Flashback 3 weeks ago
"I need to tell you something."
Scott looks up from the fence post he's mending. Sweat darkens his shirt despite the cool morning air. "Aye?"
Anne's mouth goes dry. She'd rehearsed this a dozen times, but now the words stick in her throat. Finn dozes in the sling against her chest, oblivious.
"It's about my past. About who I was before I came here."
Scott sets down his hammer. His weathered face creases with concern. "You're scaring me, love."
"I'm sorry. I should have told you years ago, but I was afraid. I'm still afraid." Anne takes a breath. "I'm a witch, Scott. A real one. And Finn—Finn has magic too."
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The silence stretches. A sheep bleats in the distance. Wind rustles through the grass.
Scott's expression doesn't change. "I know."
Anne blinks. "What?"
"I've known for years." He crosses to her, takes her hands. "You talk in your sleep sometimes. About magic and prophecies and someone named Liant. And I've seen things—little things. The way plants grow faster where you walk. How animals calm when you're near." He smiles slightly. "I'm not daft, Anne."
Tears prick her eyes. "You knew? All this time?"
"Aye. And I figured you'd tell me when you were ready." His thumb traces circles on her palm. "So tell me now. All of it."
Anne tells him. About her magical family, about meeting Liant, about the prophecy and Charlotte's birth. About the attack that killed everyone she loved. About giving Charlotte away to keep her safe.
Scott listens without interrupting. When she finishes, he pulls her close, careful of the baby between them.
"That's a heavy burden to carry alone," he says quietly.
"I was afraid you'd leave. If you knew what I'd brought into your life—the danger—"
"Anne." He pulls back to look at her. "I love you. All of you, including the parts you were afraid to show me. We'll figure this out together."
Anne clings to him and weeps—not from grief this time, but from relief.
