day 2 of honorary titan fan week 2020 - favorite honorary-centered episode/issue.

Sorrow

The clouds were thick and heavy despite the previous deluge of rain. It had cleansed the city of the fire monster, destroying their creation and leaving only wafting smoke in its wake. They had helped right their wrongs and made new allies, learning a lesson along the way as they now sought to help others with their powers rather than destroy for the sake of amusement.

But the clouds remained full. Thunder felt it underneath his sandals as he trekked across the spongy surface. It squelched and sloshed, the rain remaining within the underbelly of the cloud. A quick pound from him should have released the flood, but when he glanced around, he noticed his particular cloud was grayer than the rest, a shade close to inky black much to his bewilderment. The other clouds were rounded and fluffy, and their hues were various tints of light gray among the night sky, leaving him to wonder why their cloud was the one brimming with rain refusing to spill out.

The air around him should have smelled sweet and cold, but it still wafted with smog. Pursing his lips, Thunder straightened and peered over the cloud's edge to the city below. Like fireflies, the windows on skyscrapers, businesses, and apartment buildings glowed. Although he couldn't hear anything from such a distance, he imagined the citylife with its boisterous, booming noise, sounds of a peaceful time after the chaos he had caused.

Soon, the clouds would move and so would they. Following the direction of the wind was how they always lived. They moved according to the will of the clouds, but his attention remained wrapped around the current cloud they stood upon, its thickness something of an oddity, for they should have gleefully performed their dance to free the droplets, gracing the city with the sweet smell of a drizzle at the very least.

Thunder looked over his shoulder to where his brother was perched. One knee was hugged to Lightning's chest, reminding Thunder of a hawk ready to fly. His chest throbbed, and his face screwed up in distress at the solemn sight. Tracing where Lightning's bolt had struck him, he ignored the throbbing plaguing his upper body and ambled over to him, his sandals sinking into the cloud.

"Brother, how do you fare?" he rumbled, his voice low and gentle.

Lightning's gaze was focused on something Thunder could not see. He could not tell if Lightning was watching the stars blinking above their heads or at any cloud somewhere off in the distance. His other leg dangled off the cloud's edge, his sandal threatening to slip off as he rolled his ankle. His shoulders rose and sagged when he finally took a breath, and Thunder waited as he always had for his brother's response.

"Bothered," Lightning admitted, keeping his attention straight head.

"By what or whom?" Thunder glanced at the spot next to him. He would have sat down, but Lightning gave him no inclination that he wanted his presence around.

He raised a finger and dug it into his chest. Pressing down hard enough for his fingernail to redden, he sighed. "Myself," he murmured, looking over his shoulder. His bright eyes were half-lidded, dulled and dimmed like lightbulbs losing power, and he narrowed them on to the center of his chest where he had struck his brother, the memory fresher than a wound stinging from salt.

Thunder's brow wrinkled. He crossed his arms as if he could block out the spot from Lightning's sight. He felt his armor constrict around him, suddenly cutting off the blood to the rest of his body as a shiver ran through him.

"Do not say you are uninjured. It is clear that you are faring worse than Lightning," his brother ordered, raising his flat hand when Thunder tried smiling. He leered at the city, scowling. "Yet, you have not addressed it. Yes, we have done something extraordinary with our powers, but it does not come close to what Lightning has done to you."

Lightning dragged his fingers through his hair. The strands hung around him. It was as if all the static electricity in his hair vanished, letting his hair weigh down and curl outwards around his forehead guard.

Like all brothers, they had fought before. They bickered, bantered, and sometimes came to blows. Lightning was usually the victor, persuading Thunder and pulling him along to play without a single care in the world. Their fights always ended like that. With Thunder following Lightning's lead, with him bowing to his brother's will to keep him happy, and now, it had been changed so drastically.

There had never been a fire gleaming in Lightning's eyes before when they fought. There had never been a burning desire to actually harm Thunder despite their countless arguments. When he had raised his hand high up in the air and collected enough energy to finish him off, it was the catalyst of how far he had gone. Only Thunder's words were able to bring him down from his megalomaniacal high, preventing him going on a spree of terror that Thunder knew Lightning would never survive.

"You must detest me, yes? I could have…" Lightning cleared his throat and dragged his thumb across his cuticles.

"Never," Thunder boomed, and Lightning scoffed, drumming his fingers on his thigh..

He cocked his head over his shoulder, asking, "You persist with your denial? How annoying."

Thunder tensed and tried ignoring the stinging sensation raking across his chest. He tugged at his helmet, saying, "There is no denial, brother. I am not angry with you."

"You and I are well aware of what could have happened. This reality we are in-" Lightning cut a line in the air with a quick spark. "-could have been altered had Lightning unleashed that strike."

Thunder was more than aware of that. He was tuned in to how quickly his heart pumped in his chest, how it carried blood throughout his body and chilled him to the bone. He knew the injury existed underneath the cloth and metal mesh of his armor, to which, Lightning traced the wound in mid-air.

"At that range, as we both know, you could have-" The words choked in Lightning's throat, his blunt way of speaking cut off with emotion. He grit down on his molars and huffed, pressing the heel of his palm to his brow. He felt the clouds shift underneath him as Thunder knelt next to him, his expression writhing with worry and only subjected Lightning to another guilty blow.

"I do not find you at fault," Thunder entreated, cupping his brother's shoulder. "We were both volatile. I attacked, you reacted. It is understandable why you would-"

"Does that make it right? Is it proper to attack one's brother when he is trying to stop his sibling from making a crucial mistake?" Lightning hissed, his nostrils flaring and lips curling.

"Tavis-" Thunder bit his tongue when Lightning flinched. "-I can never blame you."

Lightning's face grew long, his eyes wide and jaw twitching as it lowered. He quickly gnashed his teeth together and pulled both knees to his chest before burying his face between his legs. His spine pressed against his skin, his shuddering immediately prompting Thunder to wrap his arm around him, and underneath them, the cloud wept.