Breakfast felt incredible.
Sera had styled her hair into an intricate, flower-decorated updo and was wearing a loose, flowy white dress.
Nicolai's beard was trimmed, and his hair was neatly brushed back.
They both looked many years younger than they had just yesterday.
The conversations focused on things they had missed over the years.
Like the sisters' current interests and school achievements. Some questions were directed at Caster,
"So who made the first move?" Sera asked with genuine intrigue, looking between Caster and Mirror.
He blushed brightly.
Sera pointed at Mirror and declared, "Must have been you!"
Mirror jumped from her seat.
"That's not true at all! He came on to me! You're all fooled because he acts all shy, but he's the assertive one," she shouted, before flopping back into her seat and pouting.
Nicolai sipped his drink, and Sera grinned widely, eyeing Caster.
"Is that true?"
He put his hand over his mouth and seemed to be thinking over his answer. Aura stared down at her drink, slowly stirring it with her straw, her expression unreadable.
"Yeah... I made the first move," he admitted. Mirror immediately pointed at her mother and said,
"Hah! Told you."
"Can I have more details?" Sera asked, taking another bite of her waffle.
Caster turned towards Mirror, who shoved his shoulder, saying,
"Go on, tell her."
He cleared his throat and put his hand down.
"Alright," Caster began, "I was struggling in math, so I asked Mirror to tutor me," he explained.
"The moment we were alone, he kissed my cheek and confessed his feelings!" Mirror blurted, Caster poked her cheek and said,
"I thought you wanted me to tell the story."
"You were taking too long," Mirror shot back.
"You moved fast," Nicolai commented.
Everyone looked his way.
"Yeah," Caster started again, "I didn't want to risk the friend zone. Mirror can be kind of dense."
"I'm not dense!" she shouted defensively.
Caster sighed and patted her head.
"She's so dense she doesn't even realize it," Caster said. Mirror huffed and looked away from him.
"Well... he must have liked you for a long time," Sera commented.
"And you didn't notice," Nicolai added.
"I'm not dense!" Mirror said again. She then turned to Aura, who had been silent, and added, "Aura was the one who didn't notice when guys were obviously in love with her! It happened several times, and she just walked around oblivious."
Aura opened her mouth to defend herself, then stopped when the realization hit.
Is that true?
Her eyes widened as she stared down at the table, and sweat formed on her forehead as she rifled through her memories in a sudden panic.
"See! Compared to her, I'm extremely self-aware and sensitive!" Mirror declared victoriously while Aura held her head, her thoughts unraveling faster and faster.
Aura gripped her glass, then drained the rest in one go.
"Sure you are, sweetheart. How about you?" Sera asked, turning to Aura.
"Wh-what?" Her voice shook, surprised that everyone's attention was now on her.
"She means you and Fenix," Mirror noted.
Aura's lips parted. Her face went pale, and her hands were trembling as she stared at her family without uttering a word.
Mirror then said,
"I wasn't there, but even before they were a couple, he followed her everywhere."
"Everyone thought they were secretly dating with how close they were," Caster added, setting his empty plate aside.
"I made the first move," Aura interjected, quietly. All eyes turned back to her, and she looked down into her lap and continued, "Technically, he was the one to confess, verbally... but I opened the door for him. I wanted to get closer, so I made a lot of effort to make it happen. He reciprocated." Her voice shook as she admitted this, not just to everyone at the table but also to herself.
"He might be coming back today," her dad commented. She looked up from her lap to meet his eyes. He smiled softly and said, "Do you want to continue this in the park near the airport?"
Aura's heart swelled, and she said,
"Yes!" She immediately got up from her seat, gathered everyone's dirty dishes, and took them to be cleaned.
"We should take in the sights on the way," Sera suggested. Nicolai held her close with his hand on her hip.
"That sounds great," he replied, nuzzling his cheek on top of her head.
Mirror and Caster knew the island better than anyone else, so they led the way.
Aura's heart quickened with every step toward their next destination.
Mirror whipped a deck of cards from her purse and plopped down at one of the park's picnic tables.
"Let's play old maid!" she suggested, shuffling with expert ease.
Caster chuckled lightly, sitting on the bench next to her.
"Sure," Sera replied, taking a seat across from them.
"Oh, so you like card games?" Nicolai commented while sitting next to his wife.
"There wasn't much more to do at the Academy. Sometimes people with perfect grades were rewarded with a console, but the Televisions didn't even pick up local news, and we had no internet access. The consoles only came with one or two games, and those get old after a while," she explained. Aura took a seat on her other side, and Mirror began passing out the cards.
"Cards don't get old?" Nicolai asked, organizing his hand.
"Yeah, the games were made for two players only, and we can all play this at the same time. Plus, a little gambling adds some excitement," she replied as everyone gathered their cards.
"Wow... my daughter is a gambler," he muttered, reorganizing his cards. Mirror snorted, focused on her hand.
Aura smiled softly as the table became more lively, but her eyes constantly drifted towards the Airport.
Hoping to see something landing or someone exiting. They played several different games, hours passed, and Aura's anxiety had almost disappeared when a fleet of aircraft cut across the sky and landed on the runway.
Her breath hitched, and she stared at the door in anticipation.
"If you're curious, you should go and check it out," Sera commented. Aura turned to her, and Mom winked and added, "Go."
"Alright, I'll return soon," Aura said, scrambling from her seat.
"Let's play the next round without her," Mirror muttered while shuffling the deck.
Aura hurried toward the entrance, but a bulky guard blocked her way and said,
"There are no flights scheduled for today."
Aura looked up at him and glared.
"Let me through," she commanded.
"Listen, miss. Even if you want to return to the mainland, we cannot make that trip today. Our aircraft needs to be refueled, and there's a special event going on right now. Come back the day after tomorrow," He instructed, sounding exasperated.
"Is..." Aura's voice caught. The man stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Did Fenix return today?"
The guard tensed, then he looked over her and said,
"What is your name?"
"Aura Anima," she answered. His eyes widened, and he stepped aside and held the door open for her.
"Please forgive my rudeness... he's busy presently, but I'll let him know you're here." She nodded, stepping inside, and he rushed past her into the crowd of people flooding the area.
Aura noticed some seats near the doorway, so she sat down, taking a look around.
It was a large, open building with several benches scattered about.
Unlike the mainland, there were no metal detectors or shops.
It seemed like Talitha focused on getting guests out of the airport as quickly as possible.
A man stood on a podium in front of a mic saying,
"Welcome to Talitha..." he continued, explaining the situation and opening the floor to questions. While Aura watched the speech, the guard returned.
A hooded man followed behind him.
"Ms. Aura." He called gently, gaining her attention. She looked at the person standing next to him.
She recognized the poised posture, the height, even the slightly sweet scent wafting off of him.
"Fenix," Aura muttered. She no longer saw the guard; everything else in the room blurred out of focus.
He removed his hood, and strands of his multi-colored hair fell framing his face. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, and then he smiled—too quickly, like he was trying to hide something
"Hey," he greeted awkwardly. Aura was on her feet in an instant, grabbing his face and forcing him to meet her eyes.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. He blinked rapidly and pressed his lips into a hard line, so she lifted his shirt and said, "Show me."
Fenix's face turned bright red, and he pushed her hands away,
"I'm fine!" He shouted in embarrassment. Aura stood with her hands still raised in the air.
She lowered them slowly, relief softening her expression.
"I'm glad," she muttered, her fingers curled slightly at her sides.
Then she turned and walked out, swiftly.
He watched for only half a second, staring at her back with a dumbfounded expression, then Fenix rushed after her.
"Wait! Aura!" He yelled. She stopped in her tracks and said,
"Thank you for coming back safely... We'll talk later," she didn't turn to look at him but ran off back to the park.
Her family was finishing up another round, and Mirror was muttering,
"How do you keep winning? Are you cheating?" directed at Caster. He didn't reply but smirked, so she threw a card at him.
"Let's go home now... or get dinner or something." Aura offered, her words coming out so quickly they blurred together.
Her palms tingled, her heart racing as if she'd just run a marathon.
Everyone stared at her silently, except Nicolai, who stood up and said,
"I was just starting to get hungry."
Caster handed Mirror the card she flung, and she put the completed deck back into her bag.
"Alright, it's food time," she said. Sera hooked her arm with Nicolai and nodded, while Mirror led the way to one of the island's most popular eating spots.