Disclaimer: Don't own RoTG. Just my Oc's. This is by far the longest chapter I have produced for this story reaching up to 5500 words, so I hope you guys like it!

*IMPORTANT*: Now, I know in past chapters I have decribed Aria as appearing like a 9 year old child. Let me explain something before you read this chapter. Aria APPEARS like a 9 year old. She is NOT 9 years old. There is explinations of love interests with Aria with this chapter and I don't want people going "OMG PEDOBEAR!" I am basing this off of their maturity and age of immortality! I'd like you to do that as well.

Lyra was pacing back and forth across the red carpet she had seen in that slight vision Aria had shown her yesterday. The walls were a vibrant red that contrasted perfectly with the carpet, but that wasn't any of her concern as guilt, fear, and anxiety fluttered through her body at fast speeds causing her to feel extremely sick to her stomach. She almost had the desire to crawl into a corner and cry until her body fell to exhaustion.

Lance walked into the room looking concerned, but for some reason she couldn't bare to face him at the moment. Looking at him just reminded her of someone else that was the reason for her current panic attack.

"Aria, please, we have to stop him." Lyra pulled away from his reaching hand and glared at him darkly.

"It's my fault he's like this! If I had just responded instead of freezing up then he wouldn't be doing this. You know Leon isn't bad in his heart!" Lance looked angry as he clenched his hands into balls at his sides.

"Aria he's been causing accidents that are killing people!" Lyra felt her temper growing at the fact her best friend wouldn't fight for his brother.

"I've caused similar accidents!" She nearly screamed as tears started pouring down her cheeks. Lance looked taken back for a moment before sighing softly.

"Aria, your's are natural disasters that must occur for balance in the world to continue. He's deliberately killing people. You know as well as I do that he's not been the same lately. The powers he lives off of have been going to his head. He's not my Brother anymore." Lyra looked at him in shock at such a statement. Not his brother anymore? Who could just disown their brother in such a way!

"He's only like this because I didn't tell him I loved him as well! I never got a chance! He just…he panicked and ran off thinking the worse before I even had a chance to return the feelings." Lyra trailed off, a hallow feeling entering her chest and a knot forming in her throat as she choked on her tears. Lance looked absolutely shocked, standing still and looking at her for a long moment before his whispering echoed across them room.

"Aria….I love you." Lyra's body trembled at his confession causing her to sob harder. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her trying desperately to get a-hold of herself. Lance closed his eyes before turned to face the window. "Please Aria, just say it. I need to hear it." He spoke lowly to the point Lyra almost didn't hear him.

"I love Leon, Lance. Is that what you want me to say?" She choked out. Lance let go of a breath that he was holding before nodding.

"I always knew you would never be mine. I know love better than anyone, after all. I just needed to hear it." He turned to her with determination in his eyes. "We have to take out my brother Aria, we have no choice!"

"I can't do that! How can you say you'll get rid of your own brother! I have to try to reason with him again!"

"I can say that because not only did he take the girl I love but he's sitting here breaking her heart and hurting other people who have nothing to do with this!" He yelled at her as his temper got the best of him.

Lyra felt nothing but anger and disappointment in her best friend. Shaking her head she ran out of the room without looking back.

"I won't hurt him!" She cried to herself as she ran outside and flew into the air.

Lyra was brought out of her dream from a strange feeling appearing on her face every few seconds. She heard strange garbling and giggling and she opened her eyes slowly to see a few elves right up in her face. They were holding what appeared to be markers and at the sight of her awake they ran out of the room while tossing the markers up into the air behind them in the process of their escape. She sat up on the bed as the bedroom door slammed shut and just stared at the door.

"I'm not sure what's more upsetting right now. The dream I just had, or the marker drawings I'm about to go see on my face. It better be washable marker." She muttered darkly before folding the blankets off of her and placing her feet on the cold floor.

She made her way to the small bathroom that was attached to her bedroom and looked in the mirror on the wall to discover that the elves were not good at drawing. At all. Not even when trying to prank someone in their sleep. She briefly wondered if Jack paid them off to perform the action, but realized Jack's pride would cause him to do the deed himself. With a deep, sleepy sigh she got to scrubbing her face in a desperate attempt to look like a normal girl before she went to find Carol for breakfast.

Thankfully, the markers had been washable so she had no trouble getting the still wet ink off her face and appearing like her normal self within a matter of moments. She walked over and got the outfit Carol had made for her-she had taken it to wash for the girl overnight- and got dressed before finding a hairbrush and getting ready. She found a toothbrush on the sink with a ribbon and note saying 'Love Tooth' on it. She laughed and freshened up completely before heading out of her room and glancing around the hallway for which direction she would go. She still did have a tendency to get lost in the workshop-something she would never let Jack know-and therefore had absolutely no idea where to begin looking for people.

She started walking down the hall to the right and after taking a few turns and twists here and there ended up running straight into someone. She fell backwards, having not been paying attention, only to have her wrist grabbed and her body weight righted before she fell. She looked to see Jack standing in front of her-his face a deep red-before he jerked his hand away from her wrist like her skin was as hot as fire. She frowned at the reaction and watched him carefully. Jack had been extremely quiet towards her since the firework show last night. He also seemed to develop this weird nervous twitch habit where he refused to look at her. He cleared his throat before tugging on the collar of his sweater and giving her a nervous grin.

"Morning Jack. Are you feeling okay?" He abruptly nodded as an answer before staring at the wall.

"So, um…morning to you and um…I've got some things I need to take care of so!" With that he briskly walked past her and disappeared down the hall before she even had a moment to fully comprehend what was going on. She felt irritation bubble through her body before stomping after him. She wanted to know why he was acting this way, and she wanted to know now.

Unfortunately, when she went to track down Jack she managed to finally find her way to the living room but in turn lost her intended target. She sighed at the sight of Sandy sleeping off in a corner. She walked over and gently tapped the floating man on his shoulder a few times causing him to blink sleepily up at her. He gave a half grin before a hand appeared over his head in a form of hello.

"Good Morning Sandy. I'm sorry to wake you, but I'm lost. I was hoping to figure out where breakfast was." She laughed nervously causing him to smile brightly at her. He suddenly signed a snowflake before a question mark above his head as a curious look crossed his fill-out face. She sighed before shrugging.

"I think he's trying to avoid me." Sandy looked alarmed before a million question marks kept reappearing over his head. She waved it off. "I'm not sure honestly. Maybe he's going through puberty finally. I'll let him have his time to himself for a while before I pester him I suppose." Sandy frowned deeply before nodding in agreement. He waved for her to follow him before floating out the door and down the hall towards the kitchen where Carol was busy cooking muffins for everyone.

Lyra grinned at the smell of breakfast as her stomach made a happy gurgle. She walked up behind Carol and leaned over to see what she was working on.

"Oh good morning Lyra! I do hope you like blueberry or chocolate or banana nut or-"

"Blueberry would be fine before you list off every muffin ever made." Both women laughed before Lyra yelped in shock at a pair of arm snaking around her waist from behind. She felt a tall, firmly muscled body fit up against her back and a deep voice whispered playfully in her ear.

"I'd always dreamed you'd escape your boyfriend to spend time with me, though I had no idea it would be so soon. I must say Lyra, I wasn't fully prepared for this chance encounter this morning." Lyra laughed and rolled her eyes, spinning as Lance released his grip on her and winked playfully.

"You, Cupid, are a horrible tease and flirt. It's no wonder you have so much trouble with women!" He shrugged and sigh dramatically.

"What can I say. I'm excellent at setting up one night stands but horrible at long-term dating. It's a curse I suppose! So where's your boyfriend?" Lance looked around the kitchen surprised his head hadn't been cut off for the stunt he had just pulled. Lyra scowled in irritation.

"For the last time, Jack and I aren't dating. Not only that but…" Lyra scowled in the direction of the doorway. "I think the idiot is avoiding me currently. I'm trying to give him so space to figure out whatever his problem is before I reattempt to understand what is wrong. I'm thinking it's puberty but I'm leaving him to work that out."

"Another words you lost him while trying to figure it out." Lyra sighed in defeat at Cupid's statement.

"He's an agile little thing." She muttered darkly. He laughed before handing a blueberry muffin that was fresh out of the over to Lyra. She took it and thanked Carol for breakfast.

"How about you and I search today and he can help the Guardians? I haven't gotten my field trip with you yet." Sandy started signing over his head about he wanted to have a field trip with Lyra too. Lyra laughed and winked at Lance.

"Can I trust you to escort me like a proper gentleman without running off for another woman?" He looked appalled at her even suggesting such a thing.

"I would never leave someone as beautiful as yourself out alone for other's to snatch up! Unlike some people, I do have a brain!" Lyra tapped her chin in consideration for a moment.

"I suppose you can take me today! Sandy we'll go next time." Sandy grinning in excitement holding his thumbs up in an okay motion. "So, lover boy, where are we going today?"

"How about my town? The city of love!"

"France? That sounds cool."

"Do you need to inform Mr. Moody about your traveling plans?" Lyra shrugged before patting her pouch full of snow globes.

"He'll figure it out. Better yet, you'll tell him won't you Sandy?" She smiled sweetly causing the man to blush happily and nod. With a wave to Carol, who was still busy cooking, and Sandy she headed out with Lance who grabbed another muffin before following after her.

One snow globe warp later and Lyra stood on top of a tall building as a soft cold breeze blew her hair into her face. She shuddered at the temperature before noticing that her clothes felt warmer putting her body temperature back to normal. She assumed Carol probably did some more changes to her outfit when she took it to be washed last night. She laughed happily at the sight of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

"Wow it's just like it is in all the movies and pictures!" She clapped in excitement and walked close to the edge of the building to admire the view. She took a deep breath before looking at Cupid expectantly. "Well lover boy, show me a good time would you? How do we get down?" Lance laughed before stretching his wings and lifting her bridal style.

"Like this." He simply said before just bluntly stepping off the side of the building. She screamed in fear and clung to the man before his wings caught the air and he softly started gliding across the sky.

"Lance I don't think a girl randomly flying across the sky is a good idea!" He laughed before gently settling her down on the ground in a concealed area. She placed her hand on her chest trying desperately to calm her beating heart before she had a heart attack. "Warn a girl next time would ya?" She playfully smacked his arm and he just winked at her.

"Anything for the lady." He purred out before walking out into the crazy town of Paris. "Welcome to Paris, mon amour." He ended in a perfect French accent. She got her Bluetooth out of her pocket, place it on her ear, before pointing ahead of them.

"Let the adventure begin!" She laughed before heading on to explore. Lance watched her go with a soft smile on his lips.

"She's a lot like you sometimes Aria, but I must say she is the complete opposite of you as well." He chuckled to himself before following after the overly excited girl hurrying him along.

Lyra walked around for hours, her legs were beginning to protest how much walking she had done in the past two days, enjoying all the older looking buildings and even the newer buildings. Lance was teaching her how to speak in French the most basic of sentences. She was currently standing in front of the Eiffel Tower looking up and admiring just how tall the thing was. She deciding against going up onto it, however, wanting to cover more ground before it turned dark.

"Lance you're always flirting with me. You're not being serious with it, are you? I'm afraid I might have hurt your feelings by assuming it was just all play." The blonde man laughed loudly, an evil glint she had seen all too often in Jack's eye reflecting from his baby blue ones.

"I would never say all of those nice things about a girl and not mean it, Lyra." Lyra scowled and gave him a pointed stare.

"You know what I mean Lance." He laughed again before look at the tower as well.

"I mean it whole heartedly in the sense that I do think you are an amazingly beautiful girl. However, I am not in anyway trying to win your heart or claiming love for you. I don't mean to offend you, but you're more like a sister to me. That and it's just so much fun getting Jack all worked up. That boy terrorized the rest of us for three hundred years with his blizzards and snow. It's about time we got some pay back. You just happen to conveniently come along."

"Not sure why I'm the perfect way to get back at him, but okay." She laughed before turning around in a circle to decide on a new direction to go. She randomly pointed with her eyes closed before opening and walking in the direction her hand ended up going. Lance chuckled at her way of picking a route.

"That was an random conversation, by the way. What's the occasion?" Lance let his eyes drift along several passing females while commenting on if he would take them home or not as he waited for her response. Lyra snorted at how much of a guy he was.

"I don't know. I'm just curious as to how your whole love thing works. You're Cupid, but how do your powers work exactly? I was thinking of that, which led to me thinking of your flirtatious ways, which led to me asking." She nodded in satisfaction of her reasoning.

"My powers hm? What I do is I encourage relationships. I feed off of love, yes, but I don't actually make people fall in love. I attract them to each other, whether it is in a lustful way or a cute way. I instigate what they need to meet, to communicate, to reach that 'let's enter each other's life' stage. They find love on their own. Ever heard of the red string of fate?" Lyra nodded that she had.

"That whole myth that there is a red string around everyone's pinky finger that leads to their true love?"

"Exactly! Except it's not already there. People fall in love on their own, and if they are really meant to be with the person they love then that red string will appear and complete itself. I just try to help people find the person who will be on the other end of the string. Make sense?" Lyra grinned and nodded.

"That's sweet of you. Working so hard to help people find that right person for them."

"There is something else that I must tell you. Love is a very powerful thing. When I help people find it then it is a very strong thing. However, there is a stronger form of love than that." Lyra looked at him oddly for a moment waiting for an answer. "Those whose red string of fate forms without me ever intervening. Love that is found on it's own, true love as I call it, that is the strongest and most powerful form of love to exist. Also, the rarest to find. Take Carol and North for example. Their love was formed by them and it was so strong, Man in Moon made Carol immortal just to be with North."

Lyra looked up at the sky considering it for a long moment. "That's amazing. To think something like love could impress Man in Moon. The way Jack talks about him he's not the most social of people, but he really does watch all of you doesn't he?"

"He's watching you as well Lyra. Anyone who is on the side of Man in Moon is always watched over by him."

"Kind of creepy to think about." Lyra laughed causing Lance to shrug.

"Could be worse. I'll take Man in Moon watching us over Pitch Black any day." Lyra agree completely before her stomach made itself know that it was time for lunch. She laughed and looked around for the closest place to eat.

Night came way too fast in Lyra's opinion and she still hadn't even felt a tug from Mini Aria as to where to find her new host. She sighed in defeat while sitting in the grass in a small park that seemed to not have anyone occupying it for the moment. Lance was standing beside her enjoying the bright lights of his home town.

"Isn't it beautiful? Such a well lit place even in the darkest of nights." Lyra smiled in agreement before standing up and stretching.

"I still didn't find the host. She's not even giving me any kind of hint of where to go. This is taking too long, there's way too many places to go to look… I'm just one person." Lyra groaned with a loud sigh. Lance placed a hand on her shoulder before looking up at the sky in thought.

"Lyra, you want to go on a ride?" She looked at him oddly for a moment before following his gaze up to the sky.

"A ride?"

"You told me to warn you before I flew with you again." He laughed as realization dawned on her. She considered it for a moment before agreeing.

"Yeah sure! I'd like to see how Cupid see's France." He suddenly scooped her up before she had a chance to protest and took to the sky. She gripped her arms around his neck tightly, absolutely terrified of how high up he went, before getting the sensation that she had the night she dreamt of Aria's death.

She felt like she was floating, the view of France and the lights were almost a reflection of the stars in the night sky. She stared in absolute awe at the world below her as Lance floated casually in one place, his wings flapping every so often to keep them steady.

"It's beautiful." He smiled a loving smile and nodded.

"Aria used to love the view of France at night. I would often find her out here when she was visiting."

"When Aria went and hid from you for a year….It was because you told her that Leon needed to be stopped, wasn't it?" Lance gasped in shock and stared at the girl in his arms. A flash of emotions crossed his features: sadness, hurt, anger, envy. He gritted his teeth and looked forward, refusing to meet her eyes.

"You're seeing her memories aren't you? That's why Jack mentioned you dreamt of her death." Lyra closed her eyes and calmly thought about it. Aria's memories? Was she really seeing them?

"I suppose? You were in a room with these maroon looking walls, and red carpet. She was crying saying she could reason with Leon because it was her fault he was doing what he was doing."

"Is that all you saw?" Lyra understood the unspoken question coming from the man. She bit her lower lip before looking down in shame.

"You loved her. She loved him." It was all that was needed to be said. Lance's grip went back to a relaxed state as he laughed.

"I'll be okay Lyra. That was a long, long time ago. Aria and I were always close once she came back. She disappeared for a year while she was in denial, but eventually she realized and came back to stop him. I kept him at bay as long as I could, but her appearance shocked him so much it gave us an advantage to lock him away. It was why she kept the seal on him. She would be with him that way, know where he was, and be able to watch over him. She truly did love my brother. He was just too stupid to ever realize it."

"Lance, Aria loved you dearly. I can feel it when I'm dreaming. Never doubt she cared for you, okay? I think both her and I agree that the girl you are meant to have in your life, your end to the red string, is out there waiting to be found." Lance closed his eyes and smiled softly.

"I thank you Lyra. You really are something else." Before anything else could be said something slammed into the back of Cupid so hard it knocked Lyra out of his arms and caused him to lose his balance in the air.

Lyra panicked as she fell through the air to the ground below all while noticing a shape of a horse above her in the air. She saw Lance spin mid-fall holding a bow in his hands from out of no where. He strung an arrow before releasing it; a pink aura surrounding the arrow as it flew straight for the dark horse-like figure. The creature dodged the attack and started charging at them. Lance quickly got his bearings and flew to catch Lyra.

He caught her just moments before she would have landed on the top branches of a large tree. He steadied them in the air and gently placed her on a steady branch to hold her. She gripped the tree tightly as she watched Lance in fear. He shot another arrow, this time hitting his intended target, before a really strong gust of wind burst through the air knocking Lance into Lyra. Lyra fell backwards off the branch with Lance in her arms. They tumbled through the rest of the branches as Lance moved himself under Lyra to protect her as best as he could from the fall.

They landed on the ground with a loud thud. The wind was knocked out of Cupid's lungs as Lyra landed on top of him. Lyra hissed in pain and curled up on him, unable to move as searing pain came from her left wrist. She had a couple of deep gashes along her arms and back from the tree branches she hit before Lance took the beating. Her wrist, however, had bent in a completely backwards motion and in what little bit of logical thought she could form she could tell that she had broken it.

"Lyra!" Lance gasped out in pain as he sucked in oxygen. He gently sat himself up careful to not hurt her anymore. "Oh man Lyra I am so sorry! Here, let's get back to Carol. Damn it." He was angry which was something that Lyra hadn't really seen. She wasn't really able to observe his angry side due to the fact she couldn't quite tell if she wanted to keep gritting her teeth in pain or if she wanted to scream. Tears fell down her cheeks against her will.

Lance lifted her up as carefully as he could as she coddled her wrist. He reached into her pouch and grabbed a snow globe, carrying her bridal style through the warp. He landed a little ungracefully in the globe room where he heard a loud gasp as Carol ran up to them.

"What happened?" Carol cried out gaining the attention of North who was studying the globe in front of him. He turned to see how badly Lyra looked and how forlorn Lance looked.

"We were attacked while flying over France. The wind current acted up and we fell."

"Don't just stand here, bring her to my room immediately!" Carol rushed off ahead of him as the other Guardians hurried into the room to see what all the screaming was about. Tooth realized what had happened and flew after Carol to help with preparations. Sandy looked angry and Bunny looked concerned.

Lance couldn't look at Jack as Jack stared at Lyra with nothing but pain in his eyes. When Jack's eyes flicked up to him he felt the strongest amount of hatred he had ever felt from the boy. It took everything in him to not groan from the discomfort it placed on his powers.

"I don't have time Jack-"

"Give. Her. Here. Now." Jack's voice was deep and low. He took Lyra from Lance before Lance had a chance to protest. Lyra whimpered slightly as Jack brushed one of her cuts causing Jack to softly apologize before quickly following after Carol. Lance wasted no time in following after him.

Jack stood against the wall watching as Carol got to work on patching Lyra up and getting a cast ready to set her wrist back into place. Carol had been a nurse in her past life so luckily there had been no need to take her to a real hospital. Jack's whole body was tense; his teeth grinding and nothing but pure anger flowed through his veins in a hot, boiling way. Lance stood against the wall near him making sure to keep a good distance between them. Tooth was busy helping Carol and the other Guardians were standing off to the far side making sure not to get near either of the boys.

"You better start explaining yourself. Now." Jack's gaze finally fell on Lance. Lance looked back into his eyes with determination.

"We were attacked by a nightmare while flying over France. I killed it, but the wind currents went crazy again and it caused us to fall through a tree. I took most of the damage for her, but I wasn't able to protect her completely." Lance admitted in shame. Jack hand's balled into fists at his sides.

"Why would you take her flying when you know that the wind is unstable? It has been since Aria was killed!" Jack screamed at that man for putting Lyra in danger.

"The wind hasn't acted up not once while Lyra has been around. In fact, I can fly almost ten times better when Lyra is around! Don't lecture me when I did everything I could to protect her. Incase you didn't notice, Frost, we're about to enter a war. She is going to get hurt! Maybe if you weren't so busy avoiding her-" Jack started yelling back over top of him to the point both boys were yelling so that no one could really understand what they were saying.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Lyra practically screeched from her position on Carol's bed. She looked absolutely furious, her eyes were red from crying, and she was clearly still in a lot of pain. "I am NOT in the mood to deal with this. Lance saved my life Jack, and you need to stop jumping down his throat about this! He's right! I'm going to get hurt, I'm a human incase you didn't notice!" Jack winced at her yelling. He hung his head low as his body shook.

"I'm sorry Lyra. I didn't mean to upset you." He softly said. She gritted her teeth in pain as Carol moved her wrist a certain way.

"I'm so pissed of with you two fighting right now I want both of you out of this room! When you make up and realize how idiotic you are then you may show yourselves in front of me. Until then get out!" Lance bowed in respect to her and apologized about his behavior as he exited the room. Jack's ice blue eyes stared at Lyra almost willing her to not send him away but the glare he got in return was enough to make him walk out the door and shut it behind him.

"Talk about puttin' yer foot down." Bunny whispered softly to Sandy. Sandy nodded slightly in response.

Outside the door Jack took in a very deep breath and held it before releasing it slowly. Lance watched him for a moment before sighing.

"I really did try to break her fall Jack. I swear I had no intention of getting her hurt."

"You took her and ran off with her without even informing you were leaving. Then you bring her back like that? How the hell do you expect me to react?" Jack said much more calmer than he originally was. Lance nodded in understanding before pointing out Jack's flaws.

"You were avoiding her today. She's not stupid, she knew that's what you were doing. Not only that, Jack, but you don't exactly own her. You may have discovered her as a friend first but she is important to all of us now. You don't get to be the only one she spends time with."

"I don't mind her being with the others. It's you I have the problem with." Jack glared darkly at the man but Lance couldn't feel the anger flowing from the boy like he had the moment he arrived.

"I have no intention of taking her from you. You really need to stop being so blind and realize that I have never had any intention of taking her from you." Jack sighed heavily before leaning against the wall. He groaned loudly before sliding down to sit on the floor.

"I know that…I just… I'm having a really hard time right now. I don't understand! Anything!" Lance looked at the boy for a moment before realizing they were probably as close to a truce as they were going to get.

"What are you trying to understand? Is that why you were avoiding her? Because of confusion?" Jack nodded as he diverted his attention to his staff.

"I'm sorry for flipping out on you. I was terrified when you came in with her looking like that. My emotions seem to be jumping around to all kind of extremes lately." Lance chuckled softly.

"Must have hit puberty like Lyra said." Jack playfully glared at Lance before looking at the door.

"Aw man, now I've gone and made her mad. This day is just absolutely horrible!" Lance laughed and sat down beside the man.

"You think she's mad? You should go see a woman who has either A. Been cheated on or B. in the process of giving birth. Then you come talk to me about mad women." Jack groaned and slumped forward.

'What a day.' Was the only thing Jack could manage to think.

Author's Note: Wow that was a doozy! I love how no one has even asked Lance if his wounds are okay! Sheesh. Poor guy. ;D Let me know what you guys think!