Estrella; where it all began.

The eagle pecked at the man.
"CAW!"

The man bled at his cheeks and ears. He groaned in pain and threw his hands in the air to ward off the eagle. But it didn't stop the eagle. The flapping of wings was loud and aggresive, as though the wings itself wanted to slap the man. The eagle pecked and circled him again and again. The man twirl and turn and twirl and turn. Until he got so dizzy, tripped on a stone and fell headfirst on the stem of a tree. His head bounced off the stem and he landed on the ground.

He remained still, unconscious.

Suddenly, the eagle dropped onto the floor. THUD. Everyone thought it was dead.

Frank was so shocked, he didn't know who to attend to. His father or the eagle that had saved him? The old woman cringed at the sight of her husband but walked towards the eagle. She knelt down beside it and stroked its feathers. Tears glide down her sunken cheek and landed on the eagle's eyes. As the woman was about to pick up the eagle in her arms, the eagle grew bigger.

Bigger. And bigger. The feathers shrunk and turnt into body hair. Its bald head grew black hair, so fast. The beak shortened and form lips and a nose. The eyes grew from tiny slits to eyelids with black eyelashes. The claws shortened and formed little fingers. The body transformed into a female body wearing school uniform. Eventually, the eagle had transformed completely into a female human.

Mrs Iero and Frank let out a gasp.

Frank quickly got up, let Victoria in and rushed to the girl, still lying face down on the floor. He turnt the girl around so he could see her face. Moonlight shone at her face, making her look too pale for comfort. Her lips were bleeding and her eyebrows had a small gash. Her chest did not even move.

Then, the girls eyes fluttered and she sighed in pain.

"Frank.. you okay?" she whispered.

Frank, who was kneeling down was so taken aback that he fell backwards and landed on his butt.
Victoria was surprisingly, not surprised. She stroked the girl's hair and sobbed. She placed the exhausted girl's head on her own lap.

"Aisyah...You okay?"
"Yeah.. I guess my powers ran out, Victoria. I'm so sorry."
"Sorry?! For what? You had saved Frank!"
"I'm sorry. I didn' t have much strength left to fly away. Now, he knows."
"It's alright. Its not like you didn't tried. Its alright."

"Ai..syah! You... Are you an eagle?!" Frank blinked a few times.
She smiled. Victoria helped her up. Aisyah leaned against Victoria for support. Frank slowly stood up and helped his mom to stand up.
Both Frank and his mom were still recovering from the shock.

"Frank...I don't think you should live here anymore.." Victoria looked at Frank. Sympathy welled up inside her.
Frank rushed to Aisyah and gave her a hug. He rubbed his cheek against her neck.

It was the least he could do to thank her.

"Why don't you live with me? My house have two more rooms that is not in use.." Victoria nodded in agreement.
Frank seem to woke up and his eyes were glassy.
"I don't want to trouble you anymore."
A guilty look sprawled on Aisyah's face.
"Your father, I didn't mean to hurt him. But, he was going to kill you if he kept on kicking like that..."
Victoria chipped in. "Yeah. I was so scared for you! But how could you even continue living here?"
Frank turned around and looked at his father.

"I still love him."

Aisyah placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Frank, that fall he had is going to make him lose some memory. He might not recognise you for a while."
"Yea, and in that period, your mum and you could escape from here."
"But who's going to look after my husband?" The old woman had her hand interlocked with each other and placed it near her chest, where her heart is. She was truly pained to leave her husband alone.

Frank turnt around and looked at both of the girls.
"Mam. I think in the meantime, you should rest in Aisyah's house. When you're okay, you can come back here and takecare of him."
The old woman smiled and nodded.
"Yes, mam. If there's any need, you can always come back to our house."
And in the mention of the word 'our', she broke into tears. Tears of relief and happiness. Her wrinkles ceased for a second.
"Dear, you can call me Mrs Iero. There's no need for mam." She patted them.
Victoria and Aisyah nodded.

"Frank, why don't you help Aisyah back to her house? Mrs Iero, do follow them."
"Thank you child.."
"No problem. In the meanwhile, I'll get my father to help Mr Iero back up to his room. We will find someone to take care of him while you rest. Don't worry!"
"Bless you both. I could not thank you any further.." She gave Victoria and Aisyah a hug.

Frank smiled. He turnt back to his father. He waved and whispered..

"Goodbye, dad. I hope you'll never remember the bad things in your past. So we could be happy together again."

And with that, they walked out the gate and left.

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AISYAH POV:

I didn't care how Frank smelt. His tender touch as he helped me back home was soothing to my skin. I leant against him and paid attention to his heartbeat. At one point, I looked up into his eyes. In that fusion of emerald and black, his lips parted as if to say something. However, he blushed, closed his lips and looked away.

Something fluttered inside me. I could feel the burning sensation again. And in that moment, I remembered Gerard.

The thought of him and Belinda scissored through me. I quickly shut him out of my mind. No. I don't want to drain myself even further.

I had enough for one day.

We finally reached the house. I opened the door with the keys in one hand and led them in. Frank held on to me as I slowly walked to the centre of the hall and showed them around the house.

"Mrs Iero, to the left of this hall, there are two vacant rooms. But don't worry, there's a bed each. Frank, I think you could just help me to the stairs. I can climb up myself. You should rest."

"Frank you coming?"
"Just give me a minute mom."
"Goodnight my dear."
I nodded.

He turned towards me. I almost thought he blushed again.
"No. I am not going to let you struggle up the stairs. I'm coming up to your room."

I was not able to reply. While Mrs Iero walked to her room, Frank whisked me away to my room and laid me on my bed.

It felt strange to have a guy looking at you while you're lying on your bed. Especially, when its Frank. I wish I had met Frank earlier. It would have saved me much more trouble.

I whispered. "Good night. And thanks .."
"Its alright. Good night."

Out of the blue, he bend down. His hands went up to cupped my face. But, it stopped halfway and went back down. He just gave me an awkward kiss on the forehead. I could feel his breathe hot on my cold skin.

The burning sensation grew.

"And that's for saving me tonight." With a smile, he walked away and closed the door.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling even wider. I looked out the window , to the moon.

And in that moonlit night, I let the wind drift me to sleep...