❝Just because you hate everybody doesn't mean everybody hates you. You have people that still need you around, and I'm not afraid to admit I'm one of them.❞
. . .in which she must find a way to navigate through a changed world and a changed heart.
[...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
☼ ☼ ☼
It'd been hours since Happy picked up Andi and Aurora in Berlin. Andi had been fast asleep since, while Happy focused on piloting the jet and the newfound information he'd received regarding Peter. Aurora sat quietly in her chair across from Andi's sleeping figure. She was fighting sleep herself, but she couldn't bring herself to rest just yet. There was so much on her mind, as well as so much that needed to be done.
As Aurora looked at Andi, a frown spread across her face. She was still trying to process that she was, in fact, the sleeping blonde's older sister. At first, she had no issue denying it, but she felt it was true deep inside. The immediate connection she shared with Andi only helped her believe. What saddened her, however, was knowing she was never allowed the chance to watch Andi grow. What saddened her was knowing Andi spent so many years without her family. Aurora couldn't imagine how she must've felt living her life with such a massive piece of it missing. She was this seventeen-year-old girl, and she'd been through more hell than most. Aurora could see it in her eyes the very night she met Andi, and she could hear it in the way she cried so desperately to her and Happy only hours earlier. Andi was tired, absolutely tired, but they all knew it wasn't quite her time to rest.
"For someone who's been through so much at such a young age, she sure is a strong one," Aurora said, her voice quiet as to prevent waking Andi.
"She always has been," Happy told her. "Even before she had the powers."
"What was she like?" Aurora asked, looking over at Happy. "I mean, after she lost us..."
Happy shrugged his shoulders. "She was withdrawn, quiet, and incredibly reserved. It took her a few months to speak to anyone apart from Pepper or Tony. She was eleven, so she didn't understand much, but she understood enough to know her family wasn't coming back. To be honest, I don't think she's ever truly been able to process the grief of losing you all. Everything just happened so suddenly."
"I wish I could've been there for her, y'know?" Aurora took a deep breath. "Maybe it wouldn't have made much of a difference without our parents, but—"
"Are you kidding? You were everything to her," Happy told Aurora. He put the jet on autopilot and got up from his seat. He walked over to sit down beside Aurora, who was growing emotional as a result of the conversation. "You weren't just her big sister, Aurora. You were her best friend. Hell, you're the reason everyone calls her 'Andi'."
"What?"
"I remember Pepper mentioning that she hadn't always gone by 'Andi'," Happy explained. "She was about ten years old, and you two had gone to the playground with Pepper. She called for you both when it was time to go. You decided 'Andromeda' was too much of a mouthful, so you shortened it to 'Andi' right there on the playground. The name just stuck around after that."
Aurora smiled softly and shifted her attention back to Andi. To hear what she'd forgotten so long ago was incredibly special to her, yet heartbreaking all the same. She'd missed so much. She'd forgotten so much. Her only comfort was knowing it was not her fault. However, her heart ached knowing she would never be able to get those years back. All she could do was look to the years ahead and create new memories with the family she'd lost so long ago.
