"Show us your powers Rai-Rai!"

"I told you guys to stop calling me 'Rai-Rai'!"

"Please?"

Zephyr fidgeted as he watched Raimundo-surrounded by their younger siblings-sighed and bring his hands together. He twisted them for a moment, then pulled them apart to create a small whirlwind. The kids oohed and ahed as he shifted the form around into different shapes, first a dragon, then a tiger, then two tiny people playing soccer.

"Alright, I showed you," he finally said, dispersing the trick. "Now go inside and eat your lunch."

His siblings whined at him to do it again, but he remained firm, so they grudgingly went into their home. It wasn't very large or extravagant on the outside, just a simple, cream stucco house crunched together with all the other homes. Still, Rai had missed it. He couldn't wait for night so he could sleep in an actual bed.

"You've gotten a lot better, Rai."

Raimundo actually jumped when he saw his brother Zephyr was behind him, scratching his arm and avoiding eye contact. Zephyr rarely spoke to anyone, especially him.

"Uh, yeah. I guess," Rai answered, sticking his hands in his pockets. "That's what hours of training does to you."

"Yeah, you always wrote about that in your letters," Zephyr said with a small smile. "Mom didn't know how M. Fung convinced you to work so hard. You never really wanted to when you were here."

Rai cocked an eyebrow at him; Zephyr saw this and swallowed hard.

"N-Not that you were lazy, or anything," he stammered. "You, uh, just, uh-"

"I know what you meant, Zephyr," Rai assured him. "Gosh, you're just as antsy as ever. Didn't I tell you to get braver while I was gone?"

"Yeah, well..." Zephyr mumbled. "That's...kinda what I wanted to talk to you about...you see-"

"Raimundo?" their grandmother called from the window. "The kids won't eat their carrots until you come in and eat with us."

Rai sighed as Zephyr shrunk again.

"Okay, I'll be in in a second."

He turned back to his brother.

"You were saying?"

Zephyr tried to start again, but paused when he saw that Rai was rocking back and forth, shooting glances to the house. This was his chance to escape the awkwardness of this conversation, the awkwardness of talking to him, and Zephyr could see that he wanted to take it badly.

"...It's nothing..." Zephyr sighed. "It can wait until later."

"If you say so," Rai said, dismissing the worry on his brother's face. "I'll be inside if you need me."

"Yeah, okay."

He watched Rai flee to the house with hurt eyes. He'd known that his brother didn't take to being around him as much as he did the other kids, but he hadn't known he was that hard to be around. He looked down at his hands, inspecting his palms. With a leisurely thought he put them together and gingerly rubbed them against each other, then pulled them apart. A small, wobbly tornado formed between his hands, twisting slowly but growing stronger by the second. Zephyr smiled a little as he carefully formed it into a choppy, amateur dragon with small wings and a long tail. Quickly he deconstructed it and turned it into a tiger cub with large ears and twitching whiskers. He let it pounce around for a second before he bit his lip and split it in half, forming two kids kicking a small soccer ball around. A calming sensation flowed over him. He was like his brother. Not exactly like him for sure, but this gift gave them something in common, something they could talk about. He couldn't wait to show Raimundo. If he saw that they could both bend air, maybe he'd even come to like him.

Zephyr flinched when a hand came down on his shoulder, causing him to lose the tornado and dissolve the figures he'd formed. He turned to see his grandmother glaring at him, her stone jaw clenched tight as her eyes narrowed.

"G-Grandma-"

"Don't call me that," Serina hissed. "What were you doing just now?"

"I...I was just-"

"You were copying Raimundo, weren't you. You were bending wind, just like he does."

Zephyr cringed, then nodded. She made it sound like he had stabbed someone.

"Well, I'll have you know that you'll never be like your brother. Your brother will always be better than you, and it doesn't matter how hard you try. Understand?"

"...Sim..." Zephyr whispered. "I understand..."

"Good. Now I don't ever want to see you pull another stunt like that. When Raimundo finally agrees to stay home we won't have to worry about this kind of thing anymore."

Zephyr's eyes shot up when she said this, but she had already turned away. Convince Raimundo to stay home? Why? It didn't seem fair to take him away from something that made him so happy.

You'll never be like your brother.

His grandmother's words sunk in deeper, and he clenched his fists. What had he ever done to make Serina hate him so much? He did what she said all the time, and yet she acted like he was vermin. How was it that Raimundo won her favor when all he did was slack off, joke around, disobey authority. Zephyr hated that he got away with everything when they were kids, how he got whatever he wanted when he asked for it, even when he acted like a brat. Sure, now they were older, and it seemed Rai had done some growing up, but it was still the same. Rai could have come home with the same "I don't care" attitude and their family would have treated him the same: like he was a hero. What was so heroic about ignoring your brother, the only one in your whole family you were fully related to?

...I hate him... Zephyr thought as he grudgingly stared at the ground. He gets everything all the time. I hate that! I hate him!

As if on cue, his younger half siblings raced outside and started to play in the streets again, pulling Raimundo and his friends along with them. He and Zephyr locked gazes, and Raimundo tensed at the disdain and anger in his brother's eyes. Zephyr started walking, and for a moment Rai thought he was going to pass him; instead Zephyr stopped in front of him, straightened his back, and quietly said:

"You're not the only one who's special."

Raimundo's eyes popped open as he watched Zephyr head inside, confounded by the sudden change in mood. He'd known he was being rude before, but he didn't know if he deserved the glare. And his words, what did he mean by them. Was he saying he could control an element too?

"Rai?" Kimiko called, capturing his attention. "Are you coming?"

"Uh, yeah!" he answered, quickly joining the game.

Zephyr may be angry, but he rarely stayed that way long. It wasn't like he had reasons to anyway.