A/N: A Will Sencen/Anna Vacker one-shot based on my main story.
It had been two weeks since Will had manifested as an Imperator.
As if being an Empath wasn't enough.
His dad had told him about the ability years ago, and honestly it had always sounded kind of cool. He knew he couldn't take advantage of the ability--between his dad, and Grandpa Grady being a Mesmer, and his mom with her Inflicting, he had been given lots of talks about how seriously those kind of abilities must be taken.
He just hadn't understood how scary it could be. How dangerous.
But he probably should have. Empathy wasn't that scary of an ability, but it had been pretty freaky when he first manifested.
The memory of that command bubbling up inside of him, burning, choking him until he just had to say it...
And seeing Kai crumple to the ground...
For a horrible minute, before his sense caught up to him, he thought he'd killed the little guy.
And he'd been so tired after they cleared the situation up.
Dad had told him about what happened in Loamnore all those years ago. He'd tried to just give him the facts, unemotional, like a history lesson. And Dad was pretty good at hiding his emotions--something about learning young how to lie to an Empath--but Will had still detected some unsettling emotions.
It had obviously been far more traumatic than his parents were letting on.
And slowly, Dad was starting to admit it. He wanted Will to see how different it was going to be for him than it had been for Dad. So more bits and pieces of the story were coming together during their training sessions. He had the facts, but Dad had started sharing the emotional toll it took on him.
But Anna...Anna.
She'd kissed his cheek that day. He couldn't remember that day as being all bad, not when that gorgeous girl had done that.
She'd been coming over almost every day after school.
She wanted to make sure he was okay. And with his dad's permission, he'd told her everything his parents had shared with him.
And she'd been so supportive.
Supportive enough that he'd finally been brave enough to hold her hand while they walked around the pond.
It was exciting and sweet and comfortable and gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Will came home from school and changed out of his uniform, preferring something more casual now that he was home.
Anna was also going home to change and then was going to come straight to Aeternum. So Will went outside to wait for her, sitting on the porch swing by the pond.
After only a few minutes, she arrived.
She was almost fifteen, and already absolutely stunning. Never mind the fact that he had just seen her at school, somehow her beauty always shocked him.
Taking her hand, he stood up and they started walking around the pond.
"How was Imperator training this afternoon?" Anna asked him after a minute.
"It was interesting," Will admitted. "Having more than one ability isn't nearly as cool as it sounds."
"I've heard your parents say that before," Anna said. "It's still crazy to me that your mom has five."
Will laughed. "Dad says Mom's just that awesome." He made a face. "And then he usually looks at her like she's a huge slice of mallowmelt he wants to gobble up. It's kind of gross."
Anna giggled. "It's okay, my parents are like that too. I can't tell you the number of times I've walked in on them making out. And it's definitely gross."
The idea of their parents kissing was gross, but something about Anna mentioning kissing while holding his hand made his heart race and his palms slightly sweaty.
He knew his parents met when his dad was the age Will was now, and that Dad had known right away that Mom was who he wanted to be with.
Was it so crazy that he already felt that way about Anna?
He hoped not. Because he was pretty sure Anna felt the same way.
"So what made training interesting?"
"Every time we talk about the ability, it's like I can feel some intense--but suppressed--distress coming off Dad. He hides it well but I can feel it. He says it's not actually the ability, but the way he manifested it, that makes him feel that way. And I've pushed back some on it, asking him not to make me train. I don't want to use the ability."
"You asked him that again today?" Anna asked.
"I did. But I think I'm starting to understand. He says we will always have to work to keep evil at bay, and that there's always the possibility that more rebels could pop up and threaten the safety of our world. And if I don't know how to control the ability, I could be a liability."
"That makes sense," Anna said. "Plus...if you don't have control...you'll be afraid of it. It gives it a lot of power over you. Mom talks a lot about that. I guess her ability as a Hydrokinetic got her in a lot of trouble when she was our age."
"I'm not sure I believe half the stuff they tell us about when they were teenagers," Will said with a laugh.
"Yeah, like how your mom and my dad were a thing for a while?" Anna asked.
"Yeah, that's weird. Especially since our dads have been best friends since they were kids. And Dad liked Mom even while she was supposedly dating your dad. That seems weird to me, that he wouldn't have said anything to your dad. Like...I'd be pretty ticked off if my best friend made a move on you."
He'd said it without thinking. And once those words were out there, there was no taking them back.
He and Anna weren't dating, hadn't even kissed--apart from the kiss she gave him on his cheek that day--and had not discussed the nature of their friendship at all. He'd been enjoying walking around, holding her hand, hoping for more but afraid to pursue it.
And he hadn't come right out and admitted his feelings for her. So he certainly hadn't acted like they were dating or said anything to imply that she was somehow his.
Until now.
Thankfully, being an Empath definitely had its advantages.
He felt the rush of emotions Anna hit him with after he said that.
Nervous, but excited and happy and warm...and something he could only describe as fluttery.
And it made him brave.
So he stopped walking and turned to look at Anna directly.
"I hope it's okay that I said that," he told her quietly, knowing full well that it was, thanks to her emotions.
Sure enough, Anna smiled. "Obviously," she said in a soft voice. "Except I wish you'd be a bit more clear as to what you want that to mean."
Will smirked--looking uncannily like his dad as he did so--and murmured, "I can do that."
His heart was pounding and his palms were sweaty and he was somewhere between exhilarated and terrified--he'd never done this before and really hoped it was intuitive.
But he shoved the fear aside and clung to the warmth as he pulled Anna in close, bringing his lips carefully to hers.
And it was fairly intuitive.
And his Empathy ensured that he could discern Anna's emotions along with his own.
And they were perfectly in sync.
He had known Anna his whole life. They'd played together as kids. His feelings had started growing the last year or so, and now, with a hand on her cheek and the other in her beautiful dark hair, he was incredibly grateful that they had.