Protector of the Enchanted

Ryan

My breath stalls, eyes widening as I take in her stance. She looks ready for war. Like a beautiful vengeful goddess about to exact punishment to those who have wronged her. I…Truly…What do I say in this situation?

 

Before I can pull myself together enough to ask one of the many questions racing through my mind, she’s already turning. The otherworldly glow around her growing brighter in her fury as the grin slips and her eyes narrow on their target. To be quite honest, I’d forgotten the wretched woman was still here.

 

“What exactly do you have to say for yourself?” Ice envelops her tone, the chill in the air no longer from my power. Her sword sits loosely at her hips, her hand isn’t even anywhere near it right now. Yet that doesn’t stop the gulp that breaks the silence following her words.

 

“Well?” She questions, head cocking. “You had so much to say before, where is all your talk now?” Not even Cylen dares to utter a word. His arm around Gem as they watch on in the same stillness that has seeped into my bones.

 

“What in the heavens are you playing at? You do not scare me!”

 

“That’s not nearly as convincing when you can’t get a word out without shaking. Tsk. What’s the matter?” A mocking smile pulls her lips. “I don’t even have my sword in hand.”

 

A scowl takes over her face, turning it just as menacing as the puppets she unleashed upon us. “You know nothing girl!” She starts to fling her hand towards Astri. “Do not test powers you naught about.”

 

Whatever power she was calling on disappears with a flick of Astri’s hand. “That’s funny.” She gives her a sickeningly sweet tone. “I could say the same to you.”

 

“You dare!”

 

“Yes, I do.” The mocking is gone, leaving only a stoic expression in its place. “I dare to call you out on your bullshit. If you did not want me as an enemy, you should have left things well enough alone.” An uncharacteristic sneer accompanies her next words. “Now reap what your meddling has sowed.”

 

Grinding her teeth, her next words are hissed, even as she gives a cold chuckle. “How pathetic. You are still upset about what happened then. It was your own –”

 

“Of course not.” A loud sigh escapes her mouth. “It matters very little to me. I don’t even care that you treat me as a puppet for your agenda. Or that you meddled with the natural course to control the future.” What? “No. What makes me furious is not all you’ve done to me. At least it’s not what is the most unforgivable.”

 

“You –“

 

“I tell no lies.” Her steps have advanced on the miserable crone with her every word. So much so that she’s now standing in front of her, a mere five steps from the read cloak. “What I find unforgivable…” A pause. “Is what you’ve done to him.”

 

Any curse she could have uttered is smothered by the magic that has wrapped around her neck. “Did you think I would not know?” It seeps over her, holding her in place as the love of my life slowly smothers her. “All that you’ve done. All that you’ve planned.” An involuntary shiver goes down my spine at the chilling tone her voice has taken. “All that you should not have done.”

 

Fear permeates the air, growing thicker with each passing second. “You hurt him. Hurt all of them. Destroyed so many lives and thought nothing of it.” Her fingers curl to smother her tighter. “Did you think you could get away from the consequences?” Silence. “Did you truly believe a thousand years of misdeeds would not add up?”

 

None of us can move a muscle, I’ve never heard her sound like this…No one has ever made her so mad. “For a thousand years you’ve played with them. You made him suffer.” Flames once again erupt at her fingers. “For that I’ll make sure you pay the consequences tenfold.”

 

Just before the flames can touch her, she seems to find enough powers to dissipate into the air, leaving a screeched scream in her place. It echoes around the empty camp, mocking us in wake of the piles of ash that remain. For a moment, I’m unable to decide what course to take, the silence lingering.

 

Until loud cackling breaks it. A muttered breath of “coward.” Then she turns towards us and her aura changes. Gone is the mocking disposition tinged with cruelty. Truly it sent a chill down my spine, but if I were to be entirely honest it also sent a pulse of arousal through me.

 

Grinning way too happily for a woman who just put the fear of god into someone, she moves so that she’s standing in front of Gem and Cylen. They take a step back on instinct, eyes wide as they stare at her, jaw slightly ajar.

 

“What the fuck was that?” Cylen shouts. Gem’s hand tightens on his wrist.

 

“Shh…” Astri soothes. “You have nothing to fear from me.” She holds her hands out in front of her, palms facing up. “You know that.”

 

Slowly, very slowly, their tenseness fades. There is still some hesitation in their muscles, but they no longer terrified or ready to run. I suppose one display is not enough to overpower the comfort they instinctively receive from her presence.

 

Seeing this an elated smile blooms on her lips. “I promise you’ll have all the answers to your questions. But first…you’re going to need to take a nap.” With that she places her glowing hands on their foreheads, before catching them before they reach the ground. Leaving only the two of us conscious.

 

“So…” My tongue darts over my lips to get rid of the dryness. “Are you finally going to stop ignoring me? That’s not nice love.” She only narrows her eyes at me. “Surely you’re not going to leave me out.” I try again. “I won’t even ask too many questions.”

 

“Liar.” She gives me an amused smile. “You’re just waiting until I no longer look angry to ask. It’s not in your nature not to want to know everything.”

 

The certainty in her tone gives me pause. “What…” My mouth shuts. The words she spoke just moments before flickering through my mind. I’ll make sure you pay. Could…A thousand years…Could it…Did you think I would not know? Could it truly be? Hello darling, did you miss me? Those words…Hope blooms in my chest, but I still don’t dare believe it.

 

“Xavier Theodore Ryan de Sedia.” Her tone is overlayed with irritation, but I’m too stunned to speak. “Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through?” She pulls me down by the collar until our lips are almost touching. “Why in hell’s name are you so stupid!” A flicker of irritation starts to appear. Only to disappear instantly when she closes the gap.

 

All I can think about is her lips on mine, a hand instinctively going up to bury itself in her hair. The other snaking around her waist. It lasts for a mere moment, way too short, until a migraine blooms in my head. A flash of light appearing behind my eyes as memories shift.

 

“Do you remember now?” She asks me, pulling back a fraction. “What truly took place? Why I am so irritated?” There’s irritation yes. Normally, I would be just as enraged, if not more so than she was moments before. Yet it fades into the background in light of more pressing matters. Like…

 

“You remember.” For the first time in so long, there isn’t a weight burying down on me. “You’re back. You remember me.” I must look like a fool with such a large grin, but I do not care. She remembers! Acting on their own, my hands pull her closer for a deep kiss.

 

“Idiot.” She mutters over my lips. It’s not as convincing when there’s a familiar fondness in her voice. That and the smile I can feel growing over my lips. “How could I ever forget you?”

 

Joy is an emotion I thought I had lost long ago, but with her in my arms, looking up at me like that and remembering, I feel I’m starting to remember. Using the hand in her hair to pull her impossibly closer, my lips find their way to hers once again, joining us in a kiss that is a thousand years in the waiting. Soft and lingering. This moment is too precious for anything else. She is too precious.

 

“My mistake.” I don’t bother clearing the hoarseness, my hands moving to cup her face. Feeling my lips twitching into the hopeless grin again, they lay kisses over her beautiful face. “I should have remembered how impossibly stubborn you are.”

 

“Of course.” She laughs. Her eyes sparkling with amusement as she pulls back. Her lips pull into a grin, even as she shakes her head. Then, the amusement turns to something I can’t quite place. And…I don’t think it’s a good emotion. A sentiment proven right when she takes steps to create space between us.

 

“What’s wrong?” My eyebrows furrow, concern replacing the joy.

 

Pursing her lips, she shakes her head again. This time there’s more sadness than amusement. “What’s wrong is that you’re an idiot.”

 

“You’ve already said.” I’m quick to point out. “Perhaps you should elaborate upon what you are pertaining to.” What’s making you sad? And how can I make it go away?

 

“I love you. You know that. In no world or reality would I want you to spend your days wallowing in sorrow and losing hope. And you know that! I know you do.” Putting emphasis on the last sentence she stops her pacing to meet my eyes. “So why…Why would you destroy yourself to the point that you think making yourself a villain is a good idea?”

 

Any irritation that could have aroused was stifled at the sight of the tears welling in her eyes. I love you. I didn’t realise how much I needed to hear those words until they were spoken. It should have brought relief if the underlying message of her next words hadn’t thrown proverbial sand on them.

 

“I can’t. I love you goddamn it, how could I just move on. How do you expect me to fall in love with someone else, while knowing it would never measure up to what I had. I know you wouldn’t want me to be miserable. You’re right, I do know that. But what does that matter when my very being is repulsed with the idea of being with someone else. And I tried…tried to forget…tried to convince myself I could…but I can’t.” My voice aches with the pain of the volume it’s reached. “I have tried. So. Many. Times!”

 

“I know.”

 

“And I-…Wait what?” She knows? What does she mean she knows?

 

A small sad smile crosses her lips. “I know you’ve ‘tried’ to move on. But I also know that you found every excuse to not let them work out, and that’s not healthy.” Her smile falls as she meets my eyes in a steady stare. “No one who truly wants to move on would take a minor fault and make it a large one.” I try to interject, but she continues before I can. “Like deciding a girl isn’t right because the colour of the flowers she brings are wrong. Or breaking off a relationship because she doesn’t like fighting. I wouldn’t call those major reasons. Not at all.”

 

Stunned silence follows her words, even as those brown eyes narrow as the bore into me, the gold casting a glow under them. “How…” How does she know? How could she possibly know.

 

“How do I know?” That smile has always spelt trouble. “Weren’t you paying attention to my words dear?”

 

Replaying everything she has said since she woke up, a conclusion develops, one I’m not entirely sure I feel about. It seems impossible. It should be impossible. But…she always has been good at the impossible.

 

“You’ve been with me the whole time.”

 

“Well, not the entire time.”

 

“You’ve…been with me the entire time?” Disbelief. Anger. Relief. Pain. “You saw all of that? Every single part of it?” All the chaos I’ve brewed. “How could you stand it?” How were you able to watch? Why did you stay? How can stand to look at me?

 

Almost as if reading the words unsaid as well as those spoken aloud, her expression turns sombre. “It is not pleasant to watch someone you love trying to forget you. But when you love someone, you want them to be happy, even if that happiness does not have you in it.” I feel as if knives are jabbing at my heart.

 

“We can’t just simply pick up where we left off, can we?” Even said as a question, it does not hold any less true. As joyous as those kisses were, you cannot simply magic away a thousand years. Too much has happened.

 

“No. No we cannot.” Hearing it from her makes it feel even worse. “But…It’s nothing we can’t work through.” The hope I had squashed flares once again at those words.

 

“Do you truly think we can go back to what we had?”

 

“No. What we had was an illusion. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so quick to assume me dead.” I cannot bring myself to break our gaze as she steps forward to cup my face between her hands. “We’ll create something better than what we had. Something that’ll last. Because, although so much has changed…although the world we knew is gone…I do love you. That is something that has not and likely will not change.”

 

There we stand. In the middle of a clearing, our eyes locked in a stare and her hands cupping my face. As my gaze lingers on the trusting gold of her eyes, I find I cannot speak. Can’t voice the thoughts running through my mind. I love this woman more than I’ve loved anything in my entire life. Even if all I had was a shadow of what it was, I wouldn’t be able to let her go. Yet she’s offering me the world with the promise of better. Of something that lasts.

 

I want to tell her that. I want to tell her that I would wait forever for her. That these past centuries have been a torture, but I would go through them all over again just to see her face. I want to tell her that I would fight in every war just to have better with her. But those aren’t the words that come out.

 

“I’m going to hold you to that, love.” The smile that lights her face up as amusement wells in her eyes telling me that she knows.

 

Cylen

There’s about a million words that come to mind when I awaken. A thousand different things I want to do when I process the clusterfuck of what has been unearthed in my mind. A hundred different emotions fight to be expressed. But as my eyes lock onto the man sitting front of me, only one has any importance.

 

“You stupid fuck.” Not caring about the ache in my bones, I force myself into a sitting position. “Gods above.” I truly cannot comprehend the extent of his stupidity. Of all the foolish…

 

“So,” The dumbass has the audacity to poke at the fire, “I’m guessing you remember.”

 

“Don’t act like you’ve done nothing wrong asshole.” Seething is an understatement to how I feel right now.

 

“If this is about the fire- “

 

“It’s not about the fire!” A pause. “Although that was stupid too.”

 

His confusion would be funny if he wasn’t such an idiot. “Then what is it about?”

 

This guy… “Are you saying that because you really don’t know?” His silence is answer enough. The frustration overwhelms me like a wave, causing it to escape as a drawn-out sigh. Honestly. “You should have told us!”

 

“What would that have done?” I can see the tell-tale signs of irritation surfacing, but honestly, I don’t really give a fuck at this point.

 

“I would have helped you! We both would have. You’re our friend, you dumbass. Maybe then you wouldn’t have had to take such drastic actions.” I sigh, rubbing at the bridge of my nose. I’ve remembered for five minutes and already feel a headache brewing. “You really are such an idiot.”

 

“That’s what I’ve been telling him.”

 

Whiplash would be a valid description of what I feel as I spin to face the direction of that voice. Her dark brown hair glowing under the flames she has resting in her hand, as she uses them to pitch the tents. The other hand stroking the mane of the horse resting at her side. Where with Theo there was anger and frustration, with her other emotions overtake the others, forcing my legs to stand and walk towards her. The need to make sure she’s real is not easily ignored.

 

“Welcome back.” She smiles, breaking the silence.

 

“Amara…” She’s real. She’s here. I already knew that, but the memories…It seems Gem isn’t the only one who’s been waiting for her. Even if I wasn’t aware that’s what it was. Even still the doubt lingers.

 

The smile widens, humour finding its way into her eyes. “Captain Spears.” A mischievous tilt to it now. “I didn’t realise you missed me this much. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

 

Snorting, I give her the most unamused look I can with tears pooling in my eyes. Sorry to keep you waiting, she says. How ridiculous. She’s not sorry at all. When her arms wrap around me, the floodgates disintegrate under the force of the sobs that overtake my body. All the sorrow and misery seeping into the cloth at her shoulder.

 

“There. There.” She rubs my back in comforting motions that only cause more tears to escape. “Just let it all out.” So, I do. Let her shoulder be soaked, it’s the least she deserves for the stunt she pulled. The least she deserves for dying and leaving us behind.

 

I’m sure this memory will bring no small amount of embarrassment later, but I don’t care. Not even when the sobs subside, and I’m left standing there hugging her in a vice grip. Not when she’s here. She’s alive. My friend is alive. And that’s all that matters. All else can wait.

 

Astri

It’s a little jarring. Two different lives mixed into one. My magic swirling around me, no longer content to be tamed and yearning to power my sword. Maybe I should be more shocked about all of this. I feel like I’m adjusting a little too quickly to what is essentially my entire world being turned on its head. But maybe…A part of me has always known.

 

One thing I know for sure is that I am home. This is my home. These ridiculous men who are arguing about something or another around the fire are my home. And the woman laying beside Cylen, my cousin…the closest thing I have to a sister, she’s my home too. I’m glad Captain Spears wasn’t in denial this time. I hope it stays that way.

 

I do wonder what’s taking her so long to wake up though. Hauling their asses here wasn’t exactly difficult considering how light she is, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. Though I doubt it’ll be any easier when she wakes up, shouldn’t be too long now.

 

As if on cue, the moment my eyes wander back, hers flicker open in a hooded motion. It’s a small movement that goes unnoticed by the bickering men. Then her eyes lock onto me and narrow. Oh boy. This isn’t good. Instinct has me running before she’s even on her feet.

 

“You!” Gem yells. “Where do you think you’re going!”

 

Uh oh. She’s pissed. “Can’t talk. Got to run!” I yell back. I just know I’ll never hear the end of it if she catches me. 

 

“Rose!” She’s closer now, but still too far to touch me. A laugh bubbles out at the image of what we look like. Running in a circle around the fire, changing directions when Gem decides to run the other way. It’s a little nostalgic. Especially with the way she’s yelling my name as she chases me.

 

“Catch me if you can.” Taunting her is probably not the best idea, but I’m high on adrenaline right now. So, I feel I should be excused. She must be full of adrenaline too because she takes that as the challenge it is and starts running faster. The chase continues. Laboured breathing is an afterthought when you have an angry cousin with possibly murderous thoughts running after you. 

 

Gem’s frustration grows. “Celeste! Stop.” A pause. “Please.” So, I do. I stop because she asks me too. Because she sounds like she’s about to cry and that just won’t do. The moment I do, two thin arms wrap around me and pull me into a crushing hug.

 

“I missed you so much.” She whispers. “There were so many times where I wished you were with me. I felt lost without you cousin.” Her tears are more like the trickle of a river rather than the floods that are Captain Spears, but they hit just as deep.

 

“I’m sorry.” I whisper back, my hands rubbing circles across her spine. “I’m sorry Mira.”

 

“You should be.” Sniff. “How could you do that to me!” Sob. “Do you have any idea how much it hurt to hear that you were gone? That my baby cousin was no longer here?” Another sniff. “Just try and pull a stunt like that again. See if I don’t kill you myself.”

 

A small pulls my lips against my will. “I’m sure you’ll try.” I sigh, seeing her teary glare. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise. Not this time, not ever again.” At her disbelieving glare, I release another sigh before giving her what I hope is a conspiring grin and not the frustrated scowl I feel. “How else will I be able to punch Roger for putting you in danger?”

 

She snorts, before the realisation hits. “That was after…How do you know that?”

 

“You didn’t think she was really gone did you?” Theo interjects, a wry smile on his lips. I suppose they’re no longer bickering. “She’s been here the entire time.”

 

“What do you mean she’s been here the entire time?” Cylen asks as he meets my eyes for the first time since Theo interrupted our hug and they started bickering.

 

No getting out of explaining now. Well, I suppose it’s better than explaining this twice. “Well, ghostly influences do exist. Besides, there’s no way I would simply leave you to your own devices without checking up on you.”

 

“You’ve been watching us?” Gem clarifies, still not releasing me from this hugging trap.

 

Doesn’t stop the grin from spreading. “Among other things.”

 

“Like what?” Ah. There’s the suspicious gleam in her eyes. Oddly, I missed it.

 

“Saving your lives, what else?”

 

Cylen snorts. “What else.”

 

“We’ll unpack that later.” Gem gives me a withering stare. “For now, I’m just glad you’re here. Even more so than I was before. But don’t think I’m letting you out of sight.

 

“I do believe you’ll have to get in line cousin.”

 

The seriousness melts into an amused conspiring expression instead as she smirks. “How about they get in line instead.” I would object but my answering grin would make me a liar. It really is good to be home.

 

When she finally pulls back from the hug, it’s only because her stomach growls to signal her hunger. Even then, she refuses to let me go, her hand gripped tightly around mine. She’s looking at me like I would disappear if she took her eyes off me for even a second.

 

“She’s not going to disappear.” It seems Theo is thinking along the same lines. “You can let her go.”

 

At his words, Gem turns around to narrow her eyes at him. Pointing a finger at him, a scowl contorts her face, dragging me along as she moves towards him. “And you!” There’s a surprising amount of venom in her voice. “What were you thinking? Why would you just disappear like that? Did you even think- “

 

“I’m sorry.” He cuts in before she can continue the tirade. “I wasn’t thinking.”

 

“That’s obvious.” Cylen says so matter of fact that it makes me laugh. When Theo sends him an unamused glance, he only shrugs.

 

“As I was saying.” Pointed look at Cylen. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have disappeared like that. I should have told you,” Pause. “Both of you, what was going on.”

Gem studies his face, eyes flickering over it before coming to rest on the sincerity in his eyes. “Yes. You should have.” To my surprise, she lets my hand go then and throws herself in his direction. He looks as shocked as I feel but catches her anyway. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ve missed you.”

 

An unidentifiable emotion flickers through his eyes as he wraps his arms around her, giving in to the hug. “So have I.”

 

Moments later, we’re seated around the fireplace, Cylen forcing me to eat. My protests are denied. Apparently, it’s been a few days since I’ve been unconscious and it’s worrying for them that I haven’t eaten. Wanting to protest but knowing it’s fruitless, I have little choice but to take the bowl. It’s almost comical how they relax when I’ve already drank a few spoonsful.

 

“I feel like we should talk about earlier.” Cylen mentions, feigning casualness.

 

“What about earlier?” There’s lot of things he could be referring to.

 

Gem gives me a pointed look before sighing. “Maybe the woman you scared the shit out of. Or perhaps about what you meant when you said you never left. Or I don’t know, maybe about how you know so many things you couldn’t have been there for! Take your pick.”

 

In the silence that follows her words, three sets of eyes turn to bore into me, waiting expectantly with their curiosity palpable in the air. I let them stare. I need to get my thoughts in order first. To answer her questions would mean revealing a lot of information, much of which could be used to answer more than one question.

 

Where do I even begin? Well…I suppose I could just tackle them in order. As Mira always says, ‘the best place to start a story is at the beginning.’

 

“Well…” A pause for dramatic effect earns me an eye roll from Cylen. It only makes me give him a grin. “That woman is the reason why we’re in such a mess. She’s the one who aims to manipulate lives to get what she wants.”

 

“And what would that be?” Cylen can’t help but cut in. He always did need to know what was happening. It’s not surprising when you know his past.

 

“To build a future where she’s treated as a god.” Theo’s soft voice whispers in answer. He sighs. “She’ll do anything to get that.”

 

Cylen looks like he wants to say something in return to that, but seeing the look on Theo’s face makes him hold his tongue. My eyebrows furrow of their own accord, my hand lifting and casting a halo of light around his head. I don’t like that look. I’ve seen it far too often already. At least now, there’s something I can do about it.

 

My fingers twitch, compelling the strands of light to turn into unicorns and neigh in his face. Theo shoots me an unamused stare, but the twitching of his lips gives him away. The small chuckles from the other two don’t help. It makes a smile of my own appear on my lips.

 

“She wants to be a god, but her impatience and reckless behaviour are her own undoing.” The air stills in the wake of those words, anticipation taking its place. “Her need to have everyone follow along with a script she’s got in her own mind means that she doesn’t have the capacity to change gear when people act of their own free will.”

 

Gem’s eyes widen. “Who is she?”

 

“You mean you haven’t figure it out?” Theo’s eyes furrow. “She’s an embodiment of fate.”

 

“An embodiment that holds all the greed and none of the compassion.” There are too many worlds for one being to watch over them all. A concept needs to exist in every world, but not all versions of a concept are good.

 

Cylen’s head cocks to the side, “But why is she so afraid of you.”

 

“That leads into the answer to Mira’s next question.” I tell him, before pausing for dramatic effect just to annoy him. It works. “My soul can’t die.”

 

This makes all three of them blink in confusion, eyebrows furrowing and heads tilting to stare at me. When it becomes obvious that I’m not going to expand on that statement, Mira shoots me a familiar glare. A smile pulls my lips in response, a warm feeling welling in my chest. I really did miss her.

 

“As the guardian of this realm, I simply cannot die. My physical body can be dissolved in a sense or harmed, but as long as my soul exists it can just regenerate.”

 

“Then why…”

 

“I can’t die.” My eyes bore into his blues. “You, however, can.” I can’t help but soften when a glimmer of sorrow goes through his eyes. “I wasn’t about to stand back and watch you die.”

 

“What!” Gem yells before Theo can get a sentence in. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Theo was going to die because Fate cast a spell on the grounds that prevented healing and used an enchanted weapon to wound him. I decided to pretend to go along with and traded my life so that he wouldn’t die.”

 

“Are you fucking insane?” The horror on his face and the widening of his green eyes shows what he feels even when his words don’t. “Why would you do that?” I can almost hear the unsaid words he can’t make himself say.

 

“Because I didn’t want him to die.” Almost nothing would be worse. “I didn’t want him to die. And I knew I wouldn’t. Not really. But…” I stop as I take in their expressions. “But I should have known better.” Sorrow tinges the next smile I try shoot their way. “I should have found a way to live. I never should have left you behind.” My eyes pass over them to rest on familiar blues. “Left any of you behind. I’m sorry.”

 

“Just don’t do it again.” Gem’s voice is hoarse, and I can see the tears welling in her eyes.

 

“I won’t.” The words come out as the promise they are. A breath of silence follows before, I decide to answer her final question. “Because I can’t die, my soul should have immediately gone back to my body as soon as it healed. But she took it and made it so that it wasn’t able to. Well, not then at least. So, my soul lingered as a spirit instead.”

 

No one says a word, so I take that as a sign to continue. “I could see you and listen, but no one could hear me. Well…” A smile comes onto my face as I look at Theo. “Almost no one. More on that some other time. I could still kind of interact with the world, but only through my powers.”

 

“So you watched us?” Cylen asks, his earlier horror still lingering under the surface, but face regaining colour fast.

 

“Of course.” It was kind of fun. His eyes narrow on the mischief in my grin. “Buildings don’t collapse on their own.”

 

“That was you?” More than one voice asks.

 

I ignore them all as I keep talking. “I couldn’t just leave you on your own, so I made sure to check in on you as often as I could. Long story short, I didn’t really leave and I’m not going to leave either.” It’s a sentiment that I think they still doubt. “So that answers all your questions.”

 

“Except why she’s afraid of you.” Gem points out.

 

“It’s because I ruined her plans.”

 

“And?”

 

“Why do you think there’s a and?”

 

“Because I know you.” Amused blue eyes dare me to refute that.

 

I huff but can’t stop the fond smile from spreading. “And, I might have set her on fire a couple of times and demolished her efforts. Something I’ve been told I shouldn’t be able to do.”

 

“You set her on fire?” Gem says at the same time as Cylen mutters, “Typical.” His eyes rolling.

 

Theo on the other hand just shakes his head, a smile pulling on his lips. “Why am I not surprised?”

 

“Because you know me.” I throw his words back at him.

 

“Quit flirting.” Cylen interjects before Theo can formulate a response.

 

“You’re just jealous you can’t do the same.” Theo throws back. Cylen just holds up a middle finger as a response. It makes me laugh. My laughter seems to set off Gem too, she’s soon bent over as silent peals escape her mouth. The boys just look at us with smiles, before chuckles of their own overtake them.

 

It’s all very nostalgic. This time I’ll make sure this joy lasts.