Powers

Chapter 25: Forming Disagreements

I was woken up by a nightmare. I was in the war again. But this time, everyone I loved was fighting in it. And they were fighting a losing battle. I forced myself awake, with sweat beading down my forehead. I opened my eyes and was immediately confused. I was in a rainforest? My fogged up brain took a moment to realize where I was. I sat up to see Mark had fallen asleep in a chair next to me with Gail on his chest. Seeing them asleep together like that was a much warmer scene than my dreams. I smiled. Today, was set to be a calm day. Although all our guests were here, I wanted to go out and see some stuff. We had Gail now, so transportation wouldn't be too much of an issue.
I stood, dragging my feet as I walked to Mark. I kissed him on the forehead which woke him up as well. He blinked a few times before he saw me dangling above him, and smiled. I kissed him on the lips.
"Morning, beautiful" Mark grinned.
"Morning" I giggled as I picked Gail off of him. She just began waking as I set her head on my shoulder.
"What's the plan for today, Chief?" Mark joked. Together we left the room, making sure not to wake Sylvania.
"I was hoping to just go out. Just us three and find some place to spend the day. I don't want to see another human being today" I admitted.
"I think that can be arranged. What do you say, Gail? Will you take us somewhere?" He asked her. Gail had popped her head up and became aware of our conversation.
"Oh yes please! I will take you!" She floated out of my arms. She plucked Mark and I off the ground, bringing us through the building without seeing another person. When we burst out the front door, I stretched out, like I was flying. Gail had a good chuckle at it, and decided to copy me. I looked around to see how the sun was just waking up. It's golden rays just starting to spread over the land we rose above. Gail brought us over the many rich green trees, and back to the lake we had gone to. At first, I was hesitant, but I knew now there was no danger.
Gail set us beside the lake, before she jumped in.
"Go follow her, I'll make us a fire" Mark encouraged. I nodded. I still wasn't wearing anything beside my shorts, so I didn't think twice against jumping in the lake with Gail. She sailed across the lake, pretending to surf. I gave her obstacles with my plants, which she hopped over without a difficulty. Soon as my nose filled with the smell of smoke, I heard another splash, then Mark swimming to my side. He dunked my head under, which until this point, was dry. My hair now flopped into my eyes.
"Oh you sucker" I laughed. I sent a wave of water in his direction, which he couldn't avoid. Water soaked him too now.
"You want to play that game?" Mark guffawed.
"Bring it," I waved my hands, signalling him to come at me.
"You asked for it!" He then swam at me, water flying from the lake and coming at me. Streams of water hit me, tickling my neck, and again wetting my cheeks. Gail was off to the side, having a ball, watching Mark and I goof off.
"Better watch yourself there!" I laughed. I tangled his arms in seaweed, bringing him slightly above the water as a huge basin of water was brought up into the air. It was made of tightly packed vines.
"I beg you! Don't!" Mark shouted out in a mocking tone. He squirted a small stream of water directly into my face before I tipped the basin. The water hit him, splashing off his head in many different directions. "Alright! I give in!" Mark laughed. I let him go.
"Perfect!" I chuckled. I began swimming to the edge of the lake. Mark went off, playing with Gail at the opposite side of the lake. Meanwhile, I crafted a fishing rod of sorts, then dipping it in the water with a worm I had found in the mud. I'm sure there were fish in this lake.
I soon dried in the sun, feeling its rays warming my skin. I caught two fish by the time Mark and Gail decided to get out of the lake. Mark set himself in the grass, covering his face with a leaf. I hummed to myself as I saw Gail approach me.
"How's it going, kiddo?" I asked her. She sat beside me before she answered.
"It's really good. I'm really happy" she answered as she begun playing with a blade of grass.
"Anything you want to do today?" I asked her. I felt a fish bite onto my rod. I carefully began pulling it in.
"I heard some grown ups say we three were going to form yesterday, but we didn't. I was wondering if we could do it today?" She poked her two pointer fingers together. I stayed silent for a moment as I dragged the fish into the mud.
"Yeah we sure could, but I think we should let your dad sleep" I suggested as I took the fish off the hook. This one was a good size to cook.
"Dad?" Gail seemed thrown off by the word. She begun following me as I grew a stick through the fish and placed it above the fire.
"Yes. That's what we are to you now, aren't we?" I asked her.
"Well yeah, but I thought I just called you Mark and Jack" she dug her toes into the dirt.
"You don't have to. If you feel better calling us that, you can. After all, you're going to have to be somewhat of a role model for your little siblings when they come" I smiled at her.
"I'm going to get new sisters?" Gail sat beside me now.
"You might. Or you might get brothers. Or both. I couldn't tell you yet" I shrugged.
"When are they coming? Today? Tomorrow?" She was so excited by it.
"It's not time yet, Gail. We still have to get a home before we do anything" I told her as I ruffled her hair. She sighed. Gail stayed quiet before she got bored and began playing in the grass. I had finished cooking the fish and left it on a leaf beside the fire. When I laid back in the grass, it was like the grass was magnets to my eyelids. They shut closed against my wishes. I was extremely tired.
Suddenly my eyes snapped open. Whoops. I sat up to see Amaya right next to me.
"Good morning" she smiled. Two of her hands played idly with the grass between her legs, while the other two propped her up.
"Yeah, uh, sorry about that" I chuckled.
"There's no problem" she smiled. She stood, then turning to help me up.
"How come you're here?" I asked her as I brushed the grass off my back and shorts.
"Gail. She enjoys forming a lot, and Mark had woken up, so he found it to be a little fun" Amaya walked towards the water. From Amaya's existence in this exact time, I could figure out that Gail wanted us all to form.
"Hey, Amaya, did you want to form with me?"  I had to force the words from my mouth. I was nervous to do it. Last time I had formed with more than one person, it didn't end well. Amaya turned her head. A smile cracked on her face.
"I'd love to" she walked towards me. I didn't know how to approach this form. Most of the time Mark and I simply had to touch for our forms to meld together. Maybe because Mark was in there, we could do the same. Amaya reached her hand out towards me. I reached mine out towards her. As they were about to touch, I slammed my eyes shut. I was scared of what was going to happen. I was scared that Gail was going to be shot backwards and hurt. She was still fragile.
Except, everything went far more smoothly than I thought. When our hands collided, my form was pulled forward, into hers. When our form's eyes opened, immediately we could tell I had added age. Not to mention the one eye, and the extra arm I had contributed towards. We weren't female anymore. We were now a male.
"This is pretty awesome" he spoke. My accent had all but vanished into the smooth velvety, nearly feminine voice he made. He shot up in the air, far above the lake. I didn't like it. I hated it so much. I had no joy in being this form. Tori, yeah she was fine, but this I felt was too much. Maybe because of the fact I was scared for Gail. Or I had a much more selfish reasoning behind it and I didn't feel like admitting it.
My growing fear started to show in his form. The higher we went, the more fear showed itself.
"Jack, don't do this, hold on" he spoke out loud. I could feel our forms slowly tearing apart.
"I can't hold it!" My voice clearly came out.
"Jack!" He shouted once more as we began dropping towards the ground.
"I'm scared!" I couldn't hold onto our form much longer. There was too many conflicting emotions for him to handle. When he saw how close we were to the water, I let go. He split apart, with a small enough force that knocked me clearly to the side. Before I even touched the water, I saw that Gail had caught herself, which was my concern. I sighed, as I created a net of sorts in the water from seaweed. At least if I fell unconscious, I wasn't going to float to the bottom.
I definitely hit the water with enough force that it felt like I had been hit on the head with a rock, but it wasn't hard enough to knock me out. The net had caught me. I used it to push myself to the surface again. My lungs thanked me the second I filled them with a huge breath in.
"Jack!? You alright?" I heard Mark. I wiped the water from my eyes to see where he was. He had landed in the water as well, but I could only assume he had a much gentler landing than I had.
"Yeah. I'm good" I put a thumbs up as I swam towards shore. Gail latched onto me as I came out of the water.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I'm sorry that I didn't know that was the way you thought about big forms" she cried. I picked her up.
"It's alright, Gail. You're okay, and that's what really matters at this point." I hugged her tightly in my arms.
"But I could feel how sad you were" she frowned at me.
"It wasn't so much sad. It was a scared sad" I shrugged. I sat in the grass with Gail still holding onto me.
"I felt what you felt" Gail then touched her heart.
"That just means you have a good connection to me," 
"I do?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"Yes. That's why it's so easy for us to-" I cut myself off as I opened myself up to Gail. Tori then sat there, a bit confused as well.
"Form" she said in a small voice. Tori stood, looking at Mark.
"What's up, Tori?" He waved at her. Tori smiled brightly, waving back.

The rest of the day consisted of Tori fishing. Mark suntanned for the time being. It was quiet around the little lake, with only the sun to tell us the time. When the sun went down, and Tori found herself falling asleep, was when she dreamt the first time. They were childish dreams. Jumping around in puddles, and enjoying the pure amusement of being a child. Tori dreamt of butterflies and white sand beaches. She had found a family, a sanctuary. She dreamt of Mark and I. In it, she was watching Mark and I dance on our wedding day. Our capes flowed gently around us as we endlessly twirled around the dance floor.
"Tori, wake up" a soft voice entered her dreams.
"I don't wanna" she grunted, rolling over.
"Tori, I need Jack, there's stuff to do" it was a female voice. That wasn't right. Tori then forced her eyes open. Neva was standing above her.
"Neva? I thought we were out by the lake?" Tori swung her legs over the small bed she was in.
"You were by the lake, yesterday" Neva nodded.
"Why am I here then?"
"Mark carried you here overnight. Right now he's with someone who's helping him find a home, and I'm sure he'd appreciate Jack to be there. I could take care of Gail, if needed." Neva offered.
"I'd like that" Tori then let her form go. I landed on my feet, as Gail caught herself mid air. She smiled at me.
"See you later, kiddo" I kissed her on the forehead.
"See you later, dad" she hugged me tightly before I smiled and turned to leave. I jogged down the hallway, not having any idea where Mark might be.
I ended up wondering the halls for some time before way at the end of a hallway a door swung open. It wasn't who I was looking for, but at least it was someone I could ask directions from.
"Hey! Excuse me!" I lightly shouted. The person turned their head. I ran up to her. When she saw who I was, she bowed down in front of me.
"How can I aid you, Chief?" She asked me while still in a bow.
"There's no need to bow, I just need directions to maybe, like a meeting room or something"
"What's the purpose of the meeting room?" She began acting more casually. She locked up the door.
"It's a meeting with someone to decide where I'm going to live"  I began walking beside her as she walked away. She thought about it for a moment.
"I don't exactly know, but the best bet would be room 201, 433, or, 124"
"Okay, thanks" I pulled off into a hallway that lead to an elevator. There would be some kind of directory there. I was already on the second floor, so that could be my best option right now.
I followed the signs from the elevators to room 201, which, thank god, was the one I was looking for. I could hear Mark's voice carrying. I knocked on the door three times. I waited patiently for the door to swing open.
"Jack" Mark's face melted when he saw me. I grinned. Mark took me under his arm, showing me the house he had chosen. Except, it wasn't what we were instructed to do. It was a home in Portland, Maine. A home that had four bedrooms. It was everything I ever wanted. A home I was going to raise my children in.
"So do you like it?" Mark asked. I was overwhelmed.
"I- yes. I love it so much" I smiled. Mark picked me off the ground, spinning me in circles. I couldn't contain my laughter, even as I held onto him tightly so I wouldn't fall. Mark set me down, hugging me tightly.
"I can't wait" Mark kissed my forehead.
"Well congratulations you two! You now will own this home!" The woman I hadn't even noticed announced. I couldn't thank her enough now.
"Thank you so much" I turned to shake her hand.
"It's no problem! The owners do not currently live in the home, so you two can move in within a week, I will have people set up everything for you. There will be all your furniture, including the cribs and toys for the children