The Elementals

Flipper Flipper Faster Than Lightning

Author's note: Hello! I'm doing these a lot now... but anyway I have been freaking out! This has 7,888 reads! That's close to half the population of my town reading this. My family thinks I'm crazy because I was so happy all afternoon. I couldn't stop smiling! I'm not sure you guys understand how much it means to me that people are actually reading my work and voting and commenting and caring about it. So thank you. And you probably want me to shut up so yeah, I just wanted y'all to know that I appreciate every vote, comment and read! :)

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You can do lots of things with a government badge, even if it is technically not legal anymore. You can do lots of things, such as get two fourteen-year-olds plane tickets on a private jet straight from Nepal to Hawaii.

We managed not to break the airport.

And now I'm standing on the front steps of Coal's orphanage, looking up at the rain-washed wood under the shade of overgrown foliage. Coal has been acting weird ever since I suggested we stay here, especially since the psychic is in fact at this place. I step up onto the porch, wood planks creaking under my feet.

I knock and it seems to break Coal out of a daze. "So," he turns to me, eyes a bit wide in panic. "There're a few things you should know before-"

The door opens, revealing a tan skinned woman wearing a fingerprinted apron. Her face has many wrinkles on it, but they're laugh lines. Her chin length black hair has grey streaks in it, but for some reason that makes her seem younger, not older. Her brow furrows for a moment before she suddenly smiles so broadly I don't think her mouth could go any farther.

"Coal?" she asks incredulously, voice low and musical.

He nods curtly. "Um yeah, hi -"

He doesn't get to finish because the woman crushes him in a huge hug.

"Coal!" she exclaims. "My baby boy you've come back!"

I smile automatically. Coal looks pained but I can tell beneath his embarrassment is happiness.

After a few seconds, the woman lets go and turns to me. "And who are you?" she asks warmly.

"Oh yeah," Coal says. "Meet Mrs. -"

"Just call me Makuahine." The woman says. "It means mother. We are all ohana here."

I'm slightly ashamed that the only reason I know what ohana means is from Lilo and Stitch. But I just smile and hold out my hand. "I'm Tide." Instead of shaking my hand she engulfs me in a bear hug. She's friendly and welcoming and smells like every sort of good food you can imagine.

"Tide." She breathes. "What a beautiful name."

I look down, surprised. "Thanks."

She smiles. "Come inside keiki, come inside."

Coal hesitantly steps into the doorway and I follow after him. The place smells like cooking food and the beach. The main room serves as a kitchen, and there's a hallway leading down to other rooms, presumably for the kids, off to the right. Straight ahead are double doors leading to a porch looking out at the best sunset in all history.

Food is laid out on the counter leading to the back porch and Makuahine motions to it. "Help yourself." She says kindly.

Coal looks hesitant so I grab his hand and drag him over. "What's that?" I ask, pointing to pieces of some fish on a stick with grilled vegetables.

"Mahi-mahi." Coal replies flawlessly. He still looks like someone might jump him.

"Cool." I take a piece and taste it. It's really good. Really, really good. I take a shish kabob and devour it.