Keeper of the Wand

Fiery Talks

Hey guys! We're back with Rose as things continue on Earth. What'll happen today? Let's jump in and find out! ***Also, please! read the Author's note at the end of this chapter; it's important for the future chapters of this story***

-Rose's POV-

"There! Done," I said happily, staring at my finished work.

Tom had called me yesterday to tell me he was back from his trip. He wanted to meet up then and there, but I had to remind him it was pretty late. So we scheduled for today to have our lunch date. I had personally asked Star and Marco for the house to ourselves so we wouldn't have any interruptions. Tom had mentioned he wanted to talk about some serious things so I didn't want any interruptions. The two agreed, though Marco said his parents would be home. He said he explained it to them and both agreed to stay out of the way unless an emergency. So Tom and I had the space and privacy needed to have our talk. I had made, to the best of my ability, some of his favorite earth snacks. Which happened to be sunny side eggs, donuts and smoothies. I took a sip of my smoothie, realizing it turned out a lot better than I had hoped. It was a good thing I had listened to Marco when making them instead of Star.

Just then, a column of fire erupted at the edge of the roof. I could see Tom's silhouette appear from the flames and I stood up from where I had been sitting. The flames died down and Tom stood where they had been, dusting off any remaining soot or ash. I hurried over to him and hugged him tightly, saying, "Welcome back!"

Tom flinched but hugged me back, saying, "It's good to be back." I stepped back from the hug and took his hand, "C'mon, I set everything up for our lunch date."

Tom's eyes widen as I brought him over, sitting him down. He stared at the food as I took my spot. He said with hesitation, "Oh, you...really did..."

"Yup!" I said. I gestured to the spread and said, "Let the 'Welcome Back Tom' roof picnic begin! Oh! I also made smoothies. They turned out a lot better than I expected."

"Really?" Tom asked, picking up his cup. He took a sip and smiled, "Huh, they are good."

"Oh! And, I made sunny side up eggs too," I said, holding the plate. Tom lifted a hand, "I'm good for now. I'm...really surprised you did all this."

"Of course!" I said. I looked away for a moment and said, "I felt bad about how we left things off the last time. So I wanted to make sure the next time we met up was on a good footing."

I looked back at Tom and asked, "So, how was your trip? I want to hear all about it."

Tom blinked and smiled a little. He lifted a necklace I'm assuming he made during his trip. It had an eyeball, a fang, a small skull and various other oddities on it. He said, "Oh! Oh, it was great! It... kind of changed my perspective on life. Um, speaking of which, can I talk to you about something?"

I blinked, feeling something in my gut slowly sinking. I forced a smile and said, "Sure. Everything okay?"

"Well..." Tom started. He scratched the back of his neck, "I've been doing some soul-searching lately. And I keep coming back to this feeling. I-I feel like... like we should..."

Tom took a deep breath and said something, but a passing helicopter drowned anything Tom said. I titled my head, "What did you say?"

Tom blinked, surprised. "Oh...um..." He said, looking uncomfortable. He took another deep breath and tried again, but it was to no avail as the helicopter flew by again. My eye twitched in annoyance as I said, "Sorry but could you say that again?"

Tom looked like he was starting to get annoyed as well. He tried once more but, again, the helicopter flew by. I growled and lifted my hands, aiming at the flying object, shouting, "Winterstorm Hyperblow!"