Too Little, Too Late ((Ariane))

[kael]

((Set at the beginning of September))

It had been a long, lonely summer for Kael, not that he would ever admit to it. How could he admit that he missed his sister more than either of them would have ever thought it possible? Lynne had always been the dependent one. Kael wasn’t accustomed to wanting his twin sister’s presence. He had spent most of his life exasperated by Lynne’s ridiculous antics and knock for attracting trouble. Lynne had given him a purpose though, and Kael missed that desperately. For the first time in perhaps ten years, he didn’t have a psychologist’s appointment to accompany his sister to. He didn’t have to watch a shrink attempting to pry into Lynne’s mind and fail miserably while all the time pretending that she understood Lynne better than even her twin brother. Fool. Kael’s upper lip curled back in a derisive sneer. The only thing that woman had done was make Lynne feel worse about herself and Kael had been left to pick up the pieces as always, but their parents had insisted upon the sessions. Either Lynne continued the sessions after her eleventh birthday and attended two sessions a week during the summer holidays or she didn’t attend Hogwarts. It hadn’t been a hard decision for his sister. When they were eleven, the twins had never been separated. Lynne wouldn’t have known what to do without her brother. Perhaps Kael wouldn’t have coped with life without his sister. They had never had to find out. Until now.

Perhaps it was odd, especially when Lynne’s hurried departure had hurt so much before Kael had given it some serious consideration, but Kael didn’t particularly mind the lack of letters from his twin. The two of them were on the same wavelength; they always had been. Kael understood what Lynne needed and Lynne had always seemed to instinctively know what Kael required from her. Things may have changed quite drastically, but they were still twins and Kael would always know what his sister needed from him. Right now, it just so happened that she needed to pretend that Britain and all of its inhabitants didn’t exist. So she didn’t write, not long rambling letters nor quickly scribbled notes, and Kael would not begrudge her the silence. Lynne had asked for distance. Because he loved his sister and he had always found it nearly impossible to deny her anything, Kael would give it to her to the best of his ability. If she were here, Lynne would have looked at him with that brilliantly proud smile for a moment and then pester him insistently about contacting a publisher. Chuckling under his breath, Kael shook his head and pulled his pile of parchment closer to him, dipping his quill into the inkwell as he prepared to finish the sixth chapter of the second novel he had started since the week after Lynne had left. He always got so much more work done when his sister wasn’t trying to distract him.

It did help, Kael admitted grudgingly, that he wasn’t exactly alone in the flat above the bookshop. Seth was forever rushing about like a crazed idiot. It was very nearly reminiscent of Lynne during her less coherent moments. Very slowly, with a rising sense of puzzlement, Kael’s attention turned from his writing. Seth...Lynne...that was odd. Kael frowned slightly. He knew where Lynne was, and he could hear Seth even now but he hadn’t heard from Aurora at all. The last he had seen her had been the train ride home and that had been weeks ago. Kael had just buried himself in his writing and running the bookstore after Lynne had left. He barely registered Seth’s presence in the flat sometimes, so naturally he hadn’t been thinking about Aurora. That would mean that she didn’t know about Lynne either, Kael realised with a grimace. He hadn’t even broached that difficult topic with Seth yet. He just couldn’t bring himself to. Even imagining Seth’s reaction made him uncomfortable. Kael wasn’t entirely sure how close his sister and Seth had been, except for the knowledge that it had been most thoroughly platonic and even motherly on Lynne’s side, but Seth was almost undoubtedly going to be ridiculously emotional about Lynne’s departure. Kael rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like his sister was gone forever. She would return eventually. She had to.

Well, the rhythm of his inspiration had most certainly been disrupted now. Kael huffed and shot a thoroughly disgusted look at his quill for not having the resilience to last through the realisation that he had neglected his life without Lynne to prompt him into being sociable. Friends had never seemed so important before, when he hadn’t had any. That had always driven Lynne insane; she had been too obsessed with proving her childhood tormentors wrong. Lynne had always seemed to think that if she could have friends and be popular and liked then she would prove that everyone who had ever bullied her for having synaesthesia was wrong. If she hadn’t pushed herself hard enough to nearly crack, then she might have been right. How was it that now, without Lynne to glare at him in outrage and make her demands that he make some friends and get out of the house, Kael was actually feeling just the smallest amount of guilt for essentially ignoring Aurora and Seth for the past few weeks? If Seth had been a bit bolder then he might have openly grown annoyed at Kael’s indifference and complained. They very thought made the corner of Kael’s mouth curl upwards into the hint of a smile.

Without a word to Seth except the snapped assurance that he would be back in time to work his shift downstairs, Kael stalked outside and abruptly apparated to the blurred destination in his mind. He was probably lucky to arrive without splinching himself, Kael acknowledged as he walked up to the door and knocked briskly. He had never been to the house that Aurora lived in, though he had vaguely recognised the address. It was unusual for Aurora to not keep in contact, either by letter or dropping by or something. He hadn’t thought about it before, too distracted by the fact that Lynne wasn’t around anymore and his own creative success with the plots that formed in his mind, but Kael was almost concerned now that he had realised the sheer lack of Aurora in his life recently. The door opened, showing Ariane’s face instead of Aurora’s and Kael didn’t bother to offer a smile in polite greeting. “Can I speak to Aurora, please?”

[Ariane Chan]

The photo lay atop a steep pile of clothes, books, bags and stationery. Everything was effortlessly neat, carefully placed in the infinitely large space within the trunk with the help of a wand rather than by her own hands. Ariane supposed she’d better get used to a life wholly dependent on magic, though she knew she could never live without some Muggle necessities – TVs, computers, cars; they were important to hold onto to remember the Muggle blood that flowed in her veins courtesy of her late mother. Ariane’s lips lifted in a slight, reminiscent smile as her eyes wandered the stillness of the photograph, the last object to be taken from her now-empty room and packed away. Aurora was beautiful in the summer sunshine, smile as innocent and white as the day they’d met; Harmony’s grin was noticeably stronger, more mischievous than one year ago; Aurora’s brother, Leo, looked torn between horror and amusement as the girls clung onto him to prevent his escape; and Ariane herself, standing alongside in the corner, eyes crinkled and warm as the sun that shone on their backs that day. Happy times.

Snapping her eyes away as the trunk lid clicked shut with a deft tremor of her wand, Ariane turned her gaze around her bedroom which she had shared with Harmony, and which her aunt and uncle had so kindly given to them two years ago when their mother had died. The room had smelled of living before, looked lived-in; now, with Harmony having returned to Hogwarts and Ariane leaving to embark on her new adventure dubbed ‘the Future’, it was empty and lifeless. The wardrobe stood open and empty; Ariane’s wand flicked it shut. The bookshelf was book-less, and soon, only dust would be its sole company. The bedside table was devoid of clutter and the beds lay bare without sheets and blankets. Everything homely had been shoved away into trunks, kept from sight.

Tomorrow, it began. The Future. Bemusement flashed bright in Ariane’s eyes for but a second, before fading into her usual apathy. As she stood and remembered, she allowed her feelings and thoughts to wash over her; for once, she loosened the reins of control over her emotions and allowed them a drop of freedom. First came thoughts of Aurora; having left for America only a week ago, her departure was still raw. Ariane remembered hugging her best friend goodbye; she never hugged, but there were times she needed to concede her pride and obstinacy. Then, images of waving Harmony off as the Hogwarts Express left, taking her little sister away from her; but Ariane knew that if Harmony were to be safe anywhere, it was at Hogwarts. Finally, a letter swam into her mind’s eye, and her wrist gave the slightest, most indiscernible tremor.

The news that her father had died at last had been more painful than Ariane had ever imagined. Not so long ago, she had prayed for her father’s death with all her being. It was cruel of her, but Ariane’s hate was strong. She was no Aurora, who could forgive in a heartbeat; no Harmony, who could learn to forget. Ariane knew vengeance like the back of her hand. However, when Henry Chan had died in the mental asylum he had been housed in during the last two years since his wife’s death, there was no denying that pang of pain in her chest. He was, after all, her father, and she had loved him unconditionally as a naïve child. Ariane had spent over a decade hating him, but hate and love were extremely confusing and complicated things. Even now, Ariane was learning that lesson in life.

Her conscience was further stirred by Henry’s will. Ariane had received the news days before Harmony and Leo had departed for Hogwarts, and days after Aurora had left, and all of a sudden, Ariane and Harmony were rich. Henry had had a fortune, and now it belonged to his daughters. Ariane had been so horrified she had not wanted to accept it, at first; but a letter, written by Henry himself, had convinced her to eventually take her father’s legacy. Her father had a point: she and Harmony needed the money, for Ariane would not become an Auror immediately and begin earning enough for the both of them, and although George and Jenny were happy to house them, Ariane did not want to trespass on their hospitality any longer. Secondly, Ariane had accepted the money because her father wanted it to be his penance for their seven years of estrangement, when Lorraine had worked hard to support her family without her husband’s monetary help. Henry knew Ariane was still angry, and this was his apology.

It would never be enough, but the money was now hers and Harmony’s. The first thing Ariane did, with permission from her sister, was buy an apartment in London. She needed somewhere to live, and now she had the money to fund it. The rest of their wealth was situated safely in Gringotts, having been converted from Muggle to wizard money. Perhaps the most shocking twist in Ariane’s life, though, was not Aurora’s departure, or even her father’s death and will; truly, the fact that she would soon be residing with Jez Cuthbert was quite a laughable idea. However, it was to happen. Ariane held doubts, obviously, but he was a friend (she only grudgingly admitted that), and Aurora had been adamant she not live alone. Of course, if anyone was going to help spice her boring, lonely life up, it would be Jez Cuthbert.

The sudden and piercing ringing of the doorbell pushed Ariane out of her concerns about living with Jez and back into reality. Reality seemed rather unrealistic, however. Ariane was the only person home, seeing as her aunt and uncle were working at the Ministry, and they rarely had visitors. Ariane’s suspicions were instantly on alert as she went to answer. To her surprise, she registered Kael Collins’ familiar face in the eyehole; an eyebrow shot up and a tooth ground against her jaw with controlled anger and irritation. Ariane was not exactly fond of Kael at the moment. She strongly believed him to be a huge contributing factor in her best friend’s abrupt and painful departure; she couldn’t exactly be angry at Aurora, so what best but to cast the blame onto someone else?

If Kael was here for what Ariane assumed he was here for, it was definitely too little, too late. The words growled with a little too much aggression within her mind and she forced her emotions back into its box in the hope of not ripping Kael’s face off when she opened the door – which she had to, of course; Ariane didn’t want to speak to her fellow Hogwarts graduate but she was hardly rude, and who knew when he might drop by again with more concerns and questions? No, it was best to break the news now, and Ariane didn’t plan on sweetening the blow for poor, ignorant Kael Collins. It had taken him long enough to make the effort to come visit Aurora at all. Ariane finally opened the door with a schooled, stoic expression and a cool stare. “Kael,” she greeted curtly, not a shred of surprise exhibited. She scrutinised her visitor for a long, silent minute, before grudgingly opening the door wider to accommodate him. “We need to talk,” she said bluntly without answering his question.

Ariane shut the door and led her guest into the lounge in silence. She didn’t want to be hospitable, considering the circumstances, but she had been raised civil and it was against her nature not to be perfectly polite, despite her cold and aloof air. “Drink?” she asked, sitting down in an armchair and nodding at another for Kael. Before he could ask her where Aurora was, Ariane began. She felt it best to jump right it and, well… Kael could drown, if he couldn’t swim his way out of his mess. “Aurora’s gone,” she said, staring straight into Kael’s eyes without batting an eyelid, almost accusing. “She left Manchester and went to New York a week ago.” Her downturned lips were her only sign of displeasure. “She’ll be there for at least a year for a music course.” Silence followed. Ariane’s eyes never left Kael’s face and she wondered how he’d take the news. “Aurora didn’t want any painful goodbyes,” she eventually said sharply. “A clean break. But she promised to write and explain herself.” Her voice evidently held a clear tone of disapproval. “She was not to be dissuaded.”

[kael]

It was during times like these, Kael was starting to learn, when he was left with no option but to gaze at Ariane’s blatantly unwelcoming stare, that he missed Lynne most. His sister would have cheerfully greeted Ariane and sailed into the house without a second thought, her body language probably threatening to hug Ariane if any protest was offered. Lynne’s enthusiasm and boldness, despite what his sister thought in her more reflective moments, had not been fake but merely exaggerated. If nothing else, Lynne had offered hours of amusement and exasperation without any care for the trouble she could cause for him. Left by himself without the audaciously bold presence of his sister at his side, Kael came to the inevitable conclusion that, yes, he would have sacrificed his pride and dignity to ask Lynne to remain in England if he wasn’t so very accustomed to the role of the protective older brother who put the needs of his sister first. Kael wanted to be selfish for once. It was probably for the best that the newfound urge to put himself first had emerged after his twin had left for France. Kael could only forgive so much, even for himself. Especially for himself.

“Ariane,” Kael acknowledged coolly, a small frisson of confused alarm sparking into life as he noted her stoic expression and analysed the concept of them needing to talk for some as of yet unexplained reason. He had expected for her to follow the common courtesy of permitting him to enter the house before she retrieved Aurora and then life would go on as normal, or as normal as it could be without Lynne. What on earth could Kael and Ariane have to talk about? They had never really talked in the past nor did they have anything in common, except the similarity of their personalities. The only thing they had in common was Aurora, and Kael refused to consider the idea that something was wrong with her. Admittedly, there was a distinctly Lynne-influenced part of him that wanted to make a quip about how infamous the phrase ‘we need to talk’ was and what it usually led to but Ariane wasn’t one of the people Kael shared his more light-hearted side with. Nor did he really want to experience her reaction to that comment when she looked so grave that something really did have to be wrong with the one person who connected them. Well, theoretically, Harmony could be the problem since Kael had acted as her ‘big brother’ during Hogwarts and still had a fondness for the younger Hufflepuff but, firstly, Ariane had never acknowledged that he could possibly be attached to her little sister in any way and, secondly, he had asked for Aurora. Instead of calling for Aurora, Ariane had instead offered the statement that they needed to talk. It wasn’t exactly a good omen for the ensuing conversation.

Still puzzled but understanding politeness and courtesy as well as any other person, even if his usually blunt and abrasive nature implied otherwise, Kael followed Ariane as she guided him to the lounge without a word passing between either of them. His expression was still subtly guarded and wary. Kael had had quite enough of bad news for the moment. Well whatever it was, Kael told himself with practical rationality, it couldn’t be extremely life-changing or earth-shattering in any way. If it were anything too terrible then Aurora would have told him herself. She wasn’t cruel. She wouldn’t have left her cousin to carry out her unwanted duties for her. Aurora had proved on the train that she cared too much for Ariane to do that to her. “No, thank you.” Kael declined Ariane’s offer for a drink politely, seating himself in the armchair she had gestured to. He wasn’t particularly thirsty and, even he had been, the offer was most likely made purely out of the natural urge to be gracious and well-mannered towards guests, regardless of how unwelcome or how unlike they were. Kael had no illusions about a friendship with Ariane; even if he hadn’t felt perfectly content without her companionship, Ariane didn’t seem to enjoy his presence at all.

Gone? Kael’s mind stuttered to an abrupt halt. How could Aurora be gone? And without saying goodbye. Surely Ariane meant Lynne. Lynne was gone. But Lynne had said goodbye so of course Kael knew that Lynne was gone. How could he not know? She might have left without a resolute farewell to her closest female friend or the boy she adored with a nearly motherly fervour but Lynne would never have left without telling Kael about it. That was just one of the few things that his twin could never have ever forced herself to do. The whirl of rash and emotion driven thoughts that Ariane’s statement had brought to life felt like they were trying to crack his head open so that they could escape. Instead, desperate for respite, his mind latched onto logic. Cool, clear logic. Logic had never failed him. Any small signs of a troubled expression were immediately smoothed away. Aurora had every right to go to America for a music course if that was what she wanted to do. It would be good for her future. At least she knew what she wanted to do with her life. Kael wasn’t entirely sure that Seth had any clue about his future. It was extremely unlike Aurora to not offer a farewell before she left but not entirely unprecedented. Lynne hadn’t said goodbye to her friends either. At least Aurora had left with the promise of writing to explain her reasoning so that Ariane wasn’t left with the entire responsibility of explaining everything about Aurora’s absence. “And why should she be dissuaded?” Kael questioned calmly, one eyebrow inching towards his hairline slowly as he blinked at Ariane with an utterly blank expression. “It’s about time that Aurora did something for herself without putting everyone else’s needs first.”

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane and Kael were not altogether different. They were by no means similar, but they shared more than preconceptions offer. Ariane was aware that, although Kael was Aurora's friend and certainly not hers, he and she shared more traits than he and her best friend ever would. To an extent, Kael and Aurora were opposites, just like Ariane and Aurora, and Ariane and Harmony, and Ariane and Jez. Ariane vaguely wondered, as she sat in the armchair explaining Aurora's departure as delicately as her resentment of her guest would allow, if she was always destined to be surrounded by people who were not only dissimilar to her, but complete opposite. Two years ago, Ariane would not have thought this perfectly acceptable; until then, only Aurora and Harmony had counted and she loved them unconditionally despite their differences. However, then Jez smashed (almost too literally) into her life, and Kael into Aurora's, and Ariane found she did not, after all, bond so well with those who were opposite to her. In fact, she could plain detest them (as Jez had proven) or resent their existence (as Kael was proving right now).

Truthfully, Ariane had not disliked Kael because they shared so much in common until the last few months, when her suspicions had become aroused, given Aurora's recent behaviour. In fact, Ariane had quite liked Kael, though she had never imagined him to be anything more than a friend to Aurora. He wasn't her type. Not that Ariane could define, exactly, what her best friend's type of man was, but it certainly wasn't Kael Collins. Ariane had been imagining Aurora's future life partner to bear some resemblance to Daniel, who was her first and only love, and whom Ariane had only met once. She had disliked him immediately (though she did bear some bias, knowing the tears and heart-break Aurora had suffered at his hands). Ariane did not mind in the slightest her best friend's interest in a man completely opposite to Daniel, but Kael? Her eyes slipped to her guest once more, sitting as indifferently as herself, and narrowed. Ariane did not like Kael in the slightest either - not romantically involved with Aurora, anyhow. And to make matters worse, whether or not he reciprocated these feelings, Aurora had already assumed the worst and fled. Sure, she had claimed to seek a future in music and a bout of independence could only open her eyes to a life of opportunity and trauma, but Ariane had no doubt that Kael Collins had been a factor in her best friend's abandonment.

However, no matter how much Kael proved himself to be a good man and earned Ariane's respect, it would truthfully make little if any difference. Ariane was subconsciously aware that any man who crossed Aurora's path would be her mortal enemy and instantly abhorred. Kael had sadly made the switch from apathetic existence in Ariane Chan's life to rival of her best friend's attention and priority. The fact was, Ariane was going to dislike anyone who arrived to steal Aurora away from her forever. She knew it would happen one day, but until it did, she would make the lives of Aurora's men extremely difficult. Until the day Aurora said 'I do', or something synonymous with sap and mush, Ariane would not relinquish her possession of her. She was her best friend and she would not be easily handed over to an untrustworthy, unreliable and insensitive man. Kael was male; therefore, he was now a problem, not to be ignored. And Ariane was going to deal with him to ensure he never even strayed near Aurora's vulnerable, veiled heart.

Kael's utterly blank expression, so similar to her own, did anything but calm Ariane. He was so much like her; but it only infuriated her. The black ashes of her eyes suddenly began to burn with inhibited fury, golden-brown firelight in the shape of round, cold stones. How dare Kael be so indifferent? Did he not understand the gravity of Aurora's departure? Of his own part to play in this? Ariane had lost her best friend thanks to a man and she was not happy at all, and now that said man was barely expressing any remorse or sadness, she could only stare at him in rising hostility. Eventually, her voice yielded and broke the tense silence, her words tremoring with anger and resentment. "Do you really think she left because she put herself first?" Ariane questioned, smoothing away the sneer that threatened to surface on her lips. "That's what she wants everyone to think. That's what it looks like to you. That's what she tried to make it out to be, even to me. But I'm not stupid." She directed a harsh glare at Kael, accusing him in silence.

"Aurora left because she couldn't bury her feelings; and thinking that these feelings would be a burden to someone she cared about, she ran away." Ariane almost spit the words, bitterness a constant in her cold demeanour. Although Kael was looking at a frozen image of indifference and apathy, her words, her tone, even her eyes could not hide her passion, the grief and rage laced with the resentment. "She was trying to be kind, again. And again, and again, and again. And people like you will assume she's being selfish - finally. But Aurora isn't selfish; she isn't like you or I. She's not the purest person in the world, but she is pretty damn close." Ariane's lips pursed together for a moment, words scrambling to be heard, though she fought control over them. She could not unleash her true agony on Kael; whether he deserved it or not, it was not in Ariane's nature to reveal herself so openly, so vulnerably, to a stranger. "Aurora should have stayed here, with people who love and care for her. But now, she's in a foreign country, with no one who gives a damn if she trips and dies." Again, Ariane's eyes levelled with Kael's: blame.

Aurora wasn't fragile, she wasn't delicate; but she wasn't strong, either. Ariane did not say it, but she knew it. Kael knew it too. Ariane; she was selfish, she was possessive, but she did it because she loved people; because she loved Aurora. Foreign countries like America, men like Daniel and Kael - Ariane was better than them, she protected her best friend from them, but she had failed and now she was paying the price, facing Kael and Aurora gone. This was her payment. "I should tell you why she really went away," Ariane finally said dully, standing up in an abrupt swoop and pacing across the living room, restless. "You hardly deserve to know the truth, seeing as you care so little that Aurora's gone and assumed so much. But I can't let her succeed in fooling you all. I have always carried her burdens with her, always remained silent for her, but I am going to tell you about Aurora Chan; and you," she said calmly, turning back to Kael and staring him down across the room, "are going to listen."

[kael]

Things were changing too much. Too quickly. It made Kael’s head want to spin. Change was inevitable, but it wasn’t always enjoyable. Imaging the future and planning a specific route to take during life was pointless, a veritable waste of time. Circumstances changed too quickly and without warning. Kael had known that even when he had been very young; he had never indulged in the childish delusions of a bright future filled with success, admiration and love. Life wasn’t nice, it wasn’t kind. Life was a cruel ride filled with twists and turns that created an odd, queasy sensation in the stomach and, quite frankly, boggled the mind beyond belief. The future wasn’t something that could be seen or predicted. Divination claimed otherwise but Kael had little time for tealeaves beyond adding heated water and a teacup to the mixture. Not even Lynne was so fanciful. Practicality ran stronger in Kael but it had always been pleasant to experience proof that his sister wasn’t merely the flighty, bubbly blonde that most people saw her as. There were times when even Kael wondered. Regardless of brotherly ponderings, Kael neither despised change nor enjoyed it. He tolerated and accepted changes. Detestation or gratification weren’t factors. Life didn’t work that way. It didn’t pause for the easily disturbed or those made dizzy by the constant changes in life. Kael accepted that. He even enjoyed it, to an extent. The knowledge that life didn’t care for the opinions of people living was his most constant companion, especially recently. It was a poor consolatory phrase when things went wrong but it always put things back into context before they could blow out of proportion. Through his break-up, Lynne’s heartbreak and consequent departure, Seth moving in (which was less a horrific event and more simply shocking but important nevertheless) and now Aurora’s removal from his life, Kael had always known that life didn’t care for his judgment and so he never gave it. He merely accepted, assessed and adapted. What else could he do?

Through a judgmental gaze carried by thoughtful brown eyes, Kael assessed Ariane gravely. She shared too many similarities to himself for him to not subtly eye her with deep consideration. Kael knew how he would react and behave in this situation; he had lived through so many different versions of the same scenario in his mind after Lynne had left. The duty of telling Seth and Aurora had naturally, thoughtlessly, fallen to him. Kael had yet to decide whether Lynne had truly expected him to break the news gently or if she had put the need to flee above her consideration of Seth and Aurora’s feelings. Kael couldn’t completely gauge Ariane with utterly doubtless success though. He didn’t know her well enough; it created too many variables. She wasn’t similar enough to himself for him to pin his own most probable reactions on her. They had too many differences. When put into context, the only things Kael and Ariane truly shared was an apathetic attitude and a relation to two outwardly confident and energetic, deceitful girls of the same age. If they were truly similar then they would have been put into the same House during their Hogwarts’ years. Improbable as it sounded, even to himself, Kael was likely more tolerant than Ariane. He had survived living with Lynne and loved her for who she was. He had become friends with Aurora and Seth, though the latter was mostly due to Lynne’s insistent urgings. Not for the first time, Kael had to wonder if Lynne had been so determined to make Kael befriend Seth because she had known she was leaving and had been reluctant to abandon them without a replacement. Although Seth was more of a replacement for Lynne than Kael ever would be. To the contrary, Ariane loved her cousin but Kael doubted that she would have ever become friends with Lynne or Seth even if Lynne had remained and tried to press the issue with her usual tenacity.

“Hmm?” Kael shifted in his seat slightly, deliberately changing to a more uncomfortable position. This conversation was not shaping up to be a relaxed, pleasantly civil talk between two acquaintances. Perhaps it was too calculating, but Kael wouldn’t permit himself to be put at a disadvantage when dealing with someone he neither liked nor trusted. Becoming too comfortable would put him at ease and allow his mind to drift from full attention. “Isn’t it possible that you’re simply being too paranoid, Ariane?” His tone was just ever so slightly patronising, mocking her even as Kael met her eyes with sincere curiousity. “You know Aurora better than anyone, as far as I know.” Just like him and Lynne, as Aurora had reminded him on the train. Kael would respect that connection, but he would not let himself be accused of anything, which was indubitably where Ariane seemed to be heading. “However, the concept of Aurora leaving to follow her ideal career as a musician isn’t entirely impossible. America might just be the best place for her to do that. Maybe she does have some other reasons. Isn’t that her business? Are you certain that she would like for you to share her more personal reasons with me?” Mouth twisted wryly in an odd mockery of a smile, Kael glanced at Ariane with unwavering seriousness. “Had she wanted me to know, I have little doubt that Aurora would have told me herself.”

There was one of the many differences between them, though this was more obvious than most. Kael, with everyone he didn’t know well and didn’t take into his confidences, was the perfect visual accompaniment to the words ‘indifferent’ and ‘apathetic’. Seth was a reluctant concession to that rule. Kael shared little of a personal nature with Seth but they did share a flat. It was difficult and reasonably unnecessary for Kael to always be on guard and tense when he was in his own home. That Seth Wright also shared his living space was simply another thing that Kael had to adjust to. In a direct contrast, almost as if she was trying to desperately prove how few similarities they shared, Ariane was all too clear in her fury and bitter unhappiness. Even Kael could recognise that. “You’re blaming me for Aurora leaving?” For the first time during the conversation, Kael’s expression was that of utter bewilderment. He couldn’t understand, not at all. He didn’t want to understand. He didn’t want that on his shoulders too. Kael already partially blamed himself for his twin sister’s departure. He didn’t need the addition of Aurora sitting heavily on his shoulder also. He was only human, despite how robotic he could appear to be, despite the comparison to a muggle sweet that Aurora had made not so long ago. There was only so much that Kael could handle before hitting breaking point. Being blamed for his sister’s departure and the departure of his closest (unrelated and non-feline) friend pushed him ever closer to that point of splintering. “I didn’t ask her to leave. I didn’t ask her to stay either,” Kael conceded with a shrug, “but I don’t recall getting that chance since she didn’t tell me she was leaving. Not that I would have asked to give up a chance to follow her chosen career path. That’s not my decision to make. It was hers.”

Kael’s jaw tightened slightly, just a little, barely enough to draw notice except from someone examining him with deep scrutiny. He would permit Ariane her irrational anger at him. She needed someone to blame for Aurora’s departure. Kael had needed the same release after Lynne had told him that she was leaving. He had blamed the boy who had broken her heart, he had blamed Lynne herself for not being strong enough, he had blamed Adrina for distracting him and he had blamed himself for being distracted by a mere girl. His sister was so much more important than a temporary affection. The need to shift blame or to have someone to blame was natural. The accusation that Kael did not care, had never cared about Aurora was not permissible. He would only tolerate so much. Ariane had continued speaking though, and so Kael remained silent with only his expectant stare as a signal for her to just end the explanation before his patience frayed any further than she had already caused it to. Aurora’s story wasn’t Ariane’s to tell, but it wasn’t Kael’s place to protest. Aurora was to Ariane what Lynne was to Kael. Only Ariane could know if Aurora would be happy for Kael to know about her past and her personal reasoning.

[Ariane Chan]

Kael's lack of emotion was a terrifying reminder of Ariane's own apathy. This was her - this indifferent creature sitting in front of her, with his bored voice and dull eyes. This was Ariane Chan, and she had never experienced such a guilty conscience as she did now. So this was what it was like; hoping for a reaction, searching for an emotion - anything. Ariane didn't know what she wanted - an angry, emotional Kael, to prove Aurora hadn't left for nothing, or an angry, emotional Kael, to prove his guilt; or the Kael before her now, calm and indifferent, an image of herself. Whatever he was, though, Ariane would not like. There would be no compromise. "I would never accuse you of being paranoid about your sister," she snapped coolly in retaliation. "And you would do well to avoid accusing me of not knowing my best friend; or even my sister." Ariane was aware that Kael and Lynne were close; she had seen them, known their bond, understood it. She was also aware of Kael's connection to Harmony as well as Aurora; and although she had made Kael her rival, his relationship with Harmony did not concern her at all, unless he suddenly became an extremely important figure in her sister's life. Then, Ariane would certainly have something to say about it. "There is no such thing as paranoia, when you care about someone," she continued in a calmer but non-waveringly cold tone of voice. "There is only love."

Ariane snorted and folded her arms across her chest as she leaned against the wall, watching Kael with scrutinising, hawk-like eyes. "You don't know Aurora at all," she accused, quiet but lethal. "The most important thing in Aurora's life isn't herself; it isn't her music, or her art, or her writing. The most important thing to her is people, and if you really knew Aurora, you would know that. Without a doubt, Aurora has always cared about people." A frustrated sigh escaped and Ariane's stare switched from Kael to the ceiling, examining its whiteness with some regret, some resentment. This trait of Aurora's had always vexed Ariane the most, but at the same time, she loved and treasured and admired her best friend for it. It was something Ariane would never have - universal, eternal, never-ending love for anyone and everyone. Aurora was too kind, too much heart and too little selfish, something Ariane could never be, and she both loved and hated Aurora for it. Ariane wasn't envious - no, she could never be envious of Aurora - but she did wish her best friend didn't make herself so vulnerable to the world; a world of criminals and suffering and hatred and fear.

"Her career would never come first," Ariane continued, her eyes glassy. "The people she loves are the most important; they always have been. She would never leave her family - her parents and her beloved brother - on a whim. For her career!" Ariane almost scoffed at such a ridiculous notion. "Aurora would have done everything she could to stay with them. And Harmony. And me." A flash of an indescribable emotion flitted through Ariane's eyes, before fading into dark oblivion. "She loved us all." Her eyes, cold again, levelled with Kael's. "She loved you." The words were hollow, bitten. The truth. "She would tell you anything, if she thought it wouldn't hurt you. She cares. She'll tell me everything, but you..." She turned away once more, began to trace a bent finger across a picture frame hanging on the wall. "She protects you," she whispered to the wallpaper. When Kael finally seemed to detect where Ariane's animosity arose from, she looked back at him, over her shoulder, her eyes a mixture of bitterness and frustration. "I already told you," she snapped icily. "She didn't leave just because of her passion for music." Ariane's angry voice subsidied temporarily, wavering against the edge; wondering if she should really say it. And then, she began again, her words a quiet, almost unheard truth.

"She'll never admit it. But it was you. I know it was you. Even though she never said it, I could see it in her eyes; the way she laughed, the way she looked at you." Ariane's eyes inspected Kael, bore into him, with his short brown hair and confused yet still indifferent face. "I know that look," she conceded heavily, leaning into the wall again and bowing her head because she was ashamed to admit it. "I've felt it. Anyway, she looked at Daniel like that, two years ago. The same look." Resentment flickered onto Ariane's face, an ugly marr across her usually apathetic features. "You are the reason she left. She is determined to forget you. I know her better than she knows herself, sometimes." A ghost of a smile danced on Ariane's lips, before they fell into a dark scowl. "She won't truly forget you, or neglect you; you're her friend, she wouldn't do that to you. She couldn't do it to Daniel. But he taught her that, and that's why she ran this time. So she need never look at you again and feel her heart hurt; so that she doesn't have to smile at you and want to cry at the same time." Ariane swallowed the lump lodged in her throat, warning her that she was breaking a silent pact with Aurora; but she didn't care, and waited for the inevitable first crack; the break.

"Have you ever loved anyone like that?" Ariane suddenly asked, accusing eyes staring straight into Kael's. "Loved someone so much it hurts? A cliche, I know, especially for a writer such as yourself; but it holds some truth in its origin. Love does hurt; especially love you assume isn't reciprocated. Love that is a burden. She thought it would be a burden, like her love for Daniel, and so she left, before it was too late; before people got hurt, people like you." Ariane shook her head, disapproving, sad. "Aurora loves you, Kael," she finally said, the words thick in the cold, eerie living room. "She is in love with you. The fact you haven't noticed over the last year tells me everything I need to know. And you are all I have left to blame for my best friend abandoning me." Ariane lifted her head, shame but pride lingering in her eyes. "I'm selfish. I'm bitter. That's who I am. I'm not Aurora, forgiving and kind. I am angry and vengeful, and yes; I do blame you. I blame you for everything."

[kael]

Kael was starting to consider the option that Ariane was obstinately resolute in her decision to blame Kael for everything and anything concerning Aurora and her departure. No matter what he did, no matter what he said, Kael would be at the receiving end of Ariane’s anger and hurt. He didn’t have even the faintest inkling of what he had done to earn such fury and scorn from a girl who had previously ignored his existence but Kael was quite sure that Ariane would tell him of his perceived shortcomings. He would be surprised if she truly failed to completely vent her anger on him until she ran out of steam or decided to escort him out of the house like the unwanted visitor that he evidently was. “Don’t consider it an accusation,” Kael suggested calmly, his tone deceptively mild as he addressed Ariane. She had made the mistake of dragging Lynne into this while he was still resentful and confused about what life without his twin sister meant for him. “Consider it a suggestion from the person who seems to be receiving the blame for everything despite having not been involved when Aurora decided to leave. I assure you, I didn’t influence her decision.” Was he accusing Ariane of influencing Aurora? Kael wasn’t sure anymore. He just didn’t know anything anymore. It felt like when he had first talked, really talked, to Aurora. Her seemingly unshakeable cheer and forever present smile had bemused him. No one could ever be that happy all of the time. It just wasn’t human. The world wasn’t nice enough to let someone be so happy all of the time. Then Kael had figured her out and everything had resumed in the same, familiar pattern. Except for one difference. Aurora had wormed her way into his life and hadn’t seemed at all inclined to ever leave. Kael, oddly enough, hadn’t been annoyed at all. He enjoyed Aurora’s company; he didn’t mind sharply reminding her that he didn’t need her smile so she could pack it away until she honestly felt like using it. She had been an invariable figure in his life and that constancy had been reassuring. “Don’t be absurd. Love and paranoia are not mutually exclusive. They can both exist together. Paranoia would be me forever thinking that someone is about to murder Lynne. Love is me wondering if she’s okay when she’s by herself.”

The increasingly obvious similarities between them were starting to border on the ridiculous. How many times had Kael narrowed his eyes at Seth and accused him with silently venomous words of not knowing Lynne at all? When Seth and Lynne had seemed at their closest, when Kael had felt that mixed hope and horror that maybe Lynne would move on from Danny and heal that shattered part of her with Seth’s help; that had been when Kael had disliked Seth most of all. He liked Seth well enough but Kael didn’t want to see his sister date or marry Seth. They were too similar, too different. Seth wouldn’t make Lynne happy. Kael firmly believed that with his entire mind. Not a single part of him doubted it. Lynne would try her hardest to make Seth happy; that was just who she was and she adored Seth too much, in a thankfully platonic manner, to see him unhappy if she could fix it. Kael didn’t really understand Seth’s appeal, perhaps because he wasn’t the type of person to coo over how adorable or geeky someone was. Seth was just still stuck in the mindset of a teenager, in Kael’s opinion. He needed someone to kick him into action and into the adult world of fulltime employment and bills that needed to be paid. Kael could do that for him; he would do it for him. Kael owed Seth at least that much.

Kael hated to admit it and every single cell in him fought against acknowledging it as truth, but Ariane did made sense with her logic. For the first time, Kael loathed logic and the damnable way it always made sense even when he didn’t want it to. Logic had always worked in his favour before. Apparently logic was equally as flighty as luck, or perhaps more so since Kael had never once relied on luck, and had now absconded to join Ariane instead of remaining with Kael. Aurora loved her family. She had never said it, but she didn’t have to. It had always been obvious. She certainly would never have left Harmony or Ariane or Leo just for a chance to further her career. She wasn’t selfish enough. Kael had always told Aurora that she simply wasn’t selfish enough to survive in this world. She put other people first; her family, her friends, people who just walked past on the street or in the corridors of Hogwarts. Kael had hated that. He didn’t want to see her crash and burn because she was so selfless and...pure. Ariane had said it best when she had called Aurora pure. It sounded ridiculous, especially coming from people like him and Ariane, but it was true. There was simply no denying something that was so blatantly a truth.

He had lost Ariane and her rational coherency to the disjointed and illogical ramblings of anger and blame, Kael surmised with mild exasperation. What precisely could she see in the way that Aurora had looked at him? Friendship? Irritation? Bewilderment? He and Aurora had been different enough for it to have been the latter, but he had thought that they understood each other well enough. Daniel? Who was Daniel? Kael knew of plenty of Daniels, he was sure, but the only one that sprung to mind was the one who called himself Danny, the one who had broken his sister’s heart and made her run off to a foreign country without any practical plans for where she was going to live or what she was going to do beyond her plans to attend a culinary school. “She’s determined to forget me?” His voice was hoarse, haunted. The idea of Aurora leaving England to forget him, to get away from him...it hurt more than it reasonably should have. It was just another lost friendship. Kael was used to that by now. He should never have allowed himself to grow close to Aurora in the first place. They were too different. Of course she would have grown tired of him and his pessimism and his cynical personality. He should have expected it. If even Lynne could leave him then anyone could leave at any moment without warning. Aurora had proved that and Kael wanted to hate her for it; he wanted to hate her for making him feel worthless and abandoned in those few seconds before cold, unfeeling logic kicked in to protectively remind him of how the world worked. The faint flicker of distress in his expression abruptly disappeared and was replaced by cold blankness. Kael didn’t care. He never cared. He was perfect apathy and that would never change. Not anymore. Not without Lynne and Aurora.

“Of course I’ve never loved anyone like that. It’s fatalistic and illogical,” Kael responded coolly, his voice too robotic to sound even close to normal. “I wouldn’t even write about something so pathetic even if it was guaranteed to win a prize.” That, at least, was true. He would never write a romance book. Not because he thought love was pathetic. Love could never be pathetic. Even Kael knew that much. The fact of the matter was simply that Kael didn’t understand love. He didn’t understand a lot of emotions. His mind just wasn’t wired to act that way. Lynne had always handled everything emotional and uncomfortable. Kael stuck to the safety of logic and rationality. It suited him better. Though he sighed wearily, defeat lurking around the edges of his expression and body language, Kael didn’t refute Ariane’s claim that Aurora was in love with him. It was just something else that Ariane was throwing at him to make herself feel better, to absolve herself of blame and pin it all on Kael. It was a weapon that was low and undeserving of someone as smart of Ariane but just another weapon nevertheless. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. If Aurora had loved him then she surely wouldn’t have left. That wasn’t how love worked, was it? Ariane’s words had rang out with the confidence and clarity of truth though. For a moment, Kael hesitated, terrified beyond reason at the thought of being so loved so very much by the person he counted as his closest friend if Lynne was ranked as his sister and therefore out of the running, but then rose to his feet with a stony expression, his decision made. Ariane was lying. She had to be. Aurora would have told him. Lynne would have noticed and told him. Neither of those things had happened so Ariane had to be lying. She just had to be. “I think it’s time that I left.” Despite the resolute tone, Kael lingered, unsure if he was waiting for permission to leave or forgiveness for what he had and had done or something else entirely, something that hadn’t yet been granted a name but that would free him from all responsibility and blame and connection to this situation.

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane's eyes pierced into Kael; a flash of anger, smothered by controlled blank canvas. "Aurora may be different to you and I, but she is capable of making her own informed decisions," she said curtly. "If I were to persuade her towards anything, it's quite obvious I would have dissuaded her from leaving. I want her here. I want her back." Ariane's eyes narrowed imperceptibly, before she turned away from Kael to stare, hard, at the bookshelf on the opposite side of the living room. "We're... attached," she added as a vague explanation.

A slender eyebrow lifted, and Ariane's sharp stare was back on Kael's once more. Absurd? Who did he think he was talking to? "If I were paranoid," she stated coldly, "it would be because I love. They are not mutually exclusive; they go hand in hand." Ariane glanced down at her own palms, dry and pale, and fixed them behind her back, joined together and touching the cold plaster of the wall.

She remained silent despite the questioning tone of Kael's words; they could have been interpreted as a disbelieving statement anyway. For the first time, an expression of true remorse - or something akin to that - flickered across Kael's face. Perhaps it was Ariane's harsh, indifferent personality - more so than Kael's, she knew she was cold, she always had been - but not a strand of sympathy stirred her heart. However, neither did Ariane take pleasure from watching Kael's pain. Still. There was some satisfaction that she had finally reached elicited an emotional response.

Ah. A few strands of black hair slid down her cheek as Ariane cocked her head a few centimentres to one side. So this was the only part she knew she would win in a competition of humanity with Kael Collins: love. Not just love, though; romantic love. Two years ago, Ariane would have whole-heartedly agreed with Kael - love was 'illogical' and definitely 'fatalistic'. She still thought love was very much the latter, and she believed love to be 'illogical', yes, but 'pathetic'? That was a word Ariane did not have the humanity to use. After Tristan had left, she had felt her love, herself, to be pathetic. But one year later, Ariane knew it wasn't pathetic. Not quite.

"Love in novels can hardly be compared to real life," she retorted somewhat stubbornly. "Even if you were the most pretigious writer in the world. I don't need to tell you that, it sounds ridiculous coming from me." Ariane rolled her eyes. "Aurora would tell you the same; albeit using much more sentimental phrasing." A tiny, fond smile edged onto her lips. "Aurora believes in love. Illogical, like you said. Fatalistic too. But love... is not pathetic." Ariane pinned Kael with a rather reprimanding stare. "I have learned so much from... Aurora." Who was gone.

Ariane wondered briefly why Aurora was such good friends - and even loved - a cynical, unfeeling man like Kael. Then she remembered that she herself was Aurora's best friend, and she neglected the thought. As Kael stood, abrupt and uncomfortable, and definitely disbelieving, Ariane saw within him another quality that, in any other circumstance, would've made them better friends. As fate would have it, they were on different sides of the river, staring across the water. Hostile. Perhaps this would never change.

Wordlessly, Ariane led Kael to the front door, out of the house. She was not one to keep people by force, and neither did she want to converse with Kael any more, now that she had told him the truth. Ariane never wanted to see him again. However, as she opened the door for him and he stepped out, Ariane spoke a few last words. "I never interfere with Aurora's decisions... but now I have. I never lie either." Her voice neither warm or cold. Just indifferent; expressionless. "Believe me; more than anything, I wish I had lied to you. But Aurora is the liar. I am not. You would do well to consider that, even though she is your friend. Friends lie. They do it to protect each other."

Then, without bidding goodbye, Ariane shut the door with a final click.