Chapter 12! Today, we meet the baddie plaguing Gaea's dreams, and Aira attempts to smooth things out with Gaea. Will she succeed? Let's find out!

Disclaimer: See all other chapters.

Gaea awoke the following morning, she had more dreams through the night, each was worse then the one before.
Gaea walked downstairs and found her mom
"Morning mom" she said
"Hi sweetheart," Cornelia said "What have you got planned today, going out with your friends?"
"No!" Gaea scoffed, that word made her heart ache "I think Im going to go to the shell cave and practice my powers, is that ok?"
"of course but be descreet about it" Cornelia smiled "I don't want to here about a portion of heatherfield sinking on the news"
Gaea giggled, talking with her mum made her feel a little better.
"Ok Im going to get ready" Gaea said
She ran back upstairs to get dressed

Aira walked down the street to the beach. Then she climbed over and a second later she was facing Shell Cave. "Nice place to be alone." Aira said to herself, climbing on top of a rock. She went through her backpack until she found her CD Player. She put in her mixed CD and started listening to the first song.

Hear Me

Hear me
Hear me

You gotta be out there
You gotta be somewhere
Wherever you are
I'm waiting
'Cause there are these nights when
I sing myself to sleep
And I'm hopin' my dreams
Bring you close to me
Are you listening?

Hear me
I'm cryin' out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me
Hear me

Hear me
Can you hear me?
Hear me

I used to be scared of
Letting someone in
But it gets so lonely
Being on my own
No one to talk to
And no one to hold me
I'm not always strong
Oh, I need you here
Are you listening?

Hear me
I'm cryin' out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me

I'm restless and wild
I fall, but I try
I need someone to understand
Can you hear me?
I'm lost in my thoughts
And baby I'm far
For all that I've got
Can you hear me?

Hear me
I'm cryin' out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me
Hear me
Hear me
Hear me
Can you hear me?
Hear me
Hear me
Hear me
Can you hear me?
Oh, oh, oh, oh...
Hear me
Hear me
Hear me

She closed her eyes and leaned against the back of the cave. It was so peaceful. No one to bother her; she could just sit alone listening to her music...

Gaea stood in the clearing outside the shell cave.
'Guess this is as good a place as any to train' Gaea thought
she placed her palm on the ground and closed her eyes, she sent waves of magical energy into the ground around the shell cave and shook the ground like a tremor, she isolated the tremor so it went no further then the area around the shell cave, as her mum said she didn't want to level Heatherfield with an earthquake

"Ack!" Aira screamed, flying into the air in order to not get hit by the earthquake. She hovered steadily and then landed on the ground. She peaked over to the other side of the cave. Her blonde-brown hair was tied in a high ponytail and she had on spongebob pajama pants and a matching shirt. (she didn't bother to change.)

Suddenly Aira gasped. "Gaea!" She exclaimed, running up to her friend

"Aira!" Gaea gasped "I...I didn't know anyone else was here."
"Did you make that earthquake?"
"Yeah, I was training."
"Gaea I..."
"I should probably get going" Gaea cut her off
Gaea turned to leave

Gaea, please." Aira said desperately, turning to her friend. "It was my fault for yesterday. I shouldn't have made that joke. I'm so stupid. I'll understand if you leave, I just wanted to tell you that." She said, her eyes filling up with tears. "I'm sorry," She whispered, looking down and turning away to leave.

"Its not just the joke its everything" Gaea said turning back around to face Aira "You lot all have your friendship in your happy little world and I'm only there when its Guardian stuff."
"Thats not true" Aira pleaded
Gaea shook her head
"It is" she sighed. "All I am to everyone is the Earth Guardian, chosen to save the world. Nothing more."

Aira put her arm around Gaea. "No. We see you as only one thing: A friend. Friendship is the ultimate power. Without you we would be M.A.I.C.A.L. Without you, our group isn't whole. We need you, Gaea. You are our friend. Even if we weren't magical, you would still be our friend. I met everyone else when we were guardians, well, except for Isis. Please, please stay in the group. We need you." She said, giving Gaea pleading eyes.

I'm always going to be a guardian, even if I'm not a friend, I never would have left, especially with whats to come. Why do you think I was training today, I'll still be there to fight when Im needed" Gaea said softly "As for the friend thing, well, I still have a lot of things to work out, I'm sorry..."
Gaea broke free or Aira's arms and turned to walk away, Tears stung her eyes and the cold wind nipped at her skin as she moved away.

Aira stared at Gaea in disappointment and surprise as tears stung in her eyes. "Gaea, what is wrong with you! You're not the only one with problems! Me and Isis have been having dreams too! So stop complaining. We try to be friends with you but you just push away! How do you know we don't really think of you as a friend? We do think of you as a friend! A best friend! And the way you have been acting upsets us, but all you do is run away! Friends are more important than fighting." Aira exclaimed, glaring and turning away. "We just want to be your friend. Why don't you trust us?" She whispered, before looking down and crossing her arms. More tears stung in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She turned to leave and started to walk back onto the beach and then up into the city, still thinking over what she had said...

Gaea stopped again as she heard Aira's words, she turned around as Aira walked off and shouted after her.
"Its all very easy for you to keep throwing that word around isnt it?" Gaea said slightly angrily "You don't know anything about my life before being a guardian, you had friends before all this but I never!"
Gaea's face turned sad when the words came out and she remembered her life before
"I never had any so called friends, I was a loner, no one even wanted to be friends with me and now, in one instant Im suppose to have 6 best friends, It doesn't work like that Aira. Don't tell me how I should feel about this when you don't know the first thing about me!"
Gaea brushed the tears from her eyes
"Now you know why I dont believe in friendship, and Im sorry if you can't understand that, but then how could you?"

Aira heard the words, but tried not to. Her knuckles turned white and the tears kept streaming down her face. "Gaea! You think you know everything about me! You think I can't be trusted and that I'm not you're friend. BUT I AM! YOU KEEP THINKING THAT WE'RE NOT, BUT WE AREE! YOU ARE BEING RUDE! NO WONDER WHY YOU NEVER HAD ANY FRIENDS! YOU DON'T TRUST ANYBODY EXCEPT YOURSELF!" Aira burst into tears and ran to her house. How could she think I have tons of friends? I never kept them long enough! I'm a loner, too. Doesn't she wonder why I'm so shy?

Aira ran into her house crying. She went straight to her room. Once she laid down on her bed, though, she thought about what she had said. She realized the mean things she said and the tears streamed down her face faster. Why had she said that? Why had she been so mean to Gaea? "I'm sorry, Gaea, I'm so sorry." Aira whispered, before closing her eyes.

Sirius

Sirius paced around in Shell Cave, seeing the events of what happened. "Well, well, well." He snickered, grinning evilly. "If Aira and Gaea don't want to be friends, then maybe we can just put them on different sides." He snapped his fingers, and disappeared into the shadows.

He reappeared in Aira's room. He took hold of her and with another snap of his finger he was in his hide-out.

Aira

"Where-where am I?" She asked, looking in the darkness. Sirius grinned and came out of the shadows.

"Welcome to your new home." He laughed. Aira stared at him, and then screamed.

Gaea sat on the beach, her knees hugged to her chest and tears streaming down her face.
When did everything get so complicated? was she really that bad of a person? she didn't mean to hurt Aira but she also couldn't help how she felt.

She looked out over the water and wiped another tear from her cheek.
"Maybe I should apolagize to Aira" she said
"I don't think that will be happening" said a voice
Gaea eyes went wide, she jumped up and backed up, she knew that voice, it was the same cold voice that haunted her. She turned and found herself face to face with a tall man.
"Who are you?" she asked, she knew the answer of course, it was the evil they were to fight.
"The names sirius" he smirked "I've come with a proposition for you"
Gaea looked at him quizzically, he waved his hand and a ripple of energy apeared in front of Gaea, an image appeared in the center of the ripple, it showed Aira sat in darkness. Gaea gasped.
"What have you done with her? give her back" she demanded
Sirius gave an evil laugh
"Wouldn't it be nice if things were that easy" he smirked "Any way why would you care after that last arguement, all the hurtful things said?"
"You've been spying on us?"
"Of course, now for my proposition" he smiled "I'll release Aira IF you join me"
Gaea gasped again and went wide eyed
"Why me?" she asked "Why none of the other guardians?"
Sirius laughed again, he held out his hand and a sword materialised in it, he swung at Gaea, She leapt effortlessly in the air, she backflipped and avoided the blade, she landed slightly of balance on the soft sand. In an instant she had tranformed into her guardian form.
"You've shown exponential progress with your powers, truely marvelous, and believe me I don't say that often" he smiled. "Anyway, You've seen the visions Ive sent you, You know you can't win BUT you can save Aira...whats your choice?"
Gaea sighed, it was her fault that Aira was captured, if she hadn't been argueing with her then she might have been more on guard.
"You win..." Gaea said sadly "Release Aira and I'll join you

Aira saw everything that was happening. "No!" She screamed, trying to open the bubble that enclosed her. Suddenly Sirius appeared, Gaea standing by his side. Sirius opened Aira's jail cell and flung her against the wall, followed by Gaea, who was too flung against the wall.

Aira opened her eyes and looked at Gaea. "Don't do this, Gaea." She said. "I'm sorry about everything. It was all my fault." She said, looking at Gaea meaningly.

"Oh, it won't be that easy, little miss guardian of Air." Sirius said, putting his hand on her shoulder, and putting his other on Gaea's shoulder. "How could you been so stupid, Gaea? You think I would miss the oppurtunity to keep two guardians?" Gaea gasped as Sirius set a tracking device on each of them. "Wherever you go, I will know. Whatever you say, I will hear. Whatever you do, I will see." He grinned, and he started to disappear from view. "If you disobey, you will be punished, severely" His voice echoed, as he disappeared.

"Aira I...I'm so sorry" Gaea started, her tone then turned angry "Uhhh how could I have been so stupid!"
"It's not your fault" Aira said putting her hand on Gaea's shoulder "Your heart was in the right place, You did it to help me, does this mean we ARE friends?" she asked
Gaea forced a smile through her anger
"Its a start, we still have a lot to work through" Gaea replied "I'm sorry for everything I said, I never meant to hurt you but as I said the whole friend thing is new to me and I can't just change how I feel overnight..."
"I understand" Aira said comfortingly "But now we have bigger things to worry about"
"Yeah, what are we going to do now? Ive really messed things up this time"

It was both our faults, Gaea. If we didn't fight it never would have happened. Let's just try to forget about it. It sucks that we have these tracking devices. Now we don't even have the freedom of speech." Aira said, looking down and then back up at Gaea.

"What are we going to do?" Gaea asked, a desperate expression on their face.

"I don't know. And who knows what Sirius has in store for us." Aira said suddenly, her eyes wide. "Gosh, we really messed things up."

Well, the good news is Gaea and Aira are back on the fast track towards regaining their friendship. The bad news; They're now being hunted by Sirius. What will our girls do? Keep checking in to find out!