Rae thumps a white knuckled fist against her chest, trying to knock her heartbeat into rhythm again - it's going too fast.

Her pine-green eyes are squeezed shut, purple and green spots splashing in the black. Sweat coats her skin, freckles glistening in the low light. What if she doesn't Pressent like Finn? Who nearly burnt the whole stage down with a Blue Flame.

Rae goes to tug at her wild red mane some people would call hair, but it's all locked away in a slick bun at the top of her head. She lets out a weak growl.

Mom wanted her to look elegant and pretty and _Rae wants to rip her hair out and eat it_. Ew, stress makes her get strange urges.

Now her lungs won't cooperate. Too much air. Too many heartbeats. She'll pass out before she even has a chance to Pressent. Oh, that's a good idea. Pass out before she has to stand in front of Fire Sector and-

A strong hand yanks her arm back, away from her chest. Rae lets out a very undignified yelp, staring up at her brother Finn. He's got matching red hair but the similarities end there.

Finn's tall and elegant, and he uses that height to his advantage to glare down at Rae. It would all be very intimidating if Rae didn't know Finn. He's too soft to be threatening.

"What are you doing, are you stupid?"

"No." She pouts, "Unless being stupid means I can't go on that stage then yes, I am very stupid."

Finn's eyebrow twitches, holding onto his glare. "No, being stupid doesn't change anything."

Rae snaps with her free hand, "oh right, yeah, because if being stupid meant I couldn't go Pressent then I guess Thomas couldnt've gone last year."

Finn's glare is swiftly replaced with a sharp bark of laughter. Thomas and Finn have hated each other since they could walk. Their first words to each other were 'goo goo ga ga you suck.'

He lets go of her wrist, nudging her aside to sit beside her on the bench. It's got names carved into it from decades ago. Sammy, Maya, Smith, Ace, Jax, Caleb, buttbreath... _well that's immature._

Every twelve year old Fire Sector child has sat on this bench at some point in their life. Heard the roaring crowd when the kid's before them Pressented. Heard the collective gasps of grief and woe when they didn't. Branding that child as a _Defect_. A freak without an element.

None of them probably wanted to eat their hair like Rae.

"Why are you trying to bail, Rae?" Finn's using his Camp Counselor voice, all soft vowels and empathic eyes, "you're usually into being the center of attention."

A startled laugh bubbles up from the pit of tangled knots in her stomach, knocking her lungs back into order.

She slaps his arm, smiling at the ground. Red clay mud, to match the red dress she's wearing, to match the red linen shirt Finn's sporting - Fire Sector is very big on red. It's all very cliche.

Rae secretly loves the color blue. Like Water Sector. But she'd rather die a very public humiliating death than ever admit to liking anything 'Water Sector' related.

"It's not the attention I'm afraid of, it's the-" _chance I'll fail, and be a useless freak for the rest of my life..._

The door creaks open and it's Mom, as beautiful as ever. She's wearing a long, sleeveless silky maroon dress. Her face serene and calm, like the gentle stream of water. Soothing against the rough tides of anxiety roiling inside of Rae.

She takes just one look at Rae and says, "Oh baby, don't worry, you'll Pressent."

Finn looks like a light bulb just went off, "oh, that's what this is about? That's stupid."

Mom sends him a sharp look, poised but reprimanding nonetheless. Why can't Rae be more like her Mom? Elegant and in control?

The door slams open, the hinges crying out. Dad stands in the doorway, panting, dark red shirt askew. Was he running?

"I stole this for you. If Mrs. Smith comes asking about roses you never saw me." He tosses the baqautte of red roses at Rae, smacking her in the face with them.

Finn laughs, so does Rae. Mom chastises him with a flick to the nose, like he's an oversized cat and not her husband of twenty years. He hisses at her, but then purrs like an idiot - Right, Rae isn't like her Mom because she's like her Dad. Perfect.

"You'll Pressent just like I did, and mom did, and dad did, and their parents did, and their pa-"

Rae plucks a rose out of the bunch, Finn's voice blending into the the white noise of the crowd above. Talking and talking and- They probably want her to fail.

The Politics of Fire Sector are divided, and Mom is the face of one of the divided parties. Everyone against her would just _love it_ if her daughter was a Defect. It would bring a new angle for them to attack her from.

What if Rae is the reason Mom doesn't get chosen to Represent Fire Sector? What if-

"Hey, firefly, look at me." Dad is crouched in front of her, a big steady hand on her shoulder, "You are not your Element. Fire or no Fire, you're still our daughter."

Rae blinks away the mist from her eyes, gripping the rose so tight the stem snaps. Finn scoots closer to her, offering silent strength.

"But what if I'm a Defect? What if they use that against Mom in the-"

Mom glides over, her smile so soft and fond it sweetens the air. "You are not a Political pawn, Rae. You're a little girl. You're _my_ little girl, and I don't care about winning as much as I care about you."

The crowd roars. Lakshmi Gupto just Pressented, Rae is next. The audience start stomping above, fine red dust falling from the roof. The stomps match the rhythm of her heartbeat.

Dad's grip tightens, eyes deep and resolute, "You could pee yourself out there and I'd proudly call you my kid. Understand?"

They all laugh. Mom hides it being a hand, Finn throws his head back, Dad looks up at Mom like he doesn't want to miss a second of her joy.

Ok, so long as she has this to return to, she'll be alright. This family won't abandond her, this feeling of belonging won't vanish if she fails. This love is forever.

She throws her shaking arms around Dad's neck, gives him a tight squeeze, and then runs out the door towards the stage. Their laughter follows her up the stairs...

Light, blinding sunlight streaming in from the glass roof pours over the stage. Half of Fire Sector is staring at her. At least her hair looks nice.

"Rae Everbright..." the Announcer calls her name out and half the crowd cheers, half of them stay deathly silent. Her last name is enough grounds for animosity...

She steps up to the podium, to the tiny flame flickering at the center of it. Rae attended Finn's Pressentation, she knows what she's supposed to do - Make it grow into an inferno.

That's the thing. Rae wasn't having a panic attack below the stage because of some irrational fear. She's always known it. She _knows_ she doesn't have the Flame.

Doesn't feel the tug Finn is always talking about. Doesn't feel anything towards the little wicker candle burning away in front of her now. Doesn't feel anything but the warmth of the sun and the heat of all the eyes and- and-

"You're just like the rest of your family," a loud angry voice calls out from the crowd, hatred spilling over each syllable like poison, "_Pathetic_."

_Pathetic_. Rae blinks, looking out into the crowd but the sunlight is too bright and it only gets _brighter_. A deep current of heat pools at the center of her chest, yanking on her veins and her heart.

_Pathetic_. The word rings out in her head, ricocheting inside her skull. The heat intensifies, a roaring wave of _power,light,warmth_ rushing through her.

Is she going to pee herself like Dad said?

A woman screams and then the glass roof comes crashing down. It shatters into a millions of tiny pieces, falling like diamon rain. It glitters in the overwhelming sunlight.

The yellow glow of the sun fills the room until shadows are wiped away and there's nothing but _light_. People are screaming and there's smoke in the air, but it's all muted by the rush of blood in her ears.

Her eyes are open, and she sees nothing but beautiful light. Cascading waterfalls of sunbeams and tiny bursts of rainbows caught in the keliescope of the sky. She laughs, and then it's gone.

Rae lets out a breath like it was kicked from her chest. The heat cooling to a low warmth, her veins pumping blood instead of light.

All the of the sunlight retreats, sunbeams slowly fading back to the sky. The shadows crawl back into the room, filing every inch.

The glass roof is gone, clear blue skies above. Everyone is cowering, shards of glass in their hair. Tiny cuts bleed on their arms and cheeks, wide terrified eyes watching her on the stage.

There, on the podium, is a small fire. It looks like the fires that are created by a magnifying glass and sunlight. She laughs, a hysteric sound.

Rae's dress is singed a bit, delicate trails of smoke dancing in the air around her. Serenity fills every fiber of her being. Pure, infectious serenity.

"Not so pathetic now, huh?"

Her tiny twelve year old voice rings out in the auditorium, and someone screams.

They all start screaming and it isn't until someone throws a poorly aimed _fireball_ at her that she runs.

She takes the stairs three at a time, nearly twsiting her ankle. Rae's heart is back to beating too fast. Adrenaline pumping so fast her legs turn to led and her head feels light.

A hand darts out from the darkness of the corridor she's sprinting through, snagging her. She screams and screams but there's a hand around her mouth.

"Would you stop that?" Finn's voice hits her like a bolt of lightning.

She buries her face into his chest, lungs spasming around sobs. He makes shushing sounds and rests his chin on her head.

Panic whips across her mind, slicing and tearing at her composure. She's a raw nerv. Finn just holds her, and when she's not shacking with sobs he finally speaks,

"You were so scared of being a useless freak you became the biggest threat known to the The Compound."

The Compound is where all four Sectors are. Fire, water, earth, and wind. Not _sunlight_. She's still a freak and she knows Finn is right.

What they don't understand, they'll fear, and what they fear... they'll kill.

And the stupidest thing is, the only thing she can think about as she cries in the darkest corner of Fire Sector, clutching to her big brother is...

'_Man, I never got to carve my name into that stupid bench_.'