Meeting Maia

Fire and Water

It had been a whole week since I'd last seen Maia. I'd been bedridden for most of it, still exhausted from the spark that had ruined my mothers carpet and sent Maia and I into confusion. Jonas told me that she, too, had been in sick all week. He then proceeded to asking if anything was going on between the two of us and I, being a good brother, assured him that all was fine, it was just a coincidence. Though, that wasn't strictly true. Cleo also came in, wondering something of a similar sort and telling me it was okay to tell her, she wouldn't spill, but the touch, the seemingly permanent dent in my arm, it was all so unrealistic, so unnatural and so secretive.

Jonas has been slightly cold towards me lately until Maia was rushed to hospital. She'd contracted some kind of disease that had ruined her nerves. They all thought she was going to die. I got out of bed to go to the hospital with Jonas one day. He told her he loved her and he wouldn't let her go. She just smiled solemnly.

"Can I speak to you, Raphael?" she asked, just as we were leaving. I pushed the door closed, ignoring Jonas' glare.

"I'm not going to die." she said. "I don't even feel ill, the messed up nerves, the ever changing temperatures... it seems calming. I feel great. Of course, I was horribly ill for about a week but now I feel alive. Do you?"

"Umm..."

"I think we're special. Like Elementals or something. Don't you think? That touch, the spark, it doesn't happen to ordinary people but it happened to us!"

"Maia, you're beautiful and you're perfect but you're absolutely mental!"

"Wait, what?" she asked, softly.

"I... uhh..."

"Will you hold my hand, please, just until I fall asleep?"

"Yes, of course,"

I pulled up the uncomfortable plastic chair and sat in it. I reached over and enfolded her hand in mine. An explosion of ash and water droplets flew from the palms of our hands. She gripped my hand so that I couldn't let go and I stared around us. She began laughing in amazement. The sound was beautiful and we were enclosed in a cloud that we had made from our spark. It was the perfect moment. I released her hand and she released mine. The explosion ceased but the cloud remained. I gazed into her eyes.

"I guess this is the part where we jump out the window to escape the damage?"

"Help me unhook these first." So I did.

Despite my lack of athletic strength, I picked her up, bridal style, and carried her out. I took a small run up before leaping out the window.

For a second, we flew, gazing into each other's eyes like young lovers. Then the realisation hit me and I noticed how high the window had been and how far away the floor was. I cried out in horror, hurtling towards my death.

Suddenly, a kid about my age was underneath us, holding his arms out like it would soften the crash. His face looked pained. A gush of wind hit us hard and almost slammed us into the wall of the hospital. We fell, sort of, it was very jerky, like we were hitting these invisible objects on the way down. This kid remained beneath us and only rolled out the way at the last possible second.

"Sorry," he said, I must've looked angry or something because he began babbling his apologies, "It's just that I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet and it saw what you guys did in the hospital and I figured maybe I could help disperse it a little with my powers but then you jumped out and I decided maybe I needed to help save you, maybe that was my destiny! I haven't really practiced holding up objects just moving them from one place to another, you see? So-"

"Wait a sec, you can manipulate the air?"

"Something like that," He acted younger than he looked. He had fluffy mud coloured hair but these icy white eyes. Maia looked at me and smiled that beautiful smile of hers.

"Fire and Water, Raphael and Maia."