your past and mine are parallel lines/stars all aligned and they intertwined
Rio came back home, undoing her bun to let the braid down.
“Hey.” Agatha leaned on the wall, facing Rio.
“Hi.” They kissed.
“Why did you put your hair up?”
“I have to change depending on who I'm collecting, remember?”
“Right. I like this hairstyle.”
Rio smiled. “Thanks. I don’t know what it is but—“
“You don’t know how to braid?” Agatha exclaimed.
“Well, no, my magick just does it for me.”
Agatha clicked her tongue. “That won’t do. Come on.”
They sat down on the couch, and Agatha showed her how to braid on a few pieces of twine.
“Can I try it on you?”
Agatha turned her back to Rio, letting her separate her hair into parts.
“I have a question.”
“Uh…” Rio paused. “What was it?”
“Shoot?”
“Shoot.”
“You change your appearance depending on who you’re collecting, right?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean that the look I know is– is what my mom likes?”
Rio’s eyes widened. “No! No, baby, she hated this.”
“Then why did you show up that night in this look?”
Rio froze, realizing she had cornered herself into a question she was hoping to avoid.
“Rio?”
She could lie, of course, but she wouldn’t. She’d never do that to Agatha.
Agatha turned around, freezing her hair so it wouldn’t undo. “Rio, what's going on?”
Rio sighed. “I– I was hoping to avoid this.”
“Why?”
“I…” Rio looked away. “I was sent to collect you that night.”
Agatha's eyes widened. “So…”
“You were supposed to die that night.” Rio confirmed. “The– the future isn't set in stone, and there was a… a very low chance you'd survive. They were given the wrong counterspell for your ability. That's the only reason you survived.”
Agatha took a moment to process as Rio stared at the floor.
“Rio.”
Rio held her breath.
“Rio, look at me.”
Rio slowly turned, meeting the ocean-blue eyes she adored, but there was no hint of the rage she had expected to see.
“You're not– you're not mad?”
Agatha furrowed her brows. “Why would I be?”
“I was— You were supposed to die. I was supposed to collect you.”
“And? It’s not like it was your fault.”
“But I—“
“No. I’m okay.” She pulled Rio in for a hug. “We’re okay.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Rio cradled her, feeling the warmth of her body.
“I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I’m still sorry.”
Agatha clicked her tongue. “I love you, okay? I’m not about to get mad just because of this.”
“HA!” Agatha laughed. “It still cracks me up that you thought I’d be mad about that.”
“Agatha!”
“What? It was funny!”
“Like that time you thought I’d leave you because you got the wrong berry?”
Agatha pouted. “We agreed to never ever talk about that ever again.”
“Honey, we were a year into marriage. You thought I’d back out because of a berry. That’s hilarious.”
“It was 2 years ago!”
“Oh, so you get to bring up things from half a decade ago but I can’t bring up something from 2 years ago.”
Agatha paused. “Well, I sound like a bitch when you put it like that.”
Rio clicked her tongue, placing a lily behind her ear. “You’re not a bitch. If you were, we wouldn’t be celebrating our 3rd anniversary.”
“Yeah yeah, you still can’t braid.”
“Hey, my last one was pretty solid!”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that. I thought cosmic beings were supposed to pick up on things quickly—” Agatha stopped herself when she saw Rio’s smile start to fade. “I’m just joking, you know. You are getting better.”
“I know. I’m just…“
“I know. A lot happened with your siblings. It’s okay if it still affects you—“
“No, seriously, it’s fine.” Rio gave her a reassuring smile. “It was a long time ago.”
Agatha snorted. “Remember when they tried to crash the wedding?”
“Oh, yeah, that was a hell of a day.”
“All your pretty flowers got ruined.”
“Eh, I revived them. It was fine. Stabbing Entropy was quite fun, I’ll admit.”
Agatha snickered, tucking Rio’s hair behind her ear before kissing her.
“Spending our anniversary on the spot you got kidnapped and shot is weird.”
“Please.” Agatha scoffed, looking into the distance. “I just got kidnapped here. I got shot in France.”
“Agatha, what did we say about joking about trauma?”
“Yeah yeah, it’s fine. At least we get to enjoy it now.” Agatha turned to her. “I like accompanying you on your job. We get to see brand new places.”
Rio sighed, looking over the mountains. “I just— I wish you didn’t have to see me doing that.”
“Remember what I said in my vows?”
Rio nodded.
“I meant it. I love every part of you. Even your job.”
Rio put her head on Agatha’s shoulder. “You mortals are really fragile. I don’t know how you survive for as long as some of you do.”
“Oh, so I’m fragile now?”
Rio rolled her eyes with a smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll always be chaotic in my eyes.”
“Bad chaotic or chaotic chaotic?”
“Chaotic chaotic.”
Agatha chuckled.
Rio sighed. “Things have changed over the past few years.”
Agatha shrugged. “We never said we wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, but just a few years ago, I— I didn’t even have a name.”
Agatha chuckled mirthlessly. “And I was stuck in the past.”
Rio smiled. “I guess it’s a good thing we changed.”
“I never could’ve done it without you.”
“Right back at you.”