Can You... Also Control Lightning?

Finally, Emma pretended not to hear Haoran's words just now and pointed to the application he had opened on his laptop. "What is that?"

"This is Darknet. This is where we can find anything we want. A lot of what you see here is not clean. You can find illegal substances to killers for hire," Haoran said.

He clicked on one tab in Darknet and entered some command. Not long after, he sent a photo of Emma's parents' portrait he had taken and wrote a few brief accounts of what he wanted.

"It's done. Now just wait for what Goose has to say," he said.

Emma looked at Haoran's screen hoping to see an immediate answer from the hacker, but there was no reply. "How long does it usually take for her to respond?"

"Depends. I don't know where she is. If she is in Asia, then at this hour, she would have gone to sleep and can't read my message right away. Remember, Asia is 6 hours ahead of us," Haoran explained.

Emma nodded. "I see. So we won't be able to know right away, will we?"

Haoran shook his head. "Not so fast. But I hope you can be patient."

"Of course," Emma said. She smiled for the first time that night. "Thank you, Haoran."

Haoran smiled back and shrugged.

"This is nothing." He then poured more tea for them, then drank his tea while crossing his legs in a relaxed manner. "Then, what is it that you want to tell me?"

Emma was silent for a moment hearing Haoran's question. This afternoon she had already decided to tell Haoran her secret. The young man was her first friend and he was the only person who was always kind to her.

Emma felt guilty for keeping the truth about herself from the young man. Besides, if she told him everything, Haoran would be able to better help her in finding her parents.

Finally, she sat facing Haoran and stared intently at the young man. "I can already remember some things about my parents. The last time I met them was 13 years ago and I forgot their faces for years. But after we arrived in Paris, my memory returned ..."

Haoran looked at Emma attentively, as if he didn't want to miss a word from her lips. "What did you remember?"

Emma answered in a low but firm voice. "My parents and I are not from earth. They are from a planet called Akkadia. It seems like they escaped from there and became stranded here. They left me and locked my memories so that I would grow up like a normal human, to protect me."

Haoran stared at Emma without blinking for a moment, before finally nodding. "I understand."

Emma frowned upon seeing his reaction. She did not understand. That is all? She did not expect Haoran to be so calm and non-judgmental. She had thought the young man would be shocked or doubt her.

"Aren't you surprised?" Emma asked in surprise. "Other people will have different reactions."

Hearing Emma's words, the corner of Haoran's lips curved slightly as if he was trying not to laugh. "I told you, don't think of me as other people."

"I ... don't understand," Emma said again. "How can you be so calm? Isn't this a shocking thing?"

"You're right," said Haoran. "I was astonished, but I already knew you were different when you spent the night here. That night, you had a nightmare and I heard you scream, so I went into the room to check on your situation. I was afraid you would sleepwalk again ..."

Emma widened her eyes at Haoran's words. She remembered that night she could not sleep well, but she did not remember having such a bad dream that she screamed. "Really ...? Sorry for making a scene..."

"It's okay ..." Haoran said quickly as he waved his hand. "I know that there were so many things that bothered you. Don't apologize."

Emma nodded. "Then ... how did you know that I'm different?"

"Uhm .. when I came to wake you up, you slammed me down with a sweep of strong wind," Haoran answered casually. "I thought I was dreaming ... but when I tried to approach you again, you blew me away again. Finally, I could only let you be..."

Emma was stunned by Haoran's explanation. She looked closely at the young man with her topaz eyes went round.

"Why ... why didn't you say anything?" she asked in a choked voice.

"I was going to talk about this with you, but I saw that there was a lot on your mind, so I put it off. After all, you said you were going to tell me something. So, I decided to just wait," Haoran said. "And then it all seems to make sense."

Emma frowned. She remembered 12 years ago she slammed Mabel down to the floor with a strong wind when the orphanage matron was about to hit her.

Mabel was shocked and scared, and she immediately ran out of the orphanage and shouted, calling her a monster. The commotion that happened at that time made little Emma feel very stressed and subconsciously suppressing her own powers.

For many years, she did not realize that she had some special powers, until the day when her memory finally returned after she arrived in Paris.

She now remembered Mabel's reaction after the incident. She always looked at Emma in disgust and fear and called her a monster back then ... Then, why did Haoran look so calm? Why wasn't he scared or shocked?

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Finally, Emma asked.

"No, I'm not afraid at all, because I know you. I know you won't hurt me," Haoran answered calmly. "You don't need to worry about it..."

The young man understood what was troubling Emma. He knew that it was not easy for her to open her secrets. So, in addition to waiting for the right time, Haoran also deliberately maintained an attitude so that Emma would not feel awkward toward him.

Emma was silent for a few moments. She had no idea that it would be so easy for her to reveal her identity to Haoran. She then thought hard, trying to decide on how much more she could tell him.

"I'm ... not worried about you." Emma nodded and smiled in relief. "I believe in you."

"That's good." Haoran also looked relieved. He was happy that Emma wanted to open up to him. Now, there are no secrets between them.

"So ... you're not from Earth?" Haoran asked her a moment later, trying to confirm what he had heard. "Do you have any other leads? I can help you if I know the full information ..."

Emma nodded. "I have some powers that I inherited from my parents. My power returned after I recovered my memory, and every time I used my abilities... I could get a glimpse of memory from my parents. I heard my father and mother talk about various things about their past .."

Haoran was amazed at Emma's explanation. "You really are an amazing girl!"

Emma blushed at Haoran's praise. "Only you can know my secret. Don't let others know ..."

"Of course." Haoran nodded firmly. "You can trust me."

"All right ..." Emma stretched her right hand before Haoran and opened her palm. "The one who gifted the farmers in Limoges with the abundant harvest and gave life to the Ibukun Valley ... was my father."

From the palm of her hand came out soft green light, and slowly a few seeds were formed in her hand. From one of the seeds came out a small stem, roots, and slowly some leaves.

Haoran's eyes went round at the sight unfolding before him. Even though he knew that Emma had a secret, still, when he saw the girl grow plants in her hand, he was amazed.

Emma slowly placed the seeds and small plant on the table, then faced Haoran again. "Now, do you understand why I was scared of going into Notre Dame today? I was afraid the police would know that I did something to the orange tree."

Haoran finally took a breath. For several seconds he was too amazed by what was happening and forgot to breathe. Now he nodded and began to organize his thoughts.

"Okay ... so ... what else can you do? I think you can control the wind and plants ... Anything else I should know?" Haoran asked. "Can your mother and father do these too?"

"I think my father could only control plants, but he was so strong that his power could reach tens of kilometers away. At least, we can see it from Ibukun Valley that he managed to give life into. My mother had five types of power, but I don't know the details. I only know my mother could control the lightning and the wind. I don't know what her other powers are. I'm still trying to find out what else I can do ..." Emma explained.

"Lightning?" Haoran frowned. He was immediately able to relate events when Paris was struck by severe lightning, and the whole city went on a blackout. Emma suddenly disappeared and was in the Eiffel tower area without being able to remember what happened. He finally asked cautiously, "Can you... also control lightning ...?"

Finally, Emma nodded. "I can."

The young man went silent for a long time.