What Matters Most

Aurelia was extremely intelligent and he had said he hadn't been with anyone besides admitting he had feelings for one or two people. This meant she was teasing a bit. "Perhaps so.." He wondered if Aurelia had picked up on the fact he was lying, but he'd find out sooner or later if she talked to him.

"Where do you live at now?" Zander asked. "I don't mind of course. I'm happy as long as I'm with the rest of you. And what's the president like?"

Aurelia smiled. "We live in a moderately sized house not too far from here. It's one of the properties owned by the Santos family. As for Maya... she's very kind, if a bit overworked. Her whole family is quite nice, really. Well, the one's we've met, at least."

Zander continued to talk with his family, losing track of the time. He didn't know Retina too well but he liked her so far, and he could tell she was a good person. Eventually though she had to leave due to some other things she had to take care of and bit everyone a good day. Eventually, the nurse came back and said he was good to go more or less.

He went to go get the last of his clothes, getting ready to leave with the others but went one final stop to gather his things. Zander didn't expect anyone to come in with him at the moment and was a bit lost in his own world at the current time anyway with no one else around.

While Varia and the others waited for Zander, Aurelia instead slipped into the room as well, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Zander? Do you mind if we talk for a moment?"

Zander was taken off guard by someone coming in, he didn't jump but he did tense slightly and then quickly relaxed. Instinct from the war wasn't always a good thing or even most of the time.

"What did you want to talk about?" He had a feeling of what it was, but he couldn't be completely positive.

Aurelia smiled softly. "Zander... I think you know I wasn't fooled in there. About what you said. Not only because I can tell when I'm being lied to, but also because I'm your mother. I know you. I also know who it is that you have feelings for."

He should have known she would have figured things out no matter how subtle or quite he thought. It had been like that even when he was a little boy, or especially then considering he wasn't exactly the best liar at that age.

Zander turned to face his mother, his face unreadable for a moment. "..You do? Who do you think it is then?"

Aurelia took a seat, motioning for Zander to sit with her. "I'm not positive which was first, but it's Varia and Aisis, of that much I'm sure. The way you act around them, the way you react to the things they do... it's obvious to me. Though, don't worry, the others have no idea. You're very good at hiding it, actually..."

It didn't take much coaxing for Zander to take a seat, he'd have to talk to her about everything now. "..You're right. I don't know when it started exactly or at least when I began realizing it but it just happened. Perhaps it has to do with the fact of being so close with them through life and death and everything in between that's caused it. I don't know."

"All I know is, I'm not sure where to go from here. If it was just one, it would be easier. That's the part I've been stuck on." Zander sighed a bit. "And..there was..what happened with Novir. I doubt a relationship is remotely on her mind."

Aurelia sighed softly. "You make a point, but it's not quite so simple. Aisis is a strong girl. She's doing remarkably well, considering everything she's been through. Not only what Novir did to her physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. She was forced to watch as he tortured me, and later, forced to fight Xelena. That was the only time I saw Aisis break, mentally... she'd always been so strong before. But when forced to choose between listening to her mother being tortured, or fighting her sister... her mind couldn't handle it. It's why Xelena was able to beat her. Then when she killed Novir... she just kept screaming at him to die, and stomping on his head repeatedly, slowly crushing it... I truly thought it would be a long road to recovery for her... and yet..." She smiled then.

"She's doing remarkably well. She's a bit skittish at times, but other than that... it's almost as if nothing happened. At the same time though, certain things... they'll need to heal still. You're only half right. She's certainly not thinking about intimacy, but a healthy relationship could do her some good. Then of course, Varia... she's always burdened herself as everyone's protecter, without complaint, but I'm sure she'd like to be taken care of for once. And she could use romance in her life as well. She's happy, but still craves certain things in life. You know, her favorite movies, I've found, are romantic ones." Aurelia paused... then sighed again.

"In all honesty, I can't tell you who to pick. They are your sisters, and I know that you love them both. When romantic feelings come into the picture, it gets so much more complicated. You need to figure out what it is that your heart wants. I won't rule out the possibility that you might not have to pick. Aisis and Varia were always close, and while Aisis has always admired Varia, Varia is just so open about things. A bigamous relationship is possible. But again, it's a case of following your heart. I do have a suggestion, however. Simply be honest with them. Whether you choose one, both, or truly just can't decide, simply talk to them, and be honest about your feelings. Because until they know, you can't really pursue a relationship with either of them."

Zander was quite when his mother finished, telling him things he had already known deep down for the most part. The situation was more complicated then he would have liked; it would have been easier if it was just one. Still, it was hardly something he could have really done about it; you couldn't really help who you had romantic feelings for after all.

"I know. Do you think I should talk to them both at once?" Zander asked. "..I'm still nervous about it. I mean, if I talk them both at once how would that even work? It would almost..sound like some sort of limitus test. Strange. I can face Gods and the like but the idea of doing this makes me nervous."

Aurelia smiled. "Well, that's just how life works. As for what you do... talk to them seperately. Tell each of them the situation. The whole situation. Then ask them to think it over, and tell each to come talk to you at a certain time. They should both be there for that. They'll either have answers for you, or request more time to think things over."

The young man nodded slowly. "..That makes sense. I'll talk to them both one on one and tell them to meet me later." He reached over and hugged his mother a bit before pulling away. "I've missed all of you so much, and I missed hearing your advice."

He rose up and offered her a hand to help her up. "Ready to go with the others?"

Aurelia took his offered hand and, once standing, placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "Yes, I'm ready. And we all missed you too, Zander. And I missed giving advice, in a way."

Zander smiled at that, not minding the kiss on the forehead. He had missed that and pretty much everything else about his family. There were others he wondered if they were alive or not such as Letum but he had no way of knowing and neither did pretty much anyone else. For now though..

"Same. Anyway, let's not keep them waiting." Zander along with his mother came back to join up with the others. "I'm ready, sorry for the waiting. You'll have to show me around later."

Varia simply nodded, Nilona shrugging, while Aisis smiled. Aurelia chuckled slightly. "It amuses me how my family seem to all tend toward nonverbal communication, yet we understand completely..."

When Emanulle and Monica both arrived on Alus, they weren't sure what to expect. They knew what they needed to do, but Monica felt so nervous butterflies were practically thumping against her insides. On the surface at least, Emanulle was much more notably calm but even he was nervous. Both of them had arrived at the main household of Maya's, but there was likely a slim chance of her being there and she was hard to get a hold of. Xelena was there with them but she was quite.

She had over heard everything, but now after that there was nothing they could really do about it. She badly wanted everything to just be okay and one of the surest way to do that, was to hope things worked out with Emanulle, Monica then Maya. If she wasn't opposed to such a thing herself. Xelena doubted it but she'd have to see.

The three, having nothing further to say to each other reached the main estate where Maya lived. There was a slim chance she was actualy there but they had to try. If not they could wait. Xelena knocked first, then waited.

After several moments, the door swung open. "Maya!?" It was Maya's assistant, Yumi Yamada, and she looked frantic. "Wha... Monica, Manny, Xelena? What are you three... nevermind, you're looking for Maya as well, aren't you?"

The three looked at each other and instantly became concerned, Xelena speaking first. "What do you mean looking for as well. Has she been missing for a while?" She didn't want to panick at first, Maya did vanish sometimes but it was never for long.

Yumi looked decidedly uncomfortable. "When she got off the shuttle, she wouldn't talk to me, except to say she needed to be alone for a bit, and went home. About twenty minutes ago..." She sighed, putting a hand to her head. "This is terrible... the entire Alusarian council, including Arveru, have been taken hostage in the council chambers! One of the delegates that was here to negotiate trade with Alus... I don't know what happened, but he filled the chambers with some sort of nerve gas, everyone is paralyzed. We tried to send synthetics, but their circuits were fried by some sort of electromagnetic bomb. It's why we haven't tried to contact your sisters, we don't want to risk it. He hasn't given any demands yet, and... damnit, I'm just Maya's assistant, why are people looking to me to..." She paused, and took a deep breath.

"Calm down, Yumi, this is no time to lose your head..... alright. If you three are here, that helps. We need to find Maya. She's the only one qualified to handle this situation.."

Monica felt bad, but she wouldn't be able to too much in this kind of situation.

"That or my father, but something must've happened if he wasn't contacted." Emanulle seemed to be thinking. "Besides the nerve gas, do you know anything else about them? Weapons? Anything? Also, if possible trying to get into contact with Retina wouldn't be a bad idea. She might be able to help in some way."

Yumi nodded slowly. "Yes, that would be best... it only just happened, so we are not sure of what we are dealing with. It's a very delicate situation, however, because of the hostages..."

"What's this I hear about?"

Zander came from the door entrance, looking concerned. Xelena had heard he was there but seeing him was another thing entirely. Unable to stop herself despite the serious situation she ran over and hugged him tightly, almost barreling him over. The Astral Dragon was taken off guard before returning the hug, Xelena pulling away.

"I'm sorry..just.." Xelena started.

"It's all right. No need to apologize." Zander interrupted gently smiling at her. Then turned to the others. "Now, what is going on?"

Emanulle explained briefly what happened, causing the dragon to frown. "I see..In theory, I should be more then fast enough to disarm them before they even know what's going on. And that's without having to worry about emp attacks, but you don't have to worry about that. If it was that easy, the Old One's would have simply stolen some of the techology used to disable androids and the like. Which is far more advance then what is seen now, no offense."

Monica looked back and forth, then sighed. "I'm..just going to go with finding Maya, I can't do anything for the hostage situation."

In response, Emanulle gave his girlfriend a hand squeeze. "That's more then enough, just focus on what you can do."