Fae magic was cruel.

That was the only conclusion Arwen could think of as Helen's little girl turned eleven.

Ethel had been unable to reach the human realm for twelve years, twelve years Arwen spent in relative loneliness in Thornhill. In the alleys where respectable people didn't come, the place where fallen women spent their last days on earth.

It was maybe a bit melodramatic, but Arwen was sad and afraid. What if Ethel would never return?

At least Helen had the certainty that her sweetheart would never show up again, it was a consolation to know you didn't have to wait any longer. No one would show up from the mist to sweep you away.

Arwen didn't have the same faith. Yes it had been a long time, and she had changed beyond recognition. She didn't know if Ethel would still recognise her for who she used to be, after a decade of loneliness.

But alas, it was the first midsummer's eve and Arwen was waiting in the fields for the mist to rise up. For the veil between their worlds to be lifted, and show her the beings her soul longed for to be part of.

The sun coloured the world in tints of light and purple. The mist rising from the grass beneath her feet, lifting the veil she could not pass through.

Creatures she knew to be fae flitted through the first cracks of dawn, to disappear to the town mischief the only thing on their mind. Too focused on their goal to worry about a single woman waiting for them to arrive.

Arwen waited till the sun was high in the sky and Helen came to tear her away from where she was rooted to her spot. Dinner was ready and she would have eaten before she was allowed to stand in the fields again.

Dusk arrived and the fae flitted back from town, mischief managed, they wouldn't spend their nights outside in the cold of a midsummer's eve.

The mist rose, as it always did and swept them away to a better place.

A place where Ethel was locked up, at least that was what Arwen hoped. That Ethel was forbidden to come to the human realm, instead of unwilling to go to her.

The sun had set, midsummer would be gone within the blink of an eye. Another year of waiting, hoping, believing that in the end she would see Ethel again.

It was useless, but hope was all she had.

Arwen forced her feet to move away, away from the place the mist had taken them. Back to Thornhill, her little room and house she shared with Helen. It was useless to keep standing outside in the cold.

No one was coming for her.

-

Helen's daughter had married her suitor, leaving their small house behind for Moffat. It had always been a sad affair, but now that only two people were living in the building was it even more silent than usual.

Arwen had given up the hope that she would ever see Ethel again. Even if Ethel was allowed to return to the human realm, she feared she wouldn't be interested anymore to visit Arwen.

What did she have to offer the faerie after all?

Ethel would stay youthful forever, whereas Arwen already felt her body give in after a long day of work. She wasn't the young woman anymore that kissed her Love under the moonlight.

Stolen moments beneath the light of the stars.

It was all a long forgotten dream, swept away from her reach to reside among her memories of old.

Arwen's fingers followed the flowers given to her, they hadn't withered yet despite their age.

Four promises given to her, four promises she had built her young life upon. Hope was all that she had to believe their truth.

She no longer believed their truth, she couldn't anymore.

-

It had been an accident, she hadn't meant to be in the fields during the last dusk of midsummer. It was a beautiful lie, one she could tell herself to say she had truly moved on.

She hadn't.

The fae rose from the shadows, taking the last daylight with them. Taking the very essence of Arwen's soul with them as they ran into the dark.

Author's note:

Don't know if I am satisfied with this chapter, but we'll keep it like this for the time being.