A/N: As always, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. Hopefully I keep it entertaining to you all and keep you coming back to read more. There isn't really much I can say now, but thanks to AvidMind for their detailed critiques and pointing out my errors. I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

And as always, I'm open to ideas! Nothing that deviates from the main plot, however (not that I can recognize plot when I write it though ahaha). But I digress. As always, enjoy this next installment, and I will try to get the next part out as soon as possible!

Til next time!

~shine

PS: I also have a tumblr, if you guys didn't know (or I failed to mention?) uh.. it's sacred-shine (despite my name being fairy circle now ahaha) but yeaaaaah. You can always reach me there if you have any questions or critiques or if you just wanna say hi! I'll try to link stuff like other fanfics and just things I've written, but be patient! I'm...really shy about people reading the stuff I've written. It's a miracle I even update my fanfics when I do. Shutting up now.

~Repaint Tomorrow~

=Breakthrough=

Elsword and Elesis stood in the middle of the street now, blocking traffic, but still entertaining those that were watching impatiently in their cars. The siblings had been fighting all night, unaware to their constantly changing location. All they were focused on was the other. Parrying, dodging and deflecting the other's attacks. As time passed, it quickly stopped being a simple formality, and just like old times; brother and sister fighting to let their feelings be known. Ara followed them from a distance, not wanting to get involved if it could be avoided, but she had been moved by how well they responded to one another. It was like they were dancing to a long forgotten tune, and she felt jealous.

When she thought of home, she thought of her brother who was both strict and kind...more like a father to her than her brother. She thought back to the many hours she had spent training to wield a spear and never getting praised. Always being told her faults and being reprimanded for her clumsiness, Aren was harsh on her when it came time to work out. There were certain exercises that Ara just couldn't do, and Aren hadn't seen that at first. Eventually he began teaching Ara other things, but she couldn't help but feel like she let him down.

But seeing her girlfriend and younger brother together, she couldn't help but smile and cheer for both sides, embarrassing Elesis with the pet names she called her, and making Elsword grin all the same. Her promises of "something good" to the victor only seemed to spur them on even more, and Elesis began fighting extra hard. This was the part of her that Ara liked. When egged on enough, Elesis would become like a raging hellfire. Perhaps that was why Ara had given her the nickname "Blazing Heart". At the very least, it was opne of the few nicknames that didn't have a sexual undertone, to which elesis was glad. she didn't actually mind it either. It fit her personality just fine.

But that was beside the point.

There was a sort of...energy between the siblings as they fought. Elesis couldn't be anything less than Serious, unlike her brother who was the complete opposite. Everything he did was exaggerated and sloppy, yet there was a hidden efficiency behind his moves. The way he controlled the weight of the wooden sword in his hands with one hand was simply amazing to Ara, who wouldn't dream of holding something so heavy. Elesis was more disciplined, yet wild, like fire hungering to devour a new morsel. Everything Elsword did seemed to make that blaze roar ever higher, her at the same time, it diminished little by little. It as as if he was dancing with fire and controlling the very heart at will. It was...incredible.

"Yaaah!" Elsword roared as he struck down a heavy low towards Elesis. As she rushed forward the next instant, it was almost as if she passed directly through his attack. Elesis got close to her brother and hit him square in the chest with a shoulder charge. Elsword staggered back a few steps, glaring at his sister who merely grinned back at him. "Come on, bro, you're getting sloppy! Normally you would've been able to dodge that~" elesis spoke. Elsword growled. At this Elesis' voice grew stern. "Remember what Dad taught us? Anger clouds the mind and makes you do something both rash and stupid. Stay calm!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Elsword grumbled. As Elesis charged at him once again, he prepared himself to fight once more.

X

Aisha woke up to the sound of a loud bang and shouts from outside. She was lucky at least it happened on her day off from school. Still, as she grumbled and followed the sound to Eve's room, she glanced out the window, surprised to see Elsword there, leaning against a wooden sword. He looked out of breath, one hand placed on the side of her studio to keep him from swaying too much. On the opposite side of the alleyway was a girl with hair brighter red than him. She glanced up at Aisha and grinned. "Sorry, did we cause too much noise?"

"Sorta. Don't worry about it, though. My roommate's louder than you guys daily, so I've gotten used to it." Aisha spoke nonchalantly. She pointed to Elsword as she asked, "So, why're you beating up on him? Did he do something perverted to you or something?"

"I'm not a pervert!" Elsword shouted. Aisha ignored him. "Damn brat."

"No, nothing like that. Just having a brother-sister chat is all." Elesis replied with a soft chuckle. "Hey, do you mind if we come in for something to eat? I'm starving!" Aisha waved them over to the door and made her way to unlock it. Add and Eve were already awake as well now; the former had his hair up again, though he was shirtless and wearing shorts. Aisha ignored him completely as she studied Eve. As always, Eve was lazily dressed. She wore a tank top and shorts, but her hair was let down for the day. Her bangs covered her eyes almost completely as well. Aisha shook her head at her friend, but she moved to let her guests in first before she commented on the tiny girl's state of dress.

To say she was surprised by the third person was more than just an understatement.

Well, surprised wouldn't be the right word, I suppose. In fact, the first thing she saw as the door opened, was a girl's rather large bust. As she looke up, she saw the coy grin on the girl's face, like a fox who had discovered new prey. "A-ara? Why are you here? And...what did you do to your hair?" Aisha asked.

"It's not a question of what I did, but rather what she made me do." Ara pointed to Elesis who simply grinned behind her. Aisha moved aside and let the others inside. Elswoed was the last to enter, a small smile on his face at seeing her again. Aisha gave a small grin before closing the door behind him. "Wow! You weren't kidding! This entire room is huge!"

"According to Eve, it used to be the only room, before she got permission from Hoffman to remodel as she saw fit. She added an upstairs and another room after she was told I was moving in." Aisha explained, moving to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. It wasn't anything extravagant; bacon, eggs and sausage. Eve made pancakes and poured everyone some tea, and they ate in Aisha's art room, since the small table couldn't fit all of them. Ara and Elesis looked around while Add and Elsword glared at one another. Eve watched the two silently, as Oberon played chess at the table with Moby and Remy. He was losing, of course, but Eve didn't want to damage his pride any more than it already was.

"So, what's the deal with them?" Elesis asked, pointing to Elsword and Add. Aisha gave a small sigh.

"Well, the white haired idiot is my ex boyfriend and childhood friend. I met Elsword recently, so we barely know each other. But anyway, I told Elsword a bit about what happened in the past, and Add magically shows up out of nowhere, and instantly your brother hates him. Add's not very friendly either, actually." Aisha explained. Elesis nodded. "So, how do you know Ara?"

"We're dating." Elesis stated bluntly. Aisha nearly choked on her food. "Yeah, I get that reaction a lot. No one really expects weird things from her, but really, she was the one to ask me out." Elesis grinned.

"That's not true! You kept climbing in bed with me so I joked that you may as well be my girlfriend and you agreed!" Ara defended herself. Elesis' grin spread and she cackled as Elsword and Add glanced over from their death stares. "Besides, I don't actually mind dating Elesis. She's a great cook."

"That's not all I'm great at." Elesis muttered under her breath. Elesis caught her meaning quickly and blushed. Ara smacked the girl upside the head with a frown. "What?! I didn't even mean it that way!" Another smack. "Will you quit it! Or I swear when we get home you're in serious trouble!"

Leaning close enough to Elesis so that only Aisha could hear them, Ara's eyes lowered dangerously and she grinned wolfishly. "I think you and I both know what's going to happen when we get home." Elesis blushed now and Ara giggled, kisssing her girlfriend quickly and going back to her seat. Elesis cleared her throat and looked pointedly at Aisha.

"Just so you know, she's always been like this."

Breakfast was more or less quiet after that, however, Elsword did take the time to look around at her various paintings and sketches. Add sat by even and began talking to her about a joint project they could work on together, and Elesis was playing Chess with Oberon now. It looked like a pretty even match for the most part, though Ara seemed to be helping both sides from time to time. They weren't obvious tips that the opponent could react to immediately, but then again, Ara knew that neither of them were exceptionally bright in matters of strategy.

"Hey, aisha? What's this supposed to be?" Elsword asked, pointing to what seemed to be a self portrait. Aisha walked over to him as he pointed to it.

"Oh that? Just something I was working on a while back before university started." She said. "See, I'm a huge fan of fantasy. Elves, dwarves, magic, things like that. So I thought that...maybe I could try drawing myself as a witch or something. It was a bit too embarrassing, so I gave up on it."

Elsword was quiet for a while as he looked over the sketch. It was mainly just a rough sketch of a pose, but he could tell that there were some clothing outlines as well. "You should finish it." He said. Aisha shook her head no. "Why not? If it's you drawing it, it'll come out great! And besides..." Elsword glanced sidelong at Aisha and noticed her curious expression. "I kinda wanna see a magical girl Aisha." He finished. Aisha laughed. That wasn't the reaction he was going for, however, and Elsword frowned slightly.

"Me as a magical girl?" Aisha asked, shaking her head. "I'd probably blow something up just by looking at it! Besides, why do you wanna see something like that anyway? If you think it'd turn out cute, I'm afraid you'd best look somewhere else. Like at Eve, for example. She's pretty cute, once you get past the emotionless face."

Elsword was quiet for a while. "Where do you keep your art supplies?" He asked suddenly.

"I-In my room underneath my bed. There's a large green case with all my brushed and pencils. Paint and stuff stays here. Actually, anything I'm using currently stays here."

"And paper?" Elsword asked.

"My sketchbooks stay in Eve's room because she uses them more than I do. In return she buys me a new canvas for every three pages she uses up. Why are you asking me this stuff?"

Elsword crossed his hands over his chest. "Because I'm giving you a request, and that is to finish this picture and give me a basic idea of the reasoning behind what you intended when you first drew it." Elsword said. Aisha sighed heavily. Normally she turned down requests, but he seemed bent on getting her to finish it so, snatching the paper from its place on the wall, she walked into Eve's room to grab one of her sketchbooks, grabbed a pencil and eraser, then plopped down next to Elsword and began working.

"Lady's toe...it's been so long since I've drawn this thing that I can't even remember what I was gonna draw." Aisha muttered under her breath. "Guess i'll just wing it." She shrugged. Elsword sat next to her and glanced over as she started drawing.

Little by little, the pieces began to form and fit perfectly in place, from the shoes and thigh high stockings, to the skirt, shirt, jacket, gloves, wand and finally the hair. Aisha drew at a leisurely pace, hoping Elsword would eventually get bored and go do something else so she could stop. Well, that was her intention at first, but soon enough be became interested again. She began going over every line, every detail and adding more. In a sense, it was as if she were breathing life into her drawing.

All the while, Elsword glanced over from his spot beside her whispering encouraging words like "See? I knew you were good" or "Whoa, she's cute". Aisha smiled and rolled her eyes. "You're a dork." She muttered back. Elsword took it as a compliment.

When Aisha was finished, she put down her pencil and showed it to Elsword. "See? It's not exactly what I had in mind at first, but the general concept is the same." She said. Elsword examined the picture, taking in the details. "I know it's childish to use myself as a model. My teachers always say as much. They always tell me to use the world around me as inspiration, but it's hard to be inspired by people and things that don't have an interest in the things I like to do. Anyway, you wanted me to explain my original intent, right?" Elsword nodded. "Well, let's jump back to my childhood, then."

By now, everyone else had stopped what they were doing to listen, and Aisha was none the wiser.

"See, before I met Add, my mom and dad would tell me these amazing stories of places they've been, and even use them to create fairy tales and myths and things like that. My dad was an author and mom was his illustrator before she injured her hand in an accident. She used to draw such wonderful things. Princesses, elves, magicians and knights. As a girl they filled my dreams and since then I've always wanted to draw them for others to see. But I was never very good at art, so I gave up. I tried writing as well, but...well that was one mistake I could never get over. Then I met add and forgot my dreams for a while. I was only reminded about them when Add and I were playing hide and seek one day and I had the bright idea of hiding in a barrel of pickles. Well, at least the pickles were good. I was called 'pickle girl' by everyone at my school for a month though." Aisha paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Anyway, I wound up getting shipped to Ruben, and the scenery there just mesmerized me. It was just as my parents used to tell me. Trees all around, and I even was able to walk all the way to the ruins on my visit. I spent the entire day there imagining I was a princess in a ruined kingdom."

"After that, I began to believe even harder in my dreams. I would daydream about the wonderful things I would love to draw if only I could. I would wish I was a princess or a magician, able to control and bend the elements to my will. I would daydream about calling down hail on bullies or shocking them with a powerful lightning spell. People would make fun of me for it, but I didn't care. When high school finally came around, and my grades were well enough that I had a free period, i would sit in on the art class and watch them work. Eventually I got the courage to enroll in the course and..well, that's how I became an artist." Aisha shrugged. "But as far as the picture goes, it's just how I imagined myself if I were a magician, that's all. I've always been fond of magic, and I hate violence. Drawing or reading were always my sort of thing."

Elsword was silent for a while, before handing the picture back. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a bigger dork than I am." Elsword finally replied. Aisha frowned and started to get up, but he stopped her. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm not making fun of you. It's just that...when you said that you hid in a barrel of pickles and got shipped to Ruben, it reminded me of this girl I saw once. Elesis and I were playing hide and seek once and I heard this noice behind mayor Hagus's house and I found this girl climbing out of a barrel."

Aisha thought back on the memory, but shrugged. She didn't seem to recall meeting anyone. Elsword shrugged. "Well, anyway. Not that I know that it was you I saw, I don't have to wonder about it. Still a dork, though." Elsword commented.

"...are you always this comfortable with people that you can talk so freely?" Aisha asked.

"Pretty much." Elesis answered for Elsword before he could say anything. "Let him get any more comfortable with you and he'll talk your ear off for days! But anyway, thanks for breakfast and the cute story, but I gotta shower and report in. C'mon twerp, you need a bath too." As Elesis hauled Elsword off, Aisha waved back, trying to hold back a chuckle. Eve and Oberon began putting away dishes, while Add simply went back to his room.

Aisha sat where she was with a smile on her face. It was nice to have someone believing in her, despite not being able to see her talent herself. Maybe that's what she really needed? She sighed and stood up, taking the sketchbook with her. "I think i'll visit Rena today. The wedding dress she showed me actually gave me an idea or two about something..." Aisha said to herself.

After showering and getting dressed, she fished out the cellphone from her jacket pocket and Dialed Rena's number. "Hey you! Do you mind if I come over? No, it's not about a job, or anything. I need you to pose for me!" After a few minutes, Aisha hung up with a wide grin on her face. "I'm off you two!"

"Don't forget my dinner!" Eve called. "The money's in your jacket pocket!"

"Stop by the hardware store on your way back! There's some tools i'm missing! The list should be in your jacket pocket too! Just talk to the manager and it'll be taken from the debt they owe me!"

Aisha sighed ad shook her head. "Okay!" With that , she closed the door and headed out.