W.I.T.C.H

Chapter 24

Air

It's not the sun that wakes me up. Nor is it my alarm clock, which has rung many times. It's the wind. It's always the wind. It seems to sense when I should wake up, and softly blows through my window just at that time. I can't think of any better alarm.

That peaceful feeling disappears as I fall out of bed with a thump. I yawn, stretch, and promptly stub my toe. I can tell already it's going to be one of those mornings where nothing goes right. Although technically, the morning is over. 11:00 a.m., man I slept in!

Hi, by the way. My name's Hay Lin. I was the Guardian of Air. Now? Not so much. You see, there's this place called Kandrakar, and this guy called Endarno, and he… You know what, just ask Taranee. She always knows what's going on. I'm usually just along for the ride.

Anyways, we've all lost our powers and I have a completely normal, non-magical day ahead of me. I can do whatever I want!

After spending a few seconds staring at my wall, I realize I have no idea what I want. Fun, I need to do something fun. It's a beautiful spring day, still to cold for the water park though. The town park? No, not much fun to do there. The girls are probably all trying to figure out what to do about our powers, so I won't bug them.

Man, this is hard. What do normal girls do to have fun? What excites them? I mean, I used to have gargoyles, and giant lizards to spice things up, what can I do to compare to that? Although, to be fair, those things were usually trying to kill me. Or eat me. Or kill me and then eat me.

I decide to head downstairs to clear my head. Maybe then I can think of something to do.

"Hay Lin, there you are!" My dad says as I enter the kitchen. "We're swamped today. We need your help!"

Helping my parents in the restaurant. That has fun written all over it. Weeeee.

As I take an order at table 5, I realize I shouldn't complain about boredom so much. Boredom is relaxing, boredom is safe, and boredom means that no one is going to get hurt. I enjoyed my time as Guardian, but I think I'm definitely ready for a normal life. Just normal problems, and the world doesn't end if I screw up. I can spend more time with Eric…

CRSSSHH

The sound CRSSSHH is not a good sound to hear when you're carrying plates full of food.

"Hay Lin!" My mom says, staring at the breakfast special that is now spread out on the kitchen floor.

"Sorry, mom, guess I wasn't paying attention." I say.

"Are you alright Hay Lin?" She asks, looking me over, "You look tired."

Okay, so my parents worry about me, a lot, but this time she may have a point. I'm super tired, no surprise really, considering all that's happened the last few days. Stress is bad for the body, and being a Guardian is one stress after another. Just another reason it's good to be human.

"Why don't you take the day off?" She says. "You look like you could use some rest."

"But don't you need help?" I ask.

"Not this badly." She replies glancing down at the broken plates.

I get the hint, and head back upstairs to my room. I don't mind it so much, since now I've thought of something to do. Spend more time with Eric. Eric Lyndon is my boyfriend, although we only seem to see each other once a week, if I'm lucky. I decide to give him a call.

"Hello?" He answers.

"Hi Eric, it's Hay Lin. Are you busy tonight?"

"No, why? Are you free for once?"

"Yep. Let's get dinner somewhere."

"Wow. But it's Sunday night. You're never free Sunday night!"

"Well, I am now. And the way it's looking, I might be free a lot of Sunday nights."

"Great! Hey, there's this restaurant I've always wanted to go to. It's called Meridian, and…"

"Meridian?" I almost scream. "It's actually called Meridian?"

"Yeah," He replies, somewhat confused, "what's so weird about that?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just a cool name, I guess."

Of course, he would have no idea why the name Meridian would be important to me.

"Whatever. So how about it? Meet you there at seven?"

"Sure" I say. "See you then!"

No sooner have I hung up the phone then it starts to ring. Once I see Irma's name, I pick it up on the first ring.

"Hey Irma, what are you doing?" I say.

"I'm bored out of my mind! Lunch at Moxie's?" she says.

Moxie's is her favorite restaurant, but a little pricey. She must be really bored if she want's to go there. Man, what's with people inviting me to restaurants today?

"You too, huh? Sure. I'll meet you there." I say.

I won't bore you with the details of our lunch, since, knowing Irma, she already told you about her getting a job.

Nothing much happens to me for the next couple of hours, which I guess is how life is supposed to be. Better get used to it. I've always been a relaxed type of person. I'm carefree and fun loving. I don't worry about a lot of things, and I kind of go with the breeze, if you'll pardon the pun. Which is why I'm just assuming that I'll never be a Guardian again. I haven't really decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet, it just sort of is what it is. I mean, even if all five of us suddenly decided that we desperately want our powers back, there's nothing we would be able to do anyways. So there's no sense getting worked up about something that I can't do anything about. What's meant to happen will happen. As I'm thinking about this, I find myself beginning to do some of my homework.

I don't think I ever realized this before, but time slows down when you're doing homework. Then again, I haven't actually done too much homework all year, so I might just be forgetting. It seems to take forever to get to the time when I'm meeting Eric.

The funny thing is, I'm not even all the excited for tonight's date. The past few weeks I've been dying to spend more time with Eric, and now that I actually can, I don't even care. I wasn't even that excited when Irma got her job, and that was pretty cool. It's like, you know when you've been waiting for something for a really long time, and then when it finally comes, it's never as good as you thought it would be? I've wanted a day off from the Guardians for so long, that now that I have one, I feel a let down. We've fought our fights, we've won our wars, now what? Where can I go from here?

I'm thinking about that as I stand outside the restaurant, waiting for Eric.

"Hey, you!" He says, walking up to me. "Been waiting long?"

"No." I lie. I've been here since 6:30, even though we planned to meet at 7:00. I couldn't just sit around the house any longer, so I came early.

"Good." he says. "Let's eat."

Turns out Eric called ahead and got us a reservation, so we don't have to wait long for a table. That's my Eric. I gotta say, it's pretty weird looking at the menu and seeing MERIDIAN written in fancy letters.

"So, is this your first time on Meridian?" I ask.

"On? Why, do they normally sit people on the roof?" he says, giving me a strange look.

"Oops! I mean, 'in' Meridian. You know, the restaurant."

"Yeah, first time. You?"

"Same."

Man, am I stupid today! Just because I don't have a secret identity any more doesn't mean I have to go around revealing other planets to people. The waiter is soon at our table to take our orders.

"Bonjour! My name is Pierré." The waiter says in an obviously fake accent. "What will you be having today?"

We make our orders and he scurries back into the kitchen. I almost called him Caleb as he left, but just caught myself.

"Nice weather we've been having, hmmm?" Eric says.

"Yes, really nice."

Weather? We're actually talking about the weather? That can't be a good sign. Oh well, better get used to it. After all, that is what normal people talk about.

"So how come you were available tonight?" He asks.

"Oh, no reason in particular." I lie again, "Everything just fell into place."

"Well, I'm glad it did. It's nice seeing you again."

The conversation ranges from family, to school, to the food, to the décor and back to school. I hate myself for it, but I actually want something to happen or for someone to attack. Not enough that anyone gets hurt, of course, just something to make this night more interesting. I guess I just need to get used to normal life again. Normal people don't get attacked at a restaurant, they just eat and talk.

"So where's your Grandma these days?" Eric asks. "I haven't seen her in a while. Is she alright?"

Why can't I ever give him a normal answer? Why do I always have to come up with stories? The reason I'm free tonight is actually because Endarno took away our powers. The reason he hasn't seen my Grandma is because she's in Kandrakar, probably trying to talk Endarno into giving us our powers back. But of course I can't say that.

"Oh, she's gone back to China for a couple of weeks." I say, my third lie of the night. "I'll let her know you were asking about her."

"Yeah, thanks." Eric replies. "By the way that reminds me of something. You see, my Grandpa was in the observatory the other day, and…"

Woah, that's weird. I just completely tuned out. I have no idea what Eric just said. I've got to focus on what's going on now, not the Guardians. Now, what was he talking about? His Grandpa, or something, right?

"…and then he went to the doctor, and it turns out it was just a…"

Man, that woman has a really, really pointy nose. NO! I'm going to focus! He's my boyfriend, and I will give him my full attention, which is what he deserves. I'm not going to pay any attention to the half-woman/half-parrot creature; I'm just going to listen to Eric.

"…so then the doctor brings out this big, pointy needle, and he sticks it right…"

Seriously, she could take someone's eye out with just her nose. She could probably open cans with it! HAY LIN! You will pay attention to Eric! Just five minutes, that's all you need to do! I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!

"Anyways, once they get that cleaned up, they..."

I can't do this. I'm sorry Eric, I really tried, but I can't. It's too dull, and it's too boring. I said I go with the flow, but I also said I was fun loving. How can I go from fighting evil to cleaning dishes and quiet dinners? How can that compare? I need something wild to make the quiet moments that much better. I need something more. I need the Guardians. Sure it was dangerous, and sure it was super annoying sometimes, but it was fun! It made life exciting, and worth protecting. I want to be a Guardian! I finish the last 90% of my dinner in three bites and stand up.

"Well, that was great, Eric, but I got to go."

"Now?" Eric says. "But I just started eating? Was it something I said?"

"No, Eric, it has nothing to do with you." I say, truthfully for once. I feel bad leaving him, but it's necessary.

"Then why are you leaving?"

"I wish I could tell you Eric, I really do. But even I don't fully understand it. But here's what I do know. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, and you are the single most important person in my life. But I can't be here right now. I need to be out there!"

"Out where?"

"Who knows? That's the point! That's the fun of it! Who knows where I'll go next? Understand?"

"Not in the slightest. But I do understand this. Nobody has ever made walls that could hold Hay Lin. You're right, you do need to be out there. And when you come back here, I'll be waiting."

I would have totally made out with him if it weren't for all the other people watching. Instead, I settle for one kiss on the lips, and then I'm headed for the door. I feel that familiar feeling rise again. My heart's beating with excitement. I don't know how, but we're going to do it. We're going to come back, and we're going to be better then ever! And it is going to be so much fun! Look out universe, W.I.T.C.H is coming back!

My name is Hay Lin, and I am a Guardian.

My hands are shaking as I dial Irma's number. I've already called Taranee and Cornelia, and they're both in as well.

"Irma, it's Hay Lin. Taranee, Cornelia and I have made our decisions. We want to be Guardians again."

"Awesome! Me too! Tara and Corny really said that?"

"Yep!"

"What about Will?"

"Well…"

"Well, what?"

"I tried calling Will, but she wouldn't answer. I think she's got her phone turned off. I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is. It's too bad though. Let's face it, without Will, we're not going anywhere. She's the heart of the team, literally."

"You're right, Irma. Like it or not, it's out of our hands."

"Now it all depends on Will."