Heats in the Cold

The other heats moved efficiently, but for Noble, it felt like they dragged on forever. The professor stayed firmly between her husband and daughter, wishing for time to move faster.

The only bright spot was Ven's nephew coming in first in his heat.

The family behind them celebrated, and Noble congratulated them sincerely.

"Namae did really well."

"That boy has real talent," Fort joined in the praise. "Hopefully he can beat Cade in the finals. That little Casanova..."

"Dad!" Rain flushed.

Fort shrugged. "Fine. I will leave it saying that I hope Namae wins...and Cade loses..." The last part was mumbled.

"Thank you for the well-wishes," Ven answered graciously.

After that, time slowed to a crawl. Noble began to wonder if some time-twisting Awakened was around and messing with her.

"When will the boys be racing?" She asked Fort impatiently.

"Soon, I think." Fort rubbed the back of his neck. "With the way they rearranged things, I am not sure."

"I remember having to wait at your events, Noble," Lena laughed softly. "It isn't exciting until it is your child, and then you want everyone to stop and appreciate their brilliance."

"I'm sure Brock's and Blaze's performances will be more than worth the wait," Julius added.

"You are right, of course." Noble felt a little bad for her complaints, even though most of them had only been in her head. She should appreciate others as well.

When her perception shifted, so did the passage of time.

A blink later, her boys were on the field and ready for action. Thankfully they ended up in two different heats. Blaze was first, but despite his efforts and family's cheering, he managed to come in fourth out of eight.

"Not bad for someone who hates to run," Fort pointed out.

Noble couldn't help but agree. She felt a great amount of pride for her child who hadn't wanted to participate at all but still gave it his best.

Next up was Brock. Unlike his younger twin, the elder was made for speed. He tore up the field, breaking the previous record that day, which was held by Cade. 

The family went wild! 

"I knew he had it in him," Fort puffed up his chest with pride. 

"That boy has raw talent," Julius agreed. "Such a diamond in the rough!"

With the excitement of the first round over, the rest of the morning passed quickly. No one came close to Brock's speed. Each time he eagerly crossed the line amid roaring spectators.

"And Flash...I mean Brock has clinched the division final!" The announcer's voice accompanied a waving image of the elder twin on the screen.

"Are you sure that boy isn't secretly an Awakened?" Ven joked as he congratulated the delighted parents.

"He gets that from his father. Fort doesn't mention it, but he won a race or two back in his youth," Noble bragged.

"Not anymore," Fort pressed the small of his back and hunched forward dramatically.

Noble ignored his antics.

"I hope Namae has a similar victory," Noble nodded to Ven and the boy's mother.

They turned their attention back to the field. The prizes for the division were in the process of being passed out.

"And in the first place: Brock!"

The young man accepted the award graciously, his face beaming.

Blaze ran out on the field and hugged his brother. The touching display was met with additional whoops and applause.

The preteen participants cleared the field.

Noble's eyes opened slightly. She leaned over to Fort. "Wait…does that mean we are done?"

"We can be," Fort answered noncommittally.

Noble could feel his emotions. As much as he enjoyed reliving the glory days, he was ready to leave the crowded stadium as much as she was.

A few minutes later, the twins found their way into the stands. Brock wore the medal around his neck proudly while Blaze called out, "Make way for the Flash!" 

"The Flash?" Noble smirked as the boys came near. "Is that name going to stick?" 

"I hope so," Brock nodded. "Makes me sound like a webtoon hero." 

"That it does. Nice work, son!" Fort patted Brock on the back. "You gave it your all." He turned to Blaze. "And so did you. I am proud of you both." 

"Oh no," Blaze held up his hands. "This moment belongs to my brother. You can praise me at the next math competition." The boy nodded.

Rain tousled both her brothers' sweaty heads and then wiped her hand on her jacket. "You knuckleheads both did well." 

Noble was happy to see her children truly celebrate each others' successes. It made her heart swell to see them getting along so well. 

"I would say this deserves a celebratory lunch and some ice cream?" She offered. 

"They are about to have the final boys' footrace. Can we stay, pleeeease?!" Brock begged. 

Noble and Fort exchanged glances, but Rain was the one to answer. "It's fine if we stay. I don't mind." 

Squeezing her daughter's hand gently, Noble nodded. "One more race, and then lunch," she agreed. 

The family scooted over on the bench to make room for two more occupants. 

While they waited, Blaze and Brock talked about all the races and their impressions thus far. They had plenty of opinions about the varsity finals, not the least of which was that Cade had a strange method of pulling ahead at the last minute. 

"I want to race him," Brock pumped his arms.

"Maybe in a couple of years," Noble tried to calm her elder son.

He really did look ready to run a marathon. Thankfully, that was not on the list of today's activities. 

"Participants are at the starting line." The announcer quieted the crowd. 

Noble saw that Namae and Cade were next to each other in two of the center lanes. 'Come on Namae, you can do it!' 

"Mark." 

The boys all went up against their blocks. The gun sounded. The racers took off. 

At first, all eight athletes ran in a tightly knit pack. There was no discernable leader. 

But as the group rounded the second corner, two racers pulled into the lead. 

"Go, Namae!" Ven cheered. 

"Cade. Cade. Cade!" The teenage fans drowned out the rest of the sound in the stadium. 

The second lap made the difference more pronounced. Namae and Cade pulled ahead, with the former having the slightest edge. 

As before, at the last possible moment, Cade leaned forward and clinched first place in a final push. The replay was looped on the big screen over and over for all to see. 

"Namae did amazing!" Noble praised the young man to his family. "It was so close!" 

"It was," Ven smiled. 

Noble could feel the Awakened's emotions. He felt his nephew should have won. Noble did as well, but she had to admit she was very biased in her assessment. 

"Ok, kids, we can go," Noble hoped to usher them out before Cade received his prize. But she wasn't fast enough. 

As he waved to the crowd with a medal around his neck, a familiar girl in a tracksuit ran out and kissed him on the cheek. Cade smiled warmly at her. 

"I guess Kayla found her way on the field," Noble pursed her lips. 

But Rain shook her head. "...That's not Kayla."