A/N: And now its Leila's turn.
Chapter 3.
Rain
1995
Leila Kannas was nine when she watched her best friend Aada Aarnio tumble down the cliff. It had been rainy and the wet moss on the rocks had made everything slippery. She watched it happen and saw the purple flames with lick of golden orange in them wreath the younger girl and let her stand up at the bottom completely unharmed.
Confused purple going back to blue met scared blue and the girls resolved to keep it a secret.
Of course, it didn't stay secret for long. After they were home from the hiking trip and locked themselves into Aada's room to see if they could coax the strange flames out themselves, they were found out my Aada's father Eemeli who then proceeded to explain them what he and Saana knew about the flames, what each type did and what they were called in their mythology. Apparently different cultures had different names, some favoring precious stones while some gave 'occupations' for the different colors. And then there was the weather themed naming system that was spread over the Underworld. That one Saku had told them about.
Orange was apparently called Liesi (Hearth) for the warmth and hominess and general welcoming quality.
Yellow was like the golden Sato (Crops) under the sun, flourishing and nurturing.
Green was the moss-covered Kallio (Rocks) that offered shield and shelter to wildlife and humans alike.
Blue was the clear and serene Järvi (Lake) dotting the landscape, giving solace and gifting fish.
Indigo was the Meri (Sea) from which the land and creation had risen from in the Kalevalan myths.
Purple was the Tuuli (Wind) that couldn't be stopped or chained but was ever-present still.
Red was Kaski. It meant area which had been slash-and-burned to be later used for agriculture.
And all the aspects of home were centered around the Hearth. Naturally.
"So… how does this apply to me and our family?" Aada asked her father.
"You are a Wind… Or Cloud according to the Italian description. And you have inherited from me weak Hearth – Sky – too. It means that you will draw other aspects towards you but you will also crave you own space." Eemeli explained. "I don't know if this will eventually lead you to build your own set of if you'll be part of one… But I do advise you to be careful. The Underworld covets Flame users. That's how Saku got entangled too. He had strong Flames and got involved with things better left alone."
"You've never really told me what happened to Saku-nii." Aada pointed out. "He visited on my birthday but I haven't seen him since."
"Maybe one day."
"You have not said how this will affect me though." Leila interrupted. "Aada is my best friend and something like this won't drive me away. But I do want to know what is going to happen now with her and I."
"I'm not sure…" Eemeli sighed. "Saana has better Flame senses that I do despite being Latent so she might have some other insight… But I advise you to stick with Aada and mitigate any damage she might accidentally cause. Saana can help to control Wind. She is the same type and used to help Saku when he went Active even if they lacked information of what was going on."
"Alright. I'll stay with Aada. She is my Hearth and Wind. She won't drive me away and I won't make her leave."
Those words were a promise that was both kept and broken.
1996
It was peace. It was home. It was a hug that wouldn't let you go.
It was as close to Harmonization as it could be with Leila being still a Latent Lake. According to Saana, she had the potential to go Active but for now she was a stabilizing presence for Aada. The two girls were spending almost every waking moment together. In general, the situation hadn't changed much from before Aada awakened her flames but accidents did tend to happen.
Leila wouldn't have traded it for anything.
1997
Leila smiled as she listened Aada talk about a boy she met when on a vacation in Nice, France. His name is René Fontaine and they were still keeping contact.
"He was so warm." Aada sighed. "I hope to meet him again one day."
"I'm sure you will." Leila chuckled at the girl's antics and wondered…
Maybe René was reaching for Aada like Leila was. Were they of the same set?
1999
They were on a holiday in Italy. Leila and her parents had rented a car with which they were touring the cities and sights. The weather was wonderful, the food was excellent, and the scenery was beautiful. Nothing was wrong-…
Bang!
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-…
Gunfight? What was going on?
The tires were punctured. The car swerved and crashed to a building. Henri and Raija Kannas were dead immediately. Blue fire enveloped Leila and everything around her slowed down.
Like a Lake calming everything down and benignly listening to your worries without judging. The serenity and tranquility calming down even the most thunderous soul.
There were people stopping the gun fight. They were no police though. They had the rainbow fire too. So many colors…
Leila's eyes drooped low.
She wanted to get back to her Hearth.
Muddy, muddy… Flashes of places, events, faces… Blurry, blurry… drowning, sinking, echoing… Oppressive silence… Suffocating loneliness…
Where, where…
Who, who…
What, what…
Golden orange mixed in purple.
Aada.
Hers. Her Hearth. Her Wind.
"I DON'T WANT TO FORGET!"
Leila's eyes snapped open and she sat up, regardless of the aches she had or the stiffness of her limbs. Bright blue Lake lashed out and knocked the adult in lab coats down. There was a movement of someone she missed due their tiny size but Leila paid no heed to it. Someone had tried to tamper with her. Someone had tried to make her forget her parents, her home, her friends, her Hearth…
Inexcusable.
The fourteen-year-old girl rolled off the bed and landed on the person her Lake aspect had missed.
Tiny, toddler-sized person.
Lal Mirch was not prepared for the reaction the foreign girl exhibited. The girl was not the first test subject for Mist-induced brainwashing CEDEF inflicted on orphans and foundlings that would be indoctrinated as their agents, and she definitely wouldn't be the last either but her resistance…
It had been a surprise that the teenager with the strong Rain Flames had been found in the car wreck in the aftermath of a clash between the Rossi and Partheno Famiglias, but the following actions hadn't been as such. Paperwork to fake the girl's death along with her family was done and the authorities wouldn't be any wiser. Such potential wouldn't let be wasted after all, and with the girl's unaffiliated state, she wouldn't be missed by other famiglias.
Or at least that had been the reasoning of the agents on the site. Lal didn't agree to it but had resolved to observe the girl and her responses to the standard treatment.
The girl had been in Mist-induced coma for a week, all the while alternating doctors had gone and tried to blur and conceal her personal memories. Blank slate, ready to be molded for CEDEF's needs.
Then on the seventh day the girl abruptly woke up. Her flames lashed at the doctors and put them to sleep. Lal darted forwards, ready to subdue the girl before she hurt herself or anyone else permanently.
And the girl fell on her. Coordination wasn't working yet but that only added to her unpredictableness.
One of the girl's hands was pressing on Lal's jugular, keeping her to the ground but not strangling her.
"Mitä te teitte?(What did you do?)" The girl shouted. "Miksi the yrititte viedä mut pois mun Lieden luota?(Why did you try to take me away from my Hearth?)"
Lal didn't understand the language she was speaking. Finnish was one of the few European languages that didn't link to others and thus couldn't be interpreted unless one actually knew its relative language, like Estonian. So she let the girl shout, the room was soundproof after all. The failed Arcobaleno could guess for the most parts what the girl wanted to, other than vent and rage that is.
There were tears falling down on her and grip was getting lax. Lal pushed the hand and made the girl tilt and fall on the floor. The girl curled up, continuing her sobbing.
"What is your name?" Lal asked the girl in English. She needed to know if she remembered. It would certainly explain her reaction even if it would still be a mystery why she did.
"Leila… Leila Amalia Kannas…" The girl said.
"What were you just talking about?"
"… You tried to take me away from my Hearth."
Shit… The name might've been different but the girl was clearly talking about her Sky. They had just tried to separate a bonded Element (recently awakened or not) from their Sky. No wonder the girl – Leila – had reacted so violently.
Lal considered her options. CEDEF would not let the girl go considering the strength and purity of her flames. At the same time, Leila couldn't be safely mind-wiped either because she was harmonized and – was that a Mist secondary? Yes, it was. – her Mist flames would be fighting whomever was performing the procedure.
"Leila Kannas." The girl stilled at the sound of her name. "My name is Lal Mirch. From now on you shall be my apprentice and answering directly to me." Lal said. "I will explain more but for now let's get out of this room and find some new clothes for you."
"…Okay."
The adjustment was not easy. Leila might've known about her Flames before but putting it all in practice in a new and foreign environment was hard. Lal shielded her from the masses and took care of her training for the most part but even she couldn't be always there for her.
This was mafia. This was Italy. This was an intelligence organization.
Leila didn't like it but she made do with it. She could adjust.
Especially after Lal let her call Aada and tell her what had happened. Her parents were dead and she might've been at the other side of Europe but at least her Hearth – Sky – knew that she was alive.
The reassurance of the bond helped her cope.
2000
Leila was in Monaco. She was part of the group investigating recent frauds that Pesca Famiglia's second-in-command had been committing through the casinos there. The group consisted of her, Lal, Sage and Basil. Sage was a senior agent with Storm Flames and overseeing Basil's progress. The kid was the boss's, Iemitsu Sawada's, own apprentice and for some reason was speaking in very old-fashioned way.
"Did something go wrong with your programming?" Leila – Thyme – asked the kid when they'd introduced to each other.
"What doth thou mean, Thyme-san?" Mixing Japanese into any language that they were speaking in was also annoying but not as much as the ancient speech. Leila had enough problems with Italian itself, thank you very much.
"I mean… When I was being trained, the Mist division programmed Italian into my language selection to ease my introduction to CEDEF." Leila said like it was normal for Mist users to go into their heads and tweak things. Which it was for CEDEF's trainees like she was meant to be. Being under Lal's protection was the only reason she hadn't been taken in for reprogramming.
"No. Oyakata-sama has taught me himself since I was a mere babe." Basil had replied.
And that was that. Sage had pulled the kid aside for briefing and Lal had called Leila over for her own instructions.
At the casino, Leila followed the exchanges and proceedings over the gambling tables. There was one table in particular with was frequented by a boy around Aada's age. He spoke in rabid French with occasional Italian or English phrase and seemed to be making the audience laugh. All the while cleaning the table from the chips. Black eyes underneath page-boy cap glinted in mischief as he suggested jokingly to be the dealer for the next round and had the people laughing.
"Interesting…" Leila mused.
"Thyme, do you see Berlus Fussili?" Lal asked through her headset.
"No. I do see a teenager cleaning a poker table though and people just laughing at the fact."
"Mist Flames?" Unfortunately common suspicion, especially in the area where a known mafia member was suspected to be.
"Doesn't seem so. Simply a charming lad. He is Flame active though. Keeping a lid on it quite successfully, if I say so myself."
"Move on then. Let's not concern ourselves with it for now."
"Roger that."
Leila moved to another designated watch-point to see the other half of the grand hall. Basil was taking care of the other room with Sage while Lal was in surveillance.
Unknown to her, the black eyes followed movements and smirked to himself.
"René, are you done here?" A girl with silky black curls that in certain light almost seemed indigo, asked.
"I think so. I'd like to try Blackjack next." The boy replied, turning around in his seat after gathering his winnings. "You in Rosalie? You have such a good head for numbers."
"I don't see why not. Mamba will be covering for us." Rosalie smiled back whilst absently twirling her lace parasol.
"For a cut in profits?"
"Of course."
2001
It was Leila's first solo mission. Recruitment or disposal of the hacker known as Wrench. CEDEF's technicians had worked hard to find their approximate location and then Agent Thyme had been sent to London.
She didn't expect meeting tall, sweet, smart girl with green hair and falling in love with her whilst doing footwork in locating the hacker's lair.
She didn't expect her girlfriend being the hacker she'd been looking for.
She didn't expect to be captured by the hacker and her brother.
And she definitely didn't expect calling her teacher in order to negotiate a deal for Dahlia so she could remain outside CEDEF but still in contact and working for them.
A/N: I don't like CEDEF. Really don't like them. But at least Leila has Lal to protect her.
Thank you for follows and favourites once more. Please do tell me what you think of my OCS.
Next chapter will be Mist.