Airiala was tired.
Training was taking it's toll on her and she had been spending her nights alone in her room, reading more and more to find the Ultimate Truth.
She avoided Severus, avoided any contact with him at all. She took her meals in her room or with the other Elementals and stopped going down to the dungeons.
Now that she knew what being with him was like and that he wanted nothing more she was able to stay away. Knowing that she wasn't wanted made it easier, but it still hurt.
Lando was still a pest, asking her out all the time, but she told him that she wasn't interested. He even reminded her about what she had read regarding love and Elementals.
It was true that loving Severus could cause him pain if he didn't return the emotion, but Airiala also knew that it would only take effect if she said the words out loud to him.
She knew then that she never would.
Severus missed Airiala.
He had caught glimpses of her at meal times and while waking around Hogwarts grounds, but it seemed like she was avoiding him.
Was what they had shared so terrible that she couldn't look at him anymore? Was she closer to the Earth Elemental and therefore no longer needing him? Did she even care about him at all?
Severus didn't know, and he refused to lower himself to ask while she was with the others. It had been almost a month and school would be ending soon. Voldemort would be making his move and it was only a matter of time before he did so. Severus had to speak to the girl before that time.
Airiala was walking down the hallways. She had just found something of interest in the library and was taking it back to her room. She couldn't believe she hadn't found it before.
It was a diary from one of her past reincarnations, a former Air Elemental.
Usually Elementals didn't bother keeping diaries because the knowledge is passed down from one to the next, but if the Ultimate Truth is the one thing that isn't passed down then it's possible that it would be written in the diary.
She was walking quickly and not paying attention to her surroundings when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into a room.
"Hey!" she said out loud before finding herself looking at Lando. "Lando?"
"Airiala, my love," he said with a smile. Airiala rolled her eyes at him before picking up her book. "I had to see you at this very moment."
"Lando, now is not the time," she said firmly. "I was just heading back to my room. I'm tired and have to get up early tomorrow for training, as do you."
"Airiala, I know that you are still thinking about him," he said causing Airiala's eyes to widen. "I know that you are, but I have a way to fix that problem."
She narrowed her eyes. Lando wasn't an evil guy, he was just very persistent and would stop at nothing to get something he wanted.
"How is that?"
Lando smiled. "Be with me instead."
Airiala rolled her eyes. "Good night Lando," she said before walking around him and out the door. She heard Lando's cries of "wait" but she didn't. There was too much to do and too many other things to worry about than a spoiled little boy who wanted her to be his new toy.
She turned the corner and found that her night was going to be full of surprises.
Severus Snape was standing outside her door, his hand poised to knock.
As tired as she was, Airiala didn't mind talking to him at that moment if only to get to her bed.
"It works better if you actually touch the door," she said causing Severus to turn to her.
The moment that her eyes met his she was reminded of his touch, his heat, his body over and under hers, every detail of that night they spent together. She suppressed it.
"Airiala," he said softly in the dark hallway, "I came to talk to you."
"I'm exhausted, couldn't this wait?" She walked towards her door and he moved to block her.
"I need to speak with you right now actually. This is the only time that will work."
Airiala sighed and took a couple steps back and looked up at Severus. It took all her willpower to keep her hands closed around the book she was holding and not reach for him.
"What is it?"
Severus took a moment to look at the girl. He could tell that she was tired, she had dark circles under her eyes and she looked like she was ready to pass out into sleep at any moment, but he finally found a time when she was alone and he wasn't going to waste it.
"I hadn't seen you in the dungeons lately, not since...that night," he said, groaning in his head at how teenage-drama this all sounded. "I was worried about you."
"It's okay Severus," she said firmly, causing him eyebrow to raise in confusion. "I understand. What happened between us was just a moment of confusion and frustration and...I think loneliness. I don't blame you and I hope you don't blame me and we don't let this ruin our friendship."
"Loneliness?" Severus said in shock. "Confusion? Frustration? Is that all it was to you?"
Airiala wanted to say that it meant more to her, that it meant everything to her. That it was the most profound and wonderful experience of her life, but she couldn't say those words to him. She couldn't tell him that.
"Yes Severus, that's all it was. I feel nothing more for you than friendship and for one night I took advantage of your kindness and for that I am sorry. Please forgive me," she said firmly.
Her heart ached as she watched his face go from confused to angry and then he was that same sneering Snape he was when she first met him all those months ago.
"I see," he said, his voice colder than she had ever remembered. "I will take my leave of you now, Air Elemental."
He turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Airiala hurting more than she ever had before. She didn't call out to him and watched until he turned the corner and was no longer in her sights.
She had done what she needed to do. She knew that she loved him, but she would never say it. He thought her a horrible person and never wanted to see her again, and that was fine.
She walked into her room, set down the book she had intended to read that night but found she no longer cared about the Ultimate Truth.
At that moment she fell onto her bed and just let the tears fall.
Tonight she would cry for her missed opportunity with Severus. Tonight she would cry out the pain of a love unrequited. Tonight she would shed all the tears she would ever shed for Severus Snape.
Training was twice as hard now that the school year was coming to an end. Airiala found that she was getting better with the physical aspects of everything, but it seemed like her wind power was weakening.
"Perhaps I've over-exerted myself," she told Raina one day. "Maybe the wind elemental isn't supposed to use it as much as the rest of you, although that doesn't sound right."
Raina smiled at her. "Don't worry," she said. "You'll work everything out with him, you always do."
There was no need to say who "he" was, Airiala already knew. It was obvious to both Raina and Pyro that Airiala had stopped going down to the dungeons, but they didn't know why that would be. Only Airiala knew that.
Lando had given her a bit of space, which was nice for a change. He was still overbearing and still always asking her out, but he hadn't done anything more than that and they hadn't been alone since that night either, the same night she lied to Severus.
Tomorrow would be the last day of the year and Airiala was tired. Although the Elementals and a few faculty would be staying at Hogwarts through the summer, Airiala found that she would miss the students. She had even seen more of Harry, Ron, and Hermione recently which is something she hadn't been able to do in the past.
She liked them and wanted them to know that no matter what she wouldn't let anything happen to them.
After that disastrous night with Severus, Airiala had forgotten about the diary, but that night Airiala noticed the diary again. She was tossing her bag onto the desk and noticed the book hidden under some papers. She picked it up and for a moment felt the same feeling she had the first time she had picked it up, like she remembered it.
She smiled before sitting on her chair and starting to read. The Ultimate Truth may be hidden within those pages...