Frank sat at the riverbank, still holding the red petal Ryan had given him earlier in his hand. Nothing else dripped from his nose, but his head felt heavy. It took all he had to remain upright.

The sky was fully dark now. The group had made it to the river just as the last light faded. Despite still being unsteady on his feet, Ryan had guided both Frank and Brendon. Once there he had sat both down and plucked more petals from his vest. He wiped at Frank's cheeks with one before turning to Brendon and just holding the petal against his cheek while speaking softly.

They weren't that far away, but Frank couldn't hear their conversation. He was feeling... off again. Off like early into his journey into the forests of the planet... Maybe? He couldn't quite remember the feelings. It was just off. Tiring. Heavy.

Frank let the petal slip from his his grip. He brought his hands up, rubbing his palms against his eyes. What was going on? Why couldn't he just feel normal? When was the last time he could even place a normal feeling? Before the cork tree? Before the vehicle crashing? Before escaping the Force base? Before he was given the task of getting information from Gerard?

Why was it so hard ever since Gerard was introduced to his life?

He slid his palms to hold the sides of his head as he looked down at his lap. Would he ever feel normal again? What could normal even be now, after everything he had learned. He was trapped between two opposing worlds. That wasn't normal.

He cast his gaze to the flowing river in front of him. He could see reflections of the light bugs dancing over its glossy surface. Their forms were distorted and stretched, flickering with bubbles that occasionally broke the illusion of a smooth reflective surface before him. He was only pulled away from it when he began to feel drops of moisture begin to hit his skin. He dropped his hands and raised his head. More drops fell on his face. Rain was breaking through the treetops. He leaned back, continuing far enough to let himself fall completely back against the ground. He stared up into the dark treetops as more raindrops fell.

It was rare to see rain in the desert. It was always a sound that would wake Frank up, no matter how faint it sounded against the roof of the base. He would be glued to his small bunk window, watching the sky release whatever it allowed over the orange landscape. He never thought he would actually feel it against his skin.

The raindrops thudded dully against the thick canopy above them. There were long gaps between the sounds above and the feeling of cold drops finding him. He raised his hand, stretching it up towards the leaves. Slowly, however, his fingers curled and his hand retracted. He let it drop against his chest, continuing to stare up at the darkness above.

"Hey."

The voice hit Frank's ears before Gerard's face peeked into his view. Frank blinked up at him.

Gerard straightened his posture and moved to Frank's side. "Did you catch any of that?" He asked, extending his hand to Frank.

"What?" Frank raised his hand from his chest to take Gerard's. He let himself be pulled into a sitting up position, keeping his eyes on Gerard. Gerard crouched beside him, keeping his hand around Frank's. Frank looked at their hands, realizing how cold his fingers felt in comparison to Gerard's.

"I was catching Ryan and Brendon up to speed." Gerard replied, bringing Frank's eyes back to his face. He wore a slightly strained smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He squeezed Frank's hand when their eyes met. "Were you off in your head again?"

Frank frowned. He didn't think so. He had been able to hear the rain against the leaves. He hadn't felt any pain or shortness of breath from a memory sucking him away from the moment.

"Doesn't matter, you're here now." Gerard released his hand and instead patted his shoulder. "We should get moving."

"Is something wrong?" Frank watched Gerard push himself back up to his feet. "What did I miss?"

Gerard maintained his smile as a light pink covered his eyes. "Don't worry." He held out his hand to Frank again, "We just need to start moving."

Frank reached for his hand once again, but paused moving once they had a grip on each other. "Your magic..."

"Tyler helped me find it." Gerard replied before Frank could finish his full thought. His tone had an anxiety creeping on its edge as he encouraged Frank to rise to his feet.

Frank complied as Gerard explained what had happened with his magic, but he didn't really hear any of it. He was focused on their hands. He had seen the magic in Gerard's eyes. Gerard had talked about his magic. Yet, despite it always reminding him of its presence, Frank couldn't feel anything where their skin touched.

"Frank, please don't get lost right now."

Gerard's words brought Frank's eyes back up. The smile was wearing thin. The pink over Gerard's eyes almost seemed like a coverup to hide whatever emotion he didn't want seen. There was a faint streak on his cheek that stood out in the light bug's glow. Frank reached out with his free hand, but Gerard gently intercepted it.

"We need to go." He whispered, looking right into Frank's eyes. The pink in Gerard's eyes flared for an instant, but Frank still couldn't feel any kind of magic.

"Tell me what happened." Frank insisted, pulling his hands from Gerard's grip and dropping them to his sides. He tried to stand tall as his hands began to shake. "How close are they? Is someone hurt?"

Gerard looked back at him, but said nothing. Frank turned towards Ryan and Brendon, but the space they had occupied was empty. A panic hit his chest as he turned back to Gerard.

"Hey, it's okay." Gerard held his hands up, "They're okay, they just started moving already."

"What happened?" Frank took a step back. "Why won't you tell me?"

Gerard's expression twisted into one of uncertainty. He kept his hands out, trying to reassure Frank despite seeming to be at a loss for words. He finally sighed, dropping his arms. "Listen, we don't know anything for sure... There's a chance the Force soldiers that have been following us made it to the cork tree. We saw a distress signal from them, but there's no guarantee they're hurt."

Frank's eyes widened. The rapid beating of his heart just stopped as the shaking in his hands climbed up his arms. They had just been there. How did the Force know to go there? Wasn't it supposed to be safe?

"We just need to move forward to keep ahead." Gerard encouraged, taking a step towards Frank. "I won't let them take you back."

Tears began to build in Frank's eyes. It was his fault. Just like always. It was his fault. Just like before. It was all his fault. He shut his eyes tightly as echos of voices bounced around his head. His shoulder began to sting with the echoing, making him cross an arm over his chest to hold it tightly. Look what you've done now, Frank.

A hand gently pressed against his cheek. He could feel a thumb swiping at a wetness that may have been his tears or the increasing droplets of rain that broke through the canopy above them. He wasn't sure. He opened his eyes to see Gerard standing as close as he could be to him. The echoing still bounced around his skull, but it was dulled just slightly by focusing on the boy in front of him.

"It's all my fault." The words were a faint whisper by the time they pushed past his lips.

Gerard shook his head. "You're not the one that took us to that tree."

"I was there." Frank inhaled a shaky breath, "They have to be tracking me."

"What, am I not special enough to be tracked after escaping?" Gerard tried to smile, but he couldn't bring himself to maintain it. He brought his other hand up to Frank's exposed cheek and leaned in closer. "I lead us there, remember? They could be tracking either of us. That's something we can figure out later."

Frank tried to shake his head, but couldn't move it very much because of how Gerard held his face. "I'm putting everyone in danger."

"Not me." Gerard pulled Frank forward just enough so that their foreheads touched. "We're in this together. Remember how you said you would trust me? Remember how I said I didn't want to give you back because I knew how mad that would make them?" He slid his hands down Frank's cheeks to push past his neck before draping his arms over Frank's shoulders. "We can keep running."

Frank looked into Gerard's eyes. There was a sadness behind the shades of pink that hid his darker iris. "What about your people?" He couldn't pull his eyes away from Gerard's, "Your group, they need you."

There was a pause from Gerard. "I'll find my way back to them." He eventually whispered, "Just like this time. They can thrive. So can you and I."

"It's not fair." Frank shut his eyes. The echoing was giving him a headache. There were so many echos of voices... no, the same voice... "I'm not worth this."

He could hear Gerard inhale as if he was about to speak, but a strong gust of wind cut in as it nearly blew them to the side. Both boys braced themselves, but stumbled apart as the wind pushed harder against them. Frank opened his eyes once the wind finally died, catching small sparks of red fading into the darkness. Gerard was looking towards the direction the wind had come from, eyes wide.

"What is it?" Frank looked between the darkness and Gerard, trying to understand. The light bugs didn't provide enough light to see very far into the tree-line where the wind had come.

Gerard turned back to Frank. "They're here."

"What?!"

Gerard grabbed Frank's hand and pulled him as he began to run. "They're here! We have to move!"