Sweet Sixteen

Of chalkboards and twin brothers

It was storming. There was no way around it. The waves were crashing against the shore and the wind was faster than ever before. Yet only a few feet from where Connie Temple was sitting, the sea was flat with no wind available to move it.

Connie shifted a bit to sit more comfortably, but she failed miserable. Not that Connie would ever be comfortable when seeing the wall that separated her from her children. The children who she was waiting for right now with a chalkboard in her hands that said: "I want to speak with Sam and Caine. I'm Sam's mom."A few kids had seen her a few hours ago, but had written nothing back. Connie had been afraid for a second that no one would see her message, until she had seen that girl, Brianna. Connie knew the Breeze from that infamous interview of course, but had that strange feeling she could trust her with getting Sam.

Connie bit her under lip. Will they come? She knew that both of her children had gotten her message, some way or another. Connie wanted them to be a family again, even if it was just one day. She knew she had screwed up miserably back then, but Connie hoped that at least one of her sons would be able to forgive her.

After playing with the chalkboard in her arms for a while, Connie noticed that it was slowly becoming even darker than before. It would be completely dark within half an hour. Connie had been sitting on the beach near the Clifftop Hotel for hours now and she was starting to think that her sons were probably not coming at all.

How could she had been so stupid? Of course her sons wouldn't come. This was Caine's territory, making it extremely hard for Sam to just slip in. She also knew that Caine was still holding a grudge against her and would certainly refuse to talk - write to her. The day would be over soon and Connie was sitting on the beach, holding onto false hope. She wiped the hair that had fallen in front of her face away.

She turned to the cameramen and interviewers behind her, who were itching to see a glimpse of at least one of the twins. All Connie wanted was a silent conversation with her sons and ask them if they were alright. Was that too much to ask? Connie sighed. It probably was.

Then, Connie saw the cameramen walking closer to the wall, while the interviewers were hastily grabbing tablets and chalkboards to write on. She turned back to the wall and her eyes widened.

Sam had heard of his mother's presence a few hours ago, with the help of Brianna. The Breeze had originally gone to Perdido Beach to spy on Caine and search for Drake, Diana and her daughter/the gaiaphage. Though this was completely different news than what he had expected to hear when Brianna came back to the Lake, Sam couldn't help but feel happy.

Sam did want to speak to his mother again. He was angered about her giving up Caine, but maybe they could fix things again. Brianna had told him about his mom wanting to speak to both him and Caine. Though Sam had the feeling that this wasn't going to happen, he was glad that she at least tried. And even though most kids in the FAYZ didn't know what date it was, Sam knew why his mother had purposely chosen this day to have a nice family meeting.

Even if they would talk with chalkboards and would probably be on TV, something Sam wasn't thrilled about, especially with him burning a new born baby and the dead body of Penny in front of the many cameras.

Eventually, the longing for his mother had been too great and he left to Perdido Beach, leaving Edilio in charge as usual.

Now, Sam knew from Brianna that his mother was on the beach near the cliffs where Maria had almost killed a dozen of toddlers before poofing and of course near the Clifftop Hotel, where Lana was currently residing with Sanjit. If he would be careful, Sam knew that he wouldn't be seen that easily by bystanders. After all, he knew the area like it was the back of his head.

Sam remembered the time when Orsay had seen dreams of the people outside of the FAYZ, by touching the Wall. He still didn't know if what she had seen and told was true or not. Maybe he should ask his mother if she had truly said that Sam should let them go.

That they didn't need a hero anymore.

Before he knew it, at least five cameras were watching him and his mother was looking at him with widened eyes. Sam smiled slightly as a greeting and walked toward the place where Orsay had once stood, right in front of his mom. He watched as his mother hastily wrote something on the chalkboard in her hands. It read: "I was worried that you wouldn't come."

Sam took out the piece of the school board that Brianna had given to him. The same board as she had wrote on in that stupid interview. "Yeah well, here I am." They were looking at each other without saying, or writing, anything. It was a bit overwhelming to talk to his mother like this. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but with all those people and cameras here, Sam didn't know what to say. He couldn't help but think about what those people behind the Wall were thinking of him. It probably wouldn't be anything good.

King Caine immediately left the town hall after hearing that Sam was in Perdido Beach. He knew exactly where his brother was. It wasn't that hard really, after hearing from those kids earlier today that Nurse Temple was asking for him and Sam. She was at the beach, so he would be too. Because of the bad weather outside the FAYZ, not many people were near the Wall. Caine really needed to do something about the amount of kids near the Wall, but now, he had more urging matters to take care off. Urging matters like his twin brother, for instance.

When Caine was close enough to Sam, without his brother noticing him but close enough to use his powers, he raised his hand. "I suggest that you leave my territory, Sammy-boy", Sam jumped slightly and turned wide-eyed. Caine smirked, when his brother narrowed his eyes. "If you so much raise your hand, I'll throw you against the cliffs. Now, leave."

"Come on, Caine. Don't you want to speak to our mother?", Caine looked at the direction where Sam was nodding his head to and scowled at Nurse Temple - his mom. "Don't you want to ask her why she gave you away and not me? Here is your chance."

Caine wanted to ask her, he really did. It had bothered him ever since Caine knew the truth. Nurse Temple could have told him the truth all those times in the nursery in Coates, but she never did. Why? Why hadn't she told him when she got the chance?

The king of the FAYZ was just about to ask her, when Nurse Temple held up her chalkboard that said: "I'm sorry, David." Caine stared at the text with confusion. When Nurse Temple noticed it, she wrote something else: "It's your real name; David Temple."

Fury build up inside of him. A few rocks fell off the cliff and Sam took a small step backwards. Caine turned to his brother and gritted his teeth. "Leave, Sam." Surprisingly enough, Sam did so and left Caine alone with his mother, but not before dropping the piece of the school board on the sand. Caine stared after him until he knew for sure that Sam was gone.

When that was the case, Caine picked up the school board and wrote the following: "I'm not David Temple and most definitively not your son. I am Caine Soren, the king of the FAYZ." And with that, he left.

Caine didn't even see his mother holding up her chalkboard that said: "Happy Birthday."

[A/N]: A small side-project, which I hope you liked. I've had the idea since I've read Fear for the first time, since I strongly believe that Sam and Caine's birthday his between Fear and Light, even if it isn't mentioned in the books. Please tell me what you think. :)

'Till next time ^^

Xx Anny