EPILOGUE
AZURA
The years spent on Nova Aurora flew by in the most beautiful way for Azura. Spending time with someone who made her feel extraordinarily loved and worthwhile gave her so much peace in her soul. She hadn’t even realized she had been living with so much chaos in her mind until the quiet came about.
Azura and Onyx attended Martin’s high school graduation on the stunning planet. All of the students, which included a handful of other shifters, wore green gowns and hats, similar but not identical to the human version.
They also tried throwing javelins into the suns as a ceremonial act, so that was something new for Azura to behold.
Once the javelin throwing was over, Onyx and Azura greeted Martin on the lawn just outside the event venue.
“My baby brother!” Azura exclaimed.
She pulled her brother in close, his head leaning against her shoulder. He was over six feet tall and muscular, so he certainly wasn’t little anymore. But he had grown to appreciate their embraces, no longer slinking away when Azura needed to hold on just a little bit longer.
“Far from little,” Onyx quipped.
Martin lifted his head from his sister’s shoulder and then squeezed her shoulders. Azura took a moment to take in his beaming expression. He had their mother's eyes and their father’s naturally handsome good looks. The admission always gave her a lump in her throat.
“I couldn’t have done it without you both,” Martin said, looking at her and Onyx.
Onyx placed a hand on Martin’s shoulder, then shook it with a joyful roughness.
“All you needed to do was straighten up and fly, right? Who knew?” Onyx said, pulling Martin in for a hug.
They had grown to admire and respect one another over the past two years on the strange planet. It made Azura’s heart soar to see the blossoming of a relationship she never had to force.
Martin hugged Onyx back, swaying back and forth for a good moment. When they pulled away, Azura was sure she could see her brother’s eyes glazing over.
“Now, where’s that luncheon at?” he asked. “I’m starving!”
They all drove in a hover limo that Onyx rented for the event to the big luncheon for Martin, his girlfriend, and his friends. Onyx and Azura sat in a secluded corner away from the rowdy bunch, observing the beginning of fresh life.
Azura was leaning into Onyx, and he was holding her leg, as usual. She was thinking about Martin, how proud she was of him, and wondered with happy speculation where he would go in life.
But there was something else too, and Onyx managed to read her before she even had the chance to understand it herself.
“You okay, love?” he asked her in the limo.
She turned to him and smiled.
How does he always know when I’m bothered?
“I’m splendid,” she said, planting a whimsy kiss on his lips.
Onyx hadn’t completely accepted the answer, but he would for the time being because they had arrived at the luncheon, and all the teenagers were leaping out of the vehicle.
The luncheon was decadent and elegant, with white round tables trimmed with sparkly gold. There was even an aquarium above them with dinosaur-like creatures soaring with only glass layers separating them.
Martin made a toast as everyone began eating, holding up his champagne glass next to his girlfriend. Azura’s heart skipped a beat, realizing how much he sounded like their father.
“I wanted to make a toast in thanks to my lovely sister, who never gave up on me. Even when I was a bit of a rat bastard.”
The crowd erupted in roars of laughter, and Azura shrugged with her hands held open in a “well, yeah” gesture.
When everyone settled, Martin turned to Onyx, who was holding Azura’s leg beneath the table.
“And also, here’s to Onyx, for being my mentor and the person who taught me who I needed to become for my amazing sister.”