Familiar Fire

Chapter Twenty-Three

At last, she saw the light blue hair that she knew belonged to Ban. Meliodas gently pat her shoulder in a reassuring manner before leaving. Aurora stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do or say. She could see Ban had his arm wrapped around Jericho. She had to fight the instinct to leave and never return. She had to push down the thoughts that he had moved on, even though it was possible. She looked down at herself. She looked nothing like she once did. She looked like a walking corpse. Her biggest fear is he would see her and be so shocked by what he saw that he would never be able to see her any other way. She'd eventually go back to how she once was, she just worried Ban would leave her before she could. She almost debated leaving and finding him again in a few days when she would look more like herself. Before she could turn around though, he did.

"Aurora?" He stood frozen in place for a moment, not believing she was just a hundred feet from her. He had been desperately looking for her since she disappeared, he couldn't believe his eyes. After a second of staring at her in disbelief, he ran to her. He gently picked her up and spun her in a circle, overjoyed to be holding her again. "I've missed you so much." His voice was muffled as his face was buried in her hair. "Come on, let's go home." He took off his jacket and wrapped it tightly around her, and picked her back up, holding her tightly to his chest. She snuggled against him, feeling safe for the first time in the past month.

"Who's with Theo?"

"Elizabeth offered to while I attended the funeral." Aurora's eyes landed on the front gate of her house, her eyes widening.

"How did you get in without the other locket and a feather?"

"I have no idea. I just came here and it appeared. Theo and I have been staying here while you were gone. I couldn't stay at the tavern, it was too depressing. I felt like if I was here, maybe I could find a clue or a way to get you back. I should have known you would break yourself out." He pushed open the front door, revealing the foyer of the home. Ban gently placed Aurora back on her feet and grabbed a blanket from the living room to wrap around her.

"Sir Ban, good you're back. I'm off to find Sir Meli- Aurora! Is that you?"

"The one and only."

"I'm so glad you're back!" She wrapped her in a warm hug.

"If you're looking for Mel, check the remains of the tavern." Elizabeth smiled warmly.

"Thank you. Oh! I was just about to feed Theo so he's sitting in his chair in the kitchen." Without waiting for a response, she hurried from the house, off to find Meliodas. Aurora, on the other hand, rushed into the kitchen, eager to see her adoptive son. When she entered the kitchen, he immediately looked up from the toy in his hand and reached out his arms, wanting her to pick him up. She let out a small gasp. He was so big. His brown hair was longer than the last time she'd seen him. She was only gone a month and he was already so much bigger. She picked him up and held him close to her, so grateful to be back with him. Ban joined the two in the kitchen, placing the blanket down on a chair and then immediately starting to grab pots and pans. Aurora placed down Theo and went to help, but Ban shooed her away.

"Nope. You sit there and let me cook for you." He handed her a glass of water as she sat down on a stool at the counter. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, making her smile. She took a sip of the water, realizing how thirsty she actually was. It was as if she just realized she hadn't had water in a month. It was strange to be an immortal human. Your body still needed things, but you wouldn't die without them. Ban continued cooking, refusing to look in Aurora's direction.

"Ban, what is it?"

"What is what?"

"Come on, you can't even look at me." At last, he looked up from his cooking, his eyes full of sadness.