The Missing Stranger

Chapter 9

¤Dawn; Jan 5, 2009
The abandoned observatory
Mt. Alliance¤

Aphmau laid awake against the wall. Aaron was still asleep in his bed, though he was fairly restless in his sleep. He kept moaning, tossing and turning while gripping the bed sheets. Aphmau watched him for a few moments and sighed.

"Maybe Aleena is awake. I kinda wanna ask her about the whole sister, brother thing between her and Aaron. I heard nothing about Aaron having a sister." Aphmau got up slowly and looked around. She walked over to the balcony' s edge and looked over the railing. To her surprise, Aleena was sitting there, playing with something. Aphmau didn't realize it until now, but she seemed quite young. She was only a little taller then herself, and Aphmau was only 4'10.

Aphmau looked over to Aaron when she heard him moan again. Aaron turned his head toward her. He looked like he was having a nightmare, just as Aphmau did the night before. Aphmau walked over to him, standing to his right by the balcony edge. She reached her hand out and placed it on his forehead. He didn't feel like he had a fever, so he probably wasn't sick.

Suddenly, Aaron swiftly grabbed her wrist tightly, his eyes still closed. Aaron opened his eyes slowly and looked up at her, not moving Aphmaus hand away, but still holding her wrist tight.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, his eyes narrowing at Aphmau.

"Y-You seemed like you were having a nightmare or something... I was checking if you had a fever, j-just in case." Aphmau answered nervously. Aaron stared at her for a moment, but then he moved her hand down, loosening his grip slightly. Aphmau pulled her hand away slowly, looking down.

"Is Aleena here?" Aaron asked plainly. Aphmau looked back up at him.

"Y-Yea... she's downstairs." Aphmau answered. Aaron sat up and looked at her smirking. Aphmau's cheeks starting turning pink.

"W-What...?" Aphmau looked at him confused. Aaron put his hands on the sides of her neck and pulled her close. They stared into each others eyes, their faces practically touching. Aphmau blushed madly as Aaron closed his eyes, their lips about to meet.

"Brother!" Aaron stopped as Aleena called him. He opened his eyes, not moving away from Aphmau.

"Are you up yet?" She called once again. Aaron pulled away, but kept his hands on Aphmau's neck. He looked down as he spoke.

"I'm up, Aleena. What is it?" Aaron called back.

"Can you go hunt? I wanna make a special lunch!" She answered. Aaron paused for a moment.

"Alright, Aleena. I'll go out soon." Aaron said.

"Thanks~!" Aleena went silent after that. Aaron looked up into Aphmau's eyes once again and pulled her close again. Aphmau blushed, not knowing what to do.

"My sister ruined the moment, didn't she?" Aaron whispered huskily.

"U-Uh..." Aphmau didn't know what to say.

"We'll continue this later." Aaron whispered in her ear. He stood up and walked away. Aphmau was completely frozen, and when she finally turned to look and see if Aaron was there, he was gone.

Aphmau jumped down to where Aleena was. She had started building a small fire.

"Aleena, can I ask you something?" Aphmau said. Aleena turned around and looked at Aphmau.

"Sure, sis!" She said smiling.

"How are you and Aaron siblings? I never saw anything about him having a sister in the village."