Awkward silence permeated the meeting hall, a response to the tense question posited by Serah.

Where was Neron?

Edward found himself being the center of attention for this question, and he utterly regretted it.

He glanced in Ciara’s direction, and he wasn’t surprised to find her still in Jerry’s embrace, with the both of them acting all lovey-dovey as if they hadn’t seen each other in a hundred years.

As for his other friends, Jared and Kuzon, they had flown off with their lovers.

‘When is Aloe going to show up?!’ Edward screamed within himself as he returned to reality and was met with the intense gaze of Serah.

He had to say something… and fast!

“W-well, the thing is… I…” Edward felt more uncomfortable as he uttered more syllables, and sweat began to form on his face.

He surely wasn’t suited for relaying such tense news to a crowd of people. Any little mistake would cause problems, and the uncertainty that came with being burdened with such a responsibility made him indecisive.

“T-the thing is—”

“You don’t need to stress yourself, Edward.” He heard a sweetly familiar voice from behind him, forcing him to instantly turn back to see the newcomer.

“Aloe!”

A bright smile formed on Edward’s face as he took in the sight of the woman who had just appeared in a flash of light. Golden glimmers of illumination shrouded her, though they were already dissipating, and her calm smile was enough to melt the tension that was amok in Edward’s thoughts.

Stuff like this was more difficult than combat, so Edward was grateful his comrade had just appeared.

“I’ll take it from here.” Aloe Vida spoke as she took a step forward, the last vestige of her Light Magic fading out

Very quickly, all the attention that had converged on the bumbling Edward began to move in Aloe’s direction, and her green eyes seemed to absorb all of them without even flinching in the slightest.

It was only for a moment, but her gaze met Ivan, who looked stunned to see her, though he had a tinge of guilt written on his face. Aloe could only return his darkened expression with a smile as her gaze found someone else.

Asa, the Beastfolk. He looked much older than when she last saw him. He was at least a young adult, with a very fit body that was a stark contrast to the childlike features she remembered.

His bright blue eyes seem to glitter when he looked at her, and his broad smile seemed to stretch his face to uneven proportions, but both Aloe and Asa maintained their silence and postponed greetings.

Now wasn’t the time at all.

Aloe’s gaze met a few others, and only nods were exchanged instead of actual greetings.

At this moment, there was a more pressing issue to attend to—no, perhaps two.

One was the cause for their sudden reemergence, and why they were able to arrive at the moment that they did.

The second, and perhaps most urgent, was Serah’s inquisition about Neron.

It now fell on Aloe’s lap to provide answers to both questions; to dispense information accurately and succinctly in order to bring everyone up to speed since the rest of her colleagues were too ‘distracted’.

“Ahem! I’ll explain everything at length now. Although, since this is quite a long story…” Aloe’s eyes scanned the hall one last time, noticing a lot of the people seated were now on their feet, and some had scattered expressions or positions.

Everyone seemed to be in disarray, and tension ran wild.

That wouldn’t do.

“… I think it’s best if everyone has their seats.”

******* 𝞸𝑣𝓛xt.𝗰𝓞𝔪

MEANWHILE…

‘She’s different from before…’

As I engaged in the most breathtaking kiss with Maria, feeling her body resting on mine, I couldn’t help but feel this way.

We were currently flying very high up in the sky. The wind brushed our hair, causing it to dance around us, but none of that mattered as we were both so immersed in each other.

However, despite that, I couldn’t help noticing everything that had changed.

‘Her boobs are… bigger. No, it’s not just that. She has a much more mature body.’ My thoughts echoed as I tried to bring them under control.

It wasn’t just my imagination, but Maria was also taller than I was.

‘How could this have happened? How long were we away?’ I quickly dismissed the bead of sweat that began to form on my face.

Just as I was sorting out my thoughts, also doing my best to calm my racing heart, Maria finally disengaged from our kiss, and I was able to get a much clearer view of her face.

‘Ahh…’

She looked far more beautiful compared to how I remembered her—and that was saying a lot, especially considering the fact that she was a beauty back then.

Her face currently had more mature features, and she looked very similar to an adult in her twenties than the girl who was barely 16 when I left.

‘Could it be? No… no way!’ I didn’t want to imagine that possibility, so I shrugged off my thoughts and decided to only focus on the moment before me.

My moment with Maria.

“I’ve missed you…” I whispered to her, kissing her forehead, and I felt her grip on me tighten. “Haha… don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Not anymore.”

“Liar…” I heard her whisper, and then watched as she pouted.

It was so cute that I felt my heart would explode!

Her blue eyes seemed to peer deep inside my soul, and I could tell that she was really relieved to have me back, and more concerned that I would leave her again.

That fear… it was so deeply rooted within her that I could feel it myself.

“Maria… I’ll never leave you. I promise.” I decided to fight back the fear with my resolve, hoping… praying it would be enough.

Fo a moment, silence pervaded the skies where we made our solace, and we only stared at each in that period.

None of us spoke… and we simply enjoyed our company instead.

Then, Maria collapsed her head on my chest and smiled, her white hair dancing all over my cloth. I could feel her different, more mature body once again rubbing on mine, and it just felt like the right moment to ask what had been swirling uncontrollably in my mind for too long.

“You’ve really changed a lot, Maria…”

“Hm?” Maria raised her head and stared at me, her blank face facing me directly.

“I-I mean, you’ve grown… a lot. It feels like you’re a lot older than before… is all.” I quickly added, fearing that she might have construed some other meaning to my statement.

Maria, by most standards, was still the same. I mean, she was way openly bolder than before—but even before I vanished, she had done some really wild things, so I wasn’t too surprised.

It was mostly her appearance that surprised me.

“It’s been ten years, Jared. Ten years since you vanished.”

The moment Maria uttered those words, my brain nearly shut down.

I tried to process all of it, but the only thing that could come out of my lips after hearing such absurd news was…

“What?!”

*

*

*

A

/N

The truth begins to unfold. How will both sides react to the news from the opposite ends, and what steps will they take to move forward? Let’s find out, shall we?

Also, for those who are yet to join my Discord… you should.

More Character Arts can be found over there, you know?

Link: https:

/

/

/yMPNRURZJh