A scream woke her up, she quickly looked around, but there was no more sound. Did she dream it, or was this her own scream that woke her up? It wouldn't be the first time that it happened, and it wouldn't be the last time either. Her grandmother had cursed her out when it happened under her roof, but it was not if she had any control over it. Still, tears started to roll, she was so scared that her friends, who were sleeping in their respective rooms, heard it and were going to hate her as well. A door somewhere inside the cabin opened up, there it was, the hate. Her own bedroom opened, but the person who entered didn't make any sounds. Instead, she felt the corner of her sheets lift, and someone crawled under the sheets with her. Aless turned towards the person, it was Initor. She didn't ask what in the elements he was thinking, the warmth of his body and his scent, burned leaves and pine needles, calmed her. She had forgotten what had woken her up in the first place, instead she moved towards him and snuggled up. He wrapped his arm around her, and she never felt more safe.
"I am here, you are safe with me." he whispered, his voice was still filled with sleep. She nodded, she knew she was. But it was nice of him to tell her this, she wanted to thank him. But somehow the words seemed to be just empty whispers of sounds. So instead, she lifted her head, until she was able to feel his breath. Her hand slid towards his cheek, his breath stopped when she touched his skin. Slowly, she moved her head towards him and kissed him. It was a soft, and brief kiss. But her heart was galloping inside her chest, she just kissed him. When he was laying in her bed, but for what ever reason this felt right. "Why did you do that?" His question was not filled with anger, frustration or another negative emotion. It was filled with a hope, wonder and love.
"Because I love you," she whispered. "And I wanted to kiss you for an entire week now." He was now the one that moved closer and kissed her on the lips. His kiss was burning with longing, apparently he wanted to do this as well. He broke off the kiss, and chuckled.
"You are something, Aless Cerulea. But now it is time for you to go back to sleep. We have classes in the morning." he said softly. He was right about that, they would attend classes again. Their week to recuperate was over, and it was time to face the reality of it all. "I will be with you every step of the way." He kissed her cheek. She turned around, glowing with love and warmth. She loved him, and she was not afraid to admit it. Sleep didn't wait long, but this time Edalf wasn't waiting for her. This time it was Initor, who wrapped her into a nice warm huge.
*********
Aless couldn't believe that her week off with Initor has flown by. Ma and Da had visited them one more time after their solo training session, but they couldn't stay long. Still, Aless believes with all her heart that they learned a lot about their elements and how to use them. Da was so impressed about the fact that Initor, Ixis and Raldor had unlocked their wood element and that she at the same time had unlocked her metal element. The warm water on her skin woke her up slightly, somewhere deep down she wished that she could stay in bed with Initor forever. She laying in his arms, dreaming of what can be.
"Aless, are you almost done?" Initor's voice came through the closed door, and over the sound of falling water. "I am starving." She chuckled softly when she shut off the water. A warm towel was shot towards her from a creak inside the door.
"Thank you," she said softly. She dried herself off, used her air and fire element to dry her hair. Her bedroom was empty when she stepped out of the bathroom. Which she didn't mind, she needed to get dressed, and she wouldn't feel comfortable when he saw her naked. It was so strange to put on the school uniform, but at the same time it felt like coming home. A knock landed on the door. "Yes, yes, I am almost ready." She put her hair into a messy bun, grabbed her backpack, which was filled with her homework, and left the room. Ixis, Raldor and Initor were inside the living room waiting for her.
"So, are you ready to face the wolves?" Ixis asked, and Aless shock her head. No, she was not, but she didn't have any other choice. She couldn't hide in the cabin forever. Initor wrapped his arm around her waist and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Aless could see the shocked, or was it an all-knowing she was not sure about that, expression on Ixis's face.
"I will be by your side," he whispered into her hair. She nodded slightly. But then she felt a tuck on her backpack. "By the elements, what is this thing heavy."
"You do not have to carry it," she said, and reached out to take her backpack back. But he stepped backwards, a bit out of her reach. "By the elements?"
"I didn't say that I mind carrying it," he said with a sly smile upon his face. Ixis and Raldor looked at each other, and then they shock slightly their heads. "Come on, we do not want to be late on our first day back." Initor said while rushing towards the door. She chuckled and followed him into the crisp fall air. It didn't rain, but the scent of winter hung in the air. The days slowly turned colder, and the nights took over the day. A shiver went over her spin, and Initor wrapped his arm around her waist. They were done fooling around, now that they were outside and surrounded by the other students. Ixis and Raldor were flanking them, as if that would protect them from the question looks and whispers. The main building was warm and welcoming, their normal table near the windows was still vacant. So Aless and Raldor sat down, Ixis and Initor went to grab some coffee.
"Aless, did you have a nightmare last night?" Raldor asked softly. She nodded, and had her apology ready. But he shook his head. "Don't apologize, at least not to me. I just wondered who screamed last night, and to be fair, I figured it out when Initor left your room this morning." She again nodded slowly. "I am just glad that Initor was there for you, the two of you are so cute together." She smiled, never in her mind she would have thought that someone would call Initor cute. But then again, he said that they looked cute together. "Ahh, just what I needed, coffee." Ixis placed his cup on the table, and he directly took a large sip of it. She again wanted to apologize. "Do not even think about it, I will survive." Ixis narrowed her eyes, clearly wondering what was going on. "We talked about last night." Raldor explained. "And I already told her that I do not want to hear an apology."
"I second that," Ixis said. "I am not mad at you either, I am just worried. Do you have nightmares often?" Aless lowered her head. "Ohh, why didn't you tell us?" Aless shrugged, she didn't know why she didn't tell them either. Maybe she was scared that they would think that she was a bother, just like her grandmother. "I have picked up some books about medical herbs, now that I have unlocked the wood element. So I will look if I can find something that would help you sleep better." Aless glanced over to Initor. "Other than him." Ixis poked her index finger into Aless side, she was just in time to suppress a shriek. "He needs his sleep as well."
"Hey, I am not complaining. Last night, I slept like a bear in winter hibernation." Initor said. He placed his hand on Aless's. "I really didn't mind, but maybe those herds will help as well." She smiled at him. "But for now eat your breakfast, you kind of need it." They eat their breakfast in silence, until it was time for the first class of the day. Initor and she walked towards the air classroom, he needed to go to the fire classroom which was on the other side of the building. But he still went out of his way, to escort her to hers. "I see you at lunch," he whispered, as she walked into the classroom. She repeated the same thing to him, and he left her alone.
"Well, I did not see that one coming." Sera appeared next to her. "But it is nice to see Initor like that." Sera sighed when she sat down. "I am sorry to hear about your parents." Wait, was Sera nice to her? That was a nice change. "Do not look at me like that, I have a heart too, you know. Other than Izyni Terberis, that girl has a brick of ice." This made Aless chuckle slightly. "I mean it, that girl can hold a grudge like no one else I know, she wanted to get back at Initor since she got kicked out of that cabin." Aless looked at the book and the large stack of papers that was her homework inside off her hands.
"I can think about someone else, actually." she said softly, and it was as if Sera knew what she meant. Because she dropped the subject completely.
"You haven't missed much, last week. Mister Tumul went on and on about the right air pressure to create a tornado." Sera said, and she sighed. "Which was boring, but I still do not know how to make one." Aless smiled and created a small tornado on her hands. "How did you do that?"
"Here, let me show you," Aless said, and she started to teach Sera the technic. Something that was overheard by others in the classroom. Aless could see from out the corner of her eye that some were coping her as well.
"I see that today's class has already started without me," Mister Tumul entered the classroom. "Miss Cerulea, may I have your homework?" She fot up and handed over the stack of papers. He simply looked at it and nodded. "I assume that you have being very vigilant with your resource, you had more than enough time." This was meant as an insult, and she was going to let it slid.
"Sir, I have read almost everything written about the subject. I also went out of my way to do some further resource how the other elements are effected. And no, I didn't have enough time to do more than what you will find inside the papers. I was a bit busy to deal with the fact that someone who committed a crime that has lasting effects on the rest of live, is getting out of prison." She turned away from him. "And yes, I know you will report this to my grandmother. Go ahead, I do not care."
*******
