Gempa thought he was prepared for anything that would come unexpectedly in their lives. He was prepared from alien ambushing to TAPOPS sending them an emergency call.

But nothing, nothing could ever prepare him of the sudden and unexpected death of his own teammate (read: child).

It was lame, really.

They have been fighting aliens for years to the point that everyone knew them.

But the greatest swordsman of all fell on the hands of a drunk driver.

Gempa felt something wet on the back of his hand. When he looked at it, he saw a small drop of water sitting innocently against the warmth of his skin.

Another drop followed, and Gempa went to tough his face where the water seemed to be coming from.

With a jolt, he realized that he was crying.

Gempa rarely cries, but when he does, he was usually able to compose himself after a few minutes.

Not today, Satan.

Gempa tried to stop his tears. He really did. But every time he does, an image of Hali appears in his head and he breaks down once more.

Halilintar. He was practically the image of invincibility. He was always the one who rushes headfirst into the fray and comes back relatively unscathed.

Gempa looked up to him.

Hali was one of the oldest elements, the other two being Gempa and Taufan. However, due to Tau's carefree nature, Gempa spent a lot of time with Hali.

They were inseparable, always together through thick or thin.

Hali was there when Gempa was too stressed after taking care of the other elementals, and taking over his duties whenever he was sick. In return, Gempa takes extra care for Hali and is always there to quell him of his fears.

But with Hali dead, there was no one for him to talk about everything. His teammate, his best friend, his brother, his child twin, was dead.

Gempa slammed his fists on the kitchen table. Breaking it in half.

Stupid drunk driver. If it wasn't for him. Hali would still be there, hitting Gempa on the back of his head for being so stupid.

He waited, but nothing happened. There was no Hali hissing furiously at his ear for being awake at 3 am and causing drama in the kitchen. There was no one to tease him quietly about being such a Drama Mama. Not anymore.

Gempa gritted his teeth and furiously wiped his tears away.

Hali. Is. Dead. There was no point in mulling over it.

He stood up and looked at the broken remains of the table. A memory surfaced in his mind.

Flashback

A loud bang resonated throughout the house that woke everyone up in the middle of the night. Due to years of fighting villains, such loud and sudden noise made everyone grab for the nearest weapon they could find.

Solar had a thick book in his hands and his visor was tilted. It looked like he fell asleep reading the book and just grabbed it on his way out.

Blaze and Ais rushed out of a room, both holding a pillow. It looked like they were having a sleepover in Blaze's room when the explosion happened.

Taufan was holding his hoverboard, ready to fling it at the first chance he got.

Gempa walked out of his room with his earth gloves in hand. Out of all the elementals, he looked the most alert, his golden yellow eyes darting everywhere, looking for signs of threat.

However, Duri, being the least battle-hardened element, had yelped at the loud bang and started to cry in fear.

The explosion turned out to be Hali, who accidentally broke his door in half when he was venting his frustration out after a particularly bad nightmare.

Gempa was furious as he banished his gloves away. He made his way over to Duri and tried to console him while occasionally glaring at Hali. Hali was staring at the floor in shame, a reaction that can only be brought out by Gempa.

The others, seeing that there was no real danger (except for an angry mama. Poor Hali), had all went back to sleep. Literally. Taufan climbed up to his hoverboard and curled up to sleep. Blaze and Ais were cuddled up on the floor, their pillows lay forgotten on their sides. Solar fell asleep leaning on the door frame, clutching his book in his hands like a lifeline.

When Duri had fallen asleep on his shoulder, Gempa carried him like a fragile baby and tucked him in his room. He repeated the same thing to the others who had fallen asleep on the floor (or on hoverboards and door frames) while glaring at Hali to remain standing.

When he was done, he went to Hali's room and quietly erected a temporary earth door to seal the room. His furious golden yellow eyes rested on Hali, but faltered upon seeing the fearful look in his eyes. Still, punishments should be given.

"We need to talk."

Flashback ends

Gempa was incredibly furious back then. He wasn't worried about the money, nor the time and work needed to repair the broken door. No, he was furious because he managed to wake everyone up in the middle of the night and making Duri cry.

But now, he would bear with all the door breaking just to have Hali by his side.

Gempa's legs collapsed from under him and he broke down once again. He didn't even bother picking himself up, not that he had the energy to do so. He blamed himself for letting Hali go alone at that time. And because of that, his best friend, his brother, was gone.

He was startled out of his thoughts when the kitchen door opened.

In the dim light of the moon seeping through the window, he saw a silhouette of a man standing by the door. And based on the odd positioning of the cap, Gempa was able to identify the newcomer.

"Taufan?" Gempa's voice was barely a whisper, but the man heard it anyway.

"Gempa?" Taufan's voice was slightly hoarse as if he just came from sleeping.

The wind elemental's hand found the switch and flipped open the light.

He was greeted by an unusual sight.

The kitchen was a mess, messier than when he, Blaze and Duri had wreaked havoc there. And that in itself was saying something. Broken kitchenware were scattered everywhere, and Taufan was careful where he puts his feet on.

However, his cerulean blue eyes were drawn to a figure that was hunched at the corner of the room.

Taufan internally winced at the waves of pain and sadness that was emitting from Gempa's frail figure. As an element that literally came from happiness, he can sense when someone is feeling the same, or the opposite thing.

Hali was the same, sensing both fear and anger due to his element. Gempa, however, as an element that came from the desire to protect and be responsible, he can feel nearly everything. He knew when someone is in pain, or when someone just needed him in general.

Gempa was the strongest one amongst all of them, and Taufan had never seen him cry once. And seeing his brother in his most vulnerable state broke his heart.

Taufan carefully knelt down in front of him and observed the earth manipulator.

Gempa's eyes were puffy and rimmed with red, the golden yellow hue faded like a veil of shadows was hung over his eyes. Dark circles outlined the bottom of his eyes, as if he hasn't slept for days. Weeks even. Cuts also littered his face, most of which were still bleeding. Taufan reached out a hand and wiped some of the blood away, feeling a pang in his heart when Gempa flinched away from his touch.

It wasn't the Gempa he knew.

Taufan reached out to the earth elemental and put his arms around him. He ran his hand through Gempa's graying hair and held him close as he cried on his shoulders.

"It wasn't your fault," Taufan whispered as he cradled the (slightly) younger elemental in his arms.

Soon enough, Gempa's sobs turned to sniffles and he was just lying limply on Taufan's arms.

Seeing that Gempa was out of it, he lifted the earth elemental in his arms and carried him to his room bridal style. Taufan then tucked him in his bed like Gempa used to do to them once.

The wind elemental's fingers brushed against Gempa's forehead and fought the urge to cry when he leaned into the simple touch. Taufan went to get a damp cloth and dried the remaining blood on Gempa's face before standing up.

Giving one last look at his brother, Taufan took a deep breath and was about to walk out of the room when he heard Gempa's voice.

"Please, Hali. Don't leave me." Gempa's voice was slurred in his half-conscious state.

A tear fell down on Taufan's cheek when he felt the pain and desperation in his brother's voice.

He quietly made his way back to his brother's bedside and kissed his forehead like a mother would do to her sleeping child.

"I won't," Taufan whispered. "I won't."

At that moment, Taufan decided to take up the role as the current oldest elemental in the house. He didn't care if it would mean less time for fun and leisure. He didn't care if Blaze and Duri would hate him for it.

What matters is that Gempa won't be alone anymore.

Gempa will have him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Probably gonna be another series on oneshots. Idk. I have a lot of things planned and I never seem to finish any of them.

Hope ya like this Kitchen Mama Drama uwu