Friends

The next morning, Aurora and Atticus could be seen on the training ground. The day before, Atticus had managed to convince Aurora to ignore Rowan's command.

Aurora had reluctantly agreed, although Atticus could still notice her shaking at times.  But he left her alone, allowing her to deal with her inner turmoil.

'If she's not 100% in this, it would be a waste of time,' Atticus thought. He knew that, in the end, everything depended on Aurora.

If later down the line she decided to return to her father, he wouldn't be able to stop her. He also recognized that abruptly leaving her father behind would be incredibly difficult; after all, he was her only family.

Atticus turned his gaze away from Aurora, who was already nervously biting her fingernails, toward the approaching duo of Lucas and Nate. They both displayed slight surprise when they saw Atticus standing together with Aurora.