The day of the Summer Bay Talent Festival soon arrived and Aria woke up early, heading out for a walk. Stood at the edge of the water, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was nervous; terrified in fact and she wasn't sure that she could do it. There would be so many eyes on her, just waiting for her to screw up and the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass her brothers.

"Ah, pre-performance nerves," came Liam's voice from behind her, making her jump and spin around, "Sorry, I saw you and wanted to wish you luck."

"Thank you," Aria mumbled.

"I know that you're doubting yourself right now and that's completely normal, but don't forget that there are people that believe in you."

Not knowing what to say, Aria simply nodded and watched as Liam walked away. Her anxiety slowly grew as the other acts performed, but then it was her turn and she took to the stage. As soon as she started playing, her anxiety evaporated and the words seemed to leave her mouth without her having to think about it.

Tears filled her eyes as she reached the final verse, bringing down the tempo and attempting to rein in her emotions.

"I'm begging you to come and pull me out the fire, come quickly 'cause I'm burning up inside," Aria sang, "Oh, please come bring up from my lowest take me higher, can you see me through the ashes and the dust?"

Aria played the last few notes and took a shaky deep breath, looking up as the crowd burst into applause. With a smile on her face, she left the stage and chuckled as Heath pulled her into a tight hug.

"Good job, kiddo," Brax stated.

It was a couple of hours, before the final act performed and the judges stepped away to decide on a winner. Whoever won, walked away with a cheque for twenty thousand dollars and that was a lot of money. Everyone fell quiet as John Palmer walked onto the stage later that afternoon, tapping the microphone a few times to make sure that it was on and speaking.

"We've seen some amazing talent here today, but, unfortunately, there can only be one winner," he announced, "That winner and the recipient of this cheque is... Aria Braxton."

It took a few seconds for the results to process in Aria's head, but then it hit her and she couldn't hold back the grin that spread across her face. She headed back onto the stage and took the cheque with shaking hands, as well as a trophy.

Later that night, she sat with her brothers and Andy at Angelo's. Everyone was in high spirits and, despite wanting to share her plan, she decided to wait. It was almost midnight by the time they got home and she mumbled a quick goodnight, before heading straight to be. Brax was already awake when she woke up the next morning, biting her lip nervously and joining him in the kitchen.

"Good morning, champ," he greeted with a smile, "What do you fancy for breakfast?"

"Can I have pancakes?" Aria asked as she took a seat.

"Mixed fruit on the side?"

"Yes please."

"What's on your mind, kiddo?" Brax inquired as he set a plate in front of her a while later, "I've seen that look before."

"I've been thinking about what I want to do with the money I won and... I want to use it to pay off Danny's debt to Pirovic."

"Ari..."

"No," Aria stated before Brax could continue, "If I pay Pirovic, then he and Danny have no reason to stay in our lives. I don't want them to have a reason to stay in our lives and I don't want anyone getting hurt, not when I have the means to end it all."

"Okay... fine," Brax agreed reluctantly, "I have one condition though."

"What condition is that?"

"I'll set up the meet with Pirovic and you can do the exchange, but you won't be alone."

"Okay."

Aria wasn't expecting Brax to let her go alone, but she did think that he would attempt to argue and she was surprised that it went as smooth as it did.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Okay, so... I have one more chapter planned for this story and then I'm thinking of starting a new Braxton project because (although they are no longer in Home and Away) I love them as a family. What do you guys think?