This is the first chapter in a LONG time where I had no clear plan for it. In fact, all my outlines for Daybreak Academy ended at the last chapter. The only chapters that I 'really' have planned are chapters 100 and 101, and that's only because chapter 100 is pretty much already written and 101 will be the last Case of- chapter before the hiatus. Don't forget to vote on which ending you want me to go for on my main page!

Thank you for reading!

"You're twisting that ring again." Brain chastised. Anora blinked before looking up at him.

"Am I?" she asked, as if she couldn't feel her own fingers play with the ring on her left hand. Brain cocked an eyebrow at her before taking her hand into his own.

"Just give me the word, and I'll chuck it for you." he informed her before bringing her hand up to kiss her knuckles.

"Please don't." Anora told him as she gently took her hand back.

"Then let me kill him." Brain suggested. "This will end in one of two ways, Anora. You know it will."

"You're not killing Ephemer."

"Oh come on, just one little hair?"

"Nope."

"Then the ring…?"

"Not leaving my finger."

Brain huffed, folding his arms in defiance. "At least stop twisting it, then." he requested. "You're going to hurt your finger if you keep doing that."

She could do that much, for now. At least until Brain wasn't looking at her anymore. For the days after Christmas, Anora almost refused to take the ring off. She put it on after she took her morning shower and she took it off as she turned her light off for the night. She wasn't sure when she started twisting it though. It almost glided over her finger when she did. It was soothing. Brain knew it soothed her too, but he did have a point- twisting the ring could lead to chafing. She wouldn't be able to wear the ring at all if she rubbed all her fingers down from the endless twisting.

They were supposed to pick up Charlotte at the airport today. The weather had decided otherwise with a full blown snowstorm. Charlotte's flight had been delayed, and now everyone was doing their best to stay warm. Dawn had taken to spending the day cleaning the kitchen. Kieran made rounds to make sure that every fireplace the farmhouse had was roaring and manageable. Brain had decided to visit Anora in her room. The two sat on her bed, facing each other, with Anora's legs wrapped tightly around Brain's torso.

In an attempt to not touch her ring, Anora sighed as she laid her head on Brain's shoulder. Her hand absently squeezing his shirt instead. A faint flicker of taking his shirt off did cross her mind- but she ultimately didn't feel up to it. Brain rested his head against hers as he let out a small sigh of his own.

"How about this- you get one phone call."

Curious, Anora picked her head back up to give Brain a raise of her eyebrow. His expression wasn't easily readable, which didn't help matters much. Instead he wrapped an arm around her before he leaned over for his phone. He sat them back up, offering the phone to Anora.

"Assuming the snow doesn't knock the phone lines out, I'll let you call one of the other Dandelions." he told her. "We all have each other in our phones in case of an emergency. Just pick one, besides Ephemer, and we'll hit them up."

For a moment, Anora didn't know what to say. She looked at the phone, then back up at him with more skepticism than before.

"You don't have Pyra in your phone?" she wondered. It almost sounded accusatory.

"Do you?" he countered with a raise of his eyebrow. At this, Anora bashfully looked away as she gave a shake of her head. Brain laughed at her.

"One call, Anora-bird." he once more offered. "Who's it gonna be?"

Anora looked down for a moment as she thought it over. She looked up at Brain, giving a curious raise of her eyebrow. "Can I call someone by proxy?" she wondered. Brain smiled.

"Say no more." he assured her as he started to go through his contacts. Not long after that, he put the phone on speaker mode so they could hear the phone dial.

"Hello?" the regal voice of Lauriam came from the other end.

"You're on speaker Lauriam." Brain immediately told him.

"Is everything alright?" Lauriam then asked, sounding rather confused.

"Is Strelitzia there?" Anora piped up. She didn't mean to sound so small, but a sudden knot had made its way into her stomach.

"I think so." Lauriam agreed. "Give me a moment."

Both Anora and Brain gave a nod as if Lauriam could see it. As they waited, Anora gently placed her head back down on Brain's shoulder.

"Hello?" Strelitzia much softer voice spoke through the phone speaker.

"Hi Strelitzia." Anora greeted with a little grin.

"Anora!" Strelitzia gasped. "Are you alright? You sound so tired."

"It was a rough Christmas." Brain told her, leaning his head against Anora's. "There was an unexpected gift that threw everything off."

"Oh." came the little sound of understanding. "Well, I hope you're still doing fine otherwise. I have the perfect gift waiting for you back at campus! Oh, and Brain, I also found something for you too! There was this adorable little bauble I saw at the chalet we're staying in, and it reminded me of you."

"Aw, you didn't have to do that." Brain told her as he put on a half smile.

"You won't be saying that when you see it!" Strelitzia giggled in return.

After this, a small silence filled the air as they tried to figure out what to talk about next. It was Anora who decided to speak up.

"Strelitzia…?"

"Yes?" came the answer, a bit too quickly.

Anora looked at Brain for a moment, then looked down at the phone again.

"Thank you."

There was a faint sound of Strelitzia taking a surprised gasp for air. "F-for what?" she wondered.

"Everything." Anora decided. "When Ephemer and I broke up, you were the first to go out of their way to make sure I was alright. I told Ephemer that he shuts me out when he's upset. But you know? I've done the same thing to everyone else too. A lot. I wish Ephemer had been a lot like you. Taking me somewhere safe, finding a way to get me to talk. I wish I could have found a way to get Ephemer to talk like that. So… I guess what I really want to say is that I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but thank you. For everything."

"Anora, I..." Strelitzia tried to say, but found that she couldn't finish her thought. She faltered for a few moments before deciding on what to say. "Do you remember -truly remember- the first moment we met in person?"

Confused, Anora and Brain gave each other equal looks before looking back at the phone.

"It was at the formal, wasn't it?" Brain asked.

There was a small sound on the other end that indicated that Strelitzia had shook her head. "No," she even said, "Before then."

"We met before then?" Anora then wondered. She really couldn't recall the very first time she had met Strelitzia. They were talking with notes at the concrete slab for months.

"Yes. Well, also no. Do you remember when you were waiting for your house results to come back?"

That was when a jolt of shock coursed through Anora's veins. It had been so long ago that she had honestly forgotten. Of course, it's not like she would easily remember the face of someone she made eye contact with once during a rather stressful time.

"That was you?" was all she could say in surprise.

"Yes. You reminded me of Joanna, and I… I loved you from that moment onward. I didn't know if we'd ever really talk in person. You looked so… alone, but you also needed to find your footing. That's why I didn't talk to you then. You deserve kindness, Anora. You deserve the world. But in your journey, you may have to leave people behind. People that care, people that don't. I'm still learning this because I really, really love you, but I'm not the one meant to be with you."

"I'm not leaving you behind." Anora informed her friend. Her face scrunched as if Strelitzia was insulting her instead. "You're my friend."

"I… I wasn't entirely referring to myself."

Anora's eyes darted back and forth as she tried to figure out what Strelitzia meant. When her eyes finally fell on her ring, that was when she understood.

"Oh."

Another silence filled the room now. Brain wasn't sure if it was his place to change the subject yet, so he allowed the silence to prolong.

"How was your Christmas?" Anora carefully started to ask. "You mentioned you were at a chalet?"

"Oh, yes!" Strelitzia immediately agreed, grateful for the change of subject. "Our grandparents rented it out for us. Well, our whole family. There's Nonna, and Poppy. We don't have many aunts, but there is Uncle Salvador with his adorable daughter Juno. She's about three now, I think. They brought along some friends; there's a boy about Juno's age named Girouette. They're really good friends already, it's super adorable. And then there's Girouette's mother Ciel, and his sister Alouette. I think she's 10. Or 15. I can't really tell- they're a very beautiful family. I'm super jealous."

Brain and Anora shared an equal laugh as Strelitzia went on about her vacation. Anora snuggled a bit closer to Brain while they listened to Strelitzia. Being with her family felt great, but a part of Anora was ready to head back to school. There as a new chapter of her life starting, and while she was afraid, she was ready to face it head on.