"So this is it...
It's your big day!
First day on the job...
Aquatecture! Aah!
...Aah-quatecture!
. . .
Sorry, I'm just so excited for today.
Probably thanks to a good sleep...
A really good sleep, actually.
. . .
All I could think about last night was accepting the fact that this is all happening, and so fast!
Before, when I thought about it, all that swirled around my mind was 'Did I act irrationally? Was it really the right thing to do, to leave home so quickly?'
Then I sat, in the now...
And a big smile just couldn't leave my face.
I just couldn't give it up.
. . .
Thank you, life."
"You're doing it again, aren't you?"
"Doing what?"
"You know, when you narrate like that, I can hear your lips flapping about. Like, I can feel your lips contacting each other with my ears-"
"Can you let me have this? I'm actually in a really good mood."
"I'm not trying to diminish that! I just had to point it out to you, just in case you do it in the future, at the wrong time."
"I can narrate whenever I want."
"You sure can, and I'll be here pointing it out, time after time."
"Agh!"
Ember pouted, shuffling to lie on her left and face Wade angrily.
"What?" Wade pandered aloofly.
Before it could get heated, a smile grew on Ember's face, followed by a restrained laugh. She kicked her legs in the air and leaped up off her bed, dusting herself off.
"Aah- I can't, Wade!" Ember exclaimed gleefully.
Wade chuckled as he watched her, smiling gratefully.
"You know, you've been wearing that dress the whole time I've known you." Wade raised.
She shot him a rather confused look, folding her arms.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ember sassed.
"I'm just sayin'! Doesn't that thing stink after a while?" Wade queried.
Ember rolled her eyes, laughing.
"Ha! You think bacteria can live on me?" Ember quipped.
Wade pouted in pander, stroking his thumb and index finger on his chin.
"Huh- never thought of it like that." Wade admired.
"Besides, I'm burning too hot today for that to be possible!" Ember exclaimed.
She began twirling around the room like a ballerina while Wade watched, chuckling in intrigue.
"Did you stash a few extra kindlings? 'Cuz you are fervent this morning!" Wade raised.
"I did sneak in a couple of Dad's Kol-nuts- but, it's just a first-day kinda burn!" Ember announced.
She spun around, hanging at the door in a pose. She extended her hand to Wade, gesturing with her fingers for him to accompany her. He smirked, putting on a shirt and flopping out of his pool bed.
"How do your shirts not get wet in there?" Ember asked.
"That's my secret; they're always wet," Wade remarked.
Their conversation continued as they made their way downstairs.
"But doesn't that get annoying?" Ember raised.
"Maybe to you, it would. It's normal for me." Wade replied.
As they made their way to the bottom of the stairs, the two expressed a pleased smile, looking over to the bustling Sea-Near kitchen and dining area.
"Wade! Ember! You two look like you had sound sleep last night." Uncle Sea-Near quipped.
"Yeah! You could say that again." Ember agreed, smirking over at Wade.
He looked back at her blankly, unsure if she was insinuating anything.
"Come. We got breakfast ready." Aunty Sea-Near announced.
She laid 6 servings of what appeared to be good ol', clean, nutritious water. A pale expression fell on Ember's face.
"Oh! Uh- I don't think I can-" Ember began.
Wade leaned over to her ear, extending a secretive hand.
"I got you, Ember," Wade said.
She stopped in her spot, looking over at him sweetly.
"Don't worry, Aunty S. She had some Kol-nuts before," Wade said.
The Sea-Near couple both raised an eyelid in grand confusion, tilting their heads.
"Kol-nuts?" they asked.
"It's a fire delicacy! Her Dad makes the best over in Element City." Wade elaborated.
As he began defending her, Ember politely clenched her hands at her stomach line, swaying about.
"Really? Well, I'll have to add them to the shopping list." Aunty Sea-Near added.
Suddenly, an air of concern in Ember spiked. She grew a few feet taller in panic, waving her hands.
"No- don't!" Ember exclaimed.
Aunty Sea-Near jumped back at Ember's sudden outburst. The fiery young lady immediately shrank and lapsed into a fake smile, her hands behind her back.
"I'm just concerned for your safety is all! I don't want you evaporating just for me!" she quipped.
Aunty Sea-Near looked to Ember with a conflicted smirk, nodding her head slightly.
"Oh-kay... okay!" she replied gleefully.
Ember took a quick breath, panting slightly. As she did, she calmly looked around the room. She noticed a cute little clock, a water feature of sorts. She admired it, raising an eyebrow in intrigue. She looked at the time it read.
"Hey, Wade?" Ember queried.
Wade looked over at her, staring blankly.
"Yeah?" Wade replied.
"The letter said 9 am, right?" Ember queried in concern.
"Y- yeah," Wade assured.
"And the time on the clock is right?" Ember queried, her concern growing.
Wade promptly looked over at the clock.
"Yup. 8:45," Wade answered.
"FLAME! I gotta go!" Ember cursed.
Suddenly, she lit up in a panic. She scrambled around in stress, pacing back and forth.
"Wait! Before you go, have some breakfast." Wade suggested.
"No-no. I'm sure the Kol-nuts will get me through." Ember replied.
"Ember." Wade calmly spoke.
"What?!" Ember retorted.
Wade took her shaken hand without hesitation. Initially frazzled, she looked up at him.
"Look in my satchel upstairs. I stashed some kindling for you." Wade advised.
Ember's eyes widened as he said it. Her panic died down slightly and thus grew a thankful smile.
She raced up the stairs without hesitation in a hurry.
Upstairs, she quickly ruffled through Wade's satchel. She grabbed the kindling and downed it in one go, growing her flame momentarily.
She raced back downstairs hurriedly to Wade's side, jogging in her spot anxiously.
"Alright. On my way now. Thanks, everyone, see you." Ember swiftly announced.
She impatiently stared over at a half-awake Wade in a prompt. He slowly looked at her in confusion.
"You okay?" Wade asked.
"Floaty." Ember reminded.
"Oh!" Wade sounded.
He hurriedly gathered a floaty with a mat, parking it in front of her. She jumped on, stumbling about as he swiftly took her over to the door.
As soon as she reached the walkable ground, she raced over to the door, swinging it wide open. Before she could exit, Wade rushed up behind her.
"What?!" Ember questioned, frazzled.
Before she could react, Wade gently took her arm and kissed her hand like a princess'.
"Have a good first day. You only get one." Wade wished.
Ember slowly looked down at the hand he was holding. She looked back up, smiling.
"I will... for you," Ember promised.
"No. Do it for you." Wade pushed.
She smirked, nodding her head as she grabbed the handle of the door.
"I'll do it for both of us. There. How's that?" Ember countered.
"That'll work just fine. Love you." Wade wished.
Just as she was about to close the door, she stopped and looked back at him.
"Love you too, Wade," Ember replied sincerely.
She shut the door hard, pitter-pattering off in a hurry. Wade stretched his fingers in and out, standing in his spot in admiration.
"Would it kill ya to wear some pants?" Uncle Sea-Near quipped in the background.
Downstairs, Ember raced out of the hotel lobby in a hurry, spooking some passersby with a smirk as she reached the street curb. The second she did, she looked down in confusion.
"It'd be nice if I knew where it was first." Ember pandered.
She took a few quick puffs of breath, going to turn back to race back up to the hotel lobby and check. As she did, she sharply stopped in her spot as a large building shaped like a wavy cylinder caught her eye. Each of the bulges in the wavy architecture had 'Aquatecture' printed in bold lettering.
She nodded to herself, turning back around to the street. She got into a running stance before bolting as fast as she could for it. As she raced down the street frantically, her fire spread in the wind, freaking out passersby.
"Watch it, Sparky." a passerby cursed.
Without time to react, she sped on, slaloming through pedestrians - traversing incorrect elemental paths in the process. As a result, her flames lightly engulfed a passerby Earthman's receding hairline.
"Hey! Took me 7 years to keep that! Now I'll never be able to grow it back." the Earthman exclaimed.
"Sorry!" Ember apologized.
Regardless, she pressed on. She reached an intersection and came to a sharp halt. Unlike Element City, this one had 8 separate symbols on it; a go and a stop for each element. She grimaced at the tedium of it, folding her arms and tapping her foot.
"My Flame- GO GREEN ALREADY!" Ember exclaimed.
Finally, a green symbol with a walking flame went off. Assuming that meant it was her turn, she hurriedly took off once again.
On the other side of the road, she looked up to double-check the whereabouts Aquatecture building. In her scrambled run, she barely managed to catch the time as she whizzed past a digital clock that read 8:55 AM.
"Flame!" she exclaimed.
Roughly a block away, she raced faster past slow walkers in a hurry, jumping from path to path.
"Excuse me! Coming through!" she exclaimed.
Spooked, a water guy tripped right in front of her, becoming a large puddle on impact with the ground.
Ember bruxed her teeth in fright, hesitantly looking about before making the decision to jump it. Before he could gather himself, she jumped over his puddle in a grand spectacle, wowing passersby.
As she landed, she looked to her right to find she'd arrived at the front courtyard of the Acquatecture building. She came to a crashing halt before taking a breath and holding her knees.
"Whew... my flame... I do not like this four-path thing." she recognized.
As she caught her breath and composed herself, she straightened herself up, dusted herself off, and strutted down the front courtyard toward the building. Her hurried manner slowly began to fade as she looked around at the gorgeous architecture and decoration around her. The entire flooring of the courtyard was completely made of tempered glass, with flora and fauna directly underneath. Small gardens were scattered across the courtyard with magnificent allure.
Ember came to a halt near the lobby, weak in the knees by the overwhelming beauty of it all.
"Hello!" a voice bellowed.
Ember sharply turned toward the lobby's direction, frightened and embarrassed.
"Ms. Lumen! Just on time." the voice announced.
Ember let out a long, deep breath, chuckling in relief.
"Oh- yes! Thank the eternal flame." Ember exclaimed joyously.
The voice was of a rather tall - a head taller than Ember - water lady, with a waterfall for hair and whirlpool earrings. She leaned down to meet Ember's eyes.
"I'm Mrs. Lin Da'Dropplet. I'll be your internship manager." Lin introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Linda. I'm Ember-" Ember began.
"You can call me Lin, honey. The last name's Da'Dropplet." Lin corrected.
"Da what now?" Ember queried.
"Da'Dropplet," Lin replied.
"The droplet?" Ember corrected herself.
"Close enough- Ember! I understand you came all the way from Element City!" Lin exclaimed.
Ember's eyes lit up an anxious surprise, looking from side to side.
"Oh- yup! Came here to just chase my dreams!" Ember quipped half-heartedly.
"I've heard some great things about you. You must be so excited to work in Glassitecture." Lin observed.
"Ah- have you?" Ember nervously queried.
"Yes! I understand you risked your life in saving part of Element City from flooding!" Lin recognized.
"Oh, yeah-yeah. I- I did my best, but it-" Ember stammered, looking side to side anxiously.
"Nonsense. A Glassitect doesn't just 'get it' in the first couple of tries. You gotta work at it, and you... because of what you did, you're halfway there already." Lin assured.
Speechless, Ember looked down, smirking whilst holding her elbow. Lin got up onto her feet, gesturing for Ember to accompany her.
"Come! Let's go for a tour of where you'll be working." Lin began.
As she began to walk off, Ember slowly trailed behind, still marveling at it all. The two walked up to the lobby, Lin greeting the security.
"Hiya, Blob!" Lin greeted.
"Mrs. Da'Dropplet. Day for it, isn't it?" Blob replied.
"Indeed!" Lin agreed.
She nodded at the lovely security guard, who looked at Ember.
"Miss." Blob introduced, nodding.
Speechless from nerves, Ember nodded back to him in response, quickly following Lin's guide.
The two entered the building's lobby via a set of rotating doors. As she saw it for the first time, Ember looked around in amazement. She briefly glimpsed at the company logo on the lobby's back wall as they walked through, smiling in disbelief.
"Here we have the lobby - of course, because all businesses have those, right?" Lin quipped.
She slowly guided Ember down to a hallway on their left of the lobby. As they went down, a few friendly employees passed by with smiles.
"Hiya!" one said.
Ember looked about at all the friendly faces in admiration, closing her eyes and nodding to herself. As she opened her eyes, she looked back over at Lin smiling, gesturing to her left in guide.
"On your left, you'll see the Hydro Innovations department. They're working on a really exciting project at the moment!" Lin said.
Ember looked over in intrigue, mouth slightly agape in wonder.
The department looked more to her like a small adventure park than a successful business wing. Big, fun-looking slides had water running down them constantly. The moment it hit the end of the slide, it morphed into a water-being wearing PPE, who picked up a clipboard and began jotting down notes.
Staring at the rather odd visual, Ember chuckled to herself giddily.
"And on your right, you'll see the Elemental Affairs department. Their job is to ensure that our architecture is not only safe for all elements but sustainable for the future." Lin expanded.
Ember slowly looked over to her right from the prompt. The department looked far more superficial than the first; a council of four sat at a desk - one of water, fire, earth, and air - in debate. Ember's eyes lit up in the intrigue.
"And just around the corner to your left, we have our break room," Lin added.
Once again, Ember looked over to her left. The moment she looked, her face lit up in gentle glee. Each of the elements had a station prepared to aid them. For water, a drinking fountain. For earth, a soil dispenser. For air, an air purifier, and fire, a heater. Ember giggled to herself, shaking her head.
"And directly ahead, we have our Glassitecture department; where you'll be stationed at!" Lin announced.
As they went to the end of the hall, Lin pushed open a heavy set of doors, revealing the Glassitecture department. The room was gargantuan in comparison to the others. Flabbergasted, Ember's jaw hit the floor in marvel. She looked around the place, coming across schematics, blueprints, small sculpture designs, and more.
"The Glassitecture department is responsible for making the Aquatecture dream happen. Thousands are employed every day to work on the cutting edge of Glass Architecture. And you..." Lin began.
Ember looked over at her mid-sentence, a thankful smile on her face.
"...you'll become our most invaluable asset." Lin finished.
The words hit Ember harder than she expected, causing her to gleam in admiration.
As she did, a worker leaned into Lin's ear.
"Give us a moment to get her things ready." the worker advised.
"Right." Lin acknowledged.
Lin turned back to Ember, leaning down to meet her gaze once more.
"Ready to make history?" Lin asked.
Ember looked Lin in the eyes assuredly.
"More than ever," Ember assured.
The worker gently approached Lin with a full protective suit for Ember.
"Ready to roll, Mrs. Da'Dropplet." the worker interjected.
"Excellent!" Lin replied.
She gently took the suit out of the worker's hands, bowing to him respectfully as he departed. She turned to Ember with a proud smile.
"Welcome to Aquatecture, Ms. Lumen." Lin introduced, handing Ember her PPE.
Still a bit shocked, Ember took the PPE in her arms. She looked up at Lin, took a breath, and nodded.