I Owe You An Apology

" Get lost . " , Shawn and Ryan spoke up in unison . Immediately they got flustered .

Derek twisted his face and spoke up , " Okay , okay , I'm getting lost . I don't have any desire to be a third wheel here either . " with that he left .

Now it was only two of them . Shawn looked at Ryan and started taking small steps towards him who frowned a little at his action . When Shawn was only a few hands away , Ryan spoke up , " Why are you coming towards me like this ?..... Look , if you are coming to hug me then I don't like hugging men , I prefer ....."

( Punch )

" Ahh.... ; What's wrong with you ? " , Ryan said in a whiny voice as the punch was really hard .

Shawn didn't wait to answer him as he already started taking long strides towards the door .

" Ah , this childish boy ! When would he grow up ! " , Ryan said to himself .

He wiped his lips which started bleeding a little because of the punch and followed behind Shawn , while saying " Hey , wait for me . I'm also coming .... I want to know what happened in my long absence ....."

--------------------------------

..... Flashback ....

Fifteen minutes before Enilese's arrival .

The man who pushed Shawn into the fire has left a few moments ago .

Derek approached the burning park in swift steps and stopped before it . He spoke up , " Come out . All clear . "

Slowly a channel appeared among the flames and through the channel , Shawn walked out like a lord . As soon as he stepped out , the flames , itself , filled up the channel . Shawn stopped next to Derek .

Derek asked , " So what's next ? "

" We'll wait . "

" Oh . For what , by the way ? "

" Till the fire changes its colour . "

" Fire changes colour ? How ? I mean , can you elaborate a bit ? "

" The fire would change its colour when it would be done destroying all the negative energy . After that , the fire would be harmful for the park . We need to stop the fire before that happens . " , Shawn answered nonchalantly .

Derek said again , " Stop the fire ? Is that possible ? As far as , I've heard , once this kind of fire is set , it can't be stopped easily , it even goes beyond its creator's control . "

" You heard right . It has already surpassed the time limit within which it could've been still controlled . But I can't control it anymore . "

" So ...."

" Of course , only water can stop it now . "

" Okay . Oh wait , but where are we going to find water now ? There's no lake nearby and you don't have water power either . How would we manage to arrange that much water in such short time ? Ryan didn't tell me anything about it . I'm telling you , I'm not going to carry tons of water .... "

" You don't need to think about that . I'll do what's needed to be done . "

" Oh okay , as you say . " , Derek was a bit curious about what Shawn would do but he didn't ask anything else .

Shawn , on the other hand , started thinking about the night which would always be one of the most exceptional experiences of his life .

..... Flashback.....

" What's wrong with you ?.....Why are you approaching me like that ? ....Who are you ? " , Shawn questioned nervously as Ryan was approaching him in a mechanical way .

Ryan's blank eyes , his appearance , his behaviour , everything was extremely uncomfortable for Shawn . He had no idea what was going on .

Ryan came very close to him , to a point where Shawn could feel the coldness , emitting from Ryan's body . Ryan held out his hand towards Shawn as if asking him to hold it .

Shawn took a step back and asked in a low voice , " What the h*ll is going on ? What are you trying to do ? Who are you ? "

Ryan spoke up , " Don't you know me ? I . Am . Ryan . "

His tone made Shawn more uncomfortable , he said , " You are not , you can't be . Tell me the truth , otherwise ..."

" I am Ryan . " , Ryan pointed to his hand and whispered , " Let . Me . In ... You'll know everything . " , Ryan said in a low voice .

Shawn didn't know what to do , he had so many questions in his mind . He thought for a moment and then finally held Ryan's hand .

Fraction of second ..... something happened.....Shawn felt an electric shock like sensation in his body .....if he hadn't held the nearby table he would've lost his balance . He sat down on the bed weakly . To his surprise he couldn't see Ryan or the one who claimed to be Ryan anymore .

He was feeling very weird , as if something had entered his body .

He couldn't think straight ... he was hearing a voice inside his head ....a voice which was very familiar to him .

..... End of Flashback .....

A faint sound came from afar .

" Did you hear that ? " , Derek asked instantly .

" Yes ... I think somebody needs help . "

" What a bad timing for getting in trouble ! " , Derek remarked .

" Let's go and see what's going on . I think , we'd be able to come back before the fire changes colour ." , and with that they proceeded towards the sound , they heard . After a few moments of their departure , Enilese arrived there .

..........

When Shawn and Derek came back along with Adrian , they saw a woman , lamenting before the burning park .

It didn't take long for Shawn to recognise her . He was surprised to see her there in such condition and he got more surprised hearing her lamenting words which were actually about him .

" You guys wait here . " , he said to them as he started approaching her slowly .

As he reached close to her , he heard her saying , " .....it can't happen to you ..... "

He spoke up , " What can't happen to me , Enilese ? "

........

After Shawn had sent Enilese back with Adrian , Derek spoke up , " As you said the fire has changed its colour to a lighter shade . Now what ? "

" Leave it to me . " , Shawn said as he approached the fire .

He took a deep breath and held out his hands towards the fire . He closed his eyes and muttered something . In the next moment , several of sparkling water streams appeared from his hands and flowed towards the burning park . Those water streams surrounded the fire in the next few moments .

And like that , slowly slowly , the fierce fire came to an end .

Derek was amazed . He spoke up , " Wow , you have water power too ! I didn't know about that . You could've just said that , I was worrying for nothing.... "

Derek was going to say more but Shawn spoke up , " For your information , I don't have water power . "

" What ?!! "

" Yes . " , Shawn answered in a matter of fact way .

" You just used water power and you're saying ...."

" It was Ryan's power . I just used them . "

Derek was utterly clueless . He stuttered ,

" How in the world is that even possible ? I mean , how can you use someone else's power ? "

" It's complicated , you don't need to know about that . Now take me there . We have one more job to finish . "

Derek scoffed and started walking towards a certain destination . Shawn followed behind .

Derek said again , " Anyway , I didn't know , your powers can be shared too ! That's so cool . I always knew my friend is smart . His plans are always perfect ..... "

" Your friend ? " , Shawn cut him off .

Derek excitedly said , " Of course . It may look like I'm just one of his acquaintances but in reality we are no less than best friends . "

Shawn gave him a side glare without saying anything . Derek asked confusedly , " What ? "

Shawn spoke up , " Best friends ?? ...do you know , me and Ryan are best friends since we were only seven years old ?..... Do you think you have a chance ? " , saying that Shawn walked forward .

' Hmph , they are no different . ' , Derek thought to himself and sighed .

--------------------------------------

Present Time

Dark Soul Base

Shawn pushed the door open and entered their base , with Ryan behind him . They didn't talk in the course of their entire journey which was really rare .

They got startled as soon as their eyes caught the scenario of the living room . Aaron , Ammie were sitting on a couch with Lilly standing near them . They were looking very serious .

" Um , why are you guys here ? Something happened ? " , Shawn asked .

" Many things happened . " , Ammie said in an emotionless voice .

" Many things ? What ?..."

" Aaron , what are those wounds on your body ? How did you get injured ? " , Ryan spoke up as he noticed the faint wounds on Aaron's body .

Aaron didn't reply . Ryan asked again , " Are you okay ? " , Aaron still didn't say anything .

Ryan frowned and asked , " What happened ? Why aren't you saying anything ? "

" Because , I don't want to talk to you . " , Aaron replied without looking at him .

Ryan sighed .

" At least say if you are okay ? " , this time Shawn asked . Aaron looked at him and said , " I don't want to talk to you either . "

Shawn looked at Ammie and Lilly but they also remained quiet . Shawn noticed that they were a bit scared about something .

Ryan seemed to realise something . He was going to speak when he received a message on his phone . He opened the message which says - [ Ryan , first of all , I'm very sorry that I got a bit late to reach your base and because of that Aaron got some injuries .

But I'm a responsible man , I accept my fault . And that's why , as an act of compensation , I've cured his wounds with my most genuine care . He'll be almost fine by the time you'd see him . I hope , you won't mind . ]

Ryan greeted his teeth after reading the text . ' Genuine care , my foot ! I'll deal with you later . ' , he said in his mind .

The room was silent , everyone had something in their mind .

Ryan looked at the others and started , " You guys are very cruel . Here I am standing as a complete mess and you guys aren't even sparing me a single glance , you didn't even ask me whether I'm okay or not . Hmph , I don't like you guys at all . I'm going to my room . I need a lot of sleep ...." , with that Ryan left from there .

" Wouldn't you guys say anything either ? " , Shawn said looking at Ammie and Lilly .

After some moment Ammie said , " Many dead looking creatures tried to attack our base . Aaron was very badly injured by them . We couldn't do anything to help him . I tried to call you but the calls didn't connect either . I was so scared..." , Ammie sniffed a little as her eyes were tearing up thinking about the horrific events .

" Thank God , a man came and helped Aaron . " , Lilly said this time .

Shawn nodded at her and slowly approached Ammie . He patted her head and said , " It's okay . Everything is okay now . Go and rest . Don't think about the incident anymore , okay ? "

Ammie nodded and looked at Aaron with worry . Aaron felt her gaze and said , " Don't worry Ammie . I'm completely fine and I'd be as healthy as before by tomorrow morning . Go to your room . "

" Anyway what was Ryan talking ....." , Ammie was going to say something but Shawn said , " It's late , Ammie , rest a while . You'll know everything tomorrow . "

..........

After Ammie and Lilly left , Shawn sat down on the couch , messaging his temples . Aaron was going to leave when Shawn spoke up , " Before you leave , just listen to this one thing , I had no other choice . Still I am sorry for everything that I said . "

..........

Shawn was passing by Ryan's room when he saw that the lights of the room were on . He thought of something and entered the room .

Ryan was fast asleep , his back was facing Shawn .

Shawn stared at the sleeping figure for some time , then he spoke up in a low voice , " I owe you an apology too ......."

Shawn said so many things that night but nobody heard his words , nobody saw the emotions in his eyes and nobody witnessed the broken side of a proud man .