Led by Lanterns

Epilogue

When Aura opens her eyes again, sunlight falls through the window and brightens the room.

Her mind immediately becomes alert like a switch was flicked and she quickly sits up, breathing a little faster than she would have liked. Part of the reason is the new gap in her memory, the other part is the unfamiliar room she finds herself in. However, she's able to calm her racing thoughts enough to think clearly when she recognizes the style of the room. A look out of the window confirms the presence of snow outside. She must be at the north pole.

Resting her forehead on her knees, Aura takes a moment to fully calm herself down. If she's here, that means the others probably took her here so they must be okay. And since the world didn't end, they must have been able to stop Lantern, at least for now.

Taking a deep breath, she gathers the strength to get up and move. As soon as she gets to her feet, the world starts spinning and she quickly reaches out to the wall for support. Her first few steps are unsteady and her head is still aching, but the dizziness slowly fades and she's able to move a bit more comfortably again.

She makes her way to the globe in the workshop, watching the lights that are still onto display. Finding the area where they fought Lantern and her memories end on the globe, she breathes a sigh of relieve to see there are still as many as she remembered.

"Aura, you're up." She turns around to see North. He's about to hug her before she motions for him not to "Sorry. Just glad to see you're okay."

"Yeah... I'm glad too." She responds softly, before turning back to the globe "Considering everyone's still here, I guess you managed to stop Lantern?"

"That we did." North confirms "It took a while, but when he fled Jack froze his feet to the ground and we were able to lock him up again. Hopefully for good this time."

"Let's hope so."

They remain silent for a moment, until North speaks up again "I think I've figured it out."

Aura raises an eyebrow "Figured what out?"

"Why the moon chose you. What makes you special." North points at her "Despite everything, you've bounced back from a lot. You're good at adapting to new situations, a good quality to have."

Thinking it over for a moment, Aura eventually chooses to shrug "Maybe." She sighs "About this Guardian thing..."

"Yes?"

"I need time to think about it." She heaves another sigh, twirling a ribbon around her finger "Even if I wanted to, I don't know how I could protect anyone when I can't even protect people from myself."

North nods "You'll figure it out. We can be patient with you. Especially with Lantern gone, we have time."

Aura nods, smiling a little "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it." North smiles "I'll let the others know you're okay. Call me if you need anything!"

He gets up, presumably to continue making preparations for christmas, and Aura stays behind, alone again.

Although this time around, she feels a little less lonely.

~*~

It's not long after she has woken up, that Cerin comes to see her. He lets his mallet vanish, opening his arms "May I?"

Hesitating for only a moment, Aura nods and slowly but gently embraces him. When she does, she can feel him relax, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders "Are you alright?"

He sighs "Yeah. I was just worried about you. None of us had seen anything like it and we weren't sure when... if you'd wake up." He pulls back and smiles "I'm glad you're alright."