Nya's POV

"No way, you use to be a performer!" I laugh as Cole and I walk back from the gym. He smiles at me and nods.

"Yep, singing, dancing, all of it," he announces.

"Sing for me please."

"No, I'm good," he brushes me off.

"Please," I beg. He looks at me and sighs.

"I'll always be waiting for you. So you know how much I need you. But you never even see me, do you," he sings. I start clapping.

"That was so good," I compliment him. He smiles.

"Thank you."

"You don't peg me as the singing type," I admit. He shrugs.

"I'm off stereotype I guess," we walk into the lobby, and there Juliet is, in the exact same spot, reading her magazine.

"I have someone I want you to meet," I grab Cole's wrist and pull him over to Juliet.

"Nya, you're back," she smiles.

"Juliet, this is Cole. Cole, this is Juliet," I introduce the two. "I have to go upstairs and shower, but you two can talk. Have fun!"

---

Cole's POV

I watch Nya walk away with a look of admiration on my face. She has so much confidence it's insane, in the best way. Once the elevator door closes, my thoughts are interrupted.

"So you like Nya?" Juliet asks. My head automatically whips in her direction.

"What?" I ask.

"You like Nya. I can tell by how you look and her and can't take your attention off of her," she states as if she knows for sure.

"N-no I don't," I stutter, which makes her roll her eyes.

"I can read people. You like her. Do you think she likes you back?" Juliet asks. I shrug.

"I have no clue. I get vibes sometimes, but I don't know. She only talks to Skylor and I thought, so I have a good chance. Do you know who Skylor is?" I ask her. She nods.

"She seemed cool," she shrugs.

"Do you think Nya likes me, considering you can 'read people'?" I ask her. A look of contemplation crosses her face.

"She likes you as a person, but I don't know if she likes you how you like her. She's hard to read. She enjoys being around you though," she informs me, which makes me smile.

"Hey, that's good. Maybe I can work some Cole magic," I crack my knuckles. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

---

Nya's POV

I open the door to my bedroom and walk in. I automatically see Skylor, hands folded in front of her, facing the door. Her expression is serious.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask her. She sighs.

"I think you're ready. I was waiting to know if I could fully trust you, but I think I can," she looks up at me. "Can you sit down?" Wearily, I take the seat next to her.

"What's this about?" I ask her. She sighs.

"If given the chance, would you get out of here?" Skylor asks me. I think to myself.

"I'd miss you and Jay and..." I start before Skylor interrupts me.

"You could take us with you. If you could go out and be free, would you?" she asks. I nod.

"Of course. We'd have so much more freedom," I answer her honestly.

"Well, Jay, his roommate, and I are all part of this group who are trying to get out," she informs me. I tilt my head.

"What do you mean?"

"On my computer, I write up the itinerary for our meetings. It's like a club, but we're trying to get out. There's a decent amount of people in it," she fills me in.

"So you're like the leader of the rebellion?" I ask her. She nods.

"That day you first came, I couldn't trust you to be in here for the meeting, so I had Jay come get you," she informs me, and it clicks.

"Well, if we're opening up here, I have to admit this," I sigh,"I've never used my powers before. Heck, I don't know if I ever inherited powers." Skylor's eyes widen.

"How? How did they find you if you've never used them?" she asks me seriously.

"I turned myself in," I admit. She looks at me like I'm insane.

"Why in the world would you do that?" she asks me.

"I was in the city, and I went to an FOF meeting. They're a group of activists that are fighting to get you guys freed. Your dad is one of them. There, I found out my mom was one of them, so they were going to try to get me out of the city because I have her blood in me. I came up with the idea, however, to come in here and try to motivate you guys to stand up, so I turned myself in. I turned myself in to EMPA, and they made me take a blood test to make sure I was actually related to an elemental master. Then, they took me here. I kind of forgot about that though," I shrug.

"Wait, how did they know that your brother didn't inherit the powers?" Skylor asks, genuinely confused.

"Because he's an elemental master too. He ditched me about 8 years ago to run from EMPA," I inform her. She looks concerned now.

"And he's not in here?" she asks. I shake my head.

"I haven't looked for him, but I assume that I would've seen him by now," I tell her.

"What's his name?" she leans forward.

"Kai, he's the master of fire. He shot a fireball at me on accident the day he left," I inform her. She looks shocked. "Is there something wrong? Did something happen to him?"

"I have to call Jay," she tells me, confusing me. She stands up and goes to the corner, clicking on Jay's contact and calling him. She starts quickly and quietly talking to him before putting her phone down.

"Jay is going with his roommate to the park. We're going to meet them there," she tells me anxiously.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"Nope," she answers quickly. "You might want to switch out of your workout clothes." I listen to her advice and go over to my closet. I pick out a pair of black jeans with a light blue and maroon tank top. Looking in the mirror, I rebrush out my hair and brush my teeth again. When I come back out, Skylor is sitting on her bed, even more anxious.

"We can go now," I inform her. She gets up, grabbing her phone, and follows me out the door. We're silent on our way down to the lobby, and it puts me on edge. As we walk through the lobby, Juliet is sitting there, alone, reading her magazine. She doesn't look up as we walk by. The two of us make our way to the park, still in silence. We reach the fountain, and they're not here yet.

"How did we beat them?" she asks herself, glancing down at her phone.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" I check again. She shakes her head.

"There isn't," the two of us watch the people entering and exiting the clothing shop before we're interrupted.

"What's wrong Sky? Jay said we had to get here ASAP," I turn around at the sound of a voice, and my eyes widen. He still has the same warm hazel eyes as when we were younger. His hair is still the same disheveled mess. His smile is still the same slightly crooked smile. His face melts when he sees me.

"Nya?" his voice cracks, tears starting to flood his eyes.

"Kai," I say back, my voice not being able to project itself beyond a whisper. At first, my heart swells, but then I remember what he did to me. "You abandoned me 8 years ago. You left a little nine year old girl to survive and run her family's company by herself." I start to raise my voice. My eyes are watering. Kai looks heartbroken.

"Nya...," he starts, but I cut him off.

"I spent my whole life after that moment asking myself why I wasn't good enough for you to take me. It was supposed to be us forever, but you left!" I start to sob. Seeing him brings back all the negative memories back from the back of my mind.

"I was doing that to protect you. I was scared," he tells me, starting to walk closer. He take a couple of steps back.

"I don't want to talk to you," I sob, turning around and running away as fast as I can. Seeing him brought back all the pain and suffering I had to go through growing up. All the loneliness, the never being good enough. Once I make it into the woods, my legs give out and I collapse, dropping to my knees and crying. After a couple of minutes, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's just me," Jay hums softly. "Let's go to the tree. Would that make you happy?" I can't make out any words, so I just nod. He helps me up and leads me to the tree while I sob. He types in the code and leads me down the familiar hallway. Once he closes the door behind him, he wraps his arms around me, so I hug him back and cry into his chest.

"I hate him, I hate him, I hate him," I repeat over and over. "Did you know?"

"What?" he asks me softly.

"Did you know Kai was my brother?" I clarify.

"I didn't until Skylor called me. I didn't know he had a sister. The not talking about your past rule was the only rule he didn't break," he admits. I look up at him. "You lived by yourself until you were nine?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"You're so strong," he smiles down at me softly, wiping away some of the tears underneath my eyes. "Can I show you something?"

"Sure." He lets me go and walks over to the corner to a machine that's covered with a sheet. When he uncovers it, I'm still confused on what it is.

"What is that?"

"It's a prototype of machine that is supposed to scan a keyhole and create a key that matches it," he tells me, making my jaw drop.

"So you're telling me..." I start, but can't put it into words.

"That once we," he puts extra emphasis on the word we,"complete this, we'll be able to take these stupid cuffs off and escape." I don't know what gets into me, but I stand on my tip toes and plant a kiss on his cheek.

"That's so great," I inform him. He gives me a huge smile back.

"Will you help me?" He asks.

"Of course."

A/N sorry if there were any typos I didn't read it over

It finally happened

Did you guys think Nya's reaction was justified?