I am Aella

"For the nth time, I don't know what you are talking about." Ignacio stopped moving, causing the woman following him to bump into his back. "Ouch, I'm sorry." After saying, the girl took a step back. Ignacio sighed as he turned to face the girl.

"So why have you stuck with me since you first saw me?"

"There is nowhere I can go." While focusing on her feet, the girl murmured. Ignacio loved her small habit of crossing her hands behind her back. Ever since he first came across her, she has been following him. She consistently gave Ignacio a bewildered look as if she didn't understand when he repeatedly questioned her about her knowledge of the elements and their power.

"Just go back to where you came from." With his hands on his hips, Ignacio straightened and looked down at the girl, who was now trying to hide her upset expression. However, the girl remained stationary and kept her head bowed. "Aella, I can't help you if you don't tell me what is wrong," Ignacio sighed. He put his hands on her shoulders, and Aella looked at him with wet eyes. "So, you have two options: tell me so I can help you, or go back." The girl nodded in response, a pout on her lips.

Ignacio nodded and invited her to follow him to a food vendor. Aella was tensely linking and unlinking her fingers on her lap as she sat there. "Two cups of orange juice and a steak are here." An elderly woman grinned at them as she set the dishes on the table. "You two are a gorgeous couple." Ignacio coughed uncomfortably in response to the woman's statement as Aella sat there denying the heat that was fluttering across her cheeks. "How adorable." After saying it once again, the woman turned around and walked away.

"Do not overthink. Just don't want them to think something they shouldn't." Ignacio comforted her, but Aella didn't seem amused. "I mean, otherwise they'd think you're..." As soon as Aella shot him a death gaze, his voice caught up. Aella has accompanied Ignacio everywhere ever since he found her a month ago in the pitch-black streets. Sometimes they have to act like they are married because she practically lives under the same roof with him. "So, tell me, how did you find me and who are you?"

"But it was you who found me."

She felt uneasy when Ignacio gave her a severe look. Aella took a sip of the orange juice from the mug and swallowed it whole. "Hey, easy okay." stated Ignacio. Huffing loudly, Aella slammed the cup against the table. Her small movements and angular features grabbed Ignacio's full attention.

"My name is Aella."

"I'm aware of tha-." As Aella raised her hand, Ignacio was cut off mid-sentence. It caught Ignacio off guard, but he zipped his mouth shut and glanced at her, blinking a few times.

"I don't know where I'm from; since my parents passed away, I've been traveling." She struggled to hold it in and a sob burst forth. " I was six years old when my parents took me to some healers; I'm not sure why. In the region where I'm from, storms frequently occur, and." She closed her eyes, trying to recall what had happened as her knuckles around the mug began to turn white. "I remember crying and feeling like I was on fire within that day, when there was a storm." Aella remembered the day, the day that led her here away from her home.

"Please move quickly." The dad was yelling and wailing at the top of his lungs while carrying a crying infant in his arms, and his wife was sitting next to him with a six-year-old girl on her lap. The girl's mother could feel the girl burning up as she sobbed inconsolably. A typical fever wasn't what it was. She didn't stop sobbing and wailing while flapping her arms.

"Just a moment, Aella, baby, and we'll be there." Her mother gave her a strong embrace as she gulped back a sob. The horseman was often urged to move quickly by Aella's father, but the roads were poorly constructed, making it difficult for the horse to drive the carriage with ease.

The carriage was hit by a severe wind gust, which caused it to shake and go off the tracks. Sadly, the wheel stopped after becoming tangled in a ditch. As it fought to move, the horse neighed loudly. "I'm coming back. wait here" Aella's father kept the weeping 1-year-old boy inside the carriage and went outside. A brisk wind smacked his skin as soon as he exited the carriage. He gave the horseman a help when he was struggling to pull the wheel out of the ditch. The wind grew more and more powerful. The stronger wind become vicious and carried everything with it; it uprooted trees and tore down homes as it made its way toward the vehicle. Aella's father attempted to get the wheel out until both men were knocked off their feet by a huge log of wood.

The unexpected calmness outside frightened Aella's mother, who looked out but saw no one. When she yelled for her husband out of fear, she was met with nothing but the dreadful sound of the wind howling. Frightened, Aella's mother grabbed her fainting daughter. "Wake up, Aella. Aella, no." She sobbed while cuddling her boy and girl in her arms. She began humming a tune while firmly grasping her children, and shortly the carriage was struck by an object. The carriage was launched into the air by the force of the crash. Aella's mother closed her eyes, and everything was dark.

Ignacio calmly listened as Aella described her experience as her eyes were filled with tears. She tried really hard not to cry, but she couldn't. Ignacio placed his warm palm on top of Aella's hand, which was tightly grasping the mug. "A few locals discovered me after the storm died, encaged in my mother's arms; she died protecting me." Aella let go of the mug and sat back on the chair while snorting loudly.

"You can stop if you want." Ignacio assured her. Aella shook her head and chuckled inconsolably.

"They couldn't find my brother, and as for me, they assumed it must be me and tossed me out of the town." Ignacio stared at her with disbelief. He pondered how someone could put the blame for a catastrophic event on a six-year-old child.

"That's cruel."

"You know it's easier to accuse someone who is discovered at the site of the incident; it was just like that." Aella chuckled as her body trembled slightly. " I moved around a lot before I came across him." Ignacio gave her a perplexed look as he observed her.

"Who?"

"He was a healer; because I had frequent nightmares following that event, he was assisting me in coping." Aella spoke with a low voice and stutteringly attempted to construct coherent sentences. "When he told me to listen to my dreams, I saw you. You are an elemental. That may be the cause." Ignacio gave her a wide-eyed stare. But how did she know who he was? " "I saw you performing your thing with fire in my dream," Aella continued, taking in his perplexed expression.

"Why did you flee that day, then?"

"I'm not sure. The realization that the man I've been dreaming about was here in front of me overwhelmed me." Ignacio laughed at what she said. "That day, I cursed myself. After only finding you, I believed I had lost you." Aella shifted slightly in her seat, her cheeks beginning to flush.

"All right, let's go." After paying for their lunch, Ignacio got up and offered Aella his hand. Aella stared at him, surprised, but nevertheless grasped his hand; there was a warmth in his hands that made her feel safe. "Would you mind taking me to the healer?"

Although Aella was hesitant to bring him to the physician she had met along the journey, she knew it was the right thing to do. They both started their little journey toward the mountains once she nodded. "Does he reside in the mountains?" Ignacio asked. The climbing had made it difficult for him to breathe evenly. Aella was OK and walking normally on the other side. "Aren't you exhausted?" Ignacio repeated himself, which caused Aella to laugh.

"Since I was expelled, I've been traveling, climbing, and swimming, so it doesn't really bother me." She remarked this as she leaped over the larger trees' exposed ground roots. " We're getting there, Spark, so don't worry." Ignacio complained loudly because Aella wouldn't stop and he needed to keep up with her to avoid getting lost.

"What is spark?" He queried.

"Your nickname."

"What?" He overheard Aella giggling. "Please don't call me that."

"But it's adorable."

"If you don't know, I'm a prince, and I have the power to imprison you for belittling me." Aella laughed even louder when he said as much. As they climbed the hill, they started arguing over stupid issues. Ignacio didn't know it, but someway in the midst of their argument, he settled down and his breathing evened out.

"Okay, we're here." Aella showed the small hut on the other side of the hill by extending both of her hands. It was a tiny hut with climbers and creepers covering the top, and it was surrounded by lovely flowers and various kinds of plants. It unmistakably resembled the healer's hut. Ignacio smiled as he peered at the small hut, but it quickly disappeared as he realized how to down the slope. His expression grew grim as he gulped dryly.

"Do we have to slide down all the way now?" When he questioned, Aella nodded.

"It's not that distant, and it's simpler to slide down than to climb, so." She turned to face Ignacio, who was sweating from the long journey, and extended her hands. "Let's slide down." She took hold of Ignacio's hands and sprinted down the hill. A gentle carpet of green grasses stretched across the valley. Ignacio ran down with her after putting aside his tiredness since the ground felt cozy and welcoming. As their feet started moving independently without their control, Aella was giggling loudly.

Ignacio fell to the ground after being struck by a sticking root just before they reached the end. He avoided injury thanks to the lush grassy bed. Aella, who was clutching his hand, also fell, and the two of them continued to roll until they finally came to rest on the flat ground. As Aella rose up and dusted any dirt from her clothes, her laughter grew even louder. She noticed Ignacio lying on the ground, looking up at the sky, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He was fatigued, and it was obvious through his face, which had gone red owing to fast blood circulation. He briefly closed his eyes while he evened out his breathing, then opened them to find Aella smiling at him. He suddenly stood to his feet as his eyes began to glow the purest shade of orange. Aella recoiled in fear at his fixed gaze and turned to face her feet. Ignacio took a strong stance. His towering frame and flaming gaze seemed frightening as he hovered slightly over Aella. He appeared to be about to say something, but his words got stopped up and he raked his fingers through his hair a little too violently. Sweat beads flowed down his face, head, and torso, totally soaking his garments and turning them translucent. His figure caught Aella's attention for a brief moment after she gave him a short glance. She observed, He was well built. Ignacio noticed her looking at him and she immediately turned away. Ignacio's voice was scratchy as he asked, "Are you stupid?"

No response.

He continued, and Aella felt smaller. "We could have collided with rocks or fractured our bones, what were you thinking?"

From behind where Aella was standing, a voice said, "Nothing would have happened." Ignacio missed the approach of the calm-looking man because he was too preoccupied with his fury. He was a little bit shorter than Ignacio, and he had the calmest-looking deepest brown eyes. Ignacio gazed at him with amazement; something about him was unusual. "I had already sensed you two," he said. The plants were facing him as if he were their lord as he cast a quick glance around. Ignacio finally realized that the man was an earth elemental.

Aella joyfully approached the man and faced Ignacio. "He is my healer, George." The man smiled. The foliage was trailing the man, who was now extending his hand for a handshake, and Ignacio's eyes were straying to the surroundings in amusement.

"Welcome to Fenoira."