ALONE

-NINETEEN-

The day after the worst day ever, Mea's alarm blared into the empty space of her room and Cheeto meowed in protest. She rolled out of her bed and nearly screamed when she found Ian standing in front of her.

"Morning!" He cheered, way to peppy for this hour.

"Shush! If anyones home I'd be dead if they found me with a boy this early!" She whisper-shreiked, shoving him in the chest, pushing him aside to go to her door. Hand on the handle she turned to him, "And stay here!"

After a quick shower, and minimal makeup she went back to her room to find Ian on her bed reading her 'special' book. Running over, she snatcher the book from his grasp. "Why did you do that to that book? Ive read it and I don't see your obsession."

Setting it down without answering, Mea went into her closet shutting it. She thew on a pair of old moccasin flats, a pair of leggings, and a oversized, knit, cream sweater. Walking back out she saw Ian looking through her records. "Snoop!" She went over and sat next to him. He was looking at the back of her favourite album by Cream.

Holding it up he looked at her with uneven eyebrows and a silly smile on his face. "Thought I was the only one in the era to like Cream besides old people." She laughed as she stood up and undid the top not shaking out the looses waves. When Mea looked at Ian he was smiling at her, and she blushed.

"Pictures last a little bit longer dude. We getting started anytime soon?" She asked grabbing her phone and sliding it in her pants waist. "Can we go?" He was still staring.

He laughed, hard and she ran over and put both her hands over his mouth shushing him. "I swear, if somebody comes-" Mea shrieked as Ian's tongue ran over her hands, pulling back swiftly she whipping them down her sweater. "Eww! What are you, Five?"

He ran so fast it was impossible to even see him let alone hear him, as he ran into her closet, closing the doors. Then she heard the footsteps from down the hall and sat down putting the record into the player and grabbed a random book. Then her door creaked open. "Mea," her fathers voice filled the room. "Meata are you up?" He walked in and she smiled at his very tired looking face, and internally frowned.

"Sorry if I woke you. Just- uh- couldn't sleep. Got up and got ready and decided I'd maybe go spend the day out. If that's ok." She stood up and set the book down.

He gave her a strange look, and then yesterday spilled. It was the very first time she ever saw her father cry. "Im so, so, very sorry Meata! Im sorry that our relationship, even the lack of, is affecting your life. And I'm sorry I wasn't there when she was. I should have been the one to tell you."

Mea paused, trying to come up with the right thing to say. "Im sorry she's such a bitch." Her father laughed a sad laugh and walked the distance to hug his daughter.

"Yes well, I know it must be difficult to understand but I'll always love that bitch." He said it sadly, muffled by her hair.

After a long hug, her father left, and Ian came out if the closet and grabbed her wrist, "Time to go!"

They ended up at the river bank camp site. Lucky nobody was there since there was only a single site. "So what do we do?" Mea asked. "How are we going to train, and what are... we anyways."

His eyebrows lifted and the 'we'. "Well," he paced a little but then faced her. "I guess we'll start with what then figure out witch you are."

"There is more than one?"

"Yes, four to be exact."

"Oh. What are they?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

A pause. "There is earth, air, water, and fire. Basically you're able to manipulate witch ever you 'represent'. I'm water, and they usually dot get along very well with fire, and two things point me to believing you're fire."

Mea took a moment and processed it. Not as scary as she thought. But something didn't make sense. "How can you run super fast, be really tough, and be able to slow time down?"

He laughed. "Comes with the job babe."

"And you think I'm fire?"

He nodded.

"So how could we justify that notion?" Mea still wasn't convinced.

"First if all, you get mad and then you get... hot," He laughed a bit. "Plus there is some obvious friction here." He moved his hand between them. "But we can make sure by having a fire and then having to touch it. If you don't burn and the fire turns bluish where it touches you, then we'd know."

He wanted her to touch fire. Mea laughed. "Alright, lets go."

He found some dry, brittle sticks and pushed them into a pile. Taking out a lighter, he started a small flame that kept growing. "Alright, finger. Keep going if it doesn't burn, try and grab some up with your hand if you can."

So, crazy as it was, she did. It was warm. Not hot, as Mea slowly pushed her hand into the flame. She formed her hand into a lose fist and pulled it out flipped her hand over she opened the fist. A blue hued flame flickered and danced in her palm.

"Awesome!" Ian smothered his hand over hers and he hand simmered and dripped with his 'water powers'

"Hey!"

"Try and make a flame without help."

So she focused and tried, and basically just got really frustrated. "This is hopeless." Mea said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, you are. Rather incompetent if you ask me."

"Excuse me?"

"Hey you said it, I just agreed that you're a failure."

She grabbed onto his shirt with both hands and it burt into flames. "I did it!" Mea cheered at her victory.

"No thanks to me!" Ian boasted.

She glared at him. "What do you mean? You just put me down!"

"Whoa calm down tiger," he said putting out her flaming hands with his. "I only said what I said to get you angry. Fire comes with rage."

Then her arms where around his singed shoulders, "Thank you!"

He sighed. "We're not done yet."