The following morning, Theo was up early to help Ember prepare for the big event that day.

"You feeling nervous?", Theo asked as he placed a bunch of red stickers on some merchandise.

Ember gave him a smile.

"I'll be okay."

Theo rolled his eyes.

"Did you ever come around one of your mother's matchmaking sessions?", he asked.

Ember looked his way a bit annoyed.

"Yeah, she says I'm destined to live a life of eternal loneliness and despair."

Theo couldn't help but chuckle. He had seen a couple of Mrs. Lumen's sessions as the self-proclaimed matchmaker of the neighborhood and clearly she had developed a good smell which she had claimed once could smell the love between the couples she would see. But today was not about talk about matchmaking. It was Red Dot Sale and Theo would need Ember to stay calm and make sure his system to revert water into the drains outside in case any of the pipes leaked was still functional.

"Just try and remember what you practiced.", Theo reminded her.

Ember nodded as she headed to the door.

"Okay, take a breath.", she said before adjusting the Red Dot Sale pin on her apron, "Calm as a candle."

Theo tensed as Ember rolled up the shade on the door's window to reveal a crowd had gathered. Ember kept her cool as she opened the door.

"Morning. Welcome to the Fireplace-"

She didn't get to finish because the crowd pushed in and Theo could tell this wouldn't go well. And things really got out of hand starting with when a customer tried taking a can out from a pyramid of them.

"Ember!", Theo called out as he tightened a piece of his system on the pipes.

Ember was over in a moment.

"Whoa, whoa!", she told the customer, "They're all the same. Just take one off the top."

She quickly gave him another can before Theo had gotten there and helped the customer leave.

"So many stickers.", another customer said piling a bunch of them on the counter.

Theo didn't have time to deal with it cause he saw another customer get his attention.

"Are these fragile?", she asked as she started sweeping a bunch of delicate looking souvenirs into a basket though most were missing the basket and heading to the floor. Theo bolted and managed to catch the ones that almost hit the floor and restock them which Ember found comfort in before seeing a customer almost bite into a log without paying.

"You have to pay before you eat."

The morning passed by slowly and even with Theo helping out, the customer's questions piled up.

"Does this come in a large?"

"What's your return policy?"

"Have you seen my husband?"

Theo tried to keep calm and Ember was too. Her father was counting on her and Theo was looking more than a bit tense from all the constant ringing of the register, but no luck as more questions rose.

"My dad broke this.", a Fire kid said holding up a damaged toy.

"Mind if I test this kettle?", another customer asked as a kettle just released a high-pitched whistle.

/

Theo could tell Ember was straining to keep her cool, but it wasn't working out as Theo saw the purple tint in her flame start to flare up again.

"Ember, why not you take a breather while I settle this out here?", he asked.

Unfortuantely for Theo, his question was hardly heard over the customer's and Ember had reached her point and would explode and any second.

"Back in five minutes!", she chocked out as she made a mad dash for the basement.

Theo quickly got to tending to the customers and had just managed to get a good amount done before he heard Ember yell and the shop rocked which told Theo that Ember was having an outburst again. At first it looked like not much happened but then the pipes began to rattle grabbing the customer's attention and Theo had to act fast.

"Short and simple explanations and quick sales!", Theo said quickly, "Go!"

As if they knew or had a good idea what Theo ment, the customers lined up and quickly gave their baskets of merchandise and Theo turned up the speed and was ringing the register even more than that morning. Unfortunately the pipes started to leak and the customers had managed to get their things and pay it off before Bernie came into the room and Theo got to work on repairing the damage to his system.

"Everything in here okay?", he asked.

Theo had finished repairing and looked nervous.

"Yeah, but I think Ember needed something from the basement. I'll go check."

Bernie accepted that as Theo headed to the basement before he paused at the top as he heard a voice that wasn't Ember's.

"This is bad! I can't afford to lose another job! I just can't seem to find my flow."

Theo crept closer downward to see Ember standing on a crate to stay above the flooded floor and a Water guy stand up to show he was wearing a yellowish white shirt with a name tag with the word "Inspector" across the bottom and the name "Wade Ripple" above it. The guy was tall and looked really buff.

"Dang.", Theo and Ember both said in unification.

Wade looked down and groaned.

"That pipe squished me all out of shape.", he said before shaking the water off him and making his muscles deflate and his middle round out, "That's better."

Ember was growing impatient.

"Dude, just get out of here. I gotta clean this place up before my Dad sees what I did."

"Actually…", Wade said as he sloshed over to a pipe while taking out a pen and notepad before turning to Ember, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to write you a ticket."

"A ticket!", Ember asked shocked.

"Yeah, I'm a city inspector.", Wade said, "And this pipe is not up to code."

Theo was just as shocked as Ember as he returned to the top of the stairs to contemplate what just happened.

"Ember sucked a city inspector into our basement?! That can't be good."

He returned to his previous position to hear something else and when he got closer, it became more apparent.

"I'm afraid I have to write that up too.", he heard Wade say, "First I get sucked into a pipe, and now I have to write citations that could get this place shut down. Oh gosh, it's just too much!"

"Shut us down?!", he heard Ember ask.

"I know!", Wade wailed, "It's awful!"

/

Theo got closer and got a good view of Ember and Wade near the window in the back though the duo didn't notice him as they were more focused on each other.

"No! You can't shut us down.", Ember begged, "Please! This is a big day for me. It's our Red Dot Sale!"

She lunged for Wade's notepad, but he flowed out of reach and kept scribbling on his pad.

"Hey, take it easy. This is as hard on me as it is on you.", he said as he sloshed closer to the window.

"Get back here!", Ember demanded.

"Sorry.", Wade answered, "I gotta get these to City Hall before the end of my shift."

That was when he poured his body out the narrow window and was outside quick. Theo had enough and got over gaining Ember's attention.

"Theo?! How much did you hear?"

"I heard enough.", Theo answered, "You follow Water guy and I'll get to cleaning up this mess before your dad notices a thing."

Ember felt slightly better, but Wade was getting away and she had to move fast. She took off her apron and quickly went through the window herself before giving chase to Wade. Theo then turned to see a pipe beginning to leak. Quickly, Theo got out the supplies he had purchased the day before and started cleaning up as much water as he could before Bernie showed up on the stairs and saw most of the place was wet, but at least the floor wasn't flooded.

"What happened?", he asked.

"We had a little accident.", Theo admitted.

Bernie frowned.

"Water.", he growled, "Always trying to water us down!"

Theo by now had finished up making the floor dry enough for Bernie to help out and Cinder came in to lend a hand.

"Good thing I got these extra supplies before today huh?", Theo asked hoping to lighten the mood.

Bernie sighed heavily and tried looking Theo's way understandingly.

"Yeah, but good thing Red Dot Sale went okay."

"Mr. Lumen, I really think I can get this while you get some rest.", Theo said with concern.

Bernie smiled.

"You did more than enough for me and Cinder here to finish up.", he said, "You go see if you can help Ember out."

Theo turned to Cinder who looked like she agreed with her husband and most of the hard work was done so he felt like going to see if he could help Ember out. Wade said he had to get to City Hall which ment he had to get there fast. He dashed up the stairs and was out the door and into the open street.

"Okay, I got to go fast.", he told himself.

He paused a moment to recall the fastest way to City Hall and then after taking some deep breaths, he bolted into the open highway and hoping he could get there in time.

/

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Wetro tram moving off and had a feeling that it would be the best bet before noticing a slight flash from inside one of its parts.

"Yep, Ember took the tram alright.", Theo concluded.

He headed to the station, but the tram had left a while ago and was nearing a waterfall in the distant.

"Why must it be this?", he asked harshly.

Before he stopped himself, he jumped on the ramp and was soon speeding across it. Towards the tram just as it went through and the waterfall was moving back into place. Unfortunately for Theo, he did make it to the tram, but ran smack into the back window of its last part.

"Ow."

The tram had gone into a tunnel that cut off all light and Theo held on for dear life until it ended and light came. Unfortunately, it also made a wave of water wash over the tram and made Theo slip and spark viciously and painfully.

"Ow!", Theo yelped as he struggled to get out of the water, "Ow! Jeez, that hurts!"

By the time he finally got out and on to solid dry ground, it took him a while to recover from the pain and get out of the masses that were leaving the tram and those who were entering it.

"Okay, breath and reform.", he strained to tell himself as his sparks were becoming less and less violent and his form became more solid, "Next time I'm going the long way around."

Theo had just managed to get himself back together and ignore the snide comments some were saying as he got to his feet.

"Hey look, the speed element is worn out."

"What's the matter Sparky? Got wet?"

"Guess you're not going to be as light as you were huh Plasma?"

Theo just got steady and managed to clear his ringing head enough to get a faint yelling heard. He got to the rail that overlooked the street looking from one side to the next looking around for Ember among the noise and color. Finally, he saw her flame head off fast and though he wasn't as fast as he was earlier, he couldn't lose her again.

"Wait for me Ember!", he called out though he doubted she heard him.

He dashed down the stairs nearby to the busy street below and just went through an Air element who was picking up a jacket from the street making him disperse again.

"Hey, watch it there!", he snapped at Theo's back.

Theo turned to look his way.

"Sorry, severe emergency here."

By the time he was about to catch up to Ember, he saw her go into a narrow space between two buildings and groan.

"Dang it. Why did I have to fizzle out now?", Theo asked himself as he smacked himself in the head.

He didn't have time to gripe cause he had to get to City Hall stat. He managed to get a boost enough to get around the corner fast, but as City Hall came into view, he saw a wall of flame go down and Ember's voice became clear as he got closer.

/

Ember was seen slumped down and her inner light was shinning like a weary, sad rainbow illuminating the area around her.

"The shop is my dad's dream.", she said though Theo believed she was talking more to herself than anyone else, "If I'm the reason it gets shut down, it will kill him. He will never trust me again."

Theo had managed to come up enough to talk to her, but he felt he should back off a bit and let her get her negativity out. Then he noticed Wade come out of the doors. He was having a hand on his chest and tears in his eyes.

"Why didn't you say that before?", he asked.

Ember got to her feet looking a bit better.

"Wait, does that mean you'll tear up the tickets?"

Wade looked unsure.

"I mean, I would, but I just sent them over to the processing department.", he answered mentioning towards a vacuum system not far behind the doors.

Ember groaned as she held her head in frustration. Theo had to act fast and say something.

"Mr. Ripple, there has to be something we can do to make this up.", he said trying to sound as sincere as he could muster up.

Wade paused as he noticed the other guy showing up.

"Wait, do I know you?", he asked wiping his eyes.

Theo looked unsure.

"I'm not sure. I kind of have a-"

Wade then snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah, you're that Plasma guy right? A lot of people talk about you."

Theo blushed, but then regained his posture when he noticed Ember look his way desperately.

"Anyway Wade, about what we can do to make this up?"

Wade thought for a moment.

"Well, I can take you up there and plead your case if that's any help?"

Ember sighed as she could see Theo was here and it helped her feel more at ease. Theo was on board instantly.

"Lead the way Wade."

As Wade did so, he looked Theo's way interested.

"By the way, I don't think I got your names."

"I'm Theo. Theo Plasma.", Theo answered him before mentioning towards Ember, "She's Ember. Nice to meet you Wade Ripple."

Wade looked surprised.

"How did you know my name?", he asked, "Did you read my mind?"

"Nah, I just read your name tag.", Theo answered.

Wade blushed. Guess reading a name tag would explain how the new guy knew about it. Theo noticed Ember's expression and wished he could touch her if he wasn't recently splashed so he could assure her that it will work out. This had to or he could be facing being fired or worse.