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Forbidden Friendship [Aidesse]

Requested by hercega

Jesse's POV.

I walked through the main street of Beacon Town, waving ususal greetings to the people around me. Now, after a couple of years of living here they had got quite used to my presence, so there were no amazed screams and crowds of people who wanted to take my autograph. Now I was not a hero to them, well, it was not my main role here. I was their friend, their leader, and they saw me as one.

I must admit, it was nice to stroll through my town and not be interrupted by some citizen who worshipped me. I had never been that type of a person, none of my friends were as well, so after the Wither Storm it was surprising how many people actually looked up to us. At some point it became too much, and I even thought of running away with Petra.

But the time passed and I found myself in the best position. Not an adored hero, but not a loner. A friend. A friend for everyone who needed or wanted one.

So it wasn't so surprising I was actually going to accept Aiden back.

"Jesse!"

I turned around and smiled at Radar, who jogged towards me. In his hands there was an empty busket, save for a few dark green crystals, and I nodded in satisfaction at that sight.

"Hey." I greeted him. "How did it go?"

Radar was taking care of Romeo's redemption, or rather, Romeo's survival in the Underneath. They had established some sort of a trading system, since the world under ours was rich in gems and crystals that were extremely rare up here. With every passing week it was becoming more and more clear that Romeo was on his way to redeeming everything he had done, even though he had a long road ahead of him.

"Uh, fine." Radar shrugged, showing me the crystals. They shone under the sunlight, a tiny rainbow captured in each of them. "Although he didn't take the oranges, claiming that they made his skin itch."

"Allergic?" I raised an eyebrow. Honestly, if the ex-Admin
was allergic to something, it wouldn't be too surprising, he didn't have the weakest immune system after all. "Be sure to put an extra bottle of healing potion the next week, and replace oranges with... With apples."

Fruits were important to Romeo. He needed all the vitamines he could get, and it was my duty he got all of them. Radar nodded and ran off, probably to write my orders down. I smiled at him. Where was that scared kid that I had hired all those months ago? He grew up so fast.

The sun was right above me. I sighed and headed towards the gates to Beacon Town, thinking over what was going to happen. From Isa's letters I understood that she had finally agreed to let Aiden go, and now he was coming here to make amends for his misdeeds.

I didn't show my worries even a little bit, something that my adventures had taught me. Maybe I should've taken at least a small dagger with me? Or put on even the weakest set of armor? Nobody knew what Aiden would be like or how he would react to me. Maybe he was dangerous. Maybe he would try to attack me.

I tried to tune those thoughts out. It was alright. It was fine. I couldn't treat him like a monster anymore, nor could I show any sign of hostility. It could only push him back to the pool of dread and anger I had helped him swim out from.

No. I had to be friendly. I had to show him that not everyone hated him, that there was a place where he could stay without experiencing the hatred of the entire world. I had worked with Ivor, with Em, with Stella and Romeo, but every time I do something like this cold dread appears in my stomach again and again.

I didn't want to fail this time. I didn't want to push Aiden away from me and from every chance of being good he had.

The gates opened and I walked outside, the sounds immediatelly fading, swallowed by thick leaves and dark grass. The road made of sand was right there in front of me, it lead to Champion City - which was still being repared - and then to other cities and towns. Somewhere out there was also the portal from which Aiden was supposed to walk out any moment now.