Burning Butterfly (Prefect #1)

18. Love Will Remember

A/N: A few chapters left and then maybe an Epilogue? :3

Song above is 'Love Will Remember' by Selena Gomez in the Nightcore version :3

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It took me another two weeks for my wound to heal up entirely before I was cleared to go home.  Home.  It's funny how I considered Brickstone my home now.  And after everything that Aura told me about mom and dad and my memories being altered, I now had a completely different childhood and perspective on the things around me.  It didn't help either that every time I tried drawing up a memory of mom and dad, Aura was in every single one of them.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing.  I secretly cherish those new memories of growing up with her.

It's just--I finally get to have a family and a home again.

We had bid our goodbyes to Professor--sorry, Headmaster--Cedric earlier on, to which Aura had cried excessively at leaving her Godfather--surprisingly, she didn't start a blizzard with her tears like before--and soon, we were on our way back to Brickstone.  All of us were.

My friends had stayed at Rich Dragon during the time I was healing up, although Loki was causing all sorts of mischief with playing practical pranks on the students here.  They weren't very happy to find squirrels in their underwear or chased around by angry boars.  All of which I had to put a stop to with his animal pranks, although I had a feeling that he did all his pranks with animals on purpose so that the students of Rich Dragon could witness my true Magic potential.  At least, that was my theory, but when I brought it up to Elliot, he denied it immediately, saying Loki never does anything for anyone but himself.  And when I brought it up to Loki himself, he merely winked at me and said, "You'll never know until you try."  I just smiled.  I truly was lucky to have such good friends.

Aura and Rian started hanging out a lot more with each other as well during the time I was on bed rest, so I'm already planning their wedding--if you know what I mean--and both Arios and Ashlynn have become more than just Buddies as well.  In the end, everything turned out perfect.  Now all that was left was getting Aura to actually board the Train home.

Aura stood just on the outside of the Train wringing her hands together nervously, her White Tigress Familiar, Sonata, giving her a gentle encouraging push forward.  "Come on, Aura," I urged, holding out my hand for her to take.  "It'll be fine as long as you hold my hand, okay?"  Aura looked up at me with her mismatched eyes, and took a hesitant step back.

Rian showed up then, Ash, Ari, Loki, Hunter, Elliot, Bermuda, and Ace already aboard the Train waiting to head home.  "Aura, if you want, you can hold my hand, too," Rian offered, and held out his hand to my sister, palm up.

"I've never left Rich Dragon before," she mumbled glumly, and looked down at the ground as I smiled gently and reached for her wringing hands, twining our fingers together as the dim light of our sisterhood shined from between our palms.

"There's a first time for everything," I whispered to her, and she slowly smiled before looking back over at Rian and holding out her free hand to him.  Rian took it gratefully and we both pulled her onto the Train as Sonata jumped in from behind her.  The doors shut tightly as we all took a seat, each of us smiling at our new students.

Hunter had decided to come along with us back to Brickstone, considering Rich Dragon held some harsh memories for both him and Aura, so he wanted a fresh start, especially since he was Aura's Buddy as well.  I didn't blame him.  After all that time of not getting along with each other, Hunter truly thought of Aura as a sister, and thus why I now called him our brother.  Aura thought it was a little weird at first, but gradually grew used to it.  And now everything was perfectly fine.