The one shot is going to be harder than I thought. I really need to flush out the wording there. Here's the next chapter. I can't say that the one shot is going to be possible anymore.

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"Happy Birthday." he said as he dropped the shiny rock into her hand. Aisha grasped it weakly at first but it grew stronger as he pulled her along, she held it close to her chest, a smile touching the corner of her lips.

"Hey what's that?" another child asked a few hours after she got back. "Who gave it to you?"

Aisha held onto the rock tightly, she turned around from the children who asked.

"Oh come on Aisha." one whined. "We won't take it."

She shook her head, "No." she said firmly. "My brother gave it to me."

"I thought that you didn't get along with him." another said. She was being surrounded by three of her closest friends. She simply looked down at the gift and didn't respond.

"Umu. So you must love your brother a lot." one said.

"Yeah." the other two agreed.

Her face turned slightly red, "N-no." she denied. "I hwate him!"

---------

Aisha's eyes opened slightly, the air around her was cold, no light shined through the building. To her, everything was pitch black.

"So are we going to mess up her face?" someone outside said. Aisha's brain sent off warning signals but her eyelids started closing again. She struggled to keep them open.

"No, something else came up from the requester." Aisha tried to wiggle but her body quickly gave up, the warm feeling returning to her.

"Why did we have to pretend to be servants then?"

"Because they wanted to blame someone. Why not a rival family?"

More voices came but Aisha didn't hear them, her eyes closed and she drifted off again.

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"Here." her older brother said holding the rock he gave her yesterday, a string was now tied to it. His face had a bright smile, his eyes were tender, "You can wear it now."

She reached for it, like a child reaching to pet an animal but stopped herself halfway.

He cocked his head to the side, "What's wrong? You don't like it?" he furrowed his brow and stared at the rock, looking for any blemishes. He traced his finger around the item, trying to feel for any scratches he might've made when he opened a hole for the string.

"I-I won't wear it today!" she said quickly as she ran to the door. He looked on confused as she left him in the dust.

When Aisha got outside her friends were playing with a ball. Jenna, one of her friends, gave a powerful kick and sent the ball into the sky.

"Jenna!" Ashley shouted. "You go get it! You kicked it!" she crossed her arms, imitating the pose often used by adults when they lectured the kids. Her lips were puckered as if she were waiting for a kiss but her upper lip was pushed against the tip of her nose. It looked like she needed to sneeze.

"I'll get it!" Nancy said happily. She skipped lightly after the ball, her hands waving by her side as she went along. Aisha walked over to her friends with her two hands clasped tightly together, her arms made a v shape.

"Aisha!" Jenna ran over to her. "Nancy's going to get the ball."

Aisha nods.

"Hey, where's your rock?" Ashley asked. "Can we see it today?"

"I-I threw it away." she said.

"Hmmmm?" Ashley tapped her chin. "Really? Wasn't it something precious that your brother gave you? I thought for sure that you would hold on to it."

"It was just a rock Ashley." Jenna said shaking her head. "I'm sure Aisha didn't want it because her brother didn't even try. He just gave her something he picked off from the ground. Right Aisha?"

"Y-yeah." she started fidgeting with her fingers. "Umu. He didn't really think abwout it." she said crossing her fingers together.

Ashley put her hand around Aisha's shoulder, she jumped a little bit at her friend's touch. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two.

"Don't worry Aisha. I'm sure he'll do better next year." Ashley said.

"Yeah! You're big brother's nice enough, he can do better next year!" Jenna said.

Aisha looked at the ground, "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be a lot better." she said her voice fading off.

---------

Aisha stood next to her father wiping away her tears.

"Rainen!" her father yelled. "Don't pick on your sister! I'm always telling you guys to get along! Just because she got her magic before you and bragged a little bit doesn't mean that you can hurt her. She's just excited that she can use magic."

The boy stood there with his hands clutching at the pendent around his neck. He had just received it a while back from his father for his birthday as a replacement for the old one. Her older brother's face contorted with anger.

"You always pick her side dad!" he yelled. His eyes were full of tears, he was on the verge of crying. Their eldest brother was out hanging with his girlfriend, their mother was cleaning the clothes outside in the dark. "She started it! She told me that I was a loser for not having magic!"

"Rainen." he said in his authoritative voice. It was the one he used on the other villagers when they were acting out of control. He lifted his head up higher and spoke again, "You cannot hurt your sister like that."

"Why not!" he screamed. "She's always bothering me!"

"Just play with her then!" her father yelled back. "She only wants to play with you."

"I hate her!"

"Don't say that."

"I hate her!" he screamed again. Aisha tightened her grip on her father's clothing, she could feel his body tensing through his clothing.

"GO TO YOUR ROOM! I don't want to hear that out of you ever again!" His hand shot out like a catapult, he pointed to a door in the hallway.

"I hate you too!" he jerked his arm and the pendent's chain snapped like a twig. He reared back and threw the small object at the wall. He ran off into his room with his head buried in his arm, his little footsteps echoed through the house.

Aisha's hands were shaking as she held tightly to her father, "Don't worry." he said patting her head. "He'll be okay. He didn't mean it." Aisha nodded.

Her father went to pick up the pendent. He stared sadly at the little gift he got for his son, as if checking to see if it was damaged, he turned it slightly to the side, feeling all around with his hands. Multiple times he did this, after doing it for the tenth time he let out a sigh of relief and started walking to the boy's room.

"Rainen." he knocked on the door. "I'm going to leave this right here, please put it back on later okay?" he squatted and with great care, as if he were trying to not disturb a sleeping bear, he put it down.

"Aisha, daddy's going to sleep." he left to go back into his room.

Aisha sat down unsteadily, and took out a book to look at. Unlike many of the ones that her parents and eldest brother read, this one had pictures. Her face felt stiff after she started looking through the pictures. She put her hands on her cheeks and pushed, trying to return it to its original state.

She loved reading this book, it was her favorite despite the start, it always made her smile.

It told the story of a sheep, one who got separated from its family. Now the sheep was very sad, it had no place to go, it was all alone. But one day, a very nice old farmer came up to the sheep and asked, "Hey there. Are you alone? Do you want to come with me?" Unhappy being by itself the little sheep agreed.

The farmer and sheep had to make a great trek back to the farm. Whenever the sheep got injured the farmer would heal its wounds. The sheep grew to love the farmer very very much, when they finally reached the farm, the sheep found that it was the only one of its kind there.

"Where are the others?" it asked the old man.

"They don't live with me." the old man said to the little sheep. "They live over there in the forest. You should go live with them." he said.

Despite not wanting to leave his savior's side the little sheep respected his wishes and went to the forest where it started to live with the other sheep. At first it was treated like an outsider but over time was accepted.

Aisha always thought that the story had a beautiful ending. She was hiding behind the couches so that her mother wouldn't tell her to go to bed when she came in. She stayed up for another hour, rereading it.

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The smell of smoke stirred Aisha from her sleep. She looked around worriedly as the air was filled with black. Realizing that something was off, she crawled out from behind the couches, her first thought, to run to her parents. Her little feet stomped on the floor almost as loud as the roar of the fire.

*BOOOSH*

The wall in front of her fell down blocking her path. She stumbled backwards and desperately crawled away, her hands trying to clutch onto the wood, her feet skinned from pushing against the ground. Moving quickly now, she looked for a way out. The door outside was covered in a veil of fire.

Her feet dragged her away from the door and to her room. Everything inside was still fine but it was covered in the dark black smoke. Aisha started for her bed but the flames ate through the wall into her room, she panicked and knocked over her little nightstand, the gift that her brother gave her earlier that year laid on the floor.

She ran, picking it up as she went out the door. She looked around, eyes darting and head turning.

"Mom! Dad!" she cried out. "Where are you?"

*CRASHHH*

Another part of the house came toppling down, she fell to the ground again. Spotting the closet up ahead, she chose to go to it, the fire was already spreading too fast for her to react. There she sat, her face hiding in her knees, tears falling down her face.

The closet door opened and her brother was standing there, he reached for her tiny hands. She also responded by doing the same.

*CRACK*

He pulled his hand back and hid inside with her. He hugged her tightly as she buried her face in his chest.

"It's okay." he whispered to her. "I came for you. I'm here."

The fire devoured the closet doors and everything went black.

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Aisha woke up in a white room, the bed she was resting on was soft and the furniture around her looked grand. It was as if she had been a princess dreaming the whole time, she tore off the blankets on top of her and stepped off of the bed. Her entire body felt sore, she felt a great need to stretch and did so.

Her face contorted with pain as she spread her arms out.

"AAAHH!"

Aisha went to stand in font of the mirror and moved her arm to lift her shirt. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung agape. On parts of her back and her upper arms, were burns. They didn't look too horrible, most of it was healed and the scars were only slightly more than red marks and some blistered skin.

The door opened and in came a woman with a frilly dark blue dress with white frills and another, older, woman in a much more refined lady like dress. The maid bowed as she entered.

"Hello Aisha." an older man also came through the door. "I'm your grandfather, Frederick and this is your grandmother Juliana, welcome to our house." he said.

"H-hi." she said timidly. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

Frederick responded almost immediately, "They've died. Those scars, the fire that did that to you killed them all, except for your older brother, Rainen."

She swallowed her saliva and dropped to the ground.

"Don't worry." her grandfather said. "We'll take care of you."

Aisha didn't cry, she just stared at the smiling face of the old man in front of her.

"W-where's my brother?" she asked. If he was still alive then she'd be okay. If he was here, they could get through it together.

Frederick shrugged his shoulders, "He went with your uncle from your father's side."

"W-why?" she asked.

"I don't know. We didn't want you staying with them so we took you ourselves. We offered for your brother to come as well but he said he'd rather be with them." he pulled out something from his pocket. "We found this on you. Here."

He gave her a small rock with a string through a hole in the top.

"As a member of the Yurfray family, I expect you to start acting like a lady. Your training will start tomorrow, for today, just rest. I understand that this is a lot to take in." he gestured at the maid. "If you need anything, ask her, she'll get it for you."

Frederick, Juliana, and the maid left the room.

Aisha didn't move from her spot, the only thing she did was throw the rock across the room.

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As the days passed, her training became more and more harsh. Her grandparents demanded a lot from her, they often smiled when they talked to her but she didn't feel that it was genuine. To Aisha it was more of a practiced one, something that a skilled actor would show to the audience. She didn't get a single shred of warmth from them. Her aunt and uncle didn't talk to her much. They simply greeted her politely when they passed her in the hallways. She didn't interact with their children either.

The days grew rougher and it was harder for her to keep up with her studies. One day, while reading through a text book, her grandfather walked in the room.

"Aisha, how come you aren't understanding this?" he asked harshly. "Every other child your age are far more advanced!" he slammed his hand on the table, the teacher rattled and stood straight. "You!" Frederick yelled. "You're fired for you incompetence! Leave my house immediately."

The days went on and Aisha constantly got new teachers. The work got harder and she started to break under the pressure. She fell sick one day and rested in her room. The rock that her brother gave her sill laid on the nightstand next to her. She reached out and picked it up, a surge of strength ran though her body, she rang the bell at her side and a maid came in.

"Yes?"

"May I get a diary?" Aisha asked.

The maid furrowed her eyebrows and left. Thirty minutes later and she came back with a pen and a small leather bound book. "Here." she said.

Each and everyday, from then on, Aisha would write in her diary. Detailing her day, she'd write it as if she were sending a letter to a friend. Her studying improved as Aisha's mood changed, this also brought happiness to her grandparents, Frederick especially. It had been only half a year since she came.

"Aisha." he said one day. "Would you like to take a break?"

She hesitated.

"I want you to meet with another girl, come please."

Aisha stood up and followed him to the waiting room. Sitting on the sofa with an older man, was a girl, a little bit older than Aisha.

"Please. This is my granddaughter Aisha. Aisha, this is Miss Near, the first daughter of the Lucas family."

"Nice to meet you." Aisha said.

"Likewise." Near responded.

Over time, the two became friends. Aisha, at noon, everyday would go and visit Near. A single guard would walk her over and back. Aisha and Near talked about many things, the life of nobles, the work that they had to put in, their guardian's demands. But what Aisha loved talking about the most was her brother.

"My older brother's going to come for me one day." she said.

"What's wrong? Don't you like it there?" Near asked confused.

Aisha thought for a bit, "My grandparents are okay and everyone acts nice but I don't have anyone to talk to except you. I don't plan on going with him, I just want to see him again." she said.

A week later, Aisha was called down to the waiting room again. Sitting down was a man, much older than her but not over thirty.

"I'd like to ask you to marry me." he said suddenly. "I've seen your beauty from afar. Please be mine."

Aisha shook her head. "I don't think I can accept this." she said looking over to her grandparents.

"Don't worry about them, they've already consented. In fact, they were to ones who arranged for me to meet you."

"I can't accept." Aisha said turning around. "Goodbye."

"Wait!" he grabbed her shoulder.

She twisted around and slapped him across the face. "Don't touch me!" she said, she maintained her composure as the pain from the burns faded away. She quickly exited the room.

Over the course of a few weeks, the Yurfray family was in chaos. She had offended a powerful family, they used much of their influence and power to break apart the Yurfray family. During that time, one of her aunts left the family altogether. That resulted in even more complications as she was supposed to get married as well since her husband had just passed away.

One day, while going to visit her friend Near, she was stopped at the gate by her grandfather.

"Near and her family moved away." he said, a strange smile appearing on his face. Aisha knew what this meant, her grandfather had a hand in the disappearance of Near.

The attitude of everyone, save for the butlers and maids, in the house drastically changed towards her. Her aunt Millicent and her children wouldn't even look at her without making a face of disgust, even her grandparents were tiptoeing around her. She never liked them much anyways, she always knew that they were fake, but now they didn't even try to make conversation with her.

Her feeling of isolation increased, she started to write more and more in her diary. Her only hope was her brother now, the only person who she believed would find her. As the years passed and he showed no signs of appearing, Aisha slowly began to lose hope. No one, not even her brother, the person who looked so hard for her, the person who protected her from the fire, the big brother that led her when she was lost, would come to for her.

Her diary entries started slowing down, each day was filled with less words than the last until there was nothing left. Her resentment grew, how come he hadn't even written her a letter in the past four years? The life he's living must be far better than mine. She thought.

The first letter that she got from him was eight years late. When she saw it, she felt a brief joy, but as she read on, she only noticed how he apologized for never contacting her.

"If he really cared," she said aloud. "Then he would have sent me these sooner!" she breathed heavily as she threw them into the trash, tears were flowing from her cheeks.

-------

When she saw him again for the first time in a long time, she didn't know how to act.

She glanced at her grandparents who were smiling ever so awkwardly and decided that even if her older brother didn't care for her, she still cared for him. She didn't want to get him involved with the problems that she was facing, and she most certainly didn't want her older brother to get involved with their dangerous grandparents who hid behind their smiles.

When she told him to leave the first time, she thought that she did it to protect him from their grandparents but later, she understood that she was angry at him. He'd grown up under someone who cared for him, he had friends, he had the freedom to go wherever he wanted. He played around while she stayed there in the house locked up. Why did he get to be free while she had to stay caged?

She was, in a sense, happy that those feelings came up. It would be much easier to drive him away if she meant even a little of what she said. But their second encounter destroyed that feeling.

Catching him snooping around her room added fuel to her fire, she told them to get out and they did. But her older brother said three words that shook her, "I'll be back." just those three and everything broke. She couldn't stop her hopes from raising.

-------

Aisha stirred from her sleep.

"So when will the buyers be here?" the fifth asked. "I don't get why they wanted her sold instead of disposed of."

"Those Yurfrays are a nasty bunch." the twelfth said. "I think that she'd prefer being beaten until she's unrecognizable. At least she won't be constantly used as a toy."

"I never took you for a noble man, not rich noble, but good." the fifth said.

"Even I have boundaries. Rape isn't something I like to cross."

Aisha started struggling to take the rope off her hands.

"Does it count as that when they're property?" the third asked.

"If they don't want it then it is still crossing the line." the twelfth said.

"The person, who requested this said they'd let us keep the money." the fifth said.

"That's good." said the twelfth. "Too bad that such a pitiful girl will be just a toy for those who're going to buy her."

"It's not our problem once she's sold off."

No one's coming to save me. she thought. I ended up getting him killed.

Aisha grasped the rock around her neck, holding it closely to her chest.