Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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 I saw the understanding wash over my father\'s face. He was finally understanding that I just might know what I was talking about. There were other emotions as well, emotions that I didn\'t think I was going to see when I finally met my father.

 Heartache, anger, fear, loss, pain: everything I was seeing rise to the surface inside of him was something that he had been holding onto for so long. He had thought, just like my mother, that the love of his life didn\'t love him back. He hadn\'t died like she did, but I don\'t know if that is better or worse honestly.

 For Aaron, for my father, he has had to live with the emotional burden of all of this for years. It had been hard on the both of them for years. They had both thought that they were in love only to have it ripped away. But unlike my mother, Aaron didn\'t have an end to his suffering. As I thought about that, I felt my heart breaking all over again. This was yet another way that Uncle Howard had ruined my life or the life of someone in my family. He truly was a plague on my life that didn\'t seem likely to ever go away.

 "Star? Sweetheart, who is this man that you think has caused all of this? And are you sure it was him? I can find out, if you would like. We can be certain." Aunt Gloriana held her hands out toward me, her hand opened as if she was waiting for something. "Here child, let me have the letters. I will use them to trace their origins. If they were tampered with, which we now know they were, then we will be able to see who the real mastermind behind all of this was."

 I felt a little bit of apprehension bubble up inside of me when I heard her words. I didn\'t know why; I knew that my mother and father had been hurt in this, more than I had been. I was not the only victim here, and my father deserved an answer just as much as I did. With that though, I stopped hesitating and handed over the letter in my hand. My father, seeing me pass over the sheet, handed the one he had over as well.

 Aunt Gloriana held the two pieces of paper in between both of her hands at the same time. With a flash of green light, there were several tiny little vines that began to slither between her palms and all over the papers.

 "These were once one document. It had been split, duplicated as you might say. After it had been intercepted, it was turned into letters, and the return point was changed. I can see that it was a wonderfully clever way for you to stay in contact with your love." Aunt Gloriana looked at my father and smiled gently. "It was a great idea, but someone found out and intercepted the letter. When he did that, he changed the return location. After that the letters stopped going to you and your lover, Aaron. Instead, the letters were going between you and the interloper. And it appears the same happened with the letters that she attempted to send to you, they were sent to him instead of you." There was a crease of anger beginning to form in Aunt Gloriana\'s forehead now. "I can sense him, not just the magic he used, but him. He was a foul man. Disgusting in more ways than one."

 The way that Aunt Gloriana spat out those words made it clear she could get a good sense of what kind of man Uncle Howard had been. She could no doubt sense not just who he was, but what he had been as well.

 "There is something sulfurous and downright nasty about that man. You say he has already moved to a land beyond this world? That is good, this world is nothing but better off without him in it. I commend whoever it was that rid us of him and his insidious aura." I watched as she shuddered then, clearly unnerved or disgusted by what she was seeing or feeling.

 "Yes, Aunt Gloriana, he is dead. My mate, Artem, killed him when he rescued me." I didn\'t smile, it wasn\'t the situation for that, but I felt immense pride inside of me for having Artem as my mate.

 "I truly wish to know what happened to you, in time." I watched as my father fixed me with sorrowful eyes. "I never knew about you, Astraia. I never knew I had a daughter so I never once had the chance to come and save you."

 Quite unexpectedly, my father reached out and placed a hand on my cheek. I hadn\'t even paid much attention to him, or when it was that he had stood up and walked close to me. I had been too focused on Aunt Gloriana and the magic she was working with the letters.

 "W..w..well, I understand that now." I hung my head in shame. I had spent several nights thinking about what a horrible person he was going to be. I had thought that he was going to be the worst person in the world.

 "I understand that you would have hated me. If I was in your position, thinking like you did for so long, I would have hated me as well. Please, Astraia, do not blame yourself." The firm pressure of his hand was offering me comfort. It was something I never thought I would have, the loving touch of a father\'s love. Was it something that I was actually going to have? Was my father really going to be part of my life? Was it OK to hope for it? "Will you tell me what happened to you? To your mother as well? Please. I want to know about your lives."

 There was a note of pleading and begging in his voice that I simply couldn\'t refuse. I wanted to help him out here as well, and perhaps I would have another ally when it was over.

 "I think that would be best, Star. You tell him while I send for the meal to be brought in." Aunt Gloriana smiled at us encouragingly.

 "She has called you Star more than once now; why is that?" My father looked at me with a confused look in his eyes. It appeared that I was going to need to explain the origin of my name and my mother\'s uniqueness once again.

 "Well, my name, Astraia, has a meaning that has to do with the stars." I started, and I saw that my father grinned.

 "I remember, Vivian loves hidden meanings. She used to tell me that every name needed to mean something. Like my name, it\'s traditional meaning is exalted and strong, but there is another meaning, which is mountain of strength. She told me that the mountain had to do with flowers, and that is why my name is Aaron; it is a floral name perfectly meant for a pixie." There was nostalgia in his eyes as he fondly remembered the past. "She would tell me about what she perceived to be the true meaning of all the names in the world. And the more that I listened, the more that it all made sense. I loved listening to her talk for hours on end about the different secrets of the universe."

 I watched as he stared off into space, clearly seeing what it was that he was remembering as if it were happening right before his eyes.

 "I\'m sorry, I went off on a tangent." He grinned at me. "I interrupted you. So, your name is Astraia, but that is not your true name. She meant to call you Star all along right because of the Greek meaning?" He seemed to understand already.

 "Yes, and it seemed to have worked out for me perfectly. My mate, Artemis, is matched to me in more ways than one." I grinned back at him.

 "Ahh, I see, so the moon and the star have finally come together. They have ceased to be separated by the heavens and can live their life peacefully at last." I saw the longing in his eyes then, I think he still thought that he was going to have his happily ever after. I didn\'t want to hurt him, but hadn\'t he heard me earlier?

 How was I going to break this news to him? How was I going to make him not only understand my past, but accept that my mother, his one true love, is really gone forever? Just thinking about it made me want to cry. I wished I didn\'t need to tell him, not yet. He had a nice smile, and I wanted to keep that in place for a little while longer. I\'m sorry, Father, I don\'t want to do this to you.