Familiar Fire

Chapter Fifteen

"Shit, I think I found something." Everyone rushed over, eager to hear about the discovery. Aurora slowly opened the door, instantly wishing she hadn't. The entire room was filled with drawings of her. Her laughing, her crying. They were all different and equally as horrifying. The tile on the floor came together to create Aurora's smiling face. Even the ceiling was decorated with her face. The drawings that disgusted her the most were the ones that weren't created in his imagination. He was there for so long, watching in silence. A drawing of Aurora when her chest was bleeding even had the window frame in it that he looked through. One of her crying into Meliodas's chest. Every second that passed, it felt like the walls were caving in closer and closer. Her heartbeat was so aggressive she could have sworn the room was beating with it.

"Are you okay?" Ban asked gently from beside her. She ignored him, standing still while looking around the room at all of the photos. She felt so many different emotions it hurt. The nausea continued to grow in her stomach, becoming worse and worse. "Aurora?" She ignored him, leaving the room, running outside, and throwing up in a bush. She turned around to see Ban standing beside her, his eyes soft. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

"Who does that? What the hell?"

"I don't know, Aurora. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, it's just weird. And concerning. Out of all of the people on the planet, he chose me. There had to be a reason for that, I doubt it was just random."

"It is weird. We'll find him though, don't worry."

"I'm hungry, can we go back now?" Aurora asked, almost in a bored tone.

"Yeah, let me just tell the others, I'll be right back." She couldn't believe that any of this had happened. It seemed like it was a nightmare, like she'd wake up any minute and she dreamt it all. She had been alive for a long time but nothing like this had ever happened before. "Okay, Aurora. They're going to search the rest of the house to try and figure out where he could have gone but they'll meet up with us later." She nodded and they started walking back in silence.

"Thank you for realizing there was something wrong." Aurora said at last.

"I'm sorry I didn't stop it sooner." They continued walking for a few minutes in silence.

"I'm glad I didn't lose my memories again." Her words made Ban tense. Did she understand what he meant the night before? He took a deep breath, trying to silence his thoughts, focusing on the moment.

"Me too." Once they got to the tavern, he held the door open for her and shut it behind himself. Aurora went over to start cooking but Ban shooed her out of the kitchen. "Sit down, I'll cook. What do you want to eat?"

"Oh, thank you. I don't care, I'm good with anything." Aurora sat down at the bar, watching Ban cook. "How did you know I wasn't in love with him?"

"Well, for starters, you knew who you were. And I realized you've been in love in the time I've known you because you lost your memories and I didn't realize anything."

"I guess I didn't realize about you either."

"What?"

"You said yesterday that you were in love with someone fifteen years ago."

"Oh, right." An awkward silence hung in the air. Neither knew who the other was once in love with. Aurora absentmindedly grabbed one of her lockets. The reason she lost her memories all those years ago. She needed to keep her head about her. She couldn't get caught in foolish daydreams. "Here you go." Ban placed a large plate of pasta down in front of her. He sat beside her and started eating his own.

"Ban, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"How did the person you were in love with pass?"