Misty Creek (RPDR AU)

XXIII

Irene's body still ached from the day before, but Luxx, Bosco, and Aura had made a complete recovery as if nothing had ever happened. Even the scar that was once on Bosco's chest and over her heart had faded away, and explaining why this had happened to her was one of the hardest things Irene had ever had to do.

But it answered all of Bosco's questions about why her older sister had always been so protective of her. She was mad at first, but she knew it was only a mistake. And Irene had managed to fix it. She may not have been forgiven just yet by Jax, but she had Bosco's, and that was enough for her right now.

Now, all of the girls felt like they had one more thing to do. Irene heaved as her and Anetra lifted one of the bookshelves that had been knocked to the floor of the library and got it to stand upright again. Marcia started gathering and stacking the books that had been trapped underneath it, moving them to the side so they could be reorganized.

"You all don't have to do this..." Sasha said from where she watched at the top of the stairs, a blanket wrapped around her shivering body. "I'm the one who destroyed it all..."

"It's alright, Miss Colby. I get to show off my biceps to Amethyst this way." Aura said from where she was lifting another bookshelf back up, making Amethyst blush while she swept up broken glass on the floor.

"Mama, you're supposed to be resting." Kerri walked up behind her, laying a hand on her arm. "Come on."

Sasha sighed, looking back down at the first floor again. "I'll have to add extra credit to the gradebook..." She whispered to herself before letting her daughter lead her to somewhere she could sit.

Marcia placed the books down on one of the tables meant for studying, starting to organize them as Luxx brought another stack over. The smaller girl looked up at her. "How are you feeling?" She asked with a tilted head.

"Honestly? I feel better than I ever have." Luxx answered, glancing over at Irene and smiling a little. "And I think she does too. Despite her complaining about being achy this morning. Maybe she should join Aura's workouts."

Marcia followed her gaze, finding Irene and Anetra working on lifting up another bookshelf. She felt her heart ache when she looked at Anetra. Though she had been content with what they currently had, she was growing desperate to know if they were officially together. Knowing Anetra loved her too made her extremely happy, but she would love to be able to say that they're girlfriends.

Before she could bring up her feelings about that to Luxx, the library door opened. Sugar and Spice walked inside hand in hand. There was a new energy around them, one that didn't seem to weigh them down and make them so hostile to everyone else around them. Sugar held a paper in her hand, and her and her sister approached Marcia and Luxx from behind. "...Marcia?" They said together.

Marcia went stiff, slowly turning away from the books to face them. Anetra's head immediately snapped over to them when she heard the twins, and she watched them closely to make sure they didn't try to do anything.

Sugar held out the paper to Marcia, a smile on her face. "I drew you something in art class so we can apologize for trying to steal your blood that one time."

"And apologize for wanting to stitch you up and make you a doll." Spice said next. "We're really really sorry."

"It's not ever going to happen again. We promise." Sugar said, continuing to hold the paper out.

Marcia stared at them before down at the paper. She slowly took it, finding a drawing of her and the twins that resembled Bratz dolls. She'd normally be terrified and running away from them right now, but she found herself smiling a little.