Familiar Fire

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The redhead wiped her tears as she sealed the letter. It hurt to write, but she would have killed for a letter from her mom. Something to hold onto to remember she was real. After an hour, Aurora had letters with everyone's names on them in a small wooden box. She placed the box in the bottom drawer of her desk and put a spell on it. No one but herself would ever be able to open the drawer except for her. Of course, if she were to die, that spell would disappear and anyone could open it.

"Come on, Theo. Let's go meet up with the others."

"Oh good, Aurora, you guys got here alright." Ban said as soon as he noticed her. She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Hey everyone, sorry we're late."

"Aurora! You're finally here. You have to tell me everything about you and Ban and also about Theo!" The redhead laughed, knowing this was coming. She walked over to the edge so she could talk with Diane without having everyone listening. She didn't mind if others heard, she just didn't want everyone's attention on her conversation.

"Well, Ban and I have been together for a little bit now. I guess a few days after you got hit in the head with your hammer. I guess you didn't remember me during the fighting festival or you would have known sooner."

"When I got my memories back and I thought back to the fighting festival, I was so confused because you two were so couple-like. Now it makes sense! How long have you two been in love?"

"Well according to Ban, it was love at first sight for him. It took me a few years to realize even though he annoyed me at times, I was in love with him. So I guess about fifteen years and twelve years respectively."

"And you two just started dating?" Diane yelled, making Ban laugh from the other side of the patio. "You can laugh now, but you're up for questioning next." His face immediately paled, making Aurora laugh.

"Well, we didn't know we liked each other. Then ten years ago, I wrote him a letter, admitting how I felt about him, but it was intercepted by the Holy Knights and they wrote back a letter saying he hated me. I then admitted my feelings aloud and then woke up ten years later from a block of ice without any memories."

"That makes sense. What's your excuse, Ban? She didn't chase after you once she got her memories back because she thought you hated her, what's your excuse?"

"She hated me during the battle against Hendrickson and then once we resolved things, there was that Cole guy." He said, rolling his eyes. "You can ask Meliodas about that. He scolded me for being jealous. Long story short, the universe kept us apart for a while, but at least we're together now." Aurora smiled warmly at him.

"Too bad Ban's going to poison his liver so we won't be together long. It was nice while it lasted though." Ban laughed and walked over to her.

"Says you! You used to drink more than I did!"

"Emphasis on the used to. Past tense."

"You're too sober, Aurora." Diane said with a fake pout. "Come on, we're celebrating!"

"I have a baby. I can't get drunk when someone has to take care of him."

"I'll take him. I haven't had a chance to spend time with him recently." Elizabeth took the baby from Aurora's arms. "Come on, Theo, it's my turn to hold you." It warmed Aurora's heart to see Elizabeth look down at Theo with such a kind expression. She just wished Elizabeth had her memories. The redhead let out a sigh.

"Fine. You guys are awful influences." She grabbed herself a bottle of ale and took a few sips.

"You're going to have to drink shots if you want to catch up to them." Meliodas said, pouring a few shots of hard liquor. She downed the first one before laughing.

"How did I turn out so well if you're the one who raised me?" Everyone laughed in response.

"Well I didn't let you drink when you were a kid so I'd say I did alright." Aurora tilted her head in agreement, downing another shot. Ban sat down beside Aurora at the bar, Meliodas on the other side pouring more drinks.

"When did you first meet Aurora?"

"Well, there was a rumor about her being powerful so I had to see for myself. She made flowers bloom in the snow for her little sister, even though she knew she could get in trouble for it. The next time I saw her, she had escaped from the demons."

"What was she like?"

"Ban, you do realize I'm sitting right here?"

"Shhh. I want to hear this." She downed another shot rolling her eyes.

"Well she was quiet when I first took her in. That quickly changed though once she got comfortable. She has always been impatient and would get bored quickly so she picked up a lot of hobbies. Once she was a teenager, her attitude became what it is now and picked up her hobby of talking back."

"I was an angel to raise, I don't know what you're talking about. I always listened to everything you said."

"You listened to nothing I ever said."

"Give me one example."

"Sneaking out to meet a boy who would later kill you."

"Touché." The air between the redhead and the blonde was tense for a moment before they both laughed and then drank some of their drinks.

"How did you even meet him? I was too mad to ever sit down and actually talk with you about it."

"I was in the woods exploring and he came up to me and asked me where the closest village was because he was lost."

"And you didn't think this was suspicious?"

"I was eighteen and read fairy tales growing up, of course I didn't."

"How did you two become close then?"

"I was in the woods again, but this time he had flowers and said he brought them for me."

"I wonder what happened to him?" Meliodas asked.

"I hope we never have to find out. He wasn't a great boyfriend, even before the killing me part."

"What do you mean?"

"Well he was nice at first, but kept pushing me to come see him more and more even though I was scared you'd catch me. He said if I didn't meet up with him everyday that it meant I didn't love him as much as he loved me. We got in a fight about it and he said that he was the only person that could ever love me. He said that my family was dead because of me and you were never home because I drove you away."

"You're kidding." Meliodas said, eyes wide. She shook her head.

"Nope. Honestly, I really would have dodged a bullet if I listened to your advice."

"But if you had, you would have died thousands of years ago and I would have had to lose you."

"I wonder, if I died when I was old, would I have become immortal still just in an older body?"

"I don't know, I never really thought about that. I bet it would only apply to murder though because your magic would probably weaken as your body did."

"True. Well I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted." She stood up from the stool and started her way up the stairs, wishing the happiness she felt could last a lifetime.

Aurora awoke to a burst of magic hours later. She instantly knew it was Elizabeth, and whatever she was doing wasn't good. She got out of bed and ran to the room she sensed the magic, noticing people huddled around an unconscious Merlin while Elizabeth used her magic to try and help her. Aurora let magic flow from her hands to Merlin so she could see what was happening inside her mind. Once she was able to see what was happening, it was too late. It was just Elizabeth and Zeldris and he just forced her to remember everything. Aurora forced Elizabeth out of Merlin's mind, but she knew it was too late. She paced around the void for a moment before glaring at the black-haired demon.