Chapter 25

"And that concludes my story, up until now." I told my fellow classmates at the Plumbers Academy. I had tears in my eyes as I moved a piece of paper away from my face. A hand went up and one of my alien classmates had a question for me.

"Yes?" I sniffled.

"And how long has it been since you've seen Charlie?"

"Six months...but I hear his voice every so often when I call home...so..."

I nodded and gathered up my papers and took a seat. The teacher stood up after me and placed her hands on the podium.

"Thank you Harmione, for that extremely long introduction of yourself...though being the daughter of the famous Ben Tennyson speaks for itself."

I turned away and ignored her comment. We had barracks that we would sleep in and bunk beds. I didn't have anyone to share a bunk bed with, which was fine. I just lied back on the bottom bunk and sniffled silently to myself. I guess you could say I was living the dream. The moment I shut my eyes to go to sleep, the lights in barracks turned on.

"Everyone up, get up!" A woman's voice bellowed. It was Magistrate Ova my basic training coach. We all had to line up in front of our beds and stand at her attention whenever she entered the room.

"Good job...but poorly excuted...do it again." She told us. We had to lie back down, and pretend to wake up again before she was satisfied. Though I don't think Magistrate Ova was ever completely satisfied.

"Tennyson!"

"Yes mam."

"You will be today's official leader of our skills test...because you have worked extra hard these past few months...fail the skills test and you shall not be the leader again."

"Yes Magistrate Ova."

"Your team should be like your family, anything you do as the leader could cost them their life, anything a teammate does, even if they disobey a direct order also falls back on the leader...you must do as you must to ensure the safety of everyone else and within regulation...am I clear?"

"Yes mam!" We shouted in unison.

"Tennyson if you use any of your powers during today's exercise you will fail the test immediately."

I just nodded slowly.

"Very well...let's go."

We followed her down the hall to an advanced training room. It could shift and change its environment at will.

"Inside you will find 6 blasters, you are to use these blasters to temporarily stun the other team, the first team to take out the other will succeed in passing the skills test. This is a team work exercise...Blossom, you will be the leader of the other team."

Blossom smirked at me. She reminded me a lot of how Sierra used to act around me. She was Vulkanas' adopted daughter so she felt entitled.

"The team that loses will have a chance to redeem themselves...by working in the kitchen...you may start when the lights come on." Magistrate Ova instructed and left the room. I had two other girls with me on my team. They were my unit. It was my job to protect them. It grew dark in the room. I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. There was a loud siren, and a bang in the darkness. Suddenly our suits and blasters lit up. My team's color was a bright bubblegum pink. The other team a dark seafoam blue. The room turned into a forest and we could no longer see the other team. It grew quiet. The natural sounds of the forest echoed around us. The trees were thick, and there was a lot of mud and bugs.

"What do we do Tennyson?" One of my teammates whispered. Her name was Nova, and she was half human half cat. The other girl was alien. I wasn't sure which one, but she was small, like Greymatter but had black stripes down her arms and legs. Her eyes were also extremely far apart. Her name was Aurora.

"Well if we sit here and do nothing, Blossom and the others will find us." Aurora replied.

"We should find higher ground...we will be able to see their lights better, come on."

They followed me into the forest. We made it to a small river. I knew somewhere up river would be a more mountainous territory. Suddenly, I saw a reflection of a blue light across the water.

"Get down!" I shouted. "Take cover!"

My team hid amongst the trees.

"Got you a little crossfire, how do you like that?!" I heard Blossom say and snicker. I gasped she had sent her team behind us.

"Aurora, Nova, invasive action, fall back on me!"

Aurora and Nova stood behind me near the river.

"Nova, you take the left, Aurora the right."

"Right!" They both exclaimed. I stepped through the shallow end of the river. If Blossom was close enough to hear, then she's close enough to hit. My eyes shifted. I didn't see her. I heard a few shots ring out, then Nova screamed.

"Nova!" I rushed to her aide and found her, with her boot caught in between two rocks.

"Harmione help me!"

I knew I couldn't just stand there. I charged in and freed her. She screamed as the jarred edge cut her foot. I gasped, she was bleeding.

"Nova!"

More shots, and a scream, this time from Aurora. I put Nova's arm around my neck and carried her off in the direction of Aurora's cries. When we got there she was stunned and out of the game.

"Oh no, they got Aurora." Nova said and began to cry.

"Don't worry, we're still here...they won't get us."

"But my foot, how can I help you Harmione?"

I looked around, I couldn't use my powers to help myself, but I could help Nova. It really wouldn't even be counted as cheating or wrong, because she was bleeding. She needed medical attention. I looked around again, and placed my hand over her foot. It lit up, and healed itself.

"Harmione...that will cause you to fail the test!"

"This isn't part of the test Nova, you're hurt."

Suddenly blue flashes of light were right on top of us. We ducked down and crawled into the grass. I circled my finger. Nova nodded. She looked up out of the grass, and ducked back down.

We came up shooting. Nova screamed and managed to stun one of Blossom's teammates.

"Hey!" Blossom yelled and shot at Nova. Nova squealed and fell over stunned.

"No!" I screamed and took out another team mate. It was down to just me and Blossom.

"You think you're so special don't you Tennyson?!"

"I know so."

She shot at me and I dove to the ground.

"You are nothing but trash!" Blossom shot again and I rolled on the dirt. "You thought just because your Daddy is Ben Tennyson you'd actually make it out here?"

She shot almost hitting me. I whimpered and hid behind a tree. She held her blaster out in front of her.

"I heard your Daddy wouldn't let you do anything growning up and that's why you're so weak!"

As she spoke trying to psych me out, I got a good lead on her from behind.

"Go home Earth girl, you don't belong here!"

She jolted forward as I shot her in the back. She fell over stunned.

"And you really need to stop talking." I told her as she fell. Everyone regained consciousness again, and the room changed back to normal. Magistrate Ova entered the room.

"Ladies, I must say I've never seen a more pathetic display of advanced leadership and miltary tactics, but for Blossom's team on the other hand...well done."

"What?!" Aurora shouted.

"I'm sorry Aurora but your leader did not follow the rules or behave in a leadership way...it is thanks to Ms. Tennyson as to why you have kitchen duty.

"What?!" I then shouted. "Maybe I did use my powers, but Nova was hurt and if I hadn't of-"

"You will hold your tongue Ms. Tennyson..."

"But as a leader I tried my best to make sure everyone was safe just like you said."

"But like I said...no powers, which you disobeyed."

"That's contradicting, how can I keep them safe if I can't use my powers?! I yelled. "Nova's fine isn't she?!"

"That is not the point, Ms. Tennyson!" Magistrate Ova shouted over me. "The rest of you girls may go eat your breakfast, Tennyson needs time alone to reflect on our serious lack of judgement."

"I don't need to-"

"You will go to your room and cool off at once!"

I glared and threw my blaster down. Later in the barracks I sat on my bed crying into my knees. In the six months I had been at the Academy, people have treated me different. I wanted to be so much more then just Ben Tennyson's little girl. It was like they all had it in for me because I was his little girl. I've walked the halls, I've seen friends come and go. I've taken pretests on hand to hand combat, ammunition, weapon handling, history of the cosmos, and strong team member ordinance. I knew planets and solar systems. I could read and translate Alien text. I learned more about my powers and the Ledgerdomain.

I was finally able to be a leader and earn my title of responsibility. I had a good moral standing. I've taken tests over and over again, and I'm still not any good. What was wrong with me? I can't do certain things the way they want me too, without doing what they tell me not to do.

I mean no one said it would be easy, but I just wish it wasn't as confusing. I sniffled and wiped my face. The tears wouldn't stop. I missed home a lot. I missed my Charlie. He was the one thing that kept me going. He forced me to stay in the game. Though it felt like a never ending battle, that I kept losing; I tried anyway. Everyday I tried.

I picked up a laptop near my bed. It had a high frequency to send and receive calls, and video chats. Although the video wasn't that great, it picked up sound bytes pretty well. I put my hair in a messy ponytail and tried to stop crying. I looked at the time, Charlie would be out of class by now. I sniffled as I waited for Charlie to pick up. I heard some static and some other background noise. Then Charlie's face appeared on my screen.

"Hey Har..."

My heart always melted at his voice.

"Hey...how's your day...how's your morning going?" I asked.

"Fine...just left Freshman English II, almost put me to sleep in there."

I laughed slightly and sniffled. I bit my thumbnail and stared at Charlie's face. He had on a ball cap, and a hoodie. He pulled at his ear with the stud in it and stared back at me.

"What's new with you, did Magistrate Ova give you a hard time today?"

"A little..."

"Well what did you do?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it...how's Deanna?"

"She's good...she and Rodney called me yesterday...she's gonna be taking a Biology course next semester...she wants to go into nursing."

"Aww that's great...I'll have to call her up and talk to her about it."

"Yeah."

"Well...you look cute, Charlie."

He adjusted his camera.

"I didn't hear that, I look, what?'

"Cute."

"Oh...thanks babe...so do you."

"I'm sweaty..."

"So...I haven't showered today...that's why I'm wearing this cap."

He pulled his cap off and brushed his hair down. I smirked.

"How's your blood sugar?"

"Fine." Charlie replied and put his cap back on. "It stays regulated.

"That's good..."

"Mm-hm."

I smiled and blew a kiss. He smiled and blew one back.

"Kimberly said we could still have sex, even if we weren't together...I said she was wrong...and she said we could just flash each other."

I laughed slightly.

"Don't listen to Kim...she's a slut." I said with a laugh.

"A what?"

"A slut!"

Charlie laughed an airy laugh.

"I know...she's the go to person for kinks and stuff though...but I'll never call you just butt naked."

"Me neither!" I said laughing. Charlie laughed with me.

"What time is your next class?"

"11:00." Charlie replied. He then popped a piece of candy in his mouth, and swiveled in a rolling computer chair.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"My dorm."

"It looks different."

"Probably because we cleaned it, Josh and I are moving to a different dorm next week."

"Why?"

"Bigger room, closer to the cafe."

"Oh..."

I looked away and sniffled.

"Harmione?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah...I'm just gonna go get breakfast...I'll call you tonight."

"I can't tonight babe, I'm working on a group project."

"Okay...well tomorrow morning then."

"Okay."

"I love you Charlie...I miss you so much."

"I love and miss you too doll."

I kissed my fingers and touched the screen. Charlie did the same thing.

"See you in six months." I told him.

"I'm waiting for you."

"I love you Charlie."

"I love you too Harmione."

He held up his hand revealing his promise ring.

"Don't fall in love with some space boy."

I showed him my promise ring and stifled a laugh through my tears.

"Don't fall in love with another Earth girl."

"Are you kidding, it's been insane since you left...so many date offers, I'm having to beat them off with a stick."

I giggled and he smiled.

"I'm kidding...you're the only one that has me Har."

Tears left my eyes.

"Don't cry..."

I smiled and tried to wipe my tears away.

"Don't cry...you'll be home before you know it."

I nodded.

"Bye babe."

"Bye Charlie."

The call ended. Charlie always tried to end it before it got too emotional. We also never wanted to just talk everyday. We wanted to have something to look forward too every other day. It kept us moving. I left and went to the main eating hall for breakfast. I had to sit by myself. Nova and Aurora were too upset about working kitchen duty to sit with me. It was just like high school all over again. Except this time, I didn't have Deanna or any of my friends with me. I saw Magistrate Ova sitting by herself too, so I joined her.

"What or who gave you permission to sit there?"

"Magistrate Ova...if you'd allow me to explain, Nova was bleeding and I-"

"As a leader you should have done what was necessary not what you wanted."

"Okay maybe I'm having a hard time with that...but what would you have done?"

"Me?" She paused and looked away. "No one has ever asked that of me before?"

"Maybe someone should...listen I've been here for six months and I still haven't-"

"Well then, in another year, you might have it down pat."

"Yes...Another year?"

"That is what I said, I decided to award your team the honor of passing the test for following orders... So Aurora and Nova are now off kitchen duty and are moving on with the others to advanced training...you on the other hand will start again with course one of basic training."

"But I...no you don't understand I..I have worked so hard to move on to the next stage...I told my whole family, my friends, and my boyfriend that I'd see them in six months I can't-"

"Tennyson...I moved on your team mates because they were capable of following orders, that is basic 101, if you cannot even do that then another year may drill it into your skull."

"But...your orders always confuse me!"

"What part of don't use your powers did you not understand?!"

"What part of keeping your team safe did you not understand?!" I shouted drawing attention to us. "As a leader I did what I had to do to make sure Nova was okay, and when I become a Plumber to protect the Earth, I will be using my powers to do the same thing, what I did was right, I don't care what you say!"

She just stared at me and smiled, the lunchroom then cheered.

"What, what did I say?!"

"You have finally passed the skills and leadership Ms. Tennyson... Congratulations." Magistrate Ova said with a smile.

"I...I did, but I thought?"

"A leader is someone who never questions his or her own abilities and stands up for what he or she believes in, and what they think is right...they are strong and go with their gut despite the odds against them, I am very impressed...it took you long enough to say that to me."

"Yeah...yeah I guess it did."

"Which is why I will allow you to move onto your expert training."

"Expert?"

"Your grades are exceptional and you have done some very wonderful field work...I figured the advanced training would only bore you I'm afraid."

I grinned from ear to ear.

"For your last assignment you will be teaming up with one of our best students this Academy has ever had...there is a rare diamond on the ring of Strion 343 in the 5th galaxy, retrieve it and I will pass you from the Academy."

"Really?!"

"Your partner is waiting in the terminal."

I hugged Magistrate Ova, and told Nova and Aurora goodbye. They were apart of the test and knew all along. Blossom was angry at me of course but I didn't care. After this assignment, I was going home. I was going home to my Charlie. When I reached the terminal a familiar but forgotten face met me there. I dropped my hand from my rolling suitcase and smiled like an idiot.

"Rook!"

"That would be me!"

I jumped in his arms. He spun me around in a circle as he hugged me. He's been a good friend of mine since I was little. He put me down, and took my suitcase.

"So how's your old man?"

"Dad's still a dweeb." I said with a smile. Rook smiled back.

"That's nice." He replied.

When we boarded our rocket he asked:

"What's a dweeb?"

Author's Note:

Hey everyone. I can't thank everyone enough for the kind words and follows and favorites this story has recieved since I first started writing it. A sequel follows. Thanks for reading.