Hi guys! Sorry this took me so long to write. Now that Winter break has ended and school is back in session, things have been kind of chaotic for me. Anyways, enjoy!

Marella

When Fintan enters, I roll my eyes, and I see Linh do the same. Our eyes meet and she smiles at me. I smile back, because how could I not? Then, Fintan says,

"Today we will be working on levitating. You see, I have placed your lunch trays on shelves on the wall quite high up, so if you want to eat, you'll have to work for it." He points to the shelves, which I hadn't noticed before. I groan as I realize how high up it is. No way am I going to be able to get up there.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get started!" Fintan snaps impatiently. I try to levitate, but there's a weight on my wrist so heavy, I can't do it. I look down and realize that it's the bracelet Ruy clasped to my wrist yesterday.

"Uh, Fintan? You forgot about our bracelets." I say impatiently. Fintan took so long to get here, it's almost lunch, and I'm getting hungry. He sighs and pulls a ring of keys out of his pocket. Then he walks over to us and removes the bracelets, and once they're off, I realize how tight they were, and I'm surprised that I didn't lose feeling in it. Once the bracelet's off, I feel that familiar pull. The pull of fire, trying to break free of my control. For one second, I'm tempted to let it take over and destroy everything. Then I remember Linh. Her sweet, innocent face. That is one of the few things that I don't want to burn to the ground. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, and I open them just in time to see Ruy burst in.

"Fintan! Come quick!" he says. Fintan rushes out of the room, leaving me and Linh alone. Then I realize.

"He didn't put the bracelets back on," I say, keeping my voice down.

"We can escape!" Linh replies excitedly. She pulls out her home crystal, and holds out her hand.

"Wait, why didn't you use your home crystal before?" I ask.

"Rayni told me that home crystals don't work in the presence of the bracelets," Linh explains, "The magsidian somehow blocks the light."

"Ok, then let's do this!" I say grinning. I close my eyes as we step into the light, and when I open them, we're at Choralmere and Tam is sprinting towards us. I step out of the way, and I'm glad that I do, because Tam tackle-hugs Linh to the ground.

"You're ok!" he says.

"Aw, no welcome back hug for me?" I say teasingly. Tam glares at me.

"Did you keep her safe?" he asks.

"Yes, sir!" I say, saluting. Tam just looks confused.

"It's a human thing Sophie told me about. I'm basically saying you're really strict." I explain, which makes him glare even harder at me.

"I can take care of myself! Linh protests.

"And anyways, I'm the one who saved her." she adds mischievously. I press the back of my hand against my forehead, pretending to be dramatic.

"Oh, what ever would I have done without you, Linh!" I say.

"If you two are done now, we should hail the others, they'll probably want to know that you're back." Tam says in annoyance. Just then, his imparter rings, it's Sophie. I see her over Tam's shoulder, and the eye bags under her eyes look like bruises. I feel guilty; am I really worth losing sleep over?

"Tam! I think I might know where they- Marella? Is that you?" Sophie says, noticing me behind Tam.

"Yep! Linh and I escaped!" I say proudly before adding sheepishly, "Linh did most of the work though."

"That's great! Everyone is already on their way to Havenfield, so-" Sophie says, but she's interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"That would be them!" She says, "Now get over here, we all need to talk." Then she hangs up. By the time my brain has processed this, Tam is already halfway inside, Linh at his heels.

"You coming, Mare?" Linh asks. She's the only one allowed to call me that, and it's because she's my girlfriend, of course.

"Yeah, it's just hard to process. I mean, just a few hours ago I was forcing down a disgusting breakfast in the Neverseen hideout, and now I'm on my way to Havenfield to have mallowmelt and talk with my friends!" I respond as I catch up to her and take her hand.

"Yeah, that is hard to believe, isn't it?" Linh says. Together we walk up the front steps and to Tam and Linh's leapmaster, where Tam is waiting impatiently.

"Well, look who finally got here," he said while rolling his eyes. Linh just smiles and shouts,

"Havenfield!" and the light whisks us away. We arrive just after Fitz, Biana and Keefe, and Fitz is staring daggers at Keefe while he makes his way up to the front door and Biana is rolling her eyes at Fitz. Then Biana spots us.

"You guys are back!" she shouts before running up to us and tackling us both in a hug. Keefe turns around, noticing us.

"Let me guess, you're craving mallowmelt and a gnomish bed?" he says teasingly.

"Yes please!" I say, realizing that it's true. Fitz says nothing, just stares at me and Linh's clasped hands.

"So, are you two together or something now?" he asks coldly.

"Uh..." Linh says, clearly unsure what to say. I think. I don't want to be a controlling type of girlfriend, but I can step in sometimes.

"We'll tell everyone what happened once we're inside." I say, hoping that Fitz will leave it there. He opens his mouth, about to say something, but then the door flies open, interrupting him.

"Oh, good, everyone is here now!" Sophie says, ushering us in. When we reach Sophie's bedroom, I see Dex, Wylie and Maruca already there (I know Maruca isn't really part of the team, but everyone else was outside, what was I supposed to do?).

"I guess you guys decided to finally show- Marella? Linh? You're back!" Dex says, his tone of voice changing from annoyed to overjoyed in a split second. Wylie hugged Linh, which made me feel kind of guilty about what Linh and I were about to do next. We had planned this before coming to Havenfield, but it suddenly seemed a lot scarier now. Once everyone is seated, I take a deep breath and say,

"So... Linh and I are together now."

And, yes, I'm going to make you wait until the next chapter until you see everyone's reactions. 😈 BUT I'm going to tell you one thing: there will be ✨dRaMa✨ in the next chapter! Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter, and please review!