Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (read aloud .txt) 📕

the door. The door opened automatically and the girls entered. She headed first for the bed beside the balcony, where she had slept next to Derrick. After dropping her backpack on the bed, she headed out on the balcony.
Luna paused before following her. It was going to be hard not to think of her time with Ariana's boyfriend-partner Derrick. He'd been her partner shortly before Ariana's, and her sister didn't have a clue.
“Ah, the memories.” Ariana replied, smiling. She was thinking about Derrick mostly, and about what had happened over a year ago.
“Yeah,” Luna agreed softly, closing her eyes. She joined her sister on the balcony, standing beside her as she leaned on the railing.
At first, Ariana thought something suspicious of her twin, but shook it off. “I’m glad we finally met, Luna.” Ariana replied, hugging her, returning to the view.
“Me, too.” Luna said softly, looking away. “Especially since that day you fainted from mental exhaustion. Derrick didn’t know what was going on, and he was scared. I told him you’d be all right.”
Ariana shook out of her daze. “Excuse me? Did you say something?”
Luna sighed. “No, Ariana. I didn’t.”
Her sister returned to the night sky.
Luna went back into the room to catch up on her reading.
The truth will just have to wait. Luna thought sadly, sitting on her bed and opening her book.

II

Once noticing her sister was gone, Luna stole out the door herself, heading to Paradise Peak to think.
Shane, where are you? She asked in her mind as she watched the waves hit the sand. The air smelled like sea-salt and she closed her eyes to drink it all in.
“Right behind you, Sweets.” Shadow's voice.
Luna opened her eyes and jumped to greet him with a hug and a kiss. “Shane!”
“I missed you, too, Lu.” Shadow laughed, holding her.
“How'd you know I'd be here?”
“I know you, that's how.” Shadow supplied, sitting on the grass. She sat next to him and snuggled into his arms. “You usually come here for one of three reasons. One: to think. Two: to spend some time alone with me, or Three: to spend some time alone, thinking about me.”
Luna giggled. “I take it Shan told you we were here?”
“In a way, yes.” Shane told her. “I couldn't sleep the other night. My mind was rumbling with thoughts of you being in trouble.”
“Really?”
Shadow kissed her. “I don't want to see either of you hurt. I know about Sabrina and Grand Psycho. I know what you guys went through, and I wished that I was able to help you out.”
“It wasn't your time to help us, Shadow.” Luna supplied. “You will help out, but not right now.”
“I guess you're right, Lu.” Shadow said. “Now, why did you find yourself at Paradise Peak this time?”
“I needed time to think.” Luna told him. “I'm in Fourth-Floor with Ariana. You remember what happened nearly four years ago when I was Derrick's partner.”
The memories went through each of their minds, and Shadow's sigh was sad. “I remember, all right.” He said. “Have you told her yet?”
Luna shook her head. “It's going to be hard, you know.”
Shadow kissed her. “You'll have to tell her; before she figures it out for herself.”
Now Luna sighed, knowing in her mind, he was right.

Chapter Thirty-Four:
Sister II Sister

For three days, Ariana could sense something was wrong with her twin, but decided to keep it to herself until they could settle in. Luna was acting suspicious – almost secretive and depressed. She’d been reading books, (which Ariana remarked made that suspicious in itself – Luna usually hated to read!), becoming a recluse. Her sister didn’t even want to go out with Shadow.
Ariana had been watching her closely. Every time the girls made eye contact, Luna would quickly look away, sorrowful. One night, Ariana was determined to find out what was bothering her dear twin. She found her sister curled up with the same book she’d brought with her.
Funny, she was in that spot three days ago! Ariana thought as she stood aside, watching her. She could tell Luna’s mind was troubled, and the story didn’t seem to help her escape those troubles.
Quietly, Ariana sat next to her sister on her bed and took the book away. Luna didn’t flinch, half-expecting her sister to do that. She didn’t seem to mind.
Ariana tried meeting her twin’s eyes, but Luna avoided her. “Luna, what’s wrong? You look depressed.”
“That’s because I am.” Luna replied softly, a tear forming in her eye.
“Aren’t you glad to be back?” Ariana was concerned, yet she didn’t know what to do.
“I’m belated to be back with Shane, but . . .” Luna’s voice trailed.
Her sister was stalling. “Aluna, please tell me.” Ariana pleaded softly, taking her hand.
Luna stood and headed to the balcony. She stopped at the doors and turned to face her sister. “This room gives me different memories, with the same guy.”
Ariana was confused. “What do you mean?”
The time has come at last. Luna thought to herself. Let the truth be told.
Luna sat on the bed where her sister was staring at her from. She took a deep breath before beginning. “Before you came here, Derrick and I shared this room. He slept in the bed by the balcony and I slept next to it.” Luna watched her sister’s reaction.
Ariana sat still, listening with attentive ears and an open mind.
Luna continued. “At first, I acted like a brat, not wanting anything to do with him. I was hopelessly in love with Shane. After Derrick was here for a couple weeks, and we’d been partners for a while, I started to sense something more than friendship from him. He stared at me constantly, as if I were his ‘Dream Girl’ or something.” Luna stared into space, smiling. Her face turned sad when she looked into Ariana’s eyes and said. “Pretty soon I, too, felt more than companionship for him.” She stood again, this time heading out to the balcony.
Ariana followed, interested in her sister’s story.
Luna went on without turning around to see her. “One night, I came back from a date with Shane to find Derrick hanging out here, totally out of it. He was so lost in thought; he hadn’t heard me open these squeaky doors. I got his attention, asking him what was on his mind, to which he replied, ‘you.’”
This was the most difficult part of the story. She took a deep breath before continuing. She closed her eyes, her voice fading softly with each sentence.
“Before I knew it, Derrick and I were kissing. At first, it felt wonderful. Reading his mind, I uncovered his dark secret. When he closed his eyes, his thoughts were only to his Dream Girl. It was obvious we’d never feel romantic over each other again.”
“What happened then?” Ariana asked cautiously, unsure she wanted to know the rest.
“Soon, we declared a best friendship, he met you, and the rest is history.” Luna concluded, sighing. She finally turned to face Ariana’s thoughtful glance.
“What about his Dream Girl? Do you think he still thinks of her when we kiss? Who is she? Why does he think of her? Does this mean he’s not really in love with me? Like love is just a game and I’m the queen of all losers?” She was almost afraid of the answers.
Luna sensed this and hugged her. “Don’t you get it? You are his Dream Girl! If you weren’t, do you think he’d love you as much as he does?” She pulled back and looked into her sister’s worried eyes. Luna wiped a tear from Ariana’s cheek and continued. “Ariana, he cares a lot about you and thinks the world of you. Why do you think he helped us rescue you from Damian?”
Ariana gave the statement some serious thought. “You’re right, Lu. Derrick does love me. He also cares about you like a best friend. I saw that right away.” She hugged her twin, tears disappearing, and was glad the truth was finally out. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You needed to know, before you figured it out for yourself.” Luna supplied. “We didn’t want you mad at both of us.”
Ariana grinned. “Lu, I could never be mad at him.”
Luna stuck her tongue out at her sister. The twins giggled.
“Tell you what, sis.” Luna started. “Why don’t we have a little twin time? We need to relax before Shannon calls and starts us on our studies.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Ariana stood, smiling mischievously at her twin. “Race you to the Dunes!”
Ariana thought about Derrick and their love for each other. They depended upon each other since day one, and a deep understanding between them was clear.
She loved him twice as much now that Luna had told her story.

II

When Derrick arrived at the System, he headed to his new quarters in a depressive daze. He didn’t even notice when his old friend Shane “Shadow” Morehouse, snuck behind him.
“What are you doing here?” Shane asked him. “Have you seen Ariana yet?”
Sadly, he shook his head, continuing to walk. “Ariana doesn’t know I’m here yet. Shannon told me they were staying in Fourth Floor.”
He then explained his promotion, thanks to Shannon.
“That’s great, Derrick! Congratulations!” Shane cried, slapping him on the back.
“Thanks. I’d better go. I’m stationed with Chips. You know how he is.” Derrick said with a laugh as he turned to leave.
Shane smiled. “See you later.”
He sighed as he opened the door. Third-Floor wasn’t the same as Fourth-Floor. It may have had the same layout, with a balcony in the corner overlooking the ocean, but one important thing was missing.
His beloved Ariana Moon Sister.
He met the eyes of Alan “Chips” Deneson as he walked in the room.
“Welcome back, Reading.” Chips joked with a grin. As always, he was sitting at his computer.
“Thanks, Chips.” Derrick replied softly as he put his stuff away. “I’m happy to be back.”
Chips stopped what he was doing. “You don’t sound like it, my friend.” He sat on the bed beside the balcony, where Derrick was settling in. “You sound, and look depressed.”
When Chips didn’t get an answer, he continued. “Did you know the twins are here?”
Derrick nodded. “Yeah. Shannon told me.”
“Well, there you go.” Chips replied. “Go find Ariana. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you again.”
Derrick shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, she’s in training for her Guardianship.” He said, looking at Chips. “I don’t want to interfere with that.”
“Believe me, you wouldn’t be interfering.” Chips replied. “I have to review both twins in technologies, and Ariana is so depressed.”
Derrick stared at him. “I bet she misses me as much as I miss her.” He replied.
“The only way to know is to go and find out.” Chips grinned.
“I guess it is.” Derrick smiled now. He put his bag away in a closet and saluted to his new partner, saying. “Thanks, Chips. I’ll do that.”
With that, he left. Chips headed back to his computer, rubbing his hands with a smile on his face.
Another System couple back together, he thought, settling in his favorite chair.

III

That morning, the girls awoke with the warm sun on their faces. Luna wasn’t as thrilled. Ariana opened her eyes, stretched her achy muscles, and reached for her glasses, slipping them on her face. She looked over to her sister, who was still dozing somewhere hidden under the covers.
Ariana smiled and headed to the bathroom for a long, hot shower. As