The next few days were hell to say the least. Aidan is a great teacher, but he only knows things about fire, not the other three elements, which we knew going into this, but it definitely proved true. Still we are making progress. I can now create a flame in my hand from scratch, so cool. I can also put a fire out with just a thought, the coolest though, is Aidan and I can stand totally engulfed in flames and not burn, it won't even singe our clothes. We could be circus performers!
Don't get me wrong either, there was a lot of trial and error teaching me. I started a small fire in Aidan's car the first day. He got it out immediately, I also accidently sent a fire ball hurling out into the ocean. We are just praying there wasn't anyone in a ship nearby to see that, but all in all it didn't go to bad. It took three grueling days, but I can now do anything with fire that Aidan can, his control is better, but he has had years of practice. It is a great feeling, but we are kinda at a standstill with the other elements.
We are trying to research as much as we can, and we have learned a lot about the elements, but none of it is really helping me to use mine. So really the best we can do is practice as we go, and see what happens. At least Aidan is right here with me for the entire thing, that helps a lot. He has decided I need to start really working on my air control. I have been able to do things with all of the elements except air so far. I think it has something to do with not actually being able to see the air. But he is leaving me to my own devises today, he does have a life he can't just drop because I showed up.
So here I am out here all alone in our secret spot, really it is just an abandoned picnic area Aidan found a while back. He said he comes here all the time and has never seen anyone else up here. So far no one has caught us up here working with the elements.
No matter how hard I try I still haven't been able to do anything with air. It is frustrating as hell, I can at least do little things with water and earth. Fire is definitely my strong suit right now, but come on, I can't even create a breeze! Obviously getting mad doesn't help either, although that does seem to help with fire.
Ok Kenna what do you think of when you think of air? Well, air is flexible, it can come gently or hard. It is everywhere, surrounds everything. Fine, I brought a book with me about air maybe that will help me with this!
Talk about boring, this is all science I don't need science, I need magic. Ok meditation, gotta try something different. Deep breath in and out, in and out. You are sitting on a light stream of air, well actually I am sitting on a sharp damn rock. Dang it Kenna, concentrate! You are Aladdin, you can float on a flying carpet, you are jack frost and travel by wind.
Ouch, what was that, I just hit my head on a palm leaf, but I can't hit my head on a palm leaf they are way up in the, wait a minute. Oh crap, oh crap, I am in the air, I am at least ten feet in the air. Not good, how do I get back down? Slowly, how do I get back down slowly? Don't panic, deep breaths, feel the air around you. Remember what happened with the boulder and water when you panicked. You know you can control the air, I mean you just made yourself float for crying out load. There it is, I can feel it, wait a sec I can see it. I can see the air, it is all around me. Ok lower me to the ground. Oh my gosh this is amazing. I can fly!! Well maybe when I get better control, but I sure as heck can float. Aha, I can do something with all of my elements!! I am her, I am the one.
Wait one dang minute there girl. You know that means you are gonna have to be the one to carry on this line right! But I am only 25 I have time before I have to worry about stuff like that. But can you imagine, five kids all at one time. I will look like a beached whale seriously, how big does someone get when they carry five kids in their belly?
You know what it is my choice if I have kids or not, I don't have to have kids. This world is going crazy anyway. Should I bring five poor babies into it. Listen to me talking about kids I am not going to have for a long long time if I have them at all.
Time to find something else to do, no reason to sit here and worry about things that haven't happened yet. First of girl you would have to find a husband to have kids, lets worry about that before we ever worry about the dang kids.
There are suppose to be some pretty amazing waterfalls around here somewhere. Granted I didn't bring a swim suit, but I am in shorts and a tank top. I could easily swim in that. Oh crap, you can't do that Kenna, you promised Aidan you would be home by three, so you could get ready for tonight.
Tonight is special. Aidan wants me to meet his girlfriend. They have been dating for almost 6 months and he really really likes her. He hasn't told her about himself yet, but he hopes to soon. Which scares me, but he needs to be able to confide in those he loves. But I myself am nervous about meeting her, she has known Aidan longer than I have and I don't want her to feel I am trying to take him away from her. Maybe that is why it is taking me so long to get ready.
I actually have to get dressed up for this, Aidan is taking us to one of the best restaurants in town, and he even has to wear a suit. Good thing I brought along one cocktail dress huh. Of course only having one dress means it really shouldn't be taking me long at all to get ready. Oh well, I am a girl and I can take as long as I need.
"Aidan are we meeting her there or is she coming here?"
"There Kenna, I already told you that about ten times, and if you don't get your butt down here we are going to lose our reservation!"
"Alright alright I am coming." Aidan looks great, suits look good on him. And him wrapping me in bear hugs is getting to be the norm too. I get at least one a day. It is nice having a brother after all.
"Your evening awaits my sister. If I had known better I would have told you to be here by noon so you had enough time to get ready."
"You sure you want me along, I mean it would be fine if you wanted time alone with her. You and I have been spending an awful lot of time together, I am sure she would really like to spend time with just you."
"Kenna you are coming, you cannot get out of this I will not let you. And Julie is very excited to meet you."
"Ok, ok I am coming." He gave me a hug, and he really seems to know how important it is that she like me. I have just found Aidan I don't want someone he really cares about to hate me.
Oh my gosh, talk about gorgeous, Aidan is tall and I bet she is only a few inches shorter than he is, skinny, legs for days. He wants me to walk over and meet this girl who is perfection personified. Oh yeah this is gonna be fun. Don't get me wrong I think I have pretty good looks, 5'10" not overly skinny, but athletic build, brown hair, green eyes, my biggest downfall would be my behind. Can't seem to make that any smaller no matter how hard I try. I don't know, maybe that is where I store all my elemental powers so it can't be any smaller. Ha ha I am so funny! Ok just a little more nervous than before, Kenna do not I repeat do not make a total fool of yourself tonight!
Wait, Julie just walked up and gave me a big hug like I was some long lost friend or something, maybe tonight won't be so bad after all. "Oh Kenna it is so nice to finally meet you! You are all Aidan talks about; it is so great you guys were able to reunite after all this time!"
"Um, thank you, it is really great to meet you too Julie," talk about enthusiasm. "Aidan has told me a lot about you too, and I am really happy to finally meet you." Not entirely true, but she doesn't need to know that. Well, I am happy to meet her, I just really want her to like me.
"Well girls, let's go in and get us something to eat before they give our reservation away, because for some reason we are running a little behind this evening," he just looks over at me and winks making it obvious that I made him late.
"Oh Aidan, they aren't going to do that. I know the owner, and you have made us late on more than one occasion, so don't even start on Kenna, you can be just as bad. Can't figure out what seems to take you so long to get ready sometimes, at least Kenna has hair, makeup, and getting dress, you just have to get dressed!"
"Oh and you can't, ha-ha, I know better than that!" Aidan said.
They truly care a lot about each other; I can see it and hear it when they talk. It is great to see, I really want Aidan to be happy. And of course, they seated us immediately when we walked in, so Aidan had nothing to worry about anyway.
Dinner went really great, I honestly like Julie, and she made me feel welcome. I am sure we are gonna be great friends. She is going to school with Aidan at the university that is where they met. Julie is a teaching major, she wants to teach elementary school. They both also think it would be a great idea for me to move to Hawaii, but I have a home, I have Granny's home, and I can't just give that up. Of course the mortgage is paid, and Lexi is just renting a house in Rainier so it wouldn't really be a problem to have her move into my house and take care of things for me would it? I am torn; I really want to be near Aidan for a while. And I am on leave from work. It wouldn't hurt to have Lexi live there and once I do get home she can just stay as my roommate, living in a house all by yourself really isn't what it is cracked up to be. But I just got here, I can't make that kinda decision on a whim. I really have a lot to think about.
"Thank you Julie and Aidan, diner was lovely. You are great Julie, and really hope we can be great friends."
"Oh Kenna, I am sure we will, it was great getting to know you, and you really should consider coming to stay here for a while at least."
"I will, I promise. Honestly it would be pretty hard to just up and leave Aidan now that I finally found him, but I do have a lot back home that I have to consider, but I promise I really will think about sticking around for a while anyway."
"Great, you have to stay for a little while at least. Aidan already told me you took leave from work to come look for him, so I know you have some time!! So I can drag you around everywhere with me, and convince you that Hawaii is where you need to be! So excited! Give me time Kenna, and I will make this feel like home for you!"
If I had to make my decision right now, I would say yes, but I am not a rash person, so I have to consider everything. At the very least I am gonna stay and spend time with Aidan and Julie for a while. "I know you two have to have school still; you can't just drop everything to babysit me you know."
"Of course, but it is Friday night, so I can steal you tomorrow, and you and I can go have a girl's day."
"Actually that sounds great, give Aidan a break from his sis, and get to know you better Julie, I would love that."
"Hey, I do not need a break from you Kenna; remember we have had a break from each other for 25 years."
"Oh I know, but you do want Julie and I to become friends don't you?"
"Of course he does, I will come by say about 10 tomorrow and get you."
"Sounds great, see you tomorrow, Aidan I will meet you at the car." They are a couple after all, figure they could use a few minutes to themselves without the third wheel tagging along watching their every move.
"Dinner was great Aidan, and I really do like Julie, she seems like an amazing person."
"I am glad; I really wanted you two to hit it off. It make things a lot easier if your sister and girlfriend get along." As he pokes me in the arm!
"Hey don't poke me, you big bully! You know I could light your butt on fire with just a thought!"
"Yeah, and then the only thing we would lose is the car. Not the brightest idea there baby sis."
"Baby sis my butt, we were born on the same day, so don't even go thinking you are my big brother."
"Oh yeah, did you read the letters, you are the 5th child, that makes you the last, aka the baby."
"It doesn't say that, it just says the 5th has everything, not just one, no where does it say that the 5th is the last one born."
"Yep, it implies it, so you are now officially my baby sister!!"
"Remind me again; why I wanted to come find my brother, really the reason just escapes me at this moment." It actually feels good, teasing and being teased by my brother. I have never had that, and I really hope I never lose it.
"Because I am amazing, you couldn't live without me, you needed my guidance, my older brother experiences."
"Right, that was it, honestly Aidan, I am really glad I found you, and I know we haven't know each other very long, but I love you, I know weird right, but I do. I love you, and can't imagine a life without you teasing me and getting in my space."
"Right back at you baby sis, I just hope that if we find the others we can share the same kind of connection with them too." And Aidan took my hand, and not in some creepy kinda way either, in a comforting gesture of a brother to his sister. He is truly my brother and nothing is ever going to take that away from us.
The evening really seemed to have gone well; Kenna and Julie hit it off great, so I can stop worrying about that. I really wanted those two to get along, and based on tonight they will be friends in no time. And Julie and I can hopefully convince Kenna to stay in Hawaii.
This morning I made sure I was up and ready when Julie came to get me. I am really looking forward to spending the day with her, and just getting to know her better. Of course Aidan is griping a little about being left out, but it is all in good fun.
Julie has decided she is going to take me on a hike and picnic in Akaka Falls State Park. It is a really beautiful place, and I know she is trying to get me to fall in love with the place, and it is great, and it is kinda funny how much they want me to stay, but it makes me feel so loved. It's just really great to really feel wanted. And the Akaka Falls themselves are amazing. "Julie this is great, this place is gorgeous, this would be a perfect place to relax and just take in the view, once you hiked up here of course."
"Right, I told you it is beautiful, it is a really great place to live too, well not in the park, but Hilo is great. I love it here."
"I am sure it is, it is a great place to visit too, so no matter what I can always vacation here with you guys, especially during the winters."
"Right get away from that cold, and come down here to this nice warm place!" We just sat in companionable silence for a while enjoying our lunch and watching the water. The place calms me; it really is a great place.
"Ok, no more relaxing, we gotten get back down to the car, and I am gonna take you shopping!"
"Um yeah you really don't have to do that."
"It will be great."
"I am really not that big on trying things on, I just hold it up to myself and say yep that's good."
"Oh no, I need a new swimsuit, and I haven't seen you in one yet either, so either you really just love roasting in clothes in this hot weather, or you didn't bring one."
"Ok you got me there, I didn't bring one. Recreation wasn't really on my list when I packed to search the globe for family I didn't know I had."
"That is what I thought, let's go, recreational clothing is calling, and it can't wait to meet you." Julie is fun, and she actually makes me look forward to going shopping, I have a feeling shopping with her won't be like anything I have done with Lexi.
And I am right, Julie makes shopping fun, she keeps me laughing the entire time, of course she also makes us share changing rooms too, which makes it that much goofier. "Ok, we got our swimsuits now, and it only took trying on about a million of them."
"Oh Kenna, you have to try everything on to make sure you get the right one, and you look great it yours, now we need cover-ups, and maybe some beach jewelry!"
"Really, more trying stuff on, oh man. Ok Julie lead on." And we did, we spent the next three hours trying on every cover-up the mall had to offer, and of course we couldn't just get one each we had to have a few choices. And then it was on to jewelry.
"Ok Julie, this bracelet is great; it would go perfect with that sarong cover-up you bought at the last shop. And I am sure we can find you the perfect necklace too!"
"Ha ha, sounds like you are really getting into this shopping thing with me Kenna, I will convert you to a shopaholic in no time at this rate."
"Sure, whatever you say sista, here try this on, but we need to take that bulky watch off first." I grabbed her wrist and started taking her watch off, but she jerked her hand away from me like I had stung her, that is weird, but the weirder thing is what I think I saw under her watch, she has a tattoo, and not just any tattoo either, it is a circle with the elements and an R if I wasn't mistaken, I have to be wrong, there is no way Julie is a Restorer. "Sorry, I was just gonna put this bracelet on you." Now my damn imagination is getting the better of me.
"No don't be sorry, this watch has been passed down in my family. I haven't taken it off since my dad gave it to me when I turned 18. Sorry, you didn't know and I know you didn't mean anything by it. We can try that bracelet on my other wrist though. It would still look great there."
"Oh, sorry, that is great, to have something passed down like that; I wish I had something I could wear that was passed down through my family. Such a great connection to your family, that way," man something to have of Granny's I could wear as a reminder of her, or even something of my moms, that would be awesome. "Maybe when we are the bestest of friends I can see your watch. It is beautiful."
"Maybe, I haven't even taken it off for Aidan, but maybe." She is nervous, this makes her very nervous.
"I thought I saw a tattoo under the watch, get something you wished you hadn't and covering it up now, huh huh." Teasing, that usually helped get out of sensitive situations.
"I do actually, and no you can't see that, it was a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake and we are just getting to know each other and you don't need to see the dumb decision I made when I was younger, at least not yet anyway." Well, she is smiling that is a good sign right?
"Oh, well soon we will be the best of friends and as the best of friends I am entitled to see the crazy thing you did when you were younger, but we are not there yet, but soon! I have a few of them myself, and they all have stories behind them too, so one day soon we will swap stories on them. Until then we still have more jewelry to find, so let's get a move on." It worked, now she is back to her fun lovin self, and she does have a tattoo, but it couldn't have been what I thought I saw.
Crap, Aidan loves her; I see it in the way he acts around her. Kenna your eyes were playing tricks on you, it isn't like she is hiding the fact that she has one, if she were a Restorer she would hide that she even has a tattoo.
The rest of the afternoon went well, got some great jewelry to go with my new swimsuit, but my credit card was taking a nice beating. I still couldn't get that tattoo out of my head; I just really didn't know what to do about it. I wasn't good at sneaking around and finding things out, besides it is on her wrist, how would I ever really get a good look at it without her showing it to me. But I like Julie, I really like her, man life is so dang complicated! Kenna you are over reacting, she said she would show it to you once you got to know each other better, stop obsessing about it!
"Whew, that was a long day, I am ready for a relaxing dinner, and maybe a hot tub, how bout you Kenna?"
"You said it, today was a lot of fun though, I usually hate shopping and you made it a blast for me, thanks Julie."
"That is my specialty, shopaholic converting!! I told you when I am done with you, you will be just as bad as I am."
"I am not sure that my credit card can take that kind of abuse, especially with me not working right now, but it was definitely worth it!"
"You could just get a job here, and then just stick around."
"Ha I knew it; I knew that would come back up today, you just want me to stay here with you and Aidan. You are making it look really appealing though, you are making my decision hard girl!"
"What do you say we pick up some pizza and beer and relax in Aidan's hot tub tonight?"
"Works for me Julie, anything that doesn't require a lot of thought or movement and I am in."
"Ha-ha, alright we do have to drag ourselves over to the car though, then it is pretty easy from there."
"Sounds good, let's go."
The rest of the evening passed really well. It was nice and relaxed, but always in the back of my mind was how to get a better look at Julie's tattoo. I didn't want to out and out say what I thought it was, because if I am wrong it will look like I don't trust her, but if I am right, I will expose myself and Aidan to the Restorer, and we are absolutely not ready to get in the middle of that. I was hoping when she got in the hot tub she would take her watch off, but of course that didn't happen. Kenna you have to let it go. Your bothers girl friend is not a Restorer, stop worrying about it.