FRAILTY pt2

What if a woman very much down on her luck, broke and with her health in tatters were to come upon a very special kind of lamp?
An old story that I finally managed to finish. Part two of FRAILTY.

Read FRAILTY pt2

Disclaimer: This is an original story, so no disclaimers needed. It is a lesbian story, as all things I write, really, and has somewhat of a fairytale slant, or my kind anyway.

Thanks to kind reviewers, especially one that goes by “Spikesagitta”, I was able to pick up this story and finish it even though it had been years since I wrote the first part.
Thank you. *smiles*

The first part can be found here: http://ryufic.blogspot.com/2007/07/frailty.html




FRAILTY pt 2
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson





When Riley opened her eyes again it was a slow and struggling process, sleep fighting her for control of her body every step of the way. Blearily and groggily Riley blinked at the ceiling, her body heavy with sleep still and her mind taking unaccountably long to process the usual inventory list of her body which she was long since accustomed to go through upon waking, or at least was accustomed to upon those mornings when waking up was a less violent ordeal.

Though it took her a while, it was with rising alarm that Riley came to the conclusion that something was wrong, and very very wrong at that.

At first she could not put her finger on it. She lay still and tried to go over her body’s responses one by one, a method which had served in the past to help locate the malfunctioning part. This time however the end result was puzzling, for apart from a heavy lethargy there was nothing hurting, pulsing, cramping or cutting going on. It took a good long moment more while Riley lay there frowning, deep in thought, before the obvious truth presented itself.

The strangeness she felt was the fact that for the first time in longer than Riley could easily imagine there was no pain. No pain whatsoever, anywhere. Riley flew upright on the drawn-out couch, heart thundering in her chest.

No pain?

No sooner had the memory of how she had collapsed in Isaber’s arms surfaced than a smiling face surrounded by dark red curls came into view. Riley stared at the smiling... well, what exactly was she? At this point Riley was willing to consider her a saving angel.

“How do you feel?” Isaber asked with a warm voice, reaching out to brush a few strands of hair out of Riley’s eyes.

Riley took a long moment to reply. How did she feel? She stared at her hands, not only did they not feel like her own should, they looked oddly different as well. “I’m not sure... strange, I think.” She conceded at last. “There’s no pain.”

“Good, because there should not be.” Isaber smiled more and took one of the so critically inspected hands into her own. “You will probably feel a bit strange for a while though, before you get used to not being in pain again.”

“It really... worked?” Wonder warred with disbelief on Riley’s face while earnest dark eyes looked to her companion for answers.

“Did you doubt me?” Isaber teased gently, still smiling. She patted the hand in hers comfortingly and made a small gesture towards the bathroom. “If you are still not sure, have a look for yourself. I think you will be surprised.”

Riley nodded and gingerly rose to her feet, making a slightly wobbly line to the bathroom mirror as she had not expected the strength in her limbs, causing her to be just slightly off balance. She was not sure what she expected to find, just that it was not what looked back at her from the slightly cracked mirror above the sink.

It actually took her several minutes to grasp that the face she was looking at was her own, just no longer skinny, pale and sunken in on itself. Her face like the rest of her was... strong was the word that came to Riley’s mind. An inspection confirmed it, her entire body was now a solid, somewhat muscular and slightly tanned thing, the appearance which she could imagine she would have had if illnesses had not ravaged her life. Was this really her?

Next to a wide and strong shoulder Isaber appeared to meet Riley’s gaze in the mirror. “Your wish was to be healthy, so this is your body at its peak health-wise. Illness and disease can no longer touch you in any form, though I want to warn you that you can still be hurt and still die no matter how strong and fit you are, so kindly keep that in mind and do nothing which would endanger you.”

“No illness?” Riley sought reassurance while looking from her hands to Isaber and back. “None whatsoever?”

Isaber simply smiled and shook her head, and then giggled softly as Riley sat down on the floor with a thump, dazedly looking at her hands again. After a moment there was a softly whispered wow from the dark-haired woman whom then turned towards Isaber with the widest of smiles and tears pouring down her cheeks.

With a fond look Isaber sank to her knees next to Riley and put her arms around her in another hug. There was an awkward kind of desperation in the way Riley clung back and sobbed quietly into a flimsily clad shoulder.

Isaber stroked the dark hair and hummed comfortingly until the torrent of emotion seemed to have calmed itself down. “If you think you are up to it, what do you say about cleaning up and going for a small walk outside? You slept for a few hours, so it should be about midday now.”

Dressed anew in clothes that to Riley’s embarrassment no longer fit the way they had, they ventured out in the sunlight. Out of habit Riley found herself having tucked her asthma medication into an inside pocket and she squinted her eyes when stepping out the front door of the building, instinctively protecting eyes that had been painfully light-sensitive for years.

There was not even the faintest sense of discomfort, from her eyes or any other part of her body. Even the last vestiges of lethargy fled as Riley walked out into the light and, completely filled with the wonder of it all, slowly walked through her neighbourhood as a woman reborn. It was as if the entire universe had been remade around her, and with barely containable joy and amazement Riley wanted to absorb it all.

Had the sky always been that blue? Had the light and the breeze always felt this sweet against the skin of everyone else, everyone that had not been like her?

So wrapped up in this experience was she that it took a good long while before Riley began to fully notice the reactions of people around her. Most passed her by without much notice, but there were those that did, like a pair of young women waiting at the bus stop that openly appraised Riley and called out a few flirtatious invites as she passed them by.

Isaber laughed at the fierce blush on Riley’s face as she hurried out of sight and earshot of the admiring young ladies, and paid no attention to the small frown and pout directed her way. “See how beautiful you are?” She teased instead, laughing some more at the even darker blush that followed. Riley opted not to respond to that and instead just trudged on ignoring her heating face and the amused chuckles beside her.

It was apparent to Riley that people for some reason did not react to the sight of Isaber, even though the breathtakingly beautiful woman wore such strange and revealing clothing. On a few occasions Isaber even had to step around people that simply seemed intent on walking right through her. The redhead smiled and appeared not to mind until Riley finally had to ask outright.

“Why can’t anyone else see you?”

The smile faded and was replaced by a sombre look. “I am not... real, Riley. Not to anyone but you, at least not yet.” There was a strange look in sparkling silvery eyes that Riley could not read. “I exist only for you.”

Riley was not entirely sure why that statement made her blush anew, but it did. It also made her feel unaccountably happy, but then again who would not be happy to suddenly have been given their very own saving angel that could take all pain away?

“Maybe I should tell you” the playful tone returned and Isaber leaned closer. “that since no one else can see or hear me you should not speak out loud to me when we are not alone. People might think you hear voices if you do. Besides, I can hear your thoughts anyway.”

Further conversation, out loud or otherwise, was interrupted by the kindly old lady that lived near Riley. The elderly woman was understandably shocked when she realised that Riley was the same person as the pale, reed-thin and sickly woman she would exchange pleasantries in passing with every so often. Riley stammered her way through a flimsy lie about a new treatment working wonders, knowing that she could not exactly say that her salvation had come in the form of an incredibly attractive young woman appearing from a lamp, if she said anything about that she could likely expect to get picked up for some nice place with cushioned white walls and complimentary shirts.

The encounter had Riley disturbed, and so she cut her walk a bit shorter than she first had intended it. Returning to her apartment building she crossed paths with the crotchety old man who lived upstairs, and if the old lady had been shocked it was nothing compared to his reaction to a strong and healthy Riley. The lie was repeated, a bit more convincingly this time and supported by Isaber’s ad libs, and although the old man was hard pressed to believe such a big change could occur in the week or so that had passed since they spoke last, in the end he appeared to agree not to question the how and the why too much. Instead he congratulated Riley and gruffly patted her back in an awkward attempt to convey his happiness over her improved health.

Riley all but fled into her darkened apartment after excusing herself, not liking at all that she had to lie to someone who had shown her kindness, and also uncomfortably aware how bad she was at it. She walked over to the couch and sat down, unconsciously still moving in that careful way that to an experienced observer revealed a person who had learned the hard way that careless movements meant pain.

The springs in the worn out couch complained when Isaber flopped down next to her, immediately turning towards Riley and moving a warm hand across Riley’s cheek.

“Are you really here?” Riley whispered, sounding desperate. If this turned out to be some strange and elaborate dream or hallucination she doubted she could find the strength to keep going.

“Yes. I really am.” The reassurance was gentle, and the look that accompanied it understanding and comforting. Isaber pulled one of Riley’s hands to her face. “See? You can touch me. You can feel me. But...” The hand was pulled down until it was held against Isaber’s chest. “can you tell the difference?”

Riley could barely breathe for an entirely different reason than she was used to, in fact she could do precious little at all other than blush to new and intense heights at the sensation of Isaber’s soft skin underneath her hand. She fought off the instinct to scramble off the couch because silver eyes were looking at her so expectantly, and eventually she managed to calm herself down enough to at least try to grasp what she was being shown.

“...no heartbeat?”

“No heartbeat.” Isaber’s smile was wistful, perhaps even a bit sad. “I exist and I am here, but not the way a human being is. No one else will see me, hear me or be able to feel me, only you. I was created solely for you.”

Although it was true that Riley had only known Isaber for roughly a day, in that brief time she had still been closer to her than Riley had been to anyone in a very long time. This meant that she could not stand to see the kind creature that had been her saviour so sad, so despite her shyness and awkwardness Riley pulled Isaber into a hug, attempting to offer comfort the way Isaber had done for her before.

Isaber was not crying, but she willingly accepted the embrace and leaned her head on Riley’s shoulder anyway. She closed her eyes at Riley’s awkward stroking of her hair, a small smile and a blush stealing its way onto her features.

“You are so warm.” She said softly, almost sighing as she relaxed in Riley’s arms.

“So are y...” Riley’s words were interrupted by an inhuman howl coming from her midsection. She and Isaber sat up straight at the sound and stared, first at one another, then at the sweater-clad stomach which had chosen such loud way to make itself heard.

“I... I’m... hungry?” Riley was stunned and quite a bit worried. She felt absolutely starved, and while she was used to hunger this seemed just far too excessive for her, the way she felt now she could have eaten a whole horse if someone had handed her one on a dinner plate.

Of course then there was the fact that hunger for Riley could be a dangerous thing, with many painful repercussions. It took her a moment before she realised that the illnesses she feared would make themselves known at the moment were also gone, and that at least for now, hunger was just that... hunger.

“Your metabolism is that of a very healthy and fit person.” Isaber patted Riley’s stomach briefly before standing up, beaming at the sitting woman. “You will need to eat a lot more from now on, although it is true that whether you eat a lot or barely anything at all, your body will remain in peak condition.”

It provided Riley with quite a dilemma. She of course had absolutely nothing edible at home, and with her brief, and sadly wasted, splurging with the sandwich the previous day she was already back a bit more in her meagre funds than what she really could afford. She would of course go buy a few packets of instant noodles at the cheap grocery store she frequented, but that food would have to last her until next month, and something about this stronger sense of hunger made her think it would not be enough anymore, a small part of a pack of instant noodles in a pot full of water each day. Her other fallback for temporary hunger pangs, tap water, was not going to cut it either now that her stomach had awakened to how empty it truly was.

Now that she was this healthy Riley would try to get a job, although she knew from experience that with her credentials it was very hard to find even the smallest underpaid job that did not involve certain illegal activities she had decided long ago she would have nothing to do with. She’d do her best of course, and sooner or later Riley was sure she would find at least some work, but that still left her to try to figure out what to do for her increased food costs and other bills until then.

Isaber knelt at her side, her expression compassionate and strangely eager.

“Make the wish. You have two wishes left; you need but say the word and it will all go away. Will you not wish it so?”

“I can do that?”

“Of course. Whatever you may wish that does not involve another, I can grant you.” A pair of slender hands warmed Riley’s knee through the worn fabric of her pants. “I may not be able to do such things as end famine or disease for all humanity, but I can certainly grant you any personal wish as long as you word it right.”

Could she do it? She did not question that Isaber could grant the wish, she had more than proved herself as far as Riley was concerned, rather should she use Isaber’s gift for something like that? It wasn’t as if Riley was against receiving money she had not earned out of moral compunctions, no, she had long ago learned that she could not afford to be that spoiled, but where would it come from? Would her gain be someone else’s loss?

“No, what you receive would not be taken from anyone else.” Isaber seemed amused at Riley’s concerns, yet waited patiently for the dark-haired woman to come to a decision on her own. “It would take on the appearance of having come from somewhere, but it would be wealth that did not exist until your wish was made.”

Well that laid some concerns to rest, but still. Riley could not help but feel that it would be both greedy and selfish of her, yet at the same time the way Isaber had explained the wishes it seemed the wishes were supposed to be selfish in nature. And it would undeniably be wonderful to get all those hospital bills taken care of at long last.

Riley scratched her cheek while thinking, not really paying attention to the woman that was now leaning against her legs while looking at her with obvious fondness.

The hospital bills and the remaining medical bills. Yeah, that would be great. Also the rent she had yet to pay and the bills for electricity and heating would be pretty awesome too, if that was possible. But if she just asked to pay her bills, would the power of the wish deal with all of the things she owed money for, or just the bunch of current bills she had piled neatly on the table in the kitchen?

Money for food would be incredibly welcome as well, though how to word that? And would it be terribly greedy of her to wish for a bit extra, enough so that she might actually go buy herself a bed somewhere? Now that she wasn’t forced to sleep more or less sitting up it would be nice to have a cot or something she could just stretch out on at night.

Besides, though the thought made her blush slightly, it would be nice if she could get a bed that was just wide enough to make better room for Isaber, if Isaber was going to stay with her.

Isaber’s smile widened and she giggled happily as she rubbed her cheek against Riley’s knee.

The wording... how should she put it? How had she worded the wish that freed her from all her illnesses? Riley had been to out of it at that point to remember.

“Umm, I wish...” She muttered, unaware that she was voicing part of her thoughts out loud. “to have enough money to... pay all of the bills...” That sounded about right, didn’t it? Did she need to specify which bills she meant? Oh, and maybe the word bill in itself wasn’t the best choice. “all of my debts and, err, to...” To be able to put food on the table? Nah, too silly and who knew what would happen at that kind of statement. Oh wait. “To be able to afford all of my house, home, food and living expenses” Mentally Riley congratulated herself, that was a good one. Now just to add the bit about affording a bed for them. Though she couldn’t just tell Isaber she wanted to buy a bed for them to sleep in, that would sound weird wouldn’t it? “and to be able to buy... things.” Riley growled, no, that wasn’t it, and it sounded absolutely ridiculous. To buy a necessary thing? A piece of needed furniture? Darn this was hard. Oh and she needed to say for how long, right? All the debts she had now and for the next month or two?

“Up until-“ A bright light interrupted Riley’s muttering and brought her attention back to her surroundings, specifically back to the smiling and now brightly glowing woman kneeling in front of her.

“It is done!” Riley was confused as to which should shock her more, the bright light, the exclamation, or the fact that the other woman practically threw herself into her lap.

“Done?” She blinked owlishly at Isaber who appeared to be quite comfortable on Riley’s lap. “What do you mean, done?”

“Your wish is granted, of course.” She glanced towards the door. “It will not take long before you can tell for yourself.”

“W-what? But I haven’t made my wish yet!”

“Ah but you did. Your wish was to have enough money to pay all bills, all your own debts and costs for houses and other living expenses, and to be able to buy things. I cannot say for certain, but I would suspect that the wish to be able to pay all bills alone will make you a very rich woman.”

Riley’s eyes went as wide as saucers just as a knock could be heard at the front door.

“And there it is.” Isaber said cheerfully and got up from her spot on Riley’s lap. Riley on the other hand stared at her dumbfounded until Isaber, with a small sigh, took her by the hand and pulled her over to the door. “Will you not see who it is?”

Shakily Riley found herself opening the door to find a small group of men in suits standing in the dirty and dingy hallway, led by a skinny and balding man with a very official air to him. She did not know it when she hesitantly and rather timidly greeted them, but their arrival would mark the end of Riley’s old life.

-----

When the whirlwind that began the moment Riley made her second wish finally abated nearly six months had passed, and Riley Thomas found herself in a luxurious mansion in a completely different town than the one she started out in, the sole and long sought-after heir of a previously unknown grandfather whose fortune was so great that no one seemed able to tell Riley just how much money she had inherited. Isaber had to assure Riley that the old man had never actually existed several times before the tall woman could lay her concerns about inadvertently stealing someone else’s heritage to rest.

To begin with, once all her debts had been paid and it started to become obvious to Riley just how obscenely rich she had suddenly become, Riley tried to give her fortune away in a number of ways. After a few eventful days of that kind of behaviour, and the loud protests of the army of lawyers and advisors that were steering Riley through the process of gaining her fortune, Isaber had to sit Riley down and explain to her that the more money Riley gave away, the more the power of the wish would generate, so she would never actually notice any difference no matter how much she gave. The problem was that if Riley gave that much to other people eventually the rule about personal gain would be broken, and if that happened Isaber was not sure just how the powers involved would punish them, only that Isaber herself would ultimately be destroyed.

After that Riley opted to simply accept her new wealth as quietly and graciously as she was at all able to. Although at times it felt as if her life had become an unwanted circus at least she had Isaber by her side, always smiling and providing Riley with a very sweet-sounding voice of reason. Riley’s one last personal act of generosity, before turning such things over to her advisors to handle, was to buy the apartment block she once had lived in, have the building thoroughly renovated, and then finally made it so that the old man that used to be her neighbour could live there for free.

Riley herself never returned to her old home.

While she found she had many people working for her in some way or other, by the time that the strange process finished which took Riley from a woman in threadbare and washed-out clothing living in what amounted to a dank basement, to the woman whom now were given designer clothes to wear and a small palace to live in, Riley found she still had her privacy at least in her own home. She desperately needed privacy, not only for the sake of her own reticence around people, but also for Isaber.

As it was Riley had already gotten quite a reputation for being eccentric, as she tended to forget that people could neither see nor hear Isaber and thus did not stop herself from reacting or even occasionally speaking out loud to her while others were present. Finally though they were left in peace.

From that very first night together Riley and Isaber had shared a bed, continuing this even when Riley’s new home had rooms and beds aplenty. During their second night together Riley ended up spooning Isaber in her sleep, and from the third night onwards Riley would go to sleep with Isaber cuddled up with her head on Riley’s shoulder. Riley never said anything about it, but with her ability to hear Riley’s thoughts Isaber still knew how much their closeness meant to the other woman. What Riley did not know was that Isaber was not able to sleep, and instead spent the nights awake but content to be in Riley’s arms.

They spent all their time together. Isaber did not eat, but that did not stop her from keeping Riley company for dinner, or prevent her from taking a strange interest in the to her complete mystery of cooking. It was mostly a theoretical pursuit on her part, though Riley volunteered herself for the odd occasion when it was not. In many ways it was a bittersweet interest, since Isaber could not herself try to taste anything she might make, or know the flavours and experiences mentioned in the cookbooks she read.

For most part they naturally found things they could share without problem, simple things like watching movies together while curled up on the couch, or long walks in the surprisingly large and very beautiful garden. There were times though that Riley would find herself abruptly reminded that Isaber was not really a normal woman.

One such occasion was when Riley had given serious thought to getting a pet. She had been watching movies about animal rescues and reading magazines for pet owners for days, until she finally approached Isaber with a few glossy pictures of kittens and a shiny, almost childlike, look in her eyes.

“What do you think?” She asked Isaber eagerly, spreading the pictures of various little fluffballs on the table in front of the redhead. “It hadn’t really occurred to me before, but I don’t have to avoid being around animals anymore.”

“They are adorable.” There was something about the way Isaber looked at the pictures that felt a bit off to Riley despite the amused reply she had gotten.

“You... don’t like cats, maybe? Perhaps you would prefer dogs?” Riley was slightly concerned but fully willing to compromise. True she had always wanted to have a cat, but if Isaber preferred dogs she wouldn’t mind having some cute puppy instead.

Isaber shook her head and reached up to cup Riley’s face. “No, I find both cats and dogs quite adorable, and I think I would have liked to join you in playing with either. If you want one you should get one, and I know it would have a good home here with you.”

“But I fear that any animal you would bring here will become afraid of me, as they can neither see nor sense me and surely finding furniture and other things appearing to move by themselves will be unnerving even to an animal.”

Isaber let go of Riley and looked away. “I... am sorry.”

Riley saw the sadness in silver eyes and did the only thing she could think of. She embraced Isaber and held her close, regretting that she had brought the subject up at all. While she might have wanted a pet that was no more than a fanciful thought, and definitely something she could do without. Isaber however meant so infinitely much to her, everything really, and she never wanted to do anything to make the other woman sad.

“Thank you.” Isaber whispered against a cotton clad shoulder, trying not to feel guilty as she lingered in this display of affection for as long as she could.

They did not bring the subject up again that day, although several nights later as they had gone to bed and Isaber curled up in her by now customary place in Riley’s arms, Isaber once more expressed her regret that her presence prevented Riley from doing something she wanted.

“Don’t be silly.” Riley hugged Isaber closer and rested her face against the red hair. “It was just a thought and it doesn’t matter. Not like you do.” Having Isaber with her was Riley’s fondest wish, she had realised that by now.

“Really? I am?” Isaber smiled into Riley’s shoulder, lightly playing with the long dark hair that spilled out around them. “Would you not have used your final wish for something else rather than me?”

“Nothing in this world means as much to me as you do, not even my health.” Riley was shy and awkward when expressing herself in words, even though she knew Isaber would have known that truth from her thoughts for some time now. “Nothing else would matter, if you weren’t by my side.”

There was a happy sound from the slight weight on her shoulder, reassuring Riley that her sentiment was at least well received. “What about you, Isaber? What would you ask for if you had one wish?”

Silver eyes came into view to blink at Riley briefly before disappearing again. “Me? Make a wish? What a thought.” There was a soft giggle. “As long as I could stay here with you I would not need to make any other wish, although there is one thing...”

“I would wish that I was human.”

“Could we do that? Use the last wish to make you human?”

“No...” Isaber shook her head slightly, sighing. “It does not work that way. Your wishes must be about yourself, only indirectly involving anyone else.”

“It seems to me that a wish like that would be about myself also, because I would selfishly want you to stay with me.” And then she could ask Isaber to marry her. Theoretically anyway, if Isaber felt anything along the same lines as what Riley felt for her. Unseen by her human pillow Isaber blushed and smiled brightly. “Well, if that doesn’t work we will have to find another way to make you human.”

“Becoming human is to be my reward once the third wish has been made.” She cut Riley off before she could say what Isaber knew she would at this information. “It is just that I do not know if I will become human as I am and where I am, here with you, or if I will be reborn as a baby somewhere else. I am... somewhat afraid to find out.” Then quietly, while clutching slightly at Riley. “What if becoming human means I shall never see you again?”

Riley’s grip tightened. “Let’s not think about that for now. We’ll find a way to make you human and still stay together, you’ll see.” She tried to clear the thickness out of her voice and steer the conversation in on more pleasant things, thinking that they should sit down and discuss this more properly the following day. They would probably need to have clear minds to come up with a solution for this. “What would you do if you were human, then?”

Understanding that Riley tried to keep them both from becoming too upset Isaber acquiesced and began telling her about the things she had fantasized she would do if she was fully human.

Fortunately Isaber had many, many thoughts on what she would want to do. Most of them were fairly simple, like walking together with Riley through the streets of the shopping district just to know that people saw them together, to cook dinner for the two of them and then get to experience eating it for the first time, or to go and pick out a pair of kittens from the pound together. Others were more complicated.

“...and in winter we would go away somewhere, to where there is much snow and we could make a snowman together. We could learn how to skii or skate, and play around in the snow during the day, and the evenings we would spend on something soft in front of the fireplace.”

Isaber drew slow and light circles over Riley’s collarbone, knowing that the sound of her voice and the images she created with her little stories were lulling the other woman into a peaceful sleep. She wasn’t sure Riley could make out her words anymore, but that was fine. Isaber continued anyway, letting her voice provide its own kind of lullaby.

“You would teach me how to make snow angels, and maybe we would have a snowball fight until we got so cold and wet that we would have to go back inside, and then we would spend the rest of the day cuddled together on the couch.”

“And eventually, one day...” Isaber’s voice grew quieter, coloured with a different kind of emotion. “We would do those things I know you sometimes dream of. We would share ourselves in that way that humans do when they love one another deeply.”

The hand stilled and the story faltered, Isaber listening to Riley’s heartbeat for a moment. “And we would kiss.”

“Mmnn...” Riley agreed, sleeping yet some small fraction of her remaining awake enough to have understood Isaber’s words and tried to reply to them. “Wishhacould... kishyou... saber.”

Isaber stiffened immediately. “R-riley?” She gasped, and then, when the dark room suddenly began filling with light, “RILEY!”

Riley shot upright instantly. “What? No!” Isaber was crying although her tears were barely visible for the strong glow that grew brighter and brighter. “I haven’t made a third wish! I haven’t!”

To Riley’s surprise their lips met, soft and warm and all too briefly. Then as they drew apart as suddenly as they had come together, she could see Isaber cry and shape her name although no sound was heard.

Crying herself now, Riley tried to grab onto Isaber, but before they could touch the glowing subtly changed, and to Riley’s horror Isaber’s face became translucent for a very brief moment before finally she disappeared in a soundless explosion of glowing sparkles.

Then the room turned dark again, with no sign of anything having happened there remaining. There was no trace that there had ever been someone else in the bed beside her at all.

Clutching her head Riley screamed like she had never done in life before.

“ISABER!”

But there would be no answer. Riley was alone.

-----

Two weeks passed, and Riley was in such a miserable state that those that came to see her, her employees, feared for either her life or her sanity, perhaps both.

She would not eat, would not speak nor move from the spot on the floor where she had been found. She would not take care of herself in any way, the only thing she did besides staring brokenly into nothingness was to drift off into fitful and haunted dreams from time to time.

It had gone so far that the advisors reluctantly began talking about having her forcibly admitted somewhere for psychiatric help, before one day everything changed.

“Miss! Miss, you can’t just go in there!” A man’s agitated voice was followed by the sound of running.

“I have to! Riley is waiting for me!”

The sound of a familiar warm and melodic voice snapped Riley out of her stupor enough to focus on the here and now. Dark eyes turned to where the sound of running came closer. Then suddenly there she was.

“I-isaber?” Riley’s voice was raspy and her tone fearful. She couldn’t take it if this was another dream.

“Oh... Riley.” The woman who stopped a mere few steps out of Riley’s reach had tears pouring down her cheeks, yet she was smiling. It was such a familiar smile.

She looked different, Riley dimly noted, a little more substantial maybe, or a trifle more tanned. She did not wear the flimsy outfit anymore, instead she wore denim pants and a white sweater that hugged the generous curves nicely underneath a short jacket. It had rained outside so the mass of unruly red curls were even more unruly than usual, sticking out in odd directions in some places while slicked down in others. Isaber had never looked more beautiful to Riley.

Riley struggled to get to her feet. Strange, she felt as if she was coming out of one of her more crippling asthma attacks from back when life had still been so bad; suddenly there was an easing of hard steel bands that had crushed her chest and she could begin to breathe again. “Isaber?”

She was pushed down on the floor again as she found herself having a sobbing redhead wrapped around her neck and crushed tight against her. Even chilled by the rain Isaber felt warm to Riley, she had felt so endlessly cold the weeks that the other woman had been gone.

There was a shuffling sound and then heavy footsteps moved away, the man that had chased after Isaber clearly coming to the conclusion that she was a welcome guest after all. Finally there was the sound of a door closing, and Riley and Isaber were alone.

“I am sorry it took me so long to come home.” Isaber whispered with a thick voice, her breath brushing against Riley’s ear. It was a new experience, since Isaber had never seemed to really breathe before. “I woke up in a hospital a few days after we parted, they told me there that I had been found in an alley and had been unconscious since I was brought in. It took a week before they would agree to release me as they believed I have amnesia, and after that it took me a while to find a way to be brought here.”

“You are really here.” Riley whispered, running her fingers adoringly over familiar features and through red curls. “I thought I had lost you forever.”

Then she closed her eyes as the tears spilled over, and clung to Isaber while she wept in silence.

They still clung to one another after the torrent of emotions had passed and the tears caused by the uncertainty of their parting had ceased. Isaber giggled slightly and drew her head back just far enough to meet Riley’s eyes, freeing one hand to tenderly wipe at wet cheeks. “Riley,” She breathed, excitement in her voice. “I am home!”

“And I love you.”

With that she pressed her lips to Riley’s. Once Riley overcame the initial surprise of feeling soft lips moving against her own she responded enthusiastically, the two of them eager and willing to make up for lost time.

After a long while Isaber broke away to breathe while Riley moved her attention to Isaber’s neck. “Oh! It is truly glorious to be human.” Isaber moaned, causing Riley to chuckle slightly against her throat.

They drew back further to be able to look at one another.

“I love you.” Riley’s eyes were open and earnest, making Isaber feel both grateful and reassured that even though she could no longer hear her thoughts, it would not be hard to tell what Riley was thinking of. Isaber knew her so well that all she had to do was look into those eyes and she would know.

“I love you too, Riley.”

They smiled at one another.

“Welcome home, love.”