A Thousand Auras

Aura always forgot about the smell of the cloud world until she smelled it again. It was like if cotton candy wore cologne. She felt Princess' grip tighten. Aura opened her eyes. Princess was looking around, her mouth wide open. Aura giggled. Her face had probably looked the same the first time she'd come here. The sky was the same perfect blue she remembered, and rainbows arced in half-circles that disappeared into clouds at each end. The cloud that she and Princess were standing on was bouncy enough to feel like they were floating but firm enough that they didn't fall through -- although their bare feet did sink in a couple of inches, with mists of clouds tickling their shins. Princess opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything, a streak of violet knocked her over and then bounced away.  The streak had

Princess' room was decorated in various shades of beige, brown, and gray, shot through with silver and gold accents. Princess didn't have a headboard. Instead, the entire wall behind her bed had been covered over with champagne-colored velvet. Pale pink, blue, and purple rhinestones served as buttons to tuft the fabric onto the wall. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, its clear crystals sending subtle rainbows around the room. "This is beautiful," Aura said, which was an understatement. She felt like she'd been transported to the inside of a crown. "Thanks!" Princess said. She unbuckled her shoes and then slipped them off. Aura was relieved that she and her other self had something in common besides their earrings. The first thing Aura did when getting home was kick her shoes off. However, whereas Aura would have just kicked them under the bed, Princess re-buckled the shoes and then walked them over to the closet. "Do you want to take your shoe