Finding Fire

Chapter 4 - Finding Fire

I am in luck; there is a flight to Hawaii tomorrow morning. Of course it is a 15 hour flight, so I will need a lot of reading material, or just lack of sleep whichever works best.

           The flight over was rough, it was the longest plane ride I have ever been on. I definitely wasn’t up to looking Aidan up, so I just got myself a hotel room and crashed for the night. There is plenty of time to find Aidan tomorrow.

           So of course Aidan isn’t home when I stopped by his place the next morning. But he is studying Volcanisms so maybe a trip up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and see if he is up there, if not it would be a cool place to see anyway. Maybe actually see some of Hawaii’s attractions while I am here.  

           Ok so maybe this wasn’t as planned out as I thought. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is a 333,000 acre park! Trying to find Aidan in this is going to be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Oh well, might as well enjoy the visit. There are some amazing sights; I have never seen anything like this before. It is like I stepped onto another planet. And I can feel the fire around me, it is actually really cool!

           I spent the entire morning just walking around looking at everything the park had to offer, and everyone kept telling me to go check out Kilauea Volcano, it has a constant lava flow that is supposed to be really neat. As long as I don’t start watching fire dance and scare the crap out of everyone it should be a really cool place to see.

           The closer I get to the summit of Kilauea the more it seemed to pull me onward. Maybe my fire element is kicking into high gear being around all the volcanoes. If so no wonder Aidan loves it. If this is how I feel when fire is just one of my elements how must he feel when fire is his? The view at the summit is breath taking, I can feel the fire calling to me and it is really hard for me to resist it actually, but there are people everywhere. And I really don’t want to announce to the place that I am a fire elemental. Man is this place beautiful or what, well of course it is a major tourist attraction, so yeah that kinda makes since.

           The fire call is high today!…. “Huh, what?” What the heck, I looked around but no one is even standing near me. I have moved myself off from everybody, but I know I just heard someone say that. Or the fire element in the lava is talking to me now. How is that possible? “Hello, did someone say something?” No one even looked my way, huh that is really strange.

           The fire is dancing; I could sit here forever and just watch her perform.

           “What, who is that. This isn’t funny!” Great now I am going nuts. I know I hear someone talking, but who? And now people are looking at me and not in a good way either. They are probably wondering who the nut job is over here! But where the heck is it coming from?

Wait a minute, I think I see Aidan, he is standing off by himself near the lava flow. But he is in a roped off area, how did he get out there. Of course he is studying volcanoes at the local university, so he probably is allowed over there.  But how am I going to get to him, or even get him to hear me over all the noise?

The fire is always so calm when it is dancing, and it calms me too.

What!? Ok this is really annoying, if I say something else I am really going to start freaking people out, but where is that coming from?

My sister is coming fire, do you think she will be like me?

Sister? Who’s sister is coming? What in the world.

Ok man you have a paper to write, stop playing with the fire.

Paper to write, who on earth, wait a minute, Aidan would probably have a paper to write and Aidan has a sister coming. Is it Aidan I am hearing? But how, he is too far away even if he were shouting at me it would be hard for me to understand him. I wonder if he can hear me. Aidan? He turned, oh my god I think he did hear me, but I barely whispered his name, how is that possible. Granny’s letters didn’t say anything about this. He is looking for me, and he looks just as confused as I feel.

           I walk over to the roped off area closest to him, but he is back staring at the lava. He probably just thinks he is hearing things. Well heck it took a few tries for me to figure out where the talking was coming from, so let’s try this again. “Hello, excuse me sir can you help me please?” Still just whispering, but at least he looked over here. Of course that is all he did.

“Excuse me!” Nothing now he is ignoring me. AIDAN! Ok so maybe yelling in his head is the only way to get his attention. It was kinda funny watching him jump like that. “Please come over here.” He is looking at me like I might bite him or something.

           “Who are you?” He says this out loud as he looks around, but I am pretty sure he knows it is me. So, just for good measure I wave my arms.

           “Walk over here and we can discuss that.” He’s walking very cautiously over to me, and he looks kinda scared to be honest. I know he is sitting there wondering if he heard me yell his name in his head or if I really yelled at him. “It is great to meet you Aidan, my name is Kenna.” I watch as realization dawns on him. He does know who I am! Wow that is going to make this way easier.  

           “Well that was fast. You don’t waste any time do you Kenna?”

           “I did try your house, but you weren’t home, so I thought I would look over some of the local scenery and I figured with you studying to be a volcanologist you might be up here somewhere. I really didn’t expect to find you once I saw the size of the place though, but I guess I got lucky.”

           “Well, I guess we both got lucky. I am free the rest of the day, if you want we can go somewhere for lunch?”

           I thought he had a paper to write, oh well, “that would be great, but you have to pick, I don’t know anything about this place, except I can’t stand Chinese or Japanese food.”

           “No problem we have a lot of really great restaurants here and quite a few that aren’t either of those.”

           “Great!” Lunch was nice, but we couldn’t really talk, there were a lot of things we needed to say and a ton of questions that just couldn’t be brought up with so many people around. So afterwards we both opted to go by my hotel and pick up the things I brought about our parents and head back to his place.

           “Ok now that we don’t have prying ears all around us, my parents said you just found out about all of this Kenna?”

           “Yeah I was raised by our Grandmother, she was amazing, but she kept all this a secret, and I only found out about it after she died. She left me a letter, kinda sent me on a treasure hunt, and this is what I found. I am not an only child, I am one of five can you believe it, and our parents died when we were babies. Granny didn’t have the means to take all of us, though she wanted to, but the courts wouldn’t let her. There is even a letter in this folder stating to have us all be far apart so it would be hard for her to track everyone down. I guess they thought she might kidnap you guys or something, which honestly if she could have she probably would have.  Anyway this information changed everything; I am not even sure who I am anymore. I mean I have a family out there I never even knew I had!”

           “I guess in a way I kinda had it easier, I knew I was adopted, so I knew out there somewhere I had family. I just didn’t realize it was gonna be that big of a family. When my parents called me and told me you where there to see them I was excited, I have always kinda wondered about my real family, and of course why my parents would give me up. And it makes me feel good to know that they didn’t just give me up after all.”

           “No they loved us, and Granny loved all of us too, I think she spoiled me so much to try and make up for not being able to be there for you guys. I miss her so much every day; I wish she were here to help me through all of this.” Aidan is so caring, he actually came over and sat next to me and wrapped me in a big bear hug, kinda like what you would expect a big brother to do or something.

           “I can’t imagine what you are going through Kenna, I don’t know what I would do if I lost my parents. It would crush me. I know we just met and you don’t really know me except that we have the same blood, but I am here for you. I feel like we have this big connection already there anyway. I honestly believe if I had to I could trust you with my life.”

           “Thank you, that means so much to me, and I know we only just met, but I feel like we have known each other forever, like there is a pull between us or something. And just so you know, you really could trust me with your life. I know weird huh.”

           “No I feel it to, I think I could have picked you out in a crowd, and there is just something different about you.” What an opening, well now is a good a time as any too broach that differenceness he is feeling.

           “Yeah different, you know Aidan you haven’t asked to see this folder yet, it has stuff about our parents in here don’t you want to see it? I mean it is after all about all of us.” Something just flashed in his eyes, just a hint of fear, but it was gone just as fast. He is afraid though, he doesn’t want to know what is so different about us.

           “I was just enjoying getting to know my sister is all, the folder can wait. I like the here and now. All that is in that folder is the past.”

           “Aidan, I really don’t know how to bring this up, and I am not really good at this anyways, but you know something, something you don’t want to talk about. I can see it in your eyes whenever I bring up this folder; I saw it in your parent’s eyes also. You are afraid to talk about it even to me, but I can see it, and you really can trust me with your life, that wasn’t just a line.  Do you want me to just take a big stabbing guess as to what it is?”

           “I don’t know what you mean, I don’t know anything and I am not hiding anything either.” He is closing up, trying to keep that part of himself away from me, but what about me hearing him earlier? Maybe I can do it on purpose. Ok Kenna just try and listen to Aidan listen inside. What is it she thinks she knows; she can’t be different like me can she? NO, that is impossible! She is just guessing at things, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

           “Actually it is very possible and if you would look through the things in this folder you might believe it too.”

           “Wha what, what is possible? I didn’t say anything.”

           “That I am like you, well not exactly like you, but kinda like you.”

           “H How did you, I didn’t say, what is going on?” Ok now he really is starting to freak out on you Kenna, try not to scare the crap out of him completely.

           “Honestly I really don’t know. I have never been able to hear someone’s thoughts before, but up on that volcano today I heard yours, you were watching the fire dance in the lava. Actually it scared the heck out of me I thought I was going nuts or something, but with everything else I have found out about myself, heck why not that too.” He is white, I can tell part of him believes me, but he is scared. Heck I would be too, heck I am. This is all new to me.

           “What, hear my thoughts really, come on, what are you trying to pull now.”

           Aidan you can hear mine too. He just jumped about 10 feet off the couch. He’s watching me like a hawk now and he knows he didn’t see my lips move, but obviously he heard what I said.

           “How, how is this possible?”

           “I don’t know, nothing that was left for me said anything about us being able to communicate this way. And I have never done this with another person before. I don’t know I guess we are just different. I guess we are just more different than we ever thought.”

           “You said that, but how are “we” different? I want to know what it is you are implying that I am.”

           Well here we go I guess all or nothing. “Aidan you are a fire element, don’t look at me like I am nuts either. I would almost bet you have known something of this for a while now. I never asked your parents because that wouldn’t be their place to say anything, but they knew also. Something happened that brought it to your attention, you can control fire.”

           He drooped, that is the best way to describe it, he just drooped there on the couch and isn’t saying anything, “Aidan I am not judging you, believe it or not I love you, there is a draw for us, and I don’t think I could not love you. I just know we are different than anyone else. Whether you want to tell me or not I know you can control fire and are drawn to it. The look of bliss on your face up on that volcano today said it all.”

           “Prove it.”

           “What?”

           “Prove it, if you are like me prove it.”

           “Um ok, I am not very good at this, I just found out about it recently, but I will try. Can I have a glass of water?”

           “Water? What do you need water for?”

           “I said I was different like you, but not just like you. A glass of water please.”

           Aidan walked to his kitchen and brought me back a glass of water. I set it down on the coffee table, ok here goes nothing.

           And nothing is happening. Kenna concentrate, you can do this, you have to do this. Deep breath, feel the water in the glass, see it rising out of the glass in your mind, watch it swirl around in the air and drop back into the glass.

           “What the hell, you are like me! Well kinda like me, you can control water?”

           “It’s more than that, but yes.”

           “I can control fire,” he just took a deep breath, “ok about eight years ago, the local paper back home will tell you there was a gas leak or something in the house, but my house burnt down. Nobody was hurt thank God, but there was no gas leak. I was having a dream, well a dream about fire, and it woke my dad, he ran to my room and just managed to get the door open and he saw me on my bed completely covered in fire. I had a candle burning in my room, mom didn’t like the smell of dirty gym socks. In my dreams I must of called to it or something.”

“My parents and I spent the next few years finding out as much as we could about it, and learning how to control it, and I have never had something like that happen since, but it was a heck of a way to find out you were weird. I tried to stay away from fire, but I can’t it is like a magnet for me, so I started working at it and learned to control it.”

           “Wow, eight years, I just found out, at least you had some time to figure this out with your family. I didn’t know, I always felt draw to elements but I never knew until I got that trunk from Granny why I feel so drawn to them.”

           “Wait elements, not just water?”

           “Um, yeah you really need to know what our family legacy is Aidan, are you open to hearing it now?” He just nodded his head ever so slightly, “ok I will tell you everything I have found out.” So, I told him almost everything, I left out the Restorers for now, he doesn’t need anything else to worry about right now, but now he knows what I know.

           “So you are the fifth child, the one who can control all four elements?”

           “Well, I don’t know that I can create anything, I made some rocks pile up on my porch (unintentionally) and I can make fire dance and create a blaze from embers, but I don’t know that I can actually create it myself. I messed with water a little, and I couldn’t seem to get the air to make me float, but only one of us is suppose to have more than one element and I have three for sure, so I guess that means I have the other one as well I just haven’t tapped it yet or something.”

           “Well, the information says you carry all the traits to pass on to the next generation, so you have to have the elements within you or you wouldn’t be able to pass them on. Kenna it took me a long time to get control of mine and find out what I could do, this isn’t something you can learn over night.”

Of course not, nothing in my life is easy why would this be. “Awesome, but I don’t want them to flare out of control or something one day and me not be able to do anything about it. Oh sorry didn’t mean to point fingers or anything, I just don’t want it to happen to me.”

           “It’s ok, I understand that. We will just start small.”

           “What you will help me?!?”

           “Of course I will, I am your brother after all, and I can control fire, so at least I can help you with that element. Gosh, how you didn’t go nuts when this was all dumped on you is beyond me. I mean I don’t know that this all really came from the ELEMENTAL LORDS or whatnot, but we definitely have gifts. You must be going crazy inside.”

“Gee thanks for reminding me.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“No it is ok, I am just focusing on family right now, and the fact that I still have one. Even if most of them don’t know I exist.”

“Well, one of them knows you exist, and I am more than happy to help you, we can start tomorrow. There is a place I go on the island to be alone we won’t be disturbed there and we can start figuring out your gifts.”

           “Aidan thank you, thank you so much, I have felt so alone and now I have someone to confide in. Thank you.” We hugged, and it is amazing, like coming home, we are family, I have a family!

           “Oh one more thing before you head back to your hotel. Check out.”

           “What?”

           “Check out of your hotel, you are my sister and I have a spare room you can stay here.”

           “No Aidan I don’t want to put you out.”

           “Kenna we are about to start some pretty strange things, and you are family. Stay, we can get to know each other better, and after we get you under control we can try and find everyone else.”

           “Aidan you really don’t even know me, I will be fine in my hotel for a few weeks until we actually get to know each other.”

           “Kenna, check out of your hotel and come stay with me or I am not going to help you with your gifts.”

           “What, that is black mail!” An totally what a brother would say to a sister! I would do it if I was in his shoes. “Fine, but I am staying there tonight, it is already late, and they already charged me for tonight anyway. I will see you tomorrow morning.”

           “Ok tomorrow morning and I expect luggage with you.”

           “Ok I will have it.” Already he is acting like my brother, not just some stranger but my brother. Peace just settled over me. Everything is going to be ok.

I, am shocked to say the least. I knew was adopted as a baby, but to have my sister show up out of the blue, and for her to have more abilities than I do. It is amazing, I have grown to love my fire element, but to have all four within you would be crazy. I can help Kenna control her fire, but we are in for a lot of trial and error where the rest of the elements are concerned.

And this new thing where we can hear each other’s thoughts, how weird is that, not too sure I like that. But stranger things can happen, heck look at us. And to have just found out about all of this would be hard. I have known about myself for years now, so I had time to get used to it, but this Granny person just threw Kenna into a whirlwind without any real guide and without anyone there to help her through it.

I really don’t agree with her doing that, but I wasn’t in her shoes so it isn’t fair to judge. Kenna must have thought her Granny had gone nuts or something, and then to find out everything was the truth, poor Kenna. I will have to try and take some of this load off of her. I am going to be there for her no matter what.

Kenna and I have a lot ahead of us, and I really hope I can help her with all of it. Though we have just met, deep inside I know we will never really part now that we found each other, well now that Kenna has found me. Life just got a whole lot more interesting.