"For it is in passing that we achieve rebirth. Through this we become a beacon of hope and salvation to protect all. Infinite in time, and ever changing by the past, I release your soul, and by my heart, shelter thee."

As she held Nevica in her arms, Aurum's aura began to glow a deep cerulean blue. The color of her very soul having been changed by the God of Light as he sent her back in time. Her aura flowed into Nevica, reaching out for the core of her being, and igniting the spark that lay dormant in her soul.

Suddenly, as the last word left her mouth, Nevica's aura began to similarly glow a bright ice blue, a wave of calm washing over the panicking girl, snapping her out of her panic attack in an instant.

Aurum smiled concernedly as she felt Nevica relax, the girl slowly stopped shaking, her repeated words of panic ceasing altogether.

As Nevica appeared to calm, Aurum spoke softly, "Hey coffee girl…"

Nevica sniffled, bringing her arms up to wipe her eyes while turning to meet Aurum's gaze, "A-Aurum? H-how… w-w-wh-y?"

Aurum hugged her tighter, "Something felt off at the park. As soon as I got home I thought to go check up on you; Cobalt is downstairs with your mother, she let me up."

Nevica choked back a sob, "I-i'm sorry-y, I-"

Aurum ran her fingers through Nevica's soft black hair in a soothing motion, "Shhh, you're okay, nobody is going to hurt you. I'm here Nevica."

Nevica leaned into Aurum and let out a strangled sob, devolving into tears as she cried into Aurum's arms. Minutes passed, and soon nearly a half hour had gone by. Not long after though, Nevica's tears began to dry out, the worst already passed.

As she felt her crying come to a stop, she began to try to explain herself, "I-i uh… uhm, sorry um… I… Think I'm being stalked? T-there's this… person… ever since the other day. They've been writing things down about me… people I know… people I, uh… care about." Nevica glanced up to meet Aurum's concerned eyes before looking towards the floor.

"They wrote it all down… then they… they put it in my room." Nevica shakily stood up, grabbing the leather bound journal from where she had dropped it, opening it up and showing Aurum… Who saw nothing.

To Aurum's eyes, the journal wasn't filled with words, instead, each page was covered in illustrations, each one different, but familiar.

Aurum spotted an illustration of her earrings, and one of crescent rose, another of a small, strikingly familiar rose pendant, one of her in her outfit, another of her brandishing crescent rose. Speaking slowly, Aurum began, "Nevica? These pages… there's no text… All I see is drawings… of me?"

Nevica's eyes widened, "N-No! That's N-NOT what I see!"

Aurum tilted her head, "What do you mean? You see text there?"

Nevica nodded rapidly, "Yes! Really, really fucking weird text!"

"Read some to me." Aurum replied in a calming voice.

Nevica looked back at the book, then read out some lines, "Aurum Roseã Lazuli, Age 24… there's a question mark there. I don't think you told me your middle name, but it's here… carrying on, there's the word alias, with a colon, then just… garbled text, it looks like it's smudged out or… corrupted. There's some stuff about you, your nickname, 'Golden Death', then there's a line that says 'something seems off about her, like she knows more than she should, or has some…' There's more garbled text, then 'component to her…"

Aurum's brow slowly began to furrow as she listened, this was stuff that Nevica shouldn't… no couldn't have known about. But what Nevica said next really shook her.

"Then there's this section labeled 'Roles', Your roles are: Huntress, 'Garbled text' Traveling Hero, and Savior of 'Garbled Text' Twelve."

Aurum's heart sank, there was no way Nevica could ever know about that. A slight panic in her tone, Aurum quickly spoke aloud, "Rose!"

Nevica noticed the change instantly. She was intimately familiar with the sounds of her room, the noise of traffic outside, the restaurant downstairs, the constant whir of the air conditioning. So when the noises all ground to a halt, it felt surreal… But not quite as surreal as what happened next.

Blue smoke began to pour out from Aurum's Earrings, and, as it had many times before it coalesced into the form of Rose, who, because she had an audience, gave her grand entrance, cracking her back and stretching while spinning lackidaisily in the air, "Aahhh, Aurum… and a guest! What can I do for you?"

Aurum glanced at Nevica, surprise coming to her face as she realized that Nevica wasn't excluded, she was witnessing Rose just the same as Aurum herself was. Speaking quickly, Aurum explained, "U-Uhm! Nevica… This is… a friend… Gah freakin… screw it… Nevica, will you believe me if I tell you something… abso-fucking-lutely insane?"

Nevica, who was now less scared and panicky, and more extremely confused, nodded slowly, "uhhh, suuure…"

Aurum sighed heavily. "Magic is real."

At Nevica's blank face, Aurum continued cautiously, "Magic is real… and, there are six magical artifacts in the world. Each one summons a spirit made of basically pure magic that can do a super powerful task for whoever summons them. This is Rose, the spirit in my artifact, The Relic of Hope."

Nevica robotically turned her head to look at Rose, who floated three feet off of the ground while lying on her back, idly humming to herself while holding her head in her arms and crossing her feet, her hair falling to the floor, and her whole body emitting a pool of blue and gold smoke which slowly dissipated as more appeared.

Noticing the attention, Rose raised a hand and waved with a smile."Hi! I'm Rose, Nice to meet you!" Rose rolled over, resting her head on her hands and kicking her feet up and idly swaying them in the air, "Aurum's thought alot about you this past week, It's been real fun listening in on her thoughts, It's good to finally meet the 'Strikingly beautiful coffee girl' in person. I gotta say Aurum, you didn't upsell at all, she's quite the catch!"

Nevica's blank stare became more vacant, and Aurum chided her while blushing intensely, "Rose! Now is not the time! The girl just discovered magic is real, and you're teasing us?!"

Rose giggled lightly, "Heh, yeah… Okay though, I'll stop…" Rose sat up, then planted her feet on the ground, "Hey Nevica?"

Nevica barely reacted. Rose grimaced, "I uh… might have gone a bit far… here."

A wisp of blue energy slowly rose from Rose's hand, rising up and collecting by her face. Rose then blew the energy towards Nevica, smiling as she watched it sink into the girl's vacant stare.

A few seconds passed, and the light returned to Nevica's eyes. Slowly, she turned to Rose, "What… what was that? What did you just do?"

Rose smiled, "Sorry… I might have gone a bit overboard, I forgot how weird it is for first timers to find out about magic. That was a fortitude spell, I simply temporarily increased your capacity to process mental stress."

Nevica nodded slowly, "Ookay…" Turning to Aurum, Nevica spoke, "So… Magic… Artifacts…" Nevica raised the journal in her lap. "Is… this one of them?"

Rose, who had once again began floating while sitting down with her legs crossed, drifted closer while leaning in for a look, "hmmmm, No… but it is a product of one of them."

Nevica tilted her head, "A product? So… the actual artifact made this?"

Rose nodded, "Do you have anything that's the same color scheme as me? Bright turquoise and gold?"

Nevica thought for a minute before standing suddenly, walking over to her shelf and grabbing her necklace from its resting spot. Holding it out for Rose to see, she asked, "Is this one of them?"

Rose saw the Necklace, and instantly recognized it, her brow furrowing slightly. "Yes. That's the Relic of Progress… Can you… explain why you felt the need to call me Aurum, Nevica?"

After several minutes of explanation, and Nevica nearly having another panic attack in the process, Rose held up a hand and brought the other to the bridge of her nose, shaking her head slowly and sighing heavily, "hmmmmmm, Alright. I'll uh. Just… One moment."

Then, with a faint 'pop' Rose disappeared with zero fanfare, though strangely, the sounds from outside remained gone, time seemingly not resuming as it normally would with Rose gone.

Minutes passed, and a short while later, faint words could be heard from the region where Rose had disappeared. "-w ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OW! Rooooose! Whaaaat!"

Nevica's face fell, is that… Farran? Then, Rose popped back into existence with a rush of air, though this time she had a flat face, a slightly furrowed brow, and her fingers holding on to the ear of another spirit. The other spirit was 5 foot three, with a slender build. They had medium length azure hair with a single purple streak running down the middle bang, with their bangs reaching their eyebrows in an 'M' shape. They also had a longer bang on the left that went down to their cheek, while the rest of their hair was swept lazily to the right. Their irises were a light blue, while their pupils were a dark purple.

The other spirit was wincing as Rose held her tight grip on their ear. Though they stopped as Rose released it, their face scanning the room and then falling quickly, their expression becoming one of absolute dread in an instant.

Rose spoke tersely, "Okay. This is Alex, they're the spirit in charge of the Relic of Progress, their last name, is Farran. This is who was stalking you, Nevica."

The newly named Alex's face dropped even further, the androgynous spirit shrinking as Rose gave them an angry glance. "Alex will explain later how your relic works, and they will apologize profusely for playing games with you."

Once again Alex shrunk under Rose's anger. Rose continued, "Now, I hope that they'll give an apology worth accepting, because otherwise…" Rose's face darkened, a downright terrifying look on her face appearing for a moment, before being replaced with a faux cheery demeanor, "But anyways, If you have no further need of me Aurum, bye now!"

Rose's face flashed with intense anger for a split second, then she disappeared. Aurum and Nevica felt the sounds of the world return not long after.

The silence then became awkward as both of them processed what just happened, then, breaking the ice, Nevica spoke. "So… What does… What does this mean for me? I… I-i uhm, know you're a huntress and all… and now magic? And apparently I uh, my family's heirloom is… a magical relic of some kind?"

Aurum closed her eyes and sighed, leaning over to hug Nevica from the side, "I'm sorry to say Nevica… But I think you might be in the big leagues now…"

Nevica's heart fell, "W-what do you mean?"

Continuing, Aurum spoke softly, "When I walked in, I didn't know what to do, how to respond… I've had panic attacks before, but in that moment… I was lost, so I did the first thing that came to mind. I unlocked your Aura."

Nevica gasped slightly, but Aurum pressed on, "Now that alone would be fine, you're a city girl, one more aura unlocked isn't that big a deal, and you'd be more protected anyways… but… owning a relic…"

Aurum sighed deeply, leaning back and turning to look Nevica in the eyes, "There are six relics in the world… There's mine, Hope, yours, Progress, and four more: Knowledge, Creation, Choice, and Destruction. Those four are stored away in vaults, but ours are out there, free for the taking.

"I'm a special case, my relic didn't exist until about three years ago… and I chose to take on the burden that owning it carries a long time before that… but yours… your relic, as I'm sure Alex will explain, is going to compel you to be a hero. You won't have the choice I did. I sought this life out, but… It's being forced on you.

"I'm… not going to sugarcoat it… Your life just got a whole lot harder."

Nevica had another panic attack.

Aurum was there to help her, hugging her tight and whispering comforting words as Nevica bawled into her arms.

The panic attack quickly passed though, not lasting long with Aurum's ministrations keeping Nevica grounded. Sadly, when Aurum said that she should get going, Nevica fell into another, her distress compounding and panic building once again.

Again, Aurum stayed with her, soothing her until she had calmed down. By then, it was quite late, and Aurum left to go check on Cobalt, who had fallen asleep downstairs.

A few days later, the day before Aurum was set to leave, Aurum received a text from Nevica:

Coffee Girl: 'Hey… Do you want to grab lunch again?'

Aurum hummed to herself in response, a slight blush creeping onto her face as she texted back.

Aurum: 'How about lunch and dinner? We could spend the evening together?'

Nevica took a while to respond, her speech bubble appearing and disappearing several times. Finally, she sent her response:

Coffee Girl: 'Sure! That sounds great, meet me at the Changing Seasons?'

Aurum smiled nervously and sent a positive reply back. Since it was still morning, Aurum took Cobalt to the daycare not long after, smiling as she watched him run off to greet little Ruby, who was already there.

Then she was off to meet Nevica at the Changing Seasons, more than a little nervous about this idea for an 'extended date. 'Come on, don't psych yourself out. It's just a normal date! Except… longer.' It was true that in part she was doing this to try and help calm Nevica down prior to her leaving, but more than anything, she just wanted to spend as much time with her as she could.

Maybe that's why she was nervous. She couldn't help but wonder just how much time they'd spend together today, and what they'd be doing together. She was still afraid of coming off as a dunce to Nevica, even if she knew by this point that the other woman didn't care about some of her more clumsy traits. 'If anything, she… likes them.'

Either way, no matter how her mind erred, she put one foot in front of the other until she reached the Changing Seasons, a building that had become all too familiar to her by this point, even in the relatively short timeframe she'd been in Vale.

Or this version of Vale, at least.

Nevica was waiting for her inside, sitting at an otherwise empty booth, already dressed and ready to go. She wore a green winter jacket with a fur collar over a brown overshirt, and she could see the strap to a black tank-top underneath that. She also wore a pair of black pants and matching boots.

While the outfit looked great, Aurum couldn't help but wonder about it. She smiled as Nevica saw her, and said, "Hey," as she approached. "Love the outfit, but… isn't it a bit warm out?"

Nevica smiled back at her, and at the question she nodded. "Yeah, but… I dunno. Ever since my aura was unlocked, I've been feeling kinda cold all the time. It doesn't really bother me per se, but I've been wearing warmer clothes just because of it."

That puzzled Aurum slightly. She couldn't help but wonder, 'The prelude to a semblance, maybe?' but knew that now wasn't the time to try to figure that out. Instead, she said, "I'm sure we'll figure out what the cause is eventually. So, where did you want to go?"

Her partner stood up and said, "Oh, there's this place called 'Another Cracked Egg' a few blocks away. It's got some really good food. Trust me, I think you'll love it."

Aurum nodded and Nevica took the lead, while she herself was glad that she seemed to be more calm than she was before. Of course, she knew that Nevica was probably still incredibly anxious on the inside, she just hoped that she'd be fine on her own, when the time came.

The trip to the cafe was filled with small talk, which was admittedly not Aurum's strong suit, yet it came easier when it was with Nevica. She could talk to her about just about anything and enjoy it, she was sure of that. Maybe it was because of how close they became, or maybe it was just Nevica herself. Maybe it was both of them. Either way, the result was the same.

They arrived at the cafe, and Aurum found that it was a quaint little place, a lot more of what you'd expect out of a cafe than the Changing Seasons, not serving nearly as much as they did.

They were able to find a place to sit fairly easily, and it seemed for the first minute or so Nevica was anxious, glancing around every so often as if expecting Alex to reappear any moment. Aurum was certainly hoping that they were able to patch up this whole thing—to say Alex had fucked up would be like saying that General during the Faunus Rights Revolution made just a small mistake by forgetting Faunus could see in the dark.

However, after those minutes had passed, Nevica looked at her and smiled slightly as she asked, "So… what're you planning to do in Vacuo?"

Aurum shifted slightly and smiled back. "Oh, I have some loose ends I need to tie up, and some other business to handle. I'll be coming back in about three months to visit and check up on you." Staying away for even that relatively short amount of time was nerve-wracking to her, she knew how scared Nevica was after all, but necessity dictated it, and she couldn't shirk her duties so easily.

Nevica nodded, seeming relieved as she visibly relaxed some. "Oh, good. I'll be looking forward to you coming back, and… I'll make sure to text you plenty while you're gone." She smiled a bit brighter. "Sounds like a long time, but I know it'll just be a blink."

Aurum nodded, her own smile lighting to match Nevica's. "Yeah, it won't be long, I'm sure." She had her own question to ask in turn, shifting slightly as her smile softened along with her voice. "Are you going to be okay while I'm gone? I know this is all a lot to just… leave you with."

"Ah…" Nevica's smile diminished slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I hope so. I think so. It's all still so scary, but… I'll try my best to keep it together, if not for me, then for you. Though… I do have another question. Cobalt… is he…" Nevica looked around before leaning forward and whispering, "Magic?"

She had honestly almost allowed herself to forget about that. It was always in the back of her mind, just buried deep with a lot of other things she preferred to not think about on a daily basis. Still, she didn't mind answering. She nodded and whispered back, "He is. I don't know the full extent of it, but he is."

A waiter came around and gave them their menus and left them to order, and the conversation moved away from the more serious topics for a while while they discussed what they wanted to eat and what drinks they'd both be getting. Nevica seemed to relax more as time went on, seemingly able to convince herself that nothing weird was going to happen to them while they were at the cafe.

By the time that was decided, the waiter came back and took their orders before disappearing to go and get their drinks. Nevica decided to ask another question, "So… what's it like in Vacuo?"

That was a question Aurum had answered before, but she knew that Nevica was distracted and likely looking to keep herself from slipping back into anxiety. She smiled as she answered, "It's nothing like Vale, but it's not a horrible place either. It's got its own… charms. Once you get past the searing heat, mostly lawless city, and vendors constantly trying to hock stuff." She shrugged slightly, casting her gaze out to the city. "I… much prefer Vale. I never realized how much I missed it before I took this vacation."

Nevica nodded along to her explanation, saying in response, "I've always kind of wanted to visit. I've got family there, just some cousins and an aunt and uncle. Still, I don't think I could ever see it taking the place of Vale in my heart. This place is just… my home."

The waiter came around again with their drinks, and after that the conversation shifted more into smalltalk and general questions about what both had planned for while they were apart. Nevica seemed intent on just trying to keep up a normal life, while Aurum herself knew that she had a lot of business to tend to, as she had stated before, but hoped that it wouldn't take her any longer than she wanted it to.

Their food came in short order after that, and they were instead occupied by eating and drinking while occasionally passing comments between one another. Time passed all too swiftly, but by the time they were finished and ready to pay the bill, it was time to go and get Cobalt.

So, after splitting the bill, they headed to do just that. The walk to the ferry didn't take long, more small talk filling the air as the two made their way to patch, with Nevica remarking as they boarded the ferry, "You know, even though I've lived in Vale my whole life, I've never actually been to Patch."

Aurum chuckled in response, quipping, "Better late than never I suppose. You'll love it, I'm sure, though we won't be there long."

Sure enough, they were soon on Patch, and a short walk later, they were at the daycare where Cobalt was. Inside, Aurum once again found Cobalt playing with a young Ruby Rose, the two babbling on to each-other about whatever they could talk about.

Though when Aurum and Nevica entered the room, Ruby pointed to her and Cobalt turned, a happy smile on his face, "Mama! Miss Neveca!"

Cobalt turned to Ruby, "Ruby! This is my mama's friend, Miss Ne- Miss Nivec? No, Miss Nevica!"

Little Ruby waved happily, a block still in her hand from the tower she and Cobalt had been building, "Hi Miss Auwum and Miss Nevca!"

Nevica cooed slightly at the adorable display, while Aurum smiled and picked up Cobalt, making her arm into a chair for him to sit on, "You have a good time kiddo?"

Cobalt nodded before looking down to Ruby, "I gotta go now Ruby! Byee!"

Ruby pouted slightly, and Aurum could tell why, she set Cobalt down and let the girl hug him and say her own adorable 'Goobwye' before the trio set off back to Vale. Soon they were back in the city proper once again. The three decided together to go to the park once more, Aurum and Nevica chatting on the bench while Cobalt played with the other children on the playground.

The three had a great time, talking and laughing all the way until dinner time. They decided to go to a moderately popular novelty restaurant named 'Marigold's Garage', the restaurant being named after the inventor of the modern car, Harold Marigold.

The restaurant was themed with old cars and Marigold memorabilia, it had unique decorations like benches made out of the tailgates of old classic Marigold pickup trucks, the bathroom sinks were wheels, where the rim was the bowl of the sink, and the faucet was a dust-fuel nozzle.

The coolest part were the old Marigold streetcars that were up on poles above the bar and one of the tables, the hoverpads idly pulsing and the exhaust emitting steam via a smoke machine.

Aurum and Nevica, neither of whom had ever been there before, were impressed with the display. But Cobalt was ecstatic, taking in the decorations with childlike wonder.

The three were sat fairly quickly, getting their smalltalk on while waiting for their food, Cobalt joining in on the small talk, starting to feel more comfortable around Nevica, at least enough to speak up when he wanted to let them know he knew what they were talking about.

For example, Aurum offhandedly mentioned that she was in the upper 0.01% of mission takers for hunters overall, and Cobalt chimed in, "My mama's the best! She kicks the bad guys!" Happily bragging to Nevica about how cool he thought his mother was.

Nevica and Aurum also asked Cobalt about his day at the daycare, where he spewed about his new friends, and how he was getting Ruby to talk to the other kids too. Happily babbling about his day while his mother and Nevica cooed at his adorableness.

Soon enough though, their meal was there, the smalltalk and conversation slowing down while they ate. Eventually they were finished with their food, and the three began to head out.

As they reached the exit however Nevica paused, a light blush creeping onto her face as a thought crossed her mind. Stuttering slightly, she began to voice it, "U-uhm, Aurum? W-would it… uh… Can I go back to your hotel room with you?"

Aurum's face ignited a brilliant red, she immediately stammered out, "W-w-wh-what?"

Nevica, gaining some confidence with Aurum's reaction, repeated herself, "Can I come with you back to your hotel room? I'd like to spend the night together."

Aurum's blush somehow got deeper, "B-but, we have Cobalt! It's not like I have an overnight care place or anything…"

"Then we'll just keep it cool tonight, no need to rush right?" Nevica replied coolly.

Still with a raging blush, Aurum gulped and nodded slowly, "uhm… Okay then… that sounds…" Images raced through Aurum's head, of the last time she spent the night with someone, the night of Cobalt's conception. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and replied, "T-that sounds wonderful."

The walk back to the hotel was tense, the air between the two slightly awkward and anticipatory. Cobalt was fine just humming to himself and kicking pebbles down the street, seemingly blind to the strange feelings between his mother and her newfound partner.

Once they did get into the room, Aurum told Cobalt to get ready for bed, and the boy began doing so on his own. Meanwhile, Nevica dressed down, staying in her tank top and underwear, but taking everything else off, borrowing a spare pair of sweats from Aurum, who noticed, but didn't seem to mind.

Aurum did much the same, keeping on her bra and sweatpants before crawling into bed, soon joined by Nevica. By now the awkward air had cleared, and there was only a slight spark of anticipation between the two. Cobalt had gotten into his PJs and into bed, already fast asleep by the time Aurum and Nevica had finished getting ready for bed themselves.

The lights turned off, and both of them with heavy blushes on their face, the two tried to get to sleep, enjoying the feeling of one another's weight and warmth in the bed alongside their own.

Half an hour later, after much tossing and turning, Aurum rolled over, turning to face Nevica, whispering, she spoke, "You still awake?"

"...Yeah" Came Nevica's reply after a short pause.

Aurum scooted forwards in the bed, pressing up against Nevica's back, wrapping an arm around her, "I can't sleep… I think I got a bit ahead of myself getting so excited…"

Nevica rolled over, facing Aurum in the bed, "I think we both did a bit, It's not like we can do anything beyond this with Cobalt here."

Aurum brought a hand up to her hair, tucking a stray lock behind her ear, "Right…"

Nevica chuckled, and she leaned in and pecked Aurum on the lips, "Cheer up baby blue, it's not like there's not next time…"

Aurum looked down, her blush obvious even in the dim light, "But… I am leaving soon… and you're anxious over the whole Alex thing… I don't want our last night for a few months to be so… lackluster?"

Smiling gently, Nevica replied, "Roll over Aurum."

Aurum obliged confusedly, before feeling the warm embrace of Nevica from behind, her arm reaching around and holding her by the stomach. Nevica reached her neck down and laid a kiss behind Aurum's ear, "Go to sleep baby blue, it's only lackluster if you let it be."

Aurum sighed, sinking into Nevica's embrace, letting her own worries fall away for a night in Nevica's arms, while Nevica did the same, feeling oddly powerful and confident about her future with Aurum drifting to sleep in her arms.

Soon, sleep found them both, a cold comfort filling their dreams.

Morning came slowly, Nevica's mind was muddied at first, her first feelings being warmth, her body was wrapped in a soft cocoon, something warm was pressed up against her chest, slowly moving in a rhythmic up and down. Aurum, breathing softly.

Nevica felt that her right arm was numb, having fallen asleep due to Aurum's head resting on it through the pillow, in her left hand was something soft, malleable and warm… Alarm shot through Nevica like a lightning bolt, her whole body jerking as she realized what she had done in her sleep.

Then, she heard a faint chuckle, followed by Aurum's voice: "Having fun there Snowfall?"

Nevica burned a brilliant red as she realized she was still softly kneading Aurum's breast with her hand. Quickly she pulled her hand away, out from underneath Aurum's bra, Stammering she replied, "O-Oh my gods I-i, I'm so sorry!"

Aurum laughed and sat up, a brilliant and wonderful sound that was music to Nevica's ears, "PFF, I woke up like an hour ago, you're fine! If I had a problem with it I would have stopped you then."

Nevica began to laugh in response, her embarrassment and dread fading with lighthearted mirth. "Well, not so lackluster now, second base is an accomplishment now isn't it."

Laughing again, Aurum replied happily, "Yeah, Guess so!"

The two continued laughing for a while before their mirth settled, Aurum getting up and beginning to get dressed while Nevica stayed comfy in the bed. Soon though, she too had to get up and dressed, Cobalt also rising shortly after due to his mother shaking him awake.

As they began to head out, Aurum turned to Nevica, a pensive look on her face, "So… I guess this is bye for a while? I have my flight later today… hmm, Nevica?"

Nevica hummed curiously, and Aurum continued, "I'd… I'd like to give you this. Wear it please, and if you ever feel in danger, just call Rose's name, she'll protect you."

Aurum reached up and grabbed one of her earrings, holding it out to Nevica, who gingerly picked it up and inspected it, realizing what Aurum was saying by giving her this. How much trust it took to do so.

Nevica reached forwards and grabbed Aurum by the collar, pulling her into a deep kiss that lasted for a good two minutes, leaving Aurum completely breathless, Nevica, panting slightly herself, quipped as she turned to walk away while waving, "See you soon Baby Blue, your girlfriend is looking forward to more of those!"

Aurum blushed while waving, and Cobalt waved as well, recognizing that Nevica was saying goodbye yelling adorably as she walked away, "Bye Miss Neveca!"

The flight back to Vacuo was just as short as the one there, though this one felt like an eternity. The night prior, and that morning hung in Aurum's mind, as well as Cobalt's happiness while there, how much he enjoyed just being in daycare… Aurum's mind drifted to her mission, how little she really knew about Vacuo, how much more she could do from Vale…

Her thoughts were doubtlessly influenced by the fact she had met Nevica, 'my Girlfriend… I could…'

By the end of the flight, Aurum had made up her mind. Her ambitions for Vacuo would be changing, and her ambitions for Vale changing even more. The school year was just about to start, but Aurum had different plans.

As soon as she was back in her apartment in Shade, she walked up to Theodore's office, where she knew he would be. Walking in, she saw him alone at his desk idly doing paperwork while humming to himself.

When he noticed Aurum walking in, he looked up with a smile, "Ah, Aurum! How did the Vacation go?"

Aurum's mind filled with thoughts of Nevica once again, a smile coming to her face, the most relaxed she'd been while in Vacuo in years. Sighing, then steeling herself, she made her choice.

"Theodore, you've been a good friend, and the last few years have been great… I quit."

/-/

The one on one date section just prior to picking up Cobalt was written by ToastyAuthor