Bolts of lightning arced across the sky, causing both foxes to dive to the ground in surprise. Brandon reflexively grabbed Danielle and shielded her with his body, hoping to protect her from whatever had just happened.
After a few moments of huddling together on the ground, both realized that nothing more seemed to be happening. They cautiously looked up to appraise the situation.
Although it had been a cloudless starlit night just moments before, suddenly an enormous moonlit cloud was covering nearly half the sky. The foxes glanced worriedly at one another, both fearing the rain was getting ready to return. There was something different about this cloud, though. It wasn't nearly as dark as the rain clouds that had been harassing them, and it seemed to be changing shape much more quickly than most clouds. It almost seemed as though it were being controlled by some outside force...
"Mom!" Danielle shouted. "It's...Look! That cloud looks just like my mother! Maybe she's doing some sort of magic. Mom! Can you hear me? I'm down here!"
Brandon was taken aback for a moment, but looking closer it really did look like Danielle's mother. It was a pretty fuzzy shape and constantly shifted around, but the resemblance was unmistakable. The lips were moving as if saying something, but there was no sound other than the wind. The eyes...he didn't know quite what to make of them. There were what seemed like tears going down the cloud's cheeks and she looked as though she had been crying for hours, but at the same time there was almost some pride showing through a little twinkle in her eyes.
Brandon looked from the cloud to Danielle and began to speak. "Do you think-"
"Shh!" exclaimed Danielle. "I can almost hear what she's saying!"
Brandon listened for a moment before responding. "Sweetie, I don't hear anything but the wind."
"It's IN the wind!" Danielle replied, shushing him again. "Listen carefully, the way the wind echoes off the trees. It's not much more than a whisper, but if you tune out everything else you can almost make it out."
They sat and listened in silence until with a gasp Brandon realized she was right. She nodded quietly at him as the two foxes sat close together, straining to hear the words.
"...can hear me...only get...you...love...please!" Their sensitive ears were just able to pick out the words, unable to make out much at all other than that there seemed to be more and more desperation in them.
"I...*sob*...I only have four more minutes before the seal is complete so I'm giving it everything I have...*sob*...in this last try. Kat...she shouldn't have done this! But she couldn't have known what she was really doing, she thought it was just a prank! She...our family has guarded the seed of sorrow for...well, for a long time. You know that tiny little blue gem I always wear around my neck? That was the world's backup plan of last resort."
"It was made in worse times...times when we worried that maybe there wouldn't be a tomorrow. The idea was...*sniffle*...that if the world was about to end, we'd send out the last two to find a new world, so some part of our world could go on living. She must have...must have read about it but there's no way she could have understood the whole thing. She had no idea what sort of power she was playing with!"
"I can see the both of you there, although I can't hear anything you say. I can see how the seed has changed you. It's part of its magic. It was designed for survival and that's exactly what it does. Your bodies are perfectly adapted for survival on that new world. You can eat almost anything you find, you won't get sick, and you'll be able to stay warm enough to survive even in the coldest winter."
"I see you've also traded genders. Don't be embarrassed! I know you think that was Kat's doing, but it was really the seed making you both how you needed to be to survive. With her powers as undeveloped as they are, Kat couldn't change a tire. But any witch of our family could trigger the seed, even one who had no idea what she was doing...*sob*...All of this was the seed doing what it had been made to do. Please forgive your sister! She loves you and she's so torn up now about all she's done!"
"I know what happened between you tonight. A mother knows, even if I weren't a witch. I can see your love even from this far away. The portal the seed made is almost closed, but I was still able to send you my ring through it. Let it always remind you of how much you are loved and how much I care about the love between you."
"The seed...part of what it does is to seal off the portal forever, to keep whatever ended the world from following to the new world. It's nearly complete, any moment now. I don't have the power to fight it...even all the witches alive together don't have the power to fight it. I'm sorry, sweeties. We're never going to see each other again after this. I know you both have the strength to make it. Never forget that I love you..."
The cloud began to lose shape and fade in the sky. Danielle jumped up and began shouting.
"I love you Mom! I forgive Kat, it's all right! I love you all! Please! Don't go!"
By now there was no longer any recognizable shape to the cloud. Wisps began to break apart before dissolving into invisibility.
"I love you! Don't leave! I can't be alone!"
The last remnants of cloud vanished, and with a single bolt of lightning the sky was once again completely clear.
"I can't be alone...I can't...", Danielle whimpered as she fell to all fours.
Brandon, who until now had been remaining quiet for fear of disturbing the moment, took the opportunity to act. He lifted Danielle up and rested her head on his shoulder, consoling her in a warm embrace.
"You'll never be alone, Danielle. I'll be with your forever." Danielle cried into his shoulder, whimpering like a wounded child.
"Forever," Brandon repeated. He said it again and again, softer each time. The two laid down together, Danielle still gently crying in Brandon's shoulder as she gradually drifted towards sleep. He continued to stroke her head as the two foxes fell asleep for the first time as a married couple.
"Forever," Brandon silently thought to himself, "Isn't long enough." He fell asleep with a contented smile.