Nathaniel sat back in his leather arm chair as he took a slow drag from his cigar, he held up a piece of paper that was just delivered to him not too long ago. It was nothing more than a simple bank statement, however the contents in this statement were interesting. It seems that that a small sum of money was withdrawn from the account back in March. This is the clue that he had waited patiently for.

"So that's where you are hiding." He whispered to himself and then exhaled a stream of smoke from his nostrils. He placed the document down on his desk and stamped the butt of his cigar out, he reached for the sterling bell that sat on his desk and rung it once. Nobby the house elf entered the study.

"Yes master." He said with a deep bow.

"Nobby," Nathaniel stood from his desk, "I would like you to pack my bags and summon the driver; I will be going away for a few days and it requires me to use Muggle transportation, I need to go to the airport."

"Very well sir." The house elf bowed once more and vanished from sight.

Nathaniel made a bee line to his bedroom where he found Leonora cradling Artemisia in her arms, she was eyeing Nobby who was neatly folding his clothes and placing them into his suitcase.

"Going somevhere?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Yes my love." He placed a kiss on her forehead and smoothed down their daughter's hair, the baby began to giggle and coo at the sight of her father.

"You smell like smoke." She wrinkled her nose. "Ver are you going?"

"Moscow."

"Vhy? Vhen did you decide this?"

"Not 10 minutes ago…I found her."

Leonora's eyes softened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure.

She reached out to hold his hand. "Then you must go and bring her back."

He nodded, "will you be okay with the children while I'm away."

"Trust me my love, ve vill survive." She smiled in jest she adjusted the baby so she was facing her father

Nathaniel bent down and placed another kiss on his wife's forehead and then kissed her lips. "Thank you." He whispered.

"For vhat?"

"For being understanding." He kissed her once more and bed down to kiss his daughter's hair. He grabbed his coat and swung it over his shoulders. "I'll come back as soon as I can." Nobby handed him his suitcase.

"Be careful." Leonora pleaded.

"I will." Nathaniel turned towards the bedroom door, "oh and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Please don't tell anyone where I've gone, I can do without the headache."

"Of course."

Stuffing his passport into his breast pocket Nathanial exited the room and hastily walked down the stairs to the front door. He was a man on a mission. He wasn't sure what Aurora's reaction will be when she sees him, he prays that she will listen to reason and come back with him…but the odds of that happening was slim to none. His sister was stubborn, once she has made up her mind there is no reasoning with her. All he can do at the very least is talk to her and see what is really going on and why she took off like that.

…Why Russia of all places? It's such a pain in the ass to get too, the use of magic is heavily restricted there; even the use of magic in the home was limited. The Cadillac pulled up in front of him and he got in the back.

"How are you doing today Mr. Pontellier?"

"I'm fine Andrew."

"Where are we going today?"

"The airport."

"Very well."

Nathaniel buckled his seatbelt as the car pulled out from the drive way, this was going to be a long trip.

XXXX

Farlan stood outside the studio holding two cups of coffee in his hands. He can hear the faint sound of music coming from inside. He looked down at his wrist watch, 4:45 she'll be out soon. There was nothing weird about him waiting for her like this, he was here on his brother's orders anyway; he wanted him to follow up with her to see how her knee is working out. And he happened to pick up some coffee, it was on the way anyway, there's nothing inappropriate about it!

The door swung open and a very sweaty flushed looking Aurora stepped out. She eyed him for a brief second.

"What brings you here?" She asked.

"Well hello to you too." He said and handed her the cup of coffee.

"Thanks?" Aurora looked at him confused as she took the cup into her hands.

"It's just coffee, I promise I didn't fill it with poison or anything."

"I switched to tea about a week ago, but thank you."

Farlan shrugged. "To each their own."

Aurora took a sip from her coffee. "So is there a reason for this visit?"

"Yes, I'm here for a follow up. How's the knee feeling?"

"Fine…"

"…"

"Is that all?"

"Er..yes…"

"Okay then…I guess I'll see you around…or not." Aurora turned to leave.

Farlan stared after her as she walked away, "We should have lunch sometime! You know to catch up!" He called out. Aurora kept walking but responded by raising her right arm and waved. Farlan smiled, she agreed.

Aurora hastily walked back to Esfir's apartment, ever since she recovered Farlan began to act strangely and she had a hunch why. This wasn't the first time he came to see her, and no matter how hard she tried to shrug him off he would just keep coming back. What could possibly happen if they went out for lunch, if anything she's getting a free meal out of it?

Once inside she threw her duffle bag on the floor and join Esfir on the couch.

"How vas it today?" Esfir asked not looking up from her newspaper.

"Fine, I feel a lot lighter on my feet now."

"Good." Esfir continued to read the column.

"So…something interesting happened today."

"Vhat?" Esfir put down her newspaper, she had a taste for gossip, "should I make tea?"

Aurora chuckled, "no, no it's not that big of a deal."

"Okay, tell me."

"I saw Farlan today-".

"Again?"

"Yes, again."

"Vhat did he vant?"

"To have lunch?" Aurora shrugged.

"Yeah, I vonder vhat's on the menu, your pussy?!" Esfir picked up her newspaper to continue reading ignoring Aurora's scandalized expression.

"N-no! How can you be so crass?!" Her cheeks were heating up from embarrassment.

"Vhat? It's probably the only reason he comes to talk to you."

"Maybe…" Aurora said thoughtfully.

"Are you going to give it to him?!" Esfir smirk anticipating another scandalized look from her friend.

"Of course not!" Aurora stood abruptly. "I barely even know the guy! And what harm is there in having lunch?!"

"Nothing, nothing-"Esfir was trying to stifle a laugh, she loved getting Aurora all worked up; it made for great entertainment. "But-"

"But what?"

"Don't go to lunch."

"Why?"

"Drink instead."

"…"

"Easier for you to land under him vith vodka." Esfir let out an audible laugh that filled the room when Aurora grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her, clearly she didn't have the stomach for lude jokes.

"I'm never telling you anything ever again!"

Aurora huffed and withdrew to her room. She threw herself onto her bed and rolled over to lay flat on her back. Esfir didn't know what she was talking about, it's only lunch, big deal! She's had lunch with Wyatt many times but did that mean that he wanted to get into her pants…maybe Wyatt was a bad example, he wants to sleep with everyone. But there was-there was…Draco…also another bad example. Looking over at her nightstand Aurora let out a deep sigh, there was Draco's ring sitting on top of the letter she was supposed to post to him months ago. The biggest lie she would tell herself every day is that she would mail that letter to him, but she never does. She's doesn't have the courage to do it. Why should she, he probably hates her for what she had done and probably doesn't want to hear from her. Also if anyone discovered that he got a letter from her they would attempt to track her down, it's too risky. She let out another sigh and rolled back onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow. She was beginning to feel guilty all over again.

XXXX

Nathaniel sat in the restaurant pouring over a map of the city. He's been here for about a week and he has made no progress, all he knew was that Aurora was somewhere in this city.

"…such a pain in the ass…" He muttered to himself as he took another sip from his whiskey. He folded up the map and placed it in his brief case, he then pulled out the quarterly reports for Bijoux Impériaux. Just because he was out of the office didn't mean he had to cease all of his work. Reginald was busy enough with his own work, and Emerson is just irresponsible in general. Life is just a big joke to him, he's just flying through without any consequences. He dropped out of university and now he's off on some island somewhere, he only ever comes back whenever he runs out of money. Their father is getting sick of it and frankly he was getting tired of bailing him out figuratively and literally…no wonder Leonora didn't like him, Emerson was just a big man-child! Nathaniel let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his eyes in frustration, he didn't have two children…he had four. Between Etienne and Artemisia, he also had Emerson and Aurora. At this point Reginald is the only one he doesn't have to worry about, the other two have proven to be a bit unstable.

He shuffled with his papers as a few other patrons passed by.

"…how did auditions go?" He heard a passer byer ask in the distance.

"They were fine."

Nathaniel's head snapped up and he looked around; that voice!

"Did you get a call back?"

"Yes I did-"

It was Aurora! Nathaniel turned his body to a clear view of the bar, there she was! She was sitting there with some man. She raised her hand to get the bartender's attention and ordered a drink for herself and the young man that she was with.

"Are you sure it's not too early for vodka?" The man laughed as the bar tender placed their drinks in front of them.

"Who cares, day drinking is fun." Aurora shrugged taking a sip. "Also it's 3 o'clock! It's almost happy hour!"

Nathaniel eyed his sister, looks like she's grown a bit lax since her departure. He turned backed to his papers, he can't talk to her now when she's with a friend. It'll have to be when she's alone. Now that he is aware of her current location he has to find out where she's staying, which shouldn't be any trouble at all since he plans on following her home.

Farlan watched Aurora for a moment before picking up his own drink and taking a sip.

"So…"

"So." She mimicked back.

"How did auditions go?"

"You already asked me that."

"Right, sorry…"

She wasn't very chatty was she, in fact she hardly speaks whenever he's around…not that he was expecting her to after their complicated history.

"I got the part…" Aurora said breaking the silence.

"Did you really?!"

"Yes I did." She couldn't hold back a smile. "I have no idea what your brother did but it worked. My knee feels a lot stronger."

"Good to hear…Can I ask you something?"

"…sure…" Aurora said as she took another slow sip from her vodka.

"Are you still angry with me?"

Aurora raised a condescending eyebrow. "Angry?"

Farlan sighed. "You know about…"

"About how you are a faithless cheater? No not at all." Aurora finished making full eye contact with him.

Her gaze was making him uncomfortable so he looked down at his hands.

"Um…I think you are still angry with me, you are a bit of a grudge holder."

Aurora ground her teeth, suddenly all of those feelings she felt when she had caught him cheating came rushing back to her. He was right and she didn't care to admit it, she was a massive grudge holder. She has never once truly forgiven anyone that has wronged her. She can only forgive partially, but to forgive completely was something she literally could not comprehend, let alone do herself.

"I know we never really had closure-"

"We?" Aurora spat out.

"I mean you never had any closure-so I just want to clear the air and apologize. What I did was very wrong and I really do regret treating you the way that I did." He reached for her hand and held it. "You didn't deserve that, and I'm sorry that I hurt you the way that I did."

"…"

"…"

Aurora pulled her hand free and balled her fisted and punched him with all her might in the arm.

"Ouch!" Farlan cried out and inched away from her, for someone so petite she did pack a good punch. Aurora glared up at him daring him to challenge her.

"I-I deserved that."

"Yes you did." She picked up her glass and finished the rest of her vodka. "You know, I often wondered how I would react if we ever had a chance to sit and talk about this."

"Was punching me involved?"

"Actually punching you would probably have to be the most 'tame' action I would take." Aurora smiled now beginning to feel the effect of the vodka. She felt warm now, and playful.

"Oh really?" Farlan raised a sly eyebrow.

"Yes actually." Aurora scooted closer to him she traced her fingers along the side of his cheek. "I actually wanted to spit right in your face."

"Oh-um-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do that." Her fingers slowly traced down to his neck. "I also wanted to wring that neck of yours until your eyes pop out of their sockets." She looked him directly in the eye and then broke out into giggling fits.

Confused Farlan looked down and saw that she had finished her drink and then looked back up at her. "Did you eat before coming here?"

"Nope!" She raised her hand to getting the bar tender's attention and she pointed at her empty glass. He nodded and fixed her another.

"Should you really be-"

"I don't care." Aurora cut Farlan off as the bar tender handed her, her drink.

"To each their own I guess. But I do want you to know that I really am sorry even though it took me years to realize how much of an ass I was. I lost a perfectly good girl because of it."

"That's unfortunate." Aurora shrugged.

Farlan held Aurora by the elbow as they exited the restaurant, apparently one sniff from a barmaid's apron is enough to get Aurora tipsy.

"I can walk fine." Aurora tried to free herself from his grasp.

"Oh really?"

"Y-yes really?!"

"Okay then." Farlan let go of her elbow and began to walk, and stopped after a few paces and turn back to find Aurora standing completely still staring at the ground. "Is everything alright back there?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes…everything is spinning…"

Farlan walked back and took hold of her elbow. "I told you it was too early for alcohol."

"I-I don't care, I'm a free woman! I can d-do as a please!"

"If you say so. Do you remember the way back to Esfir's apartment?"

"Of course!"

Farlan motioned for her to lead the way and they walked on. Not too far off Nathaniel was behind them making sure to keep a safe distance as he followed the pair.

XXXX

Aurora walked up the stairs to the apartment, it had been a week since she and Farlan had their initial met up and since then her attitude towards him was more positive. He came to call on her a few times and they'd grab a quick cup of coffee or tea after she was done with practice or even a drink but he wouldn't allow her have more than one drink. Funny how her letting out her anger by punching him made her feel a lot better, also the fact that he realizes how much of an ass he is and apologizing did help too. But he did deserve that punch. Not that resorting to violence was a good solution. It's never the answer but she let out years of pent up anger and resentment in that punch so she'll make an exception just this one time.

She reached the door she found a note addressed to her taped to it. It was from Farlan! Her stomach fluttered as she read it, he wanted to meet up with her for a late lunch today. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. She rushed to her room throwing the note and her duffle bag onto her bed. And began to strip as she made her way to the bathroom, she needed to shower.

"Vhat are you doing?" Esfir asked as she saw her half naked friend making her way to the bathroom.

"I-I need to shower…"

"Okay…" Esfir continued to stand at the entrance of her bedroom waiting for an explanation.

"I'm meeting Farlan soon."

"Oh." A smirk formed on Esfir's lips. "Shave." She lifted her hand to her lips holding up her index finger and middle finger forming V and stuck her tongue out between them.

Aurora grimaced. "Ew!"

"You are such virgin. It feels nice."

"Farlan and I are just friends!"

"Okay." Esfir was not convinced.

"No really! We are, there's nothing going on between us!"

"Sure." Esfir shrugged and stepped back into her room.

Aurora huffed, she didn't have time for this.

After a quick shower, Aurora dressed and made her way for the door trying to avoid Esfir. She didn't want to have to defend herself for going to meet with a friend. Luckily Esfir was nowhere in sight so she quickly exited the apartment and rushed down the stairs and out onto the street.

What the hell was the big deal anyway?! Farlan was just a friend, how many times did she have to repeat herself?! But Esfir couldn't be convinced otherwise. Okay maybe she and Farlan have been spending a bit of time with each other but after so many years of bad blood between them why shouldn't they get reacquainted? It's not like she's going to jump into bed with him! For one she didn't trust him in that respect. And yes she may have gotten a bit touchy feely with him the first time they have gone out but that was due to the alcohol she always got "affectionate" when she had a bit much to drink, surely he must know that! She didn't want to give him the wrong impression…was that why she had been seeing him more often? If so she'll clear things up and explain to him that, that's not what she's looking for. Yes that's what she'll tell him, they're just friends.

Once in front of the restaurant she took a deep breath and stepped inside. Her eyes scanned over the tables until she spotted a man wearing a bowler hat, she couldn't see his face because he was reading a newspaper. That's him! He said in his note that he'd be wearing a hat. Her stomach began to flutter a bit, she took another deep breath to calm herself and walked over to him.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting long. I got your note after I came home from training." She explained as she pulled up the chair to take a seat.

He placed the newspaper on the table and Aurora froze in her seat.

"I'm so happy you were able to make it my dear sister." Nathaniel smiled warmly at her.

"H-how did you-"Aurora was having trouble forming the words. What on earth was he doing here, how did he find her?! She was so careful when it came to covering her tracks!

"We can get to that over our meal, my treat!" Nathaniel picked up the menu and smiled once more at his sister. "Now, what do you recommend?"

Aurora's mouth pressed into a thin line and she exhaled slowly through her nose, this can't be good.