Sparkles
Scornful Light

Lightning.
That was my first awareness.
I was born during a storm. Fitting for a cursed weather witch, no?
Light became a fascination for me, a way to keep my mind off Cousin Uraelle's tasks.
A copper bit in the market, the sun's hot reflection in the well, the tiny glimmer that would spark in my eyes whenever a storm hit.
When Niko taught me to see magic, he began to sparkle as well. That was when my intense obsession with him began. There's no other word for it, although Sandry would say I've caught the love sickness. And maybe I have.
But Niko must never find out. I'm just his student, just another lost mage he rescued from the seas of despair.

A Glimmer, A Glimpse
Look, Did You See It? Hope Just Darted By

Lightning.
My pet, my companion.
The one who showed me other shiny things.
I walked in on Kethlun Warder in the glass shop in Winding Circle, one day after we'd returned, and caught a glimpse of him through Lightning.
He shimmered like the reflection of the sun on the yesteryear well of my memory.
He shook his long shaggy hair back, he had let it grow over the year, and revealed the silvercopper piercing he had asked Frostpine to do.
The white-gold mix captured the light of the hot, glass fire, and I knew I'd found a new obsession.

Like That
Hope Just Dashed By, An Appointment With The Rocks Near the Seas of Despair

Lightning.
I hate running. But that was the only thing I could do after I saw Briar and Kethlun. I never knew. Never dreamed. Well, maybe dreamed about it a few times, but never once did I think that my brother or my student would really be that way.
They must have heard me; I'm sure I gasped, and Briar must've sensed me, because they both looked up at me.
Pity.
It was shining in both their eyes. I hate pity. I don't need it from anyone, anywhere, anytime.
All I need is to be accepted, wanted, needed.
But for the cursed, love is always too much to ask.

Please
Everyone Has A Place, So Where's Mine?

Lightning.
It blazes white hot, imprinting its patterns into my eyes. I stare at it. Will it take my pain away?
But nothing can.
They both tried talking to me earlier. Briar's worried because he thinks maybe I don't like that he's like that. I told him not to worry. I just want to be told. I felt the other two relax. They knew already.
I was the uncertain factor.
Kethlun tried bribery. A trinket there, and ribbon here, a pastry bun he nicked like Briar taught him to. I finally told him to give up.
They say I'm sulking like a child and I am, but right now, that is how I can hang on.

Boom
Sand and Lightning Make Glass, So What Do Glass and Lightning Make?

Lightning.
I spin a cage out of it. Weaving in on the spinning wheel of my mind, like Sandry and Lark taught me to.
Right before I'm finished, I shove a piece of glass into it, and watch it explode.
Bits of sand hiss through the air, and I can imagine that they leave scars. Long, thick gashes to match the ones on my soul.
Tearing constantly, but never showing.

Chance
I Do Believe In Second Chances, You Just Have To Convince My Heart

Lightning.
I am on the roof reveling in the storm when Niko pokes his head up. He screams at me for a bit over the thunder about how he hates heights, before convincing me to come down.
As I clamber down the ladder he is behind me, nattering on about students and dragons and teachers and magic.
We sit in the warmth of my room, although I leave the window open; I can never miss a good storm. And right before he leans over across my bed and presses his lips against mine, I see lightning out of the corner of my eye.