#th. thea

“I swear to god, I’m not gonna let you ruin the surprise,” Jess announced, turning to face her companion on this trek. For once in their life, they hadn’t picked a four hour-long intermediate level hike, but a long walk through Avalon that had ended just across the road from the Catalina Chimes Tower. Nearly every nook and cranny of the island housed some special memory – often just a rush of familiarity they couldn’t quite pinpoint – and while Jess had many an afternoon wandering the Tower, it was the hill on the other side of the dirt road across from the tower that really sparked nostalgia.

It wasn’t often that Jess’ mother was able to leave the house in the years before she passed, but that hadn’t stopped her from planning a handful of the most stunning adventures Jess had ever been on. It hadn’t stopped her from doing a lot of things people told her not to do, in fact, and it was no secret that Jess had proudly followed in her footsteps. No one else had ever been able to match their mother’s effortless ability to make everything seem okay when it wasn’t. The memory pulled at Jess’ heart, even fifteen years later, but the smile that they flashed Thea when they reached the bottom of the hill wasn’t sad; wasn’t bittersweet. There was only fondness in those eyes.

“I promise it’s not too steep. Here–” Jess insisted, holding out their hand for Thea to take for balance. The final stretch up the side of the hill was lit by the last of the stars as they appeared in the night sky and revealed the flat spot at the top just big enough for a late night picnic. Jess produced a massive thermos and a thick, woven blanket from their backpack, laying the blanket out with their usual flourish. “Viola! Now, it’s no five-star restaurant, but I only make my peppermint hot chocolate for special occasions, and it is Michelin recommended. Plus, spoiler alert, there are more than five stars out here.”

While the whole of the island gathered in collective panic, Jess had a one track mind fully focused on something else. Catalina had been “dark” all day, a first in their lifetime, and they’d been waiting just as long for the chance to play out a dream of their. It was just as well, considering it took half the afternoon to piece together where their old friend was staying. The moment the sun started to slip below the horizon, Jess made a beeline for Thea’s aunt’s house.

In high school, most of Jess’ antics were confined to the school and surrounding grounds. Their best hijinks were in the classroom, courtyard, and cafeteria, if anything. But there had been a few instances toward the end of their high school careers - right when the threat of college taking Thea started to loom - that called for something a little bigger. After letting their backpack fall to the green ground with a thud, Jess took to climbing the tallest of the immaculate trees near the house. It brought them just close enough to stretch and step out onto the roof of the same level as Thea’s bedroom. God, they hoped it was still Thea’s bedroom.

A quick peak into the window, seemed to confirm that it was the young woman’s room, but in the fading light, Jess still wasn’t entirely sure. Going out on a limb, which was clearly a familiar enough concept to them, they crouched on the roof and tapped on the glass. Their next breath only came when Theodora herself stepped into the frame of the window. “Mind if I come in?” they asked, smirking as if they weren’t steadying themself against the side of the monstrous house 30 feet in the air.

“Arigato gozaimasu,” Jess said with a grin as the chef at Nozawa handed her maki rolls over the counter. Chopsticks in hand, they were fully prepared to chow down when their over-excited ass realized there were no sauces in sight; obviously a problem. The wasabi on the stark white plate was just begging to be mixed with the soy sauce that was usually right there. They leaned over to the person at the other end of the sushi bar, reaching halfway to the other woman’s soy sauce. “Hey, do you think I could borrow...”

As the shape of the woman they were bothering came into focus, the familiarity hit Jess like hearing her favorite song on the radio after years of playlists without it. “Theodora Clark.” The name alone called a myriad of memories to mind and an easy smile back to their face. Actually seeing her had Jess feeling like she was seventeen again, which would’ve been a lot more unnerving if Thea wasn’t there. “I thought you were supposed to be in London.”