4.04 – The burden of guilt

“Yeah… maybe.” She smiled as she reached for her communicator.  Too many people seemed to stare when she fished through her bosoms for her card in front of others.  Their interests were a bit too fixed on her motions.

“Nice trick, that healing thing you do,” Kirby noted jauntily.

Aurora flushed for a few reasons as she slipped her ID card out.  She decided she’d take off before she read the message. “It sure is!” Aurora smiled, recalling how it saved Goonie’s life.  “Anyway, I’ve got to be off.” The fact that she was already late and likely was in trouble dawned on her again belatedly.

“Take care, Detective. I’ll leave the robot to you now… um… it might thrash a little when I’m gone, but I’m sure you’ve got this.” Was this a good idea?

Kirby nodded, understandingly. “Yeah… we can scrap it if need be, but it’s not going anywhere as is.  The car’s flipped.  I doubt anything will happen. You get to where you need to be.”

Truthfully, Aurora was also considering having a nap somewhere.  Maybe that nice rooftop… no… that was over in Seaside.  There weren’t too many safe places for such naps aside from her home or the houseboat base the Society had set up for her.  She was a very serious student and was very lawful, however after these two struggles, she was considering playing hooky.

She bound into the air, her wings spreading beautifully as she rocketed upwards with more energy than she truly felt she had.  Maybe mom would call in for her after she found out what she’d dealt with.  There was also Sarah to worry about.  She slowed when she was out of sight and flitted and glided in a random direction.  Any would do. Any that took her away and allowed her to relax a smidge.  She angled vaguely towards home with the intention of going there.

She lifted her card and checked her messages, paying absolutely no attention to where she was. The thermals rising from the cement carried her across the hot and dirty old lady of a city while she read.

She called this autopilot so to speak, using her peripheral vision to make sure she didn’t ram into any skyscrapers, though the currents of the air around her tended to warn her.

The first was from Chuntao Valerie North!  She blushed instantly, thinking about how she’d left her hoping her first time with a girl would be with a superhero.  She had to hate her after being stood up almost like she did… but then, things went well, didn’t they?

Heard you were at the fire here! Good job! Interview again?

Aurora’s nose crinkled as she tip-tapped a response.

Thanks, Chuntao! Sorry, I can’t yet. Scheduling conflicts.  A nap is pretty

high up on the list of things I’d like to do. Just pulled off a record-

breakingly tough morning . Check the news for more details for now.

She sighed as she moved to dial her Goonie and beg off from the school day, but Chuntao’s response came back at a near lightspeed.

Girl, I am the news, remember? Lolol. You check the news in an hour, I’ll

have an article up about you.

What kept her from going to see Chuntao if she was taking the day off, so to speak? Maybe it was fear.  Even the most virtuous might fail when faced with a heck of a temptation.  *sweat drops*

She completed the call and Goonie picked up with a surprised tone, “Are you OK? Is Sarah doing alright? Is there a crisis I need to deal with?” Sarah’s plight with her family was still fixed firmly in her caring mom’s mind.

She had no idea how Sarah was doing.  “I got sidetracked by superheroing this morning.” She chuckled wryly as she continued to soar, her wings flapping intermittently to maintain her current elevation.  God, she loved to fly. At times like this it soothed her heart more than anything else except for snuggling.  The air this morning was pleasant and was particularly fresh higher up above the smoggy city.  “I had to rescue people from a burning building… and then I chased after an armored car with strange technology.  And that wasn’t all. A big robot jumped out from it when it was stopped… oh I know it sounds crazy… like some kind of excuse like the dog ate my homework, but I’m exhausted.” Aurora yawned and didn’t fake it even the slightest.

“And now I’m gonna get in trouble back at school. It’s guaranteed.  I made that choice because I can’t let people die.  Right now what I need most is a good nap in the sun to recharge.  But, I’m worried about Sarah too…” Aurora hesitated, trailing off.

“I’m proud of you, Leona, but I don’t want you to miss any more school. I’ll let them know you’ll be late today if you’d like. Come home and nap for an hour and head back or find a nice place to snooze.  That card of yours has a mental alarm you couldn’t sleep through, doesn’t it?”

Ouch… stuck.  She should have known Goonie wouldn’t tolerate every time she needed to take time away, and she was right.  Facing the music was inevitable, so sooner or later, didn’t matter.

“Mmmm, OK, Mom.  I’ll try to spend time with Sarah at lunch.  Hopefully, she’ll talk to me about what’s going on with her at that time.  I wish it was as simple as calling child protective services to end this tension, but that’s not right.”

“Yes.  It isn’t.  I have a feeling it’ll be necessary to step in, but we’ll have to wait.”

Aurora picked up speed as she responded. “I’m on my way. Thanks, Goonie!”  She disconnected the call and changed in the usual place behind the condo.  Goonie was waiting at the door with a cup of tea for her when she heaved herself over the wall and sprinted across the grass.

She passed it to her daughter with a warm smile. “Drink this.” Stepping aside for Leona, she followed a weary Leona who padded into the living room and they seated themselves.  Leona gently sipped at the tea, sighing.  It helped to soothe her nerves. When she finished, she curled up on the sofa and fell asleep right away, feeling vaguely bad for spending more time away from school.  Her little nappy was very restful and she didn’t have any particular dreams she could recall.

When she woke up, the sun was streaming through the window, spilling over her body and warming it in a very pleasant way.  It was as though the world was shining a spotlight on her.  Yawning, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the coffee table where she put her tea down, hoping there was a little bit of it left to moisten her mouth, but it was empty, but propped against it was a note, and Goonie’s handwriting was plain all over it.

She lifted it and read.

Leona felt guilty for forgetting to set the alarm like her mom had suggested, but she chose to let her sleep, and…  She checked her communicator and winced.  It was 1 PM already.  There was no way she’d make it to school, or rather it would be pointless.  She wasn't lying when she said she was wiped out.  Her cheeks flamed and she bit her lip.

She resolved to be tougher and more dedicated in the future.  If she wanted to be a true hero, she couldn’t make excuses.  Disappointing her Goonie was absolutely the worst.  She didn’t want to sleep so long, but she also forgot to set the alarm, so she was at fault for this.  She considered what she could do, and considered having a heart to heart with Sarah whether she attended school today or not.   That was important.

Toying with the idea of swooping in and picking her up as Aurora and maybe confessing her secret or at least having a serious conversation about her homelife, she planned it out, thinking it’d be a few hours before she could do it.  It’d be a bonus if people saw Aurora picking her up, too.  At the end of it she could drop her off near her home. She’d gain a bit of time and would have the time to have a chat before she was expected back.

Needing to fill in the time, she decided she’d head to O Natural.  She wanted to make up for this situation with a bit of hard work.  She locked up, headed to the copse over the wall and transformed, bolting up into the air.  She flitted there quickly and landed in a seemingly empty lot and transformed, rushing out as Leona across the pavement around the corner and into the cafe.  When she entered, one of the waiters waved to get Goonie’s attention. She looked over her counter at Leona and spoke up with a small smile. “Leona! What are you doing here? Come to the back!” She pointed at the back room.

Leona headed with her and thinking she was mad she slumped a little, expecting to be chewed out.  Instead, she hugged her tightly and smiled more. “Is everything OK?”

“Yes, I’m alright.” Leona felt better. “I want to make this morning up to you by working a little if that’s alright with you. I need to fill in the time, and the alternative is to patrol.  I mean, until school starts.  I want to go pick up Sarah and talk to her like you suggested. It’ll be impossible if I don’t use the time she’d spend on the bus to my advantage. So, I’ll talk to her as Aurora.  She hasn’t seen her in a while, so it would help draw her out a little, maybe.  Plus, I’ll get her all to myself for a short time.” Leona’s lips twisted and she looked into Goonie’s eyes, wondering.  “Do you think I should tell her my secret?”

Goonie sighed and thought for a long moment. “She has something in her system, doesn’t she? As much as your heart is probably telling you that you should, I think you should hold back until the situation’s resolved.  Anyway, hmmmm… Make up… for what? Because I made the decision to let you sleep?” She chuckled as she leaned over her daughter. “I’ll tell you a secret of mine.  The tea I gave you was a ruffie as they say.  It was actually some sleep promoting herbal tea.  Blame me for how long you slept.  I had that intention to start with.”

She turned and Leona fidgeted, thinking about her Goonie slipping her a sedative.  “You noticed I’m upset. You’re right. It’s not directed at you.  I’m mad at myself.” She slapped her chest.  “I’m angry I was so strident with you.  I DO want you to go to school, even though it looks like you’ll be a hero for the rest of your life, but don’t they all have well-paying jobs?  You’re no exception, you know.  If you get so tired saving people, I should let you rest as much as possible.  The school doesn’t know your secret, so they won’t or can’t make exceptions for you like I do.”

Leona swallowed hard and her eyes downcast. “I need to try to be stronger.  This is just weakness… it’s making excuses.” She cried.  “What’ll we do when I face crises in the future? I-I… I have to do better.”

Goonie hugged her again tightly and stroked her hair softly. “OK, but don’t overexert.  Hey, have you talked with your super friends about this robot? Y’know, the superpowered types.”

Leona shook her head, sniffling a little. “I haven’t yet. It’d be important to do it, and I don’t think I checked all my messages maybe.  But, I don’t know who to talk with about it.  The last time I bothered Midnight Avenger, he did that grouchy deep-voiced thing he does.  She thought back to when she called him about the otaku bounty hunter, Gun Dame.  He was more than a little put out by the call.  Did her card have some kind of facial recognition program that would have identified her?

“But this is what Code: Blue is for, isn’t it? Though it’s not exactly in Seaside City jurisdiction… Ben does his best but he doesn’t have the tools or the funds yet.”  Leona paced as she rubbed the last moisture from her eyes, thinking. ”He probably filed a report on this already.”

Goonie shrugged and smiled. “Oh, OK, no problem, then.”

Leona went to the lockers and put the hipster dress on again which was neatly folded and had been freshly laundered since.  She went out and helped with the restaurant for the next hour, though one was spent already by their conversation.

It wasn’t much, but she felt less guilty after helping.  When she was finished, she undressed and put on her normal clothes before she ran back to that lot. When she reached it, there were a few people in the vicinity, so she waited a bit. The time was ticking, but things cleared in time for her to transform and bolt into the air and head for the school at full speed.  She managed to get there with some minutes to spare.

She removed her communicator from her bosom pocket and used the zooming feature to monitor the entrance below.  Soon though, Sarah’s light brown hair came into sight. She was walking with Derrick and Maria.  She knew that his tuba-like voice would crow after them when she swooped in for Sarah.  Slipping the card back into its hidey spot, she glided down not bothering to hide her presence or appearance.  She set directly in front of them and smiled.

“Hello again, Sarah.” she winked and smiled.

Sarah froze and the students around gasped. Derrick started making those silly deep noises right away as he hyperventilated. Maria blinked and smiled faintly.  Were goths always so unruffled?

Her girlfriend’s expression was frozen for a moment but she smiled and she began to glow figuratively.  Aurora spoke on since no one except for onlookers and Derrick who was fangirling practically was making a sound. “Would you like to go for a fly, Sarah?  I’ll give you a lift home.”

The students around gasped and pointed.  Sarah blushed and nodded and her smile became even more sunny.  “Yeah, sure!” She exclaimed, bounding over.  She eyed Derrick and Maria with a grin and stuck her tongue out a bit. “I’ll see you all later!” She gave them a cute wink and leaned back against Aurora who put her hands on her shoulder and enshrouded her in her aura.  She truly and literally shone as they picked up.  Derrick was practically foaming at the mouth as he ran in circles.  Maria watched with a little smile and her head tilted as they departed.