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Wars, and rumours of wars, were nothing new for the world in the twenty-fourth century. The fighting had evolved over the years, and rarely did it involve traditional weapons.Magic had changed the landscape and scope of wars, though. It had been kept a secret for centuries, something that people had but never spoke of and therefore those who had the gift learned on their own how to lay low and not be recognised as Other.As the wars became more widespread and began to involve chemicals that affected the atmosphere, living changed as well. Populations began to wane, food became artificial and something that existed to live off of, not to be enjoyed. The very landscape of the world was altered, and people altered with it.Worldwide, various factions and beliefs rose up over the course of the twenty-first and twenty-second century. Wars in all their styles and varieties plagued everywhere people lived as everyone fought for survival and what they thought was right.Eventually, North and parts of Central America went dark as a result of their wars. Asia and Africa shunned all outside forces. And Europe was left fighting for their own ways of life.A group most widely known as the Southern Powers gained strength amongst portions of the western continent and spread quickly through other countries there. Their power seemed insurmountable. When they had risen above other contenders through most of Europe, they began to infiltrate Great Britain and Ireland.That infiltration brought about even more danger for those who had magical abilities - often referred to as the Touch. Those with the Touch started going missing as the Southern Powers grew stronger. Rumours began to fly, and no one knew what the truth was, only that it was more important than ever to not talk about the Touch if one had it.There was a fight the Southern Powers didn’t expect coming from the north of England, though. Resistance came in the form of an organised underground; a group comprised of people with the Touch that did the best they could to enforce a line that would not be crossed. Slowly, that line was moved from the Channel to boundaries further and further north. The Southern Powers began to take over more of the southern portion of the UK and it seemed only a matter of time before they took over everywhere.Until that time, people did the best they could to live their lives. There were still families to feed, lessons to be learned, and positions to be filled in order to keep society running in any semblance of normality.For Louis Tomlinson, that sense of normality was about to change. *~~***~~* Louis waited for his request to connect to the classroom to be approved.Something had happened outside of Doncaster last night - his mum wouldn’t give him details, so he knew it wasn’t good - and whatever it was had slowed their internet speeds. As accustomed as he was to instantaneous connections and not waiting for anything, the fact his request had been pending for two minutes already was outrageous to him. Then again, his mum was always saying there was never anything quite so impatient as a teenage boy. Maybe she was right.He felt Harry’s Touch, curious but a little worried, nudging at him. Rolling his eyes, Louis sent back his light frustration and knew Harry would understand.Finally, he saw a curly head in the corner of his screen as well as the faces of his other six classmates making up the rest, like a patchwork quilt of faces.“Hey, Louis!” they all said in turn before their instructor, Mrs Stark, called the class to attention.Soon enough, it was time for them to work on their assignments, leaving Harry and Louis to their own personal chat while they completed their tasks.Looking over his shoulder to make sure his sisters were busy with their own virtual classrooms, Louis turned back to the computer and made the motion for Harry to turn up his volume. Eyes wide, Harry shifted and once he’d flashed a thumbs up, Louis began to whisper.“I was late because something happened outside Donny last night,” Louis said. “I don’t know what it was, but our internet speeds were affected. Have you heard anything? Did anything happen near Holmes Chapel?”Harry shook his head before whispering, “No. My parents were arguing in their room this morning about something to do with Spain and South America, but that’s all I heard. Our speeds and air safety levels around here are fine.”Louis nodded and looked out the window. The sky had been a hazy yellow for months now, but it did look a little worse than yesterday. It wasn’t likely his mum would let him outside despite the fact Louis was nearly going crazy. Their air safety levels were fine, but Johannah’s fear of the kids being caught in any potential rain left her being the sole member of the family that left the house most days.
“What do you think it was?” Harry asked.Shrugging, Louis looked to Harry and said, “Could be anything, innit?”Giving an apologetic smile, Harry held up his tablet. “We should start working on maths now.”Louis nodded and they buckled down. *~~***~~* “Of course we’re not sending him to a brick and mortar school,” Johannah cried. “I don’t know of any closer than London that are still functioning anyway considering… everything…”Louis looked up from where he was colouring and talking to his new school friend, Harry. Johannah was watching Louis carefully between feeding his younger sister and rubbing her belly. He knew their family was very, very big compared to all others in the area. Most families consisted of at most one child, but many didn’t even have that.People always talked about the wars when they talked about children, but he didn’t know why that had anything to do with it. All he knew was apparently the sky used to be blue with white, puffy clouds and it used to be safe to let the rain touch your skin. All Louis knew was the green haze that was consistently overhead.“Harry,” Louis said, turning back to his friend. The big green eyes that looked up at Louis in excitement were so different from any Louis had ever seen. He loved looking at them. “I think I’d know you no matter what because I know you so well.”Harry’s nose scrunched up and he said, “But you just met me!”Louis shrugged, and he felt the tingles of a Touch he already associated with Harry. It felt so different from his sister’s or mum’s and he wasn’t quite used to it yet. It wasn’t common for people to be able to Touch someone else over such a distance, especially a new acquaintance they’d never met physically.“I know. But I know you,” Louis said confidently. “I know your eyes and your nose and your mouth and your hair. I could find you anywhere.”Harry smiled so wide his dimple showed. “And I would know you too,” he said.“Boys, are you working on your art?” Johannah asked.Louis and Harry gasped, then giggled and got back to work. *~~***~~* Louis was nearly asleep, when a sudden feeling of unease flooded him.
Harry.
Shooting up from his sleeping pad, Louis looked around until he found where his tablet was charging. He picked it up and started swearing when he realised their internet was completely down at the moment.Louis closed his eyes and focused. Harry had never mastered the ability to send Louis images outside of their dreams, but Louis still had to hope. It wasn’t usual for Harry to Touch Louis while asleep, but it wasn’t completely unheard of either.Sending Harry the strongest form of concern and their own version of a hug, Louis waited to see if he would hear back from Harry.The unease remained a constant, but nothing else came through. Louis fell asleep to fitful dreams, but they were entirely his own.Upon waking up the next morning, Louis learned that the internet was still down, but that his mum was almost certain that James, their next door neighbour, would have it up for them to still attend the majority of their lessons today.Louis ate his breakfast meal bar and reached out to Harry.No response.Harry always responded as soon as he could, and after the weight of Harry’s unease last night, Louis was incredibly worried that he hadn’t reached back out yet. What was going on with him? Why wasn’t he answering? Had something happened overnight, but things worked out and he finally fell asleep so his mum was letting him sleep in?Knowing there were any number of explanations, Louis let himself be distracted by his sisters. - - - As it turned out, they needed a lot of distraction. The internet didn’t come back until the next morning and, even then, the connection was so bad the images kept freezing and becoming pixelated. Growing up watching films about the technical revolution of the late 20th and early 21st century, Louis had thought the images of their early video chats and internet usage had been exaggerated. He was unfortunately learning first hand now that they weren’t.One face was missing though.“Where’s Harry?” Louis asked.“He wasn’t here yesterday either. We figured his internet was having issues too, since most of the north of England is having problems at the moment,” Mrs Stark explained. “No fear, I’m sure he’ll return once the lines are repaired. Now, today’s focus is going to be on Social History.”Reaching out to Harry again, this time flooding their connection with concern, Louis felt something different than he ever had with Harry from the moment they’d met all those years ago.He felt nothing. *~~***~~* “When we finally meet we are going to have so much fun,” Louis said, heaving a breath as he landed on his belly in front of his screen. “We’re gonna colour and do plays and learn instruments and be the bestest of all best friends that ever lived!”Rolling his eyes, Harry sat down criss-cross in front of Louis. “We’re already the best friends that ever lived, silly.”“I know, but we’ve never actually met,” Louis said. “Just through our screens. That’s not the same as real best friends.”Harry began to pout and Louis could feel his hurt. Sighing, he nudged at Harry in the way he knew sometimes tickled the boy. They had been nine when Louis learned that and he’d made good use of the knowledge over the past year.Sure enough, giggles soon erupted from Harry and Louis smiled proudly.“But I thought we already were real best friends,” Harry finally said quietly.Sighing fondly, Louis leaned forward so the camera was zoomed in on his right eye. Harry started giggling again.“I guess we are real best friends,” Louis admitted. “I think I’d even be able to find you based on your feet.”Harry squawked out his awkwardly loud laugh, Louis’ very favorite of all of Harry’s laughs. “My feet?” “Yes! You have that really, really big big toe, and the rest are all the same size. Plus, you have that weird freckle by your ankles on both feet.” Louis shrugged. “I could definitely tell you apart from anyone else in the whole world just by your feet.”“You’re crazy,” Harry said, still giggling. “I hate my freckled feet.”“I love them,” Louis said, over-exaggeratedly. “Now, let’s finish our dance.”They turned the volume back on from the playlist Harry’s mum had made them a few years ago featuring music from the late twentieth century that she loved.Dance party resumed, the boys didn’t notice both of their mums watching on before going back to their various responsibilities. *~~***~~*
It had been days. Days. Louis had known Harry for twelve years and he’d never gone this long without feeling Harry. Seeing Harry. Talking to Harry.He was getting really worried.When he’d brought it up to Mrs Stark on the fourth day of Harry’s absence from school, she’d brushed him off saying Harry would be back when he was able.Louis didn’t think it was that simple.“Mum?” Louis went into his mum’s bedroom. He tried not to worry her with anything more than she already had on her shoulders, but Harry had been missing for too long.“Yes, love?” Johannah had been shuffling papers around and Louis was confused. Paper was incredibly rare these days.Shaking his head in an attempt to ignore it for now, Louis said, “I’m worried about Harry.”Brows furrowed, Johannah turned her entire body to Louis now. “Why?”“He’s not been to school in days, Mum. And…” Louis hesitated. Most kids these days had the Touch, but it was understood by everyone it wasn’t spoken of. The fact that Harry and Louis’ bond was as strong as it was definitely wasn’t to be mentioned.But this wasn’t the usual circumstances. Louis knew in his belly something was wrong. Well, that and his dreams had been off the past few nights and he didn’t know if that was Harry’s doing or if it was Louis’ subconscious going crazy.Raising her eyebrows, Johannah tilted her head and waited for Louis to finish his thought.Huffing, Louis murmured, “I haven’t felt him in days either.”Johannah blinked. “I’m sorry, you haven’t what in days?”“ Felt him, Mum,” Louis said, voice a little stronger and definitely clearer than before. “Felt him. Harry and I can feel each other just as clearly as I can Lottie or Fizzy or the twins. Sometimes even better. But I haven’t felt anything since almost a week ago when he sent me his fear. I feel nothing when I reach out to him, and it’s never been like that before.”Johannah was looking out the window now, obviously deep in thought. Sighing and waiting for her to reply, Louis dropped onto her bed.“Sorry I never told you or anything, but…”“No, no. It’s okay,” Johannah said, voice sounding far away. Clearing her throat, she turned and looked at Louis. “I’ll admit, I’ve been concerned as well. I haven’t heard from Anne or Robin either. I didn’t realise it had extended to Harry.”Louis nodded. He didn’t feel any better, but he was relieved that she didn’t just brush away his fears like Mrs Stark had.“Listen.” Johannah stood up and closed her door before walking back and sitting beside Louis on her bed. “I have a meeting tonight. There is a lot going on, and I can’t guarantee that anything will be decided on, but I promise to try to bring this up with them. I’ll have more information for you in the morning, okay? But for now, I need you to focus on your studies and your sisters for me.”“Okay,” Louis agreed. “You’ll tell me more about the papers and the meetings in the morning?”Pursing her lips, Johannah nodded slowly. “Yes, I think it’s time. Your eighteenth birthday is in just a few months now, and I can’t hide this from you past then. I’d only be hurting you. We need to start your training, and it might be more extensive than I anticipated.”“Training?” Louis asked, confused. “What training?”Johannah patted his knee soothingly. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”“Alright.”“Now,” Johannah said, standing up and walking back to her desk. “Can you please get our dinner meal bars out of the cupboard and make sure your sisters eat theirs? They’ve been hiding them in their rooms lately, but they need the nutrients.”Louis laughed. “Yes, Mum.”He stood and was just about to close the door behind him when his mum called his name again.“And Louis?”Poking his head back into the room, Johannah gave him a soft smile. “I love you.”Feeling a warmth within him that was the most familiar feeling in the world, Louis smiled and said, “I love you too.” *~~***~~* Louis was in the middle of a dream about Harry again - one filled with strange shadows and feelings of concern - when suddenly his surroundings changed. It was like he had been forcibly ripped from what he’d been experiencing in order to now follow Harry down a beach.It was nothing like the rocky beaches Louis had seen photos of his mum visiting when she was young. This was more like the sandy beaches seen in films from the early days of the technical revolution.It was eerily quiet, but the sky wasn’t so yellow here. It still wasn’t blue, either, more like a hazy grey. It stretched as far as Louis could see, and the water of what had to be the ocean was lapping a few feet away.Louis almost ran into Harry’s back before he realised Harry had stopped.“What-” Louis tried to ask, but Harry gripped his arm hard, and Louis stopped speaking. Looking up at Harry’s face, Louis saw he had a finger pressed to his own lips and he was watching something up ahead very intently.Turning to see if he could find what Harry was looking at, Louis studied the space on the beach ahead of him, but all he saw was a lighthouse much further down. Was that what had Harry’s attention?A gentle touch of Harry’s hand to Louis’ cheek had him looking back at his best friend. He stared into Louis’ eyes and finally he said, “You must Find me. The way is dangerous and you need to be prepared, but it must be you.”Brows furrowing, Louis nodded sombrely. “I will. I’ll always find you.”Harry gave him a tense smile, and said, “I’ll be waiting. As long as it takes.”As Harry let go of Louis’ face, Louis reached forward in an attempt to keep Harry there with him.That movement pulled his blanket off his feet, causing the chilled air of the house to jolt him back to awareness.Louis breathed heavily and studied the bare walls of his room. Right. It had just been a dream. *~~***~~* Johannah closed the door behind her and nodded to her right, indicating that Louis should follow.It had been almost a week since Louis and his sisters had been allowed out of the house, so he was happy to feel a semblance of freedom, but it was also a little unnerving. The acid rain had been coming down off and on for days, so being hidden away inside made sense for everyone. The fact that his mum deemed yesterday’s conversation about Harry important enough for them to leave the house made what could have been exciting instead feel heavy.The streets were quiet like they usually were, and Jay walked with purpose in the opposite direction of the city centre. Louis knew better than to ask questions before they got there, so he allowed himself to study their surroundings as they walked.Despite the acid rain and the often unbreathable air, it amazed Louis how many living things were still around. Most trees hadn’t survived, but there were splotches of color in the cracks and crevices. Louis would have to paint some more of them for Harry. It always made Harry smile to see what Louis had found while outside and proof that there was still a way for plants to survive.Harry. Louis wondered what his mum would have to say about Louis’ newfound resolve to be the one to search for him. It wasn’t practical for him to do so, but after his dream last night he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. It definitely had to be him.He and Johannah had been walking for about twenty minutes when she turned right and followed a path behind a large house. There was a shelter in the back, which she walked up to. Knocking four times in rhythm, she then stood to the side of the door, and reached out to direct Louis to stand beside her. She closed her eyes, and Louis knew she was reaching out to someone with her Touch.The door unlatched, but didn’t open. He turned to his mum, who nodded towards the door indicating he should be the one to open it.Louis tried to ignore the fact that his hand was shaking as he raised it, but he was able to open the door easily. With one last glance at his mum, he walked inside.It was a simple one-room hut and along the far side of the wall, in one of the numerous chairs filling the room, was a man about the same age as Johannah. Louis wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was something more than this.As soon as the door was latched behind his mum, Louis felt the air change and the man stood up.“Hello, Louis. It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Yaser Malik.”Louis nodded and outstretched his pinky in a show of respect mirroring Yaser’s. “Nice to meet you, too.”“I hear you are close with Harry Styles,” Yaser said as he moved three chairs into a smaller circle. Once they were in place, Louis took the seat not taken by his mum or Yaser.“Yes, he’s my best friend,” he answered. “Do you know Harry?”Yaser made a motion with his hand that didn’t really answer Louis’ question before saying, “In a way, yes. I know of him, but I’m close with his parents.”Louis leaned forward. “Have you talked to them? Is something wrong? Why hasn’t he been showing up to school?” Louis wanted to ask more questions, but he held back for now.This time, Yaser hesitated. He studied Louis’ face and turned to Johannah. “Have you begun the introductions?”Shaking her head, Johannah said, “No. I was waiting until we were here with your protections.”Nodding in approval, Yaser turned back to Louis. “Those are difficult questions with a long answer. In order for the Styles’ family situation to make more sense, I need you to understand the background. I’m assuming you’ve heard of Directions?”Louis sat up straighter. Of course he’d heard of Directions. They were the main cell of resistance in the UK against the the Southern Powers that were causing the battles and destruction. Louis’ class lessons never went into detail when talking about current events, but Louis and his classmates were at least basically taught about the existence of the group.Directions was particularly dangerous to the Southern Powers because of their magic. The leaders of Directions were the most powerful magic users that had ever lived in the UK, and they used their powers together to protect everyone they could, but especially their northern cities, fight against the spread of misinformation, and to ensure that love and kindness continued to grow amongst the populations.Was Harry’s family involved in Directions? Is that why he’d been touching Louis over the past few weeks with his concern and fear of coming danger?Or what if it was the opposite? What if his family was part of the Southern Powers?“I can see that you have heard of them,” Yaser said. Holding up his hands and waving towards the walls of the hut, Louis suddenly realised that the room looked nothing like it had before. The walls had changed from roughly cut wood to that of the smoothest metal. There were papers adorning most of them, with clusters surrounding certain areas. Covering one entire wall was a large map of the UK and, beside that, a map of the rest of the world. On the UK map there were purple pins adorning the southern portion of the country and there were a smattering of green, blue, red, yellow, and orange pins across the north.“Welcome to the headquarters for Directions, Louis. If you decide at the end of our conversation today to accept our training, you will be our newest member.”“Wait, what?” Louis squeaked. He cleared his throat and shook his head as if that would clear his vision. “Are you saying you two are part of Directions?”Johannah nodded, a small smile on her face. “Yaser is our leader.”“Typical of your mother to not mention herself,” Yaser said, leaning back in his seat comfortably. “She’s got powerful magic and skills we need now more than ever. Without her we’d be lost. She’s one of the founding members, from the time she was just sixteen.”Louis turned to his mum, wide-eyed. “Seriously?”Johannah nodded, blushing.“Why didn’t you bloody well tell me before now?” Louis cried.“Language,” Johannah chided before going on. “You weren’t ready to hear it yet.”“Louis,” Yaser said, bringing Louis’ attention back to him. “Harry’s parents are in Directions as well.”Louis nodded slowly. At least they weren’t baddies, but what did that mean for Harry?Yaser leaned forward, his arms on his knees. “We lost contact with Anne and Robin the same night you last felt Harry’s presence. We’re unsure whether they are together or what might have happened, but we’ve sent some of our contacts from Wolverhampton to seek out their safety house near the Midlands. But we need every piece of information we can possibly get. What did Harry last send to you?”Shifting in his seat, Louis hedged. How would they take learning they communicated with their dreams and other still pictures sometimes? Louis had never heard of others with that ability. Then again, Directions was built on the fact that these people had powerful magic that others didn’t. That was exactly how they’d succeeded with keeping the Southern Powers at bay for as long as they had.“Well, I think he sent me a dream last night,” Louis finally said slowly.“A dream?” Johannah asked, obviously confused. “What do you mean?”Louis licked his lips. “Well, when we first met, we always used to talk about what we’d do when we finally got together. We’d do art and write plays and things. And he started sending me images of what he wanted to draw. They were never very clear, just kind of hazy outlines. But he also started coming into my dreams. We thought at first it was just dream sharing or something, but later we learned that worries or specific thoughts he had would join my dreams and change them completely from what they had been.”Louis paused, waiting to see if they were going to interrupt, but they were still listening closely so he went on. “As we got older, we learned it was all Harry. He learned to send clearer pictures, but most of his dreams were still happening unconsciously. As far as I knew, he’d not learned to do it on purpose, but last night I think he did.”Yaser was intent now. “What did he say? In the dream?”Louis shook his head. “That’s the weird thing. I don’t even know where we were. I think it was a sandy beach on the ocean, but the sky was grey, not yellow, and he was staring at a lighthouse for some reason.” Louis took a deep breath, and decided to leave out the way Harry touched him in the dream. That seemed too tender, too personal, to share with someone he’d just met, and he wasn’t ready to admit that his feelings weren’t just friendly towards Harry. “He also told me to find him. He said he’d be waiting.”When Louis finished, Johannah and Yaser looked at each other. He knew they were reaching out to each other, but he wished they’d just speak.“It’s time, Jay,” Yaser said, gently. “He needs to be trained so as soon as he’s legally allowed, he is ready to go.”“I know,” Johannah said. “Lou, we’d already felt you were the one that needed to go. I knew your connection to Harry would help, but it seems you’re the one meant to go. Harry’s magic has chosen you.”Louis’ nose scrunched up. “Sorry, his magic chose me? What’s that even mean?”“Magic is drawn to other magic. Everyone’s is different, it’s how you’re able to tell when it’s your sister or your mum or Harry reaching out to you with their Touch. Some magic, when incredibly powerful, is almost…” Yaser sighed. “Jay, how would you explain it?”Johannah shifted and she smiled warmly at Louis. “You know how Lottie and Fizzy are constantly at each other’s throats?” she asked. “Their magic seems intent on bothering the other even when they aren’t doing it on purpose. I know you’ve seen it even more than I have, because of school.”Louis rolled his eyes. It had reached the point some days where Lottie had to go to their mum’s room. Their Touches still bothered each other from the separate rooms, but they couldn’t hear each other screeching about it and they often stopped complaining at that point.It still drove the other three siblings mad, though.“Their magic is drawn to each other. They have abilities that compliment the other and are of similar levels. That happens often with powerful magic holders. Completely out of their choosing, their magic senses their best match and is drawn to them.”“Thank you, Jay. We’ve known for awhile now that the Styles boy was powerful. We didn’t know how his powers or skills would present, but now we also know that his magic has found its complement, its match, in you.”Louis blinked. “That can’t be right. There has to have been a mistake. You just said that magic is drawn to similar power levels and that his levels are off the charts. Why would his magic be drawn to mine, then? I’m not powerful at all. I can’t do anything like Harry does.”“We didn’t say your magic is the same,” Yaser reminded him. “Just of a similar power level. Your magic complements each other, so it stands to make sense that your magic doesn’t have the same abilities as his.”“Right,” Louis scoffed. “So what are my powers?”“Well,” Johannah said slowly. “That’s what your training would be for. To learn what your particular skills are and to help you learn to use them as best you can over the next two months.”“Why two months?” Louis asked. “Can’t we do it faster so I can find him faster? What if he’s in danger? He might not last that long! We still don’t even know where he is.”Yaser clapped. “Exactly!”Louis was bewildered. None of this made sense.“We need those two months to not only prepare you with regards to your magic, but to also do what we can to prepare the way for you,” Yaser said, face determined. “Hopefully Harry will continue to communicate as he is able and we will be given more clues. For now, we have a sandy beach, somewhere the skies are grey, and a lighthouse. That’s more information than you realise. If he’s with his parents, then we’ll have found all of them when you track Harry down. If they’re separated, hopefully we will have found Anne and Robin in that time and they’ll be able to give us what information they have as well.”Eyes wide and feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of information he’d just received, Louis took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. He glanced over to the wall covered by the maps, and noticed the green pins matched Harry’s eyes.His eyes. Louis closed his own and he could remember them perfectly. When they were little, Louis used to tell Harry that even in a crowd, he would always be able to find him, because he was the only one with his particular shape and colour of eyes.“So when do we start the training?” Louis asked. *~~***~~* “I think I want to get a tattoo,” Harry said in the tone of voice that told Louis he wasn’t filtering his thoughts anymore.He did that quite often with Louis, and they were some of his favourite conversations. Harry became an open book at that point, and Harry always had been Louis’ favourite book to read.“What would you get?” Louis asked as he continued trying to read the classic novel they’d been assigned. It was just so unbelievable. It was supposed to take place sometime in the early 2000s, but they still had phones that were corded to walls? And no video technology. Louis was quite certain that had all been developed by then. He couldn’t figure out how he would have lived during their time. Not seeing Harry’s face on his screen every day would be awful.A vision of a ship came up in Louis’ mind. It was much clearer than he’d seen Harry send before, which told him this wasn’t a new idea of his. He’d been thinking on this for awhile and was already set on that ship being inked on his skin.Louis looked to the screen and smiled. “And where are you planning to get that? It’s too detailed to be something small.”Harry shrugged, obviously trying to look nonchalant, but the smile on his face gave him away. “Probably somewhere like here,” he said, pointing to his left bicep.Louis rolled his eyes. “Harold, you’re a stick. It would never fit there. It’d wrap around your entire arm.”“Hey,” Harry said, pouting. “I’ve been doing push ups, you know.”This boy. They were fifteen, not exactly at the age where men really started bulking up. Especially with most of them being housebound like they were these days. Once kids turned eighteen and had the freedom to leave their neighbourhood without an accompanying adult, they were able to start seeking the kind of physical exertion where they could build the muscles that Harry wanted. But until then, push ups in his bedroom weren’t really going to cut it.“I’m sure by the time you’re allowed to get one and find a tattoo artist actually still in business, you’ll have the perfect size of bicep to do that ship justice, love,” Louis said and Harry immediately gave him a blinding smile.Louis felt a wave of Harry’s pleasure from Louis’ words before he brought himself to break eye contact and blushed down at his book.“If I go away, will you Find me, Louis?”Louis looked back up quickly at Harry’s question. “What do you mean? Go away where?”Harry shrugged. This time he looked more serious, and Louis knew he wasn’t messing around. “Dunno. What if I turn eighteen and get lost or something? Would you come Find me?”“Course,” Louis said, eyebrows furrowing. “Always.”Harry didn’t smile this time, and there was no accompanying wave of pleasure that filled Louis when he spoke the words he thought Harry wanted to hear.They just looked back down at their books and went back to their assigned reading. *~~***~~* The training wasn’t anything like Louis expected it to be, but it was exhausting.The first month was Louis on various screens with different faces every night, everyone with different abilities trying to asses Louis and learn his strengths. As far as he could tell, he didn’t have strengths. Yaser and his mum must have been mistaken about Louis’ power level and the idea that Harry’s magic was drawn to him.He was perfectly average, and while he wouldn’t have minded that before, now that he had promised Harry he would find him, he realised he wanted every possible aid available. There just didn’t seem to be any.Louis was in the middle of answering questions with a nice woman named Maura when there was a knock at the door in a different rhythm than Louis was accustomed to hearing while at the headquarters.The walls turned back to the rough wood and the room went back to appearing the small size the shelter looked to be on the outside, but Louis knew. Without having any explanation as to how or why or anything, Louis didn’t think twice and he lunged for the door.Yaser yelled a fervent, “Louis!” but he ignored it. As soon as he’d thrown the door open and pulled in the couple that had been standing and waiting outside, he knew he was right.The door closed and Louis looked between the two. “You’re Anne and Robin, right? But Harry’s not with you, is he? I didn’t think he was, but I could feel you close-by even though we’d never met.”Anne nodded, and pulled Louis into a tight hug. “You’re Harry’s Louis. I can tell. We followed you here.”Yaser’s voice rang out. “You what?”Robin held out his pinky, and Louis reciprocated, before Robin then turned to Yaser to do the same. “We went underground. The tunnels that were built by our grandparents are still in tact in most places, but we lost the maps too long ago to know where they would lead. We followed the direction we felt by a powerful holder of magic, and it led us here.” Robin looked at Louis now and smiled. “To you. It’s so nice to meet you. Harry talks about you nonstop.”Louis blushed. He knew that he himself would often tire his family with how much he spoke of his friend, but it pleased him to know Harry did the same.“It seems we have a lot to discuss,” Yaser said.Anne and Robin explained that they were out one evening, Anne at the Holmes Chapel Directions meeting place and Robin doing the shopping for their weekly allotment of meal bars, when they knew something was wrong with Harry. They both got home to find the door open and the house empty. They were in the middle of searching for clues when someone returned. They could feel the person held ill will, and they escaped. When they got close to their Directions meeting place, they found it had been compromised, and they had to go underground. They were afraid, with the Southern Powers or someone possibly aligned with them, that their safehouse in the Midlands was also unsafe, and they decided to come to Doncaster.They quickly got lost when one of the tunnels they had planned to use had caved in, and they didn’t know alternative routes.That’s when they felt Louis and decided to follow the reach of his magic.“So we still don’t have much more information on Harry,” Louis said, throwing his hands in the air.Yaser shook his head. “We do, though.”Louis narrowed his eyes at Yaser. “What does this tell us about Harry?”“It tells us his magic was likely drawn to the nature of your magic. I believe one of your abilities is that of a Finder.”Anne fidgeted in her seat, playing with the meal bar Johannah had offered more than eating it. “Louis being a Finder could be very helpful, possibly even vital, when it comes to Finding him. Has anyone else gone looking for him in the meantime? When did you start Louis’ training?”Louis felt awful for Anne. She and Robin were exhausted from their own trek, but he knew she wouldn’t rest until she knew her son was safe again.“We’ve had others Reaching and trying to find a general location, but nothing has been able to be found,” Yaser explained. “All of our resources are in use with the additional attacks on our boundary as well as on certain specific families, so we aren’t able to send anyone physically after him, especially since Louis spoke with Harry in a dream and we believe Louis is the only one who will be able to Find Harry. We then started Louis’ training immediately, which was about a week after we lost contact with you.”Anne and Robin looked at each other. “That’s when we began to feel his magic.”“So without even knowing, my magic was searching for you and guiding you to us?” Louis asked.Yaser nodded. “We had a Finder before, but not one with your power levels. They could occasionally work in that way, though we never learned to control it.”“But I really don’t think I’m as powerful as you seem to think I am,” Louis argued. “We’ve been training for a month now and I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing or what abilities I have other than apparently I draw other magic to me. And,” Louis said, putting his hands to his head, “isn’t that kind of a bad thing? There are some with the Southern Powers who have magic as well, right? Wouldn’t my magic working like that just draw them to me as well?”Yaser reached out and gripped Louis’ shoulder. It was the first time he’d ever touched Louis, and Louis’ eyes went wide as soon as he did.He could feel the power that coursed through Yaser. It was as if a spark was lit right at the point where his hand rested. It was more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced before.“Louis, I believe in addition to being an incredibly powerful Finder, that you are a strong Shield as well, and that is how we didn’t even know of your power levels until I met you.”“But how-”Louis was interrupted when Yaser said, “One of my abilities is to sense where magic holders are. That’s why we have the map we do. It’s how we knew about Harry years ago and knew the the entire family would be a target. But I never once sensed any unusual levels with you until you started exploring your abilities yourself and you lowered that shield enough for me to sense the strength within you.”“But you said I was powerful before my training started,” Louis argued. “You’re contradicting yourself.”Yaser smiled. “Smart too. I can see why one as powerful as Harry was drawn to you.”Louis snorted. “My mum just says I’ve got more sass than is healthy.”“Perhaps that too,” Yaser said, smirking. “I said that because the rest of what I said that night is also true; magic is drawn to similar power levels. For a magic holder as powerful as Harry to have his magic drawn to you as it seemed to be, it only meant you were a similar level. We just didn’t know for sure that you were until later.”“Then why don’t I feel powerful?” Louis asked. “I feel fucking useless.”“Do you remember what else I told you that night?” Yaser asked.He remembered learning his mum was a founding member of Directions. He learned Anne and Robin were also members. He learned magic was often drawn to similar power levels of…“Complementary abilities,” Louis said softly. “My Shield and Finding abilities complement Harry’s?”“Harry is strong. We know, thanks to the information you’ve been able to share, that he has skills involving visual projection. We can’t know for sure what else his abilities are, but we have seen pairings similar to you two before. Often those with skills in Harry’s set will be a scout, of sorts, and will send information back to their magic match. Their match then also has the ability to find the scout should they be lost or taken.”Louis felt as if he finally was starting to understand. “With my Shield abilities, or what you think are my Shield abilities, could I also Shield Harry from a distance?”“Potentially,” Yaser said. “But that would take a lot of practice and would also depend on the amount of distance between you. The further the distance, the harder it would be for you to Shield him.”“But when I Find him, I’ll definitely be able to Shield him?”“ If you Find him-”“When,” Louis interrupted emphatically. “It’s not if. I’m Finding Harry. You said yourself I’m a powerful Finder. I promised him I’m going to Find him, and my magic is going to help me.”Yaser nodded slowly. Louis could tell he wasn’t sure he believed Louis, but Louis was determined. He would Find him.“Okay. When you Find Harry, I do think it very likely that you’ll be able to Shield him too.”Louis nodded. Turning to Anne and Robin, he said, “I’m eighteen in thirty-two days. That’s when I’ll leave to Find him and bring him home.”Anne gave him a watery smile, and nodded, reaching out to hold his hand.“Thank you.” *~~***~~* “Louis,” Harry said, his head bopping a little. His hair had started getting a little curly a few months ago, and he hated it. It had always been pin straight, and then all of a sudden he turned ten and it started going a bit wonky.Louis would never admit it out loud, but he loved it. He always tried to reach out and share his happiness when he could tell Harry was feeling nervous about it, but this sounded like something else.“Yeah?” Louis asked. Sometimes Harry just wanted his attention and then he’d barrel on. Others he wanted to make sure Louis was really listening and required a response before he continued. Apparently today was the latter.Harry took a deep breath and then looked up. “Did I take over your dream again last night?”Louis thought back and tried to remember. He knew he had to have dreamt something, but he couldn’t remember.“Don’t think so,” Louis said slowly. “I usually remember it if you do. Why?”Harry looked relieved, and it was only then Louis realised he’d been nervous. Why would Harry be nervous about that? He’d been taking over Louis’ dreams off and on for almost five years now. Granted, it had been happening more often these days and they had become a bit more vivid, but it was usually just dreams about them doing schoolwork or having a chat like they’re doing right now.“Nothing,” Harry mumbled, looking back down at the art he was working on on his tablet.“Whatcha drawing?” Louis asked. They were supposed to draw a person or animal of their choosing in one of the three styles they had been studying over the past week. As of now, Louis’ just looked like splotches of colour, but hopefully it would be recognisable in the end.Harry scrunched his nose up and blushed a little. “You.”“Really?” Louis asked. “I’m doing you, too! I mean. Because I’m doing it in the style of Frank Drankstler, you probably won’t be able to tell really, but it is supposed to be you.”Harry’s smile was wide enough it showed his teeth and made his dimples cave in. It almost distracted Louis from the piece of hair that was curling by his ear.Almost.“You’re my best friend ever, Louis,” Harry said.“Best friends forever,” Louis said back.They’d read a book by that title last year, and ever since Harry had been obsessed with the old phrase. It hadn’t been used since probably their great grandparents’ time, but if it made Harry happy, it made Louis happy, and that was all that mattered. *~~***~~* Louis lifted the bag once more to ensure it wasn’t too heavy. There was a lot magic could do, but easing the weight of his travel bag wasn’t one. He didn’t know how long he’d be on foot traversing the underground before having to find his way across the ocean, but he knew it would be a long time before he’d be able to go a day without having to carry his rucksack.Over the past couple months that Louis was training and preparing, Harry had reached out to Louis three times. All three showed the same grey sky that had been in that first dream after Harry had disappeared and all three featured water and a sandy beach. Unlike the first, though, there were also views of long grass, rocks surrounding the lighthouse, and rough water.Yaser and Anne both believed the lighthouse that was such a focal visual of the dreams was that of the Montauk Point Lighthouse in New York. After doing what research they could with the limited information still available to them since the United States went dark communication and technologically speaking over a hundred years ago, Louis had to agree.Louis took a look around his dark house. They’d celebrated his birthday last night, and he could see the girls were trying to figure out what was going on. Louis and his mum hadn’t done a good job of hiding their concern and apprehension, but they also hadn’t wanted to tell the girls what was going on. He knew they would be worried, but hopefully he and Harry would return and all would be well after that.Or something. Louis hadn’t really planned further than Finding Harry because while he knew he needed to, he was worried about whether he would be successful. He wasn’t going to give up until he had Found Harry, though. That much he was sure of.After kissing each of his sisters gently as they slept, he then went into his mum’s room and found her sitting on her bed already awake. She looked up at him and gave him a smile.“I have news for you,” she said softly. Holding up a paper, she handed it over to him. It had a few words and many symbols that he hoped he would understand once she’d given him his last-minute instructions and the travel details that were promised him.“I can only speak this once, so I need you to remember with the help of this paper. There will be a guide for you in the underground. How you know you’ve found your guide is the code. You must remember this, verbatim. Upon meeting him, ask him, ‘Where are you headed?’ and if he is your guide, he will say, ‘One Direction.’ Once you find him, he will lead you to the coast. There will be a boat waiting for you there. It is unmarked and has a young captain and his partner. They’ve been raised on the water and can fend for themselves. They will have the supplies needed to get all three of you across to America. They are hoping to get you right to Long Island, but there are no promises. Where they land is where they must stay, for their magic loses its power when they are not on water.” Here, Jay paused. “They will wait for you to return, but from there you will Find Harry alone. There is no more room on their boat than just you and Harry, it is too dangerous otherwise, so it is up to you and you alone. Understand?”Louis studied the cursive letters reading love, the drawing of four chevrons, swirling waves, and a very familiar anchor. He was drawn to them more so than any of the other symbols or words Johannah had given him on the paper.“Where did you get the anchor?” Louis asked. It was exactly like the one Harry had sent him a visual of days before he’d disappeared.Johannah watched Louis with pursed lips. “I cannot tell you more than I already have. There’s magic at work that you don’t understand, but our moment of safety has passed. We can no longer speak without risk. I’m sorry.”Louis nodded. The warmth he always knew was his mother overtook him and he felt tears prickle his eyes. “I must go,” he whispered.Nodding fervently and wiping at her own tears, Johannah leaned forward and wrapped Louis in her arms tightly. “I love you and wish you all the safety my magic can give you.”“Love you too,” Louis said. He finally pulled back, kissed his mum on the cheek, and once he had tucked the paper into his rucksack, he left the house.Outside was incredibly dark. Louis supposed it made sense with there being no moon visible, but the yellow haze usually still lent some light. Louis had walked the path to the Directions’ headquarters - and therefore the nearest entrance to the underground paths dug by their predecessors - countless times over the past few months, though. He didn’t need light to know he was going the right way.His mind whirled with visions of his sisters and the fear of never returning to them in such a way that he arrived at the underground entrance even earlier than he’d anticipated. Louis had been shown the entrance but never gone down himself. This was officially the first step of his largely unknown journey to Harry.Yes. Harry. He must be so scared, all alone with people he didn’t know. Louis was the one he was relying on to Find him and know it was him. Louis couldn’t hesitate because of worries over his sisters when he knew they at least were safe. Harry wasn’t.Louis hated that line of thinking, because it made him almost consider Harry a damsel in distress. He was anything but, however even if Harry had managed to escape his original captors, without a powerful Shield to help him hide his magic, people would be able to feel his power levels and track him easily. Even if he didn’t need help being rescued, he did need help hiding and that was why he needed Louis to Find him.Focused on his purpose rather than his fear and worry, Louis stepped into the entrance and moved towards the torch he saw bobbing about ahead of him.“Hey, mate,” a voice called out and soon, Louis saw a kind face that looked somewhat familiar to him despite never meeting him before.“Hey,” Louis said. Thinking back to the instructions his mum gave him, Louis asked, “Where are you headed?”“One Direction,” the man said nodding towards the tunnel behind him.Feeling relieved it was the guide Louis was looking for, he extended his pinky in the sign of respect.“I’m Louis,” he introduced.When the man raised his hand to extend his own pinky, Louis saw that along his knuckles was an exact replica of the cursive love on Louis’ paper. He knew for sure now that this was who he was meant to be with for this portion of the journey.“I’m Zayn,” the man said before turning around. “Yaser’s my dad. He raised me in the underground so as soon as I turned eighteen I could be helping whoever might need to travel here.” Shooting a smile over his shoulder, Zayn said, “It’s nice to have it finally be someone close to my age, though. Usually it’s people my dad’s age or older.”Louis laughed. That was why Zayn looked familiar. “Well, you’re stuck with me for however long it takes us to get to the coast.”“Better get moving then. It’s going to take us at least a couple of days to make the distance, and that’s only if some of the tunnels are still holding up. It gets a little sketchy closer to Liverpool.” *~~***~~* “What do you want to do when you’re eighteen?” Louis asked. He was laying on his back, studying his feet. They were just feet, but Harry’s were so much more interesting. Maybe if he drew on his ankles a little or something they would be more interesting.Pulling out one of the pens Louis had found laying around the house and never had a use for, he sat up and started drawing a triangle right below his ankle while he waited for Harry to answer.“Dunno,” Harry said. “I always figured I’d just get a job and do whatever my mum or Robin needed me to do around here. Not like there’s many options these days, ya know? The whole goal is just kind of surviving past the wars.”Louis knew what he meant. He was turning eighteen in just a few months and he didn’t have an idea what he wanted to do. There was such an emphasis on education, but until society either changed how it worked or the wars ended, there wasn’t really an abundance of jobs needing to be done. Their education ended and then what?“What about you?”Louis shrugged. “I’ll probably just start taking care of my sisters more. Help out around the house. My mum always has meetings she’s running off to, so with me not being in school anymore it’ll allow her to attend more of those.”Once he’d darkened the lines enough, Louis pulled his hand back and studied the triangle. He quite liked it.“What do you think, Harry? We could get together at your tattoo parlour and I’ll get this permanently while you get your ship or birds or whatever.”Harry’s eyes were glued to Louis’ ankle, but Louis couldn’t read his expression. It was serious, dark, and a little unsettling. It made Louis feel amazing.“Yeah,” Harry said before having to clear his throat. His eyes darted up to Louis’ and they stared at each other in silence.They’d been having more and more moments like these lately. Ones that should probably be awkward seeing as they were best friends who still hadn’t found an opportunity to actually meet and do all the things they’d been planning since they were five, but they never were. They were charged in a way Louis didn’t know how to describe and he was starting to crave them.Louis felt Harry reach out for him, and was pleased to feel that he also had a tickling in his tummy. Louis reciprocated and they both blushed.Opening his mouth to say something, Louis was interrupted by his mum popping her head into the kitchen.“Lou, honey, the girls need help with their maths assignments and I’ve got another meeting. Can you please help them?”“Sure, Mum,” Louis said before looking at Harry and widening his eyes. “See? They need me,” Louis teased.Smirking at Louis, Harry only said, “Best go. I’ll talk to you later, Lou.”Louis hummed. He’d been so tempted to sign off their conversations with two words that seemed large and heavy and important lately, but he hadn’t quite found the courage to. Maybe next time. He could almost taste them. Love you. Instead, Louis took a breath and waved at the screen. “Bye, Haz.”That would have to suit for now. *~~***~~* Louis was about to go crazy. It was mostly dark and Zayn was the quiet type.Louis was not good at being quiet.“So like...do we have to be quiet while we’re in the underground?” Louis asked, shifting his rucksack so he could pull his cardigan closed. “Cause like...when I’m nervous, I talk. I talk all the time really, but especially when I’m nervous.”Zayn snorted. “Nah. We’re far enough below the surface that people won’t hear us. We can talk.”Nodding despite the face he knew Zayn wouldn’t really see him outside the lighting of the torch, Louis pursed his lips. He was usually very good at conversation, and yet here he was. At a total loss.Thankfully, Zayn spoke. “So, how long have you known Harry?”“Forever, seems like,” Louis said, smiling. “We met when we started school and were in the same class. We hit it off pretty much immediately and have been best mates ever since. Do you know Harry?”“No, just heard my dad mention him from time to time is all,” Zayn said.Once again they lulled into silence. They’d only been walking in the tunnel for what was probably an hour and Louis was already having a hard time. The next couple of days were going to be torture.“So,” Zayn drew out. Louis was thankful for his attempts when he was obviously used to the silence. “You just turned eighteen?”“Yeah. Today, actually. Happy birthday to me,” Louis sang before chuckling a little.“You fucking serious?” Zayn said, turning to look at Louis. The darkness still kept out the details, but Louis could see his surprise in the way the shadows played on his face. “Well that deserves a celebration.”Suddenly, there was a little birthday cake, etched on the wall in dim neon. Louis was glad it wasn’t any brighter or it might have blinded him after being in the dark as long as they had been already. As it was, its appearance scared him a little.Louis might have reached out and latched onto Zayn’s arm, pulling back from the visual of a cake before he realised what it was.“Sorry, I should have warned you,” Zayn chuckled, patting Louis’ hand. “I’m a Creator. I don’t use it often because using it without protection can cause the burst of magic usage to be felt by others, but I figured a small one was worth it for your birthday.”“Thanks,” Louis said, filled with awe. “What other kinds of things can you Create?”They kept walking, leaving the cake behind, but Louis hoped it would last a little longer so at least someone else could see it. It was incredibly cool, looking almost like glow in the dark graffiti.“I can change your view of what’s in front of you, if I concentrate hard enough,” Zayn explained, acting completely unphased by the fact he could do something so incredibly cool. “I’ve not been able to do it successfully too much, but I’m working on it. The goal is to be able to confuse people who are tracking members of Directions so they get lost, or at the very least cover up whatever markings and signs we might have unintentionally left for them on various missions. For fun, though, I like to do things in the style of late twentieth century street art, like the cake.”“That’s fucking amazing,” Louis said with awe. “I’m just a Shield and a Finder. I can’t do anything as awesome as that.”Louis could feel how unimpressed Zayn was with Louis’ attitude just from the way he huffed out his breath. “ Just a Shield. Just a Finder. Not to mention you’re a Shield and a Finder whose magic has already matched with a Projector. Yeah, sure. Very boring.”“Yeah, here’s the thing though,” Louis said, arms waving in front of him. “I know I have these abilities, and I worked on my Finding abilities a little bit, but like…” Louis growled in frustration. “I don’t really know how to use them. And they’re gonna be pretty important when the time comes to Find and protect Harry, like important enough I’ll fail if I can’t figure it out, but in the meantime people keep acting like my magic is this incredible thing and I don’t fucking know what I’m doing with it.”Zayn patted Louis on the shoulder. “Some magic is pretty straight forward. You learn what to do with it and where your skills are and you’re good. Other magic isn’t. What it comes down to is trusting it. Trusting yourself. I’m sure that even with it being rough, you’ll be able to do what you need to when the time comes.”“Sound pretty sure for being so young.”Zayn laughed and Louis couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m only a couple of years older than you. But I learned what I was able to do because I had to. Once I knew what it felt like to use my magic in that way and what exactly my ability was beyond some nice artwork or whatever, I’ve been able to work with it more since then. I’m sure you’ll be the same way.”Louis wasn’t so sure about that, but it was worth a shot.Feeling a little self-conscious and unsure about his abilities, Louis reached out to Harry. Harry was always willing to send him some support and warmth when he needed it.But then Louis remembered. He was on this journey exactly because he couldn’t feel Harry. Because Harry had been taken from his own home and was likely somewhere in the US.Decades ago, the United States went dark. All communication was lost and it was like it didn’t even exist. Most of Canada and Mexico were the same way. Everyone who reached out never heard back and those who went never returned.Most believed a fast-spreading virus had wiped them out. Others thought their own wars had brought them to the point of killing each other off.Louis had never really cared what was going on over there. If people were there, he hoped they weren’t carriers of a deadly virus since Harry could very well have caught it as well by this time. Louis didn’t actually think he was dead, but by now Louis hadn’t got a dream from him in a couple of weeks either. He was getting more and more worried the more time passed without hearing from Harry and worried whether this search would have a happy ending. He hoped it would, but he couldn’t know.All the same, just like Zayn said, Louis should trust himself and his magic. Louis figured he should probably trust in Harry’s ability to survive as well. Harry promised he would be waiting and Louis promised he would Find him. That had to count for something. *~~***~~* “Hazza, what are you doing?” Louis asked with a giggle. All he could see of Harry were his knobby knees and bony ankles as he jumped around and a piece of paper fluttered to the ground.“I’m trying to see if I can get my paper to fly to the moon,” Harry said, giggling a little. He reached out, picked up the paper, and Louis could hear it rustling as he did something with it and then began jumping around again.“Where’d you get paper?” Louis asked.His mum sometimes had paper, but not often. When he asked her about it, she said it was very special and only mummies and daddies could use it because it was very rare. Louis wanted to send a piece of paper to the moon like Harry was.“My mum. She didn’t want this one, so she said I could use it. I wrote a letter to the moon, but now I don’t know how to get it there.”The paper dropped to the floor again.“I think you need to send it in a rocket or a bubble or something,” Louis said. “Nothing’s gone to the moon in a long time, though. Maybe it would be better to send an email.”Harry dropped back down to the floor where his screen was still set, surrounded by his school materials.“An email is a great idea!” Harry said. His eyes were wide and his nose was a little too big for his face, just like his smile.Louis thought he was perfect.“Will you write an email to the moon too, Louis?”Louis smiled. “Yeah! What should it say?”The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about everything they wanted to tell the moon.Louis realised as he lay in bed that night, that they never did remember to actually send the emails. *~~***~~* Louis woke the next morning sore. He wasn’t used to walking for a long time, and walking all day on rough ground was even more difficult than he’d expected. Add to that the fact he had a hard time sleeping, and he was a bit grumpy.All the same, he got up when Zayn indicated they should, silently ate a meal bar, and then they continued their trek.“We’re not as far along as I wanted us to be,” Zayn said later that morning. “I’m not used to traveling the tunnels with a pack as heavy as yours, but I’m also not used to being equipped for more than a couple of days of travel and you have to go much further than that.”“Sorry for needing food,” Louis joked, elbowing Zayn. Once they finally got talking for awhile the day before, they’d developed a comfortable rapport and Louis was already thinking about Zayn as a friend.“You should be,” Zayn teased back. “God, I can’t believe you haven’t evolved enough to not need food yet.”Louis sighed wistfully. “Ahh, the dream.”They both laughed and continued the lighthearted chatter through the rest of the morning.Just after they had lunch, though, Louis began to feel uneasy.“Something’s not right,” he said, slowing to a stop once it got strong enough he couldn’t ignore it any longer.Zayn followed his lead, and turned the torch to the ceiling of the tunnel so it would illuminate their faces without blinding them.“Tell me what you’re feeling,” Zayn said immediately.Louis closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. “The longer we head this way, the worse I feel. It started when we passed the last tunnel branching off. I think we should go that way.”Opening his eyes again, he saw Zayn shaking his head. “No, that’s an old tunnel that branches off to Holmes Chapel before rejoining the main one further up. It’ll only add time to our journey, and we’re going slower than we had hoped as it is.”“The boat will wait for me, right?” Louis asked. “They aren’t going to just decide to sail across the massive fucking ocean on their own. We can afford this and I don’t know why, but we should not continue this way.”Zayn looked at him considering. “Try something for me.”Furrowing his brows, Louis asked, “Try what?”“Try to feel ahead of us.”“What?” Louis laughed. “How the fuck am I supposed to do that?”“You’re a Shield. Imagine it as a bubble surrounding you and push it out. Push it ahead of you and see if you can feel anything. Start with me. See if you can feel my presence.”Feeling ridiculous, Louis closed his eyes and focused on his magic. He’d tried to pinpoint various aspects of it before during training and while he’d been able to with his Finding, he’d never succeeded with his Shield.Then again, he hadn’t really imagined it as an all encompassing thing before either. Before he’d always imagined it as a literal shield like the old time warriors would carry. A bubble made a bit more sense in his case, though, so he figured a change in perspective could potentially help.Imagining it as a bubble, or a cloth draped over him, Louis tried to see if he could try to envelope Zayn with it and feel him beside him. Slowly, Louis started feeling like he was actually physically pushing on something with his mind. Deciding to really put his efforts into that feeling, he did like Zayn said.“Oh my God,” Zayn gasped. “You did it, didn’t you? I swear I felt it right then.”Louis felt as if even with his eyes closed he could see Zayn with a clarity he never had before. He could feel the energy of Zayn’s magic, as if his own magic power was joining Louis’, and that allowed Louis to sense his presence in an entirely new way he hadn’t known was possible before now.“Yeah, I feel you. I’ve got you,” Louis said, not wanting to open his eyes. He knew he wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway. “I’m going to try to push it further ahead of us now.”“Yeah, great. Do it.”Louis focused and pushed, but he noticed that while he was able to, it definitely weakened the further away it went. No more than a few feet past Zayn and Louis was nearly collapsing.“I can’t do it far enough,” Louis said, finally opening his eyes and allowing his magic to retreat back to him. “It makes me too tired.”“That’s alright,” Zayn said, wide smile on his face. “That was amazing. I think you should keep practicing doing that, though. You’ll need to hold your shield out enough to protect you and Harry both for extended periods of time. You’ll need to build up to that.”Louis nodded, starting to feel overwhelmed. That was going to exhaust him quickly, even if he wasn’t trying to extend it too far.“Okay. We can go back to that Holmes Chapel loop. It’s going to add time, but I told you to trust yourself so I suppose I should too. You able to keep walking?”Louis nodded, and they turned to go back the way they’d just come. *~~***~~* Louis laughed and ducked down to avoid the anger of his younger sister just in time to hear his name being called by a familiar, deep voice.Louis rolled onto his back and saw Harry standing in the doorway.He was older. His hair was longer. He had small amounts of scruff indicating he wasn’t shaving every day like he usually did.He looked beautiful.Louis did his best not to be affected, but he couldn’t really help it. Harry had always been a good-looking kid and adolescence was kind to him. Going more than two months without seeing him, though, made Louis crave him even more than usual and seeing Harry looking grown like this was a surprise he wasn’t prepared for.Rolling his eyes, Harry nodded his head toward the kitchen, and Louis followed. When he walked through the door, it turned into a wooded area he wasn’t familiar with. Were those birds singing? Louis had never heard birds with his own ears. It was beautiful.“Things are getting complicated,” Harry said. “I worry you won’t know me when you find me.”Louis shook his head vehemently and reached forward. Even if it was just a dream, he wanted to touch Harry like he’d always wanted to. He gently trailed his fingers down the side of Harry’s face before brushing the hair that had fallen to his forehead out of his eyes.“I’ll always know you,” Louis said. “But complicated how?”“There will be others who look like me,” Harry said slowly. That’s all I can explain.”“Are you really worried that I’ll think someone else is you because they look similar?” Louis asked with a smirk.Harry shrugged but wouldn’t meet Louis’ eyes.“You are!” Louis crowed, leaning back. He was laughing so hard, he didn’t want to do so directly in Harry’s face. “Haz. I’ll always know you. You’re the only one with your ears. And your eyes. And your hands.”Louis softly touched Harry’s ears and temple and finally grasped onto his hands as he spoke. Lacing their fingers together, he found their hands fit perfectly. He hadn’t noticed that during their last shared dream where they touched.“But what if you don’t?” Harry asked. “I’m not saying I don’t trust you, because I do, but I’m changing. I’ve grown more since I’ve been gone than I had in the last year or so. I can hardly walk, because I keep tripping over myself. What if you get confused and Find the Harry you think is real, but it isn’t me?”“He won’t feel like you,” Louis said softly. “Do you think after all those years that I don’t recognise your Touch? Your emotions?”The woods surrounding Louis began to fade, and Harry became wispy around the edges. Louis couldn’t feel Harry’s hand in his anymore.“I’m waiting. I’m reaching for you,” Harry said urgently, fear in his eyes.Louis surged up, and gave him a tight lipped kiss before he said back, “I’m on my way.”And then Harry disappeared. *~~***~~* Zayn had tried speaking all morning, but Louis had been too far lost in his thoughts. Between the dream he’d had last night and the fact parts of the tunnel just beyond Holmes Chapel had fallen causing the ground to be even more rough than they already were traversing, kept Louis from holding up his side of the conversation.“He sent you another dream, didn’t he?” Zayn asked.“I...what?” Louis asked, truly pulled out of his head for the first time all morning. “How did you know that?”“Dad might have warned that you’re quiet after he sends you a dream so I could be prepared.” Zayn flashed the torch in Louis’ direction before laughing and saying, “So, wanna talk about it? We’re going to reach where this tunnel intersects with the one we were on before pretty soon, so you already have a pretty easy out if you want one at that point.”“It’s not a big deal, it’s just…” Louis faded off. He’d never admitted to anyone out loud his feelings for Harry, and now he’d gone and kissed him in his dream. A dream that he knew Harry would remember with as much clarity as Louis would. “I just...I kissed him last night.”“Wey-hey!” Zayn cheered before laughing some more. He was in a good mood today despite the extra length Louis made them add on by taking the route they had yesterday. “So it was that kind of dream, huh?”“I fucking hate you,” Louis said with no actual heat behind the words. “No, it wasn’t that kind of dream. He was scared and I’ve maybe been wanting to kiss him for awhile and I was trying to assure him I was coming and I’d know him when I found him and I did it without thinking, and now I’m freaking out a little bit because he’s my best friend and we’ve never talked about anything like this and then I go and kiss him and fuck.” Louis ran his hand through his hair and tugged at it a little. “I’m such a bloody mess, mate.”“Yeah, well…” Zayn stopped talking and Louis ran into his back. Sometimes he really wished he’d thought to pack a torch of his own so he didn’t have to depend entirely on Zayn’s.“Sorry,” Louis said as he stepped around Zayn and tried to see what had made him stop.They’d finally rejoined the other tunnel and when Louis looked to the left he saw a woman curled up and sleeping in front of what looked to be a collapsed section.“Is that where we could have been coming from?” Louis asked quietly.“Yeah,” Zayn affirmed. “That’s new, too. I just came this way a few weeks ago and it looked stable. I’m not sure what happened to cause this, but it wasn’t good.”“What about her?” Louis asked. There was something about the stranger that was vaguely familiar, but Louis couldn’t place it.Zayn shrugged and carefully stepped closer. Louis remained where he was. Considering they didn’t know who she was, what her alliance was, or what kind of magic she could potentially be in possession of, he felt it was the best choice to stay as far away as possible.Louis was filled with someone’s Touch of alarm and the woman jumped up from where she’d been resting, trying to back herself away from Zayn. She hadn’t moved much before she hit the rock and dirt blockage behind her, causing more to rain down.“Get away from there,” Zayn called, reaching out and pulling her away from the collapse. “That’s recent and I’m not sure how unstable this entire section is.”Turning on her own torch that Louis realised she’d been holding the entire time caused her face to light up more.“Gemma?” Louis said, moving forward without thinking. “Is that you?”Gemma turned her torch towards Louis before she dropped it. “Oh my God. Louis?”Louis nodded and rushed forward to give her a hug. They didn’t know each other as well as he knew Harry, but Gemma had been a consistent presence in their regular chats growing up and sometimes even deigned to participate in their various activities. She’d fallen in love with a boy from her school class, though, and once she’d turned eighteen and finished her education, they had moved in together somewhere near Newcastle. That was almost three years ago, and Louis hadn’t seen her since.“You have no idea how much I needed to see a kind face,” she said, crying into Louis’ shoulder.Glancing at Zayn, Louis was happy they were the ones to find her, but also was concerned about what had brought her to be in the underground alone. Zayn’s face showed similar worry.“What happened?” Louis asked. “I thought you were still safe up north.”Gemma pulled back and shook her head. “A few months ago I felt Harry and was worried about him, Mum, and Robin. I came to visit, and found the house entirely empty. I mean completely, Louis.”Louis’ brows furrowed. “How completely?”“It was only a house,” Gemma said. “All of my family’s belongings were gone. When I reached out, I could feel my mum and Robin were scared but safe. When I reached out for Harry, though, it was like he wasn’t even there. I went back home and waited to hear from Mum for an explanation. Within a week, though, I woke to John screaming. He wasn’t in bed with me, even though we’d fallen asleep together, and when I went to investigate, he was already gone.”“Fuck,” Zayn muttered. “You’re John Murray’s wife. I didn’t know you were a Styles as well, though that makes sense.”“I am, yes. I immediately went to the underground. It was the only place I could think of that might possibly be safe, and I’ve been wandering for the last month or so, but our emergency pack is nearly gone, I’m completely lost, and I still don’t know what’s going on with my husband or the rest of my family.”“Who’s John Murray? Why do you know him?” Louis asked Zayn.Zayn was pacing, the bobbing of his torch almost hypnotising Louis.“John was the leader of Directions in the north. He covered most of the Scottish territories and of course Newcastle. He disappeared in late November and we recovered his body a few days later.” Zayn walked up to Gemma and squeezed her shoulders. “I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but he did what he swore he would do. He protected Directions and his family with his life, Gemma. He was a good man, and we’re sorry to have lost him.”Crying again, Gemma nodded and fell into Zayn’s embrace. “When I couldn’t feel him anymore I worried that was the case. But what about Mum and Robin? Do either of you know what happened to them? Why can’t I feel Harry? Is he dead too?”“No,” Louis said quickly, doing what he could to dispel her fear of losing another loved one so soon after her husband. “Harry’s still alive. He just took over my dream last night, actually.”Tears still in her eyes, Gemma gave Louis a soft smile, though it was laced with pain. “I’m sure he did.”Louis blinked, unsure what exactly she meant by that. “Uh, yeah. As for Anne and Robin, they’re at the Directions headquarters in Doncaster with Yaser, Zayn’s dad.”Gemma whipped her head towards Zayn, “Yaser Malik is your father? Bloody hell, I really did have the best people find me. You’re the one who knows the underground better than anyone else, right? You can help me get to them?”Zayn nodded before glancing over at Louis. “Yes, I can,” he said slowly. “But I need to get Louis to Liverpool first.”“Why Liverpool?” Gemma asked, gathering her small rucksack that looked very close to empty. He was glad they’d found her. They could share their meal bars with her when her own ran out.“Louis is going to Find Harry,” Zayn said, taking the rucksack from Louis to give his shoulders a break.“Find Harry?” Gemma asked. She followed when Zayn started leading the way again, so despite the fact it meant she was headed in the opposite direction of her family, Louis was pleased to have her company as well.“Harry was taken,” Louis explained. “We’re pretty sure it was the Southern Powers, but we can’t be sure. It seems they’ve taken him to the eastern coast area of the US, but we aren’t positive. That’s where we’re starting anyway.”“Why would they take him to America?” Gemma asked, sounding much more concerned than she was before. “Why wouldn’t they just take him to the south with the rest of their leaders? It seems much more strategic.”“Your brother has powerful magic,” Zayn said matter-of-factly. “My dad thinks it was a combination of fear as well as wanting to get him as far away from Directions as possible in an attempt to keep Harry from being able to be a force on our side. With him joining us, we would finally have the upper hand and have a chance at pushing the Southern Powers out of the UK.”“Harry?” Gemma asked. “My Harry? Really?”Louis snorted. “Kind of crazy, right? But he has been able to come into my dreams despite the fact that he’s far enough away we can’t touch him. That’s pretty incredible.”Gemma hummed, and they all remained quiet for a time. *~~***~~* “I had a weird dream last night,” Louis said to Harry. He’d much rather talk about his strange dreams than continue working on the paper of the late twenty-first century uprisings in Europe. Especially since the dream last night felt different.“What kind of a weird dream?” Harry asked before immediately going back to his own paper he was tapping out on his tablet.For as distracting and snotty as Harry could be during class, he really was an excellent student. Louis envied that about him sometimes.“Well it was like a normal dream, not really making any sense. I think in this one I was dancing in the rain and jumping in puddles with Lottie and having a fun time. You know, like how rain used to be, not acid rain, obviously.”“Yeah,” Harry said distractedly as he continued to write.Rolling his eyes, Louis continued. He knew the next part would get Harry’s attention anyway.“But then you appeared and you led me inside the house cause you wanted to sing with the speakers my mum found last week.”Harry froze. “Did we sing that one song Gemma wouldn’t stop playing a few weeks ago?” he asked quietly, still not looking at Louis. Why wouldn’t he just look up at him? Harry was so weird sometimes.“Yeah!“ Louis said, excited. “How did you know?”Harry slowly lifted his head and he looked Louis in the eyes finally, but he was biting his lip pretty hard. He was studying his screen a little, and Louis’ brows furrowed. What was he doing?“Are you alone?” Harry asked slowly.Rolling his eyes, Louis said, “Oh, come on, Haz. You know you’d be able to hear the girls if they were in the room with me.”Harry looked over his shoulder and then started standing up. He picked up his screen and moved to another room, closing a door behind him and then settling down again.“Oh, come on. Just tell me what’s going on and why you’re acting so weird.”Pursing his lips, Harry asked, “Has this happened before?”That definitely did not answer Louis’ question.“Has what happened before?” Louis threw back.“Me coming into your dream and kind of like...taking it over.” Shrugging a little, Harry added, “Changing it.”Thinking back, Louis could remember a few other times it had happened before, but he’d never said anything. It seemed like any other dream that just strangely transitioned from one thing to the next without making much sense outside of your dream state. But now that he thought about it, the ones with Harry where he would change them always did have a little bit of a different feel to them too.“Yeah, it has. Why?”“That’s like…” Harry shifted around a little, obviously nervous about what he was about to say. Dropping his voice even lower, he said, “That’s part of my magic. I had that same dream last night where I took you into your house and had us sing songs together.”Blinking, Louis just asked, “What, like dream sharing?”That was a somewhat common phenomenon between siblings, though he’d never heard of it happening outside of a close family member. He and Harry always had been close, though, so he wouldn’t mind if some of the special bonds between siblings extended to them.“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “It’s different from dream sharing. I have control, and usually the other person whose dream I’ve entered can make their own decisions too.”Eyes wide, Louis leaned closer to the screen. “Have you done this with other people too?”If he had, this would be so epic. How cool would it be to actually take part in each other’s dreams?Nodding, Harry said, “Just my mum and Gemma. We thought it might be because we are so close to each other physically that they’re the natural choices my magic selected.”“Wow, Harry. This is so very cool.”Harry was blushing and muttered something that Louis couldn’t quite make out.“What was that?”“Nothing,” Harry said quickly. “Let me know whenever it happens?”Reaching out to send Harry a feeling of happiness, Louis knew they were back to normal when Harry reached out to tickle Louis where he was most sensitive on the back of his neck.“We should get back to work on our papers now,” Harry said as he stood back up from his sleeping pad and took his screen back to the other room where his tablet was waiting on the floor.“I don’t want to work on my paper,” Louis groaned. “I hate writing papers. They’re the absolute worst. Complete torture!” Louis had now flopped onto his back and covered his face with his arms. He didn’t even know what part of him was visible to Harry through their screens at this point, but he didn’t care. He heard Harry laughing loudly and that was the whole point.“Come on, Lou. If you want to stay in my class you have to be sure to pass every course.”He made a good point. Louis hated that it was a good point. He’d rather just not turn in this assignment.“Fine. But I’m not happy about it.”“Course not,” Harry said. When Louis lowered his arms, he saw Harry smiling at him widely.Harry was too persuasive for his own good. *~~***~~* “We should be reaching Liverpool this morning, as long as no other tunnels have collapsed,” Zayn said as they packed up their things.Louis hoped so. He missed sunlight and wanted a good wash. Maybe he’d even get to sleep on something other than the ground with nothing but a blanket to soften it for him.“Will we be turning around right away?” Gemma asked. She was understandably anxious to get back to her mum and Robin and had been talking about her concerns just last night before bed.“Not quite,” Zayn said. “We need to make sure Louis and his guides make it out of port safely before we can head back.”“Is it a busy port?” Louis asked. He hadn’t really thought much past getting to the boat and ensuring those waiting to help him were the ones he was meant to find.“No,” Zayn said, turning to go down the tunnel that branched to the left. “But it is a known historical area that used to be popular with pirates around fifty years ago, so it could potentially be found and the boat compromised. Hopefully not, but you can never be too certain.”“Do you know who will be working the boat?” Louis asked.“Not by name,” Zayn said. “I’ll know if they’re the ones when we get there.”“Is he always this cryptic?” Gemma asked. “If he is, I might accidentally kill him before we get to Doncaster.”Louis laughed. “No, actually. He’s quite straightforward, but he does sound a bit like an old mage, doesn’t he?”Gemma’s giggles joined Louis’ laughter, and Zayn just sent them a middle finger. He even turned his torch so they would be sure to see it. That only made Louis laugh harder, though.He hoped he got along with the two people who would be manning the boat as well as he had with Zayn and now Gemma. He could have easily got someone who didn’t trust him or wasn’t sociable and the days would have felt much longer than they already had.Zayn and Gemma distracted Louis from his own concerns as they continued to walk through increasingly rough tunnels before Zayn made a pleased sound and had them turn a sharp right.“Here’s where we go back above ground,” Zayn said. “You can feel how soft the soil is. We’re close to the water.”They slowly made their way up the steep incline, Louis slipping in the soft earth below his feet from time to time, but luckily never falling.After it felt like they’d been walking upwards for ages, Zayn paused and made them stop as well. “I’m starting to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I just wanted to warn you. After being underground for as long as you two have, your eyes are going to have a hard time adjusting.”Louis suddenly thought back to one of the images Harry used to send Louis on a fairly frequent basis. It was another one of his ideas he’d come across for a future tattoo. It was what used to be called sunglasses. No one really used them anymore because the sun was rarely bright enough to warrant it, but from what Louis could tell based on historical photos, they used to be incredibly popular. Harry had been obsessed with them about a year ago, and there was one particular drawing he continued to tweak and work with, sending hazy images of every small change he made to Louis, even in the middle of class. He wished he had a pair of sunglasses now. He was certain he could use them.The light grew brighter, and Louis could tell Zayn was right. It was hurting his eyes and causing a fairly strong headache, and they weren’t even at the end of the tunnel yet.“Does it hurt less once you’re out there because the point of light isn’t as concentrated?” Gemma asked.“Not sure it works like that,” Louis grumbled.“No,” Zayn said, confirming his fears. “It’ll hurt just as bad, but I brought us some oils to help with the adjustment.”“Fuck,” Louis mumbled.Once they’d made it out of the tunnel, Louis could hardly open his eyes, the light was so blinding.“We’re going to just make our way to the woods so we can sit and allow our eyes to adjust safely before we continue on,” Zayn instructed.Louis reached out, and was able to catch a piece of Zayn’s cardigan. He’d just follow wherever Zayn led him and hope he didn’t trip over a root or something. It was going to take some great force of nature if Louis was going to willingly open his eyes right now.“It’s like I can hear how bright it is out here,” Gemma mumbled.“Yeah, it’s almost making my ears buzz,” Louis agreed.Zayn, of course, had the answer. “It’s just your senses being overloaded. Your eyes can’t handle what they’re being subjected to, so your ears are trying to compensate. The ringing will go down shortly.”Once they found a log that was fairly hidden from view of the surrounding areas, They all settled and Zayn helped administer the oils and herbs.“It seems pretty empty around here,” Gemma commented, once she was able to open her eyes a little more. “Why did we need to hide in the trees? We’re far from the border of the Southern Powers, right?”“We can’t be too cautious at the moment,” Zayn said. “Louis, while we’re here, let’s work on pushing out your Shield some more.”Louis groaned. He’d been working on improving his abilities with his Shield the past couple of days. The results had been mixed, but one thing was constant: Louis’ energy was nearly depleted after only fifteen minutes.“I’m going to need the energy to go the rest of the way to the boat, right?” Louis asked. “It’s going to be harder to walk above ground where we have to be careful of people. Shouldn’t I save my energy and work on that once I’m on the boat?”Zayn stared at Louis, unamused. “Just try to encompass us with your Shield for five minutes straight, yeah?”Louis sighed, but did as Zayn suggested. It was becoming more second nature to focus on his Shield. The past couple of days and helped him recognise the feel of that magic versus Touch and Finding. At least that had improved.Focusing on the protective layer he imagined it creating around him, he did what he could to allow it to drape over and encompass Gemma and Zayn as well, then tried to hold it steady. Zayn began to walk slowly around in front of Louis, making it a bit more difficult but he was able to keep him within the energy of his magic until an unfamiliar Touch reached into Louis and poked him in his side.“Fuck!” Louis screeched as he physically fell off the log. “What was that?”Gemma and Zayn were silent, and it was only then that Louis finally looked beyond them.“How’d you do that?” Zayn asked, sounding awestruck.Each of them had a thin, translucent veil surrounding them. Louis tried to poke at his, but it moved as he moved, and he saw the ones surrounding Zayn and Gemma were doing the same.“That’s not me,” Louis said. “At least, I don’t think it is.”“It feels like you,” Gemma said slowly, looking at Louis with excitement in her eyes. “It feels like when you’ve encompassed us with the Shield. Wait, is it surrounding you two as well? I can only see mine.”“Same,” Zayn said.Louis huffed. “Well I can see all three, so I guess I did do it, but I have no idea how.”“Is it draining you of energy like it would if you were holding up your Shield?” Zayn asked.Louis shook his head, getting more excited as he thought about it more. “No, I’m not thinking about it at all, it feels like I’m not doing anything.” Sitting back up on the log, Louis rubbed his hands together. “If I could recreate this, that would mean I could keep Harry’s power shrouded and the Southern Powers or whoever took him and are keeping him in America wouldn’t be able to track him anymore.”Nodding, Zayn said, “Exactly. Let’s see how long these last, especially with us moving more. We really need to get you to that boat.”Louis hadn’t even realised, but his eyes were no longer paining him and while he still had to squint more than he usually would, his vision was mostly clear. Louis watched Gemma and Zayn in awe as his extended Shield moved with them almost effortlessly. It had been over ten minutes now, and his energy wasn’t flagging at all. If he could figure out how he’d done it…Wait. The unfamiliar touch was what sparked it. Who was that? How did they know he was there? Where were they? Touches from long distances weren’t common, especially from people that weren’t known previously. Louis had never had someone reach out to him like that, much less without asking permission first or building a relationship of trust.It had been too long now for Louis to reach back and see if he could learn more. If he hadn’t been so distracted by his Shield, perhaps he could have, but as of now, he’d have to wait until it happened again. If it happened again.Louis would kind of rather it didn’t.“We’re about to enter an abandoned part of Old Liverpool,” Zayn said, stopping both of them. “We have to keep quiet and be cautious. As far as we know, no one lives here at all and hasn’t for decades, but that could make it more dangerous for us should that turn out not to be the case. Follow me, keep close, and if needed, we run.”Louis and Gemma nodded and, feeling incredibly nervous, Louis took up the rear.Buildings that hinted at the fact it used to be an industrial hub were crumbling and things were eerily quiet. Louis had to fight shivers multiple times as the three of them quickly traversed streets that Zayn obviously knew his way around.Tension loosening within his chest, Louis was starting to feel relief upon catching sight of a lone boat at the dock. It was directly ahead of them when Louis heard footsteps. He turned his head and saw a small woman dressed in traditional Southern Powers clothing trailing them. Upon seeing she’d been spotted, she started to run towards them.“Run!” Louis yelled. He reached out his urgency and fear to Gemma and Zayn, and without turning back, they began the sprint to the boat. Louis was worried it might be a decoy of the Southern Powers, but as they drew closer he saw the waves that had been part of the paper his mother had given him etched into the side of it.It was the one.“Get on the boat!” Louis called as they got closer. “Both of you!”“What if it’s not the right one?” Gemma asked without slowing her gait.“It’s the right one,” Louis said, trying to keep running as fast as he could.Zayn began waving hysterically at the two people visible within the captain’s quarters. “Get it started! We’ve got to go now!” A man with short brown hair and a tidy beard came out and began fervently loosening the ropes holding the boat to the dock. The deck was only about a foot higher than the dock was, making it easy enough for them to jump on before the brown haired man pushed the boat away and the one manning the steering got the power up on the boat.Heaving in breaths as fast as he could to ease the pain in his burning lungs, Louis turned around and faced the dock. Two larger men had joined the woman, but they were just too late.“Fuck, that was close,” Louis said. “Do you think they were waiting for us? Or was it luck that we beat them to the boat?”Zayn shrugged. “Not sure. If they weren’t waiting for us, then it was more than luck.”“What do you mean?” Gemma asked.“We easily could have been a day later than we are now,” Zayn said. “I originally wasn’t going to have us take the tunnel towards Holmes Chapel.”Louis swallowed. “We could have died. Or lost more time. Or not found Gemma.”Zayn nodded. “Or been caught by them on the dock.”“Bloody hell,” Gemma whispered. Turning to Louis, she asked, “What made you want to turn around?”“I had a heavy feeling that wouldn’t go away,” Louis said after a moment of trying to find words to describe it. “It kept getting worse as we continued down that path, and I knew we couldn’t go on. We had to change direction somehow.”“Sorry to interrupt,” the man with the short brown hair said, “But we need to figure out where we are dropping you two. We don’t have the provisions or space for extra passengers for this long of a trip.”“Sorry,” Zayn said. “Can we go to the next city north? Crosby? There’s another underground entrance there we can easily use and that shouldn’t take you too far off course.”Nodding, the man held out his arm, pinky outstretched in a sign of respect. “I’m Liam. I’m guessing you’re Zayn, since you look like your father.”Louis lost track of what the men were saying, because he spotted another image from the directions his mother had sent with him. The four dark chevrons were tattooed into Liam’s forearm matched the paper exactly. If Louis hadn’t already been sure this was the boat he was meant to use, that confirmation helped ease his fears.Love. Chevrons. Waves. Harry’s anchor. Slowly the symbols and reminders his mum had given him before he left were helping Louis confirm he was on the right path.“Niall’s the one navigating. You should come meet him.”Louis blinked out of his daze, and saw Liam smiling at him.“Sorry,” Louis said, outstretching his pinky. “I’m Louis.”Liam’s smile widened so his eyes were nearly slits. “I thought so, but it’s very nice to officially meet you. We’ll be getting to know each other quite well over the next few weeks.”A warmth filled him, and his eyes widened. “It was you!” he said, possibly louder than necessary. “You reached out to me earlier.”Liam nodded, looking bashful. “I did. We had seen shadows moving in the city and were growing concerned. We had to know if you were near or if we could leave port and return in a day or so. When I felt you so close, we decided to stay and wait for you.”Louis nodded. “I’m glad you did. And your Touch scared the shit out of me, but it helped me discover something important as well. I’ll explain later once we’ve got more settled. Let’s go meet Niall.”Zayn and Gemma were already chatting and laughing with the brunet at the helm. He continued to prove he was the friendly sort when he pulled Louis into a hug rather than settling for the traditional sign of respect.“Hey, mate,” Niall said in a thick Irish accent. “Nice to meet ya. Hope you don’t get seasick.”“Yeah, I hope I don’t either,” Louis agreed. He’d never been near a large enough body of water that was safe to boat on.Sooner than Louis had expected, they pulled into a tiny cove that looked like a place where mermaids might live. Harry was a fan of the old lore and had been proper obsessed with mermaids a few years ago. He’d even drawn up his own version of a mermaid that he had considered getting tattooed for a time. Eventually he had decided against it as he didn’t want his mum to disown him.“This is the safest place for us to dock near Crosby,” Niall said apologetically. “I hope it will work for you.”Zayn nodded and wrapped the man in a hug. “It’ll do just fine. Thanks, mate. Safe travels.”Gemma gave Niall a hug as well and soon Louis was standing on deck with both of them while Liam lowered a walkway.“Thank you so much for everything, Zayn,” Louis said sincerely. “You’ve become a true friend.”Zayn wrapped Louis in a tight hug, and Louis couldn’t help but reciprocate.“It was a honour getting to know you. I hope we meet again.”Louis nodded, trying not to tear up. It had been mere days, but he had built a connection, a feeling of safety, with Zayn that he was worried he wouldn’t find again.Giving Gemma her own hug and well wishes, Louis stepped back and watched them make their way down to the pebbles that littered the ground. Liam pulled the walkway back, and soon enough they were heading back out of the cove, ready to head for America. *~~***~~* “I wish my hair was longer.”Louis was looking at the small window that showed him what he was projecting to Harry in his screen and messing with his hair. His mum had cut it recently, like she always did, and it was short and awkward and a mess. Louis hated it. He was fifteen, he should be able to choose how his hair looked.“So why not grow it out?” Harry asked.Louis pouted. “Mum said this is the only haircut she knows how to give me, so unless I want hair like the girls have, it’s this or cutting it myself.”Harry studied Louis’s hair for a moment. “Gemma’s been giving me lessons on cutting hair.”Louis furrowed his brows. “Really?”Harry nodded his head. “Yeah. Mum and Robin don’t really know how to do it, so Gemma taught herself using how-to videos. She’s been doing all of our hair for ages, but since she’s leaving soon to be with her partner, she’s teaching me.”Louis was impressed. He’d never thought about the historical videos that could occasionally be found if you knew where to look.“When we meet, I can start taking care of your hair,” Harry offered. “Just tell me what you want and I’ll do what I can to make it look nice.”Louis’ nose scrunched. “But what if I look even worse with long hair, no matter how it’s styled?”Rolling his eyes, Harry said, “First of all, you look great. Always do.”Louis crossed his eyes at Harry and heard him laugh. Good. He didn’t want Harry to notice he was blushing.“Second of all, I think longer hair would suit you. We could do like, a fringe or summat. Make it all swoopy across your forehead. Kinda land on your cheekbone. I think it would look really nice.”Trying to imagine what he might look like with a fringe long enough to be swept to the side and hitting his cheekbone, Louis gave Harry a soft smile. “I’ll see if I can convince my mum to let me start growing it out, then. Gotta have my hair ready for a haircut by the time I meet you.”“I’ll grow mine out too,” Harry said, shaking his puffy head of curls. It had gone full-blown curly by now, and Louis couldn’t wait to meet him and run his fingers through it. It looked so soft. “Maybe it’ll even get long enough I could learn to plait it and everything.”“I can help with that part,” Louis said, confidently. “I do Fizzy and Lottie’s hair all the time while they take care of the twins.”“Perfect. It’s a deal.”Harry held his hand up to the camera, and Louis did the same, so it looked like they were touching their palms together virtually. Louis reached out to Harry with a feeling of happy resolve.When Louis was flooded with a feeling he couldn’t quite put into words but was very familiar with, he just blushed and looked to the ground. It was definitely from Harry, but he wasn’t quite ready to talk about that yet.“So,” Harry said, sounding like he was trying to pull Louis back to schoolwork. “About this science project.” *~~***~~* Louis definitely got seasick. Niall said it made sense, but Louis didn’t care if it made sense or not. It was the single worst feeling he’d ever had in his entire life. And that included the time he’d got a few drops of acid rain on him after he’d gone outside even when the clouds were obviously ready to burst. That had hurt like fuck, but this was a constant roiling feeling in his gut combined with unsteadiness.He really wasn’t sure he was going to survive the trip to America.“Oh my God, will you just open your eyes and look at me already?” Liam said, obviously exasperated.“Liam, I swear to all the powers, if I open my eyes you will be covered in sick. I would really rather not and spare the both of us.”“What a dramatic wanker,” Liam muttered. “I’m a Healer, Louis, but for this particular aid to work, I need you to open your eyes and see what I’m doing.”Brows furrowed and eyes still stubbornly clamped shut, Louis asked, “Why? My mum had minor Healing powers and she never had anything where I had to see it.”“Yeah, because she had minor Healing powers and mine are the full-blown fucking thing, now open your eyes or I’ll let you be sick the rest of this trip.”Liam’s tone was biting and honestly a bit too close to that of Louis’ mum when she was upset, so he did as he instructed and cracked open his eyes. His stomach rolled, but he wasn’t immediately sick so he considered it a success.“Thank fuck. Now look into my eyes.”Louis focused on Liam’s large, brown eyes, and then felt a wave of calm run through him.Everything within him eased. His muscles relaxed, his stomach didn’t feel like a ball of knotted livewires, and he didn’t feel every minute movement of the boat.“Okay, how the fuck did you do that?” Louis asked, smile large as he sat up for the first time in what felt like days.It was only just night of the first full day of sailing, but it felt longer.Liam’s eyes grew wide and playful as he waved his fingers in front of Louis. “Mmmmagic.”“Oh my God,” Louis said, laughing. “Okay. Fine. Thank you for whatever it was you did there. Does it last as long as I’m on the water or does it wear off?”Liam shrugged. “Depends on the person. Some people, they’re good. It’s almost like it’s a reset button for them and they never have seasick issues again. For others, it returns. We’ll just have to see with you.”“I’ll take it,” Louis said.“So, Zayn mentioned you need to practice your Shield abilities while we make our way to Long Island.”“I’ve been betrayed,” Louis said, deadpan. “I’ve been having some success with certain aspects of pushing out my personal Shield to encompass others, but it took too much energy. I was trying to work on increasing my stamina when your Touch scared the shit out of me. That’s when I learned I could create personal Shields for other people that don’t use any of my own energy. I just...Don’t know how to make it happen again.”Liam nodded. “Okay. So essentially I just need to be here and let you keep messing around, hoping that something eventually works.”“Uh...yeah. Pretty much.”“Alright.”Louis smiled. “You’re a lot more chill than I thought you might be about this.”Liam rolled his eyes. “My best mate and magical match has water powers. I’m sure you can imagine what kinds of testing he subjected me to while he was figuring his shit out.”Louis chuckled. “Yeah, alright.”After that, the rhythm of the next several days was set. Niall and Liam would take shifts at night, allowing them both time to rest but keeping the boat on course. Louis would wake up, reach out to Harry to see if he got anything from him, and then when he didn’t, he would wash, eat breakfast, and find Liam.The rest of the day was spent with Louis trying and failing to recreate the personal shields he had provided for Gemma and Zayn, taking breaks to shoot the breeze with Niall and eat. It was simple, usually enjoyable, but also entirely frustrating that Louis couldn’t seem to get the shield to work how he would need it to.They were constantly getting closer to Harry and Louis was not prepared to protect him yet. What was the point of Finding Harry and whisking him away if every person who wished Harry ill could find him again?“Hey,” Niall said one night when he and Louis were laying down to sleep. “If the Southern Powers could track Harry’s location by his magical strength, why can’t we? I know there are people in Directions who have that ability. It’s how they knew he existed in the first place, right?”Louis nodded. “Yeah, but there were a couple of things causing issues. There was only one person who had the ability to scan for powerful magic at such a distance as across the entire ocean. Once Directions contacted them and asked them to try, Harry couldn’t be found. We think someone who took him is using a Shield to cover that as well.”“Ahh,” Niall said, sounding more and more sleepy. “And thus the Finder. Makes sense.”Louis hummed, and soon both of them dropped off to sleep. *~~***~~* Drawings danced through Louis’ head, always in black and white. Swallows. A butterfly. Laurels. A ship. An anchor. An eagle.They continued to fade in and out on repeat over and over and over.“But why?” Louis shouted into the void. It seemed that he was in a vacuum, surrounded by darkness, only enough light to show the images on repeat.Swallows. A butterfly. Laurels.“What does it mean?” he called, spinning around. It didn’t matter what direction he faced, the images followed him as if they were trying to imprint themselves upon his mind.A ship. An anchor. An eagle.“The order is important, Louis,” Harry’s voice said.It was faint, as if he was far away, but Louis wanted him near. It had been so long since his last dream of Harry and he needed to see him, know he was okay.Swallows. A butterfly.“Why is it important? Why do I need to remember it?” Louis asked, still moving in circles, hoping he’d be able to catch sight of Harry. All he could see were the flashes of light with the images.Laurels. A ship.“It will help you find me, Lou. The order is important. Don’t forget them.”An anchor.“Where are you, Harry?” Louis called. “I miss you!“I’m close to where you saw me before. Remember the exact images, Lou. The order.” His voice was fading, and Louis was filled with dread. Like Harry was being ripped from him before he even got him completely.“Harry!” he screamed as loud as he could. There wasn’t an answer. “I love you,” Louis whispered.An eagle. *~~***~~* Louis scribbled furiously in the book Zayn had gifted him the second day of their journey. Louis hadn’t used it yet, wanting to save it for when he absolutely needed it, and now seemed the time. He first wrote as much of a description of the images as possible. The order, the various things he remembered seeing in them. For example, he believed the birds in the drawings he’d been shown had eyebrows, even if that was ridiculous.He gave up after a bit. Descriptions would not work well enough.Pulling out the tattered paper he looked at every night before bed, Louis looked and found two of the images he’d seen in his dream already on the paper. The anchor and the butterfly.That helped, but wasn’t enough.Louis started drawing. It wasn’t perfect, but hopefully it would be close enough and in enough detail that he wouldn’t forget.
Then again, he’d seen the images on repeat so many times through that dream that he wasn’t sure he could ever forget, but he never was very good at those “spot the difference” games, so it would be better to be safe than sorry. That and he didn’t want to see the correct image clue and follow it only to learn it was the wrong order and he’d missed a step.God, he was getting nervous. Everything felt imminent. As if after only four days of sailing, everything rested on this moment. That Louis’ preparation right now would determine if he was successful or not.The weight of his fear was unnerving.Underneath it all, though, Louis also felt something warm. Confidence. He had been chosen to do this because he was the one who knew Harry best. Harry’s magic was strong, and it had chosen Louis because Louis’ was powerful as well. He had to trust in himself, even if he didn’t know what he was doing or how he would succeed.Liam tried to talk to Louis before, but Louis shook his head and gave a terse, “Not today. This is more important,” and ever since then he’d been left alone below deck. He was fine with that. If the order and specificity of the images was as important as they felt, Louis would rather they be perfect than continue failing in his attempts to create another personal Shield for Liam.Finally, by nightfall, Louis’ hand was cramping and most of the pages in the small book had been used, but Louis felt they were as close to perfect as they could be. The order, the images themselves, all of it. Hopefully it would be exactly what he needed when the time came.Emerging into the small room where Liam and Niall were chatting, Louis realised it was raining outside.The rain was clear. It didn’t look like it was doing damage to the boat at all.“How is that possible?” Louis asked, leaning forward to look at the glass. The wind was blowing fairly hard and the boat was rising with the large waves before crashing down - yet it felt steady and the water was doing no harm to them.“My magic is partially to do with water, yeah?” Niall said with a smirk. “I can’t change nature, but I can help ease the way for us. It’s why boat travel in winter isn’t automatically a suicide mission.”That wasn’t what Louis was referring to.“No, I mean how’s the rain so clean? How is it not damaging the wood outside and rusting the metal?”Niall squinted in confusion. “Have you not seen any rain other than acid rain before?”Louis blinked as he drew back. “I thought acid rain was all there was anymore.”“Fuck, no. No, Louis, it really isn’t.” Niall’s eyes had gone wide in surprise. “You’re telling me you thought the yellow haze was everywhere?”Louis shrugged uncomfortably. He wasn’t too fond of feeling like he was an idiot for not knowing something that Niall made sound like was common knowledge.“Okay. Louis. Listen.” Niall shifted in his seat. “A lot of shit is happening across the globe, but one thing you should know is the worst of the environmental attacks took place in Europe. The further west we head, the more you’ll see things you’ve never experienced in life before. I know you spend a lot of time below deck studying or whatever the fuck you get up to, but you really owe it to yourself to be in here with me as much as you can as well. The wildlife alone is going to blow you away, and just wait until you see the trees we’re going to see once we get to America. Mate, you can’t even imagine.”Thinking back to the wooded area that Harry had led Louis to in one of his previous dreams, Louis thought he probably could imagine it. He hadn’t thought it was real at the time, though. He thought it was a dream landscape Harry had placed them in, but if that was actually possible? It would be breathtaking.“So does that mean mermaids exist?” Louis asked, mostly joking.Niall burst out laughing, so Louis joined in.He didn’t think mermaids actually existed in real life anyway. Always worth an ask, though. *~~***~~* “I think I would like to be able to fly,” Harry mused one afternoon. They had long ago tired of their zoology studies and had instead started off on their various somewhat animal related tangents. “If I came back as an animal or a bug, I think I’d like to be a butterfly. Or some sort of bird.”Louis hummed and thought on it himself. He’d like to be a fast mover, but somewhat self sufficient. A forager perhaps.“Did you know swallows mate for life?”“They what?” Louis asked, tilting his head so he could better see Harry on his screen.“Swallows. They’re believed to not be completely extinct, you know. And they’re like penguins. They mate for life.”“That’s so random,” Louis said. It also made warmth radiate through him over the fact that Harry cared about such things, but now wasn’t the time. “How do you even learn that kind of shit?”Harry looked at Louis with an unimpressed expression. “Are you telling me you don’t know every animal that mates for life off the top of your head?”Louis blinked a few times, confused. Who knew that sort of information as if it was common knowledge?Then, Harry started laughing.“Oh my God, your face,” Harry wheezed out. “I was joking, Lou. You always know when I’m lying and I was so sure you’d see right through me again.”Louis flipped Harry off before checking over his shoulder. His sisters had a habit of sneaking around quietly and he’d already taught them one too many swear words for his mum’s liking. He’d get screen time taken away for sure if he taught them that particular antiquated gesture.“How was I supposed to know!” Louis cried in his own defence. “It very well could have been something from a past exam that I just entirely forgot.”Shaking his head and smiling widely, Harry sighed. “No, silly. That was one of those topics that I started out looking for something completely unrelated and eventually I came across that particular topic and found it interesting.”Louis smirked. “Like all the various terms for partner or spouse?”“Very rude of you to bring that up,” Harry said with a pout. “I swore you to secrecy with that.”Laughing, Louis gestured to the empty room surrounding him. “Who do you think I just told? Everyone’s in the kitchen.”“Do you think I’m strange for being so... fixated, I suppose, on partners and mates and settling down? I mean, we are only sixteen. There aren’t many others our age talking like this.”“No, love,” Louis said, gently. “That’s just part of who you are and yet another reason why you stand apart from everyone else.”This time, it was Harry’s turn to blush. Louis loved when he did. His cheeks turned a soft pink that almost matched his lips.“So. If you were an animal, what would you like to be and why?”“God,” Louis said, laughing. “Uh, I don’t know. Maybe a stag.”Harry’s nose scrunched. “Interesting choice. Why a stag?”Louis shrugged. “They’re strong, aren’t they? And fast. Plus, they’re able to defend their loved ones without being hunters. I like that combination.”“I think that’s the perfect fit for you as well.”That night, Louis went to sleep with a vision of a stag. It had eyebrows and its antlers didn’t quite match, but Louis thought it was the most beautiful image Harry had sent him so far. *~~***~~* “Hey. Louis.”Louis blinked awake and saw Liam standing above him.“Yeah? Is everything okay?”Liam smiled widely and said, “We’re almost there. We thought you’d like to come up to the bridge and watch as we come into view of land.”Feeling wide awake now, Louis sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed mat.“I thought we weren’t supposed to get there until tomorrow,” he said in surprise. Scrambling to pull his shoes on, Louis laughed a little. “It feels both like it’s been entirely too long and yet also much too short of a time for us to have traveled this far.”“Well, we won’t get to Long Island until late tonight, maybe tomorrow. But we’ll be sailing in view of the coast starting this morning. Come on up when you’re ready.”Louis nodded, and had a quick wash and cleaned his teeth before he rushed up to join the other two, still chewing his meal bar.Louis looked out the window and was filled with awe. He’d never been on the bridge or on the deck when the sun was rising. The colours and light made the water look like it was glowing and glittering.“There,” Niall said, pointing to the right. “It’s faint and still far too dark to see it clearly, but do you see it?”Liam and Louis both leaned forward. Squinting, Louis shook his head.“No, It’s all just dark to me,” Louis said.“That’s okay. It’s there. You’ll see it soon enough. Just wait.”The first full rays of sun began to peek over the horizon, and when they did it was like they were illuminating Louis’ mind as well.Rocks rose out of the water and at the top of them, pure, lush green.“There are trees this close to the coast?” Louis asked. He was so used to the cliffs and grass in photos of the coasts in the UK as well as the idea of the sandy beach Louis had seen while walking towards the lighthouse with Harry in his dream, he had never considered trees that close to the ocean. “They’re so green. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that colour green before in real life.”“Doubt you have, if this is your first time traveling,” Liam said, sounding as awestruck as Louis was. “It’s even richer than I’ve seen, and Niall and I have sailed together for years now.”They sailed closer, and more came into view. It was what looked like an everlasting rocky terrain covered in densely grown trees. Louis began to see birds as well, and he knew that he probably wasn’t going to leave the bridge. He had to see everything. “Those are seagulls,” Niall said, pointing. “Once we get a bit further south you’ll start to see more wildlife. It’s been warm enough the past decade or so that the animals don’t migrate as much as they used to, so that will give you more varied wildlife to see.”“Have you been here before?” Louis asked. He felt like he was heaving for breath, as if he’d been running for miles. The visuals were impacting him so much it was as if he was experiencing them physically.“No,” Niall said. “But my dad has. He used to come here every year with various shipments as a boy. But that was before America went dark. He told me all about it. It almost feels as if I’ve been here. It feels familiar to me.”“Could be the water, as well,” Liam said. “It’s all connected in a way, and you can learn from it. I wonder if part of your connection to America is the fact we’ve sailed in the Atlantic before, even if it was to a different destination.”Niall nodded.They sat, mostly quiet outside of Niall giving facts about the terrain and whatever animals they happened to catch sight of until it was nearing dinner and the sun had already set.“You can’t see much now, and you’ve not worked with your Shield yet today. Let’s get to work,” Liam said.Louis wanted to argue, but he had the potential of Finding Harry tomorrow, yet he still didn’t know how the fuck he was supposed to use his Shield to protect them.“Yeah, alright. Let’s go below, I suppose.”Louis stood to follow Liam, and was about to bid goodnight to Niall when he felt it.Felt him. Louis’ heart began to race and his eyes immediately filled with tears, he was so relieved. He raised his hand to his chest and closed his eyes, reveling in Harry’s Touch.Concern, fear, and hope filled the connection, and Louis made sure to send excitement and relief back to him. He could feel the change in their connection as soon as he did so. Joy so strong Louis didn’t even know it was possible to feel so happy lit him from within.“Louis, is everything okay?”Louis’ eyes opened, and he had to blink them several times to clear the tears. His cheeks wet, but smile blinding, Louis nodded as fervently as he could manage. “Yes. I feel Harry. We are finally close enough again to feel his Touch. I just… I really missed him. And I didn’t realise how much I had worried until we were back within range again.”“That doesn’t make sense,” Niall said, looking down at his instruments. “You can both feel each other? From this range?”“Yes,” Louis said, slowly. “Why? Aren’t we close to Long Island? He said the other day he was still close to the original location he showed me.”Niall shook his head. “We’ve not made as much progress today as I was hoping due to a strong tide I wasn’t anticipating. We’re still hundreds of miles away, as the crow flies.”“Is...that not normal, then?” Louis asked.“For those with long distance abilities or within families it has been heard of, but only one way. Definitely not both,” Liam explained. “Even those within families, it’s rare.”“What does it mean?” Louis asked.He must have still been projecting his feelings, because he could feel Harry’s curiosity. Louis was so used to their being able to communicate with their screens while also Touching or having their Reach as a simple reminder that the other was there, he wasn’t sure how to explain without words. He sent back fondness and the excitement he felt at being so close and hoped it would translate for Harry.Looking up since he hadn’t got an answer to his question, Louis saw Liam and Niall having what looked to be a wordless conversation.“Dunno what it means,” Niall said. “There are legends, but… dunno.”“What kind of legends?” Louis asked, very curious now.“That’s not for right now. You need to work with your Shield and get what rest you can,” Liam reminded him. “Let’s get to work so you’re ready for your boy.”“He’s, he’s not…” Louis sputtered. “Harry’s… mine? No, not my boy, just my mate. Like, my best friend. Shit…”“Very convincing,” Liam deadpanned. “Now let’s go.” *~~***~~* “Hello, this is Harry’s screen!”Louis blinked in confusion. He’d been friends with Harry for three years now and no one else in his family had ever answered his screen calls before. If that happened to anyone, it was to Harry. Louis’ sisters were constantly answering his screen for him.“Ehm, hi. I’m Louis. Is… Harry there?”The girl’s eyes widened and her smile did as well. In that moment he knew it was Gemma that had answered. Her hair was a little lighter and her eyes a different colour, but when she smiled, she and Harry looked a lot alike.“You’re Harry’s Louis!”She looked and sounded delighted, but Louis just felt confused.“Yeah, that’s me? I guess.”“Oh, very good, very good. So you just had a birthday, yes? Does that mean you’re eight now or nine?”Louis blinked. “Nine.”“Ooh, older than my brother. Okay, very good. Now, Louis, tell me more about yourself. What’s your favourite subject in school? Are you nice to Harry? Are you a good student? Do you have siblings?”Gemma continued to throw questions at Louis, and he could hardly start thinking about an answer to one before she asked him another. How was he supposed to answer any of them?“Gemma, who are you… hey! That’s my screen! What are you doing on it?”Louis had never felt so relieved to hear Harry’s voice as he was at that moment. Gemma was nice and all, but she was also quite scary.“Get off! Go away before I tell Mum you tried taking over my screen again since she grounded you from yours!”Louis snickered at that and then Harry’s face came into view. Gemma could still be heard grumbling as she stomped off, but Harry looked worried.“Lou! Hi!”Louis waved and smiled. “Hey, Hazza. Thank you for running her away. She was asking so many questions my head started to hurt.”Harry’s eyes widened. “What did she ask you?” His voice was high and squeaky when he asked and Louis felt what he knew was an unintentional shoot of panic from Harry.Sending back calm as best he could, Louis answered. “She was just asking me a lot of questions about myself. I don’t know why she was so interested. She even called me your Louis.”Scrunching up his nose and looking surprised, Harry forced out a laugh. “Yeah, so weird. So, should we get to work on our project?”Louis nodded and held up his tablet so Harry could see the screen. “I found a good book about the different countries and thought we could start there before choosing the three we want to talk about.”Harry nodded and once Louis had shared the book with Harry so he could read as well, they got to work. After a few minutes of silence, Louis broke it once more.“I don’t mind being your Louis,” he said quietly.Harry smiled, but didn’t say anything more. *~~***~~* “We’re almost there and it’s never going to work again, Liam! How the fuck did I do this in the first place?”Louis wanted to pull his hair out. He was pretty sure he was making good headway on that, actually, with as much as he’d been running his hands through it. It was greasy and disgusting and Louis really wanted to clean it, but the fact was he was out of time for that.“Oh my God, calm down.” Liam guided Louis by the shoulders over to the chair and he began washing Louis’ hair for him.Sometimes Louis was a little creeped out by how Liam could tell people’s needs, but his mum always told him he was easy to read. Maybe this was all part of it.“One of my favourite things is having my head massaged,” Liam explained. “It is the easiest way to get me to relax when I’m stressed. I need you to relax if you’re going to have any hope of working with your Shield successfully, okay?”Louis pouted. “I’m relaxed.”Snorting, Liam said, “Sure you are.”Louis felt Liam’s hands work through his hair after he rubbed some of the bar shampoo on and wet Louis’ hair with a cloth.Liam seemed to be working miracles as he massaged Louis’ scalp, and Louis did feel himself relax in a way he hadn’t felt able to do since leaving home several weeks ago.Home. He hadn’t tried to reach out to his mum since the day after he left. Already he’d been too far from her to feel her presence, which made him think about the connection he had with Harry. How were they able to feel each other from such long distances when Louis couldn’t even feel his own mum from a town or two away?Would that connection help his Shield abilities? Maybe he’d been able to do what he did with Gemma and Zayn because he had built such a strong relationship of trust with them already that it had been like an extension of himself to protect them when he felt scared by Liam’s unknown Touch. If that was the case, then at the first sign of danger, it should be similar for Louis to protect Harry once he had found him, right?“Lou, what are you thinking about right now?” Liam asked softly.“I’m thinking about Harry and protecting him with my Shield.” Louis paused answering. “Why?”It was then Louis noticed that Liam’s hands had stopped massaging his scalp.Confused, Louis opened his eyes and his jaw dropped when he did.His head had slowly tilted back so his neck was resting against the back of the chair as Liam washed, allowing him to now see Liam’s arms and up. Liam was fully encased by the same transparent blanket shield as Gemma and Zayn had been the day they’d reached Old Liverpool.“I did it,” Louis said, so relieved he could cry. “I still don’t know fuck all about how it happened, but I did it.”Liam made eye contact with Louis. “Can I...move like this?”Louis laughed. “Yeah. It’ll move with you.”Pulling his hands away from Louis’ head slowly, Liam began to wave his arms around like he was conducting an orchestra.“This is incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it!” Liam was so excited, his movements were starting to get erratic and he was flinging bits of water around the room.“Calm down,” Louis said, laughing. “It doesn’t do much. It just helps protect you from people detecting you’re there by your magic levels. I think. We’ve not really tested that, actually, so we aren’t sure, but that’s all I think it does.”Liam made eye contact with Louis and asked, “Can others see it?”“Nope,” Louis said with a smile. “Just me and you.”“Did Zayn and Gemma still have theirs when they got on the boat that day?”Louis nodded. “Yep. You couldn’t see theirs, could you?”Liam shook his head in amazement. “Let’s go up and see if you can do it for Niall as well.”Making their way onto the bridge, Louis made sure to send Harry his excitement and hope. Now that he’d been able to encase others with his Shield twice, he had much higher hopes of being able to do so with Harry as well. Harry sent back warmth, but Louis could tell he was tired. He hoped Harry was okay.Just as he was about to step onto the bridge, Louis stopped because Niall looked concerned.“What’s going on, Ni?” Liam asked immediately. “What’s wrong?”Niall looked down at his instruments, back up at the sky, over to the coastline, and then back.“Something’s not right.”“Something...like what?” Louis asked.“The lighthouses around here obviously haven’t been in working order, or so we believe, since America went dark. So that’s not too surprising, even if that would be helpful for us. It’s why I’ve kept us further from shore than I would prefer. But what I’m confused about is the fact I’m seeing land birds occasionally despite the fact we’re quite far from land and it’s the wrong time of day to be seeing them. These particular birds do feed over rivers or lakes, but not the ocean as far as I know. Not around here.”Holding his breath, Louis asked, “What birds are you seeing?”Niall glanced at Louis before looking back out the window. “Swallows.”Louis’ mind began to race. Was this the first clue Harry had been trying to give him in his dream? Should they follow the swallows? Or was it just a sign they were on the right path?“Where are the swallows heading?” Louis asked, looking out the window himself. Niall must have amazing eyesight, though, because he could see what Louis couldn’t. First, land earlier that morning, and now, the swallows.“They’re heading northwest,” Niall said, shaking his head once more and consulting his instruments. “Which, again, doesn’t make sense. If they’re heading towards land, where are they coming from?”“What direction is Long Island from here?” Louis asked.“Almost due west. We’re getting quite close now.”“So if we follow the birds, that will get us to the main continent instead of the island?” Louis asked. His geography knowledge at this point was incredibly questionable. That had never been his best subject.“Yeah. What used to be Connecticut or Rhode Island, I would think.”Pursing his lips, Louis asked, “Could we try following the swallows?”Niall turned to Louis slowly. “Is this your Finding magic telling you to follow the swallows or something else? Because I’ve gotta be honest, it’s incredibly dangerous to follow the birds at night like this. We won’t be able to see the rocks or know if we’re getting to shallow waters without the lighthouses.”Louis nodded. “I think it’s my Finding, but it can also wait until morning.”Niall studied Louis before turning to Liam. “Can you use your sight for the swallows?”Liam shrugged. “It could be hit or miss, but I might be able to.”“Try,” Niall instructed. “I’ll take as detailed note of the direction they’re going in. I’ll get us as close to the shoreline as I feel comfortable and we can anchor there for the night. That way, even if their behaviour has stopped, we can hopefully still follow their path to get Louis as close to their destination as he feels he should go.”Liam turned to Louis. “Great progress on your shield, but I think for now you need to rest. It’ll be an early day again tomorrow.”Nodding, Louis agreed and headed back to the sleeping quarters. He sent a quick pulse filled with his excitement and nerves but also his exhaustion from the excitement of the day to Harry and knew he’d understand. Harry didn’t send anything back, but Louis was okay with that. He hoped it meant Harry was already sleeping. Tomorrow might be the day all of this had been building to, and if it was, he wanted Harry to be well rested. Louis didn’t know anything about the people who had taken Harry, but Louis could only imagine they wouldn’t let him go easily. *~~***~~* “Okay, next question. What are some of your skills?”Louis scrunched his nose. He hated having to do this stupid practice interview, but at least it was with Harry and not annoying James from Norfolk.“I don’t know that I have any skills,” Louis answered truthfully. He obviously would never answer in such a way for an actual interview, but since it was Harry he was more inclined to do so, even if it made him vulnerable. Harry had that effect on him.“Oh, come on,” Harry said slowly. He was smiling, but Louis could tell he wasn’t impressed by Louis’ answer. “That’s not true.”“Sure it is,” Louis countered. “I don’t have any skills truly of worth to anyone. The most I can do is take care of my sisters and find whatever shit they’re looking for on a particular day.”“See!” Harry said, pointing his tablet stylus at his screen. “You can Find lost things! Just like you’ll Find me if I ever get lost.”Louis rolled his eyes. “How many times do we have to talk about this, Harry? You are a seventeen year old almost-man. If you get lost, we have bigger issues at hand than finding you in the field behind your house.”“But if I do ever get lost, like truly lost, you’ll come Find me. I know you will. You’ve promised before.”Harry had been harping Louis about this point for months now, and he didn’t understand why.“Yes I have, and I was serious. I will find you.”Smiling, Harry nodded and then went back to writing on his tablet.“Why do you insist on writing instead of just typing like a normal person?” Louis asked. “Wouldn’t typing go faster?”Harry shrugged. “I like it. I like how it feels. Besides, I think we should all know how to write as well as type. Could come in handy someday. You should practice your letters too, you know. It can’t hurt.”“Yes, I might need to write while I’m on my adventure to find you when you get lost,” Louis teased. Harry could be so ridiculous sometimes.“Exactly.”“You should be happy I love you so much,” Louis said without thinking. He froze, and hoped Harry would read it as a playful, familial phrase as Louis would say to his sister. He definitely hadn’t meant to say it and he was not ready for Harry to realise he meant it in a way that wasn’t friendly or brotherly.“Love you too, Lou,” Harry sang back to him with a soft smile. Then, seemingly completely ignorant of how Louis’ heart felt like it was lighter than it ever had been before, Harry continued with his line of questioning. “Now, you’re good at finding lost things. What else? I think you’re good at talking to people.”Louis nodded and tried to keep up his end of the conversation, but for the rest of the day all he really heard was Harry saying Love you too, Lou. *~~***~~* “We need to wake Louis. There’s something strange going on and I’m not sure what it means or if we’ve been seen. Either way, we need Louis up here and making a decision. This is his thing now.”Louis walked onto the bridge still rubbing his eyes but feeling more awake by the second.“What’s so strange?” Louis asked Niall, who looked visibly relieved Louis joined them so quickly.“See over there?” Niall asked as he pointed towards a place where Louis saw nothing unusual. Niall seemed incredibly focused, though, so Louis stared and tried to see what he saw. “There’s something in the water. It could just be remnants of something someone hid away before America went dark, but I don’t know for sure and it makes me nervous. It looks big.”Louis said slowly. “Hang on,” Louis said before thundering back to the sleeping quarters to grab the small notebook. “Swallows, a butterfly, laurels, then a ship,” he whispered as he flipped the pages.Rushing back up the stairs and on the bridge, Louis asked, “Do you think it could be a ship? A really big one, like with sails and things?”“Why would anyone use a ship that had sails these days?” Brows scrunched together, Liam shook his head. “And maybe, but it would take powerful magic to keep a ship of that size shrouded from sight. It’s complex magic and very draining.”“Niall thought it was something from before America went dark,” Louis reminded Liam. “Could it really be so difficult to hide away an entire ship?”“Yes,” Liam and Niall said in unison.“A ship involves lots of moving parts and numerous people, especially if it’s the size that I think it is based on the disturbance in the water. That makes it far more difficult to hide.”“Okay. Well, in my first dream where I walked on the beach with Harry, he kept staring towards the light house and just past it, but I couldn’t see anything. So it might be important, but it also could very well not be a ship.” Louis sighed. “It’s just a possibility. I thought it might be, because I know a ship will be important later on. For now we need to keep following those swallows.”“Do you think Harry could be on a ship?” Liam asked. “Like they sailed over here and just left him on one instead of taking him onto land?”Shrugging Louis said, “I don’t know.”Liam gave a soft smile and nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s follow those swallows.”Niall said, “Aye aye!” and raised the anchor so they could move closer to the shore.Louis reached out to Harry in a soft sort of morning greeting, and Harry replied quickly, but he retracted his Touch shortly after as well. It had been filled with happiness, but also nerves. Louis hoped he was okay, especially since he was close. He could tell. He just needed Harry to hold out a little bit longer and then hopefully they’d be able to get Harry away from here forever.Once the boat was moving closer to the short and the sun began to rise enough to shine on the trees, Niall spoke up again.“My da told me of a time when the water wasn’t so deep around here and boats had to keep anchor far away for safety. With as deep as it is now and as calm as the water is today, I can take you right up close to the shore, though.”Louis was glad, seeing as he didn’t see any convenient coves or piers in the surrounding area. Just rocky ledges, pebbly beaches, and trees along the shoreline.“The swallows stopped just an hour or so earlier,” Liam said. “But they continued to fly directly towards the centre of that gathering of trees.”With the swallows as Louis’ only current direction to follow, he gathered his things back into his bag and prepared to leave the ship for the first time in weeks. Liam had been preparing him for feeling unsteady on dry ground, and Louis hoped it didn’t last long. He needed to be able to move as swiftly as possible so he could finally get to Harry.Niall pulled the boat as close as he could afford to, and Liam was just barely able to lower their walkway so Louis could get to the shore.“Good luck,” Niall said followed by a quiet, “Be safe and we’ll see you soon,” from Liam.Waving to Liam and Niall both, Louis said a quick “Thank you,” before he walked to shore, turned towards the trees, and began to make his way hopefully towards Harry.With as dense as the wood was, Louis was still surprised at how dark it got beneath their shade. The trees were showing signs of their leaves turning orange, yellow, and red, but most were still green.It was incredible. The trees near where he grew up were mostly dead sticks in the ground that everyone left there unless firewood was needed. The logs he, Zayn, and Gemma had sat on were dry, hollow, and more like stone than actual wood.These trees were so completely alive by comparison. Louis took a deep breath and reveled in it. It smelled different here.Shaking his head and reminding himself of his purpose, Louis continued to walk as best he could manage towards where he thought the swallows had been headed.Twenty minutes of walking had Louis tired, feeling unsteady on the ground still, and sweating in his exertion. Louis had reached out at one point, hoping Harry would be able to help him, but he felt nothing. Praying it wasn’t anything bad and was just the result of another strong Shield, Louis did his best to focus on his surroundings. The ground was sloping gently up, and he hadn’t anticipated that. Leaning against a tree as he regained his breath, Louis looked around him.To his left was what looked to be an old path. It was cracked with all sorts of plants and flowers growing through the spaces, but it was definitely paved. Louis made his way over to the path and there, in front of him, was a drawing of a butterfly on a wooden panel.The butterfly was old and faded, the wood warped and peeling, but the sign was still intact. The butterfly itself was also different from the one Louis had been shown in his dream, but it was similar for sure, and where there was one meant there had to be more. This had to be the next part of what Louis had to follow. The question was, which direction was he meant to go?Closing his eyes, Louis tried to focus on his instinct. That was what had helped him know which direction to go in the tunnels with Zayn; it could help him again now.When Louis thought about heading back the way he’d come, he felt almost nauseous, disquieted, and unsettled. Opening his eyes and looking ahead of him, Louis felt hopeful and excited, even if he also felt nervous.Forward, then.Louis followed the winding path until it appeared to converge with several other paths, all marked with various butterflies, birds, and dragonflies. Louis had to squint and lean close to the signs in order to see a few of them, but he was incredibly relieved when a butterfly matching the one in his notebook was on the second to last sign in the clearing.That was the path to take to Harry.This path wound about further before then making its way back towards shore.That couldn’t be right, could it? Louis still felt this was the way he was meant to go, so he followed the butterfly path all the way to the edge of the trees where the path eventually disappeared, leaving Louis on a grassy overlook of the water below.When he looked to his left, he could see Niall and Liam’s boat bobbing on the water, but directly ahead of him, Louis could see the ship from before.“Fuck,” Louis muttered. There was something that was still meant to come before the ship, but everything seems to be leading towards the vessel. The order is important rang through Louis’ head in Harry’s slow drawl, and he knew he needed to go back onto the path. He must have missed something he was meant to find. Something to do with laurels, since that was the next clue.Louis walked the path two, three, then four times and still found nothing.“Gah!” Louis yelled towards the sky, scaring some birds into flight. “What am I missing?”Louis was filled with concern and he knew he had accidentally sent his frustration to Harry. He was glad that, even if it was accidental, he could feel Harry again. It did make the earlier experience that much more strange, though.“Sorry, Haz,” Louis said softly, knowing there was no way for Harry to hear him. He reached out with an apology and a smile, even though he wasn’t really feeling it. “I’m trying, I promise.”Making his way back to the clearing that surrounded the convergence of all the paths, Louis pulled out the book so he could look at the drawings again, and it was then he noticed the drawing of the swallows.There were two and they were facing each other. Harry had said the details were important. Maybe Louis was meant to follow the swallows so he could find the butterfly path, but if the order and the details were important, maybe he wasn’t meant to be on the butterfly path yet. Maybe he was missing something from the swallows.And there. The last sign Louis hadn’t seen before was one depicting two swallows in the same depiction as the image from his dream.Hopefully now that meant Louis was going the right way. *~~***~~* “Hey, Lou. I was reading some books about some of the world’s most powerful couples from the past thousand years, and I noticed something.”“I’m never gonna get my report done at this rate, Hazza,” Louis whined.It was true, though. Harry had finished his own report the night before and therefore had been spending most of Sunday bugging Louis under the guise of helping him.“I know, I’m sorry, but this really is very good.”Louis sighed and rolled towards his screen. “Okay. So what did you notice?”“Well,” Harry said, eyes lighting up and leaning towards the screen. “It’s an older book, right? Like, it was written at least two hundred years ago.”“It had to have been, considering the topic. Nothing new has been written outside of history and science books for ages.”“It’s kind of history,” Harry argued, pouting. “Anyway, they started with recent couples and then worked backwards, right? And once they’d gone back a few hundred years I noticed something about almost every couple discussed.”“What’s that?” Louis asked, yawning. He was trying to pay attention, but he wasn’t really all that interested in what Harry was talking about and he had been incredibly focused on recent findings about the movement of neutrons in certain gasses as it pertained to his science report.“Every couple was rumoured to be soulmates.”Louis rolled his eyes. “Soulmates? Seriously? Harry, soulmates are like...the most unbelievable of fairy tales. I’d believe in unicorns before soulmates.”“No, listen,” Harry whinged. “I looked into it more. This was a serious book and they were mentioning soulmates! That meant at some time people actually believed in them, right? What caused that belief? Why was it just accepted that these couples who were out there changing history were understood to be soulmates?”“Okay, okay. Yes, that’s fair and you’re making good points. So what did you find?”Sighing happily, Harry reached out to Louis with his happy tinged gratitude. “So. I learned soulmates were rare, but there were ways to know if you’d found yours.”“I’m sure,” Louis said, trying to not sound sarcastic. He still didn’t believe Harry, but he believed that Harry wanted to believe. And after all, the idea of soulmates was kinda cool.“First off, they had a connection that was stronger with each other than with anyone else, even family,” Harry began. “Every couple that was believed to be soulmates had magic, and their magic matched with each other before they ever knew they were soulmates.”“Okay,” Louis drew out. “That sounds pretty basic, but sure.”“So once they already had that magic match and realised how strong their bond was, the first time they physically touched, their eyes would flash gold. It only lasts a second and only happens the first time they touch. Isn’t that cool?”“Sounds kinda creepy to me, but okay,” Louis said. “Wait, could the people involved tell their own eyes flashed gold? Or could they just see it in their soulmate’s eyes?”Harry pursed his lips. “Not sure. There weren’t any first-hand accounts available that I could find, just what others said.”“Alright, so a magic match, a strong connection, and flashing eyes.”“Yes. But I saved the best two for last.”Louis blinked. “Okay. Hit me.”“The first time they touch also causes tattoos to appear somewhere on them. The tattoos were usually in places that could be easily hidden, like your back or your belly or your thigh or something. The tattoos represent their soulmate and the role their soulmate plays in their lives.”“That…” Louis paused. That was actually really beautiful. “Did it say anything about the tattoos hurting? I’m not sure I’d like it if it hurt.”Harry shook his head. “From what I read, most didn’t even know the tattoos had appeared until later.”“Huh,” Louis said consideringly. “That would be really interesting. Seeing yourself shown in an image on your soulmate. Like, to help you know how you’re most supposed to help them, you know?”Harry smiled softly. “Yeah.”Bringing them out of their silence, Louis asked, “And what about the last thing?”“Right!” Harry smiled brightly. “The last was never outright proven, but it was largely believed, especially when I was reading about the couples from like a thousand years ago. It’s that once they found each other? Their magic became even more powerful because they were together. It was like finding their other half and physically being near them helped their magic work to the very best of its ability.”Louis’ eyes widened. “Well, shit. I feel like you should have led with that one.”“Told you I was saving the best for last,” Harry gloated. “So what do you think?”“Definitely worth pausing my report for,” Louis admitted. “But I do need to keep writing it.”“I know,” Harry groaned flopping on his back. “Get back to work. The sooner you finish, the sooner I’ll not be bored anymore.”Louis got back to work, but after a few minutes he peeked back at his screen to find Harry reading on his tablet.“Hey, Haz?”Tilting his head so he could look at Louis, Harry asked, “Yeah?”“Do you believe in soulmates?”Harry’s shoulders moved in what Louis could only guess was a shrug. “Dunno. But I kinda want to.”Louis nodded. “Yeah. Me too.” *~~***~~* Louis was exhausted. The swallows’ path was winding every which way and, while it was beautiful, he was there for more than exercise in nature. Add to it the fact he still wasn’t positive this was where he was meant to be going, and he was becoming irritable and concerned.What if he ended up forever lost in the woods? What if he never got to Harry and had to live with the fact he was so close and yet so far from saving him? What if-There was movement in front of Louis and he froze. The shadow was large, much larger than the birds which were all Louis had seen wildlife wise so far.Creeping forward slowly so as not to startle whatever it was - was it a bear? A wolf? Had those gone extinct? - Louis attempted to keep himself hidden, but it didn’t work because he suddenly heard a familiar voice saying, “There you are!”Louis stood up and turned the corner. Standing in front of him was Harry.“Haz?” Louis asked, confused. He was certain he wasn’t close to Harry yet, as if he had somehow innately known Harry was not within these woods. He could be mistaken though, like he had been with the butterfly path earlier, right?Smiling widely, Harry started walking towards Louis, his arms outstretched. “It’s so good to see you!” he said.Louis backed away. No, something about Harry wasn’t right. His smile was too perfect, the dimple not deep enough in his left cheek. Louis wasn’t sure what exactly, but the man in front of him wasn’t his Harry.“You’re not him,” Louis said carefully.Brows furrowing, the not-Harry said, “What do you mean? Of course I am! You’re just confused because it’s been so long.”The wrong smile was still in place with the wrong dimple showing and as he walked closer to Louis he saw the eyes weren’t the right shade of green either.“No,” Louis said forcefully. “You aren’t Harry. I don’t know who you are, but you’re just someone trying to be him.”With a growl, the man disappeared.Blinking and looking around confused, Louis searched to see where the man might have gone, but he truly was no longer there.Blowing out a deep breath, Louis muttered, “Alright, that was strange.”Perhaps that was a good sign, though. Louis had wondered if there would be tricks or traps set up in an attempt to keep potential Finders away from Harry, and this could have been one of those. Louis reached out to Harry, just to make sure he could still feel him, and he could.Feeling both settled in confidence that Harry was still there and safe as well as rattled by his strange run in with not-Harry, Louis continued down the swallows path. Would there would be more tricks or tests like that as he went? If so, he had to believe it meant he was going the right way. Maybe that was why Harry was concerned that Louis wouldn’t know him. Wouldn’t recognise him. He’d said there would be others, but Louis didn’t think he meant there would be literal others who looked like Harry walking around, trying to trick him.That got Louis wondering as well, though. If he had believed that man to be Harry and had allowed him to embrace Louis, what would have happened? Was the man just a projection, and image the entire time? Or had he physically been there and left when it was clear Louis didn’t believe his identity? Louis would have thought that if he’d physically been there, he would have done more than just disappeared when it was clear Louis didn’t believe.Then again, maybe the point wasn’t to harm Louis. Maybe it was just to throw him off or distract him, and if that was the case Louis would not allow himself to be distracted. He was going to continue on, perhaps being a bit more wary of anyone else he might come across, and not allow himself to be confused.The sun had risen past it’s apex by the time Louis paused for his lunch meal bar. He was tired, moving slowly, and definitely needed to drink more than he had been. He sat down on a fallen tree that wasn’t far off the path, and allowed himself to take in the sounds around him.It was mostly birdsong with the underlying buzz of what Louis hoped were just insects. Bugs had died out in the UK before Louis had even been born, but Louis had heard recordings of what they sounded like. He thought that’s all he was hearing. He hoped so, anyway.A flash of colour caught his attention and he turned to the right.A butterfly.No. That couldn’t be right. Louis had done a report on butterflies back when Harry had become obsessed with them in an attempt to be able to share facts about them and impress Harry. He knew that while the climate changes had been extreme and thrown the ecosystem across the world into havoc, there was no way a butterfly would be flying around this region in late January or early February.Louis watched it fly out of sight and continued thinking about it as he chewed. It could be another distraction, another projection they were trying to lure him away with, especially since it was taking him in a different direction from where the swallows path he was following would go. The butterfly was the next image to help guide Louis, but he was certain it wasn’t meant to be a literal butterfly. He would be looking for a continuation of the butterfly path that perhaps he couldn’t find earlier because he could only get to it using the swallows path or it would show itself in another way.Louis put his meal bar wrapper back in his rucksack, had a drink of water, and continued on.There were times throughout his trek that the swallows path would intersect with another, and they were always signed appropriately to show which path was which. Some signs were quite worn out, to the point where Louis could only see parts of the remaining bugs or animals used for the path, but the swallows were always recognisable and he felt secure in continuing as he had been doing.Until he reached a fork in the path. One way continued with the swallows, but the path to the right looked to be the butterfly path.Louis kicked at one of the wiry plants growing up from a crack in the pavement, and then closed his eyes. Left with the swallows? Or right with the butterfly? The butterfly was next, but he wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be another path marker or some other symbolic director for him.Neither path made him feel like it was right or wrong, but he was drawn towards the butterfly. Was it curiosity or was it his Finding instinct?The butterfly path continued in a way that took him to the right before then leading him both down and to the left. Louis was entirely turned around by now, but he thought that was back towards the shore. If the butterfly Harry had shown him was indicating he should take this path, that meant that next would be laurels.The sun was nearly set when Louis reached the end of the path and, as he suspected, it was back at the shore.Unlike before, however, Louis was now looking at the island. It seemed so far away when before it looked close. He didn’t think he was meant to get there, he hoped that was just a location device Harry used in the dream to help Louis be able to find him, but either way, Harry was nearby. His body could almost sense Harry’s proximity, even if Louis still didn’t know where exactly he was.As Louis looked to the Montauk Lighthouse - the one he and Harry had walked to in the dream - he admired the way it was silhouetted against the colours of the sunset and felt sure. Harry was here. Louis needed to go in the direction of the lighthouse. But how? After his walk through the woods, there was no way for him to get Niall and Liam’s attention again. There had to be a reason he’d be directed to go through the woods and follow the path he had.
Looking at the water, Louis saw that while it was deeper over where Niall had dropped him off, it was much more shallow. There was no way their boat could safely traverse the water between where Louis was and the island. Perhaps that was the reason why. Maybe Louis would need to find a different way to get where Harry was and hopefully it had something to do with laurels.Guessing there were no literal laurels in the area, Louis began to walk along the edge of the water, back towards where he believed Liam and Niall were still waiting. When Louis had been able to see it, the water hadn’t looked very rough, so hopefully the boat with his friends hadn’t gone very far out.The shoreline Louis walked on, mostly consisting of tall grass that led down to pebbles and the water, shifted as Louis walked and found himself at the base of a sort of cliff. The rocky ledge must have been where Louis was earlier in the day, and by following the paths he had, he’d been brought to the lower coastline right on the water. That was nice and all, but what was he meant to do when night came? It was nearly there, and Louis still didn’t have any plans or promptings on what to do next.Louis was starting to consider what he might be able to use as a sort of shelter and whether Harry could use his Touch to try to guide Louis when he tripped.Landing hard on his knees and palms, Louis cursed and whined a little as tears sprang to his eyes. His knees at least were protected by the thick fabric of his trousers, but he knew his palms had been dirtied and likely bloodied from the fall.Sitting down gingerly, Louis pulled the torch Zayn had given him out of his rucksack and tried to shine it on his hands and knees. The fabric over his left knee had ripped a bit, but otherwise the trousers were okay. His hands, though, needed cleaning and bandaging.Louis pulled the cleansing wipes and antibac bandaging his mum had insisted he take with him out, and quickly set to it. Hopefully the magic she had infused them with would help his hands feel better quickly, but he would have to just suffer the pains of bruised and hopefully not further injured knees until they healed on their own.Once his hands were taken care of and rucksack back on his sore shoulders, Louis kept his torch out and looked to see what had tripped him. It had felt almost like…A rope.It was an old fashioned sailor’s rope that Louis used to see pictures of along with his bedtime stories as a young boy. It was tied to something tightly enough that it had caused him to trip. Following the path of the rope further inland with the torch, Louis saw it was tied to a small but strong tree not too far away.Louis followed the rope and it took him closer to the rocky ledge. The rope remained mostly hidden in the tall grass until the grass ended, and the rope was laid for a short length across some more rocks and into what looked like a larger portion of boulders that had fallen from the cliff. When Louis peeked around the boulders, he saw a small rowboat that was missing its oars.“Huh,” Louis said to himself. The sky was now fully dark, and it was starting to get cold. He’d need to make some sort of a shelter for himself and begin to bundle up in the warmth infused blankets he had brought with him, but he wanted a closer look at the boat first. If it looked sound, maybe it was an option for a way that he could approach the ship when the time came.Louis inspected the inside of the boat and found it to be in a good condition. He had just walked towards the end where there looked to be a small motor of some kind when he saw what was painted on the end.Laurels.Louis shone his torch back inland a bit to where the ground would be a little softer and he could use some of the trees for cover. That would have to do for the night. As soon as the sun began to rise in the morning, Louis would need to be off and trying to make his way in that tiny boat towards wherever he felt guided to find Harry. *~~***~~* Louis was sat inside the boat he’d found the night before as it floated in the middle of the ocean, no land or other boats in sight. It was bright, warm, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.“Hi,” Harry said softly. “I wanted to explain why you had to use this boat and why I couldn’t say anything more specific before. Why I still can’t really.”Louis turned to find Harry sitting there, patiently waiting for Louis’ attention as they floated aimlessly in the water.“Hazza,” Louis said, feeling breathless. Having Harry so incredibly close made this dream feel different, more tangible almost. Like he could sense Harry’s presence even when he knew this wasn’t real. It was wonderful.Harry’s face lightened a little as he smiled, but Louis could tell it was forced.“We don’t have much time, so I’ve got to just jump right into all of this,” he explained. “I’m being kept on a ship. A ship you can’t see, so it was too dangerous for you to bring the other boat. Laurel has magic and will find me safely.”“Okay,” Louis said, blinking and trying to keep up with all of the questions swirling in his mind. “But what am I to do once I get to the ship? Just climb on and start fighting these people?”Harry shook his head then did what he often did at home. He spoke but didn’t answer Louis’ questions. “They’re scared and I think just want to keep me hidden until they’ve been given word it’s safe.”“Safe? Safe for what?” Louis asked. So much of what Harry was saying didn’t make any sense to him.“That doesn’t matter right now. Just know I’m glad you found Laurel.”Speaking slowly, Louis asked, “How do you know I found Laurel?” Why did it feel like he was speaking in code inside of a dream? Harry pursed his lips. “They’re listening so I can’t say much too explicitly, but know that she’s got certain protections. Some of which already existed from before, and others I enhanced. Between those and your own magic, I think you will be safe.”“Yeah, but what about you?” Louis asked. “You’re the one that matters here.”Shaking his head intently, Harry said, “They’re scared, like I said. Fear causes people to act in ways they wouldn’t usually. And we both matter, so I need you to stay safe as well, okay?”“Okay, fine. We both matter. But you’ll be safe, right? No matter what?”Harry studied Louis’ face before he said, “Yes, I think so.”“Why do I feel like you aren’t telling me everything?” Louis asked, frustrated.“Because I’m very obviously not telling you everything, you idiot.”“Oi!” Louis cried before reaching over the side of the boat and flicking water at Harry. “Don’t be rude. I’m the one who’s come to save you, aren’t I?”Harry laughed and said, “Yeah. You are. But Lou?”“Hm?” Louis looked at the way the sun was dancing off of Harry’s tanned face, and he wasn’t sure he had ever seen anything so beautiful.“It’s time to wake up.” *~~***~~* Louis sat up, feeling wide awake and entirely refreshed. His time with the golden-skinned Harry on the boat, even if it was just a dream, had given Louis an energy and sense of purpose that he’d been missing the past few days. He was glad for it. Louis had felt supported by Zayn and then Liam and Niall, but dealing with the frustration, confusion, and physical exertion of yesterday all on his own, Louis had felt a bit run down. The dream was exactly what he needed to feel reinvigorated.He looked at the sky and saw the first shoots of sunlight making their presence known. Harry had been right. Louis needed to wake up so he could start on his way and get to the ship, wherever it was, sooner rather than later.Louis packed his things up and ate his breakfast meal bar as he did so. Once he got back to Laurel, he inspected the boat and untied her.Her. Louis rolled his eyes at himself. Harry referring to the boat as Laurel had Louis talking about the boat as if it were a person now. Ridiculous.All the same, Louis started hefting the boat towards the water and found himself talking to the boat as well.“You’re a heavy thing, aren’t you?” he wheezed, trying to drag her along while making sure she didn’t get too scraped up by the rocks. He didn’t want to damage her when Harry had done so much to make sure she was safe in the first place. “Not to say that’s bad, I would imagine you need a bit of weight to you in order to provide safer sailing or whatever. Oh my God, I’m worried about offending a boat.”Louis made it to the water and happily jumped inside. He dropped quickly to the seat near the back of the boat and settled his rucksack by his feet. Then, the realisation hit him.He had no idea how to work the boat. He didn’t know how to make it go, how to steer it, nothing.“Shit,” Louis said as he turned to inspect what looked to be a tiny motor. “Shit shit shit shit shit. How do you work, hmm?”What Louis originally thought might be a motor still had the potential to be one, but there weren’t any buttons, levers, or anything. It was just a small smooth metal piece about the size of Louis’ palm that had a thin metal line that extended from the larger portion down to the water.“You have to be the secret to getting this thing moving, right?”Louis reached down and gripped it solidly in his hand to see if it moved one way or another, and that apparently was all it needed. Laurel jumped to life and soundlessly began to move them across the water.The motor - or whatever the metal was that Louis was gripping - didn’t move in any direction. Louis was doing nothing other than gripping the metal, and yet the boat was steering smoothly around the end of Long Island and towards what Louis could only presume he would find the ship where Harry was located. The speed adjusted slightly to account for the waves they were hitting to minimise impact, and Louis just hung on for the ride.Just like Harry said, once they were in close range to the ship, it suddenly appeared as if a veil had dropped and Louis could see it. It was old fashioned with sails, just as Louis thought it would be; almost an exact replica of the ship Harry had drawn up for his tattoo all those years ago and just like the one Louis had seen in his dream.There were people on the deck of the ship, but it appeared no one had noticed him coming. In addition to being silent, perhaps those on the ship weren’t able to see it approach either. The closer Laurel brought him to the ship, the more she slowed down, and Louis started searching. The sides of the ship were high and Louis had no idea how he was supposed to be able to get to the deck or inside at all without a ladder or assistance from someone.Laurel began to circle the ship slowly, and Louis studied it from all angles. There had to be a way. If there wasn’t, Louis would be forced to make one.As they slowly crept around the other side, Louis saw a marking near the end of the ship, rather low to the water. It was by a large, heavy chain that left the ship through a hole then dipped into the water.Louis began to lean forward and found a painting of an anchor. Just like the one in his dream, it was a simple image, no rope accompanying it, just the anchor alone. How had Harry all those years ago drawn an anchor that matched perfectly with the one on the ship that also matched those drawings from long ago?The question would have to wait for later. Louis had made his way to the boat, the next image Harry had shown was the anchor, and that had to mean this was a hint regarding how Louis was meant to get onto the ship.Louis let go of the motor and Laurel floated, staying perfectly in place beside the ship. Louis had no idea what magic was used to create or protect her, but Laurel really was an amazing boat. Hopefully she would be able to take Harry and Louis safely to Liam and Niall once they’d escaped whoever was keeping Harry captive. If they escaped. Louis was a bit nervous about that part.Louis looked up at the anchor painted on the side of the boat about a foot above his head, and it was only from that angle he was able to see there were small slats of wood protruding from the side of the ship. They looked like a ladder, and he imagined they were meant to blend in from the side so unless you were looking from the specific vantage point that Louis was at that moment, you wouldn’t know where they were located.Reaching out, Louis found he was able to touch the side of the ship. He stood slowly, trying to keep his balance, and debated for a moment as to whether he should take his rucksack with him or leave it in Laurel. Just in case he didn’t make it back to Laurel, he decided to bring it along, and with that he started the climb up the side of the ship.His fingers and hands tired quickly, but luckily his legs had got stronger through his travels. It was a difficult climb, the wooden slats were just further apart than was comfortable for him to climb, but still he was able to do so and he got to the ledge that surrounded the deck sooner than he expected.Arms and legs shaking with the difficulty of holding him on the small ledges, Louis tried to slowly raise himself up enough to be able to see onto the deck.It was empty. Where had everyone gone? Was it a trick?Louis lifted himself up until he was high enough to get his arm over the edge. He scrambled around a bit, unable to find purchase on the smooth side of the ship, but eventually he got a leg looped over and he could roll onto the deck.He was noisy, landing heavily on the surface, and he knew that if the emptiness of the deck had been a trick before, they’d be on top of him by now.Nothing. Where was everyone?Louis slowly dusted himself off, made sure his rucksack was still in tact, and looked around. The ship was much larger than the boat he had taken across and he could imagine it was a smoother ride as well, but the size did require more staff as well so he could understand Niall and Liam preferring the size they had.Walking as quietly as possible towards what looked to be the bridge and the captain’s quarters, Louis paused when he heard a familiar song from below deck.Taking one last look around, Louis changed direction towards the steps he saw leading to everything that lay beneath. Pages between us
Written with no end Louis slowly made his way down, carefully testing each step for noise before putting his full weight on it so he wouldn’t alert anyone to his presence if he hadn’t already. It was well lit down there, far better than Louis anticipated, and he found the entire place silent and empty outside of Harry’s singing. So many words we’re not saying
Don’t wanna wait ‘til it’s gone
You make me strongLouis followed Harry’s voice, gaining confidence as he continued walking and every room he passed was empty. How was it possible? Such a large ship and with no one there? Harry had alluded in the dream last night there were several of them and Louis did witness the power of some of their magic with the not-Harry he encountered yesterday. Why would they dessert the ship now? I’m sorry if I say, “I need you,”
But I don’t care
I’m not scared of loveLouis followed another set of steps down and Harry’s voice was so much louder, clearer than Louis had ever heard it before, even in his dreams. Energy fizzed beneath his skin and he felt so excited, as if his body even knew how close he was to meeting Harry. Finding Harry. Hopefully saving Harry.Louis turned a corner and he knew Harry was in that hallway. Harry continued the words Louis was familiar with, and his smile grew at the fact that Harry knew it. How did Harry even know the song? Louis had never shared it with him, he felt it was too personal, but here Harry was singing it. ‘Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker
Is that so wrong? Louis joined in and their voices blended for the second, “Is that so wrong?” before Harry’s voice stopped and only Louis sang, “That you make me strong.”Scrambling was heard on the other side of a door just a few steps away from Louis and as soon as it stopped, Harry said, “Lou? Louis, please tell me you’re there and I’m not imagining this.”“I’m here,” Louis said after rushing to the door and trying the handle. It was locked, of course, but there also seemed to be a forcefield of some sort around it. “Is it a trick? The entire ship seems empty and I’m a little freaked out that someone’s going to get me at any moment.”Harry let out one of his barking laughs before he said, “No, it’s not a trick. They were here until about two hours ago? I’m not sure what happened but I heard them rushing around and then all of them were transporting off the ship.”Louis blinked. “Transporting? They have transporting capabilities?”Harry snorted. “Yeah, that’s how they got me here. Convenient, isn’t it?”“Fucking right it is,” Louis said. “It can’t be the Southern Powers that had you then. I’m sure they don’t have that kind of tech. Who was it?”“Lou,” Harry said with a sigh. “I’m currently still stuck inside of the same room I’ve been in for months now and I don’t actually know how long we have the all clear to get out of here without someone returning. Can we just get to Liam and Niall’s boat and then talk?”Louis kicked at the door about to snip back at Harry for being saucy, but the wood shuddered in a way he’d never seen a solid surface move before.“The fuck was that?” Louis asked in surprise.“So. I don’t think that most of this ship is actually real.”Louis looked around him and then back at the door. “Of course it’s bloody well real, we’re standing in it, Harry. What else does that mean?”“Don’t you find it strange that it looks almost exactly like the ship I sent you the image for my tattoo of all those years ago?” Harry asked. “Because I do. Occasionally the doors and walls and floors and shit act like it did a minute ago. The only things that don’t are the ones that are protected by their forcefields. I’m not sure if it’s because this is a really complicated projection magic being put to use that can actually physically interact with organic matter, or if it’s something else that’s so complicated we don’t understand it, but whatever it is I want out of it.”“Yeah, well. That’s what I came to do. Any ideas for how to work that bit?”“Yes, actually,” Harry said with a sniff. “I know the shield projection didn’t work how you were thinking initially, but I was thinking it would be worth a try to have you push out your Shield to include me and the door and see if that causes the projection or forcefield or whatever to stop so I can get out of here.”Louis’ eyes widened. “Shit, Haz. I haven’t worked on that in a couple of weeks and I still don’t have much stamina with it…”“You don’t need to hold it for long,” Harry argued. “Just long enough for me to walk through the doorway or kick down the door or whatever needs to be done to get out of here, yeah? Please. Please try this for me.”The fizzing inside Louis’ veins that had been increasing the closer he got to Harry had reached a boiling point. Louis would have felt overwhelmed and carried away by it if Harry hadn’t somehow known he needed a touch of calm right then. Calm, confidence, and something warm and soft and tender Louis wasn’t quite familiar with from Harry filled him and the combination had him convinced he could do it.“Okay,” Louis agreed. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them a bit as if that would help his concentration. “Not sure how long this is going to take, but I’m sure you’ll know when I’ve done it. You’ll feel it. Act as fast as you can once it’s in place. Alright?”“Yep. I’m ready when you are.”Louis closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again, focused on the door in front of him and the fact he knew Harry was just behind it. He concentrated on the feeling of his personal Shield like he had with Zayn, but unlike before, it moved with ease now. It quickly ballooned out from Louis, creating a dome of energy that pushed out through the door, which immediately disappeared, showing Harry.Louis’ eyes widened at the same time Harry’s face burst into a wide grin and before Louis knew Harry had even moved, he had his arms full. Harry had jumped right into Louis’ arms, pushing him back a little and Louis spun around in an attempt to keep his balance. Harry’s face was nuzzled into his neck, and Louis squeezed his eyes shut as well.“I can’t believe it,” Harry kept saying over and over and over again. “You’re here. I’m holding you. You found me. It finally happened.”“Yeah, love. Yeah. I’ve got you.” Louis reassured Harry as much as he could until Harry finally moved his legs from where they’d been wrapped around Louis’ waist and back to the ground.“We’ve got to get out of here. Where’s Laurel?”Louis nodded towards the stairs, and it was only then he noticed what was burned into Harry’s door.The eagle. The last clue from Louis’ dream.Harry grasped Louis’ hand and they made their way back to the deck. They very slowly and very carefully made the climb back down to Laurel, almost tipping themselves into the water when Louis missed the bottom slat of wood. Thankfully, they both made it safely into the boat and Louis’ rucksack remained dry.When Louis placed his hand back onto Laurel’s motor, she began to move towards the edge of coast that Louis believed was hiding Niall and Liam from view. They were almost on their way home. *~~***~~* Louis studied Harry before turning back to his tablet to draw some more.“What if you become a famous artist,” Harry wondered out loud. “That drawing of me could end up in a popular forum and everyone would know my face without having a clue who I am.”Louis scrunched his nose and emphatically shook his head. “You’re ridiculous. If either of us is going to get famous, it’ll be you.”“Nah,” Harry said, blushing and looking down. “You’re the one who’s so powerful, Lou. You’re filled with this...I dunno how to explain it. It’s like you’re filled with light. People are drawn to you, and you can’t even see it.”Louis wanted to say you’re one to talk, but withheld. “You do talk some shit sometimes,” he said instead, continuing to work on the way Harry’s hair curled around his temples. There was one springy bit that looked like a perfect ringlet and Louis wanted to make sure he did it justice.“I’m for real, though,” Harry said. “I know it’s stupid, but I almost feel like I feed off of your light. Like just seeing you and talking to you gives me an extra layer of ability or focus or something.”Louis watched Harry as he searched for words, and Louis knew better than to interrupt him. Sometimes Harry needed an extra moment to find the best way to explain what he was trying to say. Louis was more than willing to wait for the rest of his thought.“It’s like… It’s like you make me feel strong,” he finally said quietly.Harry’s eyes were burning with the same intensity they got when he felt particularly passionate about what he was saying. Louis wasn’t sure how to interpret that, so he turned back to his tablet. He knew his burning cheeks were telling more than he wanted them to, though.“Same, H. I feel the same.” *~~***~~* The rain had started up just before Louis and Harry got to Liam and Niall. It was heavy, cold, and had them soaked in seconds.Once Liam had helped them get on board, he escorted them below and Niall fired up the engine.“Well, welcome to the Waverunner,” Liam said, slapping them both on their wet shoulders after he had draped the self heating blankets over both wet men. “We’re about to head south, so get comfortable. Niall told me about the change of weather and we were hoping you’d make it back tonight, so I have dry clothes for both of you set out below. Meet us on the bridge when you’re ready.”“Wait,” Louis said, incredibly confused. “Why south?”Liam laughed and shook his head. “You’ll want to be sitting down for that news. All of us have a lot to discuss.”With that, he walked back up to the bridge, and Louis turned to find Harry already stripping down to change out of his wet clothes.Louis was about to avert his eyes, he really didn’t need to see that much of Harry and embarrass himself further, when Louis noticed a dark tattoo on Harry’s upper arm.“You got a tattoo,” Louis said in surprise, moving close to Harry to get a better look at it.“What?” Harry asked, confused. He looked over at his shoulder and then froze. “Oh my God.”Louis began to outline it with the tip of his finger and goosebumps suddenly covered Harry’s skin.“Sorry,” Louis said, pulling back. “It’s just beautifully detailed. It really does look like the ship you were on, doesn’t it?”The ship was surrounded by lines of small birds that could possibly even be swallows, and Louis thought he could even see the painting of the anchor on the side of the ship. That was probably his imagination, though. That was far too much detail for a tattoo, and Louis only believed in so much coincidence.“It’s okay,” Harry said, voice soft. “Hey, Lou. You don’t happen to have a new tattoo as well, do you?”Louis smirked. “Yeah, sure, Haz. A brand new tattoo just appeared on my skin without me even knowing.” Rolling his eyes, Louis walked over to the pile of dry clothes that Liam had left for him.“Mine did.”It was so quiet, Louis wasn’t sure he heard correctly.“What?” he asked, still smiling. “How does that even happen? Tattoos without noticing?”Harry was pleading with his eyes, Louis could tell. “Can you just check? Please?”Confused, Louis asked, “Where would this mysterious tattoo be located?” He stripped off his shirt and pointed to his left bicep. “Here, like yours? Or across my chest? Or maybe…” Louis’ voice drifted off as he looked at his side.Along the full length on the right of his torso was a beautiful rendition of the Montauk Lighthouse. It was surrounded by the same birds Harry’s ship was, but Louis’ were large enough he could tell they were in fact swallows.Louis looked up in surprise at Harry whose eyes seemed like they were boring into Louis’ skin.“Harry,” Louis whispered. “What does this even mean?”“Well,” Harry said, quietly. “Remember how a few years ago I told you about soulmates?”A stronger than normal connection. Niall had told Louis it was incredibly rare for them to be able to reach and Touch each other from such a distance, much less have it be a mutual connection. He said that when they were with each other, their powers were stronger, and Louis had been able to do more with his Shield while on the ship than he ever had before. He said tattoos appeared on their bodies after the first time they physically touched.Looking back up to Harry’s eyes, Louis felt like his heart was about to rabbit out of his chest.“We’re…?” He was breathing so hard, he couldn’t even finish the sentence. Mind spiraling in an emotional downwind, Louis couldn’t tell if he was filled with hope, apprehension, fear he’d misunderstood, or complete and utter rightness, but he could tell by the look on Harry’s face that he felt the same.Nodding, Harry said, “I think so.”Blinking fiercely, Louis wiped the tears that traitorously began to fall. He still couldn’t bring himself to form words, but he could reach out to Harry. Tentatively, he filled their connection with hope. Longing. The words Louis couldn’t bring himself to say just yet.
I love you.
Harry let out a sob and stepped forward to Louis before draping his arms around Louis. He was crying so hard, his sobs were making Louis shake, so he slowly led them over to one of the chairs in the room and sat down. It made for an awkward exchange as both of them, only wearing wet trousers now, figured out how to balance while keeping their arms around each other, but they made it work.“I’ve hoped for so long, but I never thought…” Harry said between gasps, the tears continuing to wet Louis’ shoulder. “I’ve loved you for so long, Louis. I think I always did and just didn’t realise that’s what the feeling was.”Louis was nodding and peppering Harry’s head with kisses. “Same, love. Same. I’ve loved you for years. I was so scared to ever say it.”The Touch between them was electric before simply from being in the same room, but with them physically touching now, it was a continuous sharing of their emotions. At first, Louis was overwhelmed, but then he realised it was filling every part of him, as if he had been made for this. Made for Harry.Since they were soulmates, he supposed he was.Harry and Louis’ tears both eventually slowed, and they were able to search for a dry flannel to wipe up their messy faces. They were giggling with red-rimmed eyes as they tried to gently help each other look more presentable, still halfway dressed in their wet clothes when Liam came back downstairs.“I didn’t expect you two to…” His words drifted off when he took note of their state before his eyes drifted down to their tattoos. Blinking for a moment, he said, “Those… Fuck. You’re… You can’t be. I thought that was legend.”Louis tucked a stray curl behind Harry’s ear and then said, “Yeah, well. Surprise.”Nodding, Liam stood there, face still blank with shock. “Yes. Surprise. Mmhmm. Well, okay.” He visibly shook himself and then said, “We really do need you on the bridge, though. Sorry to break this up, but… yeah.”Louis looked to Harry, who just smiled softly back before looking back up to Liam. “We’ll be up in just a moment. Sorry for the delay.”Once Liam had left, Louis asked, “Are you really, though?”Harry pulled back and threw the wet cloth at Louis before he turned to finish taking off his wet trousers and get into the warm, dry clothes waiting for him.“No, of course not. But I didn’t want to be rude, did I?”Louis snorted, watching Harry until his new, dry trousers were in place before he turned around as well.Once Harry and Louis made it to the bridge and congratulations had officially been made, Niall began to explain.“So, we got a projection last night,” Niall said. “We were quite surprised by it, if I’m honest. We’re out of range of most who are able to send projections, but it was just a voice.”“Who was it?” Louis asked as he leaned against one of the windows, Harry tucked into his side. Louis found he didn’t want to let go of Harry at all now that he’d found him and learned they were soulmates. “What did they say?”“Well, that’s where it gets complicated,” Liam said. “We think it was Zayn, but there were actually several people talking.”“Long story short, the Southern Powers were overpowered by Directions. We made really great headway, only to learn that the Southern Powers weren’t the only ones with a presence in the south. The other presence was an unknown entity that is far more advanced and powerful than we’ve seen or can fight against.” Niall bit at his finger a little bit before saying, “Directions has decided to flee the UK. We’re going to meet them just south of where we are now. That’s where we’re hoping to regroup and possibly stay.”“Fuck,” Louis said. “The tech on the ship was really advanced as well. Do you think they were aligned with this other group?”“That’s possible,” Liam said. “But that’s only part of why we are heading south.”“We’ve had some scouts down in what used to be Virginia and they’ve created settlements there. They’ve been going on missions for several years now and have learned that the United States now leads itself in a tribal system.” Niall was getting more excited and he continued to speak. “They’ve completely shunned technology, which is why they’ve gone dark.”Liam spoke up then. “With the way the wars were fought here, it makes sense to go back to the tribal structure and leave technology behind. However, because of that, they don’t really have any sort of general governing body like they did in the past. The surrounding groups have given permission for Directions to use land in the Virginia and North Carolina area. They aren’t going to require that we stop our use of technology, but we would have to build everything from scratch in this area, so for the time being we will be living fairly primitively and going back to brick and mortar schools, farming, and so on. At least until more is decided for the long term.”Louis nodded. “Alright. Well...” Louis got distracted when he looked out the window and could make out the Montauk Lighthouse. “It’s still so crazy to me that the ship could still be there and I’d never even know going past it.”Harry straightened up and looked out the window.“The water disturbance I noticed a couple of days ago isn’t there anymore,” Niall said. “If it was the ship after all, it seems it’s gone now.”“Maybe it was a high tech projection like you thought,” Louis said to Harry. “I wonder if it disappeared once we were off of it.”Harry shook his head. “No, I was looking at it as we sailed away…” Blinking, Harry looked back at Louis. “But then I was so focused on you and getting to the boat, I stopped paying attention once we passed to where it wouldn’t be visible anymore anyway.”Studying Harry’s face, Louis finally asked what he’d been wondering about ever since he learned Harry had been kidnapped. “Do you know why they took you in the first place?”Harry shook his head. “No. They just kept saying something about keeping me away from everything and that’s all I could make out. They were always checking in, though, and I could feel them everywhere, even in my projections to you. It’s why it took so long for me to visit one of your dreams after I left. I was trying to figure out how to get around their shields, and if I couldn’t, how I could still get important information to you without actually saying anything.”Louis leaned over and gave Harry a kiss on his temple. He’d always wondered what it might be like if he felt he could do that. Now that they were soulmates and together, he supposed he could. Anything more than a cuddle and a kiss on the temple still felt like a lot, but that bit of affection he knew he could manage.When he drew back, he and Harry stared at each other, much the same way they used to through their screens, but it felt so much more intimate now that they were in person. Louis loved being able to feel Harry’s energy surrounding him. It was so much better than a distant Touch of emotion.“Right,” Liam said, clearing his throat. “It’s been a long day for you two as well. I’ll let you have the sleeping quarters, and I’ll bring a mat up to the bridge for Niall and me, but that’ll only last tonight, okay?”Louis smiled gratefully at him, then Harry and Louis made their way back below deck.Putting their sleep pads together, the two of them made themselves comfortable in the small space and cuddled up beside each other. Soon enough, Harry reached out and wrapped his arm around Louis’ shoulders, pulling him close to his chest.Louis happily allowed himself to be bundled into him, and breathed in Harry’s scent. He’d known Harry’s every physical detail he possibly could through their screens and had gotten to know the various dips of his voice over the years, but one thing he’d never experienced until today was his scent and he was quickly getting addicted.“Do you know I never fully knew why they took me?” Harry whispered. “They just came into my house and forced me away from everything and everyone I ever knew in the middle of the night one night and transported me to some boat, and I still don’t really know why.”“Directions guessed it’s because you’re so powerful,” Louis whispered back. “They’ve known you’re a powerful magic holder for a long time and were waiting for you to be of age. I was thinking maybe the Southern Powers, or whoever it was that took you, knew that and didn’t want you to help Directions in the fight.”Harry stayed quiet for a little bit. “I don’t understand what any of that has to do with anything. Or who Directions are, really. I have so many pieces of information that make no sense floating around, and I don’t even know how I came to know them.”Louis kissed Harry’s chest and wrapped his arms best he could around him as well. Harry was so confused and lost, his emotions were everywhere within Louis and it was hard for Louis to sort through them, so he could only imagine how Harry felt.“I know, love. We can start figuring it all out and explaining it to you tomorrow. But first, we should rest.”Harry yawned. “Yeah.”Louis felt Harry relax within his arms, and when his breathing evened out a little bit, Louis said the words he’d been wanting to say for so long one more time before drifting off to sleep himself.“I love you.” *~~***~~* “Achoo! Achoo! Harry! Where are you?”Louis walked out of the back room where he’d been putting away the freshly laundered bedclothes and saw his little, red-headed sister running about the main room.“Hello, Dottie!” he said, lifting her up in the air and swinging her around. “What a lovely surprise for you to visit us. Where’s Mum that she’s let you wander the neighbourhood on your own?”“I’m not alone! Ernie is with me.” Doris declared and just then, her twin came walking through the doorway as well, covered in mud.“Oh dear,” Louis said, rushing over to him before he made it too far inside. Louis did not want to see Harry’s reaction to mud being tracked onto the floors he’d scrubbed the night before. “I believe we’re going to have to hose you down outside, aren’t we?”Louis was trying to balance with Doris on his waist and Ernest in front of him when he felt Harry’s warning right before his voice.“Fee fi fo fum!” Harry rumbled as he stomped up the walkway to the house. “I smell fresh children!”Doris and Ernest both squirmed out of Louis’ embrace and began to scream in delight before they charged out of the house and to Harry. Most days Louis swore his own siblings preferred his husband to himself.“Be careful! There’s a mud monster masquerading as a child!” Louis shouted. He knew Harry heard him because the next moment, there was a splash.So much for doing a last load of laundry using the water drawn that morning. It would be useless now it was being used for a muddy child.Louis walked up to the doorway and leaned against it. When he set out nearly ten years ago to cross an ocean and Find Harry, he never could have known that he’d not return to England. Or that soulmates actually existed and Harry was somehow his. They’d worried for a time how they could ever rebuild a life here, but when Louis and Harry’s families joined them, they knew they would make it work.Harry laughed and wrestled with the two little ones, getting water everywhere, and Johannah wore what Louis could only guess was the same expression of fond exasperation he did at the sight.“What are we going to do with them?” she asked, as she approached Louis in front of his house.“Are you including Harry in that, or just the little ones?” Louis teased. “Obviously we’ll have to let them air dry outdoors while they do some incredibly tedious task, like work on their letters or numbers.”“I know my numbers quite well, thank you,” Harry interjected, winking at Louis right before Ernest splashed suds at him. “Ooh, look who’s getting cheeky!”“Alright, you little monsters,” Johannah said, causing both of the kids to whine at their mum. “Harry has done quite enough for today, I think. Let’s get you on home and allow these two take care of their own dinner.”The biggest adjustment to living in Virginia might have been the diet. None of them had ever lived on anything other than the prepackaged meal bars, but those weren’t in supply here. They’d had to go back to a plant-based diet supplemented by meat when necessary and able.“I believe we’re having Louis’ favourite,” Harry said, holding up a woven bag. “Turnips!”Ernest and Doris climbed out of the wash bucket then and ran to where their mother had already started down the path home. They hated turnips with a passion and just the mention of them often could get them running.Louis smirked and watched as Harry stalked his way towards Louis before wrapping him in his wet embrace. Louis allowed it, as it also meant he got his first kiss from his husband that day. Harry had left so early that morning to get to work in the fields, Louis hadn’t woken up in time to see him off.Kissing Harry was an experience every time, their connection amplifying every touch and brush of the skin. Louis loved how he could feel it so deeply. It did cause issues, however, because their kisses often got heated far too quickly and that made it difficult to focus on important tasks at hand. Such as meal preparation.Pulling back from Harry’s embrace, Louis snatched the bag up from where it had fallen just inside the doorway.“So, what’s really inside the bag?”“Potatoes and some late green onions,” Harry said, chuckling. “I thought it might make a nice little stew that can last us a few days.”Louis hummed and leaned up to give Harry one more peck before getting to work on their meal. “Sounds perfect.”Harry chased Louis’ lips and wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist tightly before nuzzling Louis’ neck a bit. “No, perfect would be getting you in bed for a bit of an early dessert.”Louis smacked Harry’s arm, but he couldn’t help but shiver a little bit when Harry shared his intent with him. God, Louis loved when he did that, but he really should get dinner cooking.“What if we got the potatoes cooking in some of the broth I made from the marrow Zayn and Liam shared with us last week, and then we could get to that dessert?”Harry groaned. “Fine. But I’m going to make your life miserable as I wait.”“You could help the whole process go faster if you helped, you know,” Louis chided as he headed to the counter.They quickly learned in the transition to actually preparing and cooking their foods, Louis was the one who had more talent for it, but Harry wasn’t bad either. He preferred working with his hands in the dirt for the planting and harvesting instead, but he was fully capable of making an entire meal on his own too.“Now that I can support. What would you like me to do?”Louis gave him instructions, and watched the muscles in Harry’s forearms work. Yes, the sooner those potatoes were prepped certainly would be for the better.