The sound of wood against wood fills the training grounds. A light layer of sweat glistens on the skin of Sehun and D.O as they move. D.O swings his staff, Sehun crouching and sweeping. His mentor grunts as he falls but raises his hand, lifting some rocks. An impact of wind quickly breaks them down before they can do any damage. They both jump back to their feet and returns to their original stances. Sehun jumps back and flows his wind, letting it spin around his staff. He lifts it and slams the end of it onto the floor; causing a massive surge of air to spill out. D.O moves a rock to protect him in time, shattering as the two elements collide. They stare at each other for a moment before his mentor finally moves. He raises his hands; spikes of earth are popping up quickly towards Sehun. He uses his weapon to smash one of them and twirls out of the way of one that suddenly appears in front of him.

Sehun struggles when rocks suddenly surround him, grabbing onto his arms and legs, forcing him to stay immobile. When D.O slowly approaches him, the boy quickly wiggles his fingers, trying to get even just a tiny bit of movement. With his mentor now in front of him, he raises a spike, ready to make the killing move. Sehun forces his mind to focus. He focuses on all of his body, focuses on wanting to survive and help himself. When he can feel movement in his fingers, he snaps them, causing the rocks by his hands to crumble. With both of his hands-free, Sehun twirls them and extends them out, causing the wind to pick up suddenly. It's difficult to do but as soon as he feels himself merge with his magic, it feels almost effortless. With a strong impact of wind, the rocks all around him suddenly shattered, crumbling to sand around his feet. He grabs onto D.O's wrist and twists it, using his other to grab onto the spike and breaks it down. His mentor winces but quickly smiles as soon as Sehun lets go and steps back. Sehun once again raises his arms, making the wind pick up. They both watch as the crushed rock, sand, is lifted and ushered into the tub. 

D.O wraps an arm tightly around Sehun's shoulder when they go over and peer in."Look at that," He chuckles. "Halfway full! You're doing amazingly! And that trick you did when pinned down!"

Sehun blushes and shyly fiddles with his shirt. "All thanks to your teaching, of course."

"Sehun," D.O sighs as he let's go and stands in front of him. He picks up one of the last reminding rocks and hands it to him. His eyes are full of pride when Sehun easily crumbles it in his palm. "It was all you. I just gave you the push and guidance needed." He motions towards the tub. "I will go to the store to get you another."

"How come?" Sehun asks with a frown.

"I want you to practice those air bubbles again but I don't want to dump out all of your progress." With another squeeze to Sehun's shoulder, he quickly walks back and into the house; seeming to prepare for the store. Sehun stares down at the sand, his heart beating fast with happiness. "I'll return soon, Sehun!" D.O calls out and Sehun laughs at his teacher's excitement. If anyone's more happy about Sehun's progress than him, it's D.O. Kai comes up to Sehun's side as he puts the cover back on the tub. 

"You should spar with me next," Kai says and Sehun huffs.

"Why? So you can be shirtless and distract me?"

Kai gives him a cocky smirk. "Are you saying I'm distracting?"

"You already know you are," Sehun laughs, accepting when Kai hands him a towel. He sighs when he feels his hand gently begin to massage the nape of his neck.

"You..." Kai pauses. "You just looked ing awesome."

Sehun smiles at the language he used. He doesn't curse all that often. He leans back against his chest. "Thank you. Really, it's all because of D.O. He's a really good teacher."

"Are you saying I'm not a good teacher?"

"No, not at all," Sehun turns to face Kai, grinning up at him. "You just started to get all soft on me."

Kai raises a brow as he wraps his arms around him weakly. "Oh really? What if you were getting tougher?"

It's Sehun's turn to raise a brow. "Really?" he snorts. "Lay told me you're NEVER that soft on people." He sighs and pulls back, causing Kai to frown. "Speaking of which, I told him I'd help him with his garden today."

"What?! I haven't been able to even touch you till now," Kai complains.

"Well, you can touch me later," Sehun says as he sets the towel down. He blushes at Kai's suddenly mischievous grin. "N-not like that!"

"Not even a little?" Kai smirks.

"I'm leaving," Sehun mumbles, suddenly flustered. He grumbles as Kai laughs as he quickly walks away. He sighs as he rubs his cheeks, approaching Lay outside. The healer smiles up at him.

"Your face is all red. Is it from your training?"

Sehun kneels beside him after tying an apron around him. "Yes..."

Lay chuckles and returns to his work; dirt already on his own apron and hands. "I think it's adorable that our teleporter still makes you all shy. Kris used to be so good at that; always finding just the right ways to make me blush," The healer says, smiling fondly. "It's not like I could lie either, with my pale skin and all."

Sehun watches Lay, smiling at the look in his eyes. He doesn't look sad, for once. "Lay, can you...tell me more about him?"

"Gladly," Lay hums. "What did you want to know?"

As he helps with some plants, Sehun thinks. "Hmm...I don't know. How did you two get together?"

Lay has a particular shine to his expression when he hears that. "Oh, I still remember it like it was yesterday," He says. "Kris hasn't ever been great at showing his emotions. So, asking me out was...a little awkward." Sehun smiles again. "It was the first year of high school and it was winter. We weren't yet in Suho's group but we knew about each other's abilities; it even brought us closer," He explains. "It was winter and snowing; probably freezing out. It's the day before I was supposed to go back to China."

"Without Kris?"

Lay nods and stares at the dead plants nearby. "I wanted to beg my parents to let me stay but they didn't know that I was..."

"Gay?" Sehun finishes, Lay once again nods.

"The dummy was so angry, he refused to let me leave. I was confused until..." Lay sighs. "Until I heard a bang on my window; which is on the second story, mind you. So when I opened it and saw Kris right outside; using his stupid flight ability," Sehun laughs at the thought of that. Kris trying to keep himself in the air to get to Lay. "I called him a and asked him what he was doing," Sehun looks down at Lay's hands, staring at the mist that now emanates from them. But the healer doesn't seem to notice, keeping his eyes shut. "He kissed me and everything lid up. L-like he filled something inside of me that I was missing." He widens his eyes and slowly sits back when the mist grows and spreads around. Everything suddenly warm, Sehun looks back down and around. The garden slowly comes to life; green and other colors returning to the once dead plants and flowers. Sehun slowly leans over, touching a restored rose. 

"Lay..."

"When Lay opens his eyes, he jumps a little and gasps.  "O-oh!" He slowly stands in confusion.

Sehun smiles and stands as well. "Lay, y-you...you brought them back!"

"I...can see that," Lay whispers. He swallows hard. "I see..." he laughs as he brushes a tear away from his eye. Sehun watches him for a moment before looking back at the garden. He grabs Lay's hand and starts to tug him away. When Lay looks at him in confusion, he smiles and shakes his head. When led to the other small, dead garden, Lay lets out another sigh. "Sehun, I don't-"

"Come on, Lay," Sehun interrupts. "You saw what you did! You did that because of your memories and stuff!"

Lay looks at the dead plants. "I don't know."

"Maybe you're...fueled by the wrong thing?" Sehun asks. "Maybe you should start focusing on something else?"

The healer slowly sits as he stares at the garden. "Like what?"

"I fuel my magic with wanting to help," He explains. "Not just other people but even myself; depending on the situation."

"Depending on the situation," Lay repeats with a whisper.

Sehun glances over at Kai, watching as he's distracted with Chanyeol. "D.O forced me not to get fueled by Kai but it's different from you. I don't think you even knew Kris fueled you."

Lay chuckles. "No, I did not. Not until he died."

Sehun stands and nods. "So find something else. Maybe...your memories?"

Lay stares up at Sehun for a moment before slowly smiling. "You hold a lot of wisdom, Sehun. More than you think you do." Sehun blushes a little before kneeling back down. The healer closes his eyes, seeming to try and focus as he wraps his hands around a dried up plant. Sehun doesn't know what Lay thought of but by the slow rise of a smile and the mist that spills from him; he knows it's a memory. He opens his eyes again and stares at the now lively plant. "I did it..." He keeps his eyes pinned to it for a moment before he stands. "I think...I understand now." He brushes the dirt from his hands slowly. "I've been letting Kris down, this whole time."

"I don't think you did," Sehun puts in. "I mean...you lived even after he...passed. I heard all the stories about you too- how close you two were. It's extreme that you keep up hope."

"I barely have hope, Sehun. That's why my-"

"No, you do!" Sehun stands up as well now. "If you didn't you wouldn't try to help the other boys grow so much; try to help me. Before my first mission, you gave us that speech and stuff...it was like the definition of hope!"

Lay sighs as he touches Sehun's shoulder. "Stop growing so fast."

"My thoughts exactly," Suho says as he approaches. He clears his throat before he speaks up again. "It's been two weeks since Sehun has returned and Siwon's men haven't made a move yet," He starts to explain. He smiles as D.O, Kai, and Chanyeol walks over now. "It's time to start planning our move." Some of the boys look at each other, whispering. "I have a name for this series of missions," Suho says as he walks through the house, everyone else following him. Once all the members are gathered, Suho goes on. "At the end of all these missions, Siwon is going to die. I call this," He takes a deep breath. "The beginning of the end."

Sehun looks up at Kai in concern, who nods reassuringly. They all look back to Suho, his expression unreadable. "Soon...Siwon dies."

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Short but necessary chapter