Thunderstorm would like to say that she had never cried in her life before. That achievement ended a week ago, when she first cried a little in that rainy day, then she cried after that ball, then the battle against Quake, and then she cried just now in front of Cyclone and Solar.
But this was different. Once Solar had set the tablet aside, Thunderstorm began to hyperventilate, her hands clutching her head, her entire body trembled in anger, her teeth clenched so hard that her ears rang.
Solar placed both his hands on her shoulders, getting her to look at him. She refused to lift her head, and every inch of her muscle was stiff.
"I need you to calm down, and breathe," Solar said urgently, already prepared to call the others for help in case her powers went haywire. "Just breathe, alright? Focus on me. Focus on my voice."
Thunderstorm shook his hands away, shaky sobs escaping her throat as she dug her forehead into her knees, her eyes shooting around wildly. Her fingers dug into the sides of her head, and she screamed; not from fear, not from anger, not from grief, but for herself.
Her scream was mixed with pain, agony and fury. Her voice cracked, her throat ached, but she didn't care. Her scream died down, and she broke down utterly. Tears streamed from her eyes like a waterfall, and she bit her lip so hard she tasted blood.
A ruckus was caused outside almost instantaneously, with a run down to the stairs and the crash of someone falling from them, followed by some audible curses.
Solar shirked, as he didn't know what to do. Just as he was panicking, the door opened, and another silhouette stood by the door, this time a female's.
Quake gestured for Solar to give them some space, which he did. He gently stood, not to startle the disturbed Thunderstorm, and left the room and closed the door.
Quake stared at the broken form of the elemental with her emotionless eyes, her feet planted on the ground as she made no sound. As Thunderstorm's crying died down, Quake approached her gently, and sat next to her.
She hooked her hand around Thunderstorm's head and coaxed her to lean onto her, which she did. Quake's figure was much more mature than Thunderstorm, and they resembled a mother comforting her child.
Thunderstorm buried herself into Quake's shoulder, crying as she cursed at the world, at herself, at her life. She grabbed onto her shirt like a lifeline, her entire body shaking helplessly. Quake stroked her hair and her back soothingly, a motherly gaze reflected in her eyes.
Eventually, Thunderstorm gave up uselessly crying and began to take her anger out on Quake. She hit Quake's arm, thigh and shoulder with the base of her fist, but there was no intention of harm to it. With each hit, Quake took silently, and Thunderstorm screamed profanity with each one.
Quake made no effort to stop Thunderstorm, because compared to her, Thunderstorm's punches were cute. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt, though. Her left arm was starting to bruise, but she's been through far worse.
After what seemed like an eternity of math class, Thunderstorm was finally worn down, and began to drift in and out of consciousness. Quake laid her down to sleep, but Thunderstorm's arms reached out to her, even if her eyes were half closed already.
Quake smiled lightly, and she took Thunderstorm's hand in hers. She sat back down on the bed, and Thunderstorm wrapped her arms around Quake's waist, and fell asleep on Quake's lap.
She stroked her hair gently, careful not to disturb her sleep. Despite her protectiveness over her, Quake couldn't help but wonder: What had she been through?
Hours later, the door creaked open, and three heads poked through from the side, all sneaking glances inside. They were met with the sight of complete peacefulness, with their leader asleep, her head leaning on Thunderstorm's, and Thunderstorm's arms wrapped around Quake, and Quake's wrapped around hers too.
They closed the door, stretching their limbs as it's three in the morning. They're lucky that no neighbors around their apartment were complaining.
"Sometimes when she's not scary, Quake makes a great mom," Cyclone noted, yawning as he scratched his stomach in tiredness, his words said through yawns. "Let's just hope she doesn't blow out the air conditioning."
"Come on. You two still have work tomorrow." Solar cracked his neck. "I'll be working for a little more, then I'll sleep later."
"Damn you and your nocturnal cycles," Cyclone retorted, grumbling several complaints. "What are you? A vampire?"
"Get your asses to bed already." Ice swept past them, yanking their shirt collars to their faces and marched towards her room that she shared with Quake. "I don't get paid enough to deal with the both of you."
Cyclone chased after her. "You get paid?"
* * *
Thunderstorm woke up in the morning refreshed, though her face and skin was sticky, and her eyes dry. She let her drowsiness fade, and tried to get up, but she realized that her arms were wrapped around someone's chest, and someone else was also holding her.
Her body stiffened, and her eyes trailed up to the face of the person, only to shriek when Quake was staring straight at her, already brightly awake and ready to rise.
She launched herself back, almost falling off the bed in the process. Quake reached out and caught her arm just before she did, but whatever sense of embarrassment and confusion that existed in the world, Thunderstorm felt it all within the span of ten seconds.
Quake sat up, stretching her limbs. She turned to the watch on her hand, saying the time aloud, "It's one in the afternoon. You haven't slept well for a long time, huh?"
Thunderstorm was speechless, trying to recall the previous events that happened. The vague memory of her breakdown rushed to her all at once, which caused her to be more embarrassed, and lost.
She scooted over to Quake, and lifted her sleeve to check for her skin's condition. They were completely fine, though she remembered that she had caused some bruises...
"It's fine," Quake said, lowering Thunderstorm's hand, which bandages were falling apart and bloodied with dry clots of blood. "Elementals can control their healing rate." She held onto her wrist, undoing the bandages. The blood was on the bandages, but the wound had vanished. "And congratulations. You managed to heal yourself, even if you didn't mean it."
Thunderstorm's hand jerked back, her eyes widening at her pristine left hand. It was softer than it had been before, like years of work had been washed away, but her skill was sharper than ever. It was fresh, and eager to fight.
"Come on," Quake said, holding out her hand as if waiting for Thunderstorm to take it. "Let's get you cleaned up."
Thunderstorm stared at her numbly, the pain dulled significantly. Without thinking, she took Quake's hand, and she led her outside, and it was the first time she stepped out of this room.
YOU ARE READING
How To Be Me (boboiboy galaxy)
Fanfiction"You say you want to save people, but you can't even save yourself." Thunderstorm looked down to her hands, but all she could see was red.
