Art Blog

But like you said, she could find someone who doesn’t leave her alone, or make her feel like she wasn’t worth choosing. (For added angst, it could very well be another polycule. That would be extra crunchy.)

So, let’s say Rumi, about a decade after everything that happened, about five years after Huntrix retired officially, and a year after the next generation debuted, finally officially retired. She fills her time by carefully taking care of admin stuff for the new group, but learned over the last couple of years how to take it easy. (Well, workaholic Rumi easy.)

Mira and Zoey stay in contact for a while, but life catches up to all of them. Rumi gets busy with the community of Jeju, where she’s moved too. Mira and Zoey get busy with family, their two daughters growing up ridiculously fast over in Korea, probably a mid-sized town.

About five more years would pass, and Rumi would meet them. Two women, whose personality’s once reminded her of her two teammates who she had fallen in love with years ago, and slowly let that love fade in recent years. Now, those two women are their own persons in her mind, and when they both ask her to join their relationship, she said yes.

They were happy.

Mira and Zoey knew something was missing. They’d felt the edges of that hole dull over the years, but it never quite filled. They adore their kids, and love each other, but their life always felt… lacking.

They realized why about a year later, and made the move to Jeju shortly thereafter. Their kids are roughly 12-13 by then, old enough to be excited and young enough to not understand they wouldn’t be seeing their friends for a long time, if ever.

They ended up meeting up with Rumi on accident shortly after arrival. They had planned to reach out, but happenstance (and maybe some interference from the Honmoon) led to them seeing each other randomly in a market.

Mira and Zoey had their kids with them, and Rumi had her partners. (They were dating at that point, but unbeknownst to Rumi they were planning on proposing to her very soon, as they were already married.) The two couples caught up for a few minutes, but one of Zomira’s kids got upset and they had to leave.

The next few weeks Zoey and Mira spend getting to know the new Rumi. A Rumi who’s openly affectionate, speaks clearly about how they’re feeling, and is so freaking touchy. She’s constantly reaching for her partner’s, hugging them, hanging off of them.

It makes Mira and Zoey jealous, and they know it’s unfair, but the hole is still there. It’s closed somewhat, since they’re a part of Rumi’s life now, but present nonetheless. They’d talked a little about what they’d do if Rumi broke up with her partners, (and felt guilty about doing so,) but it just… didn’t happen.

Rumi was happy. They’d proposed to her a few weeks ago, and they were gonna get married next month. Celine and Bobby would be there, as would Mira, Zoey, and their kids. (They’d started referring to Rumi as their Imo, something that was adorable and broke Mira and Zoey’s hearts a little.)

For one drunken night while their kids were over at Rumi’s, Mira and Zoey talked about just making a move on Rumi. About confessing to her how they’re really feeling for her, about telling her they’re in love with her. Thankfully, they still had enough soberness to know that wouldn’t be fair, not to themselves and most definitely not to Rumi.

They’d had their chance, years ago. A drunken one night stand with Rumi, the day they’d retired. She had tried the next morning to talk to them about it, but then Bobby had come running into the apartment with Celine to celebrate a much more quiet way.

They never did get around to talking about it. And over the years it seems Rumi had forgotten about it.

But they remembered.

And oh, how it burned.

The wedding day arrived. Their girls were the flower girls, and Derpy was the ring bearer along with Sussy. Mira and Zoey were her bridesmaids, and Celine gave her away. They got to see Rumi in the beautiful gown, her patterns faintly glowing.

The ceremony was beautiful, Bobby officiated it. The after party was a gentle blur, wonderful in the ways only people in love could make it.

Mira and Zoey were hurt, but they were also glad. Rumi had found people who she could love, and who would love her.

The years kept going after that, their lives settling into a comfortable blur. The hole in their lives shrunk, until it was nearly unnoticeable. Some days, it would hurt seeing how Rumi kept those soft glances for her partners, a look they used to see directed at them.

But they grew into each other’s lives, not crossing the line to romance or anything more. They became close, certainly, neighbors who their kids could swap houses days or weeks at a time and be welcomed.

They had missed their chance to have Rumi fill that hole.

Yet, she still helped keep them from falling into it, every day she simply was there.

If you asked Rumi, she’d say her life is perfect. She has her wives, who she loves and adores with her whole heart and who return that and more. She has the littles, the girls she treats and thinks of as her own daughters.

And she has her best friends, the two people who she could say knew her just as well, if not a little better, than her wives.

—

Sometimes, letting go is what you need to be happy. Because letting go lets you grow, and change, and be something more.

And if that means you lose something, a part that you thought immovable?

Then you shouldn’t try to fill that hole, that gap, that missing piece right away. It’ll always be there, maybe painful some days, maybe peaceful on others.

But you shouldn’t let that missing piece be all you are.

You shouldn’t feel guilty for letting go. Be happy for the good, learn from the bad, and let yourself grow.

Like I said, a story where your too late makes my stomach hurt. This one has been no exception, if I’m honest.

But I think it’s a good kind of hurt this time.