Aya took the Revista off her head, stopping her session for the day and flopping into her bed.

  “Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to Atlas, Nisha, and Renard. I guess that makes it three people and not two.” She exhaled in worry, feeling a nervous knot grow in her stomach.

  This was going to be such a big change, a new city, and the possibility of seeing Daichi and Mrs. Lutz again. All this wouldn’t have happened if the old woman hadn’t given Aya the PacBook and Icarus.

  “I’m leaving Axen City. This is real.” Aya whispered. Before she knew it, she was wiping tears from her eyes.

  A suffocating fear enveloped her, dragging Aya deeper into despair.

  Aside from her grandmother’s house, Axen was all she had known since Fido left her here years ago. It was where her mother was from.

  Her breathing picked up and soon Aya had curled into a ball from the pressure in her chest. She wasn’t aware she was sobbing until she felt a hand on her back rubbing soothingly.

  “Aya what’s wrong?” It was Mars’s voice, thick with sleep but she had come to check on Aya.

  The brunette couldn’t speak over her tears nor did Mars want her to try. It would simply be too much for Aya right now, so Mars sat quietly with her in the darkness until they both fell asleep.

  ----------

  “That’s her?” Fred asked in disbelief picking up the photo Victor had laid on the oak wood table. The two of them sat in the CEO’s office looking through the information delivered by the private investigator.

  “I paid a lot of money to find her, it wouldn’t have been possible without you.” Victor said softly. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

  Fred said nothing, uncomfortable with the CEO’s display of emotion. He poured over the picture, trying to see if anything stuck out to him about the girl.

  No doubt she looked like her mother and Fred was hard pressed to wonder why they got separated in the first place, by all accounts Aya should have gone to the nearest surviving relative.

  “She did.” Mr. Sinclair said as if answering her question, “Her grandmother died when she became an adult, thus further removing her from any chance I had to find her.”

  “That makes sense, and with the black mail there was a vested interest in keeping her away from you. So what’s the plan now. You’ve got her name, a general location too aren’t you going to contact her?” Fred asked.

  At the question, Victor’s face donned an unreadable expression. He stared at another picture of Aya in silence.

  “Do you need a moment sir?” Fred asked, just about tiptoeing out of the office.

  “What do I even say to her?” Victor said letting out a sigh, her held his hand over his eyes as his shoulders quivered.

  It only took a moment for Fred to realize that the man was crying. The blonde’s hesitance grew tenfold, what was he supposed to do now.

  “You’ll think of something.” Fred could only say lamely. His skin burned with discomfort but he stepped forward anyway.

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  Victor felt a hand on his back, patting softly but awkwardly. He turned to the side and saw his lead archiver resting a tentative hand on him.

  “There...there, she’s a grown woman now. With prospects of her own. Just sit down and talk to her like an adult.”

  Mr. Sinclair sniffled, lifting his head like a child encouraged to stand after a bad fall. Fred winced at the sight of him.

  “Yes, you’re right. I think that would be best.”

  ----------

  Aya woke to the feeling of warmth curled around her. She lifted her head, still aching from her bout of sadness last night, and slowly rolled over to find Mars laying beside her. The other girl was still sound asleep and Aya could only keep her shock quiet by rolling over to smack a hand over her mouth.

  How loud had she cried?

  The flood of memories rushed into her head filling her with embarrassment, she must have been sobbing like a child.

  “Morning.” Mars’s voice said, still tired from the previous night. “How do you feel now?”

  “I feel better.” Aya said trying to stop sweating bullets with how nervous she was. She had never had any friends over for things like sleepovers so she didn’t know how to feel about Mars spending the night in her room.

  Mars placed a hand over her mouth to stifle the yawn that would escape her.

  “I got up to get some water and heard you crying pretty hard, I got worried.” The dark haired girl explained without further prompting.

  “Oh…” Aya said solemnly.

  “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, just know I’m here for you. Always.” Mars said getting up.

  “Thank you.” Aya said quietly.

  Mars gave a curt nod and rose from her position on the bed.

  “I’m going to shower and start making breakfast, you should look into going to say your goodbyes.” Mars said. She left the room and Aya was alone again with her thoughts.

  Mars couldn’t know that the very thought of leaving Axen was enough to send her spiraling.

  “That’s nothing for me here.” Aya whispered to herself. “A hag that wants something from me, a city riddled with crime. I’m on my way to a better life!”

  Saying it didn’t magically change her mind, the attachments of living so long in the city went against rationality. It was as if Axen had its hooks deep in Aya’s mind.

  “It’s going to be hard to leave but I have to do it. I deserve better and I want a better life.” Aya said to herself.

  As she thought of her future, Mars’s words echoed in her mind.

  “Life is for the living.” The dark haired girl had said over dinner after Aya had told her about her grandmother. Aya didn’t fully understand what it meant at the time but now maybe she did. She couldn’t let memories hold her back from living her life.

  Her grandmother would want her out of Axen City, Daichi would want her out of Axen City, and most importantly, Aya wanted to leave.

  ----------

  Aya stepped out in fresh clothes and headed towards the table for the breakfast of toast and eggs Mars had prepared.

  She sat down to eat quietly while Mars nursed a cup of coffee as she read her tablet.

  “Aya.” Mars called. “Could you give me Atlas’s number.” the dark haired girl didn’t look up from her tablet as she spoke and thus didn’t see or hear the soft gasp of excitement Aya gave.

  “You know, he wanted me to give him your number last night but I didn’t.”

  “Why not?!”

  “I thought you wouldn’t want me to!” Aya whined.

  “Well, you were right of course, last night’s Mars would have strangled you for even considering it. But I’ve been thinking over somethings lately.”

  “So what changed?”

  Mars hmm’ed, tapping something on her screen. She looked up at Aya with a smile.

  “Well that’s my business isn’t it?” Mars said sipping her mug of coffee, Aya shot her a look but knew better than to argue or whine about it. All she could think of was how happy Atlas would be to hear from Mars.

  “Okay, Mars. Just let me know how it goes.”

  “And you too.”