Little note before we start: I may or may not be moving my work to AO3 (Archive of Our Own), but, this is not confirmed yet, even though I'm now on said website. Reason for that is I've so heard that the Elemental fandom is more big over there. However, you'll be seeing this here only for now.

Obligatory language warning, may also have slight suggestive content, definitely an alcohol reference or two.

And speak of AO3, this was written out of inspiration from something I saw on AO3 (Of course being careful not to copy it 100%), and then some. Takes place about 6 weeks before the pregnancy reveal in Wishes Finally Coming To Life (I just thought these short stories would suffice instead of editing an entire chapter)

Otherwise, enjoy!

"Okay, and another thing, how about we don't treat me with disrespect next time? All I've been doing is just trying to help, and you keep defending yourself like these problems aren't existent! This is no way to treat someone who knows animation from the inside & out!" I was snapping at a heavy animator who kept having random animation glitches happen in his video, as mentioned, he kept trying to pass them all off as rendering errors, however, I just wasn't buying it with him, as I've seen a few actual render error videos, although rarely, and once a week if even that. And without another word, he made a silent gesture that gave off a simple "I don't give a fuck", and hung up.

However, that was the last person I had to review that day. Having one look outside, it was now evening hours, and that usually meant Ember was nearing the end of her day as well and would be heading home soon-ish. With that last person giving me a hard time, however, I needed some way to relax and cool my temper a little bit, as when he abruptly hung up, and while submitting my daily review logs, I could feel myself boiling so bad, I almost destroyed my laptop in a fit of anger, but then remembered what I told Ember about my temper when we were just getting to know one another.

"Whenever I lose my temper, which isn't that often, it just means that something in me is trying to tell me something that I don't think I'm ready to hear."

"Why? Why can't these certain "over-the-top" animators just admit fault!? It's their problem if something were to go wrong!" I vented to myself, rather more calmly that time.

The good news? I had a week off after today.

I then decided that a hot bath would help me relax my nerves and emotions, even decided to throw in some Himalayan Salt as well, the salt mixture that I have is supposed to cancel out any stress one has, and rather, help them relax a little more, it may have even made me drift off once or twice before. So, to the washroom I went, and told the smart speaker (a la an Amazon Echo in this case) to play some lo-fi music as I started the tub, and dimmed the lights down. I thought of having a nice cold bottle of Truly (alcoholic beverage) as well just to make me feel that extra bit more cooled off, so while it was filling up, I went to go get one, being a cherry margarita flavor. This didn't take more than 90 seconds to get said bottle, than go back to the hall washroom that was adjacent to my work office and our bedroom and get myself settled in to the tub, which was 1/3rd full at this point.

The tub was made for 2 people in mind to soak in after a long day, however, the issue here was that my whole family plus the Tsunami family was the only water anything that Ember could get in contact with and not risk her life whatsoever (yes, even drinking water at room temperature included, hot drinking water... was allowed). So, having the tub to myself every single time did feel nice. Plus, Ember had another way of relaxing herself in a way that water people could not (Let's not revisit when I "died" for all but 10 minutes when I risked my life saving Ember from the flood at The Fireplace), shortly after moving in, she ended up taking some overtime at her fairly new business (if one forgot, it was a glass designing business, oh, and I forgot to mention, she also taught herself how to deal with customers better before she went through with this business) to design a sauna room for herself, I did get to see it, though, I could not relax myself this way because this'd pose a risk for evaporation, and believe me, Ember did everything she could to make it work for me in case I wanted to use it, but with no success whatsoever. I instead had a small humidifier that was safe for any water person, such as myself. It only went up to a certain temperature though, so that way evaporation was not a problem at all. Of course I set it to the highest temperature I could put it at without putting myself at risk.

20 minutes later

While in the process of relaxing, and with my Truly bottle half gone at this point, I felt like I didn't have a care in the world as I slowly drifted off, something I sort of intended to do. However, what I wasn't aware of was that, 5 minutes ago, Ember had just came home from her job for the night, thankfully we both had the day off the next day. I was still in my own world when the washroom door opened up ever so slightly. The lo-fi music was overriding this, though. The humidifier, plus the water that was more than half full when I turned the water off was reflecting a light off of Ember, in which, when I heard the door open, I, in a daze, could make out her silhouette. I became a slight bit startled when I saw her, I'll be real.

"Oh, did I interrupt your alone time? Sorry if I did." Ember responded to this.

"No, you didn't. In fact, you kind of made my time a little better just now." I responded to her, as I regained my sanity when I realized it was her. Not unlike the last time this happened when I tried to put the fire out on my bag in City Hall. That one was still a laughable event to the both of us. I was also a little surprised to see another alcoholic bottle in her possession, not a good idea for someone who just became pregnant a week ago.

"Drinking while pregnant? NOT a great idea! Fact of the matter is that I didn't think you drank at all, surely your parents had to know about that at some point?" I said upon noticing this. She was drinking an Angry Orchard (A hot cider type drink in Element City) in case one was curious.

"I mean, I only drink in certain occasions or sometimes, just after a hard day, so, I don't drink a lot, I have been caught once, though. Mostly because I was hung over after a night out with a few friends once." Ember responded. It was relieving to know that it wasn't full on alcoholic behavior, just therapeutic every once in a while. After while, Ember turned down the humidifier a little bit, because there too is a temperature limit for any fire people, having the humidifier way too high could make a fire person be under the weather, a la a cold, however, Ember never ran a cold whatsoever, just mostly random headaches from time to time, this also includes the mental illness that very day we proved the impossible before the first breakup attempt, plus that one time her body nearly shut down completely after the second breakup attempt which ended in us getting back together about 3 and a half hours later..

"Well, damn... I didn't think you were gonna be coming in here whatsoever, that's why my humidifier was set the way it was. Sorry if that was too hot for you, as I figured that wouldn't be a problem for you. Although I did come to find out that it could make you sick if left in these conditions for an extended time so... maybe that was a good thing, more I think about it. Also, you can totally change that if you want, lo-fi music just helps me out a lot, given I just got off work no earlier than that of half an hour ago, with some goddamn asshole that just kept acting like a spoiled brat over glitched animations and whatnot." I said, starting off lightly, however, could feel some anger in my bubbling chest when talking about that person I just called.

"Hey... hey... I know that made you upset, but it isn't worth yelling about, just do what my ashfa used to tell me, take a breath, and make a connection with whoever you're dealing with, that's how you get a winning act on anyone." Ember responded. Yet more affirmations I should've got earlier.

"And believe me, I try to, they just keep finding new ways to piss me off, it's not even funny anymore, never has been to begin with. It's fucking ridiculous what I have to put up with sometimes..." I responded, taking another sip of my Truly. And after this, Ember dimmed the lights even further, and asked my smart speaker to play some ambient fire sounds. I was okay with this, as I knew lo-fi wasn't really her thing (it's mostly just me here so that's what I normally do.), as I slowly drifted again, Ember watching as her light would also reflect the room as well. Although her day was about the same as it normally would be since she began her business, every now & then it was nice to not be near that very location.

"I probably have said this before... I wished there was a way to replace the-" I started, before Ember deciphered what I was trying to say, in which she just turned the lights all the way off so that nothing but the reflective aurora coming from her could be seen.

"I know what gets ya!" Ember responded, a little playfully, if you will. Just seeing this made me sink a little further in the water, all while letting out a very reliving sigh, even finishing my Truly in the process. Ember also found herself a way to cool herself off after a long day, given the sauna was nowhere near the tub, although this wasn't much, it reminded her of something she & her dad did when Ember was way younger, blasting the washroom fan on herself, either this or the sauna helped her cool off her emotions and was partly the reason she never went full purple as often anymore (I only saw her in full purple mode only once post-marriage, which was 2 days prior to now).

65 minutes later

"I think I've been here long enough" I thought as I started to drain the water, Ember looking like she was dozing off on the chair in front of me, guess the cold air made her tired enough to fall asleep? With this, I shut off the fan I had in here, plus the humidifier I had, only to find that she has drifted off to sleep. I carried her back to our bed, making sure to not fuck up anything to where I could accidentally drop her (truthfully, I did that once, that wasn't pretty, but wasn't mad at me for it), I too felt tired, even after that long bath, so decided to drift off to sleep as well. Although Ember wasn't completely asleep, I'd figure this out rather quickly when Ember would lay her head on my chest at around where my heart was, purely listening to my heart, something that happens more often here than one would think. This also results in me sort of rubbing her flames on her head as well, sort of a physical therapy on my end when I can't fall asleep well.

3:45 AM

While still asleep, I thought I noticed and/or Ember's flames tensing up a little bit, while I wasn't harmed by her flames (I was still convinced the smoke reading between us somehow made us immune to putting one another out by any means), it did make my waters boil a little harder than it normally would whenever I'm around such hot conditions. I did NOT want a repeat of that very incident, so was quick to wake her & myself up when I felt this sensation happening.

"Ember... Ember... your flames are acting up again... what's wrong?" I tried to ask in a state of being more or less dazed. It took Ember a good half a minute to pull herself together, then woke herself, I'm pretty sure the incident has left her with a lot of intrusive thoughts of losing me again. Besides, I wasn't dead, I was just condensated.

"Ember?" I tried again, she too was still in a daze. Probably waking up from a nightmare of sorts. The next moment I knew, she left the room. Being afraid this was going to be a repeat of her bailing out of my life when I told her how lucky I was (neither one of us were still over that, and have since laughed it off), I started after her.

"Ember!" I tried yet again, still no sign of any response. By this point, it looked like she was about to faint, so I stood right behind her for in case she were to faint. How I knew this? I don't know. But yes, a while later, and she did end up fainting behind me. I was heavily assuming she was getting some hot water to cool herself off from that and hopefully rush back to sleep. So I go and make her a hot cup of water (again, the only type of drinking water any fire people can have, finding bottled variations of hot water is easier said than done, however) after setting her on the couch to recover from this state.

4:15 AM

Ember finally showed signs of consciousness around this time.

"Ember, are you okay? You fainted about half an hour ago, had me worried sick there." I said to her as she got her sanity back as well.

"I... what?" Ember responded, not realizing what'd happened. However, sipping her water cup, she finally got those events back in her head.

"Sorry I freaked you out then. I just keep worrying about losing you... and I'm pretty sure you kn-" Ember began, looking visibly upset with her words. I cut her off mid-sentence.

"Ember... Ember... I know exactly what you're talking about. For the last time, I wasn't dead, I was just condensated. I know for the very fact that upset everyone involved. You... your parents... my friends, and even my damn brother for goodness sake... okay, I definitely shouldn't be talking this way at 4 AM... but if you had a nightmare... again, it's okay to tell me. You know I'll never leave you at all, not to mention I'm a pretty good listener on that subject." I responded.

Ember sort of started her next response in a bit of hysterics. I wasn't one to deal with this whatsoever, but I wasn't mad about it, just didn't like when someone was freaking out like this. I, a slight bit unbeknownst to her, learned a bit more of the Firish language post-marriage.

"Ê shútsh... Ê shútsh... Ember, again, calm yourself. Tell me what's wrong." I responded.

It took Ember a good moment to recuperate herself.

"To answer your question... yes, I did in fact have a nightmare. If I made you freaked out with my flames burning slightly more than normal, then I'm definitely sorry." Ember responded.

Hearing this made me have a moment of realization. That's why I was so quick to have woken her up. She had a nightmare and I was unbeknownst to it.

"Ember, no need to apologize. I completely understand... not the first time I've seen or felt stuff like this happen, actually. Is... is this why you came down the stairs whilst feeling lightheaded? To get yourself some hot water or lava java?" I asked her back, in which I got a slight nod from her.

"Oh... well, I kind of figured. Next time this type of thing happens, please let me know, okay? I wasn't just about to call the hospital at 4 in the morning. I got so damn worried when I felt you falling backwards on to me. In fact, I almost thought I lost you there..." I said back, my voice noticeably breaking here.

"Look, it's okay. I didn't hear you because of the lightheaded-ness I felt." Ember responded. Sort of admitting to being unwell, again. In fact I could sort of see it in her.

"Uh, Ember... are you sure everything's fine? Because it doesn't look that way to me. Lightheaded-ness could lead to a bit of nausea and whatnot... honestly I'm glad it's our day off from our jobs today. I wouldn't make anyone in that condition leave the house regardless." I responded, looking a bit worried.

Yes, Ember looked like she was under the weather in this state. After confessing to this, while drinking her hot water, I got her comfortable on the couch, then snuggled with her. May have even had the TV running on low volume, since I was awake already (albeit just barely), I figured there really wasn't much to do to send myself back to sleep. What's the point now?

7:30 AM

"Morning fireball. How're you doing now?" I quietly said to Ember while walking back with my iced coffee (tried as we might, it was basically impossible to make an iced variant of the lava java) & my ice bites (a popular food item among the water folk, very popular for breakfast and snacking on). It hadn't looked like she slept since about 6 in the morning.

"Not much better, and yourself?" Ember snarkily responded.

"Oh, okay, so sassiness is how you want to play this morning, huh?" I answered back. Not often I get sassiness from anyone, let alone my wife. It did make me giggle after I finished talking.

"Oh also, Ember. I'm 99.9% sure this might've been something only 1% of anyone ever had at all, searching on what happened to you yielded zero results, and even when I did get results, it's far different than just a simple case of syncopsis. I mean, this isn't something we'd have to see anyone for, right? I asked in response. In which she just shook her head.

However, it all came down to something I wasn't really ready to hear.

"So... remember when I yelled that I didn't love you that one day?" Ember would reply back. She finally decided to open up about why the hell she woke up at 3:45 AM.

"Well, I wish not to, but still do every now and then for no good reason... why?" I responded back.

Apparently, sometime when I was on the brink of death after that event, Ember had another thing happen that probably would've made life another bit of living hell. She got threatened that she'd be kicked out of the family if she ever saw me again past that point. That would've been before Cinder gave him the look of death and told him to think about what he said. Word on the street was that she was this close to being grounded if Cinder didn't step in, however, this part by Ember was not confirmed as she stormed off after having life flash before her eyes and realizing that she definitely agreed when I pointed out that Bernie was being a terrible father if he behaved in that manner (More on this later). I thankfully made up with him sometime after I "came back to life" the very next day after being condensated.

Imagine how I felt hearing this.

"Oh... my... god..." was all I could get out. But then remembered... "I will forever keep her happy, no matter what."

Those were my words of finally getting respect from him.

Anyway, those events could've gone a lot differently, maybe in another timeline. That's what kept her up, the fact that she could've very well been told that I wasn't allowed to be in her sight ever again.

"Ember... that was all in the past. I know your parents weren't exactly the best people to me then, but... it's fine now. I kind of know what being someone with overprotective parents looks like, it wasn't me, but someone I knew had very overprotective parents. I've said it before, and I know you know this, if there's anything you want to talk to me about, regardless of whether you want to talk about it or not... you can tell me." I responded.

Yeah, and if that weren't enough, her parents were also a bit tough on her back then too. Which was part of the reason she didn't have good mental health as a teenager. Not something you want to share with anyone you love dearly, right?

Most of these events were forgotten about. But one thing was for sure. We both hoped something like this wouldn't be repeated again, especially with our discussion of having a child soon, because how on earth would we even repeat this when we have our own jobs now?

Oh, and her response to that statement I just gave was a nod. I think she just looked incredibly under the weather today that her voice just needed a rest.

"Damn, am I dreaming or something? Because the last 12 hours became weird as hell." I was thinking, shrugged, then went to a pharmacy to get some appropriate medicine after I learned what was going on, of which I won't go into detail with.

This was something I definitely was going to be talking about, because who else has a night/morning like this, honestly?

Okay, ending may be rushed, however, had this in the works for a pretty good long while, and I finally decided to get this out!

And the "More on this later", yeah so... we know in Opposites Attract, the couple found it inevitably and extremely hard to let each other go, but I figured I go a tiny bit more in-depth with it because it's just something I still feel needs more answers (tho people are doing their takes on that, which, cool, but again, this is the version of Elemental that I started since early July with my OC instead of Wade, it's something I was wanting to do, and still am.) rather than just the one that bugged me for a while but finally got a proper answer for recently (Kudos PeaceBaby7!). Anyway, expect that in the coming future.

Rambling done. Have a great day/night!