Song: Class of 2013, by: Mitski
~~~
"Dom! Dom! Little sister!"
He slams her door open and she immediately jumps off the couch in excitement, running to her brother. She overtakes him in a hug and shoves him into an aggressive headlock, "I did it! I'm magic! I got strangled by a tree today!"
"I'm magic too! I almost burned all my hair and clothes off!"
"That doesn't sound nearly as exciting as mine."
"Well, it is!"
Dom lets go and runs to the potted plant on the coffee table, she holds it snug in her arms. Her hands smoothly graze over the stems of the potted fern and they slowly start to grow in size, all the way down to Tomas' feet. A hearty laugh escaping his lips as he holds the long fern in his hands, in awe at his sister's abilities.
I knew she could do it.
He lets go of the fern and lets a flame light up his finger, like a match to a candle. He turns his hand allowing the flame to dance from finger to finger. "It's a cool party trick that Kailani taught me."
She puts the overgrown fern back on the table and holds onto his forearm. Dom couldn't help but stare at the beautiful blue-red flames interchanging fingers. She couldn't believe that eventually she would be able to do that soon too.
She'd be on the same level as her brother.
"I had such a good training session with Makani. I'm so sore though, carry me." She lets her body fall limp directly onto Tomas and he's quick to catch her before her torso can reach the ground. He's used to her antics.
"I'm not too tired, we spent most of our time just trying to get my fire to work consistently. It wasn't too physically draining, it's just hard to maintain. Especially in the cave we were in," Tomas explains to Dom. She's still in his arms, gravity having its way with her.
He drops her right onto the couch, where her body still drops onto the ground. Dom, now laying flat on the ground, looks to her brother sitting on the couch, "Do you ever think about how strong we could be?"
"Hm?" Tomas' head was comfortably laying on the couch's headrest and his eyes were closed. He did have an early start to the day and the fatigue was starting to set in.
"Like, we could be insane. I've seen some of the things Makani can do, and-and if you trained a lot and we got on the same level... nothing could stop us, y'know?"
Her fingers played with some of the extra fluff of the rug while she talked to her brother. They hadn't had a moment alone since they left home.
"I guess so. I hadn't really thought about it. I'm hungry."
"My kitchen has nothing. Unless you want a cup of sink water and disappointment."
Tomas groans as he stands up, going straight for Dom's kitchen. It truly was a marvel to look at. The white and gray accented cabinets along with the warm light above were very welcoming. All it was missing was actual food to fill up all the empty space with.
"We need to go to the store and get some food. I'm a growing boy after all," Tomas complains.
"You're a grown boy, don't-" Suddenly there is a knock on their door, which was strange because any of their friends would have simply walked in without knocking. Especially Kevin or Maeve.
"I got it," Tomas jogs over to the front door and is greeted by their two parents, his mother holding a large, smoking pot in her hands.
"Can we come in?" His mother asks. Tomas looks back to see Dom still on the ground, she hadn't realized yet who was at the door.
"Who is it?"
~~~
The clinking of the utensils on plates was the only noise being registered throughout the suite. Tatsuya and Catalina had made eye contact multiple times throughout the dinner, but nothing could compare to the daggers that Dom was shooting her mother from across the table.
"So... how was the first day?" Catalina's accent became more prominent through her nervousness. Tatsuya immediately took notice and held her hand under the table, trying to ease her guilt, if possible.
"Fine," Tomas monotonously responds. He continues to eat the pasta his mother made, she never fails to add the extra slices of salchichón that she knows he loves.
She made this extra good on purpose. How am I supposed to stay mad? I definitely don't look mad if I'm eating like a starved maniac, unlike Dom. She just looks like a plain, old maniac.
"Good. I blew up a tree," Dom deadpans, not looking away from her mother.
Tatsuya took another bite of his food, not letting go of his wife. "That's good. Soon, you'll be just like me. I set half of my room on fire during one of my first training sessions."
Tomas' head perks up at that statement, "You're a fire mage too?"
Tatsuya's usual demeanor cracked for just a moment. "Yes, Tomi."
"I learned how to... turn it on and off today," Tomas hesitates to share but couldn't hold back his excitement.
Pride welled in Tatsuya at the thought of his son inheriting his abilities. Soon, they could possibly train together. Just like he always wanted. He understood his relationship with his children to be strained, but maybe this was exactly what they needed.
"That sounds great, Tomi. You're going to be a great fire mage. Just like your papá... Once you get going, we could train together, if you want," a barely visible smile makes its way onto Tatsuya's lips. A smile that Tomas has spent years seeking, quality time that Tomas has spent years waiting for. Now it's just being handed to them because they felt guilty. How was that fair?
"No, I don't think so."
As quickly as the smile came, it went. And so did the conversation.
The table was back to the initial awkward silence. Dom hadn't stopped staring at her mother. Her relationship with Catalina had always been especially tense since she was a child. She couldn't help but feel so cheated out of a relationship with her, and now she's getting what she's always wanted. Family dinners together, small talk about their days, and all the other normal, family things they never got to enjoy together in their own home.
Why did it take a prehistoric bad guy to come back and want to kill everyone for my mom to love me?
"Let's just eat, so you guys can leave," Dom starts.
"You know, back in Santo Domingo if I told my parents that, I would've left the table without teeth. Be respectful, we're still your parents," Catalina firmly speaks to everyone at the table.
"You stopped being our parents when you left us alone for weeks at a time and disappeared. Kevin's mom was more of a mom than you, and she's a drunk. Oh! And, you lied! For years-" Dom feels a sharp sting on her left cheek. She holds onto the warm flesh and feels her heart rip apart in betrayal. Tomas immediately pulls Dom's chair away from the table and stands up, "What's wrong with you?!"
Catalina slams her hands on the table, "I'm your mother! You can't just-"
"Just what?" Dom asks quietly. She looks at her mom and notices the red, hot fury in her eyes. Sure, they talked back to their parents, like every other young adult. But she'd never disrespected her like that.
Abuelita would have my head if she heard this entire conversation. Please forgive me.
"It's just what? What is it, Catalina?" Dom didn't look away from her mother for one second, waiting to see what she would do. She wanted her to feel the same betrayal, the same lack of respect that she felt that day their lives were uprooted.
"Hana!" Her father's voice echoed throughout the suite and immediately shut up all of the commotion. Not even when Dom got in trouble as a child, did Tatsuya refer to her using her other name.
She immediately shuts her mouth but continues to look at them with the same look in her eyes.
"We know you're mad. That doesn't change that we are your parents. We are your parents, and you will respect us. Dominique, apologize to your mother." Dom's nose twitches, trying hard to resist her innate habit of obeying her parents. All of them except for Tatsuya were standing up from the table, "Now, Hana."
"Sorry... mama," Dom, for the first time tonight, looks away from them both.
"Don't mama me, Dominique. I'm leaving. You two need to grow up." She immediately grabs her jacket and storms out of the suite, swinging open Dom's door onto the door stop. Tatsuya still hadn't gotten up from the table.
He remained in his seat, finishing his plate while his kids stood there and watched him. When he finished, he washed up his plate, then his hands, and promptly left. Not a word, not a peep, not even a slamming of the door. It remained open to the rest of the hallway for everyone to hear and see.
Dom's eyes started to tear up as she stared at the open door and focused on the light sketches on the wallpaper in the hallway. Her body couldn't bring itself to sit down or even cry, she simply stood there and let the gears in her head turn.
Even after the biggest life-changing betrayal, they still left us.
Tomas wrapped an arm around his sister and kissed her forehead before cleaning up the dishes. No one had finished their plates except their father. Tomas put the large pot away in the fridge for later and finished doing the dishes.
Still, Dom could not move. Her right hand reached up to feel the warm spot where her mother slapped her so hard that if she thought about it too much, she could feel it happen all over again.
Tomas approached her with a clean rag and ice cubes folded into it, pressing it to the red-tinted flesh on her cheek, they both sat on the table, in silence.
~~~
ily<33