30 | HAPPY ENDING |

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THERE WAS MORE TO LIFE than she thought possible. Life was an infinite cycle of love, hate, happiness, pain, birth, death. In her short eighteen years of life, Rory, or Aurora Elena Reyes Aden, had experienced the most unimaginable tragedies, most of which occurring over the course of a single year.

A year can change a lot about a person.

But as all stories go, you have to go back to the start, to understand the end.

The first tragedy she could remember was moving away to San Antonio, her mom wanting to be closer to family, which meant Rory had to leave her beloved aunt and uncle as well as her best friend in Hemlock Grove when she was only six years old.

"It will all be okay, mi quierda," Her aunt promised her as she hugged the little girl.

"Pero, Tia Giselle, we won't see each other everyday, I won't explore the trees or play hide and seek with Ro anymore," Rory wiped away her tears. "I don't want to go. I want to stay here forever."

"That's the thing, my dove," Her Uncle Dante crouched beside them in the gravel driveway, "Sometimes we have to say goodbye in life even when we don't want to. It doesn't mean forever, or that it's easy. You have to remember to find the good in goodbye because it is the most painful way to say I love you."

Grandparents, family friends, etc had all passed away at some point, but being a young girl, those deaths hadn't affected her as much with the grace of innocence and naivety. Then, when she was fifteen, Rory's mother was supposed to give her and twelve year old Luna Aden a little brother. Unfortunately, the baby boy, Archer Aden, was a stillborn.

"Papa, how beautiful is Archer? Can we see them yet?" Luna asked innocently when Peter Aden walked into the waiting room. Rory and Luna had been impatiently waiting in the hospital waiting room for over half a day.

Rory didn't look at her father's face yet as she held up a notebook sized painting of the night sky. "Look, I made the baby his first painting, I finished it while we were waiting—why are you crying, dad?"

The tall, green eyed man in labor scrubs rubbed his face tiredly. "Darlings, there were...complications," Peter's voice cracked with emotion, "Mama barely made it."

It didn't take the two innocent girls to realize what had happened. Tears burned Rory's eyes as she tossed the painting aside to the plastic seat beside her, forgotten and scorned with the revelation of the tragedy. "How? The baby came right on time—"

Peter shook his head sadly. "Sometimes God has other plans. He wanted Archer to stay with him in heaven."

The whole waiting room went away as the sisters felt the pain of losing their baby brother. Rory wrapped her arm around her crying little sister's shoulders. Rory had always been Luna's protector.

"If the good die young," Luna said in a small, hiccupy voice, "Does that mean the bad live forever?"

Rory gritted her teeth. "No, Luna, even the damned meet their end eventually."

Her father glared at the fifteen year old furiously. "Aurora."

That was the first time death had truly affected Rory.

A year later, Rory walked in on her father sleeping with a woman he had met during one of his business trips to New York. Peter Aden had tried to heal from the death of his only son in the arms of a woman who knew no better. After a quick, painful separation, Rory didn't see her father again—well that was until her sister died in a car accident after being raped by Rory's boyfriend.

"YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!"

It was Rory's seventeenth birthday and instead of celebrating, she was mourning her sister. She stomped up the staircase of the impressive modern-style three story home that was much too large for only two broken, grief-stricken women.

Peter Aden remained at the bottom of the staircase, his hands on his hips. "Aurora, please, Elizabeth and I just want the best for you—"

Rory whirled around, half-way up the second floor with rounded red eyes blazing in anguish. "No, no," she sputtered out, shaking her head vehemently, "you don't get to walk away from me and mom to your new wife and then come back when Luna dies just to take me away! I want nothing to do with you!"

Peter rubbed his face tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Aurora, think about how this could be a new start for you. For all of us."

"I don't care about Elizabeth or your perfect new life," Rory spat out bitterly, "Luna is dead. It should've been me."

"Don't ever say that!" Stella interjected brokenly as she entered the house, hearing the screaming match from the driveway. She didn't foresee making Rory be taken home from the funeral service by her father would go this badly.

"Mama," Rory's breath hitched in regret as the weight of her words registered within herself. From her frozen position on the staircase, Rory didn't hesitate to tell her mother what Peter had just offered her.

Stella sighed and looked at her ex-husband. "Peter, what on earth are you trying to do? Take my only living child away from me?"

"I want to make sure she lives the best possible life she can have! I won't lose another child!" Peter clenched his jaw as both Stella and Rory stared at him in disbelief at the audacity of his insinuation.

"You lost me the moment you left us." Rory's voice held no emotion.

Peter looked up at her entreatingly. "Aurora, please, I'm your father."

"Don't call me that. Don't call me anything. I may be your daughter, but you are not my dad. Not anymore."

Then, with nothing left for them in Texas but dark, heartbreaking memories, Stella found a job opening far from Texas that would take her in immediately, no long winded paperwork or processing needed, only a doctor wanting to do some good.

Rory was suffering from guilt and depression, a deadly combination that made her careless in the eyes of death. In the face of danger, she stood fearless, ready to embrace the kiss of death with open arms.

But amidst the misery and dark days, there was immeasurable joy and true happiness.

Rory had never known her days could be warm without the presence of the sun. In the small, seemingly insignificant town of Forks, was the warm memories of the immortal vampire she loved.

Jasper Hale.

He was good and kind and understanding. It wasn't vanity that drew him to her, but his heart, so pure and empathetic. They had both come from dark pasts they wanted to escape desperately and found a hopeful, picture-perfect future with each other once upon a time. Jasper was everything to her. She knew from the moment they met, her life would be forever changed for the better.

"I've seen the stars shine a million times, yet they're nothing compared to the ones in your eyes," Jasper murmured into her hair as he held her cheek.

"Wow." Rory blinked. She gave him a slow clap as a playful smirk spread across her lips. "Amazing. I give it a 7.9/10. My art analogy was much, much smoother though."

Jasper huffed and shook his head. "But mine has significant context." He gestured to their surroundings.

Rory glanced around their midnight summer picnic on the mountain edge overlooking the emerald woods that surrounded Forks—the same place they had their first kiss. "Just because we're star-gazing doesn't mean you're the more romantic one in this relationship," she rolled her eyes stubbornly. "Also, you're only 170 years old so if you do the math, you'd have to be older than Jesus Christ himself to have seen a million starry nights."

Jasper looked at her incredulously. She shrugged, lifting her hands up innocently. "Just saying."

Jasper chuckled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Fine, you're the more romantic and intelligent one, Rors. I'm just the pretty trophy boy toy."

"Exactly." She bopped nose before settling back to appreciate her boyfriend of three months."Star-gazing was such a good idea. I wish I could paint you right now so I won't ever forget how look beautiful you are in the moonlight."

Jasper frowned at the tone she spoke with. He reached out to wrap his arm around her, tilting her chin up until their eyes met. "Why do you talk like that? Like you think I'm going to leave you or something as insane as that," he said softly in concern. He didn't need his empathetic abilities to know something was wrong.

She shut her eyes briefly, opening them again with eyes shinier than before. "The people I love always leave me. Don't worry, love, I'm used to it," Rory cupped his sharp jaw, her thumb rubbing the diamond skin gently.

Jasper shook his head. "I swear I will never—"

Rory pressed her finger to the center of his lips, stopping him from finishing his sentence. "Don't tell me you'll never leave me. I won't believe you."

He kissed the tips of her fingers before bringing her hand to his chest. "Well then, know that I will always protect you. No matter what. I'd rip my own heart out in order for you to live."

"That's a little morbid, my love."

And then she lost it all.

Rory fell into the dark abyss that was heartbreak like Alice in Wonderland. Those two weeks were the darkest in her life. But she got stronger. She went to Italy, in some mixture of pettiness and necessity to get as far away from it all as possible, and fixed herself well enough to work again. All the pain she had harbored from the events up until moving to Florence for her internship seemed insignificant to the true meaning of her life—the beauty of art.

She had nearly forgotten that part of herself, all in the sweet, blinding cocoon of first love, she had forgotten to love herself. With a scarce knowledge of the people and language around her, Rory found herself again in art.

She couldn't claim she had made a full recovery, especially not with a vampire literally on her trail. Even if Alec Volturi was using her as bait, she learned to appreciate him. He was a little sadistic, a lot of bloodthirsty, but he was a person just as herself. She related to him in ways she never imagined. She once felt like she had been drowning and Alec was the breath of fresh air she needed.

"Do you have something against street musicians or something? Not refined enough for your highness?" Rory said mockingly as she watched the street performers play an unnamed song with their mosaic of instruments.

Alec was emotionless as always with his arms crossed in boredom. His lips curled up in disdain as he spoke, "I don't particularly care for this cacophony they call music."

Rory snorted. "Like you could do better."

"Is that a challenge?" His perfectly shaped brow arched seamlessly.

Rory gestured for the tall, dark haired immortal to step forward. To her surprise, he did. He said something to the players Rory couldn't decipher fast enough and gestured to her standing nearby. Alec and his violet eyes appeared to intimidate them enough for the violinist to hand over his mahogany instrument to the vampire.

With his violet eyes trained on her, Alec began to play.

In a few strokes, sweet, enchanting music flowed from Alec's deft movements. A bigger crowd formed around the street corner they were in, mostly comprised of non-english speaking native Italians.

Rory felt a wide smile spread across her lips as Alec neared closer and closer until he was playing a lovely song a foot in front of her. It was loud but it was beautiful. "Well, I'll be damned. You're...amazing." It hurt her pride to admit the truth as Alec arrogantly smirked.

"I've had some time to pick it up over the years. I'm better than these fools," Alec smirked conceitedly as he spoke in english while still playing the violin.

"This is so....largely endearing," Rory felt a bubble of laughter escape as she watched the handsome vampire play a violin. It was the most unintentionally romantic scene she could ever had imagined. Her eyes widened as he changed the song, her ears now recognizing the melody he played. "Oh my god, you are not seriously playing the theme of the Disney princess film Sleeping Beauty?"

There was a ghost of a smile on his lips as he shrugged. "I was curious to why you aligned yourself with the protagonist, Aurora."

"Okay, stalker."

Unexpectedly, Alec turned back to the other musicians who had joined in on playing the song. He handed the borrowed violin back to it's owner who immediately continued playing the theme of Sleeping Beauty's waltz.

Alec approached Rory with an unreadable expression. "Dance with me."

It's not like she could outright reject him in front of such a big crowd. People cheered her on as she took his hand. He twirled her around to the song a few times before pulling her closer into a softer sway.

Rory avoided his intense gaze.

"You are warmer than you look," Alec murmured into her ear, his cold lips brushing against her bare skin.

Rory grinned widely. "That was almost charming—no, that was actually bewitching, witch twin."

His expression dropped.

"Hey, give me my sight back!"

She laughed loudly with her head thrown back as Alec spun her around faster than she could breath. She felt okay again.

Rory didn't know she could ever be okay again before she went to Italy, not when the shadows of her past or the pain of yesterday had darkened her days. It wasn't Alec who changed anything or seeing the Cullens again that changed her dark perspective on life.

It was all on her own accord that she was able to move on from the past and enjoy the present. If there was one thing Rory had learned, it was that only she had the power to heal herself, not any man or medicine or change of location. Rory was stronger than glass—she was obsidian. Only she could kill her demons.

"I want to be alone," Rory said brokenly as her mother stepped into her dark bedroom. Rory hadn't stepped outside the house since leaving the hospital, since Jasper had left her. Since her baby had died. She never imagined to feel so much pain in so little time.

"You'll never be alone, mija. Not when I'm here," Stella cooed as she sat on the bed. She sat beside Rory's curled up body cocooned in blankets. "The world can leave us to die, but as long as we have each other, I know we will be alright. I know you will be okay, Rory, have hope," she said softly.

Rory was a mess of darkness and misery. She was completely done with everything. "For what? Life sucks and then you die."

Stella sighed with a sad smile, "That's exactly what life is about, Aurora, it's about having hope."

"What hope can there be for such a tragedy like me?" Rory felt another tear leak from her eyes, but she didn't care to wipe it away. More were sure to follow.

She stroked her daughter's hair soothingly. "A wise woman once said hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you'll never make it through the night."

"Don't quote Star Wars at me," Rory let out a bitter laugh through her tears.

"See, that smile you have there? That's what you call hope."

Hope is what changed everything for Rory. It had seen her through her darkest days, alone and sad beyond compare. She had fought so long and hard through all the tragedies in her life, hope was the last thing keeping her going through the war that was her life. She wanted to give up so many times, fall into a spiral, but the smallest hopeful thought that one day she wouldn't need to fight anymore kept her going.

The hope that one day Rory would have her happy ending and that would be it. No more fighting, no more tragedies. Just pure happiness.

It was time to stop running away.

It was time for Rory to take control of her future, of her life, and stop waiting for the past to catch up with her.

It was time for Rory to be happy again.

Rory knew what she wanted and there was no way she was letting her hope disappear.

She smiled, a feeling of wholeness being restored within her. She would be going to confront her past and shut the door on whatever was holding her back so she could say hello to her future and live her life to its full.

With all her luggage in hand and hope for her tomorrow blazing inside of her, she turned to open the door, her hand on the metal knob.

Then she frowned.

She felt the hair at her neck stand on end.

"I've finally found you."

Rory turned around with wide eyes. She couldn't believe it. Her heart stopped at who she saw. Why now?

With the full moon shining on the tall figure who had broken in the window, the curly-haired vampire gave her a big smile.

"Hello, sweetheart."

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A.N. just a lil cliffhanger for y'all, who do we think found our sweetheart rory? ; )))))

also i really hope i did a decent job of better developing rory bc she is much more than her love life ALSO RORY WILL B HAPPY SOON I PROMISE 🤧😤😤💗💗