A month passed of silence between Sherlock and Aura. She would speak to John, but only slightly. It still took a lot of force to get her to speak a word. To get her to look up from her notebook was a feat, but John managed to do it every day to get food into her.
Well John knew that he shouldn't be happy; he couldn't help but feel a small sense of relaxation. She was eating again. She was happy.
He sat down across from Sherlock one night when they knew Aura was gone with Moriarty. "I know you hate how she keeps going with him, but can't you see how happy he is making her? Would you rather have her sitting in silence, staring at the wall and refusing to acknowledge that the world is passing around her?"
Sherlock did not turn his head. "I know he is making her happy, and I am glad for that. What I am not glad for is the fact that my baby sister is spending every second she can with a psychopath who tortured her just to get to me. What I am not glad for is how clearly broken her mind is that she keeps going back to that man. What I am not glad for is that she won't listen when I tell her!"
"Have you tried? Because I'm worried about her too Sherlock. I'm just trying to ignore that worry and focus on the fact that Aura is a smart woman. She knows what she is doing."
"Clearly, she does not."
"She is trying to protect you."
Sebastian visited her each night that she wasn't with Moriarty. He would tell her stories about his childhood, and she would laugh and say she shouldn't share her own. But her laughs were always hiding something else. He could see it, in her eyes. A sadness that she tried to burry away.
"Why doesn't he come every night?" she asked Sebastian once, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.
"I told him to not come." The cigarette danced under his lip.
She sighed. "I suppose I should thank you. But I can't, Sebastian." She sat up, her hair drifting around her face. "I need him. I can't explain it, but whenever he isn't around me I feel like I'm even more broken than before. My mind pounds with shouts and cries when he isn't around, and sometimes I can't handle it. When he's there, they quiet. They drift away to where I can't hear them yell. Now," she pressed her hands on either side of her head, "I can hear them screaming. I don't know what they are saying, but they're angry. Always angry." A tear streaked down her cheek. "Help me Sebastian. I need him."
And Sebastian listened. He kissed her on her head, whispering that the shouts would go away, before vanishing out the window and racing towards where he knew Moriarty waited with a smile on his face.
The beast inside roared as Moriarty stood. It was always roaring when not around Aura, always churning inside for him to check on her and be certain she was safe. It always settled down when he was around her, purring as he held her in his arms.
The two lay on a bed, arms wrapped around each other. Their eyes were locked, each calming the things that roared and screamed inside of them. She searched him, drinking up every detail about him so that when she sat staring at the blank paper she could remember him and maybe calm down the voices. His eyes followed hers. The beast churned for a kiss and he delivered. She melted into him, allowing him to move on top and kiss until she lost all feeling.
Sebastian hated to wait outside the door each night. He wanted nothing more than to sleep. But he felt like he was doing what he knew her brothers would do if they could. Protecting her.
John glanced up from his computer and watched Sherlock finger his phone. Every few minutes he would check it again, even though he would know for certain that there were no new texts. John wanted to do the same.
Mycroft paused in the writing of a document to rub his eyes and hope she was okay. That she had considered what he said and had tried to listen. Even though he knew she didn't. He wanted to tell himself that she had.
Sherlock worried day and night for her. He had told Lestrade not to call him. That he didn't want to work on a case right now. That he had one much more pressing. How could he save his baby sister?
Aura took her time writing the letter to Sherlock. She brought it for James to read, showed it to Sebastian. She wanted to have it right. After a week of crossing outs and words written in James' writing, she was ready.
She wrote it in Sherlock's room, taking her time. She added her own sections to it that she hadn't wanted to show anyone else. She drew small pictures on the sides, small figures playing or screaming or singing. Tears dotted the page so many times that she had to restart multiple times, each time adding more words she wanted to add.
When she finally signed, she read it over two times. Once to make sure no words were so tear stained that no one would be able to read them. And once to cry at the fact she wanted these words to be the last time she ever spoke to Sherlock. That she wanted these words to be all he could remember her by. She grabbed her notebook and placed it with the letter. Sherlock had been careful not to look through it when she was gone, she knew it. It was only right that he could have the same memories she had, see them the way she had seen them. Get a glimpse into her mind. Let him bear the burden she had been dumping away.
She placed the letter on the center of the bed, the notebook resting beside it. Her hand drifted across it before she left the room. John was sitting in the main room.
"Where's Sherlock?" She asked him, crossing her arms.
"Visiting Mycroft about you." John folded the paper onto his lap. "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving John. I'm leaving and I'm never coming back. Please don't tell Sherlock. Please don't worry for me. I'm going to miss you, and I know you're going to worry for me. But I'm going to ask that you not."
John nodded. "Even though you want me to not, I'm going to worry about you. Because I care about you, Aura. And I know Sherlock does too."
She laughed, turning around and walking to the stairs. "I find that very hard to believe."
"Try and not." John whispered, watching her vanish down the stairs. "Try and not."
Sherlock's phone rang loudly in the office, where it had been sitting between the two brothers. With a look, Sherlock grabbed it.
Come and play. 426 West Johnson St
Sherlock could only stare at it until the next message appeared.
I have Aura.
He leapt up. "He has her, Mycroft. He has her and he is contacting me."
"Then go save her. Go save our little sister."
"Where! Is! She!" Sherlock shouted each word as forcefully as the next, the hand with the gun shaking. There were footsteps, ones Sherlock quickly defined as female.
"Please don't shout." His mouth opened slightly as Aura stepped out from behind a pillar, her hands crossed in front of her peacefully. She was dressed in a white dress, one that pressed against her skin as it fell to her knees. Her waist was tied with a black ribbon, with her hair curling over her shoulders. Her lips were a deep red and there was thin eye liner around her eyes. The scars on her arms were still visible, something made even more visible by the paleness of her skin. "You know I hate it when you shout." Even from this distance, Sherlock could see her eyes sparkeling.
"What are you doing here?" Sherlock asked. His voice was only somewhat calmer while he watched as she moved to stand next to Moriarty. There was nothing he could deduce about her, everything he could see being what he already knew. The only thing he couldn't understand was her choice of clothes, something that didn't seem to fit her.
"She is here with me." Moriarty put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her to him. Her lips turned up in a smile as he did that, getting even larger when Moriarty rubbed her shoulder with his hand, Sherlock nearly shot the gun at Moriarty's face then and there. "Though, of course, you already know that."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm with him Sherlock. I've…" she paused, tilting her head. How to phrase it? "Forgiven him."
Sherlock shook his head slightly as if he was discreetly trying to get something from his ears. It was clear he didn't understand. "What do you mean, forgiven him? How could you have forgiven him?" He knew she spent so much time with him, that she needed him to survive. But he had refused to believe she had forgiven him. He wanted to believe that she still hated him for what he did, for the scars that decorated her arms. That she couldn't help going with him. That he forced her in some way.
"I left you a note. Read it Sherlock. I don't think I'll be able to say it out loud." Her voice shook and Moriarty turning his head so that he could whisper in her ear.
"Don't push yourself. He's not worth it." He kissed her forehead and she smiled even larger.
"I know." Moriarty leaned back and smirked at Sherlock.
"Now, if you don't mind, we have somewhere we need to be." Moriarty said it in such a way that only Aura laughed at. The laugh rang through the air in a haunting way that made her seem unnatural. Sherlock straightened his arm.
"You are not going anywhere."
Aura stepped away from Moriarty with one hand raised. "Put the gun down please, Sherlock. I don't like guns, you know that. Guns never solve anything."
"Then what are you doing with him!" Sherlock shouted, shaking the gun. "He uses guns like they are toys!"
"He's not the one that uses the guns, that's the snipers that do that. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty." She tried to keep her voice calm. "Please, put the gun down."
"NO!" Aura stepped back in shock. Moriary's took her arm from behind her and she tried to shake him off. He didn't let go.
"Aura, get out of the way." Sherlock slowly pressed the finger on the trigger. "Please, get out of the way."
"Sherlock, don't do this." Moriarty was still trying to pull her away, but she wasn't moving. "Please Sherlock, just put the gun down."
Moriarty was able to cause her to stumble, meaning she stepped out from in front of him as she fell. Time began to go slower. Sherlock's finger pressed the trigger. The bullet began to move towards Moriarty's heart. Aura stepped in front of it. It pierced her skin. She fell back into Moriarty's arms as blood started to flow onto the white fabric.
Sherlock rushed forward as Moriarty lowered her gently to the floor. Her breathing was already difficult and when she coughed a small amount of blood spurt out. Moriarty stepped back from her, pushing his hands into his pockets and looking down, as Sherlock leaned closer to her, clutching her hand.
"Aura, listen to me." She coughed again. "Listen to me. You're going to be fine. I promise. You're going to be fine."
"Read the note I left you." Her voice was already weak. "It will tell you everything I haven't been able to. Don't be mad at James. Please. Don't. For me." Sherlock could feel her pulse through his hand. It was getting slower.
"Aura. Listen to me." Sherlock's voice was cracking. "Just stay with me."
"I'm not going anywhere Sherlock." She managed a small laugh. "You know that as well as anyone. But I'm sorry Sherlock. I'm so very sorry. I should have listened." Her breathing stopped. Her heart beat once more before Sherlock couldn't even feel that. And he knew there was no way to bring her back.
Sherlock's head fell onto her chest in silence, but no tears came from his eyes. His body simply convulsed as he kneeled there. Moriarty, who was still attempting to calm the beast inside that roared in rage, was already feeling strange to watch Sherlock there. He had wanted to burn him, but Aura's death started to burn Moriarty as well.
Sherlock looked up at Moriarty. "As much as I want to shoot you right now for doing this to her, she wouldn't have wanted that. If you wish too, feel free to see her. I'll leave, but please don't hurt her any more. You've broken her enough." Sherlock stood and walked away, his body shaking only slightly.
Moriarty watched him leave before kneeling beside Aura's head. Sherlock hadn't yet closed her eyes and the blank eyes, now looking nearly white with the sine of light, stared up at him. No longer was she a princess hiding among peasants. Now, she could simply be a peasant herself. But as Moriarty moved his eyes down her face he was almost sad to see that she looked happy. He was not used to people dying happy, and Aura hadn't seemed like one to die like that. He hadn't wanted her to die at all.
Very slowly, Moriarty closed her eyes. Then he placed his hands on either side of her face and leaned his head down. He gently kissed her forehead before standing and walking away. He called out to Sherlock. "I hope you'll allow me to come to her funeral. I will wish to say my last respects." The beast whimpered inside of him. It churned and tried to reach out one hand towards her dead body. But the hand broke and fell, leaving the beast to curl up and cry inside of him.
Though Sherlock found it strange that Moriarty showed so much emotion, he didn't question it. Instead he sat down beside his sister once again and slowly pulled out his phone.
"Hello Sherlock." Mycroft's voice was as annoying as always to Sherlock.
"Aura is dead." Sherlock could tell his own voice was exempt of emotion.
There was the sound of Mycroft standing. "What do you mean?"
"She was with Moriarty. I tried to shot him. She got in the way. And now she's dead."
A/N: There is one chapter left in this story before I begin to post the sequel. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, even though...well...the event happened. In the next chapter, or possibly a special one, I'll tell you what my plan for the sequel is. Please review, and I hope you'll stay reading this story.