Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📖

hugged my neck and I fell backwards on the floor. This began a tickling match until Dorianne broke it up.
“You should know better, Ariana Moon.” Dorianne shook her head in disgust.
I stood up, the boys holding onto my hands tightly. I could sense their fear of her. “Please, don’t call me that. My name is Ariana.”
“Why can’t I call you by your name? Ashamed of who you are?”
Now she was getting tart. What happened to that nice woman I’d met at the door not an hour ago?
“I’m not ashamed, Great-Aunt Dorianne.” I told her. “The name brings back horrible thoughts and visions of my long-ago past.”
“Doesn’t Father call you that sometimes?”
“Yes, and only to prove a point to me.” I replied. “Derrick calls me that when he’s extremely worried about me. Besides that, I don’t want to be called Ariana Moon anymore.”
Dorianne and I stared into each other’s eyes. I scowled and she smiled, nodding.
“I see what the problem is.” Dorianne announced in a whisper. “That’s the special name Aaron Theodore gave you when you were a little girl. It started his insanity over you. Whenever you hear it, you’re reminded of both the orphanage and his undying love for you. Are you ashamed of that, my great-grandniece? Or is your heart torn in two over the surviving Crusading lovers, Derrick and Aaron?”
I closed my eyes, turning away as to not let her see my tears. “Stop it, Dorianne, please.”
The boys could sense my anguish, so they cried out. “Mommy!” as they hugged me tight. I bent to their level once again, burying my face in their tiny embraces.
After a moment, the air was still. I’d calmed down and Dorianne stood over us, a sorry look on her face. “Now that you got what you came for, leave.”
I stood, gathered the twins’ bags together and left quietly.

II

“Tell me again, Love.” Derrick replied. We were getting ready for bed that night and he’d taken a shower. He was rubbing his hair with a towel while another one was around his waist. I was already under the covers, reading a book for class. “What exactly did Dorianne say about your dreams?”
“The Melody in my dreams was her daughter, reincarnated.” I told him, placing a marker in the book and setting it next to me on the night stand. “She told me the story of how her twin daughters, Melody and Elisabeth, made a pact on Melody’s deathbed.”
“And that means what to you?” He asked as he dressed.
“According to the first dream, the one with Goddess Ocarina in it, Melody is going to be reincarnated into our baby.” I told him, placing a hand on my stomach.
Derrick climbed into bed and placed a hand over mine. “Didn’t you tell me in that same dream, this Melody told the Goddess it was next to impossible for that to be true?”
“Melody Applebee, who’s supposedly the same soul as Melody Jacobs, is still alive.” I whispered, thinking the story over in my head. “A soul can’t be split in two, can it?”
Derrick shook his head, lying down on my lap. “Could never happen and you know it.”
I sighed, kissing his forehead. “As usual, you’re right.”
He sat up. “Of course I’m right. I’m your husband.”
He actually said it with a straight face, which made me smile, then burst out laughing.
“Yes, Romeo, you’re my husband.” I told him, kissing his lips. “My loving, caring husband. You’re also my best friend, a brilliant lover, and wonderful father to our three children.”
Derrick smiled, kissing my stomach before looking back at me with a loving expression. “Soon to be four.”
I smiled again. “My mistake. Four.” I kissed his lips once more before turning the lamp out and taking off my glasses. As I snuggled next to him, nearly falling asleep in his embrace, he spoke up.
“Then again, it could be possible in a way.”
“What way is that?” I whispered, yawning.
“Well, you are a Mystic, and a powerful one at that.” Derrick pointed out. “Perhaps if you delve further into this Melody’s mind, you’ll find out how it will happen.”
“Perhaps.” I snuggled next to him, falling asleep as soon as I said. “Good night, Derrick. I love you.”
I felt him kiss my lips gently before whispering. “I love you, too, darling.”
Little did I know where my thoughts would take me in the following months?
Story #1:
Luna’s Confession

I wouldn’t dream of Melody for another month. Meanwhile, my duties as Young Guardian were taking over. For once, I was grateful for the distraction from the Melody mystery.
One night, I was thinking about my past and happened to Crusade to a Young Dreamer’s world. It was dark as the Abyss except for a lone girl. I was in my Guardian’s gown, as I liked to call it, ready to help her. The girl was wearing a pretty dress meant for someone younger, perhaps nine or ten, with white ruffles on the sleeves and a bow in the back. She had short, stringy red hair, tied in yellow ribbons to match the dress. She was holding a stuffed bear, clutching it while she rocked back and forth. As I quietly walked closer, I could hear her sobs and see the tears in the bear’s ears and neck. The stuffing stuck out of the seams, ripped and worn, as if loved for so long.
“Hello, Young Dreamer.” I whispered to her, sitting next to her on the ground.
She looked up, startled. Her blue eyes were worn with tears and she backed away, frightened of me.
I put my hand up. “Hey, I won’t hurt you, I promise.” She relaxed, clutching the bear closer to her body. I put my hand down. “What’s your name, Little One?”
“Millie.” The little girl whispered just loud enough for me to hear. “Mother Doll calls me Millicent.”
Mother Doll? I thought. Couldn’t be.
“Who are you?” Millie asked, her eyes searching me.
“I’m the Young Guardian of the Dream Realm.” I told her. “I help Young Dreamers like you with their fears and nightmares.” I reached out to touch her, sending the empathic message of my mission. It seemed to sooth her, making her smile. “How old are you?”
“Fourteen.” Millie whispered softly.
The same age as I was at the Doll’s. That was nearly ten years ago.
“Where do you live, Millie?” I asked her, my thoughts in overdrive.
“I live in the Doll Mansion in Shore Point, California.” Millie was suspicious. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Long ago, I used to live there with the Dolls.” I said. “I was an orphan then. Are you an orphan, Millie? With no family but those in the court system?”
Millie looked down, biting her lip. “Yes, Ma’am. I’ve lived there for six months.” She looked up at me. “I’ve asked them where my family really is, but they won’t tell me. Father Doll is quiet a lot, afraid to talk to me, and Mother Doll is ill. The servants are my only company, and they treat me like nothing.”
Too bad she didn’t have a Companion friend to save her from that life.
“Is that what makes you cry?” I asked her gently, taking her hand. She scooted closer to me so I hugged her. “The servants treating you badly and the Dolls ignoring you?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
I wanted to help her. “Would you like to see me in person, in the waking world?”
She looked up to me. “Can you really do that? I mean, are you able to come to my world?”
“Millie, I live in the real world with my own family in Hill View, Michigan.” I told her, hugging her shoulders and kissing her forehead.
“How would I know you? Are you different in the real world?”
“I’ll show you.” I stood up, waved my arms and changed from my Guardian’s gown to my regular clothes, a long-sleeved shirt and pair of jeans. I had also replaced my glasses, just for effect. (I never needed them in the Dream Realm, for I could always see perfectly.) “My name is Ariana Reading. I’m what’s called a Mystic.”
“Is that magic?” Millie asked, absorbed in the very sight of me in common clothes.
I nodded my head.
She looked back to her stuffed bear and frowned. “How do I know you’re for real?”
I smiled, picking up the bear from the ground. I held it in both hands, closing my eyes. Using a little Magic, I fixed the bear’s rips and tears. When I opened my eyes, I showed it to her. “There. When you wake up, the bear will be fixed. That will tell you I’m real.”
With a wave of my arms, I was back to my Guardian’s Gown, losing the glasses. “I’ll visit you soon, Millie. I promise.”
She hugged me. “I’ll be waiting, Mrs. Reading!”
I made sure to meet her eyes before saying. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone I’m coming, okay?”
Millie held her breath but nodded, her expression was anxious and happy. She hugged the bear, waving as we both disappeared.

I reappeared at the home of my Companion best friend Katherine Hawk-Stargazer. I only saw her young daughter Celine, playing with her cousin Tiger White Snow and friend Destiny Grey. When Celine spotted me, she called to me.
“Young Guardian!” Celine called, running up and giving me a hug. The other two Companions followed.
“Just the Companion I wanted to see.” I told her. “Where’s your mother?”
“With Daddy.” Destiny replied. “His wounds from the fight were bad, so she had to heal him.”
“When did he get in a fight, and who with?” I asked, concerned.
“Only Essex Crowley, the oldest Feline in the Valley.” Tiger White said intelligently. Destiny nodded. “They fought over his right to the Feline Palace.”
“Mr. Crowley thought Daddy didn’t belong in the old home of Mistress Sibylline and Braken Hawk.” Destiny said. “He said it should remain a shrine for those lost in the Wars for Power.”
“Mr. Grey thought differently.” Tiger White said. “So they fought it out with Companion Magic.”
I groaned. Panther, what did you get yourself into this time?
“Does Lord Guardian know this fight occurred?” I asked all three of them. They looked at each other and shook their heads. “I didn’t think so.”
Destiny took my hand. “Please, Young Guardian. Don’t tell him. I don’t want Daddy in trouble!”
I squeezed her hand. “He’s not going to get in trouble, Destiny. At least, not in any more trouble than he would be with me.”
“What are you going to do?” Celine asked.
I thought for a moment. There were two things on my mind. One, I wanted to have Celine befriend Millie until I arrived and two; I wanted to see what kind of trouble Panther got himself into. “First things first.” I told them. “I’m going to have a word with your father Destiny, and your mother Celine.”
The girls exchanged looks, afraid.
“As the Young Guardian of this world, it is my duty to keep the peace around here.” I told them. “You’re free to come with me, if you’d like, kids, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Celine gulped. “Not pretty?”
“No, Celine. It’s not going to be pretty at all.”
The children huddled for a moment. “We stay with Papa.” Celine announced. “You go to Mr. Grey and Mama.”
I nodded and took flight. I liked flying in the Dream Realm better than just disappearing and reappearing. It was more fun and more relaxing. I was able to think over what I was going to say to Panther and Katherine once I saw them.
I descended to the Feline Palace, meeting up with