"What...the fuck is going on?" Lily hissed under her breath, throwing her brother into the room and closing the door behind her.

"Lily, I-I can explain-!"

       Taube flicked his soaked wings, pacing back and forth with a towel draped over his shoulders. Leaning against a chair was Maya, shivering and wet, attempting to console Max to the best of her ability. However the words she spoke seemed only to be futile attempts to console herself.

It had been half an hour. The Green siblings argued in Lily's room. Though the three elementals that waited in the dining room couldn't hear anything, they could imagine what wild conversation laid beyond the door.

Max was now passed out at the kitchen table, the warmth of the candles and the smell of roses had lulled the girl to sleep. Her pink hair was soaked in strands on her forehead and her head fell against the towel draped over Maya's shoulder.

Rain fell in the forest outside, filling the stiffly comforting silence. Maya sighed shakily, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl on her shoulder.

Moments later, The Psychic jumped at the feeling of a hand touching her other shoulder. She looked up to see the defeated smile of Taube.

"Hey..it's gonna be ok." The fairy said, his lisp combined with the trembling lip making him seem more frail than usual.

Maya shook her head softly.

"She's not-" The psychic began but the words got caught in her throat and her eyes watered. "She's not herself anymore. I shouldn't have gotten involved in all this, I just want her to be herself."

"Maya, she can't be herself if she's dead." Taube said with a soft chuckle, in an attempt to lighten the mood. Maya's eyes became daggers for a moment, before the sharpness flickered out of them and she managed a raspy chuckle.

"You've probably saved her life more times than I can count...which, granted, isn't much, but still-"

"Yeah, well, she also saved my life." The eyes traveled between Taube to Max, then back to the fairy.

"The first day we met...I was a goner. I'd have never admitted it at the time but she saved my ass." Maya's weary eyes smiled at the Ghost Elemental. "My side is scarred from the knife fight I'd gotten into with Valencia and her gang....but Max still stepped in. I remember, my first thought was that she was there to kill me- or that a war was starting between the Psychics and Wind elementals or something, but no. Instead, she saved me." Maya's wavering smile tore itself into a frown as sobs rocked her body.

Taube leaned down and held the Psychic in a tight hug, a warm tear trickled down his cheek as his translucent wings wrapped around her.

"Maya, it's gonna be alright. Listen to me." The fairy bent down on one knee, sighing and draping his sopping towel over the kitchen chair. "I-...I know sometimes it's hard to take me seriously, but just this once, can you?I...I know that, since we've all met, we've had no idea what's going on or why we're making the decisions we're making- but everything keeps turning out ok. You almost died, sure, but you're fine. Oliver got kidnapped, yeah, he's fine. I got kidnapped, ok, I'm alive.....and Max is no different. She's a Ghost Elemental now, so what? She's ok. It's not anyone's fault. Us fairies believe in fate, that everything is destined and there's nothing we can do to change it. This was Max's fate, so it can't be your fault. That's what we believe in, but...what do you believe in?"

Maya's eyes remained on the fairy for a moment, almost as if she were in shock, then she sighed and wiped her eyes clean. Hazily, she glanced at the clock which read '3:42am'

"I believe in the fact that the Green siblings are taking way too long with their conversation."

   "I'm- I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have done any of this, I know I sh-should have just stayed I-in Lime Woods where I-I belong, but..I mean, technically, I didn't have a ch-choice because I was kidnapped, but even afterwards I had to stick with them! Lily, I've seen so much I've never seen before! M-my whole life I've been glued to a screen, and I-I only ever saw pictures of other living elementals. And now, I have th-three friends who are other elemental. Th-they are amazing!" Oliver ranted, pacing back and forth at the foot of his sister's bed. The Bug Psychic gazed at him unintelligibly.

"Ok! Ok! Listen...I'm...exhausted. They can stay here for one week, but after that..they need to leave. I don't need any borderhopper s living in my house. I'm not feeding them either...but once they leave you have to promise to stay with me. I'm not letting you around them!"

Oliver's thudding heart relaxed a bit. Though it wasn't much, he didn't dare budge any farther. It had taken him two hours just to get to that point and he wouldn't risk her changing her mind.

"They can all sleep in the living room since they're all so buddy buddy. You can stay in the guest room. I'm going to sleep." Lily threw herself under the blankets and turned on her side away from her brother.

"Th-thanks, sis...goodnight." Oliver gently closed the door behind him, shutting off the lights.

The boy leaned his pounding head against the door with a sigh of relief, closing his eyes. After a few moments of the sound of thunder and rainfall, he opened his eyes.

Maya and Taube were standing up, gazing at him with wide-eyes, while Max was fast asleep on the couch.

Oliver forced a smile. "Er...sh-she said we can stay here for a week. We're staying in here, though."

Taube smiled and silently trod over to the boy, leaning his forehead against Oliver's shoulder.

"She doesn't like us much, does she?" Maya asked.

Oliver bit his tongue, then after a moment, shook his head.

The Psychic sighed and threw a blanket over Max, before sitting next to the girl and letting her eyes fall shut.

Taube and Oliver curled up on the rocking chair.

"It'll be ok, Maya." Taube reminded her.

"Y-yeah. We've gotten through worse. W-we can help her, I'm sure. Let's just...get some rest."

Maya forced a small nod, and moments later the group was asleep. The warm cinnamon candles and the red roses had done their job.

Despite everything they'd been through together, despite how they'd met, despite how close they had come to their deaths, they weren't afraid anymore.

The stiffness had wore off and their minds were allowed to rest. There were many elementals who knew of the infamous group and were after their heads. However, they rested easily, unencumbered and oblivious to the fact that they were all wanted criminals.

Their adventure had come to an end. Though they were safe for the time being, deep down they knew they would have to face Valencia eventually, and everyone who was after their heads.

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
– C.S. Lewis

"A man with nothing that he loves is a man who cannot he bargained, a man that cannot be betrayed, a man who answers to no one...but himself."
- Edward Nygma

'A/N See you in book II'