The Thaw

Friday was the worst day of them all for Layla. At lunch she loaded up her tray without paying any attention to what foods she was selecting, haphazardly taking whatever came to hand whether she liked it or not, and wound up hardly touching her selections anyway, especially after she wound up making a face when she realized she'd just started chewing on a forkful of green bean salad.

Her Elemental Attunement class didn't go much better. She wasn't paying any attention to the spell she was practicing when Professor Avalon came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I must say, that's very impressive work Layla, though not exactly what I had in mind for this assignment."

Layla blinked and looked up at the winged man.

"What do you mean Professor?"

The former paladin gestured at the pan of water sitting on the lab bench in front of her.

"I mean this. It's very lovely, to be sure, but I think some of the other students are finding your handiwork more than a trifle distracting."

Baffled as to what the teacher was talking about, Layla took a good look at the frozen figure rising from the middle of the pan, truly seeing it for the first time. Her eyes went wide and her dark cheeks lost a couple of shades as her eyes took in the feminine curves of the nude girl standing in the middle of the pan. The finer details, such as fingers and facial details, were largely absent, but nobody looking at it would have mistaken it for anything other than a naked woman. The figurine stood eight inches tall, her right hand covering the gap between her thighs while her left was raised high overhead. Her legs were sheathed in flowing ice from the calves down, as though she were just emerging from the water, and there was a rather distinctive high ponytail cascading down her back. Professor Avalon seemed to be trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin.

"As well executed as this piece is, your assignment was to sculpt the ice into a cone shape. Do you think perhaps you might be able to bend your considerable talents to that much simpler task?"

There was snickering from several quarters as Layla ducked her head in mortification. She nodded and raised her hands to hover over the ice sculpture she had unknowingly crafted in her distraction and focussed her attention on reforming the ice into a simple cone. As she concentrated, the figure began slowly to morph into a new configuration. The raised arm began to shorten, as did the legs, the shoulders and breasts slumping downward while the neck seemed to compress and thicken at the same time. As the ice shifted, cracks began to appear within it. Moments later the entire sculpture shattered under the strain of Layla's efforts. The water fairy's head drooped as she lowered her hands in failure. Professor Avalon gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"A valiant effort Layla. Keep trying, and come see me after class. I would like a word with you in private."

When the class ended and the other students were filing out, Layla walked up to Professor Avalon's desk.

"You wanted to see me Professor?"

The winged schoolteacher finished putting a few last papers away in his desk and rose from his seat.

"Yes. Come, let's go take a walk. There are matters of a somewhat personal nature that I would like to discuss with you."

Layla swallowed nervously as she fell in beside the professor and they walked out of the classroom. Avalon turned away from the direction that would take them to the central main staircase and instead led the young black girl down the lesser-used side stairs. As they walked he spoke to her in a gentle tone of voice.

"I'm not the type to listen to idle gossip but I have it on good authority that you were seen Monday evening returning to campus in the company of a certain rather infamous witch. Is this true?"

Layla's shoulders stiffened upon hearing these words. She nodded mutely as they descended the staircase together. Professor Avalon glanced at her then turned his gaze straight ahead, his face betraying nothing.

"I can't help being curious as to why you were consorting with someone like her at all, but quite frankly it's none of my concern. My duty is to enlighten your mind, not to meddle in your personal affairs. Your business is your own. Still, the rumor mill has been rather lively of late. I wonder how you must feel about that."

The water fairy kept her face turned down as they walked out the door into the late afternoon sun behind the main building, in the small back courtyard between the building and the surrounding perimeter wall.

"I try not to think about it. People will say what they're gonna say."

The professor nodded sagely.

"Very true. Of course what happened with your project in class today will only serve to feed the rumor-mongers. Do you have any idea why you might have chosen to form that particular image?"

Layla could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"Well..."

Professor Avalon turned a playful smile upon her.

"That's rather a deep subject. In any event, I must say that I was very impressed with the skill you displayed in producing that image. It shows that you have a talent for working with ice."

The dark-skinned girl looked up at him.

"But I can't seem to control it when I really want to."

The dark-haired man stroked his chin thoughtfully between his thumb and forefinger.

"Perhaps therein lies the problem. You recall what happened when I asked you to transform your sculpture into a cone?"

Layla dropped her gaze once more.

"Yeah. It shattered."

The professor nodded.

"Yes, but why did it shatter? That is the question we must ask ourselves."

The dark-skinned girl shook her head and looked up.

"I don't know. I was trying so hard to keep things under control this time..."

Professor Avalon pointed a finger in the air.

"And there I believe we may have our answer. You were trying with all your might to keep control of the situation and it blew up on you."

A puzzled look crossed the water fairy's face.

"So you're saying that I'm trying too hard?"

The teacher nodded.

"I believe so. Tell me, how did you achieve your ability to control water as you do?"

Layla ducked her head between her shoulders in embarrassment.

"Well, I kind of cheated. You see, for the longest time I had a hard time getting water to do what I wanted it to. Being from the Realm of Tides it was kind of important to me to be able to connect with our realm's most essential element, but I just couldn't seem to do it. Then one day I thought 'What if I mix my own magic with the water?' So I tried that. When my magic mixed with the water it turned into a malleable substance I'd never seen before. I decided to call it Morphix. I found that I could make it bend and flow according to my will, like it was a part of me. And that's the way I've always worked with water ever since."

Avalon gave a slow, thoughtful nod.

"I see. One might say then that instead of trying to force water to do your will you instead poured yourself into it."

A look of thoughtful surprise crossed the water fairy's face.

"Huh. I never thought of it that way before."

The winged man placed both his hands upon the girl's shoulders.

"Layla, you have a gift for working with your native element of water, and that gift seems to extend to it's crystallized form as well. But as you found out long ago, you can't force it to obey you. Try too hard and it will all fall apart. What you need to do is work with your gifts, nurture them, allow them to grow. Be at one with the ice, learn to appreciate it for what it is, and you will find it becomes far more responsive."

Layla nodded slowly. What he said made a lot of sense, but something about the professor's choice of phrasing bothered her. It almost seemed as though he was trying to tell her something else. Thinking back over the conversation she recalled the other subject they had discussed briefly. Her eyes went wide as she put the pieces together.

"Wait. Are you saying..."

Professor Avalon patted her on the shoulder, then turned and started walking away.

"You have good instincts Layla. Trust in them. You won't be disappointed."

A slow smile spread across the water fairy's face as she turned to head back to her dorm. Only hours remained until her date with Icy. It was time to start trusting her instincts.