"Brother...?"

The voice sounding so fragile and gentle echoed in the back of his mind. His eyes widened as he turned back in disbelief.

Seeing that Ria was now standing on her own two feet and wide awake, the princess stepped away from them not the ruin the moment.

She glanced at the others who were watching, slightly shocked. They didn't expect to actually find Gray's sister.

Gray's pupils dilated as words escaped his mouth. He didn't know what to say. All this time, he had expected the worst and yet there she was, just ahead of him.

The braids of her silky moderately long black hair had slowly started to undo themselves. Her expression worried and confused as she took a step towards him. Her clothes dirty and worn out with a hole torn in the middle as they swayed with every step.

She was there, his sister who he had been separated from, was right there. Even though he was in his evolved state, a state where his emotions were in disarray, he recognised the feeling right away.

His heart was beating, a warm bubbly feeling rose from within his chest. Joy.

*Thump*

Before she could say anything else, she was suddenly caught by a hug from Gray. It happened fast, so fast that she couldn't react and yet... It felt so gentle.

Gray's nose grew redder and redder, as his eyes became moist. His voice slightly cracked as he replied.

"Sister..."

As she stood there embracing his figure, the surprise in her face faded as tears began to swell up in her eyes. Her voice also cracked as she repeated. "B-Brother! I knew it...! I knew that you were alive..."

Following that, whilst together, her cries resounded throughout the room as she bawled her eyes out.

Tears streamed down Gray's face as he hugged her even more tightly. "Thank god..." He muttered as his mouth trembled. He didn't want to let go.

The others who watched were left speechless, the mood in the room got lighter, never would they have expected to see such a fragile side of Gray.

The edges of their lips curled up to form a smile as they too started to tear up. Violet placed her hand on Lara and Aurora's shoulder before gesturing them to go with her.

"Let's give them some space... That includes you." She whispered as she pointed at the horned princess.

Having understood, the horned princess nodded before following them out.

"So, Gray could make expressions like that..." Kylo muttered.

"Well, they are siblings... I don't think I've ever seen him that happy..." Aurora muttered, with a joyful smile.

Seeing them together brought back a few bad memories, but just seeing Gray happy overwhelmed it, it sort of gave her a bubbly feeling too.

"Siblings... Huh? I wonder what it's like to have one..." Violet muttered.

"Huh? You're an only child?" Kylo asked.

"Mhm, why? Is it uncommon?" Violet replied.

"I think you're the only one here without a sibling." Said Kylo.

"Huh? No way..."

"I have a sibling." The horned princess replied with a smile as she raised up her hand.

The group ignored her and continued on the conversation. Upon seeing this, her cheeks swelled up as her lower lip protruded outwards in a pout. "Humph... Fine, be that way..."

Lara who saw this wanted to comfort her but Kylo didn't let her.

"Aurora, you have a sibling?" Violet asked.

"I had one... But she's dead now." She replied with her head hung down

"Ah... Sorry..."

"Eh- Don't worry about it, she may be dead but she lives on in here. That alone is enough for me." Said Aurora as she raised her head before she pointing at her chest.

Upon hearing that, a smile grew on Violet's face before suddenly hugging her.

"Violet?" Aurora asked, startled

"Sorry, I just felt like doing that..."

The two's moment was interrupted by Kylo who suddenly said.

"Ah, I just realised something. If you both marry Gray, his sister will also be your siblings. Not that I'm telling you to replace yours Aurora, I'm just-"

Kylo's mouth was covered by Lara who smiled nervously. Meanwhile the two girls were left, flustered by the words he had said. Their cheeks reddened as they became quiet.

Seeing this, a smug smile appeared on the horned princesses face. "Hm~"

"W-we're moving off topic..."

Aurora walked up to the horned princess before asking the question that really mattered.

"Are you really someone we can trust and if so, how?"

"I'll do whatever you need me to do, to prove it. I get that my race has caused you all a lot of trouble so I won't ask you to trust me, we've invaded your planet and caused many deaths. But just know that not all of us are bad... Just like not all of you are bad." Said the princess as she stared Aurora straight in the eye

She didn't seem to be lying.

"We have a common goal, to stop my father and the other kingdoms from destroying everything so I say we work together. If you're really against it, I'll leave... But at this rate, this world will be destroyed. That's what always happens when they get what they want."

'OTher kingdoms...? They...?'

Aurora had many questions, so did Violet, in the end she ended up going with the one most important for the moment.

"Why are you so interested in helping a race that has nothing to do with you?"

"Because you're just like us. You eat, sleep, form connections, spend every day focusing on survival, care for one another. You're not like the mindless monsters you'd expect to see in most planets. That and... Because It's what my mother would have wanted.

"There's so much to tell you, so many things happened... There's the military... The foster parents... The.. Sorry... Now probably isn't the time, isn't it?" Ria asked as she realised what she was doing.

She was genuinely looking forward to telling her brother about everything. There were years of things to catch up. The two were seated beside each other leaned against one of the walls.

"It's fine... Go ahead. I want to hear it." Said Gray as he smiled brightly. "I also have... Actually never mind... I'm just surprised you remember me; you were quite young."

"How could I forget? I can't believe I believed them though... They told me you were dead..."

Gray's eyes narrowed as he asked. "They?"

--------------------- December Goals

250 - Powerstones - 14 Ch / Week

Golden Tickets:

Every 10 Golden Tickets - 1 Extra Chapter release, end of month.