Returning to Svaltalfrheim

Stopping to see Celeste first as promised, Zora hugged her aunt tightly when she saw her, trying not to get too emotional. Zoraida was nowhere close to normal. She was tired, drawn and sometimes moved, inexplicably, between feelings - often overwhelmingly - of sadness, anger, despair, and numbness. The fact that her family needed her and supported her, often quietly and without judgment, was what kept her going, and helped her to not succumb to the emptiness she often felt.

Chatting with her aunt about what, her son, Jeremiah wanted to do, Zora asked Celeste a few key questions, simply because of the two, she wasn't as versed in runic and spell magic as her aunt was, and she wanted to make sure everything went properly - a low key feeling of fear at the idea of losing her son, gnawed at her and Zora wasn't sure she could handle losing another person she loved.

"Are you okay?" Celeste asked very gently as she took her niece's hand and squeezed it, having noticed the troubled look in her eyes. "You know that he'll be okay, right?" she said as she looked at her niece, easily guessing the fears she might be having.

"And just remember, Matthias will not let anything happen to him," she told her softly. Celeste had gotten the true story from Zoraida about Jeremiah when he re-appeared suddenly. And like Rafael, had been shocked and dismayed at the whys and hows of all of it.

"I know, but..." here Zora blinked back tears that threatened to fall. It was frustrating and embarrassing that things like this still happened.

"I know his father would never let anything happen to him, tante. Mattias is, well, he is a better parent than I will probably ever be," she sighed sadly. The idea that she did nothing but cause hurt to those around her kept surfacing lately, the deep-rooted feeling of self-blame haunted her constantly. The tragedy at Woodland, her brother's death, Broen... She hated to even think about how she might have hurt or caused her beautiful and so amazingly forgiving son any pain or grief.

"Zori," her aunt started, feeling so helpless and bad for her niece. She understood how bad loss could be, and it hurt her to see her niece so grief-stricken at times. "You are not a bad parent, and Jeremiah does not blame you, nor does his father, so banish that from your mind, okay..." Celeste said as she tapped her niece's arm.

"Now, go up to the power room where he is waiting, okay?" Celeste smiled encouragingly as she hugged her niece impulsively and then scooted her out of her office.

"Room 313," she called down the hall as she watched her niece, who was in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a jean jacket make her way towards the stairs that lead her to where she had to go.

Following Celeste's directions, Zora soon came to the room, knocked and let herself in - after having wiped away any signs of tears first, and a brief moment where she had actually considered using glamour - something she had rarely if ever done - to hide how she felt from her son, she hated worrying him. However, in the end, she decided to focus on the positive for as long as she could, and hopefully, everything would be okay.


@Kada

Zora did not say anything when her son greeted her, she couldn't find the words for some reason. And so she simply walked up to him and gave him a warm hug. A hug that probably lasted a second too long as she squeezed him tightly.

"Hello Jeremiah," she said softly and into his hair before she let him go almost reluctantly, trying hard not to cry as she did so.

"How have you been?" she asked him afterward while searching his face, on some level just really needing to know that he was okay.

Zora almost broke down for completely when Jeremiah pulled her back into a hug. Burying her head into his shoulder, she just hugged him tightly as she choked back a sob while trying desperately not to cry or lose it. Letting the comfort of the hug calm her down, she finally nodded, and let out a strangled laugh at the mess comment. She would certainly agree that she looked, and possibly was a mess, at least emotionally.

"I am a mess, Jeremiah, and I'm so sorry you have to see me like this," Zoraida admitted, quite ashamed of the fact she could not control her grief as she stayed exactly where she was, holding her son and for the moment, drawing a bit of strength from his calm composure.

"The person I was dating," she found she could not even say his name without breaking into tears. "well, he, he k-killed himself," she got out quickly, choking on a cold hard lump in her throat as she stumbled over the word "killed.

Zora squeezed her eyes shut, and just cried quietly when Jeremiah started stroking her hair. Only her mother or Celeste had ever done that, and for some reason, the gesture was not only comforting but nostalgic too, memories of a better time flooded through her mind, calming her down and making her feel safe.

"Thank you, but there's not anything you or anyone can really do," Zora replied gently as she pulled back to look at Jeremiah, and ran a hand lovingly done his cheek.

"Just being here is enough," she told him truthfully. Feeling extremely grateful and blessed that she had Jeremiah back in her life again.

After a short, or long while of comfortable silence, Zoraida wasn't quite sure of how long it had been actually, she finally calmed down enough that she was able to wipe that tears away and pull back a little from her son.

"I love you, Jeremiah," Zora said as she took her son's hand and held onto it. Needing him to know that she cared for him. "And whenever you need me, or for whatever, just ask, okay?" she stated earnestly as she lightly squeezed his hand.