How Things Used To Be

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Tossing her blonde hair across one shoulder, Athena continued to read the book that had had her engrossed for the past few weeks. The cover had been charmed to not show its title by the woman so she could read it freely in the public park. It was the first time that Athena had ventured outside of her home in the past week. Since she had become a home owner, the woman had become more of a homebody than she'd ever been, aside from when she'd go to hang out with Drakon. She still hadn't let him see the inside of her home. The bench that she was seated at had remained empty since she'd arrived, which she was happy about. Athena had never been one for small talk anyway.

Turning the page, Athena gasped at the picture there. Her fingers traced the image before she began to read again, oblivious to what was happening around her. It was nearing dusk and people were milling all throughout the park, enjoying the last little bit of sun or beginning their trek home. Athena had promised to meet her younger brothers here to escort them to dinner. They were off somewhere in the park playing quidditch with some friends. She'd promised her father that she would spend more time with them, something he'd pestered her about for ages. It had been ages since she had last seen them, so Athena had finally given in. It'd be dinner, probably junk food, and then off to her house for the night. Athena figured she could deal with the teenagers for that long.

 

[Kiara Tine]

Kiara checked the bag again as Athena crawled around on the floor chasing a beetle that had managed to find its way through her wards. Truth be told, Kiara wasn't actually that good at wards, but she'd given it a go and she supposed it wasn't too bad. Athena crawled all over the place these days, despite being able to walk. Kiara wasn't sure why and suspected that the child enjoyed annoying her. Kiara rolled her eyes as Athena accidentally squished the bug and began to cry. She leaned down and picked her daughter up, sitting her on the counter. "It's alright baby, mummy's getting the bag ready so you can go play at the park." Kiara had already been in Brightstone for over six months, but she hadn't really made any friends. She usually didn't engage people in conversation and didn't respond well when spoken to. She supposed this could stem from the fact that they were still grieving, but she really hoped it wasn't a permanent thing. She needed to get out more and meet people, Athena needed friends. So, with her bag finally packed, Kiara headed out to Takarokaro park, maybe she would find some other mothers there with their kids. Merlin knew Athena could use the interaction.

As the got to the park however, Athena struggled so much that Kiara nearly dropped her and she hopped out of her mother's arms and went rushing over to the bench. A woman was sitting there and Kiara shouted after her. "Athena! Don't leave me!" Kiara always felt a sudden pang in her chest when she lost sight of her child. She wondered if it was something she would always feel as a mother, or if it would go away. Hoisting the bag back onto her shoulder, she rushed towards Athena who was currently engrossed in staring at the woman who seemed to be reading a book. "Athena, please. Don't scare me like that baby, mummy hates to lose you." She said as she immediately dropped to the ground and grabbed the toddler's arm to pull her into a hug. "I'm so sorry about this, she gets this way when she comes to a new area." Kiara said as she finally looked up at the woman. Her eyes narrowed for a second. The face covered in book was too familiar to be a coincidence. "Ath... Athena..." She knew the girl had been here last time they'd seen each other, but, that had been years ago. She looked between her daughter and her namesake. Did she walk away? Was she supposed to turn around and leave? She sighed and stood up, lifting Athena onto her hip. "Hi Athena. Long time."

Sorry this took so long!
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[Athena Zhefarovich]

It wasn't that Athena was oblivious to what was happening around her. She was entirely certain that she would be ready to hex someone should they touch her or attempt to rob her. But, she often ignored the fact world around her. It was a survival mechanism that she had developed at an early age. Whenever her mother had been in one of her moods where she would begin to rant like a maniac or things that were even worse, Athena would retreat into her own space and pretend to hear nothing. She would continue reading or drawing or whatever else she was doing, her ears closing off whatever was going on around her. So, she didn't hear the mother yelling after her daughter even when she acknowledged the child's presence beside her. She was a cute little girl, or as cute as they could be when they were in their terrible twos...or threes. Athena was terrible at guessing ages.

Athena raised her book as the mother neared avoiding eye contact as the pair reunited. Something tickled at her mind, something almost familiar about her but the blonde woman would have to turn her head and put forth effort to see if she knew her. A moment later, as the woman began speaking to her, she did. She lowered the book slowly until her silver eyes could be seen above it. Her eyes widened as she spotted Kiara Tine, her best friend from her school days. The two had been tied at the hip until life had taken over shortly after leaving the school. Athena knew that she was to blame for the end of their friendship. She'd gone, headfirst, into living the elite pureblood life, and there was no room for muggleborn friends in such a life. Not even when there were days that she had desperately needed someone to talk to. It was Kiara though. With a baby at her hip. Athena closed her book slowly, putting the bookmark in place and the book of on her lap before she spoke. "Merlin, she looks just like her father. Were you even a part of the process?" she smirked. Athena wanted to rush over and hug Kiara, but she wasn't sure how the woman would take it. Time had a way of stealing closeness, leaving plenty of room for awkwardness to take over.

 

[Kiara Tine]

She hadn't been wrong, that was definitely Athena. Her daughter's namesake. It was strange running into her former best friend after so long. Their last meeting hadn't ended in the best of ways, but Kiara still often thought of her friend. She wasn't sure what had made her name her daughter, but she was glad she had. In many ways the two Athena's were alike, though she had only her school days to base that on. She smiled slightly at her daughter before looking back at her friend. The banter didn't seem to have changed, Kiara was glad, but this was still too weird. "You know, sometimes I ask myself the same thing." She said, shaking her head. Where were they in this? Were they on the same page? "She has my attitude though, so there's that." And what an attitude it was. For the moment, her daughter was quiet, but there was no telling how long that would remain, particularly since she seemed to have picked up on the fact that she had the same name as her mother's friend.

"So, uh, what've you been doing with yourself? See anyone from school?" That was probably a dumb question. She was sure that if Athena still spoke to their friends, she would be the first to know. Her family didn't count of course, because she would obviously speak to them. Kiara stepped forward slightly and sat on the edge of the bench, not too close, but close enough to show that she held no ill feelings towards their last meeting. The younger Athena leaned over and attempted to poke the older Athena, before pointing to herself and grinning. "Same! Mummy, same!" Kiara nodded and laughed slightly. "Yeah, baby, same name. Mummy picked the same name."
​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena shook her head, her hair falling over her shoulders as she did. She knew that Kiara had to know the answer to that one. They hadn't had very many mutual friends at school. Athena had preferred the company of her two cousins who had been in their same year while Kiara had hung out with... Athena realized that she couldn't even remember that much about her old friend. She frowned slightly, annoyed that she really couldn't recall information that simple. It was disconcerting that she'd all but forgotten something about someone she'd once considered a very close friend.

As the baby drew closer to her, Athena lifted her hand up to see if the child would slap it. Instead, she pointed to herself and then babbled something to her mother that she couldn't really hear. The former Slytherin did hear Kiara's reply though, and her eyebrows rose way, way up. "You named her Athena?" she stated, almost harshly though she was anything but angry about it. No, Athena was touched. In the next moment, she could feel the tears flooding to her eyes and she blinked them away, wondering how so much time could slip away. She'd had a child named after her, a child that was almost two...or three. She really couldn't tell! "Why on earth would you do something like that? Do you want her to be a badass?" she smirked, tossing her hair over her shoulders again, attempting to recover. "I bet you are. Aren't you, Athena?" she asked the little girl in a baby voice.