I tilted forward slowly rubbing my lips together as a placed a delicate hand on the bathroom's mirror. The girl with the unnatural blue iced eyes did the same. Was this real or was it all some fantasy my mind was playing on my. I closed my eyes with a certain caution and reopened them slowly. My green eyes were still gone, replaced with an alienated blue cloak. I felt excitement and fear bubble up all the way from my toes so my lips. They curled up in a grin. An idea flooded my mind. Moving with a quick pace across my bedroom floor my excitement built up to the point of bursting. I bent under my bed and pulled out a small box. Memories made me smile as I shifted old pictures around of me and my boys till my fingers brushed up against what they yearned for. I placed my sunglasses, something I tucked away as soon as I had gotten home, on my face. Striding out the door with a new found confidence I headed for the docks.

Ben Blue was bent over at the docks fastening some ropes and brushing off the copilot seat. My seat. He couldn't hear me coming, however I could hear everything. I heard the swish of his jean's fabric as he pulled out his phone. I heard the familiar click of it turning on and the mirroring click of it powering down. I smelt nervousness creeping in as his heart pounded a little faster. I grinned as I got closer. Ben was expecting his sweet and normal girlfriend with the emerald eyes to meet him at the docks five minutes ago. He was probably foolishly worrying that I had run off and left him. That he wasn't good enough for me. Just thinking that caused my heart to break. Ben Blue is and will always be good enough for me; I wish I could make him understand. Close now, Ben turned and saw me. I could feel the relief pouring out of him. He jumped off the dock and tried to casually sprint over to meet me. Like I said he tried to be casual. He stumbled a little and moved obviously faster than he intended. I could tell he was trying to figure out what a boyfriend would do in a situation like this. Something neither of us really had experience in.

Bens smiled widened as we became arm's length from each other. Unsure what to do he shuffled his feet, than perked up. He offered me his arm with a dopey grin;

"Shall we set sail ma 'lady?"

"Aye aye captain" I said with a giggle, trying to act normal, see if he noticed.

I linked arms with him and we walked towards the dock. We were almost there when Ben came to a complete stop.

"No…" he breathed turning slowly. I could see it click. He realized what he had looked over.

I tried to keep a blank face. Ben's arms unlinked with mine. He raised one hand, unsure and cautious to my face. He first moved a single red curl out of my face and tucked it gently behind my ear. Then his fingers traced over the top and sides of the glasses. He removed them and sucked in his breath sharply. I knew what he was seeing. My greens eyes just a memory replaced with blue fire. He just kind of stared for what seemed like forever.

"Tory how...I tried for hours and it wouldn't come back."

"Mines not back Ben. This is different. It's soo different. It feels different. I feel different."

"But how?! How did you flare?" Ben's voice shook with fear.

"I don't know. I wouldn't accept the change. I willed myself to flare, and then I could feel it. My brain clicked back into place. It was like Chances potion just knocked it lose."

Ben continued to stare, obviously unsure what to do next. I knew he needed a little nudge.

"Ben, I know I shouldn't have sprung this on you, but I needed you to know first. We can have a meeting about this later, but for now we both need to get to school."

"Right. I almost forgot." Ben pulled the keys out of his jeans pockets and headed towards the dock.

I followed with grace moving swiftly. I could feel everything around me. Hear everything. Smell everything. See everything. It was unreal just like my old flares, but with the dial turned from a four to a strong five, maybe even six. It was a little different from my other flares, because even though this one was more, it was easier to control. I didn't feel overwhelmed, in fact I felt quite at peace.

The familiar sent of ocean salt filled my lungs with every breath I took. I peered over the side of the boat and almost gasped. Not only was everything crystal clear, but It had depth. I could see down almost 50ft. Large fish swam with a slow glide, while smaller ones darted quickly and sharply. I didn't realize Ben was frequently turning his head to watch me. When I finally made eye contact with him I flashed a smile. Ben tried to smile back, but something was clearly bothering him. I shot a puzzling look as Ben cleared his throat.

"Tor you enjoying yourself make me really happy, but we are almost at Bolton and well…shouldn't you release …your flare…?"

I felt a little childish for letting my flare burn for so long. I closed my eyes and flicked the "turnoff switch" I'd been using to snuff my flares for a solid year. My throat closed with panic. No matter what I did my flare stayed burning, holding strong without falter.