Lexie hugged her dad for as long as humanly possible. She felt like she hadn't seen him in ages, even though in truth it had been just under a week since they last met. His familiar cinnamon scent soothed her, as did his chuckle and the gentle hand he rubbed on her head.

"I'm guessing you missed me a lot, honeybee."

"Uh-huh," she said into his stomach. As she held him, she noticed how slight he'd gotten. "You've lost weight."

"Emma said the same thing. You know they have been running me ragged at that school. They have me teaching another class, plus remedials."

Lexie knew that wasn't the only reason why, but she couldn't discuss it further in front of everyone else. That was when it hit her that she was standing there hugging her father like a baby in front of everyone, including the actual seven-year-olds behind her.

She finally broke her hold and took a step back, clearing her throat in an attempt to regain propriety. She caught Stella's amused look and Luther's more annoyed one. "Hi Stella."

"Hi Lexie." Stella reached out and hugged her one-handedly. Stella smelled like a pleasant, expensive perfume that was mostly indescribable but had notes of spice. Underneath that was also the scent of something more metallic. Blood? Lexie's gaze flickered down to Stella's knuckles, which did look a little raw. Did she beat someone up just before coming here?

"We're so glad to have you, Lexie," she said.

"I'm glad to be here. You're home is beautiful."

"Yes, well, we try."

"You should see the Island," the man with the beautiful hair said. "It's about twice as big and ten times as nice as this."

"You have a point, Mane, she should see the Island." Stella stroked her chin as she explained. "We have a private Firebringer Island close to Ronan Fae, where the Ambassadors stay. Maybe we'll visit at some point during your stay and take a day trip to Ronan Fae while we're at it."

"That would be nice." Lexie had heard a lot of good things about Ronan Fae Ambassadorial Island, and how it was like a little piece of the Fae Planet here on Earth. It had to be something because Veronica would not stop talking about it whenever she visited.

"This is your Uncle Mane by the way," Stella said, pointing to the beautiful-haired man and lacing her arm through his elbow. "He's my better half. And before you ask, yes, that is his real hair and that is his real name."

"The hair is real, but it takes a lot of work to keep it that way," Mane said with a wink that reminded her so much of Theo's.

"Tell me about it," Stella said. "He spends nearly five thousand credits on hair care products each month."

"All to look pretty for you, my dear," he said and kissed her on the cheek. Stella rolled her eyes, but when he did it again, she also giggled a little like a schoolgirl, something Lexie would have never imagined her doing.

It was interesting to watch. The couple gazed at each other for a few seconds, and it was clear that love shone in their eyes. Luther gave them a look of disgust, but he seemed to be adequately used to it.

He also nodded a greeting at Lexie, and Lexie nodded back. She didn't hold any hard feelings toward the man, not really. She just wasn't sure how to interact with him.

Seeing him also reminded her of her Uncle Max, and that first night she'd appeared in this dimension, so confused and disoriented.

That felt like a lifetime ago. So much had changed.

"Mommy!"

"Daddy!'

The twins were now done with their dance and were jogging towards their parents. Thor leaped at his mother, and she caught him mid-air, while Tamsin wrapped around her father's leg, and he picked her up and gave her about a hundred kisses on each cheek. Theo strolled over as well and said, "Hey, Uncle Luth. I didn't think we would be seeing you for dinner today."

"I didn't think so either," Luth muttered, right before Stella nudged him in the abdomen."Oof."

"He was happy to be here," Stella said. "I, on the other hand, stopped by to let you know that I might not be able to make it to dinner. Sorry, Lexie. I thought I could, but something just came up, and I might need to head to District 4 if they can't handle the situation."

"It's okay. I know you're really busy." It was Stella's kids she felt most sorry for. Thor's face fell when he heard that his mother wouldn't be home for dinner, and Tamsin pouted too.

"But you weren't home yesterday either," Thor whined. "And the day before that, and the day before that…"

"I know. I'm sorry," she said and reached over to kiss him and her daughter on the cheek, too.

Thor made gagging noises, scrubbing at his cheek as Stella continued, "I'm so sorry, I have to go. Hopefully, things will calm down soon with the Villain alliance. Or we find Lucy Frank."

"You still haven't heard anything?" The tension returned to Theo's voice.

Stella shook her head. "I'm sorry. I've asked Vacek, and we've been looking into every cranny we can. Still no sign of her."

Theo's face tightened with worry. Lexie and her father shared a look, but neither of them said anything as agony travelled over his face.

Then he said, "I want to go with you to District 4."

"No," Stella said. "It's too dangerous."

"You're going."

"Yes, because we have a plan and a team that makes sense. Adding you to it at the last minute is introducing a variable we didn't count on, and it's reducing our supplies. Besides, you're stationed at Capital City. They can't afford to be one man down, not at a time like this."

"Things have been calm for the past few weeks in CC. Very few hero alerts. Other places need me more."

"Maybe, but Vacek wants you here."

"And you still trust him? After everything?" Theo gave his mother an incredulous look, and it was clear this was an argument they had often had, because Stella sighed

"Theo…"

"Maybe we should have this conversation another time," Mane cut in, and added jovially, "Lexie, your father tells me you like to read. You'll be happy to know that we have a pretty extensive hard copy library on the fifth floor."

"Really?"

"Really. Most of it has to do with the history of the Firebringer Clan and Elementalism as a whole, but we recently got scholar access and added a few card magic books to the collection."

"Oh, that's very nice of you."

"No problem. Stella, do you want to show her where it is, before you have to leave?"

"Of course." Stella took the olive branch her husband offered. As she passed by Theo, she gave him a pat on the cheek, and he offered her a small smile, even with his stony expression.

Lexie glanced at her father, and he gestured with his chin for her to follow Stella, mouthing, "I'll be here."

Lexie nodded and went after Stella, who was holding open the door for her. She walked through the doors, and Stella closed them behind her, then continued.

"Sorry, you had to see that, hon. Theo has been having a hard month, and he's stressed out."

"I think all of you are," Lexie mentioned. "I heard about the Villain uprising across the board. It must have been tough."

"It has been. But we've been getting better. We've caught and jailed a few of them already, given out more than a few Tilling Bands…" She sighed. "It's just hard because the association itself is going through a lot of internal strife, and that's affecting everything."

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"You mean because of Vacek?"

"Yes. A lot of distrust has been sewn against him, and about more than a few heroes are refusing to work if he's the one in charge. They're refusing to follow orders."

"Won't it make sense for him to step down then, at least for now?"

"No. That would be the worst thing for us. Vacek…" She paused for a second as they began climbing stairs. "I'm not going to say he's my favorite person in the world. We've certainly had our differences in the past, and he didn't get along with my parents. But right now, he's what the association needs. Never have we been as organized and as effective in eradicating crime as we were under his regimen. The heroes are better funded, and they've also reduced the frequency of accidental injury to civilians. He gave us Lucy Frank and the other investigators, and with that, the crime rate had been cut down by more than half. Of course, I don't always agree with his methods, but it's hard to argue against his results."

Lexie's gaze traced the wall as they walked. Lining their path were grand paintings of stern-looking men and women, often redhaired, staring down judgmentally at them.

"Besides, if Vacek steps down, there's no one to take the helm."

"How about you?" Lexie asked.

"Heavens no." Stella gave her a shocked and disturbed look. "That's the last thing I want."

"Why not?" she asked. "You're the most popular hero, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I would be a terrible person to put in charge. The horror." She huffed a laugh. "Your mother used to call me a coward, do you know that?"

Lexie shook her head.

"It always used to piss me off when she said it. Usually, it was because my parents said or did something that I didn't agree with, but I didn't push back against them. She saw that as me being cowardly. But I just…I suppose I just didn't trust myself enough." She looked up at one of the pictures at the end of the hall, a man with blue eyes and red hair, and a woman with a slightly darker complexion, freckles, and blonde hair. "I was born strong. An S-Rank Mage and an A-Rank Fighter. I'm a Firebringer, and it was basically decided when I was born that I would be the one to lead the family. But nobody ever asked me if that was what I wanted to do. No one asked me if I thought I was capable of leading, and if I wanted to be the one to make all the decisions. How do I know if I'm right or wrong? There's so much plotting and scheming that goes into it, and I just don't feel equipped to handle that. I never have."

She took another step up, and they turned a corner to continue their ascent.

"So my whole life I've always just trusted my parents to know the right thing to do because they were good people, and they were smart, and well…it was easier than forming strong opinions and being wrong. And having people hurt because I was wrong." She smirked. "Maybe I am a coward. But to be frank, I'd rather be one in this case. Leading the Firebringer clan was already enough for me; I don't think I can handle that much responsibility, for all those people, to have all those lives depending on me. I think I would choke."

Lexie saw the naked vulnerability radiating from Stella. She was impressed that Stella could display that without guile or conceit. She was so refreshingly honest, even as she spoke about her past. She was self-deprecating but not necessarily ashamed, genuine but not self-pitying.

"Do you go to therapy?" Lexie asked because Stella's self-awareness spoke of deep therapy work.

"I do actually," she said. "I started it a few years ago, when I started getting panic attacks from going into the field."

"Was that around when Mom died?"

Pain splashed across her face. "Yes. Yes, it was." The sides of her lips turned up. "You're very smart for your age, you know."

"I've been told," Lexie said softly. Now they were on the topic of her mother, though she wanted to know more. "Is that why you and Mom stopped talking? Because she called you a coward?"

"More or less. We had another fight, about something my parents did...or rather, something they supported. This fight was worse than the others, and she said some very ugly things. I also said some ugly things back, and she stormed out." She exhaled, emotion darkening her expression. "It was supposed to be a stupid fight, something we get over in a few days or so. But days turned into weeks and then....It wasn't supposed to end like that. The fight wasn't supposed to last as long as it did, and she wasn't supposed to die before we could make up." The last words were a whisper.

"I'm sorry," Lexie said.

Stella gave a surprised sound. "She's your mother, Lexie. I should be saying that to you."

Lexie shrugged. She still didn't feel as much attachment to the woman and her memory.

"And then you had a falling out with my dad?" Lexie probed.

Stella took a second to calculate her next words, speaking in a measured way.

"After it happened," Stella continued. "Your father...he thought my parents had something to do with Lara's disappearance. He broke into their home on the Island and threatened to kill them if they didn't tell him what they did to Lara. He was obsessed, grieving, and my parents were genuinely scared for their lives. They might have been Firebringers, but Aiden Sparrowfoot was an unhinged archmage willing to do anything to bring his wife back. My folks tried to go off planet to avoid the situation, and they got attacked by Villains in transit. They died."

"Oh my gosh." Lexie's chest grew tight. "I'm so sorry. That's horrible."

"It was. At the time, I blamed Aiden for my parents' death and Lara's, and a huge part of me wanted vengeance. Of course, I never held any of that against you, but it was just too painful to see him after that..."

"I understand." Lexie finally understood. That was what Mouse meant by his comment two years ago, before he died. He'd said Theo should want Aiden dead after everything Aiden had done to his family. That meant that Mouse had been privy to Aiden's tormenting of the family.

Was it big news, or did he find out another way?

They finally arrived at a Library, a well-stocked and organized room that smelled like old books and vanilla-scented candles. Scrolling through the aisles, Lexie found a lot of books about fire and Firebringers, like Mane said, but there was a brand new shelf provided with books about card magic.

"Thanks so much," Lexie told Stella when she saw it. "This is great."

"Of course. We want to make you stay here as comfortable as possible. That way it's easier to bribe you to come back."

Lexie laughed.

She spent some time there, talking to Stella about her mother until it was time for Stella to leave.

They headed back downstairs, and after Stella had hugged everyone goodbye, Lexie retired to where her father and Mane were grilling meat in the courtyard while Luther sat on a lawnchair a few feet away, looking awkwardly out of place.

"What are you making?" Lexie asked.

"Filet mignon for a steak au poivre," Mane responded. "That's part of what we're having for dinner."

"Mane owns the best steakhouse in the entire city," her father added, as he used a fork to flip one of the steaks. "There's usually a waitlist that's months out, so we should consider ourselves lucky."

"Ah, not too much now. You know I'm weak to flattery."

"You deserve it. And I can flatter you even more, if you'll divulge your sauce recipe."

"No, for that, you would have to do things my wife would not approve of."

They both laughed, and Lexie watched bromance in action, feeling amused but also mildly disturbed.

Mane finally said, "Luther, do you want to do the honors?

Luther rolled his eyes and did it while peering into the air. Lexie guessed her was staring at his system screen.

He held out a hand, and suddenly the fire flared up, encasing the steaks but not charring them.

"That should help it steam," Mane said.

Lexie was fascinated. She stared at Luther's fingers, noting the golden rings around his index and middle fingers. She hadn't seen it the first time they'd met, since he was wearing gloves, but now she stared at it, wondering if it had any significance.

Come to think of it, Theo often wore rings too. She'd assumed it was a fashion statement, but maybe not.

While her father and Mane talked about the intricacies of grilling meat, Lexie went off in search of Theo.

She found him back in the summer hut, doing some martial arts while shooting little puffs of fire from his knuckles with every punch. Though it wasn't a lot of fire, some of the pillars extended into the protective walls to contain it.

Lexie stuck close to the doorway to stay out of his way, while he fluidly went through the motions.

He seemed focused on what he was doing, that was, until he caught sight of Lexie. "Oh, hey!"

"Hey. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No biggie. Did you see the library?"

Is that a way of saying he wants me to leave him alone and go read books in the library? "Yeah, it's pretty neat." She waited a second, then asked the burning question. "How come you and your uncle wear rings but the rest of your family don't?"

"Ah. You noticed that, didn't you?"

Lexie nodded. "Yeah."

"The rings are called Firestarters. They help us spark a small flame that we can then grow into a giant ball."

"Oh. Why would you need that?"

"Because A-Rank and B-Rank Firebringers often face challenges with starting fire," he said. "My Uncle and I are both A-Rank, and so it was a struggle. I eventually learned to create fire on my own, and so now I mostly wear the rings for style, but my uncle never did, according to my mom."

"Oh, I see," Lexie said. It never occurred to her that there were Firebringers who couldn't create fire or even those who faced difficulties with it. She assumed it was an automatic process. Did that mean that Luther's pathways weren't made of fire like Torin's were? Then how was he controlling the fire then?

Lexie decided to check it out. When she went back outside, she pulled up a lawn chair beside Luther, ignoring his puzzled look and meeting it with a smile of her own. While Mane told a story of grilling a whole goat, Lexie's father noticed where Lexie was sitting with a glance, but he didn't comment.

The conversation flowed around them, and Lexie closed her eyes and reached out. Sure enough, off the rip, Luther did not feel anywhere as hot as Torin. His pathways were also presumably not as flexible. She tried to poke around and visualize more, but she was distracted by a rough clearing of the throat.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Luther's sneer.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Damn," Mane said, "I know I talk a lot, but that's the first time a story has actually bored someone to sleep."

"No, sorry, I was just…meditating," Lexie said.

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"She tends to do it a lot everywhere," her father added.

"Well," Mane swung his arm. "I suppose it's always good to be zen, as Master Hua would say. He might like you."

"I'm sure I'd like him too," Lexie responded.

But as they continued the conversation, Lexie kept thinking of it. How did the Firestarters work? Per Lexie Evans' memory of physics, fires needed three things to start: a fuel, heat, and oxygen. The heat and oxygen could be found around them, but what about the fuel? Was that the ring?

And what about the rest of the firebringers? How did their powers technically work? How did one advance from Firestarters to creating fire from nothing?

Just then, as she thought about Theo, and Torin and Luther sparring, an intent floated in her mind.

Feed the flame

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