The Elementals

I watch the others crowd around Oh’Rian and Terra as I catch my breath. Adrenaline is still pumping through my system, making me shaky. Half of it is simmering anger though, that is caused by the boy my back is against. I clench my teeth, barely keeping from screaming at him again, until a thought occurs to me.

“What about the orphanage?” I ask, trying to keep the snippiness out of my voice. “We’re only a few miles out. Won’t the storm hit it?”

Coal tenses next me.

“Is there a phone or radio or something we can use?” I ask.

He nods. “In the control room.” He points to the structure on top of the deck with a line of windows around it.

“Let’s go then.” I get to my feet stiffly. Audrey sends me a questioning look. “We need to warn the island that we made a storm and it’s coming their way.”

She nods, though she looks worried, and I start to the control room with Coal. As soon as we get through the door, I wheel on him but he’s already ducking under my swing.

“I had to-”

“You promised me you wouldn’t!” I hiss furiously. “And you did it anyway! I can’t believe you! You’re so stupid - I hate you, I hate you so much right now!”

“Tide-”

“Shut up.” I interrupt him. “Just shut up. I don’t even want to hear you. What were you thinking? You’re so stupid! I am going to kill you Anthony Coal Walker! And when you’re dead, I’m going to kill you again. I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. You are the stupidest, most idiotic moron in the world I swear-”

"Tide.”

I stop, huffing angrily.

“I love you too.”

My breath catches. Speechless, I flounder for the right words but then I’m burying my face in his shoulder, nearly choking I’m talking so fast.

“Oh god Coal, I thought you were going to die, I thought you were gone, I thought you were going to leave me and-” I’m hiccupping on sobs now and I hate myself. My breaths are short and shallow, my throat is tight and my entire body is trembling.

“I’m sorry.”

He says it quietly, right in my ear, stroking my hair and not mentioning the fact that I’m probably gripping him so hard he can barely breathe. And that’s all he says, just I’m sorry. It doesn’t need explaining.

“You promised, Coal.”

“I know. I know I did.” He murmurs. “I don’t have an excuse Tide. I’m sorry.”

“You should be.” I say.

“Yeah.” His voice is hoarse. “Yeah, I should.”

“I thought you were going to die, Coal.”

“I would have if you hadn’t been there.”

“That’s right.” I say, still trying to blink back tears. “You freaking moron, this is the fifth time you’ve almost died.”

“Hey,” he protests gently. “Last time it wasn’t my fault!”

“Idiot.” I mumble into his chest. “Why do I love you?”

“I believe it’s because I am your personal radiator.”

“Ah,” I nod. “That’s right, I remember.”

Coal laughs and I smile, taking his hand and pulling him up the stairs to the control room. He grabs the phone off the desk and quickly dials the number. Four rings and then it’s Jensen, sounding overly perky.

"Hello! You’ve reached the finest orphanage in Hawaii. Are you calling for adoption, reclaiming a child, or are you the pizza guy? ’Cause if you are, I’m serious about ordering fourteen large pies. Do you know how much orphans eat-?”

“Jensen!” I interrupt him.

“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!” He replies frantically.

“That’s Tide you moron.” Coal says.

“Oh, well in that case - wait.” He stops talking for about a millisecond. ”Mushu? Is that you mi amigo?”

“Jensen, there’s a hurri-”

Completely ignoring him, Jensen continues, “Man, you’ve caused a lot of trouble ’round here.”

“Jensen-” Coal tries again.

“Kenny and the little kids are convinced somebody kidnapped you. And Kenna has this theory that you couldn’t bear restraining yourself near her so you had to leave-”

"Jensen!” I snap. “Shut up and listen!”

He shuts up immediately and Coal looks belligerent.

“There is a super storm hurricane thing heading your way.” I say. “Make sure everyone is safe, and we’ll explain when we get back.”

“Hurricane, save everybody, and you’re coming back.” Jensen summarizes. “Oh yes, I’ll just go do that. Maybe I’ll discover a cure for cancer along the way.”

“Jensen, I swear if you don’t at least warn people, I am going to freeze your mouth shut for good.” I growl.

“Okay, okay, I’m on it.” He says, and right before the phone clicks off he mutters something about anger management classes.

I stare at the beeping phone and then sigh, adrenaline finally petering out and fatigue taking over. Coal looks at me with concern, although it’s not like he’s in any better shape. I walk over and raise my hand near his shoulder, fingers hovering over the ripped fabric.

“The stings have gotten worse.” I say. “You should check with Stella.”

He murmurs in response, basically disregarding my warning completely. He closes his eyes and leans against the control panel. I join him, sitting on the counter with my face in my hands.

“What now?” I mumble through my fingers.

Coal is quiet for a minute, pensive. “Do we even know what just happened?”

We’re both silent, unwilling to voice that we basically just wiped out an entire aircraft carrier full of people.

“Izila is gone.” I try.

“And Shylock.” Coal agrees. “I guess it’s over.”

“Yeah.” I nod slowly, like a dysfunctional bobble head. “I guess we’re done.”

“Yeah.”

My body feels like lead as I stare at the opposite wall. “Say something stupid.”

“What?”

“Say something stupid, so that I can get mad at you and not feel depressed over mass murdering a bunch of people.”

“To be fair, it was all of us, not just you. And it’s not like they hadn’t done worse things to us before.”

“That was comforting. You suck.”

Coal snorts, laughing quietly. “You’re just a little condensed ball of rage and sarcasm, aren’t you?”

“I’m a little condensed ball that will slap you again.”

He chuckles, and then I’m being lifted up. “Hey...” I protest feebly, but then just let him carry me because I really don’t feel like walking myself.

~

By the time we’re all on a smaller boat and headed to the island, we’ve gone through introductions and I’ve convinced the kid named Joseph that I will not sink the boat. He still watches me nervously through the corner of his eye. When I figure out he’s the sound element, I try to make friends, which is saying something for me.

“Can you echolocate?” I ask. “’Cause that’s sound and stuff, right?”

“Sound waves being omitted and then bouncing off of objects back to the owner.” Joseph, his name was, corrects automatically. “I mean...yes, it’s sound and stuff. And I can. Echolocate, that is.”

“Cool.” I nod slowly, because I’m pretty sure he’s still scared of me. “I can too. It comes with the whole “breathing underwater” thing.”

“So she’s basically a dolphin.” Owen says and I sigh out a laugh.

“Actually, dolphins are incapable of breathing underwater. They are still mammals and must resurface for air.” Stella interjects solemnly.

“Now that we’ve concluded that I am not a dolphin,” I say dryly. “You’re the explosive one?” I ask Kate, one of the newest members of the Not-Entirely-Human Club.

“That’d be me.” Kate nods her head of incredibly frizzy red hair.

I lapse into silence, and then suddenly frown. “Hey...aren’t we supposed to have thirteen people?” I take another automatic head count, an unfortunate habit of mine.

Stella raises her head, doing the same, and then she sighs and elbows the air next to her. With a yelp, the third newest member appears.

“Sorry.” He mumbles to the rest of us, giving Stella an injured look. “Sometimes it just happens and I don’t notice.”

“So you’re manipulating the way light enters everyone else’s retinas.” Oh’Rian’s face is lit like it’s Christmas.

“I guess.” Noah shrugs. “I can see light waves if I want also.”

“And can you see sound waves?” Oh’Rian turns Joseph and he nods. She’s itching to ask more questions, I can tell, but then the beach outside the orphanage comes into view and everyone looks happy to be off the cramped space of the boat.

Jensen is waiting with a flashlight as the hull scrapes the sand and I hop off before everyone.

“Hey!” he throws his hands out, therefore rendering the flashlight useless. “Long time no see! How’s my favorite Elema-thing?”

I roll my eyes, though the warm welcome is nice. “I met you two days ago.”

“And you’re already leagues better than Mushu!” he replies. “How about that?”

“Hey!” Coal shouts from the boat.

“So,” Jensen grins. “There is a very confused pizza delivery man bringing sixteen larges over. I figured you’d need the extra.”

I smile back wearily. “You figured correct.”

~

Sixteen pizzas, thirteen introductions, seven almost-food-fights, and two accidental fires later, we have the orphans fed and put to sleep, and the rest of the others assigned rooms. I called dibs on the hammock outside.

“Coal, you should really-” I go to tell him to see Stella about the stings on his shoulder, but he’s already fake yawning and dashing off to his and Jensen’s room.

“He’s not very fond of medics.” Jensen says. “Real twitchy ’round needles.”

“I’ll say.” I mutter. “Anyway, thank you.”

Jensen shrugs. “Hey, when Makuahine is out, we always order pizza anyway. It’s no problem. Besides, you kept Mushu alive for me.”

“Barely.” I snort. “So what’s new?”

Jensen shrugs. “Not much.” He pauses, a sly grin spreading across his face as a yelp comes from the room at the end of the hall. “I got a cat.”

The door opens and in an instant Coal is right back with us, glaring at Jensen. “Why is there a cat in my room?”

Jensen smiles lazily. “Well first of all, it is technically my room. And his name is Marshmallow. Sarah found him on the street and named him after you. Isn’t that sweet?”

“Yeah.” Coal growls. “As a freaking gumdrop. It’s on my bed.”

“Then move him.” Jensen corrects.

Coal stands there with a belligerent scowl on his face.

Jensen tilts his head. “Are you scared Mushu?”

"No." Coal says, lying through his teeth. His eyes widen when a soft meow comes from the floor.

I smile and pick up the little white cat while Coal takes several steps back. “Marshmallow likes you.” I tell him and groans. “He followed you out.”

“I don’t care if he likes me.” Coal says. “I don’t like him!”

Holding back laughter, I give Marshmallow to Jensen, who is thoroughly enjoying Coal’s discomfort. Jensen accepts the meowing ball of fur. “Well I guess you’ll have to sleep somewhere else.” He says, sighing with exaggerated disappointment.

Coal watches Jensen salute and disappear into the room. As soon as the door clicks shut he visibly relaxes.

“So let me get this straight.” I say. “You’re willing to blow up an aircraft carrier, including yourself, but you’re terrified of cats?”

“Terrified is a strong word.” He mutters.

“Well, I called the hammock so you’ll have to find somewhere else to sleep.” I tell him.

He doesn’t seem worried, turning to me. “Have I showed you the roof?”

“I’ve been there.” I say dryly. “It’s fascinating."

Coal shakes his head, eyes gleaming. “Not this roof.” And with that, he disappears out the door.

“What roof?” I ask, confused, but he doesn’t answer.

Following him brings me climbing up to the orphanage roof, and then clambering into the tree branches. I barely keep track of him, and then I lose complete sight of him in the dark foliage until a hand appears from above.

“Where are we going?” I ask, taking it and Coal pulls me up onto a wood platform that was previously concealed by leaves. I squint in the darkness and as my eyes adjust I see I’m on the porch of a tree house.

“It’s made of driftwood.” Coal says, referring to the slightly uneven planks.

“Wow...” I murmur. “It’s well built.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Coal says. “It’s hurtful.”

I roll my eyes, ready to shove him but he’s already climbing again, this time up a ladder to the top of the tree house. He offers his hand again, lifting me onto the wood so we’re sitting.

"This roof.” He says triumphantly.

“Wow...” I whisper, and this time I really mean it. We’re high up in the trees, and I can see the entire coastline, sand glowing silver in the moonlight. After the storm, the air is still, making it perfectly clear and silent except for the soft rolling of the waves below.

I lay on my back, Coal settling next to me. My eyes lift to the sky, where the stars are littered across it like bright beads on a carpet. Coal grins when I glance at him, and then he points to some stars.

“That’s Centaurus.” He says, tracing it with his finger. “And Crux.” He draws another constellation in the air.

“I didn’t know you were an astronomy buff.”

“Quiet. I’m trying to be romantic.” He scolds lightly.

My heart thumps harshly against my chest, and I try to suppress a cough of surprise.

“After all, we can’t practice sidekicks up here, so I guess it’s just a date.” He reasons with a slight smirk, as if he knows how fast my heart is pounding.

Caught off guard, I fall back to my forte: insults. “How long did it take you to come up with that?”

“’Bout the three hours it took to get here.” He replies easily. “Of course, that isn’t including the fifty minutes debating whether you’d think stars are stupid or pretty.”

“You’re cute.” I say. “Stars are very pretty Coal.”

He gives me a flat look. “Thanks.” He says dryly.

I’m silent for a moment. “This feels normal.”

“Normal?”

“Yeah.” I wave my hand as if to encompass the situation. “Like, for once in my life, this feels totally normal. Which is weird, cause I think I’m about to have a heart attack from butterflies, if that makes any sense.”

Coal pauses for a moment, letting my words sink in. “See, now I feel special.” he says finally.

“You are special, you moron.” I nudge his foot with mine. “You have to be, or else I won’t deal with you.”

“I’m going to accept the complement part of that sentence.” He says and I laugh shortly. We lapse into a comfortable silence, just staring at the sky.

“Thank you.” I say quietly after a while. “Really. I love you. It, I mean.” I correct then frown. “I mean, I do love you, but I also love...this...you know!” I sigh, shutting up before I can stutter any more.

“You’re welcome Tide.” He says softly in reply.

~

The next morning I’m itching to get in the water, so I drag Coal down to the beach while he mumbles incoherently about not enough sleep. I leave him to blink drowsily up on the sand as I dash down to the waves.

The others are farther along, already up because they don’t have to deal with waking up Coal, but I’m not interested in saying good morning just yet. I want to try and feel that surge again, that height of power. I haven’t gotten a chance to try since the carrier. Walking to the water, I lift my hands expectantly.

Nothing happens.

I repeat the motion with the same result.

Concentrating, I close my eyes and try to feel the water, each droplet, and move it. Zip. Nada, nothing.

“Coal?” I call uneasily.

“What?”

I turn, a sick feeling in my stomach. “I can’t.”

His face becomes immediately on guard at my look. “You can’t what?”

“My powers.” I say, flapping my arms uselessly, starting to panic. “It won’t work, they’re not working - I can’t use them!” My voice rises at the end and my fists clench and unclench in nervousness.

“Okay,” Coal walks forward to meet me. “Have you tried-”

“I’ve tried everything!” I exclaim, throwing my hands out in front of me.

In a burst of frost, ice comes shooting off my palms and slams into Coal’s chest. He falls to the ground, sliding in the sand a few feet from the force.

“Oh my god.” I gape at him, then my hands, then him, and finally I rush over. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean...whatever that was!”

Coal sits up, the layer of snow on his shirt starting to melt already. “S’okay.” He mumbles, blinking.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” I question, holding two in front of his face.

“Um,” he tilts his head, frost falling off his hair, then shakes it and stands unsteadily. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m fine Tide.”

I start to insist, but he shakes his head again. “I’m fine. Now what was that?”

“I don’t know.” I say, holding out my hands. They don’t look different. “All I did was flick them like-” I toss one hand off to the side and suddenly water is being thrown into the sand. “That...” I trail off. “It’s like my powers have evolved. I can make water now!”

I throw the other hand out straight to the side and more ice swirls from my fingers.

“I’m converting the water molecules in the air!” The realization makes me grin.

I watch as snow lifts from my palm and drifts in the air as I concentrate. Laughing, I run around, spinning in circles as ice and snow and rain fly from my hands and make patterns in the air.

“You’re gorgeous when you laugh.”

I turn to Coal, and see he’s just standing there staring at me with a dumb smile on his face. He notices my sudden attention and his eyes widen, dropping to observe the sand.

“I’m what?” I ask, not sure I heard correctly. “Did I give you a concussion?”

“No you didn’t.” He laughs quietly. “I feel fine Tide.”

“Flippers.”

“What?” He looks up.

“I feel fine Flippers.”

He stares at me for a few seconds, and then smiles crookedly. “Okay Flippers.”

I nod in approval, feeling like a missing piece of a puzzle just got properly filled. Walking forward to him, I ask, “Now what was that? What you said?”

Coal looks back at the ground immediately, and I think I catch his cheeks darkening a shade. “Um...” He mumbles and I wilt a tiny bit.

“Did you mean it?”

“Of course I did!” He exclaims, meeting my eyes fiercely, and then like a switch he’s back to mumbling. I have to march right up to his chest to hear him. “You are gorgeous when you laugh.” He repeats quietly. “You’re gorgeous anyways, but more so when you’re not ready to slap me.”

I smile and he returns it shyly. “Thank you.” I say.

“M’welcome.” He mumbles.

“You’re really cute, you know that?” I ask in the same lowered voice.

“I am not!” He closes his eyes as I poke his chest and giggle.

“You and your mumbling. You are like a funny little puppy, the ones that trip over their paws.”

“That’s really flattering, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I give him a wide grin and he rolls his eyes, grabbing my hands as I go to poke him more.

“I am being serious,” he says, and I nod obediently while trying not to giggle, until he rests his forehead on mine, meeting my eyes solemnly and making a puppy the last comparison on my mind.

“You are not only beautiful, but I’m pretty sure you’d take me down in a fight-”

“You know I’d take you down in a fight.”

He lets out a chuckle. “Yeah, I know. That aside, the point is that you are the most miraculous thing to ever have had the patience to deal with me, and I’m glad I can have the pleasure of being drenched by you constantly in the future.”

“You better believe it-”

I’m cut off, but I can’t say that I mind as I bring my hands up and run my fingers through Coal’s hair as he kisses me softly.

“Okay Flippers?” He asks.

I grin shamelessly. “Okay Anthony.”

“You’re still doing that, huh?”

“Yep.”

He sighs dramatically and steps back. “Why did I tell you that?” he asks.

“Well I would’ve found out from Jensen anyway...” I reply making Coal roll his eyes. I smirk at him. “I heard you like the radio.”

He goes to reply, but then Terra’s urgent voice makes him stop.

“Tide.”

It’s one of the shortest things she’s said, and so grave that I turn. Just as I see the shape of a body in the waves behind her, Terra meets my eyes solemnly.

“You’re not going to like this.”