Kay Richards can’t worry about falling in love.
She'd always loved sci-fi adventures, but since she was turned into a werewolf in a horrific attack – and lost her parents alongside her humanity – she doesn't know what to make of her life. As she sees it, she's a monster, not the independent girl she used to be. Kay will do everything in her power to get who she was back.
Rhys Maddox should have his whole life planned out for him. The new alpha of his family's pack, he is determined to fix his father's mistakes and outshine him in every way. Just because his family believes he needs to take a mate doesn't mean he’ll marry the first wolf who catches his eye. He'll do things his way – whether the pack likes it or not.
And that includes folding Kay and her brother Corwin into the Maddox pack. Rhys and Kay have always been drawn to each other, ever since they met in high school. Now, as adults, both share the same supernatural secret. But meddling friends, a bratty little sister, and the threat of an arranged marriage could keep Rhys and Kay from crossing the line from friends to mates.
“We should be there,” he finally said. “In Angel Grove. With the team.”
“The semester’s almost over,” Trini reminded him. “We’ve talked about going home on break, remember?”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Frustrated, Jason rose from his seat, pacing. “They’re fighting without us, Trini. They need us.”
From the tone of the team’s letters, it sounded like they were figuring it out on their own, but she didn’t voice that. “Or do you need them?” Trini asked, gently.
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deemoyza as part of Yuletide! Her gaze shifted back to the skyline again. There, in the distance, lay a little island. From above, there wasn’t anything to see but greenery and a bit of shoreline, but Celes knew.
There was a little hut.
The fish she caught but couldn’t eat.
A dying man’s last words.
And a woman who decided it was better to live than to die alone.
“Happy holidays to you too!” Zack grinned. “Love what you’ve done with the place! And the flowers, wow. And is that pie?” He peered around Aerith’s shoulder into the kitchen. “And pumpkin, even. You know, I talked to Angeal, and he mentioned getting some apples from Banora, and–”
“Zack burnt the chocobo,” Cloud said, crossing his arms.
“I did not burn the chocobo,” Zack said. “The fire was entirely unrelated to the food in the oven, thank you.”
Elliott watched her take down one book, put it back, and move onto the next shelf to repeat the process again. Each time she frowned. More than once, she glanced at the book she held, shook her head, and kept going.
She gave the softest sigh, a lock of hair falling into her face. Elliott never could resist a damsel in distress.
She’d tried, once, to be pious. Back when Chappu was still alive and he’d promised a ring on her hand and a wedding when he returned from the Crusaders. Everyone knew how their story ended. If Lulu could guide her summoner to defeat Sin, she would consider that penance enough. She’d do what Chappu couldn’t: help bring the peace they all longed for.
If she wandered from the righteous path along the way? That was a secret between her and Yevon, now.
The needle hovers over Evy’s pale skin. Ardeth hesitates, deep eyes flicking to hers. “This will be permanent,” he reminds her, softly.
Evy rolls her eyes. “Of course it’s permanent,” she says, “it’s a tattoo, for gods’ sake.” Her gaze shifts from Ardeth to Rick, standing behind him. “It’s not like the two of you are strangers to the concept.”
“It’s different than having it slapped on you in a Cairo orphanage.” Rick shrugs. “You get a choice.”
School can be stressful, but he doesn’t know anything that can trigger this. The only thing that helps are the nights when he can watch VHS tapes at Shu’s, a distraction Juro never takes for granted.
It’s Shu’s hand on him now, Shu staring down at him with worried eyes, Shu’s hair lit up by the ambient light of the TV behind him like a halo. Juro blinks, and the vision remains, like Shu’s some sort of angel sent to rescue him from himself.
No one else would die. No one else would suffer. She wasn’t the naive girl who tried to fight Sephiroth once and failed.
This time, she’d save her loved ones.
His life was duty, and service, and penance. He knew no other way. Nor had he thought he’d want otherwise.
Until Evelyn.
Until Rick.
Until the two of them together took Ardeth’s hands in theirs and drew him into their tent.
Leaving a hand in his, Mia sniffed the flowers. “They’re beautiful,” she murmured. They matched the yellow one in Biggs’ kitchen. Yellow lilies always reminded him of Aerith.
“Right? They remind us that no matter how dark things get, there is still beauty and hope in the world. I learned that from tending to my garden.” Aerith set the basket down on the ground. “Would you like to keep one?”
Madam M was grace and grit wrapped in a beautiful, deadly package. Barret once thought Madam M was just a dolled up, pretty little thing propped up by Wall Market’s patrons.
Instead, the woman underneath was far more fascinating. Working for Don Corneo, and despising him at the same time. Fed up with Shinra’s shit, yet working within the system to achieve her needs. That drive led Barret to her massage parlor’s door months ago, with the promise of partnership.
onlyembers
