Lithium, Chapter IV

Imaginary

"I can fix that," Hunter said from the doorway, absently staring at the tanned back of the male across the room from him who was watching the quiet deluge from his bedroom window.

Dustin blinked.

"What?"

"I can fix that for you," Hunter repeated, bracing his arm on the inner part of the doorframe to Dustin's bathroom.

"Fix what?"

"Your clock," Hunter answered, pointing at the ever-blinking digital object.

"Oh."

He turned back, looking at the rain. It was a beautiful downpour indeed, one of the cleaner rinses he'd seen that year. Normally when it rained, they were often messy and unexpected, or a dry, humid, sticky, and irritating rain. This one was a clear spring shower with crisp droplets that reflected bits of the green leaves beginning to decorate the trees.

"Do you want to maybe do something later on tonight?" Hunter asked, walking nearer the yellow earth ninja.

"Like what?"

"Well, I have to check in with Sensei Amino today at about noon, so I'll probably be over there until 3 or 4. Maybe we could see a movie, grab some dinner or something? I dunno, just spend time together?" Hunter explained, his arms enveloping Dustin's narrow waist.

Dustin leaned his head back to rest on the taller man's shoulders.

"Sounds amazing."

Hunter smirked into the nape of Dustin's neck, "Well I have to shower before I go."

A few moments of silence allowed Dustin to process the statement.

"Oh, right," he chuckled, following Hunter to the bathroom.

Where the raindrops, as they're falling, tell a story

Dustin awoke to the soft drip drop of the drying rain. Rolling over lazily, he gazed at the now bright room; the sun had arisen, shining sparkling rays of light through his damp window. Lost in his thoughts, he began to ponder a little walk through the fields of the academy. It had been a while since he spent time getting in tune with his earthen element. Nice silence with only animals whispering in their own languages; no disturbances from random students and sensei—.

"Dustin," a voice called from outside his bedroom door.

He rolled his eyes. No doubt Tori wanting to go over lesson plans.

"Yeah?" he asked, his voice clouded with the remnants of sleep. He cleared it several times and piped up again; "Yeah?"

The door creaked open, leaving the expected Tori in the doorway.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you were awake. Hunter left a while ago and we didn't know if you were up."

"Yeah, I am, I was just about to go for a run," he lied, standing from his bed.

"Ah…okay. Well Shane and I haven't seen you since class yesterday and we just wanted to make sure we were still on for training tonight."

"Oh…um…" Dustin stalled. How was he supposed to ditch Hunter; or ditch Tori and Shane for Hunter?

"What's wrong?"

"Well…I kinda had plans for tonight. Maybe tomorrow?" he asked, not wanting to disappoint.

"Plans? Like, a date or something?" she inquired mischievously, grinning.

Laughing hesitantly, Dustin replied, "Hah…no…not really. Hunter and I were going to hang out."

Tori's face sunk somewhat, like maybe she was suddenly sickened by a thought or two. Her thoughts about Hunter actually being attracted to her those years ago were getting more and more pessimistic. The more he was around Dustin, the more she felt both boys slipping from her.

"Uh…Dustin…you and Hunter are…" she paused, looking for the words to address the situation, "You two are…really close, huh?"

Dustin frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"N-nothing, forget it," she said, smiling falsely, "I gotta go. Have fun tonight."

He watched her hurriedly shut his door, and then stood for several minutes before he regained his composure. Did she know? What exactly gave them away? What would she do?

"Damn it…" he sighed, walking out his door towards the academy fields.

In my field of paper flowers…

Dustin flopped down in a large bed of yellowish flowers, their loose petals swarming around him in a sudden frenzy due to his unusual movement. Through hooded eyes, Dustin faintly watched their rhythmic dance that sort of mimicked a swirling rainstorm. When they landed in the dampness of the remaining droplets of that morning's rain, the water began to permeate the petal, drowning it and eventually—inadvertently—killing it. Or had it already been dead? Dustin closed his eyes completely, basking in the familiarity of the fields; it had been so long since he'd been perfectly in tune with his earthen element and their sudden unity lifted him high above the problems Tori had accidentally created.

Yet, there, in the faintest of whispers, was a woman's voice. It was melodic, almost heavenly and for some strange reason, it seemed entirely too familiar. Through his closed eyes, a light began resonating in the center of his mind, forming a strange shape. As his mind worked furiously to decipher the shape, emotions began bubbling within him as he pondered every possibility. A monster? A messenger? What could it be?

Then, without any warning whatsoever, the melodic sound quickly rose in pitch, becoming a deafening screech that pierced his ears. The light became a blinding sensation that seemed to swallow Dustin whole, encasing his body in a burning sentiment. Unable to restrain his emotions, feelings, or sanity, he let out a cry, then a shout, then an ungodly, painful scream. The pain began racking his body as the flower petals began to dance wildly, now threateningly; the few raindrops sprinkled throughout the field began to rise as well, creating some misshapen form of a petal-made hurricane. Continuing their menacing barrage, the elements around Dustin began slashing at him, the light becoming too unbearable to hold, the petals becoming sharp, razor-like items, and the raindrops becoming hail-like debris. In a growling scream, Dustin tried to get control of the cycling flowers, but his mind could not grasp his sanity or his concentration. Finally, abruptly, everything stopped, and a familiar form stood before him as heavenly sounds filled his now ringing eardrums.

Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming…

Hunter looked at the ominous academy. Being there after so long seemed strange, to say the least, but at the same time, it felt welcome. Yet there was something not right. Then he noticed it. Too many shadows looming from the trees. Too few birds chirping. He smirked to himself. The school had constructed a welcoming party for him.

Dropping his bag unceremoniously, Hunter cracked his neck a few times, then loosened up.

"Alright, go," he ordered nonchalantly.

A blur of crimson and navy swept past him, seemingly hitting the defenseless man.

But when the ninjas turned to look at what became of their intruder, they were taken aback. There stood Hunter, unfazed by their attacks.

"You guys have got to be faster than that," Hunter teased, letting his guard completely drop.

The ninja students glared, then, with a mighty battle cry, they charged him. He easily avoided most of them, and then began fighting the rest. His martial arts skilled were completely unrivaled by the students, and his speed made them dizzy. There were times where they couldn't even see a blur of him.

Within seconds, 47 to be exact, the thunder academy ninjas were vanquished.

"You guys've gotta get out more," he joked, brushing off his shoulder.

"Who are you?" a girl asked, fear stricken.

Hunter looked concerned, "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to hurt you…"

The ninjas backed a step away.

"Hunter!" a voice boomed happily.

Hunter diverted his attention the large tree which an old man had just walked through.

"Sensei Amino!"

The two bowed with familiarity.

"It's good to see you, Hunter. I see you have met the future top students of the Thunder Academy," he stated, frowning at their defeated state.

Hunter forced back a cough, "Top?"

Sensei Amino cleared his throat, directing Hunter towards the entry to the academy.

"Come, we have other matters to speak of."

Through the hours Sensei spoke, Hunter tried to be respectful, but his thoughts kept drifting to Dustin. The way he opened up, the way he finally smiled, the way he felt, and smelled, and—

"Hunter?" Sensei Amino questioned again.

"Yes Sensei?"

"I can see your mind is currently elsewhere, as you must have much to catch up on. I will not hold you any longer—just please remember to keep up your training."

Hunter smiled, "Thank you sensei—I will."

He stood and bowed respectfully, then began his walk back to the Wind Academy. He took the precious time to maybe reflect on what had been going on. Tori's sudden engagement to Cam had thrown Hunter for a loop, especially because she'd had such strong feelings for him at one time. Now, suddenly, she was marrying herself to the one guy on the team Hunter would have pinned as gay.

Sure, Hunter liked Cam, he was a pretty cool guy when he wasn't snapping at you for your inferiority. But there were times where it seemed Cam was itching to get something off his chest to Hunter—still, since none of the other rangers knew of his relationship with Dustin, Hunter was seen as still available. So why hadn't came made his move? Either way, he supposed Cam moving on with Tori—of all people—would help smooth the atmosphere for when he and Dustin went public.

Hunter shook his head wearily, his hair moving from in front of his eyes as he gazed upon the late afternoon sun. He'd been gone for a while and he needed to get back to Dustin so they could leave for their dinner. Spending time together after such a long period of time, and after such an emotional night before would really help patch things up. At least he thought they would.

The Goddess of imaginary light…

"Hey," she spoke softly with her kind demeanor glowing from her radiant cheeks.

Dustin's misty eyes looked upon her in all her glory. A white gown was draped over her slender frame and her dark brown hair hung loose over her shoulders in wavy bunches.

"M-mom…" he breathed slowly, trying to catch his breath and senses.

"Dustin," she said soothingly, touching his cheek with her delicate hand, "It's time for you to let me go."

He looked away, swallowing whatever it was preventing him from speaking.

"Mom, I can't do this. It's too hard and it's too much at once. And these pills—oh God—these pills are awful. One minute I hate them, the next minute I love them. I can't decide. I want you to be here, or for me to be there. I want this to all be okay again."

He could sense the instability in his own voice and he could hear the whining desperateness that was echoing from his drying throat.

"Dustin, you've got to learn to accept life and move on. You can't live your life worrying about the end of mine! I'm fine. I lived my life and you made it purposeful. You've got that great guy to be incredibly thankful for—you owe it to him to at least try to get better."

Dustin blushed. Maybe heaven really did exist and she really could see everything.

"But I miss you so much…"

"And I miss you too, sweetie, but in the meantime, you've got to get on with your life. Trust me. When you come to see me here I want to hear about how fun your life was, not how you spent it mourning me! Now go, before I make you."

He looked at her again, smiling largely. How could a dead woman have so much energy? How could she be so happy? She hadn't changed, still laughing, joking, and always supporting him.

He wiped the few tears from his eyes as he took a step closer to her.

"I love you, mom," he said, hugging her.

She hugged back, "I love you the most, babe. Now make me proud. And remember," she began walking away backwards, "I'm always here. Always."

I lie inside myself for hours...

Dustin opened his eyes, birds chirping and flower petals still sprinkling around him. Had he dreamed it? Or had he actually spoken to his mom?

"Hey you!" Hunter greeted cheerily, lying down next to his dazed boyfriend.

"I talked to her," Dustin said half to himself.

"What?"

"My mom, I talked to her," Dustin said, a smile coming over his face.

Hunter looked taken aback. Had Dustin really mastered the skill so quickly, or did the Lithium maybe increase Dustin's intonation with nature? Either way, Dustin had obviously surpassed Hunter's training and was easily able to contact his mother.

"And?"

"And I think everything's gonna be okay."

They smiled at each other before Hunter stood up, offering a hand to Dustin.

"C'mon, let's talk about it while we get ready for our date."

"Oh, that reminds me," Dustin said as he stood, "My mom approves."