Author's Note: Awhile back, I posted a list of my unwritten Ben 10 ideas on tumblr in hopes that it would prompt someone to ask about one and give me some inspiration to write one. And that's exactly what happened. Zook-x on tumblr requested I write this idea about Glitch having the spark and training with Verdona and I got really into it. I originally intended this to be a oneshot but I like the concept so much it sort of evolved into a multichapter, though this is more of a character study than a plot-based story so it won't run too long.

It was a strange thing. To feel a spark, that is. Anodites didn't really do this. They didn't breed. There was no reason for there to be a spark. Every Anodite had the spark. They were their sparks. There was no flash, no moment when their energy roared to life within them, like there was when other species developed their power. That made it all the more strange when Verdona felt the birth of a power so foreign yet so familiar halfway across the galaxy.

Verdona didn't know any Anodites who had children like she had. She'd never been told what it would feel like to feel an extension of her life force burst into being, let alone to feel it happen inside someone else halfway across the galaxy. She didn't even know how she knew that was what happened. But she knew. Somehow, she knew what was happening. And she knew what she had to do.

It'd been so long since she left Anodyne, let alone traveled all the way to Earth. It was just like she remembered: a sea of blue coating the surface and filling the sky, wispy white clouds that looked oh so soft yet resisted her attempts to touch, stretches and stretches of green, centers of human dwellings and creation… It was beautiful in a way Anodyne couldn't compare to. Her homeworld was beautiful too, of course, covered in delicious mana but there was just something about Earth that filled her with wide-eyed wonder.

But life, oh there was just so much. Little flecks all across the surface, painting the Earth like the stars that dotted the night sky. It was distracting and overwhelming down there with them but from up here, it was beautiful. She just had to take a moment to take it all in. The journey here had been long for an Anodite. She thought she deserved at least a moment. She couldn't spend all her time just basking in it though. There were specific life forms down there she had to pay more attention to.

Max, Carl, and Frank were not hard to find, even among the sheer number of beings all sporting their own life energy down there. Those three, she knew them like she knew the way her own mana dance when she let it run free. The trouble was just deciding who to visit first. Max, her lover, or her boys, her beloved sons? She couldn't choose between them.

As she drew closer, Verdona realized Carl and Frank weren't together. That was saddening, that they didn't still cling to each other like they had in their youth. But a good thing maybe? She'd gotten the chance to watch them grow but she hadn't gotten the chance to watch them mature. She wondered what kind of men they'd become. Ones with wives and children, if the spark she felt was any indicator. She couldn't wait to see them and meet their loved ones. She hoped they found the fulfillment Max had found in their little family, the fulfillment an Anodite just couldn't find in human matters.

However excited she was, their separation was the answer to her question. She couldn't visit one first before the other. If raising two boys taught her anything, it was that you couldn't pick one over the other for anything. No matter. She wanted to see Max anyway. He'd have the answers she sought.

He wasn't at their old family home. Verdona didn't know how she felt about it. She somehow knew he still owned it. Max was sentimental like that. But she couldn't imagine why he'd choose to live in an RV parking lot. It wasn't bad per se but it just wasn't her style. But Max's maybe? Yes, she could see him being happy here. A little lonely maybe but happy.

She could feel how close he was now and that made her a little nervous. She swatted that thought away as quickly as she could. It was just something leftover from her time as a human. Anodites were free, weightless. Anxiety was never something that stopped her. Without a moment longer of hesitation, Verdona flew through the RV's open window and into Max's living room where he sat tapping at some rectangular device she didn't recognize.

She wished she could say he was exactly like she remembered. When she returned to Anodyne, everyone and everything had been just like she remembered. But humans weren't like that. Their lives were short and they changed rapidly. Even in their time together, Max had aged. And she'd been gone for nearly just as long as she'd stayed. Max had grown old.

His hair had grown gray. His skin had become tired and wrinkled. His body- Well, he lost the fitness of his youth. He'd put on quite a bit of weight, having transformed from the strapping soldier he'd been in his younger years to a softer, more pillowy figure.

But there was still strength behind that softness. His old spirit hadn't died with his youth.

He still wore the flower printed shirts she'd bought him back when she didn't have the slightest understanding of human fashion. She'd grown to dislike them over time but Max refused to stop wearing them, laughing anytime she merely hinted at him expanding his wardrobe. He loved those shirts. And when she'd ask why, he'd tell her that it was because he loved her.

Verdona had doubted that love would last this long. She'd doubted it for more than a moment. Far longer than a moment. Longer than she'd ever tell Max. But it seemed those doubts were misplaced. The look on Max's face the moment he laid eyes on her, so full of joy and love, made Verdona wish she'd never left.

He gaped at her for a moment, mouth opening and closing, unable to find the words. She gave him a moment to think. He'd get there. He always did. Even if he didn't always know what to say or how to say it, he'd always get there eventually.

"Verdona," Max breathed, eyes starry. She smiled. He sounded awestruck, just like he had all those years ago watching her fly for the first time. Like she hadn't left.

He'd remember eventually. In a moment, he'd snap out of his daze. Memories of her leaving would come rushing back. He'd be angry or maybe disappointed. She didn't know but either way, the innocent wonder on his face would die. That was okay though. She probably deserved whatever came her way. But that didn't mean she couldn't bask until that anger came.

She could see the moment Max snapped to his senses, the moment all that forgotten pain came rushing back. Verdona closed her eyes and braced herself for the harsh words she knew were coming but they never did. Blinking one eye open, the look on Max's face hurt more than words ever could.

"Oh, Verdona." He sounded sad. He looked lost. Yet… there was still that joy about him, all tangled up in that hollow sorrow. Human emotions were so confusing. It was impossible to guess how they'd react, what they'd do next. "I missed you."

Verdona swallowed, only to remember she didn't have a throat. Gosh, it was like going back thirty years ago. These were the things her Max did to her. "I missed you too."

She expected to see doubt on her face, however true her words were, but Max looked like he believed them wholeheartedly. He reached up, pulling her down to her level. Verdona half expected a kiss but the way he leaned her forehead into hers was so much nicer.

"I think we have a lot to talk about," he told her.

"I agree," she returned. Sliding into the seat across from him, taking his hand in hers, she asked about all she'd missed. And it was a lot.

Verdona had left when Frank went off to college, Carl already two years into his education at a university halfway across the state. Carl was studying engineering while Frank wanted to study anthropology. Max told her Frank changed majors a couple times before settling on one that'd get him into law school. Both had found their way into successful professions, it seemed.

They'd met Sandra and Natalie in their time at college, Max told her. A voice in the back of her mind pointed out she would've met them if she'd stayed just a few more years. She didn't say that aloud, of course, but she knew both her and Max were thinking it.

"They've got kids now, both of them. Frank's got two, a boy and a girl, and Carl's just got the one. They're all pretty close," Max told her, smiling fondly. In her mind, Verdona could imagine him picking them up from school and taking them to the park on the weekend. Max really seemed like the grandfatherly type. "Frank's boy, Ken, turned thirteen just a couple months ago. Can't believe he's a teenager already but he's keeping out of trouble. He's into music, you see, and he's good at it. Joined the school band when he started junior high and everything."

A musician? Neither Carl or Frank had been interested in songs or instruments past their youngest years. Max couldn't hold a tune for the life of him. Ken was a first in the Tennyson family in that regard. Anodites, on the other hand, pulsed with rhythm. Could Frank's boy be the one?

"And the other two?"

"Ben and Gwen? Oh, they're just great. Same age, down to the day. Practically twins. They fight like them, certainly. I took them on a trip last summer— just the two of them, Ken wanted to go off to some summer camp with his friends— and I really got to know them. Gwen- oh, she's brilliant. I don't know where Carl and Frank got their brains but Gwen's certainly got them. And Ben…"

"And Ben?" she repeated softly, trying her hardest to not squeeze down on Max's hand.

"Ben can be… difficult at times and he's a bit rowdier than the other two but he's a real good kid at heart," Max told her. He paused, grinning, before adding, "He's got your fire."

Verdona sat up abruptly. "He has the spark?"

"What? No." He paused. "At least I hope not."

"So it's a possibility?"

"I mean, anything's… No. No, I'd know if Ben got powers. Gwen too. They know aliens. Not everything but enough. They'd tell me if anything started happening."

That was surprising. Had Max told them about…? No, that was a question for later. "Then Ken? Could Ken have the spark?"

Max frowned for the first time since she'd arrived. "Verdona, is that what this is about? I promise you, there's no-"

"I wouldn't even suggest it if I didn't know. I sensed it, Max. I felt the spark come to life inside someone. That wouldn't happen unless one of the kids discovered their mana. One of them has to have it."

Max opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the screech of tires outside. Max and Verdona's heads snapped up and not a moment later, two figures burst through the door and stumbled into the RV. "Mom!"

Verdona's eyes went wide and she felt the urge to cover herself with her arms or hair but she knew that wouldn't do anything. She'd never shown her sons this form. She didn't- oh, they were hugging her. "My sons…! What are you-"

"We could sense you," Carl responded, voice muffled by her shoulder. She shifted, using one arm to pull each of them closer.

"Just because you never told us about your mana doesn't mean we didn't know about it," Frank added and huh. That- huh. She never realized the mana in her children had developed to the point it apparently had. Could it have been their spark she sensed? No, she would've known sooner if it was one of these two. It had to be one of her grandkids.

She couldn't wait to meet them.

Max cleared his throat, drawing three pairs of eyes in his direction. "As happy as I am to see all of you together again, I think this family reunion requires a few more… uh, kids."

Verdona expected Carl and Frank to be excited at the prospect of one of their children having the spark and traveling to Verdona's homeplanet to learn about their newfound power. In hindsight, she should've remembered humans went about these things differently than Anodites. Of course they'd worry.

But, maybe they were a bit more Anodite than she thought. Carl pointed out it'd be painful to keep a young Anodite away from the plentiful source of mana that was Anodyne. Frank said it would be cruel to make them grow up away from peers and teachers that could help them understand their powers. While true, it made Verdona wonder if she'd missed something in her boys' childhood. The insight was a bit too on the nose to be entirely impersonal.

She didn't ask. She didn't want to push it. She didn't know how. Maybe she'd ask one day but the important thing right now was that she'd get to meet her grandkids.

Natalie and Sandra hung back. Verdona would've loved to meet them but she imagined they wouldn't be terribly happy to meet her. Her sons seemed overjoyed but Verdona had no idea what they may have told their wives or what perceptions they may have developed on their own. Did they know she was an alien? Had they been told she died? Did they think she and Max were divorced? Had they been told she ran away? That being said, what did the grandkids know? What did they think of her?

Verdona was suddenly very nervous but she swatted those feelings away. She was about to meet her grandchildren. This was no time for worry.

"I should warn you," Max started as Carl and Frank began leading their kids to the RV door, "Ben and Gwen have seen a lot of aliens. Ken hasn't. Not really."

Verdona raised a brow. She'd put on her human skin for this, at least temporarily. No sense in scaring the kids right off the bat. "You got the two youngest in plumber work?"

"No! No, they don't know about that," Max insisted with such urgency that Verdona couldn't help but believe him. "I, uh, have you heard of the Omnitrix?"

The door pushed open and Verdona's eyes immediately fell on a thick metal contraption locked on a young boy's wrist. Everything made sense in an instant. That's why they knew about aliens. One of them had already been one. It wasn't what she'd been looking for but it was still exciting.

The girl spoke first, catching Verdona's attention. Orange hair, that had to come from Verdona. She wasn't sure how but no way it came from Max. "So, uh, not to be rude but who is this? And how come it was so important we come meet her?"

"Kids," Max started, hesitating for just a moment as he looked for a way to say what he needed to say, "this is your grandmother Verdona."

Ben, Gwen, and Ken's jaws dropped. Verdona couldn't help but smile, leaning a bit into the grandmotherly look her new human skin gave her. "Hello, you three. I'm happy to finally meet you."

"I- bu- wh-?" Ken floundered like a Piscciss Volann out of water, just like Max had before. This one took after his grandfather, it seemed. "I thought- I didn't know we had a Grandma Tennyson."

Frank winced, looking half like he wanted to scold his son for his bluntness and half like he wanted to apologize to him for never explaining. Verdona waved him off, signaling that she'd handle this. "That's entirely my fault, dear. I wish… I wish I'd come back sooner. I would've loved to have been part of your lives before now."

Ken, Ben, and Gwen clearly wanted to ask where she'd been until now but their restraint was strong. A good trait to have, for humans. Right now, she couldn't begin to guess which one had the spark.

"I know you kids have some questions and I promise they'll all be answered but we need to talk about something that's going to be kind of hard to bring up so I need everyone to be honest when you answer this question." Max took a deep breath. "Who here knows about aliens?"

Carl, Frank, Ben, and Gwen raised their hands so Verdona did too. Ken did not.

"So when you say 'know about aliens,' do you mean like the concept of aliens in general or…" Ken trailed off, eyes taking in the raised hands around him. "Um, what?"

Gwen, Ben, Carl, and Frank were eyeing each other. "How do you two know about aliens? Us?! No, how do you two know about aliens?"

It was rather amusing seeing them all look so similar. Or it would be if not for poor Ken. She secretly hoped it was Ken who had the spark. The other two interested her but Ken was quickly becoming her favorite. Clapping her hands softly, Verdona cut off the oncoming exchange before it spiraled out of control. "I believe both parties here are talking about different sets of aliens."

That didn't help the confusion but five heads swiveled to look at Max for guidance so maybe that was the right move. "Ben, you first."

"What? Why me? Isn't it weirder that Dad and Uncle Frank know about aliens?" Ben complained, jabbing two outstretched palms in the aforementioned men's direction. "Wouldn't it make more sense for them to explain first?"

"I find it very concerning that my son knows about aliens and I wasn't the one who told him." Carl put his hands on his hips and glared at Max. "And I find it more concerning that my father knows about this and didn't tell me."

Max sighed. "Carl, I'm- I am sorry but I think I made the right decision."

"Wait, Dad knew about aliens already?" Ben asked, scratching his head. "So is Grandma Verdona here about his thing or my thing?"

"It's more like our thing but I think this conversation will run a lot smoother if we're all open with each other," Max told him, gentle yet firm at the same time. That was a different tone to take. Verdona always ended up sounding more stern than anything when she tried it. "You don't need to tell your father if you don't want to, Ben, but-"

Gwen was already poking at Ben's watch. Green light flooded the RV and Ben was suddenly replaced by an armored dinosaur-like creature standing on crooked, wheeled feet. "Gwen!"

"A Kinceleran?" Verdona hummed, ignoring Carl, Frank, and Ken's shock. "Good choice, Gwen. Another form may have done some real damage to the RV."

"What's a- that word you just said?"

"Kinceleran. It's what XLR8 is, Ben," Max answered before looking to his sons and eldest grandson. "I thought it was time you knew about Ben's… ability."

"Is this because of you?" Carl asked once he found his voice, looking right at Verdona. Something about the way he did hurt. She didn't know why. It just did. Maybe it was the human form that made her more sensitive to these things.

She shook her head. "Not at all. I've heard rumors of the Omnitrix but I'm just as surprised as you are."

Ken sputtered a bit before raising his voice. "Is no one going to explain why Ben's a- a- I guess he's an alien?"

"I call him XLR8," Ben offered but Gwen was a bit more helpful.

"He's got this weird watch stuck to him that lets him turn into aliens. He'll time out in about ten minutes and go back to normal." Gwen swiveled on her heels away from her brother to face the adults in the room. Smart girl. Even if she didn't know what was coming, she knew how to get the information she wanted. "So what alien are we talking about that's not Ben? And how do Dad and Uncle Carl know about it?"

"Well, you see…" Max started but Verdona sensed he wouldn't be able to explain it right.

"I'm an alien," she announced bluntly. The room fell silent around her. This was not new to her sons, of course, but she expected some surprised shouts from the kids. Not this shocked silence.

Frank coughed . "I know this is a lot but that means Carl and I are both half alien and you three are a quarter. We've known since we were pretty young that we weren't exactly human but Mo- Grandma Verdona came to our planet to tell us one of you three has, uh, taken after her more than Carl and I did."

Even Verdona knew that was a lot to put on them at once but it seemed to do the trick. The kids' eyes were suddenly on her, quietly probing. They couldn't tell if Frank was telling the truth. No matter, that was an easy fix. Shedding her human skin, Verdona's true form stepped back into the world.

Violet light washed over the RV's interior, Verdona glowing brightly now that she was free of her human shell. She'd forgotten how restrictive that facade was and just how good it felt to let go of it. Floating a couple feet off the ground, she let her family take in the sight of her in her full glory.

Poor Ken, overwhelmed at the sight of one alien after the other, looked like he was about to faint. Frank put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. Ken didn't flinch away, to Verdona's relief. She'd watched a wedge divide Max and Carl over their family's secrets. She'd hate to be responsible for a similar divide between Frank and his own son.

Ben and Gwen seemed to be handling it much better, but not by much. They were used to seeing aliens and monsters, it seemed, but that didn't change the fact they'd never seen it in their own family. At least not to this degree.

"I've had doctors look at my blood and stuff," Gwen spoke up, a bit loudly. "Could they tell we had… what? Alien blood?"

"I don't have blood."

"Anodites are energy beings," Frank explained quickly. "Physically, we're just like any other humans."

"I'm sensing emphasis on the word 'physically.'"

"Your Uncle Carl and I can do some… not quite human things. Not the way Mo- your Grandma Verdona can. It's still there though. We didn't inherit the energy-"

"The spark."

"The spark. We don't have the spark that makes us true Anodites. But your Grandma Verdona thinks one of you have it."

"Well, it's gotta be Gwen."

"It's me, right?"

Verdona straightened a bit. Was it really that easy? "Have you felt your mana manifest within?"

"Well, no…"

"Have you formed mana balls? Shields? Blasts? Fed on the life energy of the world around you? Oh, have you abandoned your physical form?"

"N-No! Nothing like that," Gwen interrupted before she could say more. "We met, uh, another Ben? From another dimension or something? A few actually. One of them said I had powers in his world."

"His Gwen could do magic and stuff," Ben added, a bit nonchalantly, "but I've never seen Gwen do any of that sort of stuff."

Verdona frowned. "Some Anodites have an affinity for the mystic arts. But if it was your spark I felt, you would've used your power in some way by now."

Gwen matched her frown. Verdona took pity on her and offered a hand. Gwen took it in a heartbeat. "What are you doing?"

Verdona's energy felt for Gwen's. There was a buzz under her skin, one more present than in other humans but far weaker than her son's. Gwen didn't have the spark. "I was feeling for mana but there's nothing there. Nothing I wouldn't expect. If you had the spark, you would know. Using your mana is no small feat."

"Maybe it happened and I didn't notice it?"

"I don't think so."

"We did get into a lot of shenanigans over the summer," Max pointed out. "We saw a lot of amazing things we couldn't explain. Any one of those times could've been you, Gwen."

"But by that logic, it could've been Ben too."

Ben's Omnitrix began blinking just as he began talking, transforming him back into his human form. "Hey! You're right! How awesome would it be if I had my aliens and magic too?"

"Mana," Verdona corrected before looking at Ken. "Your sister and cousin think it's a real possibility they just didn't notice the manifestation of their mana. Can you say the same?"

"Uh…"

Verdona could practically see Ken's brain scrambling to get his thoughts together. "Take your time. I'm in no rush."

"I… I sleepwalk? Sometimes. And I talk in my sleep. I don't know if that's anything but…?"

Verdona nodded thoughtfully, unconvinced but willing to entertain the thought. "That is still time unaccounted for."

Carl pinched his brow. "At some point we're definitely talking about what happened on that summer trip of yours, Dad, but right now I really think we need to prioritize figuring out which of you three has the spark. And as much as I'd hate to leave you with your Grandpa or let you out of my sight right now, maybe another little trip is what we need to figure it out. You have a long weekend off from school so this may be our best bet."

"Alright!" Ben cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. Gwen looked equally thrilled, though expressing it much more calmly. Ken looked a bit nervous but his eyes were bright. He was excited as well. "Oh, should we tell Kevin and Glitch? Kevin'll probably want to mess with us for old time's sake and Glitch'll probably be able to get him wherever we go."

"Who are Kevin and Glitch?" Frank asked. "Friends of yours?"

Gwen nodded. "Kevin's a kid from our school. He's got a watch like Ben's. And Glitch's an alien that was made when Ben's watch malfunctioned and Upgrade's DNA- Upgrade's DNA… mixed… with… Ben's…."

Verdona's face lit up with delight while Carl's eyes went round with horror.

"I have another grandson?"

"You're telling me I have another kid?!"