Gemini felt as though her brain had just died after those thirty brutal questions. Although she was proud that Eden had such a long and rich history, sometimes she hated it because there was just too much to remember.

"You did well," Aries said as they walked out of the Museum. The sun was at its lowest point and was nearly completely below the horizon. The sky was a mix of dark blue and purple, but that brought out the beautiful twinkling of the stars above.

"Thanks," she said shyly. Aries barely complimented anyone, but when he did, he meant it. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Aries flashed her his signature smirk before he walked down the street towards the city. "Come on, let's get some dinner. You deserve it and I would like to apologise for what happened with Ophiuchus as well."

Gemini couldn't help but feel like a teenager who was having her first crush. Her heart started racing at the possible meanings behind his statement. Calm down, she told herself. He's just being nice. It doesn't mean anything. And don't I hate him? He killed Ophiuchus...but it isn't really his fault...God, what is happening to me?

"Gemini?" Aries prompted, looking back at her, concerned. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah." She silently cursed herself for stuttering.

"So...dinner?"

"Yeah, sure," she said as casually as possible, silently hoping that he wouldn't suspect anything. He looked at her weirdly before leading into a modest-looking café.

"Table for two please," he said to the nearest waitress who guided them to a small table in the corner. "Now, what do you feel like eating?" he asked her, handing her the menu.

Gemini's mouth watered as she flipped through the menu. Everything sounded so good and the pictures were so pretty. What should she eat?

Lobster rolls with fresh lobsters from the market stuffed into slightly toasted bread, drizzled with dressing and a serving of fresh fries? Tender chicken pieces cooked with eggs, potatoes and fragrant rice seasoned with Indian spices? Nasi Lemak consisting of fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf with fried chicken, crunchy peanuts and a few slices of cool cucumber? Or chicken rice? Poached chicken and seasoned rice with cucumber slices and a tea egg.

"Food sounds too good? I can practically see you salivating," Aries commented, breaking Gemini out of her food trance.

"Not my fault," she pouted. "I'll have the chicken rice. It sounds very tasty and simple."

"Good choice. Now, any drinks?"

"Fruit punch, please."

Aries took her menu and stood up. "I'll go order. You stay here, alright?"

Once he was gone, Gemini leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. It was just her second trial and she was exhausted.

Maybe I shouldn't have pulled an all-nighter yesterday. I guess I could just skip the family movie night later. It's not like missing one family night is the end of the world. I mean everyone has missed family nights before and nobody batted an eyelid.

A delicious aroma grew stronger, signalling that food was nearing. Could it be Aries with our food? Or is it another customer-

"Dinner is here!" Aries announced, placing two plates on the table.

"Thank god," Gemini remarked as her stomach growled. She was starving.

Without looking at him, she dug into her food. She almost moaned at the burst of flavours on her tongue. It was heavenly.

"Slow down, woman," Aries said, "or you'll get sick."

She didn't want to get sick. Not with the upcoming trials. Reluctantly, she slowed down, no longer gobbling down her food. Then she got a brilliant idea.

"When I said slow down, I didn't mean to eat in slow-mo," he cried out in exasperation.

Gemini grinned as she started eating normally again. Who knew eating in slow-mo could be so exhausting? It required a lot of self-control and practice to master.

Half an hour later, they were back out on the streets of Eden. They strolled towards Gemini's neighbourhood in comfortable silence, each of them just taking in the scenery. Trees grew on the sidewalks, their arching branches casting dark shadows across the road in the light of the street lamps. The sky was nearly completely dark with not a single cloud in sight.

Meanwhile, couples and families were taking a nice evening stroll either by themselves or with their dogs. There were also some boys being a gentleman and walking their dates back home.

When they got to her house, Gemini wished that the walk could have been longer. Wait, what? Where did that come from?

"Guess this is goodbye."

Gemini looked at Aries. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and he looked almost bored. Perhaps he really didn't care about her.

They stood there on the porch for a moment before Gemini finally mustered up the courage to say, "Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed it."

He glared at her jokingly. "I'm glad you did. It cost a lot."

Gemini rolled her eyes and laughed. "Bye." She turned and walked up to her front door.

"Wait," Aries said suddenly. His playful demeanour dropped as he quickly grabbed her arm.

She looked at him in surprise as he said, "You get the rest of the week off, but..." He seemed troubled, like he knew something that she didn't and couldn't decide if he should say it. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but he then closed it

After what seemed like hours of internal debate, Aries finally said, "Just take the time to be with your family, okay? Spend time with them and cherish it."

Gemini was confused. Family? Where did that come from? Why is he suddenly talking about family?

"Okay? Is this something to do with the trials?"

He ignored her question. "Promise," he insisted, his grip tightening on her arm.

Raising an eyebrow, Gemini hooked her pinkie through his. "Promise. Happy?"

Aries looked far from satisfied. He was upset that she wasn't taking what he said seriously, but he didn't say anything else. All he said before he left was, "Just don't have any regrets later...like Ophiuchus did..."

Gemini was stunned. What was that supposed to mean?

・‥...━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━...‥・

What do you think Aries meant? Do you think it has something to do with the trials?