Parker’s head shot up and he stared into the eyes of Master Sora. Tears began to stream even faster down his face. Parker quickly ran away from Master Sora, unable to control the overwhelming feelings rushing through him.

Before he knew it, Parker was back at the doors to the Medical Ward. He bent over, hands on his knees, breathing hard. His chest was burning from his sprint through the corridors as the doors in front of him began to open.

“Parker…? Are you okay, Sweetie?” Madame Sasaki asked. “Why are you breathing so hard?”

Parker looked up, face still wet from crying. “Yeah,” he said, wiping his face off.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

After a big sniffle, Parker lunged forward and wrapped Madame Sasaki in a tight hug. “Nothing…” After a quick moment, he let go of her and said, “Thanks for letting me walk around for a while. I’m going to go lay down…” Parker walked to the bed he’d spent his coma in and laid down.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed by as he laid there, staring at the wall. Thought after thought sped through his mind like they were drag racing, causing a loud roaring sound to fill his head. Everyone he’d lost was right here! He had it all back now and he didn’t understand why it was so overwhelming.

Taking several deep breaths, he was able to start calming himself down. “Okay,” he mumbled to himself. “Let’s recap. I’m eighteen, trapped in the body of my own fifteen-year-old self. Everyone I know that has died, is currently walking around this school like nothing ever happened. Holy. Shit.”

The curtain around his bed ripped away violently, scaring Parker half to death. “What were you just mumbling about?” Alexis asked.

Parker looked around to see if she was alone before he responded. She looked at him, clearly waiting for a response. “Oh, nothing. Sorry I rushed away like that earlier.”

“What was that about?” she inquired.

“It was nothing,” he tried, hoping she’d leave it at that.

Alexis tilted her head and pursed her lips. “You know I’m not leaving it at that. You ran out of The Regale and if I’m not mistaken, which I know I’m not, you were crying. So, spill.”

What should Parker do? He knew he couldn’t tell her the truth, but at the same time he didn’t have a story ready to tell her that would be believable. He took a noticeable breath. “Caleb and I were talking. I made a comment about how touchy he and Hailee were being, you know, since I haven’t seen that before…”

Alexis laughed. “Yeah, holy cow, that feels like old news now, but I guess you wouldn’t know that.”

Parker nodded. “Yeah, it definitely threw me off. I mean, don’t get me wrong,” he laughed mid-sentence. “We all knew they both liked each other, but neither had done anything besides talk to us.” Alexis smiled, making Parker’s heart race. Did he tell her right now? Anything could happen and he would miss his chance. He couldn’t let that happen again. “Alexis…”

“How are you feeling, Sweetie?” Madame Sasaki asked, coming up behind Alexis.

Parker hadn’t heard the Medical Ward doors open so he was shocked to see her. “I’m okay,” he said, wide-eyed. He hoped that he was picking up his silent message to not expand on why she was asking that.

“You were so upset when I ran into you a little while ago.”

Alexis turned her head back to Parker and pursed her lips at him again. Madame Sasaki made her way back to her desk, leaving them to their conversation.

“Okay, so keep going, Sweetie,” she added a little emphasis to the “Sweetie” that Madame Sasaki had called him.

Parker took another noticeable breath. “Well…” he was struggling to get the words out. Alexis climbed into his bed and sat next to him. She reached over and grabbed his hand. The heat from her body was making his heart race even faster. A small breeze began encircling them as he tried to work up the courage. This was it. This was his moment.

He turned his head to her, still holding her hand. When she locked eyes with him, he opened his mouth. “I love you.” Her eyes widened and then everything went black.

——

When Parker awoke, the curtain around his bed was closed, however he could tell it was daytime by the amount of natural light in the room. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was finally saying I love you to Alexis and then nothing. Had she responded to him? Did he black out immediately after saying it?

He began to sit up in his bed, groaning slightly as he did. “Parker?” he heard Madame Sasaki’s voice from a little ways away. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah, I’m up,” he answered.

He heard footsteps approaching and then his curtain slid open. Parker let out a sigh of relief to see that she was alone and Alexis wasn’t in the room waiting for him. He quickly realized that she should obviously be in class right now.

“How are you feeling? You gave Alexis quite the scare back there.”

“I’m okay, I guess.” He wasn’t really sure. He didn’t know what time it was, which meant he didn’t know how long he’d been out. Based on her demeanor, it didn’t seem like he’d been out too long this time. “What time is it?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s still first thing in the morning. Sun just came up a little bit ago. Alexis actually just left not ten minutes ago to get ready for the day.” Madame Sasaki eyed him slightly and noticed the sigh of relief he let out. “I told her she could stay and that I was sure the masters would understand if she missed a day of classes for this.”

“No, no that’s okay. Her classes are important!” He noticed an “evil” little smile creeping onto her face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, you know, no reason…” she trailed her words off at the end like there was definitely a reason. “I just talked to Alexis a little while you were asleep. I told her that it seemed like your Air Imperial was working on its own and that probably caused you to black out. You were in a coma, Sweetie. Your body has to recuperate.”

“That makes sense I suppose. I hate not using my Imperials though!”

“It’ll be okay Parker, just give it a little while. I did want to ask you something though.”

Parker looked at her a little confused. “Go ahead?”

“Well, Alexis mentioned something from right before you blacked out. She said you told her something…” she trailed her words off again, saying she knew without saying it outright.

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Parker’s eyes shot open, as wide as they could.

“Honey, it’s okay! You’re young! You’re in love!”

His heart started beating rapidly again. The air around them began spinning. Madame Sasaki reached forward and grabbed his hands. “It’s okay. Take a deep breath.”

“What did she tell you?” he asked sheepishly.

A warm smile enveloped Madame Sasaki’s face. “She told me and then she said that you slumped down on the spot, unconscious. She tried to wake you up but you wouldn’t budge. I imagine it was your body just over stimulated. I mean, between what you’ve been through lately, your Air Imperial starting up and telling her that for the first time, that’s a lot for the fifteen-year-old body to handle. Get some more rest,” she said and patted his head before walking away to her desk.

The day went by rather slowly as he lay in his bed. He definitely slept a good portion of it and Madame Sasaki was nice enough to bring him lunch to eat. No one came to visit him between their classes which made him a little upset. Whenever he heard Madame Sasaki leave, he would get out of his bed and try his Imperials out since he was the only one in the Medical Ward.

His Air Imperial was doing better. He managed to whip up a small tornado in his hand without feeling faint. Next he tried to create a slow tornado around his body and that went okay as well. When he tried to speed it up so he could fly a little, his head started to get light so he stopped and sat on the edge of the bed.

“What’s it going to take?” he grumbled to himself.

“It’s going to take time, Sweetie,” he heard Madame Sasaki say from behind him. Parker’s eyes shot open. He hadn’t known she was there. “Don’t worry. I knew you were going to try it. I’ve been here a lot of years. I’m not stupid. I know what’s going through the fifteen-year-old’s mind. Been there.” She laughed as she made her way to her desk.

None of his friends came to visit that night, but he and Madame Sasaki worked on his Imperials and figuring out what his limit was. He managed to perform all of them to some degree before he crawled into his bed for the night.

The next few days followed similarly to the last. Caleb came to visit a handful of times just to chat but the girls stayed away. He said they were just busy studying since the end of second term was quickly approaching but Parker was pretty sure that wasn’t the only reason. He was sure that Alexis had told Hailee everything because he knew if their roles were reversed, he would’ve told Caleb.

Parker was only truly worried about the fact that he told Alexis he loved her but blacked out before she could respond and now she was staying away from him. Had he just changed history drastically by telling her that?

The end of term came, but Parker wasn’t quite ready to play in the finals. Everyone on the team had come to check on him within the last week before the game. Although he was improving on not passing out, he wasn’t ready to exert himself that much.

It pained Parker as he filled into the stands to watch with everyone else. He sat between Caleb and Hailee as they looked down through the clear floor. He could see The House of Erion team approach the center of the field where The House of Kenna was waiting for them. Cassidy at the center of the line-up stepped forward as the rest of the team took their positions.

Parker’s heart sank as Toby took his spot on the field. He quickly moved his eyes to Alexis and stared at her for a moment. An arm reached around him and squeezed. “Hey, don’t worry about her. You know she feels the same.” Hailee said to him.

He turned his attention to Hailee, missing Alexis turning to look up at him. “Did she say it?” he asked.

“Don’t get caught up on that! It’s like she knows she does but she’s not ready to say it. You get what I mean?” Hailee asked.

Parker shifted his eyes. “I guess? I mean, no, not really. Is she afraid to say it?”

Hailee removed her arm from around Parker and twisted in her seat a little to face him as best she could. “You’re her first boyfriend. So, I wouldn’t say she’s afraid but I would say she’s nervous.”

“She’s my first girlfriend,” he pointed out, but it was at that moment that it clicked for him. He’d been in love with her for three more years than her right now. All of the feelings he’d built for her came out in that “I love you”. She was three years behind him mentally.

“We know that. I don’t know. It’s so hard to explain, especially since it should be coming from her.”

Parker leaned over and hugged her as a silent thank you. “Here, switch with me so you can sit next to your man!” Parker laughed as he got up to switch spots with her. Right as he was about to sit down, the center of the castle glowed red. The House of Kenna students erupted in applause.

Parker flopped down into his seat with a slight pout on his face. “You know, the view from up here really sucks. Like, don’t get me wrong, you can see but the center of the castle blocks SO much of the field!”

“It’s definitely not the best,” Hailee agreed. “But where else would we play it? Outside in the blizzard?”

He knew she had a good point but it wasn’t until recently that outside wasn’t gorgeous year round. Parker looked down at the field to see how Alexis was doing and he saw her staring up at them with a sad look on her face. He gave her a thumbs up, hoping she would understand his silent encouragement.

The game went back and forth for a while. Parker couldn’t believe how evenly the teams were matched without him down there. He’d really felt like he was an integral part of the team, but apparently Toby was good enough to fill his shoes. Thinking back to the Aether Championships that he’d played in three years ago, it was a neck-and-neck match as well. If he remembered correctly, they had won seventeen to fourteen.

The center of the castle lit up in a blaze of red. The scoreboard updated Erion 19 - Kena 21. The House of Erion team kept in the game but they were playing to stay in the match instead of playing to win. Everytime Parker looked down at Alexis, it seemed like she was just looking away from him. He’d spent the majority of the match talking to Hailee and Caleb about random stuff.

The two teams approached the center of the field, everyone breathing heavily. The whistle blows and Marianna storms the center of the field and with a fiery kick, sends the ball into the top right corner of the goal. The castle lights up red and The House of Kenna students storm the field. Parker, Caleb and Hailee make their way back to the common room to wait for Alexis. It always takes the team a little longer to get back to their houses after a match because they have to change in the locker rooms and talk about the game.

The three of them were sitting on the couch in front of the fire talking and laughing when Alexis came up through the floor. She immediately saw the three of them on the couch and ran to the balcony, letting the cold air whip into the common room. Before Parker could stand up, she disappeared to the roof.

Snow was blowing in all over the place and Parker ran to follow her. Caleb stood up but Hailee grabbed his sleeve and said, “Let him go.”

Parker heard Caleb say something behind him but he was flying up to the roof already. The wind blew strongly against him, threatening to take him right off the room. There were large snow drifts in spots, while other spots were completely bare.

In the center of one bare spot was Alexis, sitting, knees to her chest. Parker walked over to her and sat down facing her. The wind and snow made the skin on his face scream. It hurt, but being here for Alexis was much more important.

“Hey,” he began to say, but she stopped him.

“What’s going on with you two?”

Parker looked at her confused. “What?” was all he could get out.

“You and Hailee. I keep seeing the way you look at her and I don’t understand. You just told me that you loved me and then you’re looking at her the same way you look at me.”

Parker grew even more confused but then realized what she was talking about. The look in his eyes when he looked at Hailee were most certainly different now than they had been when he was actually fifteen. Now, he took every chance he had to talk to her and hang out with her, knowing that in his timeline, he’d watched her die. That changed everything for him. He had these opportunities again and he wasn’t going to let them go to waste.

He wanted to spend every waking minute with Alexis but she’d been avoiding them. His gut told him that if he’d pressed the issue, it would push her away but now he was second guessing that decision.

“There’s nothing going on between us. It’s hard to explain, but I swear on everything, that there’s absolutely nothing between us!”

Alexis stared at him for a moment as the wind howled around them, blowing snow in their faces. Parker created a dome of air around them, keeping the snow from hitting them.

“She’s like a sister to me,” Parker explained. “And—” he started but stopped himself. He couldn’t tell her what he knew. She wouldn’t believe it even if he did.

“And what?” she pressed. “Boys don’t look at their sisters the way you look at Hailee.”

Parker knew that she wasn’t going to drop this. It was time, he had to tell her. He couldn’t think of another solution at the moment. “Can you take us to another space? It’ll make it easier.”

Alexis squinted at him, confused on how that would help but she quickly created a separate space for them to be. The silence was uncomfortable for Parker. On the normal roof, the wind was so loud that it kept the silence away.

“Here it goes,” he began.