Familiar Fire

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Told you," Aurora whispered with a smile. Ban rolled his eyes at her. "Alright, let's go after him." Aurora didn't wait for the others. Instead, she jumped from the roof, letting her wings erupt from her back. She flew between buildings, trying to find where he went. She continued on, without luck, at last deciding she would have better luck on the ground. She landed, her wings in front of her as they made the impact almost nonexistent. A black spot on her wings caught her eye. Her wings were always perfectly white, and now, a dark spot littered them. She tried to brush it off as if it were no more than a piece of dirt on her magic wings. Of course, this action was unsuccessful. What she didn't expect was that her attempt to rid herself of the darkness only made it grow. She let out a gasp. She knew the magic was growing inside of her, but she didn't expect this. She didn't expect it would appear in such a way.

Aurora felt Diane's power growing from the castle. She looked at her wings for another moment before letting them disappear and running in the direction of the others.

At last, she found Meliodas and Ban. They were simply walking around, still trying to find Gowther. She silently came up behind them, grabbing Ban's hand once she was close enough. Ban gasped when she did, instantly turning around to figure out who she was.

"How did you do that? I did hear or even sense you!"

"I must have done it by accident. My new powers are quite strange." Meliodas suddenly looked very interested in the topic.

"Wait, Aurora, do that again. Try and sneak up on, Ban." She furrowed her eyebrows and did so. However, the second she took a step forward, Meliodas's eyes widened in shock then went to Ban, waiting to see the redhead grab his hand.

"Meliodas, what's your problem? I was able to sneak up on him, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that even when I was standing here watching you do it, I couldn't see you. You were invisible."

"That's impossible, Mel, stop messing with me."

"Aurora, Captain, Ban! There you three are!" Diane yelled to them. All seemed to be well, at least for now. Any thoughts of invisibility were gone from Aurora's mind almost instantly as she walked with Ban and Theo back toward the house.

"I think we should claim a room in the Boar's Hat when we go over shortly."

"For what? We have this place."

"Well, yeah. But this place isn't portable. What about when we have to travel?" Aurora forgot about that. Moreso, she forgot that time would carry on despite her. She would be gone before they would travel, but Ban wouldn't be. The idea immediately sounded much better, Ban and Theo being with the others once she was gone.

"You're right, that's a good idea. How much time do we have until we're expected over there?"

"Meliodas wanted me to walk back with him to see the new tavern, but we need to grab some food for Theo."

"Actually, I want to clean up my study a little bit, it's an absolute mess and I'd love to organize what we need and what can be thrown away."

"Oh alright then. I'll walk you back and then me and Theo will go and meet the Cap'n."

"I'll take Theo. That way you and Meliodas can fight or whatever you do without having to worry about this cute little guy."

"You make us sound so immature."

"You are." Ban furrowed his eyebrows. "Meliodas is. You are when you're with him. It rubs off on you."

"I still feel like I'm walking on eggshells around him now that we're together." Ban let out a sigh. "I want him to approve of us."

"I'd say as long as you don't stab me in the heart or you aren't named Cole, you're good." This made Ban laugh. "But in full seriousness, just treat him like the Meliodas you've known all this time. You were friends before we were in love."

"You're right." They walked through the stone gate that led to the house. Ban pulled Aurora in for a quick kiss before handing Theo to her. "I'll see you shortly. Get to the tavern safely, okay?"

"We still have the lockets, Ban. The only reason they stopped working was because my magic was impacted, but they should be working again."

"I love you." Aurora heard Ban's voice even though he didn't open his mouth.

"I love you too," Aurora said aloud before kissing Ban again. "Now get headed over there before Meliodas thinks you got lost." Ban laughed and left as Aurora entered the house. She walked all the way down the hall on the first floor and opened the last door on the right, revealing her study. It was small but had a large window allowing light to enter the room. She sat down at the desk, holding Theo with one arm, and grabbing a pen and paper with the other hand.

Dear Theodore,

I hope you are reading this letter under fortunate circumstances. However, I find it unlikely. I fear that you will never remember me because I will die when you are still so young. So if you're reading this instead of asking me about the war, I want you to know that I fought to come back to you. The only way for me to survive is to join the demons. Trust me, if there were any other way, I would take it. If I didn't have you, I would just accept my death, however, I want to be with you as you grow up. I don't want to be forced to watch on from the afterlife. I also want you to know just how much I love you. I love you so much that I can't even put it into words. I already miss you and I haven't left yet.

Be nice to your father and Meliodas. They can be ridiculous at times, but they also love you more than words can express. If you're reading this letter with them and not with me, make sure to call Meliodas grandpa for me. Even if I don't make it, I'm glad to know you'll be okay. Ban loves you enough for multiple people. And even if you can't see me, I will always be with you, loving and supporting you from out of sight.

Please live a happy and fulfilling life. If I've learned anything from mine it's if you spend time on little things that don't matter you will miss the bigger picture. You will waste your time worrying when you could have been happy. Life is finite (usually), but love is eternal. Even if you can't remember anything about me, I hope you remember how much you're loved. It pains me to write this letter, but I wanted you to have something from me in case this doesn't go well.

I didn't realize you were the missing piece in my life. I always swore that I would never have children, even if it was possible. I couldn't bear to lose them to death. That is one thing I'm thankful for in the situation we're in, I don't have to watch you die.

I love you, Theo. Never forget that. I will always be with you. Thank you for bringing me a joy and happiness I didn't know was possible.

With all the love in the world,

Your mother, Aurora