Line

"Miss? Miss?" Aurora called out to Meraki as she slowly drifted off to sleep in her arm. 

"Wow. I can't believe she fell asleep. She must trust you a lot." Rose remarked as Aurora tried her hardest to hold onto her so that she wouldn't fall. 

Aurora stared at her sleeping peacefully, a soft smile coming on her face. Jasmine is by her side in a second, helping her with Meraki. 

Aurora carried her entire body with one arm, in a seating position. She gasped at how light Meraki felt. 

She needs to eat more. I need to cook more for her.

"Even with just one arm, you are able to hold her up with ease. Man, am I jealous of our Prodigy." Rose teased, dragging Caris's fainted body to them. 

"She's too light. I'm worried. She is much lighter than the dumbbells I exercise with every day." Aurora spoke, concern thick in her voice.

"You … You remember how much those 'dumbbells' weight right?" Rose's voice shook a little as she said this. 

"It's not much. Still, I wonder what I should give so that she can eat. Miss has a tiny appetite though Kefi is another story. Wait, do they share the same stomach?" 

"Never mind that." Rose threw Caris in front of Aurora. "What do we do with him?" 

"Can't we just dump him in a river or something?" Aurora asked, pouting.

"Aurora. No." Jasmine scolded then sighed, "It feels like all I'm doing is scolding today." 

"That's because you are," Rose answered innocently, earning a glare from Aurora.

"Its fine, Jasmine. If you aren't there to keep us in line then, it will be a big problem."

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked. 

"Remember what happened in year three?" She didn't continue her sentence but judging by the horrified expressions of the three, it is clear that they got what she intended to say. 

"Yeah," Rose said nervously, a slight quiver in her voice. "If Jasmine wasn't there …"

All three released a breath as shivers spread across their bodies just remembering the incident. 

"Anyway, I will need to go and pick Leo up but with Miss sleeping like this and my lack of another arm, I don't know how I'll do this." 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Jasmine asked, "I can carry this man and the boy." 

"Are you sur-" Aurora stopped mid-sentence when she saw Jasmine pick Caris up with the threads from her fingers with ease. "I don't have to ask that question then. But, don't you have work?"

Jasmine smiled at her, "I finished my work and was about to go back to the dorms anyway. So don't worry about it."

"Oooh~ Ok then. Want to have dinner together?" 

"Sure. I always loved your cooking. Rose can't cook to save her life." 

"But neither can you."

"That's why we just order everything so this will be a nice little dinner meeting. I want to see what Meraki will be able to contribute to the meeting." 

"You don't mind her joining the meeting?" Aurora looked at her confused. 

"Yes. Well, I wouldn't but then we made a bet with her and … well, she won so we have to agree with including her into every discussion relating to her. Right, Rose?"

"Bet? What kind o-"

"Jasmine. I just realized that I haven't given you enough praise for everything you have done for us!" Rose suddenly blurted out. 

"What?" Jasmine almost dropped Caris the moment Rose shouted like that. Fortunately, he didn't hit the ground. 

"Have you been thinking about that the entire time?" Aurora laughed, "Explains why you were so quiet." 

Ignoring Aurora, Rose continued talking, "What do you want?"

"Want?"

"Yes. I haven't appreciated you enough. So tell me, what do you want? I will do anything you ask." Rose walked closer to Jasmine, who hid behind Aurora. 

"What's gotten into her?" Jasmine asked, peeking her head out from behind her shoulder.

"She's officially lost her mind." Aurora mused, "But she is right. We don't appreciate you enough. So I'll make sure tonight's dinner is a very special one. Ok?" 

She turned and smiled at her. 

"You don't have to worry about that, what you need to do is take care of yourself. What will Meraki say if she saw you working so hard while still being injured?" Jasmine started but Aurora wasn't backing down either. 

"I will get a replacement for my arm in the Society's headquarters when we go there to pick Leo up. I will also get myself checked up. Can I ask you to look after them in case they wake up while time doing that?"

"Sure," Jasmine sighed, there was no getting to her. Aurora moves at her own pace and however she wishes. 

"Hey, stop ignoring me." Rose piped in. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing," Jasmine answered without any hesitation, making Aurora burst into a fit of laughter. 

Her reaction infuriated Rose, who replied with a glare at them.

"What was that? You want me to get you a puppy from the other world? Ok. Consider it done." She said, with a triumphant look on her face. 

"Is that even allowed?" Aurora questioned, looking at Jasmine. 

"No. We can't just bring something from the other world as we wish. You're going to get into a lot of trouble, Rose." Jasmine warned. 

"But I want to do something for you and you won't take me seriously," Rose whined and sat on the ground, sulking. 

Jasmine and Aurora exchanged amused looks. She isn't the headstrong, sadistic woman everyone knows her to be. Not around them at least. What she is, is a child in the body of an adult. 

"Rose." Jasmine walked to her, placing her hands on her shoulder. "I only have one thing I want the most from you." 

"Really? What?" She instantly started beaming again. 

"Just be healthy and happy." She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. "That's all I need from you."

"What are you, my mother?" Rose scoffed and went back to sulking.

"Rose~" Jasmine called out, her tone sweet as honey but Aurora stepped back and Rose froze. "Did you cut your hair?"

"Ah! Hahaha. Well, you see …" 

"Didn't I tell you to grow it out? What are you doing?" She asked, still smiling with that unchanging tone of voice.

"I couldn't help it. We were battling a very strong creature. Aurora even lost her arm in that fight." Rose lied. 

"Oh~? Really? It must have been a very difficult thing to do, battling that creature. Well, it's ok."

"Really?" Rose looked at her with shining eyes, making Aurora suck in a sharp breath. 

Jasmine smiled at her before shadows formed in her face, ��Is that what you wanted me to say? Rose," She sat down beside her while Rose scoots a little further away. Jasmine grabbed her shirt and pulled her close again. "I can tell when you lie to me. And that wasn't a very good lie, to begin with."

"Come on, Jasmine. I just can't bear having long hair. It's so annoying, it gets stuck everywhere, my hair fall has increased and it's easier to grab me during battle." 

"Are you blaming your lack of awareness to your surroundings on the length of your hair?" Jasmine asked, still grabbing onto the shirt. "Because Aurora is the prodigy and she had hair that reaches her back."

Aurora peeked from behind a tree, shaking. Please don't drag me into this. I have nothing to do with it. 

"Aurora is Aurora. I am not her. I just hate long hair. It's also so hard to maintain and I get hot too easily." She whined again, like a child forbidden by their parents from doing something. 

"That doesn't change anything. You lost a bet, remember? Are you going back on your word?"

"No! My word is my honour." 

"But?"

"It's been a couple of years. So I thought that it's long enough already." Rose said, trying to sound as innocent as possible. 

"Ahhh~. So that's it." Jasmine pulled Rose to her and moved as her face came in contact with the ground. She then sat on top of her. "So, say that again."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I won't go back on my word anymore! I'm sorry! I promise!" Rose pleased with her from her position on her ground. 

"How do I know you will keep your promise?" She asked, clearly enjoying this from the bright smile on her face, "After all, you promised before but look at what you did."

"I promise this time. Really, really. If I break it then I will kill myself." 

"That's a little too extreme." Jasmine's expression softened and she stood up. "I was actually planning to call you today to cut your hair for you. I saw how much you were suffering but then you already did it yourself. That's sad. And you even lied to me."

"I'm sorry, Jasmine," Rose said, pulling herself off the ground. "This isn't an excuse but I really couldn't stand it anymore so I thought this was the only option I had." 

"I understand. But, next time, just talk to me ok? You never said a thing so I never prioritized it. Which is a fault of mine. But we are talking about you here so let's focus on that. Ok?" Jasmine held her hand out for Rose, who took it and let her pull her up. 

"I will remember that. Don't worry. I did act like a child so I'm sorry about that."

"Well, it's fine." 

"OK!" Aurora jumped in, "Now that we are done with that can we continue? Meraki is as light as a feather but even holding something as light as that for a long time can tire you out."

"Oh, right. I forgot about you, Aurora. Let's get going then." Jasmine reached up and patted Rose on her head. She then ran to Aurora as Rose summoned the portal. 

"We'll see you later right?" Aurora asked. 

"Yeah! I'll be there as soon as I'm done here." Rose shouted as the portal opened up like a tear in the surrounding. 

"See you then," Aurora said, entering the portal.

"Don't be late!" Jasmine called out and, with a wave, disappeared with Caris in tow.