"I never had parents." Desa's voice was quiet as she admitted it. She went back to looking off at the cabinet on the wall in front of her, finding it hard to keep eye contact with Aksel as she talked.

She swallowed and rubbed the crease between her eyebrows trying to ease the tension that was starting to build up there. She cleared her throat mussing up the courage to speak. "I was at the Cartwell Orphanage as early as I can remember." A small smile formed on her lips as she remembered the big brown building with giant archways and rundown rooms. It was home, and nothing could change that fact.

"It used to be on the outskirts of Avilfell, but our matrons took us into the busy parts ever so often so we didn't grew up as outcasts. I still remember how magical it felt the first time I saw the carts and stores lined up in Thornsville. All these different merchants with otherworldly goods and spices, shouting about their fares, I thought I'd get to see where everything came from with my own eyes when I got old enough to leave the orphanage." The bitter truth was that she never got to age sixteen to be dismissed from the orphanage. The small smile on Desa's face faltered a little but didn't go away, she loved the distant memories of the orphanage, the running and classes, sleeping in one big dormitory, all pleasant like a big warm home for her.

Desa chanced a quick look Aksel's way and saw that he was intently waiting for her to continue, it was... unusual to have someone to talk to, especially about her past when no one had bothered knowing more about her. She guessed his logic was to speak to her and find a way out of the enchantment, if they could make her use her powers or learn something from her past, she might be free from it all. This all made sense to her but didn't make it any easier to talk about it. She desperately wanted something to numb the feelings starting to rise in her. She could feel the air starting to get suffocatingly hot.

"Eva." She blurted out, before she could lose her courage. "Her name was Eva." It was the first time she had said her name out-loud after what happened. A deep rooting ache started in her chest, spreading to her shoulders. Desa tried to rub the spot above where her heart was in hopes that it would ease the pain, but it did not.

"She was my bunk mate." She whispered, looking over the tiny crack in the distant cabinet with unfocused eyes. Her golden hair like a warm sunshine and brown eyes like the rich dirt flashed before her eyes. She was the most beautiful forest sprite in the whole town. "We were all brothers and sisters, but when you are closer in age, you tend to get put in same classes, same beds and overall become closer. She was my best friend and sister." A memory of running in the overgrown weeds passed quickly through Desa's mind. It was harder to grasp on to those precious memories as twelve years passed. It's funny how she kept seeing the horrible nightmares every night and they got etched behind her eyelids when, the memories that she wanted to hold on like these, only seemed to drift farther away everyday.

She shook her head a little to clear her mind, "I.. I don't remember when it really started. When I think back at it, I think there were signs that I had started developing bending. A little breeze when no windows were open, or holding my breath longer than the other kids when we went swimming in the lake. I just hadn't realised it. The other kids didn't have any abilities so I never thought I would." She looked down at her hands and realised she had started circling the missing pinky again with her thumb. She didn't stop the nervous habit, it was hard to relive the past as it is.

Desa started to feel a prickling sensation at the back of her eyes and tipped her head back to will the tears starting to form back. She looked at the ceiling and started counting the different shades she could see from the moon streaming in. Still, it wasn't enough to distract her thoughts as the familiar suffocating feeling started to move in on her. The air around her became thick and hot, moving slower into her rapidly rising chest. She was panicking again but she didn't know what to do. She looked all over the ceiling to find something to latch onto, anything so she could distract herself.

As she was frantically searching, she felt a wet familiar touch on the back of her right hand. Her head righted and her gaze went to the floating water caressing her hand. She watched mesmerised as the cool water glided across her pale scar ridden skin in a dance. She knew if she looked over at Aksel, she would see him twirling his fingers as he controlled the water, but she didn't dare break her gaze from the water, the simple act had calmed her enough that she could continue.

"I was eight when one night, we- we were trying to sleep. Eva wasn't tired yet so we went over to one of the older boys' bed to borrow one of his books. We put pillows under our blankets and hid under the metal frame of the bunk so the matrons wouldn't find us. I remember her laughing silently beside me as we secretly read." Desa squeezed her eyes shut but the water along her skin just kept smoothly running over her hand and forearm, like a constant current, grounding her.

"I- I don't remember much of the night except that I felt like it was way too hot, and that I wanted cool air. I was tossing and turning, when I woke up next to Eva, we had fell asleep under the bed. The candle we used to read was still alight and-" she took a deep breath to steady the tremble in her voice. "I didn't mean to but the more I felt like suffocating, the bigger the flames of the fire grew, the air I called to fed it and grew bigger until the mattress caught fire."

"I didn't know what to do, I tried to wake up Eva but she was not getting up, I knew I had to call a matron but they would be furious we had been up past our bed time and now I had set our beds on fire." She took a deep breath, opening her eyes as she looked at the distance, she could see the fire spreading before her eyes like she was there again on that night.

"By the time the matron came and the other kids woke up from the smoke and fire, I was panicking and the more I panicked, the quicker the flames grew. I didn't know how to control it." She absentmindedly rubbed her hand across the water on her other arm, as if to seek consolation. "I still hear the screams every time I close my eyes. Everything burned down so quickly." Her hand left the water and went to her left leg, the phantom pain of her burn ached.

But not as much as the memory of the night she burned everything down. Her home, her family, and her future. "I don't know how I got out, I remember choking on the smokes and then waking up in charred debris of the building. No one was left." Her throat constricted as she whispered her next words, "I killed my family." The water on her hand stopped at that and she wanted to cry at that subtle moment so much, thinking this was the moment that would make him hate her.

She didn't know what she would do if he was looking at her like the monster she saw when she looked in the mirror- but a second later the water gently continued floating around her fingers and Desa heaved in a shaky breath, feeling like her whole chest was ripped out and then gently placed back again.

"It was a year of living on the streets of Avilfell. I didn't know who to ask for help. I had burned down the orphanage, I was scared someone was going to figure out I was responsible, that I was going to be thrown into the dungeons or executed. I knew I would deserve it but was a scared kid back then."

"I stole and found corners to sleep in. Wasn't the most comfortable way to live but, certainly more than I deserved so I made do. By the end of the year though, I wasn't in very good shape. I was very sick and starving. That's when he found me."

The memory of Sontarro appearing out of the shadows that night still haunted her. "He-" her tongue twisted as she tried talking about him. The enchantment forcing her mouth closed. He knew things about her and had convinced her to come with him. She was scared of him going to the guards so she had taken his hand. Thinking back, the guards would have been the better option out of the two, but she didn't know better at the time.

"It wasn't always like that, but I would be bound at times or lose consciousness and one of those days when I woke up, I had the ring." She knew she couldn't give anymore details than that about her time with Sontarro, the enchantment wouldn't allow her. So she kept her focus on her hands and the gentle floating water for the hate to come.

Aksel's POV

She had the same look the first night I saw her, the deep pain and self hatred swirling in her eyes. Infinitely more unguarded but it was the same. He recognised it because Aksel had seen it in his own eyes.

When she said she had killed her family, his heart stopped for a second in painful memory. His pain so similar to hers and as she talked about her past, his own had came to the surface to burn his skin. He knew her pain and it matched his to his very bones. Thinking that you were the one to destroy your closest ones, like you were a curse on them for just being close to you. He still battled with his guilt after all these years, he knew it would never be completely gone, just learned to live with it. And when he looked at Desa, he saw how she had no room to grow around that pain.

Nowhere to run and forget the things she was forced to do. Always trapped to keep living her horrible memories as more and more added on to the burden of her shoulders. He knew that nothing he could say would alleviate that guilt, no matter how much he wanted to. It was always the same with the survivors of people who lost people dear to them. When they are no longer with you, your brain turns in on itself, blaming you for living on while they cease to exist.

What she failed to realise is that she wasn't at fault. Not for burning down the building or being enslaved for twelve years.

"Desa." Aksel's voice was raspy to his own ears. Desa was still staring off at the cabinet on the wall across from her, lost in thought of a distant memory. When she didn't turn to look at him, he moved the fingers on his right hand to glide the water across her skin and move up her arm. He wanted nothing more than to touch her himself instead of the water he controlled. This magic needed to go and go fast for the sake of his sanity.

He moved the water across her arm and up across the air, then gently touched across her collarbones. Aksel heard her intake of breath as that gentle touch brought her attention back and she instinctively tilted her head to the side ever so slightly to give his ministrations space. He wanted to groan at the sight, she was so trusting of him. How she still managed to keep on going after being enslaved for twelve years was astonishing, she was so strong. Whenever he saw her smile or joke about something or enjoy the simple breakfasts he prepared for her, and she delved in like it was the best thing ever, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

She was so full of life, so full of light and this need to experience. The more he had spent time with her, he saw how she kept fighting against this crippling darkness that tried to take her. It was there in her eyes, whenever she couldn't sleep, or stare off into space when they were researching in the afternoons together. But her eyes still shone whenever she turned her attention on him. He never thought someone so deserving of living but so tortured in the soul she'd turn out to be when he first saw her the night she tried to kill him.

Aksel moved the water across her other collarbone and saw how her chest hitched in a broken breath. Her beautiful red eyes turned to him and his own breath caught in the air. Like she had mastered air bending and had taken his ability to breathe. But he knew that was not the case, it was only his own body reacting to her beauty. Her raven black hair framed her delicate face in soft curls that made him want to run his hand through, and those slightly parted pink plump lips called to a deep primal part of himself to just close the distance between them and claim her.

The faint scars all over her body only made her beauty more enhanced, showing everyone how strong her soul was as mesmerising as her physique was. Those red eyes were all he could see when he closed his eyes at night, like a hot metal brand on his mind and heart.

The first time Aksel had brought her here, her beauty had called to him but as they passed more and more time together, it became obvious every other aspect of her was just as enticing. Her strength, her strong will, her twisted sense of humour and even her pain. It all screamed to him.

With those beautiful eyes trained on him, he moved his fingers so the water would circle around the back of her neck and spread to give her a cooling sensation at the base of her head. "Desa." He called her name again to make sure she would listen to his next words.

"You are not to blame. I know my words won't mean anything to you, but you did not kill your family. It was an accident." He said clearly so his words rang true and reached Desa. She was looking at him like he was the last safety railing preventing her from plunging into deep murky storm infested sea waters.

Aksel moved the water up towards her cheek and spread it along her skin like it was a hand, gently cupping the side of her face. "You were too young to know how to use your powers, it's hard to master them without guidance. Do you hear me? It wasn't your fault." He said vehemently.

Her eyes kept darting between his, like she was searching for a lie there that could tell her his words were false. She would not find it. A shaky breath left her lips and she ever so slightly nodded her head. Aksel knew the guilt would never truly leave her but she needed someone to tell her this. He was probably the first one she had heard these words from, and he was determined to prove her trust was not misplaced.

The water across her cheek, swirled absentmindedly, caressing her temple and cheek going down to her jaw and then back up. "I lost my family too." He admitted quietly. Desa's eyes took on a more sorrowful tone. It was not his aim to make her sadder but to let her know he shared her pain.

"I was too young to know better. I risked them in my ambition and I paid greatly." He said as he felt his own chest ache at the deep pain there. "I left them unprotected, wanted more than the simple island life we had. I was not there when the pirates attacked." He still hated himself for leaving them alone, his mom, dad and grandfather. All because he wanted to sail with pirates and see the world for himself. They weren't the same pirates that attacked his home but it did nothing to curdle the hatred that bloomed against them after it. But he had already sold himself to the Pirate Lord by then. And he couldn't back out.

"I was imprisoned like you once." Aksel said. Desa's eyes turned shocked at his revelation.

"You were bound like me?" Desa's silent voice asked.

Aksel nodded. "That's how I recognised your movements the night you tried to kill me. They are the same jerky, uncontrolled attacks I had when I was under."

"H-how did you get out?" Desa asked as she gathered her legs underneath her, she looked up to him with so much hope that it broke Aksel to tell him his next sentence.

"I didn't. I waited until my contract was up. The man I worked for had me bound for three years, I didn't know what I was getting myself into at the time. I just thought I would work on his ship. But I could not leave or disobey his wishes for those three years." He said.

Desa's eyes looked down at the hands on her lap. It was easy to see her disappointment. They didn't even know if it was the same type of magic that affected them. Maybe they were two different spells. But it had brought him the knowledge to understand what Desa was going through and he couldn't bring himself to hate what he'd been through for the first time in a very long time.

"Did you have control over yourself?" Desa asked as she circled her missing pinky. She wasn't looking up to him and Aksel wanted to tilt her chin up so he could gaze into those brilliant eyes. He moved the water from her cheek to under her chin and raised it up so her face was upturned. Her eyes finally found his and he was pleased to see the sadness there was more muted.

"Mine wasn't as severe as yours. I was seventeen back then, and the man wanted me mostly because of my water bending." He said, as he took the water away from her chin and floated it in front of her face to show his point.

"It still must have been hard to endure. I'm sorry you had to go through it." Desa said, as she raised her hand up and touched the glob of water floating before her.

She was forced into servitude while Aksel had signed away his free will, it wasn't the same but Desa still seemed to feel his distress compassionately. Which made his heart ache all the more.

"It gave me the knowledge to understand you. I'm not sorry." Aksel said. Desa's eyes went from the water to his and he saw surprise there. "Now you'll know just how much I mean my words when I tell you, we will get you out of this." And his words were a promise that he planned on keeping.

Hi loves, so I'm not really happy about this chapter but, your opinions matter more so let me know!

Thanks for reading ❤️