"I wish you'd talked to me. I could've helped. "
"Mia, you couldn't even help yourself. " Sighing as the weight slid off her shoulders, Ripley shook her head. "And I couldn't take the chance of hurting someone. I couldn't handle the - I don't know - the intimacy of my link with you. I knew if I told you, you'd talk me out of giving up the Craft. I saw only one way out, and that was to pull back from you. From all of it, before I did something I couldn't take back. "
"I was furious with you," Mia countered.
"Yeah. " Ripley sniffled, but she was only marginally embarrassed. "I got mad back, and it got easier, maybe more comfortable for me, to be at odds with you than it had been to be your friend. "
"Maybe it got easier for me, too. " It was difficult to admit, after all the years when casting blame had helped soothe the hurt. "Sam was gone, but you were still here. Needling you whenever possible was some small satisfaction. "
"You were really good at it. "
"Well. " With a little laugh, Mia brushed back her hair. "Just one of my little gifts. "
"I always loved you, even when I called you nasty names. "
Tears threatened. A stone that had been in her heart for so long dissolved in an instant. She took the two steps that separated them, slid her arms around Ripley's waist and held on. Held tight.
"Okay. " Mia's voice caught. Ripley patted her back. "Okay. "
"I've missed you so much. So much. "
"I know. Me, too. " She let out an unsteady breath, then blinked when she saw Nell standing just outside the door, crying silently.
"Sorry I came out in the middle of that, and, well, by the time I'd decided whether I should mediate or just slip back inside, I was caught up. " She handed tissues all around. "I'd apologize for eavesdropping, but I'm just so happy. "
"What a trio. " Ripley sniffled. "Now I'm going to finish my rounds with red eyes. It's embarrassing. "
"For heaven's sake, do a glamour and get rid of them. " Mia finished wiping her eyes, then closed them, murmured a chant. When she opened them again, they were sparkling and clear.
"Always the show-off," Ripley muttered.
"I still can't do it that quickly," Nell began. "Do you think if I - "
"Let's not get into a damn coven here. " Ripley waved a hand. "Since you're here, Nell, I need some weight. Get this. Mia's going to shag Sam. "
"You have such a way with words," Mia said. "It never fails to impress me. "
"The point is, whatever you call it, it's a mistake. " Ripley gave Nell a little poke on the arm. "Tell her. "
"It's none of my business. "
"Cop-out," Ripley stated, with a sneer.
"To spare you from the insults, and from biting your own tongue, I'll ask for your opinion. " Mia raised her eyebrows. "If you have one on the subject. "
"My opinion is it's your decision. And if," Nell continued over Ripley's snort, "you're considering going to bed with him, then you're still attracted enough for it to be an issue. You don't do things on impulse or recklessly. It seems to me that until you either get Sam out of your system or resolve your feelings, you'll be conflicted and unsettled. "
"Thank you. Now - "
"I'm not quite finished," Nell told Mia, then cleared her throat. "Physical intimacy will resolve only one level of your conflict, and probably the easiest one. What happens after will depend on whether you open yourself or close yourself. That'll be your decision, too. "
"I'm considering it finishing up old business. Until I do, I can't know, clearly, what step it is I'm meant to take. "
"Then just look," Ripley said impatiently. "You were always a whiz with visions. "
"Do you think I haven't tried?" Some of the pent-up frustration snapped out. "I can't see my own. I see her, standing on the cliffs, with the storm raging, the fog creeping. I feel her strength and her despair. And in that instant before she jumps, she seems to reach out to me. I can't tell if it's to pass that last link to me, or to pull me over with her. "
Her eyes blurred, and the air thickened. "Then I'm alone, and I feel the dark pressing in. Close, tight. And so cold it seems the night s
hould crack from it. I know if I can get to the forest, to the clearing and the heart of the island, we'll make the circle and that dark will break apart, once and for all. But I don't know how to get there. "
"You will. " Nell took her hand. "She was alone. You aren't and never will be. "
"We haven't come this far to lose now. " Ripley took her other hand.
"No. " Mia drew strength from the circle. She needed it. For even there, in the sunlight, with her sisters beside her, she felt alone in the dark.