One-Shots [Boboiboy]

Never Coming Back

It's been months. Years, even.

He's waited for so long.

But they never came back.

* * *

It was his fault. It was because he'd failed to protect them—seven innocent teenagers, all dying to the hands of his enemies that had nothing to do with them.

They were so young, but he was heartless—dragging them into the world of powers and heroism, promising them an adventure full of excitement and friends; but his words were proved false, because he hadn't realized how much the world outside had changed.

"We're alright," Quake would say, trying to console him. Deep down, Boboiboy know that wasn't true. It will never be true. They were fighting battles that not even he could win, let alone new elementals who happened to be teenagers, a whole decade younger than him.

Even the process to become an elemental was excruciating. Their bodies were reformatted, turned into pure energy. Their personalities will be twisted to suit their powers, forcing Thunderstorm to be nothing but pure rage; and forced ignorance was put upon Thorn.

He shouldn't have stepped down. Now innocents were suffering and dying because of him—a coward who daren't fight his own battles, to face his own enemies that he'd created.

But what could he do?

All he could do was wait; wait for his students to come home alive.

* * *

"They didn't make it."

It was a sentence that he'd thought of hearing since the beginning, but he never dreamed of it even being said.

Boboiboy glanced down to the young child, her soft, messy hair covering her tear-blotched face.

"I'm sorry," Solar wept, wiping tears. "I should have done better."

Without words, he knelt down to her height. He wiped her tears with his finger, though he was holding his own back.

"No," he rasped, facing her gray-eyed gaze. "I should have done better. You've done all you can."

She shook her head valiantly, her eyes squeezing shut as she clenched her head while tears fell from her eyes, dripping down to the floor.

"I was there," she choked. "I watched them die."

"I know," Boboiboy said softly. "I know how that feels."

The image of his friends' lifeless corpses was still burned in his mind.

Solar sniffled, looking to him. "What do I do now?" She closed her eyes. "I have no other family."

Boboiboy pursed his lower lip, looking down. "You can stay with me," he said. "It's difficult, I know." He turned to his house, where Solar used to stay with her six other god-siblings. The memory must be painful. "If you don't mind."

Choking back tears, she nodded, though she daren't look at the furniture. "Thank you," she wisped, then paused. "Will you look for new elementals?"

He paused, never considering the question itself.

Will he?

"I don't know," he admitted. "But if the time comes, I have to."

"Oh."

Neither of them spoke a word.

"You should be tired," Boboiboy said finally, standing up. "I'll get your old room ready—"