As I walked up to the auditorium doors, I couldn’t help but feel melancholy. This would be the last time I ever set foot in this building.

I would never hang out with Iselde and Vance before class started again. I would never listen to Mr. Delmont's lectures again. Anise wouldn't even be going to university with the rest of us, because she intended to focus on her spellcasting.

Iselde and Vance had confirmed their university registration with us… but the four of us were in three different majors. Vance was going into medicine with me, Iselde was going into potion production, and Felix planned on studying machinery. We wouldn’t have much overlap for our classes. Everything that I had grown used to in school was changing or ending.

Of course, I would still make efforts to see everyone. Nothing would stop me from seeing the people I cherished. But it also wouldn’t be the same as it had been up until now.

“Are you all right?” asked Felix, poking me in the arm.

I blinked in surprise, and then nodded.

“I was just thinking that this will be the last time we come to this building,” I said. “It feels… weird. We’ve been learning under Mr. Delmont for eight years now. The idea of learning from someone else is bizarre. And we’re all going to be working on our own projects, too. Anise is going to be preparing for worldstrider fights, you'll be researching railroads...” I sighed. "I have very mixed feelings about this, now that the time has come."

Felix laughed. He looked around, to make sure nobody else was too close to us, and then grinned. “I think that’s part of growing up,” he said. “You have less time to spend with your friends, and you have to spend more time working and researching.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I guess we’ve just… never experienced it before.”

Felix took a step forward, and then pulled me into a hug.

“Miria, we’ve never lived to the point where we were proper adults before. It has been so long since I was last a ‘real’ adult that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like. But there’s one thing I’m sure of.” he paused for a moment. “No matter what, you’ll find a way to keep everyone connected. That’s who you are. You might be a reckless, crazy girl who loves plunging into danger. You're also one of my best friends. Anise and I will help you make sure that we're always around. Don’t worry. We’ll never drift apart, no matter what happens.”

I felt something inside of me unclench. I hadn’t even realized that I was afraid of things changing until Felix said it. For almost sixty years, the three of us had been stuck as children. We never lived to adulthood, so I had gotten… used to being a kid. To never needing to think about jobs, or separate projects. Instead, I had grown used to playing, training, and learning about magic. Most importantly, I had worried about how to spend more time with my friends before. It was normal for kids to play together, after all. Soon, we wouldn't be considered children anymore.

But that didn’t mean we would drift apart from each other. I still cherished and cared about Sallia, even though we hadn’t had an outing in almost a decade now.

I smiled, and hugged Felix back.

“Thanks, Felix,” I said. “I didn’t realize I needed to hear that until you said it.”

“Anytime, Mir. You’ve been there for us more times than we can count. I’m happy to be there for you, too,” he said.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After that, he released me from the hug, and I stepped through the auditorium doors.

The inside of the auditorium was heavily decorated. There were banners hanging on the side of the wall, all with the words ‘Congratulations to the graduates’ emblazoned on them. The bleachers and walls had all been cleaned until they looked new. The auditorium had little decorative gears hooked onto the walls, to symbolize machinery and progress.

The seats in the auditorium were over halfway full already. I estimated there were at least eight hundred people here, and more would arrive soon.

Felix and I scanned the auditorium until we saw my mother and Old Mo sitting near the middle of the room. It looked like they were… arguing? I frowned, and stepped closer. I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the rest of the din, but Old Mo was giving my mother a dismissive frown.

“Old Mo? Mom?” I said, as I stepped closer to them.

“Sorry Miria,” said Old Mo, as he tousled my hair and looked away from my mother. “I didn’t mean to intrude on your big day. I shouldn't have said anything." I frowned, and Old Mo winced, before he sighed. Then, he took a step closer to me and tousled my hair, before turned towards Felix. "Good to see you, Felix."

My mother huffed and glared at Old Mo, before she snorted and turned away from him. She didn’t say anything to either of us.

I glanced at the two of them, and then quietly encouraged my mother to get up and shuffle over two seats. After she got up, I sat between Old Mo and my Mother. If they were going to fight whenever they talked, I would just separate them. I sighed.

I had gotten used to the fact that Old Mo and my mother didn’t get along… but I didn’t want to spend the ceremony watching them argue, either.

A few moments later, Anise and her parents made their way into the auditorium. I relaxed, and started waving at her. They made their way towards us, before Anise sat down right behind me.

“Hey Miria,” said Anise, as she smiled at me.

My mother gave Anise a curious look, before she turned towards me.

“Is this your other friend?” asked my mother. This was the first time my mother had met Anise since I had cured her.

"Yeah. I'm Anise! It's nice to... erm... met you? We've met before, but you were... not present," said Anise. She held out her hand for my mother, and my mother awkwardly shook it. Anise gave me a quick hug, before she leaned back in her seat.

I saw Anise’s parents give my mother odd glances.

“So you’re Miria’s mother…” said Anise’s father, after a few moments. “It is good to see you… well again.”

“Indeed,” said my mother. "I was... not present for a lot of my life. I'm sorry that you've seen such a poor side of me."

“Your daughter carried you along while we were fleeing to Damilius,” said Anise’s mother. “It's rather shameful that a mother was relying on her six year old daughter to keep her alive.”

My mother flinched, almost as if Anise’s mother had slapped her. She took a deep breath, before she closed her eyes. I thought that I could hear her… counting?

When she counted to ten, she opened her eyes again. “You’re right. It was embarrassing. My daughter deserved better, but I… had my own difficulties,” finished my mother weakly.

Anise’s mother didn’t say anything else, while Anise’s father didn’t seem keen on interacting with my mother at all.

I sighed, and rubbed my mother’s back. I could see that Anise's mother had hurt her. I didn’t think that hurting my mother like this was good. If my mother felt like everyone wouldn’t let her move past her mistakes, she might fall back into a haze. I didn’t want to see my mother slowly kill herself using drugs again.

“My mother is doing better now,” I said, as I turned towards Anise's mother. “She messed up a few times in the past, but we should look to the future, not the past. Tomorrow will be better as long as we make it better. I... I'd appreciate it if you were nicer."

Anise mother looked at me, and then looked at my mother. Finally, she sighed, leaned over to me, and ruffled my hair.

"If we don't acknowledge our mistakes, we'll never move past them either, kid. But sure. Today, let's just look towards the future." She smiled. "You're a sweet kid. I'm glad my little girl has a friend like you."

My mother didn’t say anything else as Anise's mother pulled away. She just looked at Anise’s parents and Old Mo, and fell into silence until the ceremony started.