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The last few days with Ryan gone were very restless, but not for only me... but Nova as well. Between the two of us, I don't think either of us got more than an hour of sleep. Since he had left, I don't know who I worried about him more... myself or my best friend. She locked herself in his room the night he left and I found myself sitting outside of his door. It was a weird time for the both of us and I just wondered what she was thinking. I know Ryan leaving probably hurt her more than it did me, but I couldn't shake the worry from my mind.
Early in the morning I walked from the med bay back to my room. I had worked the night shift, per my fathers request, but by the time my shift was over I knew that I just had to leave the Aquabase. I needed some time away to maybe clear my head from everything going on. Miss Fairweather, her team, and the rangers searched endlessly trying to pick up a signal for my brother. It was like he fell off the face of the earth again.
I rubbed my eyes as I approached my door, reaching for the door handle. I stopped when I saw a folded up piece of cardstock with a dark blue ribbon tied around it. I knew what it was the moment I saw it. I wanted to smile, but when I saw Nova leave her room I was honestly scared of her reaction. I knew my brother would have asked her to the dance and her seeing the invitation might just break her even more.
I saw her grab the card off her door and unravel it, she looked down at me with a smile and pursed her lips together. Her whistle sounded more cheerful than it had the last few days, which told me she was probably still excited for the ball anyways. I whistled back as she headed over towards me. She encouraged me to unravel my invitation before we read them out loud together like we always did. The Aquabase Ball was an annual tradition my father held every year to celebrate all of the crew's hard work throughout the terms of their contracts.
"Captain Mitchell and his trusted committee of team members here by formally invite you to attend the twentieth annual Aquabase Ball held at the Mariner Bay Botanical Garden Indoor Center." We read it out loud.
"Our favorite time of the year," Nova smiled, "We'll have to go dress shopping this weekend."
"Of course," I smiled, "I'm feeling... red this year."
"Not surprising." Nova giggled.
"What are you two laughing about?" Carter was good at appearing out of nowhere, but it wasn't uncommon for him to be seen down his hall since his room was just across from Nova's.
"Check the invitation on your door!" I told him.
"What's it for?" he wondered, looking over my shoulder at the one in my hand.
"Every year Captain Mitchell hosts a ball. Invitations were just sent out for this year." Nova explained.
"A ball? As in a dance?" he wondered.
"Yup. Nova and I look forward to it every year." I smiled.
"Sounds fun." he nodded.
"I'll see you guys later," I folded my invitation back up, "I need to go into Mariner Bay today."
They didn't need to know that I was going there to clear my head. I just wanted to go by myself. I needed to go by myself. As much as I would have loved their company, today was just not a day that I wanted it. I'm sure they would understand.
"Will you be here for dinner?" Nova asked.
"I'll let you know." I faintly smiled, pushing my door open and taking a step forward.
"Call me if you need anything. Miss Fairweather and I are going to test some new weapons today." Nova smiled.
If there was anything that girl loved more than my brother, it was weapons. She had always been interested in them since a little girl. She was always interested in the intricate projects her father worked on and all the machinery he tinkered with. Whereas I liked all things medical and gore. Oddly enough, it made us a great pair.
"Love you!" I shouted with another whistle before closing my door.
I change from my scrubs and into a pair of shorts and a tank-top. The weather report showed it was sunny with the possible chance of some rain droplets in the afternoon. Either way, it was warm out and I wanted to be comfortable wherever I ended up in the city.
My father was in the transport bay when I went to leave, so he stopped me before I left. I stood at attention, wondering why he had stopped me. He looked at me and then smiled. I just stared back.
"Have you checked on your sister lately?" my father asked.
"I saw her in the med bay this morning," I thought, "Then she left."
"I'm worried that she's taking Ryan leaving again hard." he frowned.
"Are you serious?" the words blurted right out of my mouth, "You're worried about Dana... when I'm his literal twin."
I looked around the room, astonished that my father had the nerve to even say that to me right now. Out of all people, he was only worried about Dana? I had already caught that drift since the moment Ryan was found to be alive, but hearing those words actually just broke me. I looked back up at my father, pure anger in my eyes and hurt in my heart.
"I'm worried about you too," he sighed, "But you're handling it well."
"I'm not though. I just have to pretend I am because it's been made clear that I can't be upset over my brother leaving me... yet again."
"You're handling it better than Dana is. She's come to me crying every night over him." our father rested his hands behind his back.
"Do you know what I've been doing every night? Or even what Nova has been doing?" I scoffed.
"Well, no." he shook his head.
"She's been sitting outside of his room every night," Carter chimed in, "And Nova has been locking herself in his room."
He slowly walked over to us, interrupting our conversation. In a way, I was glad he did because I didn't think I was going to actually admit to my father what I had been doing every night. He would probably only just look at me like I was crazy.
"And I only know that because I caught on to Skye watching Nova. She doesn't know it, well I guess she does now, but after she falls asleep leaning against his door frame I sit out there with her too just to make sure she's okay."
"Is that true?" my father asked me.
"The part about me and Nova, yes." I nodded.
I didn't know that Carter had caught on to what either of us were doing. I lowered my gaze, hiding it from both of them. My hands felt sweaty as I rubbed them against my shorts. I swallowed hard.
"I'm sorry," my father apologized, "I guess I didn't realize how much Ryan leaving was affecting you. It was very wrong of me to assume that you were handling it well. You're right, he was your twin, and you of all people should miss him the most."
"Why did you let him leave again?" I asked.
"Ryan can handle himself. He's going to come back." my father tried telling me. We had heard that a lot lately and I was tired of those words. How did anyone really know for sure? We were unable to locate or track him. For all we knew, he could already be dead...
"I'm going out for a bit." I cleared my throat.
"Skye, I'm sorry." my father sighed as I climbed into the first available vehicle I saw. It was a small jeep, just perfect for getting me to and from the base with no issues.
Feeling the wind in my hair as I drove the streets of Mariner Bay was just the relaxation I needed. I was just about a half hour into the city, not stopping until I reached a spot I hadn't been to in such a long time. When Ryan and I were kids, our favorite place to just go and hang out was a small little cave that had been covered with moss and dirt. It was a small tree cave that sat just before the beach. Now, I was far too big to sit inside of it now, but I still enjoyed coming there from time to time. I'd sit just outside of it, picking at the grass around me and watching the water from a distance.
The waves were rocking against each other. I saw splashes of water in the air as the water settled before the waves picked back up again. My fingers twirled pieces of grass and then plucked them from the ground. I'd toss them to the ground and then repeat the process. My chest felt heavy as I stared out into the water. I was lost in my own thoughts and the calmness of the water before me. The wind slowly picked up, blowing soft breezes through my hair that left goosebumps on my skin.
"I hope you come back, Ry..." I whispered, trying not to let myself cry for the millionth time, "I need you to come back."
"You know, you always worry too much. That's what people love about you though, so I guess it's a good quality." my head snapped up at the body sitting down next to me. My jaw nearly dropped when he sat down beside me and leaned backwards on his wrists to get comfortable.
"You big idiot!" I slapped him in his arm, "You've been gone for days and you just show back up out of nowhere? With no call or communication?"
"Ow," Ryan complained, "You have been spending way too much time with Nova. Has she actually been teaching you how to punch?"
"Why do you keep doing this to us?" I asked him.
"I had to figure out how to trap the demons. I've got some hieroglyphics that need to be translated. I'm sure Nova and Miss Fairweather can help me translate them." Ryan said.
"If I don't kill you before you are able to go back and see them!" I smacked him again, this time even harder.
"Ow! Will you stop hitting me?" Ryan asked.
"No!" I smacked him a third time, "Someone needs to slap all the stupid out of you."
"I'm sorry I left again." Ryan looked at me, "Trust me.. I didn't want to. Especially after seeing you walk out of the room in tears."
I stared back at my brother, just listening to him.
"I'm glad Carter went after you the other night. You needed someone... and if it would have been me, I wouldn't have come back with the information that I have now. I promise that I'm not going anywhere like that ever again. This information can help us lock those demons back where they belong." Ryan wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close enough to kiss me on the top of my head, "Now stop beating me up because I need your help with something."
"Help with what?" I raised a brow at him.
"I talked to father, he mentioned something about a ball coming up. I need to pick out flowers for your best friend so she doesn't kill me for not asking her to this dance." Ryan laughed, "I'm sure Carter has asked you already."
"He actually hasn't, and I'm not expecting him to either." I shrugged.
"Why not?" Ryan asked, standing up and then helped me to my feet.
"I've gone to this dance for twenty years without a date, I'm not expecting one this time around just because someone is interested in me now." I muttered.
"Well, he'd be stupid not to ask you." Ryan followed me to the jeep that I drove there in and climbed into the passenger seat.
I drove him to the local florist where I helped him pick out the prettiest bouquet of Tulips they had before bringing Ryan back to the Aquabase. I knew she was going to like them and be just as happy to see him as I was. Even if I slapped him a few times, I was still happy to see him. When I parked the jeep, he wasted no time going to find her. He had mentioned he had already been at the Aquabase earlier, but she was busy with Miss Fairwather and didn't want to disturb her, so he came to find me instead.
I decided to help my brother fill out the rest of the details to surprise Nova with the flowers and an invitation to the dance. I even conned Carter into helping but asking him to help really made me understand why Nova often called him a himbo. He was pretty gorgeous, but I was really starting to think that he had a brain the size of a walnut.
I was happy helping with the surprise though. It made me feel a little better knowing that things would hopefully go back to normal. Before stopping for some lunch, I stepped into my room to freshen up. Just as I was about to sit down for a minute and start to undress out of my scrubs, Ryan came bursting into the room.
"I don't know what happened but Nova's nose just started bleeding while we were sparring," Ryan informed me.
"Did you hit her?" I asked.
"Now why would I do that?" Ryan crossed his arms and frowned at me.
"You're an idiot, that's why." I rolled my eyes, "Where is she? Is it still bleeding? Has it started to clot? Does she have her head forward back with pressure to her nostrils?"
"Just come and look." Ryan grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.
I was confused when we turned the corner of the hall and the power was out. The backup generators should have kicked on unless someone had turned the hall lights off - which was quite possible.
We took a step forward and suddenly the lights flipped on to reveal Carter standing a few feet away with white roses and his ball invitation. My eyes went wide and I tried her best to fight Ryan to turn around but he only just faced me back towards Carter. If anyone knew me, they would know that I did not like any situation that gave the public the opportunity to stare at me. I got embarrassed and shy easily.
I tried to back up again, but Ryan stopped me from taking another step.
Carter looked to the side nervously and that's when I spotted Nova. She must have something to do with this. Probably Ryan too. They were always sneaky little jerks.
Carter gulped before dropping down to one knee, What was he doing? I stared, waiting to see if he was going to propose or ask me to the ball. The message was unclear here and I was very nervous for the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
"Skye Mitchell, will you-" he gulped again, "Go to the ball with me?"
I covered my face as everyone in the halls started turning to watch the commotion. Eventually I started laughing when I saw Carter's face go red, before running to give him a massive hug.
Carter barely had enough time to stand up, "Wait is this a yes?"
I laughed, "Yes it's a yes!"
I hid my face in his chest as everyone started cheering loudly. Carter squeezed me gently as he slightly picked me up off the ground in the process. If there wasn't a crowd already, I probably would have given him a kiss on the cheek.
When he placed me back on my feet, I turned on my heels and ran over to my best friend, giving her a massive hug, "Did you orchestrate this?"
Nova smiled widely, "Of course."
"That's why it was so dramatic," I giggled, "So, dress shopping?"
"Definitely this Saturday. I'm thinking..." Nova hid her snickers.
We both nodded before speaking at the same time, "Silver."
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May the power always protect you.
If you would like to see how Ryan asks Nova to the dance, then head on over to @carnationcreation's page and check out (16) Flowers of Final Phase! Don't forget to add this to your reading list to get the latest updates!