Chapter 16
To Find one Another
Derek looked out at the storm raging outside the cave then sighed. He looked over at Wanda, who was staring out of the cave into the rain despite the fact that she couldn't see anything beyond ten feet in front of them.
"Everything will be fine, Wanda." He said, the worry and fear quite plain in her eyes and face as she stroked the fur on her cat. He removed his jacket, knowing it had to be cold for her, not being used to Meridian's weather. He put the jacket around Wanda's shoulders and she looked up at him in mild surprise.
She tugged the jacket around her tighter with her free hand.
"Listen, Wanda... There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time, but could never find the right moment." Derek looked at her. Finally they were alone, without any of her friends or their parents butting in. He was quiet for several moments, he blinked when he realized she was staring at him curiously, worry and doubt still apparent on her face. He sighed. "You're the heart of W.I.T.C.H., Wanda, everything's going to be fine. I've seen you go from being my sister's friend, to a strong and powerful leader, and Heart of the Guardians." He paused, looking down at her before continuing. "I've been watching you for a long time...And, I think... I think I love you, Wanda." He watched her closely, observing her for any signs of rejection or that she didn't return his feelings.
She stared up at him in surprise. And to his dismay, she turned her back to him.
"You think?" She said. "Not because I'm the daughter of a famous musician, the former leader of the Guardians, and the current leader of W.I.T.C.H., thus the keeper of the Heart of Kandrikor. That wouldn't be a good catch for someone if they knew all of that." She finished her statement as Mimi let out a meow when a clap of thunder nearly made her jump.
"Well, I'm sure I don't think I love you because you aren't cute, funny, and loyal to your friends. This is the first time I've felt like this and I don't appreciate being mocked for confessing how I feel about you." He said, his temper firing up. She was the most infuriating girl he'd ever met.
Wanda couldn't help but smile at his reaction to her statements. Luckily he didn't see that. She turned to glance at him. He blinked when he saw the twinkle in her eyes.
"Well, I think I love you too... I'm sorry, I had to make sure of something." She turned around to face him now. "Even on Earth, just being the daughter of a famous guitarist, I'm hearing people all the time trying to ask me to that dance next month or get me to be an arm trophy"
Derek blinked at her, seeing her logic in why she put him through that. Act like she was going to break his heart then throw him a curve ball. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she looked up at him.
"You don't think I deal with that here on Meridian? My Mom is the former Guardian of Earth, and my Dad was the leader of the Rebellion that helped free Meridian from Phobos way back when. I understand where you're coming from, believe me. But don't you think that someone who loves you would tell you what you need to hear, not sugar coated words that they want you to believe? Besides, I wouldn't put up with you if I didn't love you." He smiled down at her, no longer angry but still miffed at how she handled the situation.
Wanda smiled up at him.
"I'm sorry about all that." She said again.
"No need to apologize... Just tell me you'll never put me through that roller coaster again and we'll call it good." He smiled down at her.
"That would just be too easy..." She blinked with a mischievous grin.
He blinked in surprise when she kissed him on the cheek but smiled when she pulled back.
"How's that instead?" She asked.
He coughed before smiling at her. "That works."
Wanda smiled at his reaction and looked down at Mimi when she hissed again at another clap of thunder.
"I don't think she likes storms." She giggled, suddenly feeling more relaxed now with him than she had in the past.
Cerella frowned. The group had just started walking when the storm caught them by surprise.
"Ingrid, can't you do something? You're water!" She exclaimed.
"No, I love to see you suffer, Cerel'." Smirked Ingrid.
"Can we please try and get along?" Asked Matt half-heartedly.
"Ugh... FINE. I'll make a shelter." Cerella glared at Ingrid who was grinning again.
She bent down to the ground, the rain pouring down on them making her hair like a golden dripping wet sheet over her shoulders as she placed her hands on the earth. From the ground rose a large chunk of rock and muddy earth. She raised her right hand and clenched it in to a fist to form a cave.
"There... happy?" She said with a frown, walking in first before starting the task of ringing her hair dry.
Ingrid and Tress looked at each other with raised eyebrows before following Cerella in to the makeshift cave.
Ice blinked, looking around when the light faded. She let out a shriek of rage when she realized that her target was vanished completely from sight.
"Botched your mission?" Rhea's voice came from behind. "You were supposed to bring the leader of the Guardians to Phobos so he could take the Heart of Kandrikor from her."
"Nobody asked you, you little whelp." Ice glared as she spun around.
"It seems even your little sister has betrayed our Lord." Rhea's eyes gleamed as she was attempting to spark Ice's temper.
"No... my sister would never betray Master Phobos." Ice's eyes were slits while observing Rhea. "She knows what is at stake for us should she fail or betray in her mission."
"You do still have time to find the leader of the Guardians, to rectify your mistake." Rhea's eyes were slits as she smirked beneath her mask.
"And what about you failing to attack the Guardian of Earth, when you had ample opportunity?" Spat Ice.
"I'm just waiting for the perfect moment that's befitting both me and her. I still have to pay her back for the damage from our first encounter." She replied cooly. "Nothing beats being as dramatic as possible with the drama queen of the group."
Ice frowned.
"I'm going to go back to Meridian to tail the Heart. You should remember where your loyalties lie and remember the mission the Master put to you, not what you put on yourself." She retorted.
Mimiru meowed again, and ran behind the rock in the cave that Wanda and Derek were stuck in.
"Hey! You gotta stay with me, Mimi..." Wanda chased after the cat, not wanting to be separated from her as she had been with her friends. It turned out the cat was huddled in a corner between the cave wall and the large rock that jutted out.
"It's probably better we stay here for a while. Just because we can't see out, doesn't mean that the enemy can't see in." He sat down on the ground, and after she grabbed her cat, she sat down as well, leaning against the wall. "Feeling all right?" He asked her after a long silence.
"Oh yes, nothing beats sitting on the floor that's as soft and comfortable as granite." She retorted, looking in the direction of the cave entrance and wondering when the storm was ever going to let up.
"Then perhaps we could change things up for you." Ice's voice came from the outside of the cave, sounding slightly muffled by the rain.
Derek stood up, and saw Ice walking to the cave, her head hooded to keep herself dry from the rain. He unsheathed his sword as Wanda stood beside him, her cat still in her arms.
"Not much space to move around." Ice muttered with a smile. "And this time I'm smarter at how to handle you." She looked at Wanda, who braced herself.
She watched Ice as the woman raised both of her hands, the palms facing directly at the two standing before her.
"Now, sister, decide where your loyalty lies." She muttered as she sent two foot inch thick pillars of ice at Derek and Wanda.
Derek brought up his sword while Wanda balanced Mimiru in one arm and brought up her left hand, sending lightning right at the oncoming pillar. But it had no effect. Derek used his sword to keep the ice that attacked him from piercing his heart, the force of the attack sending him flying backwards from the force of the blow. Wanda's lightning had no effect and the pillar of ice kept on coming towards her at full speed.
"Wanda!" Shouted Derek in alarm as the pillar of ice that forced him back formed a transparent wall. He could see what was happening, but not do anything about it. Not that he didn't try. He rammed his shoulder against the wall of ice until his shoulder ached.
"Now it's just you and me..." Ice stepped in to the cave as Wanda looked back at Derek.
Wanda was stuck, if she went outside, she could use her lightning power, but she'd risk hurting her friends and parents since she didn't know where they were at. Even here, if she used her power too much the cave could collapse on top of them. She doubted whether the Heart of Kandrikor could create a shield to protect against a cave collapse. She took a few steps back as Ice advanced on her, her blazing blue eyes narrowing in her smile.
* * *
"Well, this is fun." Tress yawned and stretched, looking out
"At least my hair is finally dry." Cerella grumbled as she pulled the last of the sea weed from the swamp out.
Will looked over at HuiLing, who was not her usual cheerful self. Normally she'd be trying to make people laugh or encouraging Ingrid in her jokes and sarcasm. But right now, she was staring fixedly out the cave as though listening for something through the rain and storms.
Cerella looked up at HuiLing as well, and stood up. Even she had limits on people's behavior changes.
"Hey, everything's going to be ok, HuiLing... You'll see. We just gotta wait out this storm." She put a comforting hand on her friends' shoulder.
"Will you be quiet, please? I'm trying to find out what direction that Wanda and Derek are in for when the storm lets up!" HuiLing burst out in frustration that wasn't normally like her.
She listened hard, craning her hearing, shutting out the sound of the rain, thunder and cracks of lightning as she closed her eyes. Finally, she heard something. The cry of a cat.
"I know which way they are!" She exclaimed, causing Cerella to jump back in surprise when she burst out.
"Come again?" Blinked Ingrid, who had been sitting next to a fire started by Tress earlier.
"I've been trying to use my powers over air to locate Wanda and Derek through the sound waves... and apparently Mimiru is with them too! That's how I found them... Mimiru doesn't like storms like this even on Earth, and was meowing something fierce..." HuiLing said all of this very fast.
"Ok... anyone else understand hyperactivity talk?" Blinked Tress.
"She used the sound waves in the air to locate my daughter and Derek thanks to her cat." Replied Will.
"Ah... That makes more sense." Ingrid smirked.
"So, all we have to do is wait out the storm and hope they stay in one spot for us to find them and get back to Earth before our families notice we're not on the planet anymore." HuiLing said happily.
Wanda had been knocked to the ground and was a crumpled heap as she looked up at the approaching attacker.
"And now... the finishing touch..." Ice brought up her right hand and directed the palm of her hand at Wanda as she got to her knees.
"No... WANDA!" Derek shouted, now attacking the wall that separated him from being able to help Wanda with his sword.
Wanda brought up her arms to keep the onslaught of ice from touching her face, but it never reached her. She blinked, staring at the figure that now stood before her.
"YOU..." Ice glared at the woman. "Mimiru..."
"Ice." The woman retorted. She was the same height as Ice, but there was something softer about her. She had shoulder length white hair and sapphire blue eyes like Wanda's cat.
"No way... a shape shifter?" Blinked Derek.
Mimiru wore a black cloak, and blue and gold Meridian robes. Her hair was white, and shoulder length. It looked almost unnaturally straight. Around her neck was the collar that Wanda had given her, pink with a gold name tag. She directed the palm of her hand at the wall, and it shattered when the sound of a sonic boom echoed around the cave causing the ground to shake.
Derek went straight to Wanda, who was staring up at the woman in shock.
"My little sister... how dare you betray Master Phobos!" Shrieked Ice.
"S-Sister?" Wanda stood up when Derek offered her his hand and she took it.
"I was placed weeks ago in your house... don't you remember?" Mimiru looked back. "I telepathically gave you my name and you chose it for my cat form as well. I was sent as a spy from Phobos... but now... I won't let him harm you." She glared at Ice.
"A shape shifter with telepathic ability, and powers of an unknown source?" Derek stared at the woman.
"I'm on your side now..." Mimiru smiled, and Wanda stared, still not sure if she could trust this person.
"Enough! You Guardians are corrupting my allies left and right... first Fusagu... now my own sister...!" Ice shrieked, raising her arms to reveal her white clothing underneath as the rain finally stopped falling outside.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you.. how did you get our Dads to forget what happened with the kidnapping and all that when we first became Guardians?" Tress asked, while the rain was still falling.
This caught the others' attentions.
"We had Queen Elyon help with that. Since the Oracle's didn't have that kind of power. She helped erase your Father's memories of what happened. So it's as if nothing's happened." Smiled Will.
Matt was looking ahead out of the cave.
"Something wrong?" Asked Ingrid, noticing his expression.
"Something's not sitting right... I've got a bad feeling." He replied.
"You think Wanda's in trouble?" HuiLing said at once.
"Well, if anything's happening, I'm sure she's in good hands. She's strong." Will smiled.
"Look... it's stopping." Ingrid stood up from the fire and walking out of the cave as the rain trickled to a slow stop.
"Finally, let's get going, I know exactly where they're at." HuiLing bounded in to the air.
"Right..." Matt said before transforming in to Shegon.
"Lead the way, HuiLing." Smiled Will as the other three took to the air. She was picked up by Shegon before the group started flying after HuiLing, who had a rare look of serious concentration on her face as she looked ahead.
Wanda was thrown backward as a spear of ice broke through her lightning. Her back slammed in to the cave wall hard while Mimiru balled her hands in to fists and ran at her sister. She swung her fists many times as an expert would but she missed as Ice dodged the attacks. The sound of the wind and force behind Mimiru's attacks were like strong gusts of wind.
Ice let out a howl of laughter when she got out of her sisters' reach. Mimiru was staring at Ice with narrowed blue eyes that seemed out of character for her.
"I'd really love to enjoy this reunion, but I have no time to deal with traitors or prey." Said Ice, bringing up a hand to wipe off the sweat forming on her face with the back of her hand. She stepped backwards out of the cave. "It's time to end this!"
Wanda blinked, rising to her feet a little weakened from the blow to her back. She stared when Derek stood in front of her with his sword drawn. She then got an idea. Her lightning power alone didn't stop the ice that came from their opponent, but maybe...
She walked up to his side and he looked at her with a quizzical expression wondering what she was thinking. Then she grabbed the blade of his sword, closing her eyes.
"Lightning."
He heard her mutter. She didn't have much left in her at this point, she could feel her shoulder starting to ache after that collision with the cave wall. The sword then sparked to life when it became embowed with the power of lightning. She hated the poison in her shoulder that still limited her time in battle, it made her feel considerably insignificant compared to the others even with her power of Quintessence and Lightning.
"I owe you one..." Derek told her with a smirk as Wanda stepped back. At least unless she got angry or upset, she knew when she shouldn't push herself.
Wanda remembered that in her video games that lightning was also the counterattack for ice but even with her improvements in battle skills, her own power wasn't enough to make any real damage on their enemy she noticed.
Derek barely had a chance to glimpse the expression on Wanda's face before Ice sent an attack right at her. He got between her and the spears of ice aimed at them, bringing up his sword to block all that he could. This time he felt like he was finally making an impact, until balls of fire came from the cave entrance, aiming right at the spears of ice, engulfing those he hadn't managed to block, and melting them. The now melted balls of ice hit the cave floor with several splatters.
"How about a little heat in this cave?" Asked Tress when the group had finally reached the spot where Wanda and Derek had been fighting.
"Hey! Glad you're still alive!" HuiLing grinned, waving at Wanda.
"Glad you have so much faith in me." Grumbled Wanda, barely audible. A small part of her was not actually happy to see the others, which surprised even her when normally she'd have been just as exited as anyone to get rescued.
Ice glared at the arrivals. Not what she had intended on so soon. Darn rain stopping, she thought. She would have to come back another time. She looked at Wanda.
"I know when I may have... miscalculated. We WILL meet again, Guardian." She looked at the leader before vanishing in a haze of white light.
"Awe... We didn't even get to have any real fun." HuiLing landed on the ground looking disappointed.
"Are you ok?" Shegon and Will went straight to their daughter, noticing the look in her eyes.
Wanda blinked, then nodded with a smile that was more like herself as the lightning on Derek's sword vanished and he sheathed it, walking over to her side.
"Hey... why is he standing closer to you than normal and you aren't threatening to rip his arms off?" Blinked Ingrid.
Wanda gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her head. Then, when comprehension dawned, Cerella's jaw opened.
"You're kidding... after all this time?" She said, looking aghast while a pink tinge appeared on Wanda's cheeks and Derek looked completely shameless. "Ugh... I can't believe she of all people beat me!"
"About time!" Smiled Tress.
"You can tell us the goods when we get back... but for now, I'm tired of the swamp smell. Can we get home please?" Asked HuiLing, positively bouncing in her excitement.
"One fold to Heatherfield coming up." Smiled Wanda, glad for a change in subject. She did the swiping motion with the Heart of Kandrikor, and a portal was opened.
"At least you're better at that than your mother was... she once folded us on to the school rooftop." Said Shegon before transforming back in to his human form.
They appeared inside Wanda's bedroom.
Surprisingly it had only been an hour since they left.
"Wow, feels like a lot longer than that." Blinked Tress, looking at the clock. There was a flash of red light, and the girls returned to their human forms.
"All right, girly, no getting out of this birthday thing now." HuiLing stared determinedly at Wanda. "We spent all night and day getting things ready."
Mimiru suddenly blinked, and turned back in to her cat form.
"So... Mimiru is a shape shifter?" Said Will unsuredly.
"It's ok Mom, she's on our side. She helped us fight back against Ice, her own sister." Wanda said quickly.
"Everything going ok in here?" Dean poked his head in to the room after knocking.
"She's just being more difficult than normal is all." Cerella smiled elegantly.
"Um... what's with the sword?" Blinked Dean, looking at Derek.
"Oh this?" Derek didn't know how to get out of this one. He normally left his sword at home or on Meridian.
"It was part of a school project related to medieval weaponry." Cerella butted in quickly.
"I must have missed the memo... oh well, everything's set now. Come on down." Dean said thoughtfully before turning around and leaving the group.
Ingrid and HuiLing grabbed Wanda by the arm when she looked like she was about to try and make a run for it, then frog marched her down the stairs.
"I'd better get a good reaction, busted my butt with the décor just for you." Cerella said dangerously when they reached the doors to the living room.
Cerella opened the door, and she certainly got a reaction that was worth all the hours she spent decorating the living room. Wanda was met with a blast of noise as people shouted 'happy birthday' at her when she was thrown in to the living room that was now decorated with purple streamers of different shades, and glittering geckos everywhere.
"Time for dinner and getting some of that cake!" Tress said excitedly.
"You guys did all this?" She looked at the feast that included all of Wanda's favorite, from Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork, to stir fry with Chinese noodles, large prawns fried in a bread batter, pans full of fresh vegetables, and her favorite sweet doughnuts from a near by bakery.
"That and then some. Now, we're grabbing food and you're telling us what happened in that cave for you to finally decide that Derek's a good guy." Cerella threatened.
And true enough, once everyone got their chosen food on their plates and settled in, the four girls would not leave Wanda and Derek alone until Derek had told the whole story of what happened.
"Ah, so all you had to do was corner the girl." Smirked HuiLing as Wanda took a particularly big bite of her fried prawns at the end of the story.
Soon it was time for cake and presents. Wanda's favorite kind of cake had always been a chocolate vanilla swirl, which she shamelessly took a large bite out of. She got several new skirts and tops from Cerella, three new movies from Tress, new music CDs from Ingrid, a new series of seven books from HuiLing with the movies and soundtracks to them. From her mother and father she got a new cell phone with interchangeable covers. From her grandparents, she got an Afghan that was made from all the shades of purple, blue, and light green that she loved. She ended up getting a lot of birthday money from her aunts and uncles in the cards.
"There's one more thing coming up, but you'll have to wait for Spring Break to get it. It's from your Dad and I." Will smiled down at Wanda as she put all of her money in a new wallet she found in Cerella's gifts for her.
"What?" Asked Wanda excitedly. Even with her dislike of big parties, she couldn't help but enjoy this one.
"You, all of your friends and Derek are going on a two week vacation to Florida to see all of the sights, and spend the first week at Disney World." Will had been clearly eager to dispel this news.
"What?" Exclaimed Wanda, blinking in a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
"Sweet!" HuiLing practically shouted.
"Yup. Us adults have been planning this for weeks and figured what better way to announce it than as a birthday present." Smiled Matt, reaching down and ruffling his daughter's hair.
"Thank you, Mom, Dad!" Wanda flung forward and wrapped both of her parents in a tight hug.
"I take it you like our gift then. Just wait until you actually go there... we've never been there ourselves... so this will be fun for all of us." Smiled Will, straightening out her daughter's hair with her hands as Wanda pulled away from the hug.
Derek managed to pull Wanda away from the group as they began talking with each other again, now about making plans for what to do on the upcoming vacation to Florida in a few weeks.
"I know it may not seem like much, but I got this for you." He said, holding up what looked like a small bag wrapped in metallic purple wrapping paper.
Wanda opened it, and smiled at the gift. It was a ribbon that looked like it was made from silk. It was the same color of pink as her Guardian outfit.
"From the finest Meridian silk worms, and the toughest at that so it won't break or get damaged." Derek picked it up. "I noticed how you're always fighting with your hair, so I thought this would help."
Wanda felt her face burning like the sun when he bent over and tied the strands of her hair that hung over her shoulders with the ribbon in a simple bow.
"Hey, Derek, time to get going!" Cornelia called from the group.
"Coming!" Derek shouted back, feeling slightly miffed. He leaned down again, lightly brushing his lips to Wanda's cheek before leaving with his family.
That left Wanda staring after him, her face bright pink in embarrassment and surprise.
"Hey, love bird." HuiLing startled Wanda by popping up seemingly out of nowhere.
"Seriously, you zone out better than my Mom with that reaction." Cerella was smirking, for Wanda had let out a yell and nearly fell over.
"Well..." Wanda couldn't really think of a better counterattack for Cerella.
"See you later birthday girl!" Cerella waved when her mother gave an impatient shout through the door.
