Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.

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The church was dark, and covered in cobwebs from years of not being used. The altar was small, and the entire place was very intimate. Ivy spotted a confessional, and assumed it was a catholic church. There were broken beams hanging down from the ceiling, and old melted candles at the ends of each pew. A few windows had been broken, and the shards still lay on the floor beneath them. Ivy walked up to the altar, and ran her hand across the edge of it, before brushing the dust off onto her jeans.

"No ones used this church in years, probably since before we were born. I come here and paint when I can't sleep." Lash shrugged. "I don't usually bring anyone here, so you'd better feel special."

Ivy laughed. "Yeah, Taylor and Tony would love to know you spend your nights in a church." She laughed harder at the thought, and saw Lash turn red. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure.

"Come on. The bell tower has a great view of Maxville." He led Ivy up a tall, spiraled staircase until they reached the top.

"Oh my god." Ivy felt breathless, and was sure she sounded it. "It's... Beautiful." She walked to the edge, and put her hands on the railing. A cold wind brushed against them, and she smiled at the peacefulness of the entire place.

Lash came up beside her, and leaned forward against the railing. He looked over at her. She turned to look at him, and smiled a wide, grateful smile. Her eyes glowed, and Lash felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Your pupils." His lips cracked into a soft smile. "They're split." He saw something withdraw from her posture, and she became more rigid than she had been a moment before.

"I, um--" She paused.

"You don't have to tell me. You don't even know me."

She watched him turn his attention back to the city beneath them. "Thank you, Jordan."

"For what?" He didn't turn to face her, but she kept her attention on him.

"For bringing me here. Showing me this." She gestured to the bell that hung silently behind the two Supers.

He watched her as she walked over to the huge bell. The wind swept her hair up, and she rested her hand against the bell.

"Can I paint you for part of my final?" He turned his back to the city, and rested against the rail.

She turned around to face him, and wrinkled her nose. "Why would you want to paint me? I'm not that interesting." She shook her head.

"Yeah. You are. For my surreal portrait. You. Up here. On the railing." He moved towards her a step.

"How?" She walked to the rail and jumped onto it with such grace and ease, that she couldn't have been human even if she tried. "Like this?" She stood, hands in her pockets, hair whipping against her face.

He shook his head. "No. Something that not everyone can do."

She crouched down, letting her left leg fall off the outside edge, balancing on only the toes of her right foot, right arm resting on her knee, left hanging at her side. "Better?"

"Almost. But still. It's too... Plain. You're a frickin' cat, for Christ's sake. Can't you do something that other people can't?" He laughed as she smiled and stood back up.

She looked over the edge and gave a small smile. She lifted her left leg. She continued to lift it until her toe was at shoulder-height, then she bent at the knee, bringing her the toes of her boot to touch her head, as she arched her back, and extended her neck as far as she could, letting her arms flow behind her.

His eyes widened in excitement at his new model. "Perfect."

She returned to a normal standing position and laughed as she jumped down. She went back over to him and pushed him playfully, still laughing. He laughed back and grabbed her arm before she could push him again, as if they'd known each other for years.

"We should get back." He pushed her towards the staircase gently.

They walked in the back door and Lash saw his dads coat hanging off one of the kitchen chairs. The walked down the hallway, and Lash stopped at the first bedroom telling Ivy he'd meet her in the guest room in a minute. He disappeared into the bedroom, and Ivy escorted herself to the guest room. She rummaged through her duffel, and pulled out short black gym shorts, and a gray tank. She changed quickly, and pulled on a gray zip-up over the tank. She went to the small dresser, and again attempted a French braid. Almost! Some strands were still short so they fell out giving the braid a wispy look, which Ivy happened to find quite attractive. She sat on the bed, and pulled out her English homework. She hadn't done any work, and was determined to complete at least a few assignments.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts about Why Heroes Are Needed. Lash came in and plopped down on the bed before Ivy could say a thing. She looked up and saw he had changed into a big navy blue t-shirt and boxers.

"Are we doing homework?" He sounded excited.

She laughed at his expression and nodded. He jumped off the bed and ran back in less than a minute later with his own book bag. He dumped his texts out and opened his notebook. She smiled at his enthusiasm.

"What would Taylor say?" She shook her head in mock disgust.

Lash rolled his eyes and went back to concentrating on his work.

Ivy put her pen down and just looked at him. "Why do you hang out with them if they're so mean to you?"

He looked at her in shock. "They aren't. They just have different ideas of what's fun. The whole villain-bully thing was fun the first few years, but I kinda outgrew it." He shrugged and turned his attention back to his homework, but she knew there was something else there. "Stop looking at me like that." He didn't raise his head to look at her.

"OK." And she went back to her own work.

Lash stopped writing, but still didn't look up. "I went to New York this summer, stayed with my cousins. One of their friends..." He sighed, and Ivy looked up at him. "Her name was Hisa. It means "long-lasting" in Japanese. She was the most amazing--" He stopped, and she heard him swallow hard, and fight down his emotion. "She was a goddess, if I've ever known one." He still didn't look up.

Ivy reached over, and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He squeezed back.

"She was a nymph. She made it her duty to protect the waters, and forests, and creatures. Not in the hippie way Layla does, but in the way that she was able to destroy any force that threatened their survival. I can't explain it. If something polluted a stream, she could touch the water, and the pollution was just... Gone. Once her parrot ate some really poisonous berry or something, and she touched the parrots stomach, and he was fine again. I don't know what her actual power was, but that's what she used it for. She used it to protect the things she loved." He lifted his head and looked at Ivy, his fear and embarrassment plain on his face. She said nothing, but waited for him to continue his story. "She couldn't understand why I was friends with people like Tony and Taylor. And the more she pointed out the wrongness of them, the more I started to see that isn't who I want to be. And I just kinda got over it. I want to do something good. I want to be something good. I'm not a bad person." He sounded as if he wasn't convinced, but he was trying.

Ivy moved closer to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. When she released him from the embrace, she stared him in the eyes, and promised him, "You aren't a bad person, Jordan. I didn't know you before Hisa, but whatever she triggered in you... If you really were a bad person, you wouldn't be saying all this right now." He smiled at her faith in him. She moved back to her seat on the pillows, and picked her notebook and pen back up. They both resumed their work.

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