Aiden is the first to break the stunned silence.

“Okay,” he says. “So, um. What the fuck?”

“Ariana found a way to get him a letter.” I can tell by her voice that Kasey is impressed. Her fingers hover over Will’s name, where it’s inked onto the envelope. “She lived two hundred years ago, but she found a way.”

“Two letters, actually.” I take the second envelope from Aiden’s hand. “Heliomancer… What’s that mean, Aiden?”

“I have no idea.” He shrugs, looking just as lost as the rest of us. “I’ve never heard that word before in my life.”

I stare down at the flowing script. The weird thing is - it sounds vaguely familiar to me, for some reason. My thumb skates over the lettering, and stops at the first half of the word.

“Helio…” I mutter to myself, and it hits me. “Oh, my fucking god. Heliocentrism.”

Aiden and Kasey exchange a confused glance.

“What are you talking about, Jamie?” Aiden asks. “Are you okay?”

My head is spinning, connecting things at a dizzying speed.

Hundreds of magical fireflies floating around my old bedroom, brought on by Aiden’s happiness. Us in the freezing river at dawn, how Aiden kept the water warm for us. The gentle, effortless way he pulled heat out of my sunburned skin. Aiden naked in my bed, lazily using a temperature current to turn the ceiling fan.

He calls up light and heat so easily. He doesn’t even need the connection open.

“Holy shit. Aiden, I think…” I hold up the envelope. “I think this is for you.”

He stares at me, then draws his head back sharply. “That - I - what?”

I turn to Kasey. “Doesn’t helio mean sun?”

“Yeah...?”

“So - a Heliomancer, wouldn’t that be someone who works - sun magic? You know, stuff like heat and light? The kind of stuff you’re really good at, Aiden? And Ariana - she designed the letters to be activated-”

“By heat and light,” Kasey says, realizing. She tries to slap my arm, and her fingers swipe right through my shoulder. “Jamie! You’re right!”

“No, you’re not.” Aiden suddenly looks upset. “I know what I am, okay? This isn’t the word for it. I’ve never even heard of a Heliomancer. And my magic definitely isn’t limited to heat and light, it’s just what I happen to be good at, because that’s all my mom taught me before she - it’s like the first, most basic thing you learn!”

“Yes,” I cut back in, “But regardless, those two things are your specialty, so - don’t you think it would be an insane fucking coincidence if this letter was for someone else?”

There’s a ringing silence in the Ghost Office. Aiden stares at me for a long moment, then wordlessly holds out a hand. I give him the envelope, and he reads the writing on the front again.

“Heliomancer…” he says, very slowly. “But - how did Ariana know-? How could she have known...?”

Nobody has an answer for that.

“Open it, Aiden,” Kasey urges. “It’s for you.”

Aiden swallows, his eyebrows furrowed. He flips the letter over. The back is sealed, and Aiden traces a finger along the line where he could tear it open.

“I… no.” He sets the letter down on the floor again, then kneads his palm, blinking hard. “I don’t care if these can survive heat and light, they’re from the 1800s. They can still be damaged. Look at the corners, from where we rattled them around. I’m not opening anything without my gloves, the right tools… I’ll open it on Monday. In the archives.”

“Aiden,” Kasey begins, clearly exasperated, but I catch her eye and shake my head. She makes an ugh-what-why face at me, and I toss my head at the door of the Ghost Office.

“Give us one sec,” I tell Aiden, giving his shoulder a squeeze as I get to my feet.

He nods silently, his eyes on the letter.

“Come on, are you kidding me?” Kasey hisses, the second we’re outside. “Aren’t you gonna go crazy wondering-?”

“Of course I am, obviously!” I whisper back. “But can’t you see that Aiden is - freaked out? How would you feel if you found a letter from a family member of yours who lived two hundred fucking years ago, and it was specifically addressed to you?”

“I would want to open it, probably!”

“Kase-face, this is personal. It goes beyond the ghost hunt.” I check quickly to make sure that Aiden hasn’t moved. “Look, maybe Aiden doesn’t want to open it in front of us, or - would you force Will to open his letter from Ariana right away, even if he didn’t seem ready, or comfortable?”

“Well-” Kasey presses her fingers to her temples, then tips her head back and groans. “No, I wouldn’t, but - what if the answer to saving Will is in that letter to Aiden?”

“Will can wait a day and a half. Come on. At least give Aiden that long to get his head around this. Also, he just opened that locket, and it took a lot of effort and energy, and he’s been practicing for ages to get it down, so. Maybe let’s not diminish that, either?”

Kasey glares at me, then blows out a hefty sigh.

She leads the way back into the Ghost Office, where Aiden is still staring blankly down at the letter in his hands.

“What time should we meet you at the archives, Aiden?” she asks. “Or do you want to open it alone?”

“I… I don’t know.” He shakes himself, then gets to his feet, the letters in one hand, the open locket in the other. “I’m sorry, I just-”

“Don’t be sorry.” Kasey flaps a hand at him. “You tell us when you’re ready. Or open it on your own. But - by Monday, though?”

Aiden nods slowly.

“By Monday.”

~~~~

I can tell that Aiden needs to be alone, so I drop him back at Kent’s house. He barely says a word on the drive there, but he does give me a goodbye kiss before he climbs out of the car.

It’s impossible for me to not worry about him. I do everything I can to keep myself distracted. A thorough checkup on all of my houseplants helps, but that only takes so long. I clean a little, take a shower, eat something. None of it takes my mind off of Aiden, and it’s actually a mercy when Destinee calls and asks if I can pick up her shift.

I stay late at the store, way past closing, doing totally unnecessary stuff, organizing the stockroom and pre-cutting ribbons for bouquets. By the time I lock up, it’s dark and quiet outside.

I sit in my car for a few minutes, fighting with myself.

“Fuck,” I sigh, and put the car in drive.

The sliding glass door to Aiden’s apartment is closed, and the curtain is closed behind it, but I can see that the lights are on. I knock on the glass, and after a moment, both the door and the curtain are pushed aside.

Aiden is freshly showered, his hair still damp. His eyes are tired, his broad shoulders slouching.

“Hi." I bounce up onto my toes to give him a little kiss. "Look, I know you need some alone time, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I just wanted to see if-”

He reaches for my hand, and gently pulls me inside.

~~~~

I’m about to tell Aiden that it’s fine if he wants me to leave, but he closes and locks the sliding glass door, then pulls the curtain shut.

“Did you shower already, or do you need a towel?” he yawns.

So I guess I’m staying. I try not to look too relieved.

When we get into bed, I consider offering Aiden some distraction. I could easily reach over and pull off his boxers, or I could just take off mine, which would have the same effect, but - I can see that he’s far away right now, and this isn’t the time.

He switches off the lights, settles down beneath the comforters. I turn to curl up around him, pressing my nose to the back of his neck. He smells like body wash, but also something grassy and green. There’s a tiny hint of salt, his sweat.

I trace my fingertips down his shoulder. “Did you go for a run?”

“Mhm. Super long one.” I hear a wince in his voice. “Think I pushed myself too hard. Should have cut it back a little.”

I reach down and push my thumb into the muscle of his thigh, hit that pressure level he likes. Aiden makes a soft noise, tensing, then relaxes back against me.

Working the soreness out of Aiden’s body has some kind of soothing effect on me, too. I knew I would have trouble sleeping tonight, with so much going on in my mind, but doing this - it’s peaceful. I keep going for a long time, until sleep begins to feel like a possibility. My hand on his thigh starts to slow in its movements, and my eyes flutter closed.

I’m finally starting to drift off when, half-asleep, I become aware that my body is no longer curled around Aiden’s. That I’m cold without him.

I open my eyes and find him sitting up, his back against the headboard, the letter to the Heliomancer in his hands.

I haven’t moved or said anything, but somehow Aiden knows that I’m awake.

“Ariana must have been able to see into the future,” he says, his eyes fixed on the letter. “If she knew that this is my - that this is all I’m good at, then she must have been able to. At least a little.”

I sit up and snuggle against his side, but don’t answer. I can tell that he’s got more to say, even if it’s slow in coming.

“Heat and light,” he murmurs. “It’s the easiest, simplest thing. The most basic. She must have known that I - that I’m terrible at everything else.” Aiden looks over at me, his blue eyes dark and sad. “This is just one more person who’s probably disappointed in me.”

I’m struck with a sudden memory of Aiden stretched out next to me on the floor of the Ghost Office. After hours of trying and failing with the circle of stones, struggling to make the glasses work, there came a rare moment when he opened up about his mom. He didn’t say much, but he said -

She would be so disappointed in me.

My heart twists, and I nuzzle my nose into Aiden’s shoulder.

“Ariana could do all this,” he says, his breath catching, “And she looked down her family line, and saw me. The worst out of everyone, who can barely do anything.” He closes his eyes, tips his head back to rest against the wall. “I know I’d be disappointed.”

“Aiden.” I sit back, so I can look at him. “At least open the letter before you make that leap.”

He chews his lip. “I just…”

“Hey.” I poke his knee. “I love you, and whatever’s inside that envelope, I’ll be right here with you. And if it’s a bunch of bullshit, then - I’ll set it on fire. Kasey might be mad, but I don’t care. I’ll burn it, and roast a marshmallow. A spite marshmallow.”

“Jesus!” Aiden says, startled into a laugh. “That’s - dramatic.”

I touch my hand to his knee, and he grows serious again.

“Aiden. Open it.”

He hesitates. “But - I need my-”

“Okay, okay,” I say, kicking the comforter off.

Aiden blinks in surprise as I climb out of bed. “Where are you going?”

“To get the spare pair of archival gloves I happen to know you keep in your desk,” I call, over my shoulder.

I come back a minute later and push the gloves into his hand. Aiden considers, then sets them aside on his night table, along with the letter. He opens his palms and releases a few magic fireflies. He’s getting much faster at it, and they form swiftly on his fingers, lifting into the air around us. Their golden glow catches on the magic swirling in his eyes.

Aiden gets out of bed, then tosses me one of his sweaters. I pull it on, and he grabs himself one, too. He leads me out into the kitchen.

He finds a clean towel and polishes a spot on the kitchen counter. When the counter is practically shining, Aiden sets the letter down and pulls on his archivist gloves.

Slowly and carefully, he slips his finger under the paper's edge, sliding the envelope open. But when it’s unsealed, he falters.

“Do you want me to go?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“No. Stay.”

I don’t want him to feel like I’m reading over his shoulder, so I move to the other side of the kitchen counter.

Aiden draws a folded piece of paper out from the envelope.

Something escapes from the page and flutters down onto the countertop.

I bend forward, my eyes narrowed. “What are those?”

Aiden frowns, then makes a beckoning gesture to the fireflies. They crowd closer around us, throwing better light on the counter.

I glance up at Aiden, surprised. I’ve never seen him do that before.

He doesn't seem to realize that he just did something new, but I decide not to say anything. Now is not the time to get distracted. We both bend over the pale, slender things that fell from the letter.

There are three of them. White, with the faintest blush of gold at the base.

“Are these flower petals?” I ask, dazed. “How the hell-? Why do they look like they were just plucked?”

Aiden shakes his head, then looks back to the letter.

“Guess there’s probably an answer in here,” he says.

I reach across the counter and squeeze his forearm, since I don’t want to touch his gloves.

“Hey. You can do it.” He won’t look at me. I use my finger to guide his chin up, until he meets my eyes. “Aiden. It’s going to be okay.”

He lets out a breath, then slowly unfolds the page.

He tips his head forward over the letter, his chestnut hair tumbling into his face. He clears his throat, then starts to read out loud.

“Heliomancer,” he begins, “The years separate us, but we are bound.” Aiden pauses, swallows, and starts again. “A friend has caught a glimpse of the future, and seen that you will be the one to reverse my great error.”

We both freeze, staring at each other, wide-eyed. Aiden blinks hard, then looks back down at the letter.

“I know little of you,” he continues, his voice rasping. “But oft do I think of you. What I have done to Will is a wrong which, if left untreated, should have driven me to despair. To know that you shall free him from this place where I have trapped him - this has given me my freedom, too. My freedom to love again, and to once more seek out happiness.” Aiden runs a hand over his face, then keeps going, his voice increasingly hoarse. “That you should be a worker of sun-given gifts is entirely fitting, for the sun is the brightest invention of Nature, and you have brought light to what was once the darkest place in my heart. I have walked on air and water with the help of heat, and now, I will walk into what comes next with my heart full. I owe this to you, Heliomancer. It is my-”

Aiden breaks off sharply. He finishes reading the letter in silence, then drops it onto the counter. He pulls off his gloves, tosses them aside, and turns away, pressing a shaking hand to his mouth.

I pick up the letter and read the rest out loud.

It is my greatest source of pride, to know that one of my line will possess the power and skill to finish my work, the work of ages. I can only dream of all else you will accomplish, and I do, often.

When you see him, please tell Will not to look back on me with sorrow. Loved and loving have I lived, and shall I die.

I have always believed in love that lasts, love stronger than even death. Now, too, do I believe in joy that lasts. I wish you much of both. Keep ever in sight that which shines truest in your heart, bright sun. When you find the love that lasts, hold it close, and let it bask in your light.

With love and pride, always,

Ariana