I am teaching myself how to be free. [Open]

[chasingtwisters]

It's early in the morning when Marina settles herself just on the edge of the water, letting her bare feet rest in the dampened sand where the water comes and goes. The sun is staggering out of the night and int the sky, casting the beach around her into an eerie glow. She has a book by her side, thick and heavy as any college textbook, except obviously older, with rips and tears all over the seams and pages. She has a topaz from one of the necklaces she owns curled protectively in her fist, and she wears a necklace made of lavender and mint leaves. Even if this doesn't work out, she muses, smirking, at least she'll smell pretty.

She found the spell Friday night, in her research. According to what she now knows of Moira Coombs, she ought to be able to pull this off, without any danger to the baby. Her hand with the topaz comes to rest on her swollen belly, thoughtful. I'm doing this for you, she thinks, because it's true. She doesn't know that she herself wants to entirely remember; but she owes her unborn child the truth, and, if she really is Moira Coombs, she owes it to Moira's sisters to remember, too.

She sighs, willing herself to relax. She drank the same chai tea Rian had before he'd read her hands to help her concentrate; now she just needs to do it, already. The instructions are easy enough to follow: raising her fist with the topaz, she holds it out over the water as she begins to read the words to the spell, written in a mixture of English and French, which comes to her from her high school French lessons.

The words blend musically into the air around her; the tide begins to pick up around her feet, whirling around her like a miniature whirlpool. She chants the incantation, repeating it the three times required, as warmth begins to cackle and pop within her, like fireworks. In the same vein, light begins to spark from her, and she worries briefly that she might, in fact, catch fire in doing this.

When she finishes the spell, she casts the topaz into the water. As soon as she does so, the water explodes, cascading around her and soaking her to the bone, though she does not feel the cold. She trembles all over as images and words spill out from all the cracks in her thoughts: her father teaching her how to swim on her fifth birthday, her twin sisters and her running together over the local playground, and her mother, when once she thought she cared about her. Moira manages one last gasp of air before the world fades to black and she falls back into the sand.

She awakens to the sun fully in the sky, and the chipper sounds of sea gulls circling around her, wondering if she has food. For her part, Moira feels groggy and unsteady, as though suffering from a hangover. She winces at the brightness and focuses hard on not losing what little she has in her stomach at the moment. And then it hits her, all at once. She's Moira Coombs; she got engaged in Europe, and she's about to become someone's mother.

And she's home, back in Siren Cove.

"Fuck!" She yells, still on her back on the sand, unsure if she has the strength to pick herself back up.

[OOC: Moira remembers! The spell itself takes place early in the morning, around four or five am. Moira herself waking up is set to 9 am. Feel free to have seen her perform the spell, or come across her still lying prone in the sand. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get Moira's shit together, but she's finally herself again! Any questions or concerns, just let me know!]

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[chasingtwisters]

She sees him bristle at the mention of her mother, and she doesn't blame him. Violet Coombs ruined many lives, especially Thornton lives. And she knows, too, of her mother's own disregard for her own family; the way she raised herself and her siblings, without a care as to what they actually wanted. How coldly she'd murdered her own husband.

"I know that's hard to believe, but trust me on this," she tells him, shaking her head. "He was mafia-levels of fucked up. At least my mom was just working on her own."

"I would bet on it," Moira nods. "I think I remember coming across a Fiona Logan here, once. And that's too much of a coincidence. She's probably family, potentially a spy for him."

[jamesthorn]

Fiona Logan. James' face sours at the name even though he never met a Fiona or heard anything about her, but if she is related to this man that Moira says is worse than her mother then he needs to check her out too. Siren Cove had enough of its own residents that liked to cause problems than to invite more outsiders in. Knowing this guy might come here one day, looking for Moira is an unsettling thought seeing as how he was able to take her memories with whatever power he held.

"That's great," he says smiling without any feeling. After Davin got kidnapped and Nerium caused the town to go to fairytale land, where Davin almost died by a dragon, now he has to worry about this. "Why can't things around here...just ever...be normal?" He hates having to worry about all the people he cares about all the time.

[chasingtwisters]

She watches James, sees the moment his facial expression transforms into the familiar, grumpy look she's come to associate with the Thornton officer. Normally, she'd be tempted to smile at the sight, but considering that she's only just recovered from whatever it is George Logan did to her brain, she doesn't have the energy or desire to tease. Besides, if he could steal Moira's own memories so easily, she hates to think what he could unleash on Siren Cove if left unchecked. James really is right to look as sour as he does right now.

"Because Siren Cove wouldn't be Siren Cove if it were normal," Moira points out, loathe as she knows James is to admit it. And then she's struck by another memory, a recent one, of when she arrived as Marina. "Oh, and hey, kind of random, but I totally met your boyfriend the other day. Davin? He's cute."

[jamesthorn]

"Oh?" James' eyebrows go up in surprise at the sudden mention of Davin's name. Not that he needs Moira Coombs to approve his dating choices, but James is very fond of Davin. That other people like him too is no surprise. "He's...I don't know what I'm supposed to say that," he says with a furrowed brow and a slight smile. Agree that his boyfriend is very very good-looking? With his supposed sworn enemy? Stands to be awkward.

"Davin is a very good person, and I care about him. A lot," he admits, pausing for a moment as he looks at her. "I realize that I can't stop every bad little thing that happens around here. But it'd be nice, if there was just...I dunno. Quiet. Just for a little while."

[chasingtwisters]

"You're all flustered, look at you," Moira points out, grinning. The stoic James Thornton, rendered lovestruck by a mention of his boyfriend. It's positively adorable. She's going to take as much delight as she can get from this moment; it isn't every day you see someone like James, 'the enemy,' if Moira actually put any faith in that stupid rivalry, so...almost chipper. "No but honestly? Good for you. For you both." And she means it. There's not enough love in this world as it is.

"Yeah, quiet would be nice, wouldn't it?" She can't help but agree with him there. Even as much as she knows that Siren Cove will never really, truly, remain quiet for long.

[jamesthorn]

"What? I'm not---" Perhaps a tiny bit flustered, but only because Moira has so kindly pointed out the flustering which makes him more flustered. Maybe he's not as...grumpy, as June would say, as he used to be, but he still feels like himself. Just better and lighter, and he knows that being with Davin has made him that way. He just didn't realize it was as obvious to other people. "Well, that's...nice of you to say," he says.

He sighs, shrugging. Quiet would be nice but he knows that's never going to happen. "I guess we both know quiet can't ever happen," he says. When the first Coombs witch burned down that church it left this town cursed forever with chaos and danger. Or so the legend went, and some days James believed it. "By the way, speaking of things that can't ever happen, your sister Amelie is dating my brother..."

[chasingtwisters]

"You're totally flustered," Moira nods, her smirk widening at how more flustered James becomes from her teasing. It's honestly nice to see James unwind like this. He seems less severe and more human, Moira thinks. Davin is obviously really good for him. "You're welcome," she says with a shrug.

"I tried to find quiet away from Siren Cove. Look how well that went," she says, shaking her head. She knows James understands that this town will never be quiet. But regardless of whatever happened between their families in the past to trigger this ridiculous curse, Moira believes the town perpetuating its own legends is just as harmful as any real curse.

"I did here that," she admits. "From Aoife, who is...not thrilled about it, to say the least. I say good for them, if they're happy."

[jamesthorn]

James can only shake his head, a hint of a smile still playing across his lips, that he seems unable to hide. When he thinks about Davin, he just feels a swell of happiness, contentment even. It's hard to put into words, but they've grown so close these past few weeks. It isn't that he wasn't serious about Davin when they started seeing each other, but he couldn't have guessed they'd have something this special.

"Yeah, I can see it went well," he says eyeing her pregnant belly for a moment before looking up again. He lets out a snort when he mentions Aoife. "Your sister Aoife wasn't the only unhappy one. My father threw a fit. Is still throwing a fit actually. And... I admit I wasn't that crazy over the news myself. But Daniel is my brother."

James in the end just wanted all his siblings safe and happy.

"Besides I think he's committed to Amelie just to spite our father. Which for him, is a major accomplishment."

[chasingtwisters]

"I'm just grateful my mother isn't here for this," Moira says, shaking her head. "Whatever fit your father is throwing, he wouldn't attempt to murder either one of them for it. Aoife will have to learn to adjust; Amelie's her own person, and so is Daniel. They can make their own choices, and as long as they're happy, who are we to get in the way of that?"

Even just returning from Europe, she hates the rivalry. She hates that people are still worried about Thorntons versus Coombs. She sighs. Even pregnant, she's not going to let some ancient feud dictate her life. She'll fight against the stigma of the curse for as long as it takes to get rid of the damn thing.

"Well, if he does break her heart, I make no promises about not breaking him," Moira mentions casually.

[jamesthorn]

James isn't certain what this is between him and Moira, but the fact is after the labyrinth and discovering that Violet was the one behind their kidnapping and the fog and the death of that baker, they had come to an understanding before she disappeared. Their family histories were so long, so much of it beyond their control, and even James doesn't know what to make of it sometimes, if they can ever escape it. He doesn't know if any of it can ever be repaired, or even if he wants that. He still feels lingering resentment towards Moira's family. He can't help it; it's been there too long.

Yet, there is part of him that does wish it were over. That the town, as he said, were quiet. For once.

"You are giving my father far too much credit," James says with a grimace. He isn't accusing his father of murder, but William Thornton will do anything to protect his family. In his own way. "You don't know what he's capable of doing. He isn't a witch, but he probably has more than enough other things in common with Violet."

Control is what William liked, and he suspected Violet might want the same thing. "Are you threatening my brother?" he asks with amusement.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira hates everything about the curse. She hates that it even exists; she hates that the town itself perpetuates it through gossip and rumors. She's glad that she and James have come to an unspoken understanding, ever since everything they've experienced. But she's perceptive enough to know that he still has a lingering bias against her family. And with good reason. And Moira thinks sometimes that she ought to resent the Thornton clan too. But she refuses to, because it is entirely stupid. They are not their ancestors; Moira wishes the rest of the town could understand that.

"Well, maybe so, but your father still isn't Violet," she points out. However dark and twisted William himself may be, and Moira doesn't doubt that he is, he still lacks her mother's track record. "God, but that's depressing. Even a human sharing things in common with someone like Violet." She shakes her head, wishing she couldn't think about it.

"Only if he misbehaves," Moira replies back with a small grin. "It's the older sister in me."

"Besides," she adds, pointing to her belly. "I have to start practicing for my baby girl."

[jamesthorn]

James looks at her stomach, her huge pregnant belly, and shakes his head, a half-formed smiling playing across his lips. "It must be crazy to suddenly get your memories back and find yourself about to have a child," he says because he can't even imagine what she must be thinking. He has always wanted a family and kids of his own, and sometimes he thinks that the sacrifices that he made for his job----all his time and his attention---has pushed all of those dreams aside. He doesn't know if he'll ever get any of those things, but he knows he wants it to be on his own terms, when the time is right and with the right person.

"Were you---are you ready for a kid?" he asks.

[chasingtwisters]

"Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it," Moira admits. There's no need to try and pretend otherwise; not at this point in her pregnancy, when she could theoretically pop out a kid at any given moment. Truthfully, being on the verge of becoming someone's mother scares her more than Moira would like to admit. This isn't a spell she can memorize; a charm she can assemble from various ingredients. This is a milestone in her life.

"If I am being completely honest? No, I'm not ready. But I'm doing my best," she says with a shrug.

[jamesthorn]

James is tempted to tell Moira if she needs anything, he would try to help, but he thinks that would sound weird---very weird---and stupid coming from him. They still weren't friends exactly, and he's sure she has other people she would rather help her out. "I guess there's nothing you can do about it now," he says with a chuckle, eyeing her stomach. Moira looked like she was about to lay an egg right then and there.

"Do your sisters----I mean are they excited to have you home?" he asks.