(Outdated) The King of Elements

Keiko's mission

Hours had passed; the crew now sat on the shore, laughing and eating from the picnic basket, watching as the sun began to hang low over the lake. "You know, this wasn't what I expected to see from Arkansas," Megumi said, sitting cross-legged on her pink towel. She took a bite of her ham sandwich before continuing. "I've been here for a few days and still hadn't seen any tumbleweeds or cowboys. And since when does people from Arkansas drive cars and wear shoes and stuff?"

The group burst into laughter, save Michael, who sat on a white towel, looking as if he was struggling to keep a straight face. "Where did you learn about Arkansas from, old western shows?"

"Well... yeah." The group laughed even harder. Annoyed, Megumi continued. "For your information, I was told by daddy to do some research on the Arkansas life. I just so happened to find a slightly dated movie on it."

"Television shows about Arkansas, especially dated ones, never truly captures Arkansans life well," Rose explained, laying on a green towel.

Blushing, Megumi said, "Whatever. Aside from getting an instant tan once you step outside and dying of boredom, Arkansas hasn't been too bad." She took another bite from her sandwich.

"You thought this was hot?" Dre grinned, laying across is sky-blue towel. "You should've been here in July. Triple digits are normal."

Megumi paused her chewing, looking at Dre as if he'd just went insane. "Where's the nearest airport? I want to go back."

"Wow! So pretty!" Keiko said, sounding as if she was in a daze. The group all looked out at the lake as the sun began to set behind the silhouetted forest, tinting the surface of the lake in shades of red, yellow, and blue. They were all in silence, absorbed its majesty.

"This makes it worth staying here," Ian began. "Our town may be poor, and we may never have anything to do there, but being able to see sights like this anytime we want makes living here almost worth it."

"Oh... look at who's being all philosophical here," Dre said.

"Shut up. I was just saying."

"I agree," Michael said. "This town may have problems, including some of its people, but those people that you meet, the ones who stay in your life, they're what makes this place... tolerable." This time the group, except Keiko, looked stunned as they looked at Michael. "What?"

The group headed back to Prescott, and both Michael and Keiko were dropped off at their house. Since seeing her drawing, Keiko had an odd feeling about Rose. It was nothing bad, but she felt as if there was something about her that she had to see. Once Michael went to sleep, she would sneak out of the house and use her intuition to find Rose's house. Besides, she needed to give back her notebook. She nodded; her plan was foolproof.

"Something on your mind, Keiko?" Michael asked as they both walked through the lawn to their house. Keiko shook her head. "Hm... Ms. Jackson is probably asleep by now. We should go in and eat quietly before getting ready for bed."

"Okay."

Michael unlocked the door and slowly walked inside. The room was dark and quiet, with the only sound coming from their adopted mother's room. He flipped on the light and scanned the royal purple-colored room. The gray couch was empty, with the four black pillows placed neatly against the arms. Their old television was shut off. Michael signaled for Keiko to come in. "I'll get the food ready, while you go and put our stuff up," he whispered before handing Keiko his backpack.

They both crept through the living room and towards the doorway to the hallway; the kitchen was adjacent to the hallway, where Michael started walking, but stopped in his tracks. "M-Ms. Jackson."

Keiko rushed to his side as their adopted mother gulped down the rest of whatever was in her mug. "Do you two have any idea what time it is?" she said gently before placing the mug down on the marble counter.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Jackson," Michael said. "We were invited to go to the lake with some of our friends. We were so excited to go that we forgot to come and let you know."

Ms. Jackson smiled as she patted Michael's head with a dark, wrinkled hand. "It's okay. We're just going to have to invest in you two a phone." She looked to Keiko and patted her on the head. "Did you to have fun?" Keiko smiled as she nodded. "You're going to have to tell me all about it in the morning." She looked back to Michael. "Your food is on the stove, but it might be cold by now." She yawned. "I'm going to head back to bed. Goodnight, you two."

"Night, night," Keiko said as Ms. Jackson walked into the dark hallway.

"It's a good thing that Ms. Jackson is so nice," Michael said, beaming at Keiko.

After dinner and their shower, Keiko started towards their room. It was as large as it was bare, with a queen sized, frame-less bed laying in the corner beside the door. The walls were empty except for a crucifix mounted on the wall above the bed. Michael had already fell asleep on the bed, curled up on the edge of the bed with a blanket folded up beside him. She wished that he would use it for himself, but he'd always tell her, "I owe you my life. The least that I could do is make sure that you're as happy as possible." She unfolded the blanket and placed it over him before heading towards the door. Grabbing Rose's sketchbook on the headrest, she turned back to Michael, who was still fast asleep. "I'll be back," she whispered before making her way out the door and the house. Once outside, she closed her eyes and let her senses point out where Rose was. Her eyes flashed open. "There!" she called before she dashed down the dark street.