Azure's POV

An uncle and a Dad, now it made sense. Bow only referred to the man who introduced himself as Lance as a dad because Bow's mother died when he was just an infant. The thought circled my head as I leaned on the sofa, my arm across Bow's right knee. There was a fire flickering in the hearth, flaming tongues lapped at the air with a reserved passion.

George, Bow's father sat across from us on the other couch, sipping tea. Glimmer and Adora were stiff and nervous. I was still irritated at Bow for not mentioning anything about this too me, but I felt I had to keep up appearances.

Lance ran around, trying to adjust everything that was not thousands of years old.  "You want anything, you just tell me, and I'll get it." Lance informed us energetically.  "Snacks? I'll get you snacks." Lance said before we could refuse and raced off.

"Yes. So energetic, heh." Gorge chuckled lightly and sipped his tea.  "You girls must love attending the Academy of Historic Enterprises with Bow." Gorge asked and I nodded, trying to play along, though I slid my arm off Bow's knee and straightened up.

"Yes. Absolutely." Glimmer nervously answered, and I sighed, trying to come up with something to say to Bow later.  Glimmer elbowed Adora, who choked on her drink.

"Yup wouldn't change a thing. At the Academy, that we all go to." Adora chuckled nervously, trying to go along with Bow's story that I knew absolutely nothing about.  Bow was gulping down his tea like it was the last thing he would drink today. Lance appeared behind him, making Bow jump, nearly kicking my face.

"Oh, I bet you're here to see our collection of first Ones artifacts. We got some new pottery shards!" Lance said energetically spreading his hand out towards from framed pieces and fumbled with his words.  "Oh, what was I doing?" Lance asked and George raised his cup.

"Snacks." He reminded.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes, snacks." Lance clapped softly before darting away.

George continued the topic of the pottery.  "The pottery is really something. Bow's older brother sent it." My eyes nearly popped out of my head, and I bit my lip to keep from snarling at the sense of betrayal.

Glimmer spat her drink, coughing.  "Bother?" She asked between coughs.

"Oh, Bow has an older brother? How nice." Adora squeaked.

"Youngest of thirteen, all historians just like us. And just like Bow when he graduates and takes over the library. Right, Bow?" I turned to look up at bow, who's forehead was slick with sweat.  He quietly returned the mouthful of tea to his cup.

"Don't bother, Lance. It looks like he's not very cha-tea today." Heh, dad jokes.  I could not help but be reminded of my dad. He loved us all, but never made dad jokes like that. It was weird to see the differences between fathers.

"Okay, thanks for the tea and the snacks, but I think my friends would really like-" Lance appeared behind us again, cutting Bow off.

"A tour of the library. Of course, our Bow would find would fine people who share his zest for history." Lance smiled then looked down at me and to Adora then Glimmer.  "Just wait till we show you the oldest part of our collection. A shard from an ancient, defunct rune stone." Lance grinned, veins flooding with adrenaline at the mere thought of this artifact.

"If it were not of historical value, that thing would be long gone. No need to keep a reminder of the Princesses and their war." I felt my muscles tighten through my body at George's words, bitter and cold.  I felt Bow move his hand to my shoulder, and I did not bother to shrug it off.

"Uh... But the Horde started the war. The princesses are fighting to save Etheria." Glimmer objected politely, but George shook his head.

"You are too young to remember the first failed Princess Alliance. I am not." George said standing and walking over to the fireplace.  "I enlisted, fought for what I thought was right." Bow breathed an exasperated sigh.

"Dad, can we not-" I put a hand on Bow's arm, silencing him, wanting to hear the rest of George's story.

"When I came home, there was nothing left of my village but ash." I looked towards George, eyes conveying sympathy that could never be put into words.  "I vowed that my family would never get mixed up in fighting or the Princesses again." I looked up at Glimmer and Adora, who looked sorry.

"Well, I know what will lighten the mood, baby pictures." Lance said after a moment. I perked up, giving Bow an evil smirk.  "I've got some great ones from Bow's first bubble bath." I laughed aloud, though it sounded more like a cackle.

"I'm going to show Adora, Glimmer and Azure my room now." Bow said loudly, jumping up faster than I could process.

"I want to see the bubble baths." Adora objected, and I chuckled as I stood.

"No way am I missing that." Bow turned to us.

"Now." He said firmly.  Before I knew it, I was being dragged along by Bow into the hall. He shut the doors behind us and breathed deeply.

"Bow, what is going on?"

Bow gasped and turned to us, rubbing his face.  "My dad doesn't know I'm a rebellion fighter. They think I am at boarding school; I am supposed to be on break right now." Bow admitted, leaning against the doors.

"So, this is why you never talked about your past? I thought it was because it was dark and painful, but George and Lance seem so nice and normal." Glimmer snapped.  I folded my arms, waiting for an answer.

"Look, I love my dad okay? I never mentioned them because..." Bow took a breath and cracked the door open a bit.  "They decided when I was a kid that I was going to stay home and take over the library when they retire. But I wanted to travel, to fight. So, I did the only thing I could." Bow said, turning to face us, and closed the doors again.  "I secretly taught myself archery, ran away, and pretended I was at a made-up boarding school."

I scrutinized him, eyes narrowed.  "That seems really elaborate, Bow."

Bow flinched.  "You saw what they're like. They don't listen to me. They just assume they know what I want. And if Uncle Lance knew I didn't want to be a historian... worse, if George knew that I'm a Rebellion soldier fighting alongside Princesses, it'd kill them." Bow slouched.

"So, you're just going to lie to them forever?" Glimmer snapped, and Bow looked away for a moment.

"Not... Forever. Just for the foreseeable future. It's worked so far. Please~" Bow begged, clasping his hands and pulling puppy dog eyes on me.  "For me?" I just looked at him.

"Besides, they have the biggest collection of First Ones artifacts and writings in Etheria. This is the perfect place to look for answers about She-Ra, the Mara message, Serenia, everything." Bow assured us, trying to convince us to see the truth to his lies.

"Sure, why not. We can be scholars. How hard can it be?" Adora agreed, sounding like a computer read message than a real person.

"This is going to be a disaster." Glimmer groaned, and I patted her back.

"Well, maybe with that attitude it will be." Bow said, turning to open the door, but shut it again, as if he had just remembered something.

"By the way, I may have said in my letters that Glimmer is a Physics major, Adora's an Art major, Azure is a Dance major, nobody is a Princess or has magical powers, especially can't turn into wolves, and we all met freshmen year. Okay? Let's go."