"How difficult can this be?" Chanyeol mused in frustration, summoning a ball of fire to appear in his hands.

"Jae-noona," he muttered. "Think of Jae-noona," he murmured to himself, crunching up his face as he did his best to focus. He popped them open when he saw that the fireball started to spark like a Roman candle and he started to chuckle.

"Yes! Okay, stay that way, I have to show the—uh-oh..." The fire started to grow and shot off like a rocket before Chanyeol could stop it. It soared and bounced off a few trees before changing its trajectory, heading straight towards him. Chanyeol quickly ducked down and startled when he heard another squeal. 

"Whoa!" Jae covered her head as the fire vanished, sparking faintly over her head before it was gone. 

"Jae-noona!" Chanyeol scurried over in a hurry, helping her up and muttering a string of apologies. She only chuckled as though she was utterly amused.

"It;s okay, really! Don't worry about it," she told him with a bright smile. "That one definitely looked more like fireworks, though. You're improving," she said, but Chanyeol cleared his throat nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Not reall, I was—Hey, wait a minute." Chanyeol looked behind Jae. "W-what are you doing here, noona? Where are the others?"

"Oh, it's just me. I, uh, well, I kinda saw you sneak away back there, and I guess I just wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed really disappointed just now," she said quietly, with flushes on her cheeks. "I hope you don't feel too bad about it. I mean, that phoenix really was beautiful, you know, before it attacked." She chuckled.

Chanyeol blushed. She thought it was beautiful? He was quiet for too long, since Jae started to shuffle feet and looked around. 

"So should I leave? Do you want to be alone for a while?" she asked a little awkwardly, and Chanyeol immediately snapped to action. 

"No! I mean, no, that's okay. If noona would like to stay, that's okay," he said, grinning happily at her while bouncing on the balls of his feet. "S-so, noona, you really thought it was beautiful? The fire, I mean?" he asked shyly.

Jae blinked at him before nodding sincerely. "I still can't wrap my mind over how you guys do it, this whole power thing. I couldn't conjure something like what you showed us in my wildest dreams."

Chanyeol felt himself being entranced by the light in her eyes when she talked about something that fascinated her, and he couldn't help himself when he asked, "Why do you think that fire is beautiful, noona?"

Jae seemed to be surprised by the question and pondered it over. "How do you mean?" she asked, as though she was stunned that a wielder of fire didn't know the answer himself. He felt a little embarrassed by that.

"What do you see in fire that you find so fascinating?" he tried again, wanting an actual explanation. He realized then that he was rather envious of Jae. How could she see the beauty in so much careless destructive power?

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a pyromaniac or anything," she quickly quipped. "I don't really know. Fire is fire, you know. It gives us warmth and light—"

"But it burns if you come too close and leaves destruction in its wake," Chanyeol interrupted. Jae nodded.

"True, but when controlled, it's mesmerizing. Fire dances and sparks." She gestured her hands when she tried to find the right words to say. Chanyeol felt his ears burning when Jae smiled at him. 

"You know what, fire kind of reminds me of you. It's playful, like you. I guess that's why it doesn't always listen when you try to control it. It's not your fault or anything, I mean, you lack nothing in skill, Chanyeol, but it kind of takes on your personality, don't you think? You don't always do what people tell you to, in fact, you love to tease them. Maybe your life is the same way," she thought out loud, grinning sheepishly when she looked up at him. 

"I don't make a lot of sense, do I?" she stated embarrassedly. "Here, let me ask you a question," Jae then prompted. "Why would you think fire is anything but beautiful?"

"Oh wow, noona, where to begin?" Chanyeol breathed dramatically. "Please understand, noona, I love being able to do what I do, but, man... How many times did I burn these trees by accident? Nearly incinerated the school—four times, by the way, or well, five, I supposed, I sneezed and the flower caught on fire and— oh, not important," he rambled. "Yes, fire can be pretty, I guess, but once it's burned out, all there's left is ash. It has the ability to turn something into nothing but dust. How can that be beautiful?"

"Fair enough, but there are plenty of times that fire has done good, hasn't it? There is a reason why you love it," Jae replied, watching him with a warm expression on her pretty face.

Chanyeol was inclined to disagree, since he mostly loved his power purely because it intimidated others and, come on, who wouldn't freaking love the idea that he can control fire? But as he seriously took it into consideration, he started to chuckle, thinking back to fond memories where his fire played an important part. He laughed to himself, clapping his hands, trying his best to suppress it before Jae-noona would think he was an idiot.

"There was this time where we celebrated Sehun's birthday and of course they asked me to light the candles," he started to explain, still trying to suppress his laughter. "He'd blow them out, but then I flicked them right back on. He got so confused and frustrated that he blew too hard, the wind picked up and took the entire cake with it." He laughed.

"Aw," Jae-noona said, smiling but looking sympathetic towards Sehun.

"Ah, don't misunderstand, noona!" Chanyeol quickly explained. "All of us went into town to bake another, better cake for him. I was in charge to make sure it was baked to perfection. Sehun said it was the best birthday cake he ever ate," he said proudly, reminiscing. "Oh, and there was that time we split into two teams to play fire-snowball war," he jumped up in excitement. "Xiumin-hyung was captain of the ice team and I was the captain of the fire team. He'd throw snowballs at us which I melted and throw fireballs back, which he froze again. Our teams would have to try to get the other team's flag while we battle it out. Did you know that Xiumin-hyung has a really good aim, noona? But it's okay, though, he'd always freeze the fireballs I throw at him, but then sometimes he's too late to avoid them, and-" he burst out in laughter, making Jae laugh as well. "Bam! His own snowball hits him in the face," he clapped, trying to catch his breath.

"Wah, and noona, when the night is quiet and the stars are shining brightly, we'd sit by the fire. I'd make it extra warm to create the proper mood while the whole pack just sit and talk. Lay-hyung and I would jam together, playing the guitar, while D.O. sings and Baekhyun and Chen join in. We'd laugh and just enjoy each other's company." 

Chanyeol could see his brothers' smiling, happy faces in his mind. How they were lit by the warm glow of the fire, making their eyes sparkle, causing their smiles to beam even brighter. It was- "beautiful," Chanyeol murmured, feeling the warmth radiate throughout his body when amongst those faces, a new face joined in as well, completing the circle. A pretty face that was looking at him right now.

He happily beamed at her. "You know what, noona? I think I want to try this again," he said, laughing when Jae bowed playfully before him.

"I believe that is a great idea, Chanyeol," she winked and he played along when he bowed before her, just like he had seen princes in movies do before their princesses and tried to contain his glee when Jae accepted his arm and they walked back to their brothers.

"Yah! Where did you disappear to all of a sudden?" Chen accused, pointing at Chanyeol.

"We nearly started without you," Kai piped up, gesturing at the plateau.

"Jae-noona, blink twice if you were kidnapped by Chanyeol-hyung," Sehun said, his eyes fixed on her arm draped over the widely grinning teen. She laughed and squeezed his arm tighter.

"Nope, I just came to look for him. Tada! One firebender, at your service," she announced and she gently moved away from him, but Chanyeol could still feel her warmth.

"You can do it," she whispered, nudging him forward.

Chanyeol nodded confidently, seeing the campfire he created, seeing the warm glow cast over his brothers and he clasped his hands together as he directed himself towards them. "Can I request something?" he started. "Is it alright if I go first, this year? I have a really good resolution," he promised, seeing the curious looks around him.

"Go ahead, Yeollie," Kris nodded, followed by Baekhyun cheering him on, the others quickly joining in.

Chanyeol happily walked towards the plateau until he stood at the edge and could oversee the green forest. The sky was clear, and he wanted to do something about that. Casting one glance back he focused again. But this time, he didn't just think of Jae-noona, he thought of his brothers, too. Their smiling faces around the campfire, their laughter ringing in the air when they went barbequeing, and the sound of their cheerful clapping with their soot-stained faces.

"Eh, Chanyeol, what are you-"

"Let him, Chen," Jae said, the brothers watching curiously as sparks flew from Chanyeol's fingertips. Subtle and light at first, but growing stronger, more bright, more glorious to look upon. The flames licked his fingers and palms, colors of orange, red and blue, jolting out of his fingertips into the night sky, where it burst with a loud bang, glittering like fiery flowers in bloom.

No one spoke a word at the spectacular sight, their mouths agape as Chanyeol's flowers of fire bloomed and burst in the sky. The teen himself laughed in triumph, shooting more flames into the sky before turning to his stunned pack.

"Yah, Chen, Baekhyun! Are you going to stand there and stare, or are you going to help?" he called out to his two brothers who then came into action as they joined in the laughter and soon the sky was alive with glorious fireworks unlike any of them had seen before. Baekhyun made Chanyeol's fire even more beautiful by adding color, while Chen used his lightning to create more shapes and patterns. Amongst the cheering and the blasts of amazing fireworks, Chanyeol spoke out his resolution.

"Here's to a new year where I can share the warmth and beauty of fire with others more, so we can enjoy the flowers of fire together," he said, looking at his pack. "I hope to always be thankful for my skills and for my pack who make me stronger. We are one," he decided happily, cooing out of amazement himself when Chen helped his phoenix take a more sophisticated shape before Baekhyun added the colors of the rainbow to its tail, just before it scattered into a million stars.

"Whoo! Amazing!" Jae-noona yelled over the ruckus. "Happy New Year!"

Chanyeol made sure to remember how the colorful fire lit up Jae's face, how full of wonder her eyes were.

And maybe, if it were possible, I'd like to see fireworks with closed eyes this new year as well, he thought shyly to himself, imagining what it would be like to have a certain person's lips attached to his. The thought alone made him beet red and he shot out another powerful flame into sky, his brothers teasing him when they saw that it was in the shape of a heart.

"Aww, we love you too, Chanyeollie!" Chen immediately teased.

"Saranghae, you gorgeous elf-prince, you!" Baekhyun added.

"Yah, enough already!" Chanyeol whined, though he didn't protest when he was suddenly stuck in the middle of a group hug. He made use of his long arms to hug as many people back.

"Happy New Year, everyone. Let's make it a good one!"