Boston awoke in the infirmary. She was in something other than her uniform. When she sat up, her head hurt. Touching her head, she found there was gauze there. What was going on?

She looked around the room. Akatsuki and Headmaster Cross were standing with their backs to her as they talked to Kaname and Aido. They were talking silently, almost not at all. When she tried to move, pain lanced up her spine and light burst across her eyes.

"Boston?" She looked up at Akatsuki as he stood above her. Apparently she had made a noise that had alerted them to the fact that she was awake. He sat down and touched her forehead. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?" she asked. Her voice was raspy, like it hadn't been used in a few days.

"Someone displayed a little bit of power and a tree fell. I barely had time to get up and move you. You were clipped in the head as it came crashing down. You've been out for three days."

Boston shifted to where she was laying down and turned away from him. She was afraid to tell him it was her power, her rage that caused the tree to fall. He would be a little mad that she hadn't told him it could be like that. Actually, she didn't even know it would have happened but she had been angry when they had gone to sleep out in the woods. She had unconsciously unleashed the wind while she slept.

When Akatsuki put his hand to her shoulder, she rolled closer to the wall. He couldn't know. He couldn't know she almost killed them because she had been angry. He had tried to protect her and yet she had almost gotten them killed.

Then a thought occurred to her. When Akatsuki drank her blood, she had absorbed some of his energy. It was that energy that had unleashed the whirlwind. But how had she absorbed his energy? How has she used it against them? Things were getting out of hand. She needed to get away.

She felt him move away when she didn't acknowledge him, felt his pain at the sudden rejection. She wasn't rejecting him but how could she tell him that she was feeding off his energy to use to attack them? It was obviously in her nature.

The door closed a few minutes later. She was alone. Carefully, she got up and went to the window. She watched as they walked away from the building, heading back to the Moon Dorms. She couldn't go back. That was something she absolutely couldn't do. She couldn't go back with the knowledge that she could harm everyone with just the small ounce of Akatsuki's power.

She turned around and grabbed her clothes from the basket by her bed. After dressing, she took off the gauze and left the infirmary. Because she knew the back way into the dorms via the woods, she took to the trees. Akatsuki's room was on the second floor. She scaled the trees until she was to the top and right at his window. It shattered when she touched it, surprising her. When she was done thinking about it, she slipped through broken glass, being careful not to touch the metal bars.

Her room was down the hall just a little ways. No one was around when she walked down the hall. They were all in class since it was night. It would be easy for her to sneak in and pick up all her stuff before leaving.

She walked into her room to find it a little musty. She hadn't been in it in a while. Instead of thinking about it, she walked in and grabbed the bag off the wall. Ransacking her own room, she was packed and ready within moments. As she was packing, she found her black pants and loose white tank. Even though it was cool out, she was going to wear them.

Once she was changed, she set her uniform on her bed neatly. As she looked down at them, she realized she hadn't needed them to begin with. She had known what she was in her heart. It was just a matter of her brain telling her heart that she was of magick kind and being of magick kind meant she was well equipped to fight vampires as she had been trained. But in her heart, she knew she would never hunt another vampire down.

She slid on her jacket and picked up her bag. This was the last time she was ever going to be in a dormitory again for tomorrow would be her eighteenth birthday. By American terms, she was an adult and could leave if she wished and she desperately wished to leave. She turned on her heel and left the dorm.

(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)

"She did what?" Aido asked.

"She left," Seiran said. "I saw her walking out while we were in class."

"That can be." Akatsuki ran up the staircase and to his room. When he noticed she wasn't there, he went to her bedroom. It was cleaned out. She had taken everything except her uniform. He cursed. "Stupid woman!" He stalked back down the stairs and grabbed Puck by the collar. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She was always great at making sure no one found her," Puck said. He made sure he didn't move at all.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Mab said. Everyone turned to her. "Tomorrow is Boston's birthday. She will be eighteen. In American and Fae tradition, once a child reaches eighteen, they are an adult. Boston is American and Fae so it goes both ways for her. She is legally able to do as she wishes."

"Where can I find her?" Akatsuki asked.

"She typically goes to the sea." Everyone turned around as a brunette walked in the door. He had a kind smile and big green eyes, making it seem as if he were related to Boston. "My queen," he said when he stopped.

"You've done well, Richard. My daughter has been safe until now," Mab replied.

"She has been happy. Why have you come for her now? You promised not to contact her until she was eighteen. That's not until tomorrow."

"She was living with vampires and you allowed it."

"I did no such thing. My stupid wife was the one who sent her here while I was away on business. It wasn't until recently I found that out by returning home."

"Papa!" Richard turned at the familiar voice. Boston landed on his back with her arms around his neck. She laughed. "Why are you here, Papa?"

Richard unwound her arms and pulled her in front of him. He laughed at the clothing she was wearing. He honestly wasn't surprised. Being full Fae, she was slim yet tall. Her fire riot of curls made her look ethereal and her big green eyes were full of something he couldn't fathom.

"I'm here to collect you. Let's go home, Boston," he replied. A big smile came across her face. "Are you ready?"

"Yep."

"Wait a minute," Mab said angrily. She stalked forward and grabbed Boston by the arm. "You will not take my daughter. I have lived seventeen years without her and I will not do it again."

Boston scowled at the hand on her arm. She grabbed her birthmother's arm and twisted viciously. Fire erupted from her fingers, scorching the queen's tender, winter skin. She jerked back with a scream.

"What have you done?" she asked.

"I'm the one who did this," Boston said as she pulled the gauze from her head. There was an ugly wound in the shape of a V on her forehead. "I'm the one who caused the tree to fall. I unconsciously absorbed Akatsuki's power and used it in my sleep. But you will not harm anyone in this school, student or not."

"You can absorb energy?" Kaname asked.

"She's been able to do it since she was a little girl. That's the reason we kept erasing her memories of meetings in Ireland. She absorbed energy from the Fae. I had to make sure she didn't do it again. So I erased her memories of that time," Richard said. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Let's go."

"Wait!" Akatsuki said as they turned away. Boston turned back. "So you're going to leave just like that? Without even saying goodbye?"

"It's better for everyone, especially you," she replied. "It's better that I leave and go off on my own. I won't be in anyone's way and I won't hurt anyone. I won't steal your energy anymore."

He caught her arm as she turned away. "Do you really think that matters to me? That I give a damn about the energy you steal or that you're a fairy?" She made a face at the word fairy. "I don't. None of that has meant anything. All I wanted was to be with you. Live alongside you."

Boston smiled and unwound herself from him. She took a step back and faced him. "I'm sorry, Akatsuki, but I must leave. I don't belong here. We all know that. But I don't belong in the Fae realm either. I was raised here and here is where I will stay."

"What will you do?" Kaname asked.

She stopped moving to look at him. "I guess I'll wander around for a bit. There's nothing much left for me to do. I'll goof off and be human for a while. Then when I feel like it, I'll go live on some uncharted island for the rest of my existence."

"What about children?" Mab asked. "Don't want to allow your descendants to know who you are? Who I am?"

That made Boston made. The windows in the room shattered. "I will not let my children know who you are at all. You gave me up out of fear that the Summer Court would find out about me. That's cowardly. If I ever have children, they will never know of the Fae realm or that their grandmother is a queen. Let's not forget that I will never be your heir."

"Well played," Yuki said. She smiled when the girl looked at her. "Take care of yourself. Keep in touch with us if you can."

Boston smiled and turned away. There was no goodbye to any of them. She wasn't going to say it because she didn't know if she'd seen them again. So instead she took the arm of her father and walked out the door.

"Well, Akatsuki, what are you going to do now?" Ruka asked when everyone had dispersed.

Akatsuki turned from the door and headed up the stairs. "I'll find her again sometime. She can't run very far unless she wills it. She didn't will it."