Elemental: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Crystal

9

The night of the shop's grand reopening party, a stage stood outside the shop, lit by hanging lights. The whole community gathered for the big event. Customers sat at outdoor tables, snacking on hot kol nuts.

Bernie wanted everything to be perfect. He even closed the shop for a few days to prepare.

Ember, in a ceremonial gown, sat on the stage with Cinder. Meanwhile, Kia is sitting near an outdoor table wearing a gown and jacket. Bernie carried the Blue Flame lantern and placed it on a pedestal nearby.

"Everyone, welcome!" Bernie said. "It is good to see your faces. I am honored to have served you. But it is time to move on." He gestured toward Ember. "Come."

Ember stood next to her father.

"My daughter, you are the Ember of our family fire," Bernie said affectionately. "That is why I am so proud to have you take over my life's work."

He touched a rope, which burned like a fuse toward a tarp covering the new sign on the front of the shop.

For a moment, it looked as if the entire shop was ablaze, But when the smoke cleared Ember's sign showed in all its glory. Kia was the first to cheer, and clapped her hands with joy.

As the audience cheered, Bernie looked at Ember.

"Pretty good trick, huh?" he said. Then he held out the Blue Flame lantern. "This is lantern I brought from old country. Today, I will pass it on to you."

As Ember reached for the lantern, she hesitated, feeling the weight of the moment. But just as she was about to take it, she heard a familiar voice.

"I thought of other options."

Ember looked up to see a train passing. Then she noticed Wade standing in front of her and gasped.

"Wade?"

The members of the crowd murmured to one another.

Cinder swallowed hard. "Oh, boy," she moaned under her breath.

"What are you doing here?" Ember asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be home?" Kia asked.

"You told me not understanding is the reason we can never work, " the water guy explained, choosing his words carefully. "But I thought of other reasons. A bunch of them. Like, number one, you're Fire, I'm Water. I mean, come on. That's crazy, right?"

A Fire element in the audience nodded in agreement.

"Who is this?" Bernie asked.

"No idea," Cinder fibbed unconvinced.

"Number two, I'm crashing your party. Like, what kind of a jerk am I?"

"A pretty big one," admitted Ember.

"Right?" said Wade. "Number three: I can't eat your delicious foods!" To demonstrate, he took a mug from one of the outdoor tables. He swallowed its contents and strained to speak, his head bubbling with the head. "Very unpleasant," he croaked.

Bernie suddenly recognized Wade. "Wait, I know him!" he said to Cinder. "He is food inspector!"

"Oh, right!" Wade continued. "Number four: I'm banned from your father's shop."

"We know," Kia added.

"There are a million reasons why this can't work. A million nos. But there's also one yes." He stepped closer to Ember. "We touched," he said. "And when we did, something happened to us. Something impossible. We changed each other's chemistry." As he gazed into Ember's eyes, she smiled.