Name: ???
Fandom: ???
Species: ???
Location: ???

Weee a lot of "???"s

The six-year-old boy at her school asked her, "Do you have any powers?"

    She looked at him with her big brown eyes, her six-year-old self grinning with excitement. "Yes! Do you want to see?"

    The boy nodded enthusiastically.

    She held out her hands, and adopted a concentrated frown. A moment later, her hands glowed with bright light. The boy gasped as she waved them around, leaving a trail of light behind, until she extinguished the magic, and the glow faded.

    "That's so cool!"

    She giggled along with her first friend. "Thanks!"

-

The people who were her family asked her, "Do you have any powers?"

    She, confused and six years old, nodded. "I do..."

    Her mother shook her head and sighed. "No, that's the wrong answer, sweetheart. Try again."

    Her father repeated the question: "Do you have any powers?"

    "I...I don't," she murmured, unsure why they were doing this.

    "There you go. That's the right answer."

-

The man who saved her asked her, "Do you have any powers?"

    Her eight-year-old self clutched her teddy bear close to her chest, tears streaking down her cheeks. She couldn't believe what happened. She couldn't believe what she did. So she shook her head. "N-no, I...I don't."

    For a brief second, he looked confused. Then his expression softened. "Come here little one, I'll get you somewhere safe."

    And he did.

-

The boy who was her first friend, who reconnected with her at age ten asked her, "Do you have any powers?"

    She froze at that question, but quickly shook herself, and gave a less-than-convincing cough. "No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

    The boy frowned. "But...when we were six, didn't you—?"

    "I don't have powers!" she exclaimed, then doubled back. "I—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you. But I don't have powers..."

    He waved away the apology. "It's okay. But are you sure?"

    She turned away from him. "Yes, I don't have any powers. Last time we saw each other was four years ago. You might be remembering wrong."

    She walked away after that, and didn't see the confused look on the boy's face.

    The day after that, they met up again, reconnecting and talking about the last four years, random habits, hobbies, what they liked, this or that random person or dog or squirrel that passes by, even the occasional butterfly.

    They did so again the day after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. The boy never mentioned her powers again.

    School started soon after.

    They met up everyday after their classes, and on the weekends. They supported each other. Helped each other with homework. Read those ridiculously thick books with suuuuuuuper long words together.

    The years passed by like a breeze.

-

The students in their age thirteen Advanced-Martial class asked her, "Do you have powers?"

    Her best friend was the first to speak. "She doesn't."

    "I wasn't talking to you," one of the stronger guys said arrogantly. "Well? Being the only girl in this class, surely you have powers to have gotten in here!"

    Her best friend opened his mouth, his eyes blazing with fury. He was about to defend her, and possibly beat the heck out of the guy for her sake, but she stopped him.

    "It's okay," she said. "I've got this."

    She'd been used to getting such questions, as luck would have it. But she knew how to handle them.

    She grinned up at the guy. "No, I do not have powers. But if you're so convinced I do, why don't you spar with me to find out? Whoever stays on the ground for more than three seconds loses."

    He cracked his knuckle melodramatically. "Well, I won't hold back, girl, just warning you!"

    The rest of the class cheered him on.

    "You better not."

    It wasn't a fair fight.

    For him.

    She knew her anatomy. She knew how to knock out a human with one blow. She felt bad for the guy, so she decided to do it with two.

    As he charged at her, she side-kicked him in the solar plexus. He stumbled back, wheezing as he tried to get air into his lungs. When her leg landed on the ground, she spun, hooked the back of his ankle with her foot, and yanked it out from under him.

    He lost his balance, and collapsed.

    "One." She held up one finger, her stance natural. "Two."

    To the guy's credit, he tried to get up, but his strength failed him.

    She held up three fingers. "Three."

    Stunned silence.

    She bowed, then winked at the crowd as she turned and swept away, walking over to her best friend, who was grinning as well. She made a big deal of dusting off her hands as he shook his head in exasperation, all previous anger gone.

    "And you say I'm dramatic...you didn't even use your hands!"

    "I know!" She grinned, then burst out laughing when he did.

-

Their travel companions, after they were saved by the duo, asked her, "Do you have powers?"

    She blew a strand of her hair out of her face. She grinned. "Nah, I don't. What you just saw? That was pure skill."

    Her best friend rolled his eyes. "I think that Advanced Martial class two years ago boosted your ego. Not that you need it."

    "Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

    "Because I was the one who fights the best."

    Her mouth hung open with indignation. "What? How dare you! The audacity!" She put her hand over her heart mockingly.

    Their companions looked back and forth between them. "Are you...sure you don't have powers?"

    "Uh, pretty sure," she said. She put a finger to her chin and pretended to think. "Well, let's see... Was that one time when I stole cookies from the safe in the kitchen without anyone knowing a sign of magic?"

    "That was because I helped you," her best friend interjected.

    "Okay, yeah fine, it wasn't. So, nope. No powers, no magic. Although, that cookie heist was totally all me."

    "You—!"

    Their companions, oddly, looked at each other with suspicion and doubt.

    The leader shook her head. "Well, since you're joining us, our next destination..."

-

The people who captured her asked her, "Do you have powers?"

    She glared at him from her position on the floor, her hands bound behind her. "Yeah, and I totally would've broken myself out and escaped by now with my totally existent powers."

    He rolled his eyes. "You're in no place for sarcasm, dear. Your friend should be here soon enough..."

    Her eyes widened. "Wait, what?!"

    He grinned, showing his canine-like teeth. A shiver went down her spine, and she scooted backwards. "Your friend has gotten a hold of our location. It won't be long before he comes after you..."

    She was stunned, horrified, scared, and afraid. Her best friend couldn't come here. It wasn't safe. Unlike her, they wouldn't show him mercy. Desperation filled her system as she struggled and strained against her chains. Two guards ran forward to hold her down. She could feel her power rising, but she fought to push it back down.

    "You!" she shouted. "You are a dishonorable, evil—"

    He made a gesture with his hand, and one of the guards used their sword, striking her with the hilt. She was knocked unconscious.

-

The voice in her voice asked herself the question that she had been asked dozens of times for years, Do you have powers?

    For the first time in ten years, she told herself the truth. "I do."

    And she knew why.

    The sight of seeing her best friend, her partner, her companion through thick and thin, being threatened at sword point with no way out did it. She didn't care what her parents had said. She didn't care what happened in the past. She cared about her best friend.

    Their enemy looked at her, confused. "What did you say?"

    She glared at him with the full force of her fury. "The answer to your question. I do."

    Her hands shone with the glory of the sun, and the chains around her wrists turned red-hot, and disintegrated into dust.

    She held her glowing hands in front of her. The sword at her best friend's throat blew away in the wind as yellow particles. Her best friend quickly backed away, stumbling back into their side.

    Their enemy looked with astonishment at his empty hands. Then he snapped at the guards who were going after her, "STOP! GET HIM YOU NO-GOOD SCUMBAGS! GET HER FRIEND! KILL HIM! HE'S HER WEAKNESS!"

    As the army charged, something about his words made her snap.

    She didn't scream. Instead, she closed her eyes. In an instant, she teleported in a flash of light, in front of her best friend.

    He smiled weakly at her. His body was covered with scratches. A stab wound was evident in his stomach. Possibly fatal.

    "Hey," he said. "So you...you do have powers...I wasn't hallucinating..."

    She didn't respond. She held her hand over the wound, and he gasped. A moment later, she backed away. The wound was healed.

    She smiled at him gently. "No, you weren't. I did a terrible deed when I was younger. I thought hiding it would redeem myself, but..."

    He looked over her shoulder. Panic filled his voice. "W-wait...You can explain later, but...get over here. They're getting close..."

    She continued backing up. She heard the pounding of footsteps. "...But if redeeming myself means using my powers...then I'll do it. Even if the cost is great."

    His eyes widened. "Wait— Wait, wait, wait! No! No, don't do this! We can win without you using—"

    "Don't blame yourself, please. Don't do anything stupid. I'll still be here with you, even when I'm gone. I promise."

    He tried to rush forward, but his allies kept him back.

    There was a flash of light.

    Then there was silence.

-

The person who sat on the ground through rain and snow next to the slab of stone asked her, "Do you have powers?"

    He almost heard her voice say, No duh, silly. How else could I have saved your sorry butts?

    He smiled as he let his tears fall, his chest aching. His smile was bittersweet. It seemed to fit the occasion.

    He started sobbing. He sobbed for the only person in the world he cared about the most.

    Do you have powers?

    Yes, I do. That power is having a friend like you.

---

DID YOU CRY?
NO?
Aw man.
-Lunya