Reborn Before the Apocalypse: This Time I’ll Save My Brother

'Ugh! My head~'

Gripping her forehead as she sits up, Jade looks around the room in confusion. It took a moment for her to realize where she was

'I'm back.'

Seeing the familiar room Jade couldn't help but laugh loudly. It had been 9 years since she last saw this place. Her childhood home.

Slowly getting to her feet Jade walks towards the mirror in the corner of the room.

Seeing the teenage girl in the mirror Jade felt like crying. It had been so long since she last saw her true self. And even then she had a giant scar on her face. Seeing her flawless skin and long black hair she was happy. She always felt it was a pity that her beauty was ruined by that horrid scar.

'never again'

'I'm prepared this time'

Jade closed her eyes and focused on her ability core or what she hoped was still her ability core. She wasn't sure if she would still have it after going back in time.

Feeling the energy flowing in her abdomen Jade smiled wickedly. If anyone saw her right now they would think she was plotting something sinister.

'It's still there.'

Feeling the flow of energy around her ability core Jade slowly opened her eyes as she guided her energy to fill every part of her body.

The beautiful girl in the mirror slowly began to morph into a young boy. She still looked very feminine but her hair became short and her chest became flat. She looked like a teenage idol.

Shapeshifting.

This was her main ability during the apocalypse. She didn't really want to pretend to be a boy she just wanted to look like one to avoid trouble but even like this she could easily charm both men and women. She couldn't help it, she didn't want to change her features. Her looks were all she had left of her parents and she wasn't willing to change this. Besides, this cost less energy than completely altering her appearence.

(Why didn't she just use her ability to hide the scar? I don't know either. We just pretend it makes sense.)

Moving on!

Seeing the person in the mirror change to a male version of herself Jade couldn't help but smile sadly. She looked just like her brother. Her brother who died dur... during THE APOCALYPSE?!?!?!?!!?!

Doesn't that mean...?

He's still alive!

She could save him!

Just as she turns to run out of the room she suddenly pauses, remembering that she looks like a boy right now. She immediately switches back to her normal appearance before dashing out of the room towards the bedroom next to hers.

Without knocking Jade pushes the door open and flings herself into her shirtless brothers arms.

Suddenly feeling a warm body embrace him Nova freezes in shock before tilting his head down to look at the young girl in his arms.

It had been a long time since she last hugged him so he just snakes his arms around her waist without question as she cry's.

He had never seen his little sister cry. Ever since she was a child she had always been cold and expressionless.

He didn't know what her life was like before the age of 8 when she was brought back. When she was really young she was weak and sick so she was sent to live with their grandfather overseas for better treatment. When she came back she was no longer that weak and helpless little girl who had left.

Since then she had never cried at least not where anyone could see her. She wasn't childish nor was she sweet and she was anything but a coward but she wasn't stupid.

It took Jade almost a year to warm up to him and she had only taken the initiative to hug him 3 times.

Once when they were little and there was a blackout. She couldn't see where she was going and kept bumping into things so she climbed into his arms in hopes of being high enough up to avoid getting hurt.

The second time was because she was tired and didn't want to walk anymore but they were out buying new clothes. She jumped into his arms and made him carry her around so they could shop.

The third time was the first time he saw her visibly scared. The house had caught on fire and by the time they made it out both of them were pretty severely burned. Jade had always disliked fire and seeing the house burn scared her. That was the first time he felt she was normal. She leaped into his arms fearfully as she clung to his shirt.

No matter when it was she had never cried.

"What happened Jade?" Nova asks in concern. He makes sure to keep his voice soft and he sees her visibly relax as he gently draws circles on her back with his fingers.

"Don't leave me." She says quietly as she clings to her brother.

Nova was visibly shocked hearing her say this. Despite his shock and confusion he just embraced her tighter.

"It's okay Jade. I'm not going anywhere." He says gently.

After a while Jade slowly started to calm down but she had exhausted herself and immediately fell asleep in her brothers arms.

Nova carefully scooped her into his arms and laid her down on the bed. He originally intended to move away and put his shirt on as she had interrupted him when he was getting dressed but unexpectedly she reached out to grip his hand just as he tried to move away.

Nova turned to look at his little sister who was gripping his hand so tightly.

His expression was gentle as he slowly lay beside her wrapping his arms around her waist comfortably.

A few hours later he was sitting up in bed with Jade's head resting on his thigh. He had one hand lazily playing with her hair as he gazed at his sleeping sister who had hardly ever shown her feelings to anyone. Most people believed she was indifferent to everything but Nova knew she just wasn't very expressive. He found it kind of cute.

He had accidentally overheard her asking what it meant when someone said she looked like a sleepy kitten.

He found it amusing and she indeed looked like a sleepy kitten when she was half asleep. He thought it was adorable seeing her take notes seriously when she got her answer.

She had a little journal she put notes in every time she learned something new.

He had caught a small peek at it once and thought his sister was really cute.

Looking at her peaceful face as she slept on his lap he couldn't help but smile dotingly.

At that moment his phone resting on the nightstand starts to ring and fearing the sound will wake his sister Nova quickly answers without even looking at the caller ID.

"Speak." He whispers in annoyance.

"I don't even get a 'hello' anymore?" His best friend Leonard says teasingly.

"What do you want?" Nova says still whispering. He couldn't bare to disturb his cute little sister.

"Why are you whispering?" Leonard asks with a frown. No matter where he was Nova would always speak at a normal volume. If anyone interrupted him he would deal with them.

"Jade is still sleeping." He whispers, his voice instinctively softening at the mention of his sister.

"The famous Ice Princess of the Winters family? I've heard she's quite the beauty. Is it true that she's like an emotionless doll?" Leonard asks. He felt the rumers had to be pretty credible as he had seen her from a distance once. She was as beautiful as a rose but as cold as ice. The way she carried herself was like a queen. She looked at others like she was better than them yet no one could dislike her for it.

"Don't talk nonsense." Nova says but he doesn't give an explanation.

Just then Jade slowly opened her eyes.

"Brother." She says sleepily as she slowly moves to sit in his lap with her head on his shoulder and her eyes half closed.

"You're awake." Nova says gently as he dotingly rubs the top of her head.

"Mn! Hungry." She says cutely nodding her head.

Seeing this Nova immediately hangs up the phone without a word leaving Leonard dumbfounded on the other end. He had never heard his best friend speak so gently and he was surprised to hear the so called 'Ice Princess' act cute.

No! He had to see it for himself!

And so the First Young Master of the Wolfe family rushed out of the house much to the surprise of the servants and his brother Alexander.

Meanwhile Nova is finally able to put his shirt on and the two slowly decend the stairs to the dining room where a group of maids lays out the freshly made scones and a variety of jams for the two.

The maids bow respectfully to Nova and Jade before leaving the room as they know the Young Master and the Miss don't like to be bothered while eating.

In fact most of their servants were surprised to see them together. Ever since the Master and Madam died 3 years ago they hadn't had a meal together.

Nova had burried himself in his work and Jade having already graduated early was almost always either in her bedroom or attending social events if she wasn't in the home gym.

Having had a weak body since childhood Jade found a love of martial arts. She spent the first 5 years of her life in a bed and the next 3 years doing physical therapy before coming home.

When she was 10 she read a novel and the main character was a female martial artist who was always underestimated because of her small and seemingly weak body.

Since then she started seriously learning from a master her father hired to teach her, wanting to be strong. From then until now she had learned Tae kwon do, Jujutsu, MMA, and many other types of martial arts including hidden weapon and non-hidden weapon arts. She was a fast learner and was able to easily memorize what she was taught as well as alter it to create her own unique fighting style.

It only took 8 years for her to master dozens of types of martial arts.

Now at the age of 18 she could be said to be one of the greatest fighters on the world. Not that anyone knows about it as she doesn't go out.

Nova on the other hand is one of the richest men in the world despite his age. He was able to raise the Winters Group to be a world famous multi-trillion dollar corporation from being the multi-million dollor company it was before. In only 3 years he was able to accomplish more than their parents had in 20 years.

Because of this the number of people who can speak to him as equals can be counted on one hand.

It's common knowledge that the two children of the Winters family are geniuses that can only be seen once in a million years. Students all over the world look up to and envy them.

However if Nova and Jade knew what they were thinking they would disagree. Being a so-called genius isn't as amazing as it seems.

Jade is the perfect example. She could tell you how to build a perfect rocket down to the smallest detail in under a minute if you asked her to but she would struggle to understand if you asked what character she likes best in a game.

Having been raised the genius that she is she has a hard time deciding on simple things always instinctively comparing things logically rather than emotionally. It took her 2 years to decide her favorite drink based solely on how much she enjoys the flavor rather than the nutritional value and benefits to be gained from consumption.

Chocolate milk.

2 years to decide she likes chocolate milk.

Of course during her time in the apocalypse she learned a lot about her own likes and dislikes. She also gained a deeper understanding of emotions and was able to improve her low EQ after being tricked a few times.

She learned just how complicated the human heart really is and how terrible people really are.

Of course she also met some genuine people. Not everyone is heartless, even when the world is ending but genuinely good people were unfortunately the minority.