2.32 – In the days following…

As Aurora was flying through the late evening sky towards home, she got a call from the Avenger that she answered right away.

“Aurora… you did good tonight. I expected you to be more forceful or reckless, I’m glad to be disappointed,” he said. “But I did notice you blew off Val North.”

Aurora laughed softly. “I didn’t really blow her off. I gave her as much information I felt I could afford to. Was there a problem with how I handled that situation, sir?”

“She’s a local online reporter for the Seaside Chronicle and fairly influential. I suggest you form a relationship with her. She could be a good ally inside the media and a source of information. When you have the chance, I would suggest you talk with her. Other than that, I’ve forwarded all the kids’ information to your card so you can cross-reference them as necessary.”

Aurora smiled. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate your advice. I’ll contact her when I can, though I’m not sure what else I can tell her that I haven’t already, especially about this case, which you yourself said had to remain under wraps. I can try to befriend her like Detective Kirby at least.” She smiled thoughtfully.

Aurora looked out over the bay she was flying over towards the lights of San Isidro. She only really noticed it now, but the older incandescent street lights of her hometown gave off a warmer, more welcoming glow than the cooler color-temperature of Seaside’s newer LED lights. Just another contrast between the sister cities. “Even if brief, it was an honor fighting by your side today, sir,” she told Midnight. “It was my first superhero team up. It was everything I expected.” She grinned broadly, spinning through the air.

“You did most of the work, Aurora. I wouldn’t mind working with you again either, despite what some people might think. For example, I only called in Vanguard so he could confirm your physiology, not because I found you lacking.”

Aurora grinned broadly. “People will think what they want to think, right?” Aurora laughed. “Well let them, I guess. People will be people, super or not. Let’s see what they say when I rock it with Mistral someday.” She laughed softly. “Thank you for the compliment, sir.”

“No, not you. Me. I mean that some people consider me to be so serious I can’t work with heroes who themselves aren’t serious at all times. All that said, I’m going to say that you still need more training and experience, but for now, I’ll drop Jason off in a couple of days when I’ve detoxified him.”

“I know that, sir. I can’t expect to be perfect from day one. But as long as I hold the examples of the Society high, I know that I’ll do my best. Plus, I wouldn’t mind getting more training. The experience will come with time.” Aurora smiled. “Either way, I think we worked just fine together, sir. Thanks, I’ll see about stopping in to see his parents tomorrow on behalf of the Society. I’ll explain that he’s in good hands and will be returned safe and sound. I’m sure they know I was involved in helping him to begin with so I hope they’ll be understanding.”

Midnight Avenger chuckled faintly. “That’s exactly what I was going to ask you to do. Good. I have to concentrate now. I’ll talk to you later if need be. Thanks for your help, Aurora. Midnight Avenger, out.”

He hung up the call and Aurora finished up her leisurely flight home. She landed in the copse by her home, rinse and repeat. After landing and changing back, she walked into their home. Quinn and Goonie were watching a nightly movie. Leona settled down between them and squirmed under the blanket.

“Good day?” Goonie asked.

“Oh heck yes!” Leona squeed. She gushed endlessly about her adventures today. Talking about the scenario and how well she did and how Avenger complimented her even though it came with a caution to be an even better hero.

When she was done, Goonie commented, “You should see about getting someplace you can be safe in the city just in case.”

The next day, Aurora suited up and flew around the city, going through the motions rather than seriously attempting to patrol. She still managed to find and stop some petty crimes in progress easily though, after which she returned home and hung out with Quinn for a bit, enjoying each other’s company.

True to his word, the Avenger returned with Jason the day after and the two of them delivered him to his parents, although the Avenger stayed in his car. His parents started to admonish Jason on sight, but Aurora gave them a short speech about how he wasn’t responsible and that if anyone needs to apologize, it was the people from the camp to blame.

Leaving them with that thought, the parents told her that their door was always open to her.  Jason even gave her a grudging ‘thank you.’

After Jason was returned to his home, none the worse for his time with the Society of Sentinels for his detoxification processing, Aurora and the Avenger drove to the waiting Avenjet and said their goodbyes before parting ways. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was smiling underneath his mask no matter how dour his voice may have sounded. He shook hands with her one last time before heading out. “I’ll be in touch,” he said quietly and left.

The next few weeks were somewhat tame, with Aurora doing regular patrols and stopping street crimes while Leona spent time with her family and some new friends. She started hanging out with Quinn’s friends who she’d referred Leona to so that she could further explore her parkour hobby. A few tried to hit on Leona, but they all proved more interested in information about Quinn despite her direct admission of her cousin’s sexuality. Nevertheless, through them and the activities they shared to polish her skills, she discovered a lot of interesting places in San Isidro she’d never noticed even from high above. She considered visiting these locations later as Aurora, just to explore from above.

Every couple of weekends, Leona made trips to Canada and spent time with Mistral, who usually created a light night-time snowfall for ambiance for the two of them. Mistral spoke about her college troubles, and Aurora laid out the troubles she was facing as a new heroine.

Aurora’s presence helped Mistral to relax and be cute and friendly for a while. The backrubs Aurora gave were particularly well-appreciated. Of course, they made out about as often as possible..

Some time after, Aurora received a call from Midnight Avenger again. He offered Aurora some time in the Sentinel’s ‘Kitchen,’ the colloquial name for their training room. She got some time with him and trained alongside some of the other Sentinels, all of whom were professional, if not always friendly. There were a few heroes Aurora didn’t recognize who introduced themselves as new heroes from across the United States and Canada. She was the only one who trained consistently however and was able to expand her skills quite nicely.

During one of her training sessions, a giant monster attacked Sentinel Plaza and Aurora was given the opportunity to sortie out with Vanguard and Bombshell. She played midline support by helping keep it busy while the powerhouses landed powerful attacks and then filled for them while they recovered, covering gaps. During the press conference afterwards, Vanguard made the official statement that Aurora had been the key to their swift victory.

Afterwards, Aurora spoke with Vanguard about his offer to help her in San Isidro. He smiled congenitally at her, telling her that he had the perfect place in mind for her. She asked if he planned to perhaps change that spot to a clubhouse when they had the time. Being somewhat familiar with the area in question, Aurora agreed to the place and told him that she’d consider making it a clubhouse. As easy as that she had a crash pad in the industrial section on the East side of the town a few days later.

Her new safehouse was an old and worn boat house that was only a block away from one of the bus lines. Although the furnishings were fairly spartan inside, it did have an exit through the bay, as well as a roof hatch and a hidden door to walk in and out of that could only be opened by her communicator.

Thanks to Vanguard’s statement, Aurora started to receive more media attention. Though there had always been interested parties thanks to her crime fighting, a few enterprising journalists and media personalities were asking for her to stage events, buy TV time and even do ads in the paper. She politely ignored the majority of them, truth be told a little nervous about appearing in such a capacity, but her refusal seemed to simply add to her mystique.

As the summer started to draw to a close, Sarah was finally let out to come visit Leona. Absence had definitely made her heart grow fonder instead of the opposite. Frequently wanting to cuddle, the two spent much of their time out, but did also spend plenty of time at Leona’s house in the privacy of her room engaging in a little more than heavy petting. The only problem was that her mother was frequently home when Sarah was over, and remembering Quinn’s warning, Leona refrained from getting particularly sexual with her.

However, being with Sarah also made Leona a little more ardent with Mistral during their dates in Canada. They playfully chased each other through the skies and often ended up back at her sanctum where, after a little fun, they fell asleep in each other’s arms more often than not.

On the last date of summer, the week before Leona’s High School was set to start, Mistral gave Leona a shimmering stone and told her that she’d be able to create a pathway from wherever she set that stone up to her Sanctum.

Aurora decided it was too poetic not to and set it up in the closet of the boathouse and then added her to the site’s private codes. She was hardly able to wait for their next date to invite her to her secret HQ, spartan as it was. She immediately started considering spending some of her saved allowance on some ambiance for it.

Despite all the other excitement Leona was dealing with, perhaps the most exciting part was that her body had started to develop more. Her breasts were doing her proud, having grown far plumper. Not just that though, she had become overall a bit more curvy and more overtly feminine. The time with the Urban Explorers Club helped to keep her burning the calories rather than allowing her to get a little chubby. Some of her friends from school last year even asked if she was going to do sports this year because of her more athletic and toned build.

And despite all the fun and wonderful experiences, she did have a spot of sadness.

Quinn finally left for College.

They had known it was coming, but that didn’t make the occasion any less bitter-sweet. She began her studies at the Minovsky Media college about five hours south in the greater Los Angeles area. The campus was shared with UCLA, but Minovsky specialised in music and theory classes. It was a very interesting campus, with provocative art and light sculptures stood out amongst the fountains at night.

“Just remember,” Quinn said, “If you ever need me, I’ll hop right into my car and drive back to help, okay?” she said, wiping the tears from Leona’s face. She then hugged her baby cousin super-tightly. She held onto her for quite a while and then let her go. “Though really, it’s faster for you to come here so I better be seeing you around,” she grinned and sniffled a little, her own eyes were a little puffy.

The drive home with Goonie was quiet at first, but then Leona started telling stories about Quinn’s past antics and they felt better about it quickly enough. When they stopped for food, her aunt held Leona tightly and stroked her hair. “I’m not letting go of you for a few years yet, you hear me,” she said quietly. “No matter how fast or far you fly, you’re still my beautiful, brave daughter, right?”

Leona hugged her back, crying softly. No matter what, losing her sister, even if it was just distance separating them, was very painful. She’d miss her teasing every day, and the way she cared for her little sister. “Yeah…” Leona trailed off softly. “Always, Mom.”

When they arrived back at the condo, the place felt somehow both a little bigger and a little smaller. She eventually called Mistral after her aunt went to bed and commiserated for a little while. Mistral told Leona that she had just been struck with an idea for a gift for her, and that she’d be pleasantly surprised when they spent time next date night.

And so the wheel turned, the days marched on and the summer season came to an end.

What surprises and new adventures lie in wait for our new heroine, the Winged Wonder, the Human Aurora Borealis, the Sparkling Sentinel of Justice? Stay tuned. <3