Chapter Text
“Close your eyes,” Aris ordered. “Place your hands above the water with your palms facing the water.”
A week later, and Thomas was working with Aris almost everyday to practice his water bending. When Aris first found out, he was shocked and excited and came running into Thomas’s room to talk with him about it. Unfortunately, Minho was there too - they made up the same day, and somehow Thomas had managed the Asian not to be mad at him. Teresa wasn’t as easy to convince, but she at least wasn’t ignoring him completely anymore - and Aris let slip that Thomas is an Exemplar. Minho was completely shocked and excited, running over to Thomas and asking him millions of questions. Eventually, the whole group found out, and they were all in awe.
Aris was a hard teacher, although not as hard as Alby, whom he still has occasional sessions with to keep up his air bending skills. Luckily, Exemplars can master the abilities faster than normal benders, so he could be pretty well trained soon. Maybe not a master, but definitely up there.
Now, they were in a bathroom overlooking a bathtub full of water. Aris kept telling Thomas to focus on his chi. It was important to keep a calm mind while water bending because if a bender were to lose focus or lose their temper, they would lose control and their force would be intensified. So he kept repeating Aris’s in his head as they were given.
“Now, slowly lift your hands up and feel the chi tugging on the center of you palm as you lift the chi in the water that is connected with your hands.”
Thomas was hoping he was following Aris’s commands and doing it right.
“Open your eyes Thomas.”
When he did, he couldn’t help but grin. He had raised the water! He was bending water!
“Not bad,” Aris complimented. “You’ve gone over breathing meditation with Ava right?”
When Thomas nodded, he let the water fall and Aris continued. “Okay, we’ve done a little of chi projection, so tomorrow we will start with tides and move into waves.”
“Awesome. Thank you so much Aris.”
Thomas was grateful that he had friends who were willing to teach him. They were all making this a little bit easier on him. Thomas wasn’t as angry at his parents for lying to him anymore, but it still hurt that they kept it from him.
“It’s no big deal,” Aris dismissed. “I hated my waterbending teacher, so I figured I spare you. Anyway, I’ll see you later. I’m going to meet up with Teresa.”
He and Aris had a talk earlier in the week concerning Teresa. Thomas made sure Aris’s motives were pure and made sure that if he ever hurt her, Thomas would end him. Aris assured Thomas that he was not going to hurt Teresa in anyway, and that he liked her a lot. Aris was a good guy, Thomas liked him. And he was happy for the two of them.
It seems like everybody but him has a love life. Teresa has Aris, Minho has Brenda, Harriet has Sonya. If only Thomas could have Newt, but the brunette was avoiding the blonde.
Why? Because he was too ashamed to face him after his fight with Minho. Which is stupid, because if he and Minho could make up, he and Newt sure could. But Thomas remembers that look in Newt’s eye when he saw the two fighting: shame, disappointment. Newt thought Thomas was better than that, and Thomas didn’t want to see that look in Newt’s eyes again. So it was just easier to stay away.
Actually, it was so, so hard.
She was exhausted, but she had to keep going. It was life or death.
She raised her staff to block the blow, but she was knocked off her feet by another opponent. After landing on the ground, Teresa rolled out of the way and dodged the next attack, moving to kick her feet out and knock down Sonya. But she forgot about Harriet, who was now on top of her, ready to deliver the final blow. Harriet raised her baton and swung, Teresa closing her eyes, but the impact never came. She peeked her eyes open and it was stopped barely an inch away from her face.
“Not bad,” Harriet said, moving to get off of Teresa.
“Yeah, you’re getting pretty good,” Sonya said as she was getting up off the floor.
People with powers like the girls had needed other ways to fight and defend themselves, so they had to master physical combat. Sonya and Harriet offered to practice with Teresa so her skills would improve. “But not as good as you girls,” Teresa said, standing up as well. “Gosh, this is so tiring.”
“You get used to it,” Harriet said.
Teresa hoped she would. She was trying to learn as much as she could as quickly as possible, because come the end of the summer, she would be heading back home.
She’s grateful that she was allowed this experience, but this wasn’t her life.She so badly wanted to go to college and attempt a normal boring life of a biology major. She mainly came so Thomas wouldn’t be alone, but he’s definitely got a great support system now.
Even though Thomas had apologized to her and she forgave him, Teresa was still upset with him. He didn’t have to be so rude, and he definitely didn’t have to get into a fight with Minho. That was actually the reason Teresa was still not speaking to him so much. Minho was just trying to help, and Thomas just punches him? He’s lucky Minho and the rest of their friends were understanding and good people. They were such extraordinary people, and she doesn’t mean because of their powers, but because of who they were.
She was glad to have made friends - girl friends to be precise - when she came here. Teresa knew she was a bit of a ‘tomboy’ growing up, and had more guy friends than girls, but having Harriet, Sonya, and Brenda made coming here so much more pleasant.
So did Aris.
Whom of which she had plans with.
So she bid farewell to her friends and headed home to freshen up.
Part of her really wants to be with Aris. He’s handsome, sweet, funny, and pretty smart. But the other part of her is telling her not to lead him on as she wasn’t going to be here forever. Aris wouldn’t be here forever either, so maybe they could make long distance work.
Of course they could. They were capable of being superheroes, so they can handle a long distance relationship.
Thomas had just finished another meeting with Ava Paige to discuss his progress - he was trying not to be bitter to the woman anymore. After all, she was only trying to help - and he was walking home, lost in thought thinking about anything and everything. When would his earth and fire bending start? Could he already do them if he tried? Is Newt still disappointed in him? Are his parents hiding anything else from him?
He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and he bumped right into someone. Said person fell backwards into the fountain that was in the middle of the grounds. “Oh, shit! I’m sorry - ”
“You!”
Thomas finally took the time to look at the person, and he froze at who it was.
Gally.
Gally was dripping wet, eyes locked on Thomas and fuming with anger. If this was a cartoon, his face would be red as a tomato and smoke would be coming out of his ears. Gally stood up and harshly grabbed Thomas by the collar of his shirt. “That’s twice already you’ve managed to piss me off,” Gally spat.
But Thomas wasn’t going to let Gally treat him the way he did when he first arrived here. He wasn’t the same Thomas anymore. So he shoved Gally off of him and put some distance between them. “Back off Gally, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Oh, you got some backbone now, huh? You already duked it out with Minho, why not take a swing at me too?”
He knew Gally was taunting him on purpose. If Thomas got into another fight on grounds with a student, it would most likely end with him getting kicked out. And he couldn’t let that happen. But Thomas always let his emotions get the best of him and couldn’t help getting angry. So he decided to taunt him back. “I knocked you over without looking twice, Gally. You aren’t capable of winning a fight.”
Thomas really needs to learn how to think before doing things. He needs to talk to Aris about how to keep his anger in check.
Gally started to raise his fist, and Thomas was ready to retaliate. But it was over before it started. Gally’s hand was stuck in the air with red magic glowing around it.
“Back off Gally,” a familiar British voice said. “Or you’ll be sorry.”
That’s twice now Newt managed to save him from a fight.
“Always got someone to protect you, don’t ya?” Gally hissed.
The boy took a step back and grumbled as he walked away. Thomas looked over at Newt who had a blank expression on his face. It had been days since he had seen this face up close, and he really missed it. “Thanks Newt.”
Newt nodded and walked off. But Thomas wasn’t going to let him go. They haven’t really spoken since his fight with Minho, and it took seeing the blonde to remember how much he missed him.
“Newt, wait!” Thomas called running towards the blonde.
“Oh, now you’re speaking to me?” Newt scoffed, turning around to face him.
“Newt, I’m sorry. It’s just...that look you gave me when I fought with Minho. I thought you were done with me. And I was too much of a coward to say something to you.”
Thomas didn’t think there was anything he could say that would fix it. He thought Newt wouldn’t want to be friends with him anymore. He thought Newt wouldn’t want to go on a date with him after that. And when issues arrived, Thomas rarely took them head on. Avoiding them at all costs until he couldn’t anymore was his usual strategy.
“Tommy,” Newt sighed. To hear Newt call him Tommy brought a sudden warmth to his heart. Maybe Newt wasn’t mad after all. “I was disappointed, yes. But that doesn’t mean I hated you or anything. I was just upset with both of you because you guys could have gotten kicked out of here. And I don’t want to lose you.”
Newt didn’t want to lose Thomas. As in a friend or....?
Should Thomas even bother to bring up the date again? He really didn’t want to push his luck, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say all he thought about was dating Newt.
“So, we’re still friends?”
“Friends?” Newt raised an eyebrow, a small smirk forming on his lips. “Do friends kiss each other and ask each other on dates?”
Thomas’s heart skipped a beat. Newt still wanted to go on a date! Or at least that’s what Thomas thinks he meant. “So...you still wanna go on a date with me?”
Newt smiled and let out the quietest chuckle. “Yeah. I do.”
So Thomas was going to take Newt out on a date this weekend. Only, he didn’t know what to do. Minho and Alby knew Newt the best so he should probably ask them.
Since it was still a bit early after their talk, Newt decided to come over and hang out with Thomas and the others. Just a fun night laughing and talking and hanging out seemed like a good way to end the night.
But as soon as he walked into the house, he knew that wasn’t what would happen.
He heard Harriet talking to someone, like she was terrified, but she was talking too low that he couldn’t understand her. But apparently Newt knew what was going on because once he heard her, he sprinted towards the voice. Thomas was right on his heels.
In the living room, Sonya was thrashing on the couch with her eyes closed like she was having a nightmare, but it seemed so much worse. Even with her eyes closed, you can feel the terror radiating off the poor girl. She was whimpering and even sometimes she yelled, as if she was trying to force herself awake. Harriet was by her side offering comfort and trying to wake her up. Newt ran over and kneeled next to his sister, running a hand through her hair. “Shh, Sonny. It’s okay. You’re okay,” he whispered to her.
“I’m going to get her journal,” Harriet said, her voice a bit shaky. In a matter of seconds, she disappeared and reappeared, now holding a journal and a pen.
“Can I do anything to help?” Thomas asked. He felt so useless, and it hurt him to see Sonya like that. It hurt to see Harriet and Newt so worried about her.
“No, you can’t,” Newt said. “She just needs to wake up. She’s having a vision of the future.”
Before Thomas could even ask about that, Sonya shot up into a sitting position, taking a sharp intake of breath as she did so. She started panting, putting a hand over her chest. She was mumbling something, but she wasn’t making any sense.
“Sonya, calm down babe,” Harriet soothed. “Relax and tell us what you saw.”
“Pink. I saw pink,” Sonya started, trying to recall her vision. “Someone was screaming. Then I saw fire. Like an explosion.” She then turned to her brother. “You were there. I think you were in trouble. I saw you using your powers. You were scared and fighting. Thomas was there too. Maybe some others, there were a few figures, but I can’t be sure. It’s all fading.”
What the hell is going on? Thomas and Newt were going to get caught in an explosion? Newt was going to be fighting someone?
“Something bad is going to happen to you guys, but I don’t know when.”
Sonya’s breathing started to go back to normal, and she cuddled into her girlfriend’s chest. Newt looked back at Thomas, and Newt was mirroring the same expression Thomas had: worry, confusion, and fear.