There were two kisses Aurora remembered as her “first”. Naturally, there was her actual first kiss. The other was the first one she shared with Isabella. That was the first one that had felt right.

Let me tell you about Iadya. I first met her in an official capacity, as one Councilor to another.

“I can't sing,” Aurora muttered. Her cheeks reddened, almost matching her lipstick.

Isabella stepped onto the bare stone of the way and shivered. Had it been so cold here before? She wrapped the blanket around herself tighter. And had it always been so quiet?

Junko collapsed on the couch. “I am out of brain-space,” she said. “All done. Memory error. Shutting down to avoid data loss.” She stuck out her tongue and flopped over like she'd frozen in place.

“And you know what they said next?” Aurora said, laughing. “It's not just...” She stopped, noticing that Isabella was looking away, down the boardwalk. When Aurora reached out to touch Isabella's arm, she flinched away. “Sweetie. Is something wrong?”

“What do you see, Aurora?” Tass asked. They were standing in a desert. Somewhere on Earth, but he hadn't told her where. Aurora wasn't so conversant with deserts she could tell on sight.

“Sand,” Aurora replied. “Shrubs.” She squinted at the horizon. “Maybe a cactus?”

“So what do I do now?” Aurora asked. “Are we some sort of government? Are we superheroes, solving all the worlds' worst problems? Ooh, is there some ancient adversary we need to constantly be on guard against?”

For a moment, peace. A silence and calm Aurora had never experienced before.

But then, the Watchers came. From all sides, the whispers turned to shrieks. A thousand different voices speaking at her, into her. It was past the point of noise. The sounds echoed inside her mind, inside her brain, until there was no more thought. Just sound, then pain.

And then silence, again.

Aurora gazed out at the landscape, presently drifting over the wilds of Africa. The windows of the causeways always amazed her. Presenting a viewpoint hundreds to thousands of feet in the air over the planet, they were a good way to become rapidly acquainted with a world's features, climate, and habitation. Yet with all the worlds she had seen, she still came back to spy on primitive, little Earth. She would never forget the day she saw the Pyramids from so far above.

“Purple,” Aurora said. “I can't help but notice that everything you're giving me to wear is purple.” She looked over the pile of tights, robes, jewelry, along with a few unidentifiable bits. They weren't all quite the same shade, but all undeniably purple.

“I'm so happy to finally meet you!” Mrs. Pedersen said. “Isabella's been talking about you so much these past few weeks.” She was blonde, tall - just an inch shorter than Isabella - and somehow managed to make a flannel shirt and an apron look like modeling high fashion. Aurora had been given warning but, damn. Isabella's mom was hot.

“I just don't see why anyone would ever want me, Nancy,” Helen said. She threw another crumpled tissue onto the pile, even as more tears and mucous ran down her face. “Victor wasn't... wasn't that...”

Nancy pulled Helen close against her side. “Now don't you start thinking that way, Helen,” Nancy said.

 “It's been a fun night, Dave,” Isabella said. “But I really need to get home.” It had been fun. Movie and dinner was classic. David was a good guy. Great sense of humor. Isabella was pondering whether a second date was in the running.

Raeth's eyelids drooped for the third time that night. It was likely time to turn in. There would be no new revelations here. They had read this book three times already in the past. Somehow, it felt there was something lurking there.

“Another late night, Councilor?” a quiet voice asked from behind.

“Aurora,” Raeth said. Their tone had suddenly shifted to deep and serious, sending chills down Aurora's back. “Put the rock back.”

“Huh?” Aurora asked, turning away from the gate. “This?”

Isabella collapsed to the couch. She had been staring at the wall for several minutes before Kali's insistent meowing forced her to look up. Apparently her lap wasn't in the perfect configuration. With a laugh, Isabella uncrossed her legs and let the Maine Coon jump onto her perch.

“At least your life is still simple, Kali,” Isabella commented, stroking Kali's soft fur. “You don't have a girlfriend with superpowers.”

Aurora stared at her ceiling, listening to the faint whispers at the edge of her hearing. They didn't frighten her as much, now that she knew what they were. What did frighten her now, though, was the future. It was why she couldn't sleep. She hadn't slept more than a few hours a night since she'd met Raeth and learned... well, learned only a little. But it was enough to keep anyone awake.