House of Fire

[Garza]

Holycrapholycrapholycrap

Lexa was screaming in my ear telling me to hurry as I was rushing her towards the speeder. We had been in my apartment in Courscant when her water broke. Already she could feel the child coming. She was breathing heavily and I knew if I didn't do something, then she would burst into flames. Putting her down into the seat, One of my men took the wheel and started driving as fast as he could with me in the back holding onto her. Kissing her flustered cheeks and trying to keep her calm.

"It's okay. Hey we can work through this together, its fine. Just breath in deeply okay?"

Seeing as how neither of us have had a kid before this was new to me. as well as her.

"I don't give a Kark about breathing! Nick I will break your goddamn head if you don't help me!"

I decided that this might work. Looking up to the driver,

"If you don't hurry up, I will fry your ass."
"YES SIR!"

Yelling to make sure that he was heard as well as letting me know that he knew how much trouble he would be in. I turned back to lexa as we were almost there.

"Just hang on!"

---------------------------------------------------------------​

​

After what seemed forever, the baby boy was born. Weighing in at seven pounds twelve ounces, the child, who we named [member="Damien Imura"]. The child was different right from the start. Before Lexa could even hold the child, I had seen it awake. Laying in the little hospital crib, I saw that one eye was red, while the other was blue. The child looked directly at me as though it had seen me before.

It was a few minutes later when I delivered the child to Lexa. Looking down to her, I knelt down next to her. Smiling as she played with the childs nose. Looking to each other, I leaned over and kissed her flustered face. Having just rested up, we would be in here for a few days.

"Hey, we did it. See what we did?"

I smiled as I placed my hand on Damien's head. Surprisingly, he wasn't crying

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​

FIVE YEARS LATER

"Damien! Get in here and pick this up!"
"But whyyyyyy?"
"Because I am your father, and I told you to. Clean up your mess."

The five year old boy had grown. Turning over to where Lexa was sitting with me on the couch, I smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. We hadn't really married, but I would consider us as such since we had been living with each other for five years, and we had a child.

"What are you and Damien doing today?"

[member="Lexa Imura"],

 

[Zayani Brin]

Good God, how the years had flown by. Lexa remembered everything like it was yesterday. The day she first met Nick, all their fighting, all their passion, losing him, learning of her son-to-be, finding Nick again, Damien's birth. All of it. Sure, if she thought too hard about it it gave her a headache, But still. Sitting her now with Nickolas so lovingly draping his arm across her shoulders, watching Damien, their pride and joy play in front of them, she couldn't keep herself from smiling.​

​

"Well, I was going to see if I couldn't get him into another school. Hopefully somewhere that isn't as... flammable... as the daycare last year."​

​

Lexa glanced over at her son for a moment. She didn't try to hide her worried expression. Damien had started to show signs of Fire Shaping when he was two years old, and ever since then, he had only been growing stronger. That, however, was only part of her concerns. There was a side of him... Something that she wished she could understand better. It came out unannounced in him sometimes. He would be smiling and laughing and playing one minute, and then cold and glowering the next. Sometimes, Damien would have horrible pain that he only described as "sizzling" in his arms or legs. There were the occasional night terrors but they didn't seem normal when Lexa asked him to tell her what they were about. And then, of course, there were his "mad tantrums": Times in which both Lexa and Nickolas were both forced to hold him down to keep him from destroying the house or hurting other people.​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Damien Imura"]​

 

[Slot 12]

I didn't really like it when I had to pick up my toys. I usually left them out for later or even for the next day so that I could continue a game. But when Papa was with Mama, I knew better than to complain further. I went to work dumping my toy soldiers and cars into the little bin at the furthermost corner of the room.​

​

Even though she spoke softly, I could still hear what Mama was talking about. I felt their eyes on the back of my head, paying them no heed as I continued cleaning. A small smile formed on my face at the mention of daycare last year. If they hadn't wanted me to start a fire, then they shouldn't have left me with all those selfish and annoying children. Honestly! I couldn't be by myself for two minutes before someone came up and stole my crayons or hit me or badgered me to play with them.​

​

I stopped for a moment, realizing that Mama had just said "another school". Why did I even have to GO to school?? I was perfectly fine at home! I read all the time, and Papa was always pointing out how well I could spell and do math problems. There was no need to ship me off to a crowded, filthy, underpaid public school to learn things that I already knew!​

​

[member="Lexa Imura"]​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

 

[Garza]

I nodded to Lexa. We needed to find a school for him not just because he needed to react with the outside world, and have social interaction, but to give him something that both of us didn't have. A normal education. I wanted Damien's life to be as close to normal as I could get. But already, he was showing signs of fire shaping. As well as signs of the force. Considering that both my brother and I were very powerful in Fire shaping, and other shaping as well, my son, my heir having powers was not unexpected.

However all of this rage? No. There were times when he had pure fits and attacks filled with rage and anger. I knew that he got it from both of us. Me for my ability to hold such hostility, and Lexa for having a hard time in controlling it. We had to work with him that it was not okay for his temper tantrums. Even more so in public. As daycare last year was.... in short, not a good idea, I was really stressing my contacts in trying to cover all this up. Make sure none of this hit the news of a child of a Sith Lord was harming others.

I didn't speak to Lexa at the moment. I knew that the child was listening in.

"Damien come here for a minute. Come sit on daddy's lap."

Opening my arms and moving my legs in such a way to allow him to sit, I then proposed a question for him.

"Why do you think we want you in school Damey?"

[member="Damien Imura"], [member="Lexa Imura"],

 

[Slot 12]

I obediently went to Papa, pulling myself up into his lap. I didn't smile, but that was a normal thing for me. I just looked up at him with my big parallel-colored eyes.​

​

"Because you want me to know things..."​

​

A simple, and most likely true response. I mean, it was either that or because they needed me to go somewhere during the day so I wouldn't get in the way of their grown-up tasks.​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Lexa Imura"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa nodded, smiling a bit a Damien while he answered Nick's question.​

​

"That's right, sweetie. We want you to know lots of things, things we could never teach you. But would there be any other reason?"​

​

She was sure that her son was a bit smarter than he let on. So it wouldn't take him long to realize what they were talking about.​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Damien Imura"]​

 

[Garza]

I grunted as the child was not a little toddler anymore. He was actually fairly heavy. Even more so when he didn't scoot onto your lap, he almost plopped into your lap. His answer to my question was beating around the bush. He was a smart kid. When he would grow up, he would likely be more academically smarter than me. I never had "school" I had Training camps. I had training under Masters. Lexa and I smiled as he answered. She asked him for what else did he think. I leaned up so I had my left arm around him.

"Yes, as momma said, you do need to learn. I know you are smart enough to figure this one out too."

I leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.

"Tell us what you really think."

[member="Damien Imura"], [member="Lexa Imura"],

 

[Slot 12]

I looked down at Papa's shirt as if I were thinking, sighing a little.​

​

"You want me to make friends. Be a friendly person..."​

​

I never really thought much of other children. Only that they were simple, care-free little snipes that could never possibly understand why I preferred to separate myself from them. I didn't even fully understand it sometimes. But... Maybe there was a little more to it than that. It wasn't just because they couldn't understand me. It was because I couldn't understand them. ​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Lexa Imura"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa nodded.​

​

"That's right. Papa and I both think it would be better for you to make some friends. That way, you can have more fun around others. You won't be shut up in this house all the time. You can go out and play!"​

​

She had a feeling it would take a lot to get Damien to see the benefits of friendship. He was only five, though. There was still time.​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Damien Imura"]​

 

[Garza]

Nodding my head, Lexa went with the little boy's answer, saying that he was right. He needed to have a form of social communication. I had very little, and the same was with Lexa. We decided that all of our mistakes would tried to be fixed so Damien would have a better life than we did. So he could try and live a life without so much pain. Physical and emotional.

"Your mom and I want you to go and talk to people. Make friends. I have a few friends myself, and you want to know how I met them?"

I smiled brightly, because I was telling him the truth, but not all of it.

"I met them because I tried to talk to them. To understand who they were."

True, however all of this was done in a short amount of time as I had to. If I didn't then I would have died. I needed to live for not only myself, but for Lexa and now for Damien. They were what fueled me. They were the hope that pushed me throughout my days.

"Can you try and do that for me buddy?"

[member="Lexa Imura"], [member="Damien Imura"],

 

[Slot 12]

I shrugged, not looking at them. My two loving parents. Wanting so much for me to have what they never did. Even they would never understand me. Not completely.​

​

I slipped off of Papa's lap. I could feel the anger beginning to rumble inside me. It was starting to make the muscles in my arm begin to sizzle. I looked down at the carpet beneath my bare feet. My brow furrowed. It was a cream-colored material, soft and fuzzy. But wouldn't it look nicer if it were...​

​

I didn't even have to finish my thought. A tiny flame had already erupted in front of my toes. I smiled at it.​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Lexa Imura"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa could feel the shift in Damien's emotions as he left Nick's lap. Oh no. That usually meant-​

​

She was on her knees next to him not a second later, absorbing the flame the boy ha created so it wouldn't spread.​

​

"Damien, no. Try to think clearly. This isn't you..."​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Damien Imura"]​

 

[Garza]

I could begin to feel a welling of energy coming from the child. Anger was fueling him. I knew it all too well. Lexa rushed to his side putting out the fire before it could do any damage, and was telling him that his actions now were not who he really was. It was then I realized that it really was him. However, I would not give up. I moved down. Following Lexa in suit as I knelt down in front of him. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Damien, what did I tell you about not setting things on fire?"

I remembered when I first showed signs of fire shaping. My father slapped me upside the head and told me not to. However, I didn't want to continue the cycle of pain. I wanted to act better than my parents towards my child. However, that may be easier said that done.

[member="Lexa Imura"], [member="Damien Imura"],

 

[Slot 12]

"Why do you always kill it? It only wanted to grow..."​

​

I met my Papa in his bright red eyes. Just like my right one. That just made me angrier, and my arm sizzle more. I shook his hand off my shoulder, giving him a small glare.​

​

"I like fire. I like to watch it eat things up. Does that make me evil? Does that make me a thing to be feared?"​

​

I could feel my red eye burning. The anger just kept rising. Another spot on the carpet began to burn, and so did one of the cushions on the couch. I didn't look away from Papa, and started to scratch at my arm.​

​

[member="Lexa Imura"]​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa looked at Nick, and then back at Damien. She could sense the tension in the air between the two of them. She was about to intervene when two more fires sprang up. She went to put them out quickly.​

​

Lexa loved her son just as much as she loved Nick and Morna before him. But in times like these, she was afraid. Afraid that he would hurt himself. What were they going to do? How could they protect a child from himself?​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Damien Imura"]​

 

[Garza]

The boy wanted to watch the fire grow. He wanted to see it consume. Sadly, I knew exactly how he felt. When I first got my powers, I was entranced by them. Consumed by them.

As he shrugged my arm away from him, other parts of the flames were spreading around. Lexa went to deal with them. I decided to do something else.

Kneeling down in front of him, I ignited my own flame.

"Damey, instead of burning everything in the house, how about you try and make the fire in my hand larger?"

it could give him something to do. taking his focus off of the other fires that were going everywhere.

[member="Lexa Imura"], [member="Damien Imura"],

 

[Slot 12]

I looked down at Papa's hand. It was on fire, too. I liked his. It was orange and yellow and white all at once. I reached up and put my hands on Papa's, letting his fire cover my fingers. It was hotter than mine, even. The anger stopped rising for a moment as I found my interest shifted into this new activity. I focused on trying to make his fire bigger.​

​

It wasn't very easy. Looking at something and willing it to burn was entirely different than making someone else's fire burn bigger. My brow furrowed as I began to try.​

​

Just when I thought I had done something to it, the pain in my arm became unbearable. I cried out, with tears coming to my eyes. I looked down to my arm but I knew that I would see nothing there. I never did. The sizzling never left a mark. It just hurt so bad! ​

​

[member="Lexa Imura"]​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

The fires were out before they could eat away anything else. Lexa turned the cushion over on the couch to hide the damage. She looked back to Damien and Nick. It made her smile a bit to see him trying to to calm the boy down by giving him something else to do. She'd have to remember that the next time she was alone with Damey and this happened.​

​

That smile disappeared the minute he began crying. Lexa sat down beside Damien again, gently pulling him into her lap.​

​

"I know, baby, I know. Sssssh, it's okay.... Where does it hurt? Can you tell Mama where it hurts?"​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​

[member="Damien Imura"]​

 

[Garza]

I shook my head. The child did almost exactly what I wanted. He paid all of his attention to the flame. He stuck his hand into the fire, and I was almost skeptical of it, but if he was a real fireshaper, then he wouldn't be marked. And as I suspected, he wasn't. But it still caused pain. And that is where I knew he was untrained. He needed to learn how to control the flames to not cause him harm.

Lexa rushed to him asking where it was hurt, however, I stopped her by pressing my arm out against her from touching the child.

"Wait, let me do something."

Looking to Damien, I looked to him.

"Whenever you feel angry or when you want to see fire, do your eyes start to hurt?"

I reached out to him with my right hand,

"If it does, that's okay. It's natural. I want to help you son. If it does hurt, I can help you to control it."

[member="Lexa Imura"], [member="Damien Imura"],

 

[Slot 12]

I wanted to curl up in Mama's lap until the pain went away like I always did. But Papa wouldn't let me. He held up his arm so that Mama couldn't touch me.​

​

I held my arm and continued to sniffle and cry as he asked me if my eyes hurt, too. I nodded a tiny bit.​

​

"Y-yes.... But my arm hurts more...."​

​

It wasn't always my arm. Sometimes it was my other arm, or one of my legs. But my eyes did hurt along with them. The sizzling just wasn't as strong.​

​

[member="Nickolas Imura"]​