11.09 a.m.

Lucian's hand couldn't leave Amira's head as he ran his fingers through her hair. He adjusted himself a little, shifting a little to be more comfortable.

With his back resting against the headboard and his elbow resting on her pillow beside her head, he had slightly leaned down a little as he watched her peaceful face for his own comfort.

After a long time of convincing her to eat an acceptable amount of food, he had tucked her in. She had slept minutes ago, but Lucian couldn't get himself to leave her side.

He sat there mostly lost in his own thoughts. He had yet to call the others to call them back home. He would go insane if he spent another day alone with his sister. He couldn't bear any more.

Moreover, he didn't see a need for the others to stay away when Asher was returning. Lucian wanted some time to come to terms with all the information he had gotten. He needed some time to check on himself.

"And that's how the King shooed the princes away." Elijah Verlice sat with his back to the headboard. His elbow rested a little away from his daughter's head as his fingers ran through her hair.

"I really wanted to go, Dad." Amira sniffled, to which the man responded with leaning forward and grabbing the tissue box from the headstand. Pulling out a tissue, he put it against her nose for her to blow in it.

"Take care of your snotty nose first, little heart." He chuckled, discarding the dirty tissue and leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I'm fine!" Amira insisted. Elijah shook his head.

"It's just one camp, baby." He smiled and winked. "Besides, you get to spend time with your poor old father."

Amira pouted.

"I don't want to feel ill," she mumbled. Slowly lifting her gaze to her dad, she gave him the best puppy eyes she could muster. "Make it feel okay."

The man put his hands before his face dramatically.

"Told you this dad is immune to that look." He crossed his arms in front of him.

Amira groaned and turned to bury her head in her pillow. She huffed once and groaned again when her head hurted a little.

Elijah held back his laughter, as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her sick self to face him again.

"Make it feel okay?" He repeated, smiling softly at the red nosed angel that looked at him with big puppy eyes that melted him within a second.

He answered his own question by leaning down and placing gentle kisses all over her face, making her giggle slightly.

"You'll catch cold too!" Amira tried to push him away with her hands on his shoulders but to no use.

"I won't," he muttered, before placing a final kiss on her forehead. "You're way warmer than usual, darling."

"Duh." Amira sassed, despite her weak self.

"Want some soup?" Came the offer, making her scrunch up her face.

"No." Came the reply he'd been receiving since long.

The man sighed.

"You need to have something, baby," he insisted. "You aren't eating as much as you should."

"I don't feel like eating," Amira mumbled.

"That's why I'm offering soup," he muttered, running his hand through her hair. "Please. You need all the nutrition to be okay again."

Looking up hesitantly, Amira saw exactly what she expected. Puppy eyes on her dad's face that looked illegally cute on him. Being a scary dad at first appearance, the source of her sunshine looked a little too adorable with those eyes. So much that she was nodding within a second.

Excited about the yes he finally recieved, the man jumped down the bed and ran for the door before Amira decided to change her mind.

"I love you so much, little heart," he said, waiting for her to say it back, all the while smiling at her from the doorway.

"I love you too, Dad," Amira mumbled, sniffling again.

Lucian rubbed circles on her scalp as he texted a few people on the phone with his other hand.

The events that composed the day played on repeat in his mind and he found himself unable to get distracted from them.

The image of his little sister hanging off the balcony, about ready to take her own life , terrorized him to the point he felt a brewing pain that intensified every time the image crossed his mind.

He wished he could do something better. He wished he could put an end to all of her problems and give her whatever she wanted. Only if it was in his hands.

All he could do was stay by her side on this journey and hold her hand. To provide as much comfort as possible and make her feel loved and relaxed.

But everything seemed useless at this point. He had broken his own exterior and brought out a side of him that even Lucian himself hadn't seen. It didn't work though. No matter how much he changed, the voice in her head kept ruining everything.

Destiny kept showing its cruelty. It kept throwing more problems at them and making them cope through things that made them want to end it all.

"You reciprocated my love back in a weird way, my love." Elijah sniffled as he laid on the other side of the bed.

Amira snorted.

"Told you you'd catch cold too. Now stop complaining and go to sleep." Grabbing the edge of the blanket, she pulled it up to cover his face, trying to force him to sleep.

The man groaned and forcefully pulled the blanket away with a huff.

"Make it feel okay." He huffed again.

Amira rolled her eyes and lifted her head to look at him.

"See who's throwing a tantrum after deliberately catching the cold after being told to stay away."

The man turned to his side, supporting his weight by his elbow. He raised an eyebrow.

"How is it possible to stay away from my little heart?" He asked, ridiculously.

Amira scowled and her gaze focussed on the smile resting on his face. Slowly she shifted closer to him, seeing which her dad's smile widened.

Elijah reached out and grabbed her arms. Pulling her to him, he growled like a cartoon monster and pretended to bite her, instead placing gentle kisses on her face.

"It tickles!" She squealed out, trying to get away.

"Oh does it?" The man mused, as he pulled her struggling self back to himself and rubbed his jaw on her cheek, earning a fit of giggles from the girl.

"Dad!" Amira whined. Instead of trying to get away, she curled up and buried her face into his chest, so he could no longer reach her face.

Elijah started laughing when he saw she had clearly won. As he tried to pull her away, but she remained where she was.

"Alright. You win, my love." He chuckled.

Amira smiled in her sleep as the memories flooded her mind.

The door to her room was left open and Lucian stood against the opposite wall, having clear view of the room. He fidgeted with the button on his coat with one hand as he held the phone to his ear with the other. He waited until Damien finally picked up at the third ring.

"How's your bonding time going, brother?" Damien mused as soon as he picked up. "Grey hair started showing yet?"

"No. It's all good. No signs of grey hair." Lucian played along, still having an inner battle on whether he should just tell them over the phone or lie and wait for them to come home.

"Why do you sound like Bunny just gave you a run for your money and threw you off your throne?" Damien said, wondering what made Lucian sound so weak.

"I'm just sleepy, Dex," Lucian answered. "Bunny isn't giving me a hard time at all."

"Well then, I must've ran after ringing her doorbell in the past life," he muttered, wondering why she was almost always so sour with him.

Lucian chuckled.

"Come back home tomorrow," he said, balling his hand into a fist when he sensed the brewing questions in his younger brother's mind.

"Why?" Damien asked, confusion dripping from his words.

"You saw the news. Asher will be back by breakfast. So there's no point in keeping you guys away," Lucian explained.

"Okay," Damien complied, surprisingly.

"Wow," Lucian muttered. "That was relatively easy."

"Come on, Lucian." Damien rolled his eyes. "I'm not that bad."

Lucian let out a chuckle and shook his head.

"You're not bad," He assured. "Just a tad bit obedient."

"What does that mean?" Damien said, taking the chance to scowl because Lucian couldn't see.

"Means you're just a tad bit obedient and mostly disobedient?" Lucian stifled a laugh when he heard a low grumble.

"Bunny is rubbing off on you," he grumbled, cursing Asher for giving Bunny the opportunity to get Lucian on her side too. He didn't need Lucian in their war.

Lucian just smiled in response, his gaze moving to her peacefully sleeping form. His chest bloomed with another burst of warmth as he recalled how she dragged his hidden self out without much effort.

"Maybe," he said.

"Surely." Damien rolled his eyes, again taking the chance that Lucian wasn't there.

"Roll your eyes one more time," Lucian challenged, scowling at nothing.

Damien froze. This time, him not being physically present near him, did no good to ease the fear Damien was feeling.

"Sorry," he muttered, hearing the signature hum of approval coming from the other side.

"I'll talk to you later then," Lucian said quickly, when he saw Amira stir in her sleep. His eyes didn't leave her as she moved a bit then settled again. He sighed in relief, not wanting her to wake up so soon.

He hung up before Damien could ask any questions about the sudden 'goodbye'. Rushing into the room as quietly as he could, Lucian came to halt beside her sleeping form, checking for any distress on her face. There was none.

"And when we look at the stars while laying like this out in the open-" Elijah was cut off by an annoyed someone standing in the doorway.

"Our cold gets worse," Lily Verlice commented as she set her glare on the two people who were suffering from severe cold yet laying out in the open, in the cold.

"Get inside." She used her 'Mom' voice when the two made eye contact with her.

"Big heart needs kisses." Elijah sniffled, muttering that into Amira's ear. His smile widended as he heard his angel let out her angelic giggles.

"Big heart doesn't need the cold though, so no kisses." Lily crossed her arms accross her chest. "Go to your room."

"But we're liking it here!" Elijah had the courage to whine. "We have a blanket on."

"I'm not arguing about this with you, Elijah," Lily stated. "You're the dad here. Act like it."

Hearing the reprimand, the man pouted. He looked down at Amira with the same puppy expressions.

"Let's go, little heart. Mom is being mean."

Amira giggled again and got up slowly, not finding enough energy to stand up at a quicker pace. Elijah helped himself up and took her hand in his.

As they approached the fuming lady, her hand lifted up, one to her shoulder level and the other a little above her head. Putting the back of her hands on both their foreheads, she clicked her tongue twice when she felt the burning.

"Rose is waiting to read a bedtime story," she informed, stepping aside to let them get through.

Hearing that Rose was waiting, the two rushed to the room as fast as they could. Rose was indeed waiting and smiled when she saw the duo coming.

Seeing the book in her hand, Amira scowled.

"I need some better shit," she muttered, forgetting for once that her Dad was there.

"Language!" He chided, turning to face her. Rose stifled a laugh when Amira rolled her eyes and mocked him.

Elijah scowled as he watched the little ball of attitude get under the covers.

"I'll take that as 'I'm so sorry, dear father. Please forgive my little self'," He mocked, getting in himself.

Said little one smiled cheekily and moved closer to wrap her arms around him. The duo looked at Rose expectantly, indicating they were done and ready to listen to whatever fairy tale she was gonna read.

Rose shook her head and started reading, smiling when she felt her mom sitting beside her and snuggle her quietly.

Two minutes into the story and the duo had dozed off, with Amira's head on her dad's chest and Elijah's hand in her hair.

Lucian's hand ran through her hair continuously, never stilling the soothing motion. He sighed for the millionth time and looked down at her again. With great effort, he had pushed the events of the day to the back of his mind but the slightest intrusion of those thoughts had him tear up.

He had never felt so weak and full of emotions before. That's when he concluded that the change had happened to the both of us.

While trying to make her feel more dependent and carefree, while trying to make her express every single thing, he had unlocked a part of him that he wasn't really familiar with. He had to put forward that part to encourage her heart to come out of the cage.

Lucian sighed again, blinking his teary eyes to get rid of the moisture.

"In order to break your tough exterior, I had to break my own, Bunny," he said, keeping his voice as quiet as he could. His fingers rubbed against her scalp in a gentle motion. "But it was all worth it."

He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her forehead.

"So worth it," he breathed out, rather shakily.

"But Mom!" Rose cried, extending her hands forward in a vain attempt to grab at her.

She was gone. The coffin had been lowered already but Rose seemed to be grasping onto something that she couldn't leave here.

Elijah held onto his daughter with all he could muster. He wasn't feeling very powerful at that time. It took him all his energy to stop the little person from escaping his arms.

"She's gone, baby." His tone was pleading as he dropped to his knees to be on her height. He turned her around to face him while holding onto her tight.

"She can't go," she cried out. Each tear that escaped her eyes, dug a dagger into his chest.

"She's gone with the angels, love." He tried to explain it in a fairy tale way again.

"Why?" Her voice broke as she rushed into his waiting embrace. Wiping his own tears away, Elijah sniffled.

"Some angels have to go sooner," he muttered. He looked up at the sky and his eyes gathered tears again.

His gaze lowered to his left and he removed his left hand from Rose's back and extended it in the direction.

"Come on, little heart," he called out to Amira who was sitting at a side, her knees to her chest and her face buried in her arms. Exactly where he left her a few minutes ago.

"I don't want to." Came out a mumble, which made Elijah clench his jaw to hold back his cries.

"Can I have a hug?" He asked instead, knowing she won't refuse that. A sob escaped her lips, which caused Elijah to physically wince but he waited. Waited for her to come join the hug on her own before he decided to just snatch her into his arms.

He released a sigh of relief when Amira got up slowly and made her way to him. Once he had his arm wrapped tightly around her, he relaxed a little.

"I don't want to leave," she mumbled into his neck. Hearing a 'me too' from the other side, Elijah refrained from admitting he didn't want to leave either.

His heart had just been buried here and he couldn't get himself to part himself from the place.

But all he did was rest his head against their shoulders and cry silent tears that seemed to make him feel weaker than he already felt.

Lucian clicked his tongue when he nearly dropped the bowl in the haste to reach his room. Two white washcloths hung from his shoulder.

Entering the room, he kicked the door closed quietly behind him. His footsteps were barely audible with the amount of caution he was putting into each step. He couldn't risk waking her up, especially when she was running a high fever.

Lucian put the bowl of cold water on the table and took a seat on the chair again. He had pulled out the chair earlier, to sit right beside her.

He fiddled with the cuff of his dress shirt nervously as he saw the layer of sweat on her face. Lucian sighed in frustration when he couldn't find the button.

He refused to tear his gaze away from his sister so he glanced at the cuff to locate the button before moving his gaze back to her. As if getting her out of his sight would magically make her vanish.

He took a long time just folding his shirt sleeves to his elbows, during which Amira hadn't moved the slightest bit. There was that constant look of discomfort on her face since a long time, which made Lucian's anxiety worse.

Lucian dipped the cloth into the water, letting it soak up before pulling it out and squeezing the extra water out.

His face was set into a frown as he put the cold washcloth on her burning forehead, earning a little flinch in return. The flinch made him go still and stare at her to check if she woke up.

Getting his cue to continue when she settled again, Lucian put his elbows on his knees and dipped other washcloth into the cold water. He slipped his hand under her head and gently lifted it to position the washcloth on the back of her neck.

He lowered her head back gently before removing his hand cautiously. His eyes had bags under them as he stared at her hand that rested on the bed beside her. He couldn't hold back and reached out to grab it, moving his hand under it gently.

His thumb rubbed the back of her hand for a moment before he lifted it and placed a kiss to the back of it.

"You're a princess, Amira," he muttered, his gaze following his thumb as it moved back and forth on her skin. He didn't know what else to do to get everything weighing on his heart out. "You rule my world. You've made it a better place."

"I'm sorry." A whisper broke Lucian out of his trance. Lucian's gaze snapped from her hand to her face, only to find a tear rolling from her eye to her temple and disappearing into her hair. She kept her stare at the ceiling as she spoke in a weak voice again. "Don't call me that, please."

Lucian furrowed his eyebrows and his thumb stopped moving.

"What?"

"Amira. Don't call me that," she muttered, raising her other hand to rub away the tears. "I don't like it."

"It's your name," Lucian stated.

"Thought it was Bunny," she bit back, sniffling a bit. She didn't like hearing her name from her brothers' mouths anymore. She liked to be called 'Bunny' now. Lucian couldn't call her Amira after making her so used to the nickname they once forced on her.

Letting out a single laugh, Lucian shook his head. He raised himself from the chair and leaned to place a kiss on her cheek.

"It is Bunny," he said. "I'm sorry."

"My forehead feels cold," she muttered. Lucian smiled.

"You're running a fever, sweetheart," he said, watching her nod slowly and flick her gaze to him.

"Water?" Lucian asked, simultaneously reaching for the jug. Amira nodded needlessly because Lucian was already pouring water into a glass.