, ones possibly connected to hunters of old.
There’s no return address. No way to contact her and beg for help or advice or for her to come back. The message is obvious, I’ll call you. Not the other way around.
Weeks crawl by. More things are popping up that Rumi did. Birthdays of people are forgotten and hastily made party’s are thrown. Random idols from other groups contacting them to try and collab. Brand deals wanting to do stuff with Mira Zoey and Rumi. And, of course, the press asking about the rumors of Rumi’s radical new look.
It’s exhausting.
But still, they persevere. Because they know what they’ve done.
Another letter arrives, no return address again. It’s a blurry photo this time, Rumi holding her sword facing down what looks like… a statue? They aren’t sure what it is until they see read the letter. Apparently Rumi managed to piss off the mountain spirit and had to fight it, ending with her befriending it and getting guidance.
For what, they aren’t sure. They aren’t even sure why she’s investigating the things she is. But they’re happy she sounds well.
Their hearts twist a little knowing Rumi was in danger and they couldn’t help.
Why would she want it anyways? They were the ones who had hurt her. Sure, she’d lied to them for years, but what had they done when they discovered the secret? Exactly what she’d feared. The realization of them had pushed her to a breaking point, and their hastily made plans with Celine’s “aid” made it so much worse.
So, they wait. They work. They are so. Freaking. Tired. They miss Rumi, the way she always made them feel safe. Zoey finds herself sketching Rumi at times, including the patterns unconsciously. She’s… not sure how to feel about it.
Mira spends her time making clothes. She unintentionally designs an outfit around Rumi’s patterns instead of hiding them. A conflicted feeling hits her behind the ribs.
They end up talking, the two of them. The two years after their debut, before everything happened, they had had it drilled into their heads by Celine.
“You see patterns, you kill. A demon won’t hesitate, so neither can you.”
There’s a certain screwed up poetry about Celine saying that while Rumi stood next to them, nodding in agreement.
They don’t know if they can ever earn Rumi’s forgiveness. Or if they deserve it (in the quiet hours of night, they agree they do not). But they do know they want their Rumi.
Not half of her, human nor demon.
She isn’t either. Yet she’s better than both.
She’s Rumi.
She’s always been Rumi.
Rumi, who helped Zoey practice a takedown move until she was perfect after Celine said she’d let Zoey test it in her, claiming Zoey couldn’t do it.
Rumi, who had stood up to Celine for one of the few times in her life in defense of Mira, after she’d been kicked out by her family and led by the Honmoon.
Rumi, who’d stood shocked as Mira and Zoey cussed out Celine for trying to hit Rumi after her (still) broken ankle made her miss a step during a routine.
Gods. Zoey and Mira can tell that if they stop, the dark emotions will consume them.
So, they work.
A third letter arrives. What would prove to be the final one. There’s only three words in it, and two photos.
The photos show Rumi with her blade out, leaping towards what can only be described as a pig made of fire. It looked to be shooting it from its nose… somehow.
It was also twice as tall as Rumi.
The second was… weirder. It was a close up shot of a shoulder, showing strange, silvery tattoos that were cross crossing like a tigers. They actually look pretty cool, and Mira has the sudden urge to get her own tattoos.
Neither of them can recognize Rumi’s shoulders, because they almost never saw them.
The letter, short and handwritten, simply said;
“I found her”
They don’t know what that means, but it can only be someone good.
The next two weeks were probably the most stressful of their lives. Celine had finally gotten wind of Rumi quitting Huntrix, and came over to talk to Zoey and Mira.
She wanted to know where Rumi was, but they didn’t know so they couldn’t tell her. She then asked them if Rumi’s contacted them, to which they also say no, she hasn’t. Celine is disappointed to hear it, but not surprised.
——
Celine rubs between her eyebrows, eyes pinched shut in annoyance. “I swear, that girl never knows how to stop running.”
Mira could see the confusion forming on Zoey’s face, and knew she had a similar expression on her own. It was Zoey who spoke next, asking the question both of them wanted to ask;
“What do you mean?”
Celine pauses her ministrations, eyes opening as she looked at Zoey with a surprised look. “Rumi ran away a lot when she was younger, didn’t I ever tell you this?” At the duel looks of confusion she sighs. “Of course. Rumi has this habit of running away when she was younger, always trying escape the consequences.”
Mira felt an odd sense of dread well up in her at that word.
Consequences
“…what kind of consequences, Celine?” Mira quietly asked.
“Hm?” Celine turned from Zoey, looking at Mira with a raised brow.
“What kind of consequences would you give Rumi, Celine?” She questioned, louder now.
Celine waved her hand in the air. “Nothing she wouldn’t have lived through. I had no interest in killing her, we needed her for the Honmoon after all. Though, now that she’s gone…” Celine let her hand drop to her chin, contemplating.
Mira felt sick.
Was this really the same woman who’d held her after her parent kicked her out? The one who she first trusted with her sexuality? Who she first told was dating Zoey?
Is this really the woman who raised Rumi?
Something… felt off. Something about Celine’s demeanor was… wrong.
What?
What could be wrong about this Celine?
The Celine who used to get the three of them treats? Candys as rewards for training?
Yes.
Yes, it’s the same woman.
And it’s so much worse for it.
The elevator dinged behind them, cutting off Mira’s racing thoughts.
Turning, they watched as the doors slowly began to slide open.
“Are you expecting someone?” Celine asked blithely.
Zoey shook her head, unable to see inside from the angle they’re sitting at. “No, no one’s supposed-“
She’s cut off as Celine steps out of the elevator.
Everyone freezes.
The Celine at the table shoots away from it, springing for one of the doors. The Celine from the elevator blurs forwards, a glowing blade cutting through the Celine they’d been talking to.
The Celine who was just slashed vanished in a puff of purple mist, just like a demon.
Celine, the real Celine, turned to face the two girls. “You must be Mira and Zoey. It’s a pleasure to finally meet this generation of hunters, Rumi’s told me much about both of you.”
Right around then was when they saw Rumi standing in front of the elevator, watching them coolly.
——
To say Mira and Zoey were shocked would be an understatement. After they recovered from their shock, they rushed over each other asking questions, guessing wildly, trying to figure out what happened and why Celine didn’t seem to know them now and how an imposter got into the penthouse.
Rumi stays silent, watching them, so Celine takes it upon herself to start answering their questions.
Y’see, a few weeks after finding Mira and Zoey but before she actually retrieved them as a child, Celine had been replaced.
Or rather, swapped.
See, a mischievous spirit had made a deal with Gwi-ma; in exchange for being rid of the meddlesome hunter he would give the spirit the ability to make a material body.
So, the spirit sent Celine into another plane of existence, and took her place. The spirit actually loathed demons in all shapes and forms, and wanted to instill in the new hunters just how crucial it is to show no mercy after what happened last time with Miyeong.
Celine had spent roughly a decade in that place, fighting malevolent spirits and gaining spiritual knowledge from sages and kind spirits that lived there.
Apparently, Rumi had managed to open a gateway into the spirit realm after battling the guardian of a shrine, a demon pig. There had apparently been some… side affects to being in the spirit realm for so long.
Celine can, apparently, see in the dark and has enhanced senses, as well as the ability to sense hidden demons.
Mira and Zoey are left reeling after that, trying to understand that the Celine they had known was nothing but a spirit that made a deal with Gwi-ma.
Then they noticed Rumi’s patterns.
They gawked at them.
When Rumi had arrived behind Celine, they’d avoided looking at her, not wanting to feel that well of guilt and regret again. But now that they’d seen them, the couldn’t stop looking.
They’d changed. The purple marks that signified a demon as one of Gwi-ma’s faithful were pearlescent white, shining with a faint inner glow.
At their shock, Rumi let a small humorless smile spread on her face. She explains that to open the portal for Celine, she’d needed to enter a kind of mental space within her soul.
She’d seen herself, the two halves attempting to devour one another endlessly. She’d separated them, which only made them fight harder. They hated each other, were the opposite of one another, were half’s of a whole.
She had had to embrace them both.
Because she isn’t a demon.
She isn’t a human.
She’s Ryu Rumi.
The girls don’t get time to process that, as Bobby comes up from the elevator looking frazzled. He starts talking without noticing Rumi or Celine for a moment, saying that Zoey and Mira’s drunken stream last night had clips going viral and they really needed to say something to the public-
He cuts himself off when he spots Rumi and Celine. He grabs Rumi immediately after in a bear hug, saying he loves the new look. He also gives a confused looking Celine a respectful bow, thanking her for bringing Rumi here, he was hoping to get her help if she ever came back.
Rumi hesitantly puts her hand on Bobby’s shoulder, asking him what had happened on the stream. Bobby winced, saying he has really hoped she’d already seen it and that was why she was here.
He pulled out his phone, scrolled for a moment, and passed it to Rumi.
——
The screen was black, the small bar at the bottom the only indicator that it was playing. There was a strange sound in the background, like muffled sobs being smothers by a metal can. A second later the camera shifted, lifting off of the bed where it had apparently been resting. Zoey and Mira were in frame, with Mira crying as she holds a soda can against her mouth.
Rumi feels an odd sense of amusement, befuddlement, and frustration that this already looked like a PR nightmare, and they hadn’t even said anything yet.
“Ssssssso, you all know Rumi lefffffft us…” Zoey drawled, her smile dopey as she looked at the camera. “We remember, rrrright, Mira?”
Mira only let out another sob, still biting the soda can for whatever reason.
“Yeahhhhh… we miss our Rumi.” Zoey pouted at her own words, as if offended by them. “We want our Rumi backkkk!!!” She yelled the last word, falling backwards and holding the phone aloft.
Rumi risked a glance at Mira and Zoey, who were looking anywhere but at her. Their faces were flushed slightly, embarrassed about the contents of the video that wasn’t finished yet.
The camera had been turned away from the girls towards the ceiling, the fairy lights hanging there casting strange shadows.
“Miraaaaa, why didn’t we ask her beforeeeeeeee?” The way Zoey dragged her words was strange, but not entirely unpleasant to Rumi, even after all this time.
Mira responded a moment later, voice wrecked. “We were scared. I was scared.” Her voice was uncharacteristically soft for something being shown to the public. “We thought we’d push her away. And we did- we did that-“ she cut off as another sob broke through.
The video ended a moment after a Zoey started crying too. Rumi turned, raising her brow with an unimpressed huff as they avoided her gaze still.
“Bobby, get me their socials.”
“On it!”
——
So, Rumi starts doing damage control.
She lets herself get lost in the worm, finding herself surprisingly enjoying it and avoiding talking to Zoey and Mira as a bonus. Celine spends the time getting to know them instead, growing closer to them and teaching them tactics the spirit copy of her couldn’t mimic.
Apparently their training, while intense, had missed some of the most basic of basics that weren’t written since hunters passed them on word to mouth. Mira and Zoey-and Rumi, by herself- were training in whole new ways that changed their fighting styles to be far more efficient.
Mira and Zoey found themselves enjoying it, this camaraderie with their returned mentor, but couldn’t help but notice how Rumi was avoiding them. Honestly, they couldn’t blame her, after how they’d treated her. But they still couldn’t stop the longing.
You see, before everything, before the six months of personal hell for Rumi, before her patterns were revealed, before it all; they’d had a crush on Rumi. They had talked about it together plenty of times, and had flirted with Rumi (and, once or twice, made out with her after particularly intensive days) as much as they could.
Before the patterns they just thought Rumi was too focused on being a hunter. After, they had to work up the nerve to try and ask her out, and had hoped doing it without seeing them for a bit would be enough. They know it was selfish and unfair to of tried to do that after how they’d treated her, but they still wanted her.
Still want her.
And they know they won’t ever deserve her.
But that doesn’t stop them from trying. Because they are selfish, cruel creatures that caused pain. They were mean, they were spiteful, they were… human.
The first attempt to ask Rumi out hadn’t even gotten as far as the first step, so they tried something else.
They started small.
Rumi had gotten an apartment in the city, close to sunlight entertainment head offices and Huntrix tower. The two of them invited her, Bobby, and Celine-New Celine?- to play board games.
The latter two did come, thankfully, and it was a lovely time, but Rumi declined. She declined the next time, and the time after that, until she finally agreed on the fourth week of asking.
They were careful when they talked. Bobby and Celine-old Celine?- were the perfect buffers, able to keep the conversation going when it stalled between the three of them.
The night ended as it always did, with Bobby hugging Mira and Zoey, Celine thanking them, and Rumi…
Rumi glanced between them. She’d been watching them the whole night, their reactions and their postures, expressions and tones. They weren’t acting like they had before, to be sure, but she couldn’t tell how genuine it was. Not yet, at least.
She left with a small nod, going with Celine and Bobby. The next weeks game night ended much the same, and the one after. Every time, Rumi would give them a little more. A bigger smile, a step closer, a whispered thanks. The girls felt like they were making pretty good progress, all things considered.
At least, until Rumi showed up to help at a breach. See, the last few months had been… rough. The spirit Celine was able to use Honmoon infused weapons, and had done so to support them, but it has still sucked. With her death, the two of them had been struggling until the real Celine noticed and started helping out.
Rumi had shown up during a particularly nasty breach, appearing in a puff of purple mist and descending like a glowing lightning bolt, blade and all. She’d saved Zoey from a demon who was about to slash at her, and a half a second later Zoey was spinning, shin-Kal flashing as she cut where the demon had been.
She hadn’t noticed Rumi behind her.
The cut was shallow, thankfully. Rumi had seen her spinning, recognized the look that meant Zoey was aiming for a kill, and started to move to dodge already. But the damage was done.
Rumi didn’t speak to them after that breach, opting instead to teleport home. Zoey had been left a sobbing mess, curling into Mira as Celine watched them from the side. She’d tracked home with them, watching all the while, and helped patch up their wounds.
Celine watched as Rumi distanced herself from her two hunters, how similarly she did to Miyeong and Poppy (Thirdlight). She sees the way Mira and Zoey cope with it, how they blame themselves for it-even though correct- and destroy themselves by losing themselves in the work.
Celine had to take time, when she first came back. Time to understand how her spirit counterpart had acted, the relationships she’d made or left behind, the life she’d lived.
She had to learn how the next generation of hunters was trained, how they were set against each other by virtue of a single secret, how one spirits vitriol infected the Honmoon itself.
But she’s finished learning.
It is now time to teach.
She begins with three lessons. Three lessons taught to her by a spirit she met while trapped for years.
A spirit called Eun-Hye.
The first lesson is this; forgiving oneself.
She starts with Rumi. Her poor, beautiful, sweet Rumi. Her Rumi who’d been taught for so long that her patterns were the sins of her father, and that she should ignore them and lie about them for years to the point they encompass her wholly.
Her Rumi, who had reached into the spirit realm to bring back Celine without ever truly knowing it was Celine calling to her back then. Her Rumi, who she saw for the first time as an adult with those striking patterns.
Her Rumi, who had admitted that she hates herself for lying all these years. How she hates herself for walking away instead of talking with Mira and Zoey about it. She says she doesn’t think she can forgive them for almost killing her, even though she wishes she could.
Her Rumi, who had quietly admitted she still loves them.
So, she starts with her daughter.
She talks to her, a few weeks after the breach fight. Talks to her about the time Miyeong had accidentally told Celine’s parents where she really was. How Celine had been dragged kicking and screaming back home, and it wasn’t until her own mentors came for her that she was able to go back.
She even explains how she forgave Miyeong, in the end.
——
Rumi watched Celine… her Eomma, as she took a sip of her tea. The fact that Celine’s parents had been so cruel, so uncaring of what their daughter wanted…
It was painfully similar to a certain pink haired girl she knew.
“So…” Rumi hesitantly said, “what happened when you went back?”
A small, sad smile spread across her face as she answered Rumi. “I didn’t talk to Miyeong for a month straight. Refused to even be in a room with her if no one else was there. It got to the point that Poppy was trying to get me to talk and it just wasn’t working.” Celine took another sip of tea, watching a small ducking play in the pond below them. “Eventually, it affected us during a breach. Miyeong had a demon behind her, and I didn’t realize Poppy hadn’t seen it until it had already struck, so no one warned her.”
Celine set the cup down, her eyes distant. Whatever memory was playing out behind that gaze were dark, she could tell. She’s had similar ones made the last few years, after all.
“I couldn’t forgive myself for it. I kept crying and not letting Miyeong leave my side for days after. The guilt was eating me alive, and Poppy wasted no time pointing out that that was how Miyeong was feeling when I wanted to hurt her for what she did to me.” Celine closed her eyes, something unreadable passing over her face. “I sat down with someone I trusted and told them most of it, leaving out the hunters and demons of course. They told me that it sounded like I needed to forgive myself instead of trying to absolve myself.”
Rumi blinked at that. “There’s… a difference?”
A small, tired laugh left Celine. “Surprisingly, there is. You don’t always have to pay penance to earn forgiveness, most especially not from yourself.” She turned to face Rumi, head tilting to the side as she asked, “do you want to forgive yourself, Rumi?”
“I- what would I- why would I-“ Rumi spluttered at the sudden turn in the conversation, trying to come up with something, before forcing herself to stop flailing and take a deep breath. “I… l don’t know if I deserve it, Celine.”
Celine reached over, ruffling Rumi’s hair and earning her a “hey!” Of indignation from the now messy-haired girl. “As someone who has grown to know you these last few months, my dear, you absolutely deserve forgiveness. Most especially from yourself.”
Rumi let her arms wrap around herself, playing with the sleeves of her teeshirt. “…even if I wanted them to hurt with what I said? With what I did?”
Celine shrugged. “You’re human, Rumi. As human as anyone I’ve ever met, patterns notwithstanding. Wanting to make others feel your pain, to force them to sympathize, that doesn’t make you a bad person, Rumi.”
“Does make me a bad friend, though.” Rumi retorted.
Celine shrugged again. “Maybe, but from what you and they have told me it sounds like no one was clean in everything that happened.” Celine stands, walking around the table to kneel beside Rumi. “My Gongjunim, I can promise you Mira and Zoey would want nothing more for you to forgive yourself after a lifetime of hiding for being upset about how your fears were realized.” She pressed a kiss to Rumi’s forehead. “Accept that you did wrong, and that they did as well. Let yourself learn from your mistakes, and then move on.”
She stood, pulling Rumi up by her arms gently. She led Rumi to the edge of the pond, having them both kneel to watch the duckling, who had booked it towards them the second it realized they were there. Rumi held her breath as it climbed out, hopping up onto her leg to settle between them where she was kneeling. Rumi looked up, eyes wide, but Celine just smiled.
“I think if a duck can forgive you, you can too, Rumi.” Celine teased.
——
After that conversation, Rumi… eased. She stopped training herself so hard she’d collapse, stopped berating every mistake she made, stopped being so angry at any mention or notion of her former band mates.
Celine turns her attention to Mira and Zoey. She can tell immediately that the only person who could get them to forgive themselves is the very person they need to earn forgiveness from the most.
So, Celine has to begin the second lesson with Rumi: learning to forgive others.
It’s not an easy thing, speaking with your daughter about loss. She tells Rumi about how, before she had been born, Celine had distanced herself from Miyeong and Poppy. She’d moved out, left them alone to try to figure out everything with the press and breaches and their fans and everything else.
She tells Rumi how, when she was first born, Rumi had been a crying, slobbering mess. Rumi, blushing in embarrassment, asks what this has to do with anything.
Celine has that distant smile on her face, the one that means she’s remembering the past, as she explains. Explains how Poppy had called her, in tears, begging for any kind of help. Rumi had been crying for three days straight, and Miyeong and Poppy were at their wits end.
So, Celine returned.
As soon as Celine took baby Rumi, she calmed down, sucking on her little pudgy thumb as Celine hummed a gentle song from France.
It had taken Celine a few weeks to forgive her hunters, after that. She had not trusted them, not fully, when they said that the most important thing to them is Rumi. They never told Celine what happened to Rumi’s dad, only that he wouldn’t be coming back.
Rumi asks how she could forgive them for such a betrayal.
Celine shrugs, and says it’s because she loved them.
——
Rumi rubs her face with both hands, mind reeling. “Ok, but how does loving someone make them easier to forgive? Especially when they hurt you! They lied to you, didn’t want you to come back until they needed you, only wanted me when I was perfect! It’s not fa-“ Rumi cuts herself off, mouth clamping shut as she realized what she just said.
Celine didn’t smile, though the sense of Déjà vu was not lost on her. She’d had a similar conversation with her own mentor, the last surviving one from the previous generation of hunters. Celine opts for a slightly different approach in comforting Rumi.
“To quote that American show you got me hooked on, ‘Love is measured in our willingness to forgive’.” Rumi gives Celine an incredulous look, earning her a small chuckle from the older woman, to which Rumi pouts and looks out the window instead. “It’s your own fault for getting me into it, Rumi. Now, despite it being fictitious,I have found that phrase to be far truer then I would’ve given it credit for at your age.”
Celine rests a gentle hand on Rumi’s back, drawing her attention back from the window in their kitchen. She lets her hand run up Rumi’s back then down, rubbing it the way she used to when Rumi was very little. The tension seemed to bleed out of her at the motion, something Celine was glad for.
“When you first pulled me out, do you remember what the first thing you said to me was?” Celine asked gently.
Rumi nodded. “Are you a hallucination?”
Celine snorted, covering her mouth with her other hand as she tried to not burst out laughing. “Ok, the second thing, then.”
Rumi’s head tilted slightly, contemplating. Her shoulders slumped, a sad smile spreading as she answers, “Do you know Mira or Zoey…”
Celine squeezes Rumi’s shoulder, letting her hand rest there now. “You were concerned for them because you care for them. Even after the heartache, the pain, the betrayals and harm they caused you. You still love them.” Celine lifted her other hand, using it to guide Rumi’s gaze back up to meet hers. “That love is something very rare, Rumi. It’s the kind of love that, should you let it, will become unconditional.”
Rumi gnaws at her lip, considering. “Is it a bad idea? Going back to them now, after everything?”
Celine smiles, kissing her daughter’s forehead before responding. “Maybe. But life is filled with risks, and a life free of them is no life at all.” The smile turned into a teasing smirk. “But if they hurt you again I will cut off their noses.”
Rumi chokes at that before bursting out laughing, the heavy atmosphere becoming light enough to bear for a little longer.
“Take your time, Rumi.” Celine pulled her into a hug as her laughter died down, squeezing gently. “You don’t have to forgive everything all at once.”
Rumi hugged her back, tightly. “I love you… Eomma.”
Celine didn’t hesitate.
“I love you too, ttal.”
——
Rumi didn’t go back to the penthouse immediately. She didn’t talk to Mira and Soey immediately and have an emotionally draining but ultimately helpful shouting match.
Rumi instead went to Bobby.
And she told him everything.
The demons, the hunts, her father, the patterns, Celine, everything.
Bobby needs to sit down to process everything for a while. When he’s done, the first thing he asks is if she’s alright. Rumi admits she’s doing better, except that she still misses her girls.
Bobby notices the phrasing, but doesn’t mention anything.
Deciding that he will get these three knuckled heads together, Bobby suggests something Rumi had been avoiding for years, at first because of the patterns and then later because she was worried about combusting from seeing the two of them without clothing.
He suggests the bathhouse.
A private one, of course, and he’ll make sure no one will bother them. That way they can talk it out with the most casual activity imaginable.
Rumi… is nervous about it, after a lifetime of modesty. But she’s tired of it, of being afraid of things. She’s tired of letting the ghosts (or spirits, in the case of spirit Celine) haunt her future. She wants to be able to forgive her girls, she wants to be with them.
She can only hope they feel the same.
So, she agrees, and Bobby sends the invites to Mira and Zoey. The two of them respond with some hesitance, nervous and note then a little scared about driving Rumi off again.
(To someone else, this might seem strange. How fast Rumi was willing to work on forgiving them, how much she wants them to still be with her.
But to another, this makes perfect sense. The only thing that would make sense, even. Because love can do the strangest things to someone’s mind.
Of course, just because you love someone doesn’t mean you have to make it easy for them)
Rumi is there at exactly 8 o’clock, perfectly punctual as always. She can’t help the soft, fond sigh she lets out when she realizes the two of them are late, as usual. They used to trust Rumi to get them wherever they needed to be on time for it, so the sudden change of not having her, on top of everything else she did, made it nigh impossible to do.
Fifteen minutes later, she sees them. Practically sprinting to the private entrance, holding their bags and gasping by for breath. They explain, between massive breaths, that they had had to run from a meeting on the opposite side of town to here because of traffic.
Rumi bites the inside of her cheek to avoid smiling. She needs them to say it, she wants them too. Is it petty? Maybe. But she needs them to say it so she can say she forgives them. Just one more time, just one last time, she wants them to be the ones to reach out.
Rumi ends up helping wash their backs, letting herself indulge in a little teasing and flirting leaving the both of them flushed. They didn’t seem quite comfortable enough to flirt back yet, she eased up while they helped wash her back. Then the three of them-pointedly not looking at each others body’s- get into the water.
——
Rumi lets herself sink a bit more, letting out a contented sigh. “I cannot believe I never did this with you two before. This is amazing…”
Mira and Zoey were similarly relaxing, the warmth of the bathhouse being too great for their earlier nerves to infect them any longer.
The trio let the silence stretch for a few more moments, the heat of the bath sinking into their bones and easing aches they didn’t even realize they had. Rumi idly wondered who would break first. The answer?
Zoey.
Rumi could see it in the way she started glancing at Rumi, then to Mira, then away again. She also noticed, just as when they were washing, the way her eye seemed to trace the patterns on Rumi’s skin. No longer were they wary, or showing the near disdain they’d had before. No, instead they seemed curious, almost… interested?
Finally, her patience snapped. “Rumi, I’m sorry.” Zoey hesitated again as two sets of eyes settled on her, but steeled herself before continuing. “I’m sorry about how I acted about everything. I know it wasn’t your fault, it was unfair to treat you the way we did.”
Zoey took a breath, then another slightly more ragged one, but forced herself to continue. Rumi almost reached out to wipe at the tears that were beginning to fall but held back, knowing Zoey needed to say this. Both for Rumi… and for herself.
“I know we kept telling you to cover up and then you left and we panicked and tried to get rid of your patterns and almost killed you instead, and I’d get if you hate us for that because we would totally deserve it after we were so mean andafterwehurtyouitwasntfairto-“ Zoey cut herself off with a ragged gasp, her head buried in her hands, unable to continue as her tears kept falling.
Mira, who’d scooted closer to her during her apology, rested a hand on the younger woman’s arm in support. She turned to look at Rumi, her own tears beading in her eye.
“Rumi, we- I know how I acted was unfair. You never gave us any reason, before or after we found out, to treat you like that.” Mira’s eyes darted away for a second before going back to her, her tears falling. “You were right, you know. My parents would have been proud of how I was acting because that’s the exact way they treated me. I’m sorry, Rumi. I know I can’t ever make it up to you but I’m so, so sorry.”
Mira couldn’t keep speaking after that, her eyes instead watching the water as her tears continued to fall. Zoey wasn’t much better, clutching to Mira’s hand like it was a lifeline. Rumi let the silence sit, the bubbling of the water being the only sound in the room.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Mira and Zoey looked up, shocked at Rumi’s words.
“I could’ve told you any time before that happened about everything. I should have, if I’m being honest. But I was so scared you’d hate me for it… I didn’t want to risk losing you.” Mira looked like she wanted to say something, but Rumi lifted her hand from the water, forestalling the words. “Yes, how you two reacted was unfair, and it was in many ways worse than what I had feared. But… I know you both well enough to know you only did what you did because you were scared. That doesn’t justify it, but… it does make sense.”
Rumi stood partially from the water, eyes trained on the two woman across from her. Her hunters, the two woman who she loves more then anything. Her girls, who had been cruel to her for months and then regretful for longer after. She knows what she wants from them. She just hopes they still want it, too.
“I hated you, for a bit there.” She sees them wince, but keeps going. “But I loved you then, too. It’s weird sometimes, how our brains work.” Rumi takes a few short steps forwards, stopping directly in front of them. “It might be more accurate to say I hated how you were acting. But I’m tired of feeling any kind of hate for you two.”
Rumi lets herself sink to eye level, meeting their gazes with a small smile.
“I’d rather feel happy with you two again. If you’d want me back, that is.”
Mira and Zoey don’t hesitate, nodding immediately as more tears fell.
——
Things weren’t perfect after that. Rumi didn’t move back in immediately, and she still refused to sing with them for a time. But they were better.
Mira and Zoey began taking Rumi on outings, just the three of them. They took her to the beach, to pools, to hikes. Anything that let them see her patterns more. The two of them apologized a lot, the first couple of weeks. Mira especially, she felt horrendous about how they’d treated her.
Rumi waited until four weeks later to say she forgives them. The two of them cry, making Rumi cry with them. Bobby is relived and very happy Rumi and the others are talking again.
Celine, of course, is ready for the final lesson to teach her girls; How to live with forgiveness.
Celine can still see it. The hesitancy Mira and Zoey have when it comes to initiating anything more then friendly touches. How Rumi’s scared of letting them get that close again after what happened last time they saw all of her.
She knows what love looks like, romantic, heartfelt love. She also knows how terrifying it is, to want someone, or two someone’s, to be a part of you heart and being so completely stuck because they had hurt you before.
She also remembers how amazing it is finally getting to be with them.
Celine quietly sets it in motion by planning a date for the three of them without calling it a date. It starts with the three of them doing a secret fan meetup, since Rumi hadn’t yet announced Huntrix was returning for one last world tour before becoming separate artists.
After doing that for three hours the trio would be getting lunch at a small, hidden nook where they’d always talked about going. A very queer friendly nook, in fact, where she’d “accidentally” give the people there the impression the three of them were already dating.
The final step would be the three of them relaxing at home for a time before Celine brings them to the beach, where she’ll have set up (with Bobby’s help) a table and three chairs for a moonlit romantic dinner.
The perfect plan to get her daughter married.
And so, the plan began.
Rumi was more than a little nervous when Celine explained the itinerary, minus the setting her up with Zoey and Mira portions. She wasn’t sure what public reception would be to her coming back, even in such a minimal way. Her girls tried to tell her fans love her and would be super excited that she’s back, but Rumi was reticent to believe them without proof.
Before the fans arrived, in those moments before she had to put on a persona, Rumi was scared. But the gentle hand on her arm from Zoey, and the one from Mira, helped ground her. She’d be alright, so long as she had her girls with her.
The fan signing was spectacular, with everyone super excited that Rumi had come back from wherever she had been. She deflected questions about it like a pro, not really wanting to explain how she pulled out the woman who raised her in her early years from a spiritual portal.
Mira and Zoey were a little star struck as they got to see Rumi interacting with fans again. They’d forgotten how good she was at getting people to smile, at getting them to open up to her with nothing but a few kind words.
Only one thought goes through both their minds as they sign the last piece of Huntrix merch.
Gods I love this woman.
But they know better than to act on it, not yet at least. The last time they’d tried to had been after probably the worst six months of Rumi’s life, and they didn’t want to risk reminding her of it.
Those thoughts plague Mira and Zoey’s minds as they head to the lunch, trying not to show how much it hurts that they can’t have Rumi like that because of their past mistakes. Rumi doesn’t notice because she’s having similar thoughts, scared that they’ll treat her like that again.
Then the waitress congratulates them on having a successful tour, and asks when they’ll announce their relationship to the world.
——
Zoey freezes.
Her entire body just locks up, shocked and nervous even as an incredible warmth spreads through her at the idea of getting to have Rumi and Mira like that. The sense of guilt follows shortly after, even as the waitress begins to hesitate at the way the three of them reacted.
Finally, it’s Rumi who speaks. “Sorry, that’s… we’re not together like that… yet.”
Zoey and Mira’s heads whip to look at Rumi, who’s determinedly looking directly at the server. The two share a look, unsure what to do as the server offers an apology and asks what they’d like to drink.
After placing their orders, a quiet settles on the three of them as the weight of what Rumi said finally settles in their minds. Zoey plays with her napkin, scared to ask about it. Mira similarly stays silent, toying with one of the knives at the table.
Neither of them say a word about it, and when the food arrives the three of them start small talk, about shows they’d watched or things they saw online.
But the faint blush in Rumi’s cheeks is enough for the two of them to know…
She really meant what she said.
——
Lunch ends peacefully, and the three of them retire to their various homes. Mira and Zoey to the tower, and Rumi to her apartment. They had offered for her to come with them, but she’d refused since her outfit for dinner tonight is in her apartment.
Unbeknownst to one another, they all have a small freak out session as they try to get their hears under control when out of eyeline from each other.
Mira and Zoey are talking excitedly and very loudly, trying to figure out what this means, how they should proceed, if they should do anything about it. They’re scared, certainly, but also really, really freaking excited that Rumi has, even in passing, admitted to still wanting to date them.
Rumi is freaking out because she just admitted that she’s hoping to date them still, and also because she isn’t sure how they felt about it because they didn’t say anything during the lunch so now she’s worried they don’t feel the same anymore.
By the time the dinner arrives, the three of them prepare themselves as if readying for battle. Makeup, nails, dresses (or, for Zoey, a suit) and heels, their armor and weapons both.
Rumi arrives first, of course. A deep purple dress that shimmers like the night sky, sleeveless and backless to show off her patterns and maybe her muscles.
Mira arrives next, having left a little before Zoey since she needed Bobby’s help with her tie. A scarlet dress with tassels running down its back accentuate her hair, which she’d let run down her back without styling as if fire were racing across her skin.
Zoey arrives moments after, her deep blue shit missing a jacket that lets her move a way dresses can’t. Her bow tie is adorable, and altogether brings the look together. If you asked Rumi, she’d admit she wants to grab the tie and… well, she wouldn’t tell you everything.
The three of them sit at dinner, speaking softly as the waves crash against the shore. The night is peaceful, the sky is beautiful, and the three of them are together.
As the night wears on, the trio keep talking, the conversation becoming more serious until, finally, Mira breaks and asks the fateful question.
——
“Do… you still want us, Rumi?” Mira hesitates as she asks, but forces the words out.
Rumi’s laughter trails off, her expression shuttering and turning contemplative. Zoey let her arms drop, turning to glance at Mira before turning back to watch Rumi. They watch anxiously, as Rumi turns to look at the sea. The moon is sitting a little above the water, reflecting off it as if there were two of them.
“…I think so.” Rumi whispers the words, a confession to the wind and sky’s and the two woman she loves. But she isn’t finished speaking. “But… I’m scared. Terrified, actually.”
Zoey leans forwards, already knowing but needing to ask anyways. “Is it… because of us? Because of what we did?”
Rumi half shrugged, still looking out towards the ocean. “When you first saw my patterns, I remember thinking ‘This is it. They are going to kill me’. But when you didn’t, I couldn’t find relief in it.” She turned to them, then. Her expression is clear of any kind of anger or sorrow, only curiosity. “Why didn’t you kill me back then? When you thought I was so dangerous you needed to lock me in my own room?”
Zoey turns away, looking down at the sandy beach below. She hates that she can’t speak up, still. Even after Rumi asked her a question, one she deserves an answer for.
Mira speaks up, but her hand drifts to brush Zoey’s knee. “I don’t think we were thinking clearly, back then. I’m not making an excuse, it’s just the truth. I was so worried that if you could lie about something so massive, what else could you have lied about?” Mira shuddered slightly, eyes closing. “I was scared that if we saw you do something, something like how a demon does, we’d have to… to…” she can’t finish the sentence, trailing off as tears threatened to fall.
Zoey swallows harshly, forcing herself to speak. “I don’t think we could have lived with ourselves, if we were the ones to do it. Heck, I don’t think we could live with ourselves if you died, regardless of how.” Zoey wiped at her misty gaze, trying to focus. “I’m not entirely sure we even could have, if it came down to it. And every time I saw those patterns, all I could think was ‘please, don’t let it be now. Please, let us have just one more day.’ I know we were unfair, I know we made assumptions, but I couldn’t have survived knowing you died because of us.”
Rumi’s silent in the wake of their confessions, watching them carefully. She was always the best of them when it came to seeing through lies, but Zoey knew she and Mira were telling the truth. The waves and wind fill the gap in the conversation, as Mira and Zoey recover slowly from the tears.
Rumi watches a moment longer before standing, pushing away from the table. The two of them watch as she slowly makes her way around it, he footfalls silent and unhurried. She stops between their chairs, and gestures for them to stand as well. The two of them do so without hesitation, without fear, and step forwards when she prompts them too.
Reaching her hands out, Rumi takes one of each of her girls grips. “I know how it is, being so scared of losing someone. I was terrified when you two were cutting me out like that, scared you couldn’t see anything but the demon parts. Then when I overheard you saying how you wanted to ask me out, I was just so angry because if you wanted me like that why were you treating me like that? It just didn’t make sense.”
Rumi rubbed her thumbs against their fearful grips, getting them to relax as she continued speaking.
“But I think I get it now. The terror of being forced to do something you don’t want to. I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m kinda sick and tired of letting my fears dictate my future.” Rumi gently pulled them closer, hugging them both as she speaks. “If it’s alright with the two of you, I’d like to try that date thing you were always trying to get me to do with you.”
Mira and Zoey hesitantly return the hug, the first one they’d gotten from Rumi in what feels like centuries.
Mira answers first. “I think I’d like that, Rumi.”
“You realize this is fanfic levels of romance, right?” Zoey chimes in, getting a laugh and squeeze from the other two. “But yes, I wanna go on a date with both of you. Please? Yes?”
The three fall silent after that, letting themselves enjoy the silence of the ocean as the moon watches from above.
——
It’s not until a full year later that they officially become girlfriends. Rumi moved back in with them shortly thereafter, and the three now solo artists began making music in collaboration with one another.
They enjoy getting to spend the quiet moments together, Zoey and Mira tracing Rumi’s patterns, sometimes drawing little doodles on her arms or back or whatever part of her they can see. It’s nice, for Rumi, for them to be able to see her when they see the patterns. Not some monster or threat, just… Rumi.
They still have fights, still say things in the heat of the moment, but they make up after and apologize, too. They love each other, and they were willing to forgive each other too.
Celine watches on with a small smile on her face during game nights as the three of them trash talk each other playfully.
And of course she smiles even broader when she crushes them all at Mario kart.
—
So uh… yeah. This one got WAY away from me, but hey, fun story at least right?
I hope y’all liked it. And please, try to remember to be kinder today than you were yesterday. You can’t fix the past, but you can work to improve your future. Take the word of someone with more than enough mistakes in his own past.
A lot of people are ragging on the 'cable diverted to avoid Dobby's grave after Harry Potter fans raise a stink' thing and while I also love ragging on Harry Potter fans being weird, in this case it looks like the story was completely made up.
tl;dr: There's no evidence the interview that this was mentioned in even exists, no evidence the route of the cable has ever changed, and the whole story seems to originate from one dude's podcast.
The story also broke into mainstream via the Daily Mail, who are ... rarely if ever honest or accurate.
However, "Dobby's grave" is very factually still ruining an environmentally sensitive beach in a Welsh national park thanks to fans leaving painted stones and fucking socks there. That part is 100% true.
i miss them of course, i wish i had been worth their time and forgiveness and that we'd talk but i guess they couldnt see any good in me past my agony/despair/devastation/catastrophic irrational feelings
and i need to believe that i am worth something, at least to myself.
( hi everyone! it's that time of year again... expect me back sometime in august! in the meantime, consider donating to direct relief for earthquake recovery in venezuala! )
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