Chapter Text
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings,
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves,
And A partridge in a pear tree.
As the fire had started to die down, Angeline had given the other two some space and went to coordinate with her team. The duo stared at the ashes slowly rising toward the sky when a trio of women slowly emerged from the remaining fire. Peter and Stiles should have stood on alert the moment they saw people start to appear but a sentiment of peace slowly spread through their mind. In front of the men, slowly walking toward them, were Claudia Stilinski, Talia and Laura Hale. Their silhouettes appeared blurry, slightly withered as if their colors had been washed out and taken a sepia tint. Peter and Stiles were paralyzed by their disbelief, not yet willing to believe their eyes.
-”Hello Peter.”
Had Peter been asked how his sister sounded like, he would not have been able to describe it as he had woken up from his coma with no memory of Talia's voice but it was just like Peter imagined it to be. He looked at his sister (his alpha) and remained still, not a sound escaping his mouth.
-” Oh… Uncle Peter… I am so sorry for what I put you through.” While she spoke, Laura had finished approaching and embraced her uncle fiercely , the tensed werewolf startled before he crumbled in tears in her arms; Talia coming close and supporting the weight of the two hugging figures as they fell on their knees to the ground. They stayed closely interlocked for an indefinite amount of time, crying, exchanging words of affection and profusely apologizing for all their faults. (“I should have taught her better.” ; “I shouldn't have left you behind.” ; ”I should have protected the pack better.” ; ”I’m sorry we weren’t there for you.” ; “I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough.” ; “I’m sorry I had to kill you.” )
Tears slowly stopped running down their cheeks and they laid down entangled together, Peter 's head on his sister’s stomach and her hands in his hair, Laura in his arms, her face nuzzled in his throat.
-“You did the best you could, little Brother, and I am proud of you.” Talia said after a few moments, basking in her loved ones presence.
“It’s time to let go Uncle Peter, you have to forgive yourself for what happened to all of us, even me.” Laura gently added to her mother’s words. “We love you and you deserve to be happy after all this time.”
Talia nodded toward Stiles. “You should let yourself love someone who’ll love you back for who you are for better and for worse.”
Peter looked toward the boy who was engulfed in his mother’s arms. “I think I already started to.”
The trio all smiled and slowly stood up, the two women putting their backs to the flames which were almost gone, signalling that their time was almost up.
Stiles had made a step toward his wolf the moment Laura collided with him but was stopped by his mother’s hand on his shoulder. She slowly shaked her head and led her son to the nearby stone bench before sitting with him on it.
-” My dear… Dear Mischief. You’ve grown up so well, so caring, so full of love. I couldn’t be prouder. ” Claudia caressed her baby boy’s cheek tenderly and softly smiled as he grabbed her hand and nuzzled his head into her palm.”
-”Mama…” The underlying hopelessness of Stiles' voice made her heart break in pieces. She didn’t have much time and had so many things to say and do, even though there was nothing she wanted more than to stay so she started speaking.
-” I am so sorry for hurting you and leaving as soon as I did. I am sorry you lost your father when I died. ” She shushed her son who had started to object.
-” I know, baby, trust me I know. His grief doesn’t excuse his behaviour. I might have been the other part of his soul but you are a part of both of us. He lost himself in memories of us instead of cherishing who was left behind.” She took him in her arms before whispering in his ears while slowly patting his head. ”You have been left to take care of everyone else for too long and you’ve been so strong, Mieczysław. Let yourself be cared for for once, he’ll make you happy.” Claudia looked at Peter as she talked.
-” He already does.”
They both smiled and went back to the pyre, Claudia joining the ladies side, Stiles slotting himself against Peter, their hand in each other’s.
-”I love you Mischief. Take care of my baby boy, will you Peter ?”
-“And I love you Peter. Do the same for my brother,OK Stiles?”They both nodded as an answer.
- “ I love you Uncle Peter.”
As the last embers died down, the three smiling women closed their eyes, heads tilted toward the moon as they slowly disintegrated in a myriad of butterflies, flying away and leaving the two men behind.
As Peter and Stiles stood together in their temporary living room, freshly out of showers they had taken as soon as they had come back from the Argent estate, a solemn silence reigned. Stiles' courting gift had been successful. Peter’s revenge had been quenched, the one responsible for his family deaths and the subsequent loss of pack had been killed and their remains purified through a pyre as in a sardonic turn of fate. They had received the visit of the three women who had mattered most in their lives. Peter found it quite ironic that Most major turn of his life seemed to be linked to fire (It took his family, his sanity, his life. It gave him peace, freedom, redemption.).
Peter and Stiles looked at each other, a heavy air settling between them.
Is it really over? What happens now ?
As if their strings had been cut, they both moved at the same time to grab each other, frantically kissing. Stiles jumped in Peter’s arms,his legs wrapping around the werewolf’s waist and they made their way blindly to the bedroom, not stopping to look around, bumping against walls and furniture.They took a pause as they entered the room, sharing their breath, their foreheads touching. Peter laid Stiles down reverently on the bed , both admiring the other as they lost their clothes. Stiles gestured to his wolf to join him on the bed and they laid for a minute rejoicing in the closeness of their bodies.
-”I love you Peter.” Stiles murmured, looking straight in the red eyes staring back at him as he held his wolf’s face in between his hands, slowly caressing his cheekbones and exploring through touch, going as far as to poke the elongated canines with his thumb.
-”I don’t think there is anything on this earth which would stop me from loving you, Sweetheart.”
Stiles squirmed, his cheeks gaining a reddish tint. “Not even if I threw another molotov cocktail at you ?”
Peter chuckled and replied with his most seductive smile. “I’d buy you the matches.”
Just like the children who followed the pied piper of Hamelin without turning back, Peter would follow Stiles to the end of the world and give his all to fulfill all and every dreams of the man who was the other part of his soul.