How Hazel Became Oak

"Well the Goddess works in many ways," she said, "if you had not been so ready I would not have been able to bring you to your climax so easily. It was you and Eve, climaxing together that gave the Goddess the power to free Sarah."

Once again Beth broke down. The tears pouring down her cheeks, she said, "We never said goodbye. She was not expected to die I left her, just for few minutes, and she died without me."

I could not bear to see her pain. I folded her in my arms and held her, my tears flowing too. When she was quiet again, I whispered what I knew to be the truth.

"She said goodbye tonight, Beth. You saw her, as I did, beautiful free Sarah. She stayed on the Earthly Plane to say goodbye. Now she is where she belongs, and she can rest."

Once again Beth wept, but she knew, in her heart, that I had spoken the truth and there was no self-pity, just tears of pure loss. I continued to hold her, there was nothing else to do.

Eventually Beth raised her head. She was a horrible, snuffly mess and I adored her. "You freed me tonight as well Hazel. I have been trapped in my loss just as Sarah was trapped in Eve's body. You started the process here on this very sofa only a few weeks ago, that was when I began to fall in love with you.

"Say that again."

She smiled, a wonderful, warm healing smile, like sunshine after rain. "I love you Hazel. I didn't invite you here tonight to make love to you. I invited you because I wanted to be with you. And not just tonight, every night, forever."

"Ok you can suck my toes now," I said. And she did.

*****

Epilogue

The next morning we lay in each other's arms in Beth's, no our enormous white bed, unwilling or unable to let go of each other.

I voiced what I had been thinking, almost since the night we made love , but without daring to hope.

"I am going to change my craft name," I suddenly blurted out.

"Whatever for?" Beth looked surprised at my sudden outburst.

"Because I'm fed up of being the only person in our coven whose real name is the same as their craft name and because when you say "Hazel" I'll never know whether its my High Priestess talking to her Lore mistress, or my Beth talking to her Hazel. It's my mother's fault, may her soul rest. It was the same for her, except that in her coven, the craft names were after flowers."

"What was she called?"

"Cow Parsley."

"She wasn't!" Beth looked shocked.

"No, she was called Rose, but it's the same..." I failed to complete my sentence as Beth hit me with the pillow.

After the brief, totally one-sided fight was over, and I had Beth pinned beneath my body kissing her mercilessly into submission. I gave her chance to speak.

"You win," she panted, "we can perform the naming ceremony today as part of the thanksgiving. But what name?" She thought for a moment. "Oak." She said, it's a fitting name. You showed yourself worthy of such a strong and steadfast name last night. You will be my Oak.

"I love it, it's perfect," I said. And I kissed her.

So, that is the story of how Hazel became Oak, how a trapped soul was freed and how I found my soul-mate all on one eventful all hallows eve. May the Goddess protect you.