Roswell Fanatics

(I like your ideas about Kevin! That was brilliant! Sorry about not posting....I'll try to remedy that now)

*Liz*

It's an absolutely beautiful day for soccer practice. The sun is shining brightly in the cloudless sky, and the air is warm without being overly so. A gentle, refreshing breeze keeps things cool enough for playing active sports. Max has brought along a little bag of orange slices and juice boxes for Aurora and her friends, using his powers a little to keep the contents of the bag cool. I've had to bring a few papers with me to grade...just the last few because I promised my students that I'd have the papers back to them by the next day. I'd hate to let my students down. Thankfully, the stack of papers is a small one, and I won't have to miss much of Aurora's practice as I review them.

We're settled in a comfortable spot on the grass at the side of the field, giving us a perfect view. Max gives me a look as he notices the papers, and I crinkie my nose at him playfully. He laughs and gives me a kiss.

"Max, your daughter will be mortified!" I exclaim with a giggle.

"I'm sure she's not even looking!" OK, he has a point. We both look, and sure enough, Aurora and Ashley are huddled together, while a boy hovers around them. The girls seem to be ignoring him. 'Good for them,' I think, and then laugh at myself for being so protective of them. So this is how Dad felt whenever Max was around....I remember how annoying Dad's protectiveness was, but now suddenly I came to have new empathy for him.

Just then I'm drawn out of these thoughts as Max and I hear Aurora yelling, "Kevin, leave me alone!" I debate the merits of heading over there, but Max makes the decision first.

"Excuse me, Liz."

"Go easy on him," I tell Max with a grin. This should be interesting.

While Max is gone, I work on grading a few papers, since nothing is happening yet on the field. I do look up occasionally, and notice the boy...Kevin... watching Max and the girls. I wonder who that kid is and hope that he's not going to make a habit of bothering Aurora and Ashley.

After I've finished grading a few of the papers (yay! I'm halfway through my small stack!), Max returns. "Everything ok?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I guess so. Just some kid from Lincoln bothering them."

I frown as this report confirms one of the things I'd been worrying about. "i hope he's not some kind of bully."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Max promises. I nod slowly. Why do I have the feeling that we'll be hearing a lot more about this guy over the years?

Soon, the coach divides the kids into two teams. Aurora, Ashley, and that kid Kevin are on one team. Kevin seems to dominate the ball for awhile, not allowing any of his teammates to help out. Didn't anyone ever tell this kid that there's no 'I' in team?

"Can you believe this kid?" Max exclams, voicing the same thoughts.

"Coach is going to have his work cut out for him. Why isn't he doing anything about it?" I wonder aloud. But then, the team goes on water break, and I see coach call Kevin aside. 'Good', I think.

After break, we watch as Aurora and Ashley take their turn dominating the ball. They've been playing together for years, and it's obvious in the way they anticipate each other's moves in a way that borders on uncanny.

We cheer loudly for the girls as their teamwork culminates in Aurora scoring a beautifully-kicked goal. AFterwards, I watched the interaction between Kevin and Aurora, and couldnt' help but be reminded of Michael and Maria....

******************************

"Those two really started out like Michael and Maria," I comment to Max as I turn the page.

"But all that changed," he commented as we took in the next picture, one of Aurora, Ashley, Kevin, and his best friend taken at the park two years later...

*MAX*

Two years later, Aurora was in eighth grade and doing very well. One of the best in her class, just like her mother and I were, ages ago. I was always so proud of her. The picture shows her with Ashley, Kevin and David, at an overlook in the Woods. The four of them are hugging each other and smiling. The four musketeers, they called themselves. The Science Class Geology camp-out. Liz and I were there, as chaperones. What a weekend!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz and I walk near the back of the group with the other parent/chaperones as Dr. Remington leads the students through the quarry and then up through the woods pointing out the various rocks and minerals. It's fun to watch the Aurora and her friends. They look so easy with each other, and happy. Even 'though none of them know about Aurora's unique history and talents, she still manages to be close to them.

"She's so lucky," I say aloud to Liz.

"Not as lucky as me," Liz says, taking my hand.

A few hours later, we're all sitting around the campfire as some of the kids clean up after our meal and others are putting together their notes for their trip. It's just one overnight, but I'm really liking it. It's so different camping out here, than in the New Mexico desert. Although Liz and I are careful not to mention Roswell to anyone.

"Okay, everyone. Remember, Lights out by 9:00," Dr. Remington tells them all. The kids all groan, and she reminds them, "We have to pack up and be out of here early tomorrow."

"I hope that curfew doesn't apply to us chaperones," I whisper into Liz's ear as I put my arms around her. "I saw a great spot up on the ridge for star-gazing."

"Sounds good," Liz agrees. "I heard Jupiter is supposed to be nice and bright tonight."

"Did someone say, Jupiter?" Ashley asks as she walks past with her notebook in her hand. "Are you going to do a night-walk?"

"A night walk?" Aurora joins in. "That would be so cool. My parents know a lot about the stars."

"We weren't really -" I start, but I stop at the looks in their faces.

"What time should we be ready?" Ashley asks.

"Um, we could leave at 9:30, I think," Liz volunteers. Clearly we're not going to have a private get-away, afterall. "If it's okay with Dr. Remington."

.

I kept hitting a wall with the part, so I skipped over some things. I am all for going back to cover them again! I just couldn’t think of anything to put for the actual stargazing.

Happy Thanksgiving, girls. And a happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this!

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ Aurora ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

“What’s wrong with Kevin?” Ash whispered to me as the two of us walked down the trail. Mom was saying something about the sky but I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to what she was saying. The sky was amazing, and the chill in the night air made me pull my jacket tighter around me.

“What do you mean?” I ask her as I lean over to her a little. Our arms were already linked, and there wasn't much else that I could do.

She made a face as though she was really thinking about what she had just said. “I don’t know. He just acts funny around me. He kind of clams up and acts really uncomfortable.”

“Really?” I ask her as Mom and Dad set up the blankets in a clearing and call Kevin and David back over. “I haven’t noticed anything different.”

“Maybe I’m just imagining it,” she whispers with a shrug as we sit on one of the blankets on the floor.

“You do suffer from hallucinations and delusions of grandeur, but I love you just the same,” I tell her, and she replies with a shove and a giggle. I laugh as I lie back on the blanket and look up at the night sky.

“What’s so funny?” Kevin asks as he drops down to the blanket beside me. I fight against the flutter of butterflies in my stomach at the warm smile he gives me.

“Yeah! What’d we miss,” David says as he flops down next to Ash.

“Oh, nothing,” Ash says. “We were just talking about . . .” I could tell that she was fishing for something that would cause us to laugh, but not interest the guys.

“How cute Heath Ledger was in his last movie,” I supply for her and wink lightly at her, still lying on the blanket.

She nods.

<center>~*~ ~*~ ~*~</center>

Everyone was in the tent right now. Even Mom and Dad. I just couldn’t seem to sleep. What Ashley told me earlier tonight kept playing in my head, not stopping, no matter how much I wanted it to. Kevin wasn’t acting weird. Kevin was just acting weird around her.

The stars continued to twinkle and blink above me as the moon continued to glow brilliantly. I looked down at my hands as I focused on the power. I let it grow as I focused on creating the shield, letting it spread out slowly, concentrating on the flow of energy and slowly feeding it into the shield. I smiled as the violet wall shimmered as it expanded. Dad never did figure out why mine was violet and his green.

I concentrated on shifting it and making it form a sphere. The sides came together and a small violet ball the size of a tennis ball bobbed in the air before me, while the quiet sounds of night surrounded me. I let the ball drop slightly to rest in the space between my hands. I stayed focused on keeping the newly formed sphere floating between my hands, letting it spin on its axes and smile in delight.

I heard a soft rustle from one of the tents behind me and I brought my hands down. With a soft blink of light, the sphere winked out of existence, and I turned to look behind me.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I ask as I return my attention to the stars.

“Yeah,” he says softly as he comes to sit beside me. “You?”

“Not tired and too many thoughts,” I tell him. I shiver a little in the cool night air. I try to downplay it, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“Here,” he says as he wraps me in the blanket around his shoulders, sharing the warmth between the two of us. “So, what are you doing?”

“You mean other than not sleeping?”

He shoots a wry look in my direction, and I smile in response.

“Nice try, but you can’t smile your way out of this one, Aura.”

“Just looking at the stars, thinking.”

“About what?”

“Do you ever wonder about like aliens and stuff?” I look over to him. I expected to see his features twisted in a weird expression I had never seen before, but they weren’t. He just looked up into the sky, at the stars, and had an incredibly introspective expression on his face.

“No, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.”

“So you think they are real?” I ask as I bring my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

It was quiet as he thought about his answer. Things were like that with us a lot of the time. We would quietly wait for the other to answer. We didn’t need to have the answer right away, we gave each other time to think of our answer. And for this question, I would give him all the time he needed.

“I’m open to their existence,” he said with a smile. “I don’t know if there are good aliens or bad aliens or aliens in general. But I don’t think that their existence is impossible. Why? You have an alien you want to introduce me to, Aura?”

“Maybe I do,” I tell him teasingly.

“So that’s what you were thinking about? Aliens? Aura, you have way too much time on your hands. You should be thinking about . . .”

“What, Kev? What should I be thinking about?”

“I don’t know. Boys, shoes, clothes, whatever it is girls think about.””

*Maybe I was thinking about boys . . .*

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ End Aurora ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

*MAX*

I’m not tired yet, so I prop my head up on one elbow, watching Liz sleep, contentedly thinking about how great it is just to be here with her and Aurora. Sure the ground is hard and lumpy, and there's no shower for miles, but it's such a nice normal thing to do. I once asked Liz, 'what's so great about normal?', but I get it now. Sometimes I just love normal things.

I get a feeling about Aurora and decide to check on her. Moving out of the tent, I hear her talking to Kevin. The word “alien” reaches my ears and I pause to listen. I trust Aurora and I know she’s not going to expose herself or us, but I’m interested in where this is going.

Kevin dismisses her comments and tries to change the topic so I decide to make my presence known. “Hey kids,” I say, and settle down next to them. “What are you doing?”

“Uh, just heading for bed,” Kevin says, a bit nervously.

I smile at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t get you in trouble.”

Kevin nods, but he leaves anyway. “Gee, thanks, Dad,” Aurora says, sarcastically.

“Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to chase him off,” I tell her. I mean it, too. I’d thought he was a jerk the first time I met him, but in the last two years, I’d come to think that he and David were pretty good kids.

She sighs, wrapping her arms around her knees. I move closer to her and put my arm around her shoulder. She shivers slightly and I warm her up a bit. A little molecular manipulation of the air around her that won’t show at all, even if someone was watching.

She smiles softly and leans against me but doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Finally she speaks. “How did you know?”

“Know what?” I ask.

“About Mom. How did you know she was the one?”

Now I sigh. I had a feeling this was going to be serious. “I don’t know. I’ve always known it. From the first time I saw her.”

“And she loved you, too.”

“Uh, no,” I admit. “I loved your mom since third grade. She didn’t feel anything for me until Sophomore year. Didn’t I ever tell you this story?”

“Sure,” Aurora says. “That was after …” She trails off, not saying it. Sound travels far in the silence of the woods at night. I knew I was right to trust her discretion.

“Right,” I say. “After she found out about me and how much I loved her.” Aurora sits silently for a while and I can almost feel the heavy thoughts whirling around in her head. “Want to go for a little walk?”

Aurora nods and we get up and head away from the camp. The moon is full but the leafy trees block a lot of the light. Our eyes adjust easily and we have no trouble navigating the path. Michael, Isabel and I have never had any real trouble seeing in the dark. Aurora doesn’t do quite as well, but she gets by okay.

Aurora puts her hands together, palms up, and creates a little violet sphere in front of her. We’re well away from the tents now, and there’s nobody to see although the dim light does help to illuminate her path. I smile at her. “You know, I couldn’t do that until 11th grade.”

“Yeah, I know.” Aurora is only in 8th grade, but she’s grown up sharing her powers with Liz and I, not hiding. She knows better than we did, what was possible, what was coming and why. And I think she gets a fair amount of practice showing off for her ‘cousins,’ too.

“Are you thinking about telling Kevin?” I ask.

“No,” she says. “Not really.”

“But you’re still imagining what it might be like, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Aurora admits.

“I understand. I used to daydream about your mom like that all the time.”

“How will I know?”

I smile, because mostly we didn’t have much of a choice about who found out at first. Well, I guess that technically I did have a choice about not healing Liz, but I didn’t really. Not since it was her. Thankfully, we’ve been able to have more control in keeping the secret since we left Roswell.

I tell her. “When it’s the right guy. When you love him enough to marry him, and you know he loves you, too. When you know he’ll accept you, no matter what. Then, you come to your mom and me, and we’ll help you figure it out. We'll decide whether it's time for him to know, or not.”

“Right. A group decision,” Aurora says, nodding. She knows it’s not a secret to be shared on her own, although I’m sure she’ll want to. She knows the rules. “But how will I know it’s the right guy?”

“You’ll know, honey,” I tell her. I put my arm around her again and give her a hug, kissing her on the forehead. "You'll know."
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Hey! Look what I have! I just couldn’t stop from writing this. I hope it’s okay, Izzy. And sorry about the length. I just kept on writing. Heehee! Let me know if this is okay for you.


<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ Aurora ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

Dad picks up on things like this sometimes, when I need to talk something out that's on my mind. Or if I am really thinking something over. He knows what it is that I'm thinking about. I still don’t know if I like it or not. Sure it makes some things easier because he just picks up on them sometimes. But he just picks up on it even when I don't want him to! Sure it makes things a little more aggravating at times, but I guess it’s worth it.

“You’ll know,” he assures me. I don’t really believe him. I mean, how could I just know something like that! Not just how will I know when it is right to tell someone, but . . . love. What is it? What does it mean? Is there even a meaning for it? It could just be. You can’t question it, what it is, what it means, why it is what it is . . . It just is, and its existence shouldn’t be questioned.

Is it supposed to just hit me like lightening? Just BAM! That’s it. Suddenly you know. How do you know when it’s love? Is it just some feeling you get when you’re with them? Is it a feeling you get when you’re not with them?

Do you know by the way you feel around them, or the way you feel when they’re gone? Is it when right starts to feel wrong?

I can’t stop the sigh that escapes and I kick a loose rock that is on the path, listening as it clicks against the other things on the trail.

“I’ll just know? Am I supposed to know by going through the wrong guys so I know what the right one feels like? Will I even know that the right one’s the right one without the wrong one to show me it’s wrong?” I ask as we slow our pace. I toss the sphere up into the air and concentrate to keep it afloat, making it bob from side to side as it follows my unspoken commands. I push it over to dad and watch as he stops it with his own telekinetic ability. He takes several more steps away, increasing the distance between us.

“What?” he asks confused. He shoots the sphere back to me and I stop it with my mind. Almost all kids play catch with their dads, using baseballs or softballs and gloves. We play it with spheres of energy and telekinetic abilities.

“Is it like a trial and error thing,” I say, trying to clear up the last convoluted question I asked him. “Do I need to find a wrong guy before I know what “right” feels like?” I rotate it on an axis and make it fly back to him, watching it curve slightly.

“Nice,” he comments on the “throw” as he stops the sphere. It flew right past his shoulder, and I know that there was a crackle of energy as it shot past. He turned quickly and stopped it a few feet behind him and pulled it back to his hand.

“Thanks!” I say smiling. It was always nice when I could get a good move in.

“Whatever happens happens, Rory. I can’t tell you or control it any more than you. Just know that your mom and I trust your decisions. We know that you won’t tell anyone that you don’t trust implicitly. And I can’t tell you any more than, “you’ll know.” Somehow you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah,” I say, “but how?” I sigh before he throws a fast pitch towards me. If I wasn’t expecting it, I might have been unable to catch it. I let the sphere float above my hands as I continue. “How can you have such faith that I’ll know something when I don’t even know how I’ll know?”

“First, it’s faith. It’s an all or nothing type of thing. I have faith in you and it is always going to be there.”

I smile as he says this and look down at the violet ball floating above my hands.

“And second. When it happens, you’ll know. It’s kinda like this.” I look up over to where he is standing and see him extend his shield, glowing in its green light as swirls whirl over its surface like waves in water. “Your mom and I didn’t tell you how to do that. You did it on your own. Somehow you knew that you could, and you did it. There’s no explaining it. It just . . . happened.”

I bite my lower lip as I look at the violet ball floating above my hands, glowing in its brilliance. I let it float a little higher as I concentrate on letting it explode in a small shower of sparkles. Opening my hand in front of me I concentrate on feeding energy through my hand and forming my own shield.

He’s right. No one told me that I could do this. Somehow . . . somehow I just knew that I could do it, and I did it. I don’t question that, so why should I question this, when they are similar. But they are so different! We aren’t talking about powers. We’re talking about emotions and feelings—not powers. They’re so different!

“I understand . . . I think.” I drop the shield, and he does the same.

“You do?” he asks as though he is wondering if he needs to think of another way to explain it.

“No,” I answer truthfully. “But I understand enough to stop wondering,” I add on quickly.

“Liar.”

I grin and comb my fingers through my hair, pushing it back out of my face. “How about I understand enough so you don’t have to do any more explaining? Should we be getting back now? What time is it?”

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ End Aurora ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

Katie, that was a brilliant post! I absolutely loved it. Nothing wrong with the length, either. Let me know if this part works for you. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*MAX*

“What time is it?” Aurora asks.

I make a show of scanning the sky after quickly peeking at my watch. “Well, judging from the shadows, I’d say it’s about six minutes before one.”

“Daddy!” she says with laughter in her voice. It’s an old joke, but it’s still fun.

I smile at her in the darkness as we turn back towards our camp. “You’ll still have time to get a good night’s sleep before we all have to be up in the morning,” I tell her. I’m fully rested on just four or five hours sleep and Aurora never seems to need more than six.

Aurora looks up toward the west where a small grouping of stars are now visible through a gap in the branches above us. It’s a v-shaped group of stars that Liz and I didn’t mention at all during our sky-watch a few hours ago. “That’s them, isn’t it?” she asks.

“Yes,” I nod. It’s the five stars of the Antarian system, where a part of me came from nearly seventy-five years ago.

“Do you think they’re still waiting for you?”

“I have no idea,” I tell her, honestly. I’m not even sure if I’m hoping they are, or they aren’t. I hate to think that Khivar might have crushed them to the point they have no hope, but maybe they’ve found their own solution, one that doesn’t require me as a rallying point. I know I have no interest in going ‘back’ there, and that's what her question is really all about.

“I belong here, with you and your mom, now,” I assure her.

Aurora takes my hand and squeezes it. “I’m glad. I love you, Dad.”

I squeeze back. “I love you, too.”

In a few minutes, we’re back at our camp and Aurora is crawling back into the tent she’s sharing with Ashley while I rejoin Liz. She stirs as I settle into my sleeping bag.

“Where were you?” she asks, sleepily.

“Just walking with Aurora. We had a little father-daughter heart-to-heart talk.”

“Boys?” Liz asks, knowingly.

“Yup. Boys and family stuff.”

”Hmmm,” Liz says, rolling over and wrapping an arm over me. I kiss her cheek and snuggle closer, taking in her soft scent and closing my eyes. Where-ever Liz is, that’s my home.
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Okay, gals. Here it is. I am thinking we can get a Liz part and possibly a Max part before I need to get my interim Ashley part up. I hope this is okay. It is a pivotal part, and I basically had no clue about hot to write it.


<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ Aurora ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

I crawl back inside my sleeping bag, not wanting to wake Ashley up. At least one of us should get a full night’s sleep. There is no way I am going to get enough sleep tonight, not if I want to keep the plans I made with Ash. Earlier, before when I couldn’t sleep, we made plans to get up early, before dawn, and head out to a nice spot we found earlier on the hike and watch the sun rise.

If I fell asleep right away, I would never get the five mandatory hours I need for sleep. Mom says I should be happy that my body only needs six instead of eight. I would like it more if I just needed four like Dad.

I pull the warm fabric of the sleeping bag tighter around me as I close my eyes and relax, hoping sleep will take me soon. My mind slowly drifts, looking back on certain things from the day. Dad’s words drift into my mind once again, the last thing I remembered before falling under the spell of slumber—You’ll know.

<center>~*~ ~*~ ~*~</center>

“Aur?” A soft voice asks quietly as a soft touch presses against my shoulder. “Hey, it’s time to get up.”

I mumble as I turn over. “No. M’re sleep,” I mumble out as I pull the blanket around my shoulders.

“Okay, but if you want to see the sun rise, you have to get up now.”

“Sunrise?” That thought brings me back to what I had planned this morning. Sunrise with Ashley, before the day with everything else begins. “I’m up!” I say as I throw off the covers and Ash laughs.

We both hurry to get ready, pulling on clean clothes and tossing our pajamas in our packs. I pull on my shorts, t-shirt, sneakers and a light jacket. Ash takes a flashlight to help guide our way through the trees and down the path to the cliffside.

“This is so fun!” Ash shouted as we skipped across the dirt road. Once in a while we would slip on the loose gravel and grab onto the other to hold the other up from falling, laughing the entire way down to the cliff.

“I am so ready for high school!” Ash said as she skipped a little further ahead.

“Oh! I know! Think about how much fun we’ll have.”

I laugh as she twirls under the stars of the sky that is quickly lightening.

“Hey, Ash?” I ask her as I skip over to her, catching up with her.

“Yeah?” she replies.

“Are you worried about it. Fitting in . . . in high school?” I ask hesitantly.

“Not really, Aur. I mean, we have each other, and David and Kevin. We’ll be fine! The four musketeers! One for all and all for one!” She said, grinning.

I laugh before I agree. “One for all and all for one.”

“Are you okay, Aurora?” She asked as we stopped on a slope near the edge of the cliff. She looked out over the horizon to see the sun had not yet begun to greet the day.

“Yeah,” I said yawning. “Just a little sleepy. Didn’t get enough sleep, that’s all,” I explain.

“Oh!” She said excitedly as she stops dead in her tracks. “I wanted to ask you something. Did you want to try out for cheerleading in high school?”

I look at her oddly. We never really thought about cheerleading. I could see Ash as a cheerleader, no problem, but I didn’t really see myself as a cheerleader. “Why?”

“It looks like fun. Come one, Aurora! Think about all the fun that we’ll have. It’s something new. And remember what we promised.”

“We’ll try new things—together,” I say as we continue to head over towards our destination.

“So?” she asks. “I don’t want to do it without you.”

“Why not,” I tell her smiling. She laughed lightly as we continued down the dirt and gravel path.

Our destination was just ahead and we veered off the path to get a better view of sunrise, moving closer to the cliff. Our feet slid over the loose rocks, and we held tighter to each other as our shoes slid down the incline.

Her feet slid more and she let go of the flashlight to grab onto me.

“Are you steady?” I ask her as she regains her balance.

“Yeah,” she said as she threw out her arms to steady her stance.

“Okay, I’m going to get the flashlight. We are close enough to the cliff to sit on that rock and still get a good view of dawn,” I tell her.

We had been doing a lot of sliding on this part of the trail, and the incline was only going to get steeper. And the cliff’s edge was really no more than ten feet off, so we would get just as great a view if we would continue down.

“Okay,” she said as she moved to the rock I indicated. Together we looked out at the sky as it began to lighten as dawn’s approach was fast on our heels.

I slowly made my way down to where the flashlight landed, yawning once more. I bent down to pluck the flashlight from among the rocks and dirt as my footing slips on the rocks over the incline.

The simple act of breathing was hard as I was pounded against the sharp rocks and hard ground continuously. Pain! This entire time my world was consumed with pain. For the first time in years I wanted Daddy more than anything. I wanted Mommy more than anything. I wanted the comfort and support they lent. I wanted their love and caring. I wanted them to tell me everything was going to be okay.

The last thing I remember before my world disappeared into dark nothingness, other than the pain of cuts and the pain of impacts, was Ashley’s terrified scream.

“AURORA!!”

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ End Aurora ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

*MAX*

When I wake up, the camp is still dark. We’re in the middle of the forest so I can’t turn on the news, get on the computer, straighten up the house, or any of the other things I might do at home when I’m up early. I don’t want to disturb Liz by turning on a light to read my book, so I just stay snuggled next to her, enjoying her quiet breathing.

In a little while, a few early risers start to move around so I get dressed and join them. I start up the campfire again and put on some water to make coffee for the chaperones. As the sky starts to lighten, most of the adults are moving and Liz emerges from our tent.

“Hello, sleepy-head,” I smile at her.

“Hey, handsome,” she offers, and my grin widens. “Are the girls up yet?”

“No,” I tell her. “There’s no sound from their tent, yet.”

“I’ll go wake them,” Liz volunteers. She walks over, calling their names softly, adding, “Get up girls.” There’s no reply, so she pushes the tent flap open and pokes in her head. She comes out again, instantly. “They’re not here.”

“What?” That doesn’t make sense.

“Maybe they went to the latrine,” she suggests.

“No,” I say, getting up. “I’ve been here for forty minutes. If that was it, they’d have come back by now.” I join her at the girls’ tent and we both look inside again. Liz stiffens as her hand falls on Aurora’s sleeping bag. She gasps, her eyes flying open as her balance wavers. I take her arm to steady her. “Are you okay?” I ask.

She turns to me, eyes wide, and she whispers urgently. “The girls. They left early to see the sunrise. But something’s happened. Aurora’s in trouble. She’s hurt.” The tone of her voice tells me this is no scraped knee. This is something serious.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. She was up on the ridge where we were star-gazing last night.”

I give her a quick squeeze. “Okay. We’ll find her.” We turn to go, when Kevin and David appear nearby.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kevin asks. “Where’s Ashley?”

Oh no. Not the boys. We can’t have them coming along, but if Aurora's hurt, she'll need me before someone tries taking her to a doctor. “Liz?”

“Aurora’s dad is going to get them,” she tells them. “You two wait here.”

I nod at Liz, and turn to hurry towards the ridge. I know Liz will be right behind me as soon as she finds another chaperone to look after the two boys. I’m only a few yards outside of camp, when I see Ashley running down the trail towards me.
.

I don't think this is good. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I would at least try to be productive. Here's the small interim Ashley part. I will post another if it is called for. But for now, here is this post. I am going to go and read. Maybe I'll feel more productive that way than I do with this post.



<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ Ashley ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

I make my way to the rock that Aur wanted to sit on and watch the dawn. I should've been the one to get the flashlight. I mean, I was the one that dropped it, and she was still tired. But there is almost no use arguing with her this morning. And that is weird alone! Aurora is almost never tired in the morning. She is so undoubtedly a morning person, if I ever knew one, but this morning . . . I felt like I had to pry her out of the sleeping bag and goad her into coming.

I take a deep breath and look out at the lightening sky, Aurora just in view as she makes her way to the fallen flashlight. I watch as her footing slips a little and she slides down the steep slope. At first there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. We had just slipped no more than a minute ago. But then something happened. This was different.

I jumped up when she tried to catch herself and couldn’t, her balance failing her like I’ve never seen, and she tumbled forward, hitting the hard rocks with a force painful to watch.

“AURORA!” The scream fell from my lips unbidden as I made my way to follow her. It took everything I had to stop myself from hurling myself forward at unthinkable speeds.

I wouldn’t be of any use if I got hurt as well. My shoes slid and I slowed. The edge of the cliff was before me and I looked down. There, below me about six or seven feet down was Aurora. She was sprawled out onto a small outcropping of the cliff, her head resting by a large rock carved out by the elements as the years past by. I carefully lowered myself down onto that rock, using it as a middle step.

All the while my mind failed to produce anything but the thought, “she is going to be okay. She has to be okay.”

“Oh God, Aurora.” There is blood on the dirt she is lying on. Somewhere she is bleeding. I want to move her to find out where, but then I remember that that could be even more dangerous.

Her chest expands and contracts slightly, and I take that as a good sign. At least she is breathing. Her dark hair is matted on her head as blood began to change its shade.

“Aurora, I’m going to go and get help. Okay? I’ll be right back. I promise. Okay? Just . . . relax.”

She groans a little and I climb back up to the top of the rock and then jump up to grab the edge of the cliff, pulling myself up. As soon as my feet touch the hard ground I break into a run. I rush past everything, tripping a couple times on rocks I miss getting around in my haste.

I push myself harder, faster, trying to get back to the campsite. The sight of Aurora lying on the edge of the cliff was burned to my mind and that sight kept me going. I wasn’t at all ready to let my friend go that easily. As I make a turn, heading back onto the main trail, I see Aurora’s dad running to me.

“Mr. Evans!” I shout and my lungs complain. “Mr. Evans! It’s Aurora!” I take another deep breath as we race to each other. His hands come to my shoulders and he looks at me.

“It’s Aurora. She’s hurt. We didn’t want. I mean we didn’t mean. It was an accident. She was—and then the gravel was slippery—and the flashlight fell—we only wanted to see the sunrise—and she was sleepy—I should’ve gone, but I knew she wouldn’t let me!” I struggled to continue to breathe, throwing out words and trying to convey what my mind was screaming at me.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~ End Ashley ~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

I'm sorry if I'm jumping on this too soon. I still want to see that Liz post, but I just can't hold back.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*MAX*

Ashley’s besides herself trying to explain what happened, but I already know. “It’s okay, Ashley. I’ll take care of her.”

“We need to call 911! Get a doctor. An ambulance!” She says, nearly hysterical.

“No. Not yet. I’ll go get her.”

“Mr. Evans! I saw her. She’s hurt. We need to call –”

“Go back and stay with Aurora’s mom," I interrupt her. This was taking far too much time. "I’ll find Aurora.” I turn then and run up the trail.

“Wait! I’ll show you where she is!” Ashley cries, following me.

I don’t have time to argue with her. Besides, what can I tell her? Rory’s mom already told me where she was in a vision? I race ahead. I don’t even feel the rocky trail beneath my feet. In minutes, I’m there, looking down the short cliff.

Aurora looks pale and still. There’s blood beneath her head and my own heart stops. It feels like that day in the Crashdown, all over again. Someone I love is hurt and bleeding. Her dark hair spread out on the ground. I know I have to hurry. I can’t think anymore. I can only act. I turn and start to lower myself to her position, as Ashley arrives behind me, panting to catch her breath.

“There!” she says, unnecessarily. “What are we gonna do?”

“Go back,” I tell her. “Tell Mrs. Evans what happened. I’ll take care of Aurora.”

Ashley nods and I turn away. In a moment, I’m next to Aurora. I’m not even sure how I got there, but it doesn’t matter. She’s pale, but she’s still breathing. It’s going to be okay.

“Is she all right?” Ashley calls. I look up the cliff and see her still standing there. Her face is damp with tears as she looks down at us.

“Go!” I tell her.

Ashley turns around and steps out of my sight. Then I hear her again, “Mrs. Evans! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to –”

“It’s okay,” Liz answers. “It’s gonna be okay.”

I turn my attention back to Aurora, confident that Liz will take care of Ashley. “Rory? Can you hear me?” I ask, placing one hand on her head, brushing back her hair, and the other splayed on her chest. Aurora doesn’t answer. She’s unconscious. I reach for her with my mind. The connection is easy. She’s so much a part of me already.

Her injuries are obvious in an instant. Not just her head, but her back and her limbs. I’m already working before I can even catalogue them all. Mending blood vessels and cracked bone. Drawing off the pain, and dispersing it. Healing bruises and reclaiming spilt blood. I’m gasping for breath, but I can’t stop. I’m almost there.

Done.

Blinking, I fall back, catching myself with one hand as Aurora opens her eyes.

“… Daddy?” She says uncertainly.

I’m steadier now. I take her face in my hands and kiss her forehead. “You’re okay, honey.”