Later...
The two arrived at the Sea-Near residence and stood just outside the entrance. Much like the Ripple residence back in Element City, the two stood in front of a tall apartment complex. As she had before, Ember stood frozen and stared up, partly intimidated by it.
"My Flame, Wade. How many rich relatives do you have?" Ember quipped.
"Oh! Well, apart from Mom and the Ripples you've met, there's the Sea-Near's - five of 'em to be exact. There's the Watergates-six Watergates, and the Tidalwaves-" Wade said.
"Okay-okay. I get it," Ember interjected.
She briefly chuckled, holding her arm in nerves again. Wade's glee for her to meet the Sea-Nears slowly faded as his care for her took over.
"Look, you don't have to be intimidated by them. Besides... that's gonna be you one day." Wade assured.
Ember looked up at Wade, confused.
"What-I'm gonna be a slushy like you?" Ember quipped.
"Okay, ouch- but no..." Wade began.
He took her hand proudly, holding it to her heart.
"You're gonna have your own skyscraper, and it's gonna be bright... every day... because you'll be happy." Wade complimented.
Ember looked and stared into Wade's eyes with grateful glee, shedding a tear at the overly sappy statement.
"I don't care how cringe that was. You're such a sweet little dewdrop." Ember remarked.
Wade smirked at the remark, staring back into Ember's loving gaze.
"Wade Dew-Near!" a voice exclaimed.
Suddenly, Wade shifted his attention toward the hotel doors.
"Uncle Sea-Near!" Wade exclaimed.
Instantly, he grabbed Ember by the hand and raced over to a short, plump Uncle Sea-Near. Wade parked her safely aside before hugging Uncle Sea-Near as tight as he possibly could. The two bawled instantly, causing Ember to jump back from the flood of tears.
"My Flame," Ember remarked, folding her arms and smiling.
"Uncle Sea-Near! You look so sprightly!" Wade exclaimed.
"Only for my favorite nephew!" Uncle Sea-Near replied.
Sea-Near slowly looked over to Ember, wearing an astounded expression.
"Wade... you never told me your special lady would be so bright." Uncle Sea-Near complimented.
Ember's eyes widened, causing her to chuckle in a flattered manner.
"Oh- haha! T- thank you." Ember giggled.
Uncle Sea-Near put his arm over Wade, sloshing over to meet Ember.
"Wade and his mother have told me all about you." Uncle Sea-Near reckoned.
"Have they?" Ember said, looking over to Wade in embarrassment.
"Yes! They told me you have a wonderful knack for glass architecture." Uncle Sea-Near recognized.
"Oh! Is that what they call it? Hehe- wow!" Ember remarked with discomfort.
"You must be so excited to work with Aquatecture!" Uncle Sea-Near said.
Suddenly, Ember's nerves flew away like leaves from an Earth person. She stared at Sea-Near with an astounded expression, jaw agape.
"Aquatecture?! The designers for-" Ember began.
"Yup, that's right; Element City." Uncle Sea-Near finished.
Ember sharply looked over to Wade, astounded.
"Mom said she'd get you an opportunity with the world's best," Wade stated.
Ember fell in on herself, staring at Wade with hearts for eyes.
"Come! You must meet the Sea-Nears!" Uncle Sea-Near announced.
He began to slosh back over to the hotel in lead. Wade sweetly extended a hand in a gesture for her to follow with. From sheer excitement, she took his hand and raced along.
Having made their way to the 25th floor by elevator, the three walked over to the apartment door. As Uncle Sea-Near opened the door for them, Ember lovingly took Wade's side closer, smiling.
"Sea-Nears! We have visitors!" Uncle Sea-Near announced.
Aunty Sea-Near and a pack of three rambunctious kids raced up to hug Wade.
"Wadey! So nice to see you again." Aunty Sea-Near exclaimed.
She wrapped Wade with a giant hug, splashing water and causing Ember to leap back in fright.
"Aunty S! Careful of-" Wade began.
Aunty Sea-Near looked over Wade's shoulder to Ember, a few feet away holding her arm in anxiety.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, darling. You must be Ember." Aunty Sea-Near recognized.
Ember chuckled to herself, moving forward a foot hesitantly.
"Yeah, y- you're fine," Ember replied anxiously.
"C'mon. I'll show you to your room!" Uncle Sea-Near announced gleefully.
As the apartment was not fire-friendly in the slightest, Wade made a point of setting up a floaty to guide Ember through. She hesitantly got on, her knees slightly weak.
Going through the majority of the floor on a floaty, Ember sighed with relief as she saw a stairway to a second floor, presumably made of tempered glass. As Wade got her off the floaty safely, she tiptoed up to the staircase momentarily to get a feel. Her knees strengthened as her confidence returned, along with a smile.
Uncle Sea-Near, Wade, and Ember slowly went up the staircase to the guest suite. As she got to the top, Ember was astounded to find just how accommodating the Sea-Nears were.
"Though it was a fish to carry, we got the damned thing up here in the end." Uncle Sea-Near admitted.
To Ember's delight, a long, carved-out piece of wood sat next to a swimming pool - what was presumably Wade's bed. She gleamed with glee, racing up to it and plonking herself down. Her flames calmed as she landed, snuggling in. She sat back up, wearing a broad smile.
"I made an effort to suggest this," Wade admitted.
As Ember began to burn a dark red in passion, Uncle Sea-Near slowly backed out of the room. He knew what could come next.
"Alrighty. I'll leave you two to it. Come downstairs when you're ready." Uncle Sea-Near awkwardly wished.
He promptly exited downstairs, giving Wade and Ember privacy for the first time in a day or so. Tired, Ember plonked back on her log bed and shut her eyes, hands behind her head. As she did, Wade dropped their things in the corner and sloshed over to the pool, dunking himself in it up to shoulder level.
"Ah-- that's nice." Wade admired.
"You could say that again," Ember replied.
The two began to wind down, with Ember looking up at the ceiling and closing her eyes in admiration. As she did, her light began to reflect against the walls. Wade got up out of the water to waist level in admiration, looking around the room without Ember's knowledge.
"You must like it already," Wade interjected.
Ember stopped her trance, slowly looking over to Wade.
"Huh?" she sounded.
"Your light - it's doing the thing again." Wade reminded.
Ember shifted her attention to the light, gradually fading as she fully came to. She smirked to herself, looking back over at Wade.
"So Aquatecture, huh? How'd you manage to land me that?" Ember queried.
"That? Mum had that in the pipelines for years." Wade began.
He sloshed over to the edge of his pool, prompting Ember to lean over and look his way.
"She actually encouraged me to do it when I grew up... but, as you'd know... it didn't really fit my flow," Wade admitted.
His admission reminded Ember of her own sacrifice, giving her another level of understanding as to where he came from.
"As much as that would've given me purpose-" Wade began.
"It wasn't your dream." Ember finished.
The two fell silent, looking into each other's eyes.
"Yeah," Wade admitted.
The specter of her dream made her recall the most difficult decision in her life up to that point; admitting to her father that she didn't want to run their shop.
Before she could spiral into that mindset, Uncle Sea-Near knocked on the doorway, smirking.
"Hey! I forgot to let you two know..." he began.
Ember and Wade, half embarrassed, sharply looked over at the doorway.
"I got Sea-Mail from Aquatecture yesterday in your name." Uncle Sea-Near announced.
He went over to Ember, gently placing it on the end of her log bed. As it was predominately made of water, Ember stared between it, Uncle Sea-Near, and Wade.
"Pass it here, Uncle S," Wade said.
"Oh!" Uncle Sea-Near sounded.
He slowly and awkwardly passed it over to Wade, who slowly opened it.
As he did, his eyes opened in wonder, smirking.
"What? What is it?" Ember asked.
Wade straightened himself up, reading the mail like a news anchor;
"Dear Ms. Lumen,
Welcome to Elementopia!
We at Aquatecture are delighted to have you starting your internship with us!
We understand that you've done some excellent things for the benefit of Element City. We love to see that!
We understand how far you've come for this opportunity, so we're beyond excited to have you join the team!
As we understand the restraints of your elemental background, we've provided you with water-safe protective gear for when you're on-site.
More details to follow when you're here.
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 9am sharp!
Kind regards,
The Aquatecture team."
Like falling in love for the first time all over again, Ember squealed with glee, kicking her feet up and down in excitement.
"Yes-yes-YES! I made it! I'll be a Glassitect!" Ember exclaimed.
As she shuffled around, Wade stared in intense admiration. Ember leaped up off of her bed, throwing her arms wide open in a hint at Wade. He got up and sloshed over to her, giving her a gentle hug.
"Wade!" Uncle Sea-Near exclaimed.
Wade slowly looked over to his uncle, half perplexed as Ember squeezed him hard.
"Mind putting a shirt on?" Uncle Sea-Near asked.
"Oh." Wade sounded.
He gently got Ember off of him, scrounging around the pool for his shirt, finding it, and putting it on.
"That's better." Uncle Sea-Near admired.
He promptly went to leave, standing at the door.
"Alright. That'd be the last thing for the night. I'll actually leave you two alone." Uncle Sea-Near said.
"Thanks, Uncle S." Wade thanked.
Uncle Sea-Near nodded at Wade with a smirk, left, and shut the door. As Wade turned to her, Ember raced around the room like a toddler.
"Tomorrow! Agh-so soon! It's all so fast... but so exciting!" she exclaimed.
As she spoke, Wade watched in awe of her emotions, teary-eyed. As he wiped away his tears momentarily, he opened his eyes to find her standing obnoxiously close wearing a cheeky expression abroad her face.
"Just for future reference, I don't mind having you around me without a shirt." Ember flirted.
"Wow. Subtle." Wade mocked.
"What-don't mock me! A girl's gotta burn." Ember quipped.
"Hahaha!" Wade chuckled.
The two took each other's hands, looking down at them and gleaming. Before long, Ember broke her gleam, becoming a bit flustered.
"Tomorrow... our new life starts tomorrow," she murmured.
Wade's slowly caressed his hand up her arm toward her right cheek. She nestled into it, smirking again.
"Our new life starts tomorrow," they murmured in unison.