Finally! The weekend had come at last. Two days for sleeping and lazing and wasting the time you never had during the week! Without plans or a schedule! Ashley yawned, climbing out of the nest of blankets she unknowingly built over the night. Waking up at ten thirty really was the best. She wandered down to the kitchen, pulling a yogurt out of the refrigerator, and happily plopped onto the sofa in front of the television. "What's on today... ooh! That old Sherlock Holmes movie! Lucky me!" she mumbled to herself while flipping channels.

Walking up behind Ashley, her mother hummed to herself while carrying a basket of laundry. Her chestnut hair was tied up in a bun to stay out of the way while she cleaned. "Finally, you're up, dear. I was beginning to worry you were dead. You slept through breakfast again." She rested the basket against her hip, and kissed Ashley on the top of her head. "There's some bacon in the fridge if you want it."

“Thanks Mom!” Ashley replied, somehow managing to hold a spoon in her mouth while talking. Her mother continued upstairs, leaving Ashley to vegetate on the couch. Putting off homework until eight o'clock Sunday night so you could relax without a care in the world was definitely the right choice. Finishing her breakfast, Ashley began to wholeheartedly focus on the television. She'd seen the movie before, with Jack the Ripper terrorizing the city and Holmes trying to track his secret identity down before Jack escaped. It didn't make watching it any worse, though. Ashley noticed all the clues she missed the first few times through, for once feeling like she was on the same page as the great detective. Of course it was the Mother's Day celebration! How could she have been so blind?

As the credits rolled, Ashley felt the telltale vibration of a text message in her side pocket. Tabitha must be up to something again... or not. The new message read: "hi its edwin mateo wants to continue trainign at the park today can you come y/n" When had he even gotten her phone number? And why did Mateo always have to ruin her plans? Grudgingly, she rocked to her feet and climbed the staircase to locate her mother and ask for permission to leave.

-----

"Will this Saturday training be a permanent thing?" Ashley groaned, walking up to the picnic table where Edwin, Mateo, and Tabitha sat. "Because I'll quit now if this becomes a weekly event." She glanced at Tabitha, who was petting Mateo between his large ears. "Awww, Tabi, did he force you to come out here too?"

Mateo answered for Tabitha. "Your friend here is helpful and appreciates me, so I invited her to join us. And she makes the most delicious little sandwiches!"

"They're not that good..." Tabitha added humbly. "I wasn't doing anything today, and your training’s fun to watch."

"You were complaining yesterday about how boring we were." Ashley said.

"I don't have the foggiest idea of what you're talking about." Tabitha laughed.

Edwin cleared his throat, and they looked over in his direction. "So Mateo, what's the plan for today?"

The fox begrudgingly shied away from Tabitha's petting. "Continuing from yesterday's... learning experience, you will work on controlling your power. Screaming and randomly destroying things won’t win battles." Mateo flicked his tail, and a dainty teacup appeared from a burst of light above him. "Today, you two will work together to make a cup of tea. Sapphire, you'll provide the water, and Ruby, you'll bring the heat. Only together will you be able to take down the enemy, so you must be familiar with using your powers together. Oh, I almost forgot." From another burst of light, a small teabag fell into the teacup. The two items floated down to the picnic table, making a light clink on impact. "Now get cracking!"

Sighing, Ashley pulled out her keychain and transformed. By the time she’d opened her eyes, Edwin was already in battle mode and fiddling with the cup, trying to remember how he summoned water the day before. He wasn't thinking at the time, it just sort of... happened. How should he go about replicating something he didn't mean to do? With a deep breath, he put his hand into the shape of a gun, and tried to empty his mind. Oceans, baths, the public pool, and the stream he could hear trickling in the background. Water. He pretended it was dripping from his finger into the cup, small drops that could barely be seen. Start out slow and work our way up. Now, maybe it was a kitchen sink, with a steady flow being pushed up and up as the cup began to fill. He peeked open one eye to see if anything had changed in reality. The cup remained empty, without a drop of water for all of his efforts.

Meanwhile, Ashley had wandered over to a small pile of sticks across the concrete pad, designating the eating area. She couldn't boil any water until Edwin made some water, so she would try and light the sticks littering the area on fire. After collecting a handful, she sat down cross-legged a few feet from the table Tabitha was sitting on. Yesterday, the match caught when she had reached maximum anger, so maybe if she channeled her unhappiness with waking up so early, she could build a little fire. Ashley picked up one of the twigs and closed her eyes, focusing on how much it sucked to be in the middle of a park on a Saturday morning instead of watching movies at home. Really Mateo? Really? This was such a waste of time.

She grit her teeth together, and felt a tickling sensation along her fingers. Her eye's shot open, and sure enough a small flame flickered along the twig in her hands. It was warm in her hands, but didn't hurt at all. Was she fireproof? Now that was a power she could get behind. Ashley blew out the flame, and dropped the twig into her kindling pile. She placed her hand over the mound of wood, and easily enough a burst of flame erupted from her palm and she had started a pathetic campfire. Turning around, Ashley hoped Edwin was ready for her help. Edwin groaned, and Ashley assumed that wasn’t a good sign.

Tabitha was walking over to her best friend, and Ashley found herself in one of the rare times when she had to look up to Tabitha. “Got any marshmallows?” she joked, as Tabitha knelt next to her small fire.

“Did you really make that?” Tabitha’s eyes were almost sparkling with amazement.

“Yeah…” Ashley put up her index finger, and with a little focus she had a small flame flickering at the tip. “Guess I’m like a human lighter now.” She chuckled.

“That’s… SO COOL!” Ashley’s fire quickly disappeared as her concentration broke, Tabitha launching herself at Ashley. Tabitha hugged her friend, almost pushing her to the ground from momentum. “You have to let me photograph this later!”

“I’d rather try and keep this a secret…”

“Don’t worry! Everyone will think I’m just really good at Photoshop!”

“Let me think about…” Ashley looked back to where Edwin was still struggling, a devilish grin growing on her face. “I think I just got a great idea to help Edwin learn magic.”

-----

Edwin looked at the empty cup, proof another attempt to awaken his inner wizard failed. This was going to be just like yesterday, with nothing happening for what felt like hours. Why was magic so hard? He stretched his arms, trying to make sure he wouldn't get any muscle cramps from all of this inactivity. He heard footsteps behind him, and spun around to meet Ashley's gaze. She was snickering, but trying not to show any expression on her face. "I thought I might come and help you,” she blurted out between laughs. "You might want to get some water..."

Edwin looked down and smelled smoke. The edge of his skirt was on fire. "Ashley, what the FUCK!" He screamed, and blobs of water began to appear around his legs, putting out the flames. "What the fuck..." he repeated, slightly in shock.

"See! I helped you." Ashley laughed, swirling a marble-sized ball of fire around her finger.

Tabitha watched on in shock, but Mateo was enraged. "That is not TEAMWORK!" He jumped at Ashley, head-butting her right in the face. "Do you want to die?"

"But Edwin can use magic now, right?" Ashley whimpered, rubbing her nose.

"Was that me?" Edwin asked, looking down at his hands. It was such a strange feeling, like using a muscle he never knew existed. Suddenly it became so obvious, like wiggling his fingers. Flicking his wrist, a sphere of water appeared in his hand like a swirling tennis ball. "Woah..."

"And you doubted me, Mateo!" Ashley laughed. Edwin filled the cup with water, surprised by how fun it was to control the fluid. He handed it to Ashley, who gripped the cup tightly, and bubbles began to rise as the water came to a boil. In no time at all Mateo was sipping their drink, a fearful expression on his face.

"So? How is it?" Edwin asked, leaning over the table.

Mateo thought for a moment before replying, "It’s surprisingly normal. A good job for your first try." Ashley and Edwin hugged each other in joy, only to be interrupted by a bright flash. They turned to see Tabitha, holding up a digital camera.

"Oh, you two look simply adorable! What if I make a crime-fighting scrapbook!" Tabitha cooed, turning the camera around so they could see the image.

"Tabitha!" Ashley gasped, bounding over to snatch the camera out of her hands, only for Tabitha to pull it closer. “I told you to let me think photos over!”

"You know I love to capture memories! I can’t pass up such opportunities!" Tabitha teased as she ran away from Ashley. "C'mon, why can't you catch me? I thought you were supposed to be defending this city, slowpoke!"

"I'll let you know I'm holding back! I could barbecue you right now!"

"You can't do that! I thought you two were the good guys! Good guys can't kill people!"

"What's to say you’re not the bad guy here, huh? One wrong move, and I'll have to defeat you, 'Tabitha', if that's even your name!"

"Hah! You didn't deny you were guy! Gotcha!" Tabitha scaled the table, posing above her victim.

"It's a saying!" Ashley sputtered as she lunged to grab Tabitha's foot. Tabitha anticipated the attack and quickly stepped back, but lost her balance, falling onto the ground. The game of tag continued, and Edwin and Mateo couldn't help but laugh as they watched the childhood friends chase one another. Finally, the two wore themselves out and fell onto the grass, panting. "I thought I was supposed to have super stamina..." Ashley puffed as she untransformed.

"We have to work on increasing stamina as well." Mateo answered as he hopped between the friends. “This all takes time. If you work hard, your magic will become stronger. It's like anything else in life."

Following Ashley's example, Edwin untransformed and grabbed a bag off of the picnic table. "I'm going to go change into something that fits a little better, brb." It would be another hour before they could return to normal and go home, but Ashley’s usual baggy weekend clothing wouldn’t be a problem for her. Ashley and Tabitha got their breath under control, and Tabitha started showing Mateo all of the photos she took. Ignoring them, Ashley rose to her feet and found the book she brought with her. Ugh, homework reading. She flipped through the assigned chapter, disinterested, as Mateo and Tabitha whispered back and forth.