Elemental

Chapter 9: Fixing the Doors

——————————🔥——————————

Later that evening, Coal, (Y/n), and Wade were in the beach scooping sand into bags to fix the door.

"I don't think this is gonna work." Wade confessed.

"Well it won't if you don't hold the bag straight." Coal retorted.

"Maybe your dad will understand." (Y/n) suggested.

Coal scoffed.

"I'm serious. Look, I know it can be tough. I mean, with my dad, we were like oil and water. I never got a chance to fix that. But you and your dad aren't like that. Maybe you should tell him." She insisted.

Coal laughed sarcastically. "Yeah right. And tell him what? That I got us shut down and destroyed his dream?!"

Coal's fire roared and he accidentally bent the shovel. He knelt down in the sand and sighed in defeat.

"I think I'm failing. My Àshfá should have retired years ago, but he doesn't think I'm ready. You have no idea how hard they've worked. Or what they've had to endure. Family they left behind. How do you repay a sacrifice that big? It all feels like a burden. How can I say that? I'm a bad son." Coal's body started to fade, his fire dimming.

(Y/n) knelt down next to him. "Hey, no you're not. You're doing your best." She encouraged.

He sighed. "I'm a mess."

(Y/n) shook her head. "I don't think so. I think you're even more handsome."

Coal looked at her, and saw her smiling at him. His fire reignited and he looked out into the ocean and saw the sun lowered down and touching the water.

"Maybe you were right when you said my temper is me trying to tell me something." He admitted.

(Y/n) was about to say something to him when Wade interrupted. "Woah! Look was your fire did to the sand. It's glass." He commented.

Coal looked down at the glass and picked up a chunk of it. He then used his fire to mold it into a sphere and he made a shape inside that looked like a flower.

"It looks like a Vivisteria flower." (Y/n) noticed.

Coal suddenly straightened up. "I know how to seal those doors."

He dropped the glass ball into the sand and stood up, running off.

...

The three of them stood in the canal by the broken door, and Wade and (Y/n) stood back as Coal approached the sandbags.

He heated up his body, and pressed against the bags, melting the sand into lava. Coal then bent the substance, covering up the hole in the door. With one final push, he made it spread all the way to the top of the door, and when it cooled, it turned into a beautiful glass barrier.

Coal stepped back to admire his handiwork when he noticed Wade and (Y/n) crying slightly.

"Are you two crying?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hey, if you don't want people to cry, then you shouldn't make things that look like this, okay?" (Y/n) said defensively.

Coal chuckled, but his smile fell when he felt the ground rumbling underneath him. Another boat was sailing by, and water started spilling over into the canal.

The three of them watched with bated breath as the water slipped past the glass, but it didn't break. It held.

"It worked!" Coal exclaimed.

"I'll have Gale come by right after work. I'll let you know the second I hear anything." Wade promised.

"You think this'll be good enough for her?" Coal asked.

"Honestly, it's hard to know. She could go either way." Wade admitted.

Coal deflated a little bit, until (Y/n) pulled out the glass flower he left at the beach.

"Oh, here. I saved this for you. It's special." She complimented.

Coal looked at her and smiled.

...

Coal sat in his bedroom, staring down at the little sphere (Y/n) had called special. His fire reflected off the glass, making light beams dance around his room.

His was broken out of his trance by the sound of muffled coughing.

Coal rushed downstairs to find his father in the shop. He didn't look too good.

"Àshfá, you okay?"

Bernie nodded. "Yes, yes. Just too much to fix."

"I'll take care of it. You need to rest. That's an order." Coal said firmly.

Bernie saluted jokingly. "Yes sir!" He then placed his hands on Coal's shoulders. "Coal, I see a change in you. Happier, calmer with customers and with that...food inspector and his assistant. Always putting shop first. You prove I can trust you. I'm so lucky I have you."

Bernie released Coal and made his way upstairs.

Once his father left, Coal frowned. He pulled out the pamphlet he got from City Hall and glanced at the wall of pictures of people that were banned from the store, his eyes focusing on (Y/n)'s surprised face.

...

In the back of the shop, Cinder was passed out on a chair with a book on her lap when she suddenly jerked awake.

"Love?" She muttered drowsily.

She peeked out of the beaded wall that separates her small reading room from the rest of the shop and saw Coal sneaking out the front door. She watched him climb onto his bike and speed off.

She too slipped out the door, following after her son, determined to find out who had managed to capture his heart.

——————————💧——————————