~one week later~

The snow has melted, and the lodge has been cleaned to the last speck of dust. People crowd the lodge, checking in and out, loving the experience more each time. Kim's currently stationed at the desk, checking a new person in, while I try to hide behind my hair as Garroth, Zane and I sort through luggage.

I hear a couple talking for a while, and I tune them out until I hear--- "I just heard a rumor that someone died here last week."

Garroth, Zane and I all go still, and I know each of them are reliving every heartbreaking moment in their minds.

"---literally died." The guy says, and Zane and I look at each other. What I can see of Zane's face is twisted in pain.

"They say he was murdered." The guy continues.

"Murdered?" The girl repeats.

A new guy joins. "I think it was an Ultima."

Garroth drops his bag.

We all turn to stare at them without any shame. If they start to guess...

"An Ultima?" The boy repeats. "That old werewolf story? That's just a myth!"

"No, apparently it's true." The guy swears. "There was a Meif'wa running around town yelling about them. It's attracted a lot of attention to this place."

The wife yells something to the husband and he chases after her with "Uh---baby-honey- scrunch-mcguffin----I didn't know!"

Garroth turns to Zane and I. "Do... do you think Aphmau is going to be okay?"

I tug my hair in front of my eyes. Every time I look in a mirror, I'm terrified I'll see the green instead of my vibrant purple.

"I...I honestly don't think so." I admit quietly. "After everything..."

"Nobody will ever be the same." Zane mumbles.

"Zane... Violet..." Garroth starts.

"It's... been hard to talk about it." Zane says. "But... when I think of what she went through..." He glances at me. "What everyone went through."

"Guys, talk to me." Garroth pleads. "You can talk to me about anything."

Not about this.

"Garroth... " I start, but I can't force myself to finish. A silent tear escapes my eyes and I furiously wipe it away. I don't deserve to feel sad. I don't deserve any of the worry I see in Zane and Garroth's eyes.

Garroth puts a hand on Zane's shoulder, and then mine. "I may not understand you guys completely... But I'm here to talk and try to... I'm here for you, Violet. Zane."

"G-garroth?" Zane whispers in surprise.

"I haven't been the best brother," Garroth admits.

"I just..." I wipe another stubborn tear away, feeling my nose burn as I try to hold it back.

"You can tell me whenever you're ready, guys." Garroth promises. "You don't have to tell me now. I just want to let you know that I am here for you."

But you don't know what I did. What I've done to Aaron, how I ruined him! I want to scream. Aph may has used the knife, but I stood by and LET IT HAPPEN!!!

"You----I---we---" Zane looks to me and takes a deep breath. "You have no idea, Garroth. What it felt like to be under someone's control. It was..."

"Horrible." I whisper, my voice cracking. Goosebumps appear under my skin, and I rub them to get them to go away.

"Not only that...We were completely aware of what we were doing. I saw him hit Aph, and... " He starts crying just enough that he has to gasp for air. "There was nothing I could do about it."

I close my eyes to block out the smacking noise of Ein's palm against Aph's eye.

"Zane..." Garroth mumbles slowly, like he doesn't know what else to say.

"I just want her to be okay." Zane says. "After everything she went through... She had it the worst. And now... Aaron... she---she just..."

Garroth takes his hand off me to give Zane a big bear hug. He pulls me in too after a second, and I'll have to admit, it felt at least a tiny bit better with my big brother's arms around me.

"It will take time." Garroth says. "That's all she needs, is time."

"Yeah..." Zane says, choking back sobs.

But not Aaron.

Not Aaron.

"Time won't undo what I did to Aaron." I whisper into Garroth's shoulder, needing to say them out loud, needing them to not be true. "It can't."

"You didn't do anything---" Garroth and Zane start, but I can't stop.

"You weren't there. You didn't watch her stab him, watch her toss him off a cliff, watch myself attack my brother, watch myself hitting Aaron, killing him slowly with each time I... I c-couldn't... I..."

Zane lets go of Garroth to hug me. "I don't care what happened in the woods, Vi."

"But you SHOULD!" I practically scream. Luckily, the lodge is pretty loud, and nobody notices. "I almost killed him. I could feel his life draining from him... until..."

Garroth notices my pause. "Is now when you'll finally tell us why we didn't have to use a reverse-potion on you?"

I shake my head, rubbing my nose and letting go of Zane. "I... I don't know what happened. One minute, I was... I was under, and the next, there was a voice inside my head, telling me to stop. And... I did."

"You broke free of the potion?" Garroth asks in surprise.

"No." I say immediately. "No, it wasn't me. It was... something else. Tatiana said it was something bigger than ourselves."

"Who?" Zane asks.

"Oh, uh, the wolf girl." Garroth says. "I sorta forgot to fill you guys in, I guess."

"Right, wolf girl." I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "I could feel something inside me. I don't know... I just suddenly was back in myself."

"Do you have any way of describing it?" Zane asks.

I flush red. "It's going to sound stupid."

"A few weeks ago, we had no idea forever potions, Ultimas, and Ein still existed." Zane says. "Try us."

"Well... it kind of felt.... Purple. Like a purple wind." I mutter.

Garroth and Zane exchange a glance. "You don't believe me, do you?" I ask weakly.

"No, that's the bad part. We do believe you." Garroth says. "I just hate that we have another thing we really don't understand."

"Well... we have all the time in the world to wonder." I say, smiling a tiny bit.

Garroth reaches out and hugs us both again. "All the time in the world to be siblings." Garroth corrects. "I want to care about what you guys care about."

"Thank you." Zane chokes. "Big... brother."

I can practically feel Garroth smiling wide.

I feel a tiny bit guilty that I can be included in the category of not understanding my siblings. In my defense, it's hard to be the only girl in a gaggle of goofy boys. Mummy sometimes tries to help, and I know she'll worry about me, but now, right here... I just want my brothers.

As if he knows what I'm thinking, Zane looks to me. "I need to understand you guys, too, you know. You're not the only ones guilty of ignoring the world."

"You never realize you're doing it until it's ripped from under your feet." I mumble, still not letting go of my brothers.

To my surprise, they both give weak laughs. Still small... but real laughs. "Got that right." Zane says.

I let go of them and put one arm around Garroth's shoulders and one around Zane's. They're both taller, so I kind of have to stand on my toes, but they don't hesitate to lean down a little so we can walk outside.

Together.

____________________________________________

"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find out more about that snake-eyed man." Lucinda says, right as I dare myself to meet her eyes. I'm unable to describe the relief I feel when her eyes are ruby, not emerald.

"And, from what I know, Ein's gone." Lucinda says, snapping me out of staring at her eyes, daring them to flash green.

"Good riddance." Zane growls. "I don't even want to hear his name ever again."

Now would be such a good time to slip in Princess Bride "HUMPERDINK! HUMPERDINK! HUMPERDI-INK!!!!", but...

This isn't something to joke about.

"What are we going to do?" I whisper.

"What do you mean?" Kim asks.

"I mean..." I swallow back panic just thinking about it. "Everyone back home. They'll probably ask us about what happened."

"Honestly, we should keep this to ourselves." Lucinda says quietly. "At least until we've had some time to... recover from this." She sighs. "Especially about Aaron. We can not let anyone else know he's an Ultima. Rumors are starting to spread, and it's in our best interest not to give fuel to the fire."

"I agree." Zane says. "It will also keep Aphmau's mind calm."

"Have we heard anything about Aaron?" Kim asks worriedly.

"Last I heard, he was unconscious." Lucinda tells her. "Aphmau's been waiting outside his room for an entire week, so..."

The door opens up behind us and we all turn to see Aph walking out, with deep bags under her tear-filled eyes. She no longer carries herself the giddy way she used to. Her shoulders are hunched, like she's carrying the weight of the world on her back. She looks... hopeless.

I know that look. I'd seen it every time I looked in the mirror for the past week, until Zane and Garroth snapped me out of it.

Aphmau walks over to us slowly, like in a dream.

"A-aph?" Zane asks.

"We're going home." She whispers.

"WHAT!?" We all cry.

"What about Aaron?" I demand, and instantly regret it.

"Aaron... Aaron is fine." Aph says, choking back tears. "But... he's not safe right now. So... he has to go away." A small tear slips from her eyes. "Because if they find out he's an Ultima, they'll... they'll..."

I notice, for the first time, a familiar red headband tied around her wrist. A stab of pain shoots through me as I realize where I'd seen it before.

Aph used to wear it. And then Aaron wore it in college.

"His eyes." Lucinda murmurs. She clears her throat. "I-I-I understand."

"HUH?" Garroth demands.

"Aaron's a walking time bomb." Lucinda explains. "If people found out Ultimas existed, we'd never see him again."

I hear tiny sniffles from Aph, and Zane is at her side instantly. "Aphmau!"

"I... I just want to be close to him." She cries softly.

"Sweetie..." Lucinda says sadly. "I completely understand. Especially after all of this, but... but this is the right call, okay? For both your safety and his. He needs this."

"And so do you." I whisper. She hears me all the same, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Aphmau. We'll be here with you to get through this." Zane promises.

"We'll ALL be here for you." Garroth chimes in.

"That's right!" Kim agrees.

"Me too." I pipe up.

"Guys..." Aph sniffs. "Thank you."

"You must be tired, Aph." Zane says. "Garroth, let's get the car started. You can rest on the way home, Aph."

"Thank you." She squeaks. Garroth and Zane go to the cars, starting them up and loading our luggage. I pat Aph on her shoulder, and she gives me a grateful smile, although a small one, and I hug her once before heading to the mummy and dad's car with Zane.

I turn towards the lodge just before I get inside the car, watching Aphmau and Lucinda talk. My gaze slides up to the wide window, all cleared of the dust and snow from when we arrived. When Aaron pulled the keys out before Garroth could have his moment in the light with his door. Our slumber party by the fire. When Kim was getting possessed by the ghost (who is now being hosted by Kim) and kissed Zane. Zane's radio tuning. Garroth's boob-headed-ways of trying to get us to recognize him. And Aaron's sweet determination, Garroth's stubborn courage, and Kim's loyalty to us all. Aphmau's fear for her friends, so much that she came here to warn us about a blowing-up boiler. Zane, even though he won't admit it, was worried about Garroth and I enough to come with Aphmau here, starting us all down the spiral. Aaron... he went after us. After Aphmau in particular, but he would never leave any of us behind.

Aaron...

We'll see him again, I remind myself. But I still find myself needing to say something. I need to say something. I struggle inside myself for a minute, needing to get this out and finally come to terms with what has happened in our lives. What will happen.

But there's really only one thing left to say.

I fix my eyes on the window, imagining a boy with sparkling black eyes, and fuzzy red-tipped ears. For a moment, I really believe I can see him.

"Good luck, Aaron Lycan." I whisper.

I get into the car and Zane starts the engine, pulling out of the lodge and driving for home.

_____________________

THE END.

TA-DAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Hope everyone liked! those who are reading it, anyway. XD

I'ma start putting out Starlight soon, for anyone who cares. Idk when. But still! I really love Violet.