GONE SERIES FANFIC-30 DAYS {ONE SHOTS}

Bitterness

A devious lock of hair, dark as soot, fell between her chestnut eyes. She smiled, as petite as a scrawled lowercase m, and tucked it safely behind her ear. Although the permanent sternness of her brows suggested otherwise, that almost smile gave Dekka Talent away as positively giddy.

A flash. Standing before her, all bright and haloed by a desert sun, her cheeks a strawberry hue to match her hair, stood Brianna.

"Care for some water, Ms. Breeze?" Dekka had a beautiful voice, all strung together and tart like a vine of grapes. She pulled out a plastic water bottle, and held it for Brianna to take, the portion of her arm outside the umbrellas shadow lit up in bronze.

Brianna was a little slower than usual, and the universe seemed to stifle itself. Dekka found herself holding her breath, she was somewhere out of the earths atmosphere. Two seconds later, the bottle had disappeared and Dekka reached out into space.

Dekka retreated under the umbrellas shadow, reclining in her lawn chair, but not so far as to have the brim of the umbrella hide Brianna's face.

"What'd you see out there, Breeze?" Dekka asked, as casually as she could conjure up. She had no problem speaking to anyone else, always to the point, and never casual. And yet, Brianna could shake her rock solid conversational conventions into small talk.

"Not much." Brianna's life was so breakneck fast, it was a blur around her. She never stopped to see anything, her path laid out in a streak of color before her. Dekka could never imagine it, the objects in her own power were suspended in reality.

She had worried that Brianna's brain and body wouldn't be able to take it, that sheer inhuman speed. But Dekka, despite her worrying, had learned that nothing could phase the Breeze. Well, almost nothing.

"Your braid?" Dekka spoke, and gestured to her own left shoulder, which was Brianna's right. Her scarlet hair, sun showing off its threads of gilt, was plated until it had come undone and unraveled.

"Oh!" Brianna seemed surprised by everything, even if it had been anticipated that she would loose her hair tie. She was half way through re-braiding her hair, an impressive feet in only a few seconds, when Dekka had spoke up. Brianna's brilliant scarlet hair had gotten tangled and frayed almost as quick as her fingers moved. Hair didn't do well at super speed, the reason why it was braided in the first place.

"No, no, it's ok Brianna, I got it." Dekka reassured, almost a little hurriedly. Brianna glanced her, a piece of resentment vague in her eyes, half at her own unwillingness to practice braiding at super speed, but also at Dekkas attending to her. Brianna always thought it that she could do anything herself, especially when her powers began to emerge.

But as Dekka stood, newly shown in the daylight, Brianna's childishly bitter expression grew hushed.

The sun seemed to draw something from her. Her thick hair was dark as the vacuum of space, and it looked like if you put your hand through it, it would disappear completely. Now, as the sun shown throughout  it, there was revealed a dark brown spiraled within. Her skin, a rich mahogany, was glowing deeply. Her eyes sparkled, but the contrast with their darkness was complementing. She smiled faintly, and Brianna wanted to tell her how stunning something that small was, but even the Breeze was not that blunt.

Dekka was unaware. She was gentle with the braid, piecing it back together, slender fingers weaving the trio of red orange locks together. When it was done and secure, she patted it reassuringly.

They were so close. Brianna was frozen, a strange thing for someone normally moving at 90 mph. Dekkas eyes rose, and the surprise they felt was evident. Brianna should have been zipping off across the desert by now, leaving Dekka in a cloud of sandy dust, but she was still.

Surprisingly, Dekka was the first the move. Maybe it was the faceted emerald of her eyes, her bright hair, or the the way the lashes themselves seemed to be made of thin strands of orange gold. It could have been the small dappling of freckles on her cheeks, or even the peach of her lips. Possibly the heat of the day. Regardless, Dekka found herself leaning in.

Those were the longest two seconds of Brianna's life, and in two seconds she could lap the entire dessert. Dekkas lips were tart against hers, and the sweetness of fresh grapes wasn't just a taste, it was a feeling.

Brianna's own lips were the pale taste of watermelon, and they both drew back in amazement! Something that pleasant was designated to exist far far away from the FAYZ. And the sun of the desert returned to remind them where they were.

The heat was a slap on Brianna's face, she was as red as her hair. In contrast, Dekka grew clammy with horror. "I'm so-" She began to say, absolute regret seeping her voice, but Brianna was already gone.

"I'm sorry." Dekka took a step back, and as rare as water in the desert, tears brimmed in her eyes. For both of them, the taste of fruit was ripening, bitter all in their souls.