I sighed, then reluctantly brought our conversation back to the main topic.  “So you think the town is changing some, but not enough.”

Gia nodded, her expression grim.  “Those who want the old order would jump at the curse being lifted and let things go right back to the way they were.  I don’t think those of us who want the new way of life would be as willing to put up with that, now that we’ve had a taste of what it’s like not to fear for your life all the time, but throwing magic back into the mix would complicate things.  And I can’t say for sure that some of the old order wouldn’t be willing or even happy to torture us a little after they got their magic back, for daring to stand up to them these years.  We’ve had trouble,” she clarified.  “Especially at first, they weren’t happy that some of us were ‘rebelling.’  But we saw it as a chance at freedom, a chance to just stop the whole stupid thing.  And suddenly magical levels were irrelevant.  There were some physical fights at first, or attempts at them, but without magical healing, that quickly became less common, because breaking bones would mean someone was out of commission for weeks.  Plus, the curse made physical fights really hard – people would get out of breath really quickly, that sort of thing.  People would physically slow down and almost get paralyzed in place.  Any sort of attempted violence came at a cost and people quickly began to figure out it wasn’t worth it.  Don’t get me wrong – they still argue, sometimes really bitterly, but it’s almost always verbal battles now, not physical ones.  Which is a huge relief to most of us.

“People like Bill and Marilyn, they still expect people to automatically bend to their wishes, even without magic, and are clearly not okay with some of us standing up to them for a change.  But there are enough of us on both sides who want this whole thing to end that they can’t just silence us easily.  Especially since most of the people who want a real peace are those involved with making the town survive.  Nurses, store owners, the history teacher, a couple of the other teachers whom he won over – without us, there would be almost no medical help or food or basic resources.  They can’t totally discount us anymore, and now owning a grocery store means you have a bigger voice than before, where that was kind of viewed as a throwaway career.  More and more people are finding their voices, and that’s been good to see,” she mused.

“But, as far as a true peace…it’s not there yet.  Not close.  We still have the ‘old way of life’ people, but also things aren’t actually integrated.  Even those of us who want peace are somewhat hesitant to just fully merge with the other side, you know?  We want to stop having to worry about dying.  It’s not necessarily the same thing as wanting to join forces or wanting to be friends.  We just want neutrality.  Some of us,” she conceded, “are more involved in trying to make integration happen.  I can introduce you to some of those on both sides.  But our voices are a minority, even amongst those wanting peace.”

“I can see that,” Toph said slowly.  “You’ve spent generations divided as two separate people.  Just because peace might have arrived doesn’t mean you can forget the history entirely.  It doesn’t mean you want to be one people, you still do want to honor your own heritage.”

“Kapras and hydras are more alike than different,” I murmured.  “And if they try to honor their heritage too much, they’ll just get back into getting angry at the other side and going back to war.”

Gia nodded.  “That’s what we’re afraid of.  It’s not like we want people to stop being either hydras or kapras, you know, but I think most of us pushing for integration realize that as long as we think of ourselves as two separate sides of town, the risk of returning to war will never be gone.  Reduced, but not gone.  And we want people to move forward for a change, not get dragged backwards or stuck in place.  We want to start making strides towards the future, and we think the only way that can happen is if we help each other.”  She looked a bit embarrassed.  “Sorry, I have this argument a lot with other people.  I’m constantly trying to push people towards forgiving the past and trying to make a future with just one town work – not two towns that just so happen to be next to each other.  One town.  One people of supernaturals, whatever type.”

“Are people okay with traveling to the other side of town?”  I asked, remembering the looks I’d gotten.  “I got the impression I wasn’t expected to go to the hydra side.”

She winced a bit.  “It’s a work in progress.  At first, it felt scary, because it used to always mean we could be throwing away our lives if we crossed to the other side.  But slowly it became more common.  Those of us wanting integration, we’ve tried to deliberately go back and forth, try to show people it’s not that big of a deal.  Actually, the two main store owners on both sides are talking about combining stores, which would be a huge deal if they did – people would have to shop at the same place, you know.  But they’re afraid about doing it on one side or the other, because people are still reluctant to cross that line.”  She sighed heavily.  “And I’ve tried filling in for the kapra nurse, that kind of thing, but a lot of the kapras won’t let me treat them.  Even those who are pushing for peace are hesitant, though they’re more likely to at least try letting me treat them than the old order kapras are.”  She paused.  “Those mostly yell at me to get out of their side of town.”

It was my turn to sigh.  “A part of me really hoped that people would embrace the peace, but I also feared it would be something like this.”

“We’re making progress – slowly, but we are,” she promised.  “I know it’s a weird request, but can you not lift the curse yet?  Not, um, any time soon?  Not until we’re sure the town is going to move forward and not backward.”

I nodded without even glancing at Toph to get his opinion.  “That’s the plan.  I don’t want everything to go back the way it was the moment I forgive everyone.”  I hesitated, then slowly continued.  “Mother gave up part of her life to place that curse, and I can’t let that go unforgotten.  I want to honor the sacrifice she made by making sure it, um, sticks, as it were.  That it’s not just a temporary thing.”

She was startled again, but understanding dawned in her eyes.  “Your mother placed the curse.  A dragon.  That makes sense.  Some of us did wonder about who placed it.”

“Mother died right before that,” I admitted in a quieter voice.  “She died sooner than expected because she gave up some of what magic she had left to place that curse.  I didn’t know about it until it happened, though.  It wasn’t like I came back to town trying to place it, I just – I just couldn’t leave before getting a chance to tell Marilyn off, I guess.  And then, what she said about Mark made me so angry, I couldn’t hold back.  It worked out, I suppose.  But in that moment…I’m not sure if I expected to get out of that alive.  I’d just lost Mark, then Mother, and I was in too much pain and too angry to really think through the consequences of confronting her.  If Mother hadn’t placed that curse, I suspect I’d have followed them.”

Toph reached over and gently squeezed my shoulder.  “Your mother wanted to protect you and give you what you wanted.  Don’t feel bad about lashing out at Marilyn.  From what I have heard, she very much deserved it.”

“She did,” Gia grunted.  “She and Bill both.  One of my friends came back all gleeful when she told me about how you’d called Marilyn out on being a bad leader.  It’s stuff we’d wanted to say to Bill, too, and having someone actually tell them that?  They very much deserved it.  It’s a shame you might have lost your life for doing so if it weren’t for your mother, and that’s why the curse to many of us is actually a blessing, you know.”  She looked at me, her eyes very serious.  “For what it’s worth, we’re grateful to you – your mother – for the curse.  It’s given us a chance to try to reclaim Terium as an actual home.  To try to turn it into something good.  Yes, we’re fighting – verbally – with the old order on that, but we’re willing to do it.  Taking away magic and violence levels the playing field so that we actually have a chance at change.  So, um, thank you.  To your mother, mostly, I guess.  And to you for saying what we all wanted said that day, even if it came from a place of hurt.  I’m sorry, too, for Mark.  And your mother.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly.  Diana of course had given her condolences, but it was kind of different to hear that from someone who actually knew Mark.

Toph eyed us both for a bit.  “I have a thought,” he announced abruptly.  “Gia, you know where Mark is buried?  Winter never got to see his grave, or attend his funeral, since it was on the other side of town.  Would you be willing to take us?”

Gia nodded immediately.  “Of course!  I should have thought of that.  You can meet his dad, too, if you want.”  She paused briefly.  “He used to be one of those following the old order, you know.  But losing Mark, I think it broke him a bit.  He hadn’t expected that to happen.  And since some people knew there seemed to be some kind of connection between Mark and you and the curse being placed, some of the old order ostracized him after the curse.  He was wandering around alone for a while until some of us began to befriend him.  He’s a staunch supporter for peace now.  Maybe not integration yet, but peace.  He might be happy to learn about you and Mark now.”

The way Mark had talked, I’d thought his dad hated the fact that he wasn’t a die-hard Bill supporter.  But losing someone could change people, and apparently it had changed his dad.  It was just unfortunate that it had taken Mark’s death to do so.

“Maybe,” I allowed.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about Mark’s dad, given that all I knew about him was really from Mark’s perspective, and it hadn’t been all that nice.  On the other hand, if he’d changed, I kind of felt like I owed it to Mark to see and acknowledge that.  “Though he might not be thrilled to learn that Mark’s soulmate was the person kind of responsible for the whole curse.”

Gia got up with us, heading towards the door to lead us to the hydra graveyard.  “He used to really have a temper, but now?  Now I think even if it did bother him, he wouldn’t say much.  He’d probably just mumble about it a bit.  But on the other hand, you being Mark’s soulmate, it might make him even more invested in the peace, because he’d realize Mark kind of affected it, too.  Because it was partially because of Mark that it happened.”

I hoped she was right.  I really hoped Mark’s dad would be happy to meet me and learn that I had been – still was – Mark’s soulmate.  The soulmate bond didn’t disappear when he died, it just…hurt.  Always.  It never stopped hurting.

And I strongly suspected it never would.