"Fathom, you know we cannot keep this child. She will be loved by another family. What happened never should have. I am only glad that my sister could not be here to learn of our nights together." Storm, the Wind, had an arm resting around the shoulder of his friend and former love, Fathom, the Water. She held their month old daughter. "I realize that. Why did the others leave us here? They could have at least taken one of us, that would have prevented this from happening. It was foolish." She gazed down at her sleeping child, "She looks like me, but she has your eyes and nose. It's a pity we must give her up, but, again, I know you are right." He smiled, the baby would grow to be as beautiful as her mother, but with the silver eyes that her father had passed to her. "I do not know how you think of me, but know that I will always love you as deeply as you love the ocean." He kissed her forehead softly and left her standing there, knowing that he would not see the baby again and that he would never have Fathom as his own again.

The three on their mission returned home in a carriage, not a fancy one, just a simple, black, horse drawn carriage that would bring them home after a difficult mission. Chaos stared out one window, bored, while Winter awaited the smiling faces of her brother and her lover when she returned home and Ember braided little strands of Chaos's long red hair. "Know what I'm going to do when we get home?" Chaos asked the other two, "I'm going to get a good nights sleep. Oh, and if I volunteer for another mission like this, smack me." She laughed tiredly, and the others nodded. "How could it have possibly taken us a year to complete one simple mission?" Winter sighed, "It was almost one month of travel there, another month to come home. Then there was hunting it down, fighting it, losing it, hunting it down again, finally killing it, and then taking it to our employer. Wasn't that fun? We should have brought our best tracker." She smirked at Chaos, who stuck out her tongue, "You know I'm the best we've got, but when the rocks don't cooperate, it makes finding anything very difficult. Besides, our prey wasn't invading in your element, he was a novice earth mage. Mages can convince my earth to fight with me. Did you forget about that rock golem?" They rolled their eyes at her, "When some mage tries to invade into your elemental territories, see if I help you." She crossed her arms and ignored them for the rest of the trip home, but they were only hours away from home..

The welcome home that Ember, Winter, and Chaos had looked forward to was everything they had hoped for. The people of Blackwing greeted them cheerfully, while the other two elementals, Fathom and Storm, were thrilled at their arrival home. "Winter! I missed you so much!" Fathom threw her arms around Winter's neck and clung to her tightly. Ember and Chaos hugged Storm, catching him in a bear-hug he had not been expecting. Once the welcomes were finished, Storm carried luggage back to their home at the edge of town. Storm pulled Winter aside, "Our older sister is coming for a short visit. Remember, she does not know about our abilities, or the abilities of the others. It would be better to keep them from her, I don't know how she would react, and I'm not sure I want to." Winter nodded, "Alright, she knows about my taste in.. Companionship.. Correct?" Storm nodded, "Good. Then her visit should be a pleasant one."

The arrival of their sister marked the beginning of the end for their peaceful lives. They did not know what events had been spurred into motion by the simple visit of a family member. "Emily! It has been far too long. How is the rest of the family doing?" Storm greeted the tall, black-haired girl warmly. She smiled and her brown eyes lit with joy at the sight of her younger brother, "Our father is well, and our mother is very happy. Phoebe is pregnant with her first child, she hopes for a daughter, and my family is doing well. Your niece and nephew are smiling little monsters, I wish I could have brought them. Unfortunately, we only had money for one of us to visit. Next time you must come see us!" Storm led Emily to the large house he shared with his sister and the others and showed her to her room. "I'll take you out for a few drinks tonight, we can catch up on everything I've missed. Winter won't be able to join us. She's feeling sick right now." Emily nodded, and began unpacking her belongings. Storm left her alone to get settled. He would not see her again until their drinks later that night.

Storm was a weak drinker. He could not handle alcohol well. He and his sister drank and talked until he could not control his words. "What has been going on with you recently, brother?" He smiled, "Nothing good. Ember and Chaos and Winter went away and while they were gone-" Emily cut him off with a question, "Why were they gone?" He laughed like a child, "Thas a secret.." Emily smiled, "You can tell me." He blinked slowly, "Okay... They were on a mission, but me and Fathom got left behind cuz our powers wouldna helped. Too far for her to use her water. But me an Fathom stayed together and she had a baby, but we can't tell Winter cuz Fathom and Winter are supposed ta be together. You won tell anybody though. Right, Emmy? Issa secret." He held up a hand to his lips and giggled like a child again. Emily's eyes widened and she felt herself about to explode with rage, "So you have a child with Fathom and Winter, our sister, knows nothing about it," He nodded. She sighed, "I'll help you to your room."