T Minus 30 days
"Good Morning Bryce, did you sleep well?" Harry asked as he placed breakfast on the table in front of the teen.
"Yes, thank you for asking." Bryce replied shyly, after a month of living with Harry and Jack he still had not come all that far out of his shell.
"Good, eat up, I have something special planned today. I have already contacted all your teachers and told them you will not be showing up today." Harry said as he dished up some eggs and sausage onto his plate.
Confused at what Harry meant and what could have been planned as his brother mentioned that he and his friends were looking forward to the outing his history class was going on today to Draynor, he just looked at Harry with a confused expression on his face.
Looking up from his plate Harry saw the look of confusion on his fosterlings face and explained. "I know very well what it is like to be left at the wayside, overlooked and forgotten."
"I realized last night that the two of us do not spend as much time together as I would like. Plus you seem to be very shy around me for some reason." Harry said between mouthfuls.
"So today we are spending the whole day together, to get to know each other better." Harry smiled at the hopeful expression that crossed Bryce's face. "Eat up we have a lot of things to do today."
Bryce stared at Harry for the longest time before starting to shovel his food into his mouth in his haste to get breakfast over with and the promised alone time.
Harry held the chuckle in as he watched Bryce eat.
Putting his dishes in the sink Bryce sat back down to wait for Harry to finish.
And then thought about his brother. "What about Cadfael?"
"Jack volunteered to act as one of the chaperones for the outing today." Harry shook his head. "I really don't think he knows what he is getting himself into with a bunch of hyperactive ten year olds."
"As they get to sleep in a little longer we can let Jack worry about getting your brother fed and off to the outing on time." Harry grinned in mischief
Placing his dishes in the sink for the remotes to clean, Harry turned and motioned for Bryce to follow him.
Walking into the Transfer Station Harry placed his hand on Bryce's shoulder and shifted them both to the top floor, his cry-steel bubble observation deck, a place he went when he needed to sit and not think about things as he let himself get lost in the vastness of space.
"Wow." Bryce exclaimed quietly as he turned around in a circle and took in the vastness of space around him.
"You can only get to this place from our quarters, and only if you can shift, as the only place in the whole city that allows you to shift to this hidden place is in our quarters, inside the TS station." Harry explained as he led the teen over to the low seat in the center of the room.
Sitting down in the clear half egg like chair Harry reached up and pulled Bryce down so he was sitting in front of him, for all intents right in his lap.
Pulling the teen back against his chest so Bryce's head rested near his throat, Harry started to talk softly.
"I notice many things; it comes from how I was raised, in an environment that no one should have to endure.
It might seem that all I have done the past five weeks is pay attention to your brother and his needs, but the truth is I have watched you this whole time, trying to figure out your needs."
Feeling Bryce stiffen under his arms Harry just tightened his hug a little until he relaxed again.
"I have watched you be the best big brother you know how to be, always pushing your brother to the fore front, making sure he gets the love and support he needs as he grows.
Always putting your wants and needs second to his, taking what is left over and satisfied with what you receive." Harry said softly.
Harry felt a slight trembling coming form the young teen he was hugging to himself tightly.
"Today.Today is all about you.Your wants.And your needs." Harry assured him.
"Today.Today you learn that you too can have what you want and need, not needing to accept what you think is all there is, what is left over. " Harry whispered in his ear.
"I did not bring your brother into my family and then add you as an after thought; I brought you both into my family. A family that has more than enough love to provide for both of you." Harry hugged him tightly as Bryce cried silently.
Giving him a moment to get some control back, Harry felt him start to truly relax in his arms.
"My parents were killed when I was one year old." Harry said starting to get lost in the memory.
"I grew up truly unloved and unwanted. Always feeling like I was different than others, like I did not fit in.
Then one day I found out the truth, I had a gift, the gift to manipulate energy and matter around me.
The same gift you and your brother have.
There was a secret world living alongside mine, hidden in plain sight. And I was a part of it. Belonged to it, yet for the first ten years hidden from it.
In the back of my mind I was always afraid that I would never be good enough to be part of this wondrous new world I found out I belonged to.
It took a long time for me to accept that different was more than ok."
"I.I felt that way too." Bryce whispered his fears for the first time out loud. "I knew I was wanted, but I never knew if I was loved, if I belonged."
"I needed to make sure my brother always knew he was loved and he was not really different, not really, even though we were." Bryce tried to pull away, and when he found himself truly wrapped in the comforting arms he melted back against Harry's chest.
"He is.And, so are you." Harry told him softly. "And here you truly are no different than any one else, you have the same abilities that we do. The same gifts."
Letting him get his emotions under control again Harry held him tightly with his left arm while using his right to sweep in front of them towards the stars.
"I come up here when I need to remember that I am part of something greater, something vast and incredible.
Sitting here and loosing myself in the stars reminds me that even though I am minuscule compared to the vastness in front of me, that I am still a part of that vastness, a much needed part." Harry told him softly.
They spent the next half hour in silence just looking out towards the stars as Bryce snuggled closer to Harry, soaking up the closeness.
The silence was broken by Harry when he said. "I thought we would start the day by me taking you around, so you can experience new things, things that you might find enjoyable. Things you might find you do not care for. The only way to find out is to try it."
Feeling Bryce nod his head against his chest Harry smiled.
"I come up here when I need to be humbled, I go flying when I need to forget and relax, and when I need to think things through, I go walking, exploring the city if you will." Harry said to him.
"Jack goes fishing when he needs to think or hide from the world, though how he expects to catch any fish without using a hook I will never know." Harry laughed thinking about the time he caught him fishing in the river in the center of the park. "Molly bakes when she is upset and nervous."
"The point of this is, that each of us do different things to help us deal with the stresses of every day living, and I think it is time you were taught some new things in the hope that later on when you need to relieve the stress you are under, you can look back and say, when I did this I felt relaxed and I was able to think things through or when I did this I was able to relax or things suddenly were easier to understand." Harry offered.
"And I hope that as we do this you will relax enough to share your wants and needs with me so I can do a better job guiding you towards the future." Harry told him with a hug.
Becoming more upbeat Harry asked. "So where to start first?"
I don't care if we ever leave this spot, I feel loved, truly loved for the first time, and accepted for who I am, Bryce thought to himself.
Getting no answer Harry leaned forward a little and suggested. "No preference, well how about we visit Neville and play in the dirt for a little bit, after that maybe go try our hand at fishing."
Hearing Bryce giggle softly at the suggestion of fishing, Harry held on tight to Bryce as he stood up from the chair taking him with him.
Several hours later and much more relaxed around Harry Bryce giggled. "I don't think this is how Jack goes fishing."
Putting the net in the water again for another attempt to scoop up as many fish as he could Harry fired back. "Well I really think the whole point of fishing is to actually catch fish."
Hauling out another net full to dump into a harvesting bucket Harry quipped. "I much prefer my way of fishing over Jacks, thank you very much."
Harry smiled as Bryce almost fell in the water he was laughing so hard at his statement, and the stories he heard about Jacks lack of fishing skill.
Looking around the tank to see if there were any more fish Bryce snuck up on the last one hiding in the corner, before splashing the net down in an attempt to capture it.
"Got you." Bryce giggled as he scooped up the lone fish and dumped it in the bucket.
Smiling happily Bryce dragged his bucket of flopping fish over to the conveyer that would take them to the processing area.
Smiling happily Bryce watched the bucket make its way down the line before turning to Harry and saying. "What's next?"
Thinking about it for a moment Harry said. "Well we almost got eaten by Neville's plants."
"He did warn you not to get to close though." Bryce pointed out.
"We lunched, or should that be munched our way through the production gardens." Harry smirked as he tickled the young teen.
"Got chased out too." Bryce added laughing.
Harry liked the sound of Bryce laughing, it made it all worth while. "We just finished up fishing, and did a lot better than Jack does. So it proves I am the better fisherman."
Giggles echoed through the area, from even those now stocking the empty tank with fingerlings for grow out, over that one.
"It's been fun Chuck, but we are off to the next adventure." Harry waved as he told the fish farmer goodbye, grabbing Bryce and making his way out the door.
"Where next?" Bryce asked with excitement, wondering what new delight he would be introduced to next.
"Not sure lets see what trouble we can get into." Harry replied thinking about what to do next.
Bryce grinned, this had all the makings of a grand adventure, just like those Holo Dramas he used to watch back on Tylene.
Walking over the TS outside the farm, Harry tapped the screen scrolling through the different areas, looking for something to catch his attention.
Seeing the section that housed the hanger decks and flight simulators Harry smiled as he gave the command to transport them there.
Seeing the slight flash as the screen activated Bryce tried to get a look at the destination before being dragged out of the station and into the hanger deck.
Looking around and the scout ships and shuttles Bryce asked. "Why here?"
Smirking in anticipation Harry said evilly without turning around. "Lets see how many times we can crash one of these babies."
Not hearing any footsteps behind him Harry turned around and had to laugh at the shell shocked expression on Bryce's face.
Pointing over to the training deck Harry said. "In the simulators, you didn't think I meant the actual ships did you?"
Not about to tell him that he did indeed think that, Bryce ran to catch up, hoping his face did not show how he did think that was the case.
Entering the room, Harry waved over to one of the ex American fighter pilots turned scout pilot, as he made his way over to one of the empty simulators.
Gesturing for Bryce to sit down Harry asked grinning. "Comfortable, can you reach everything?"
Squirming in the seat a bit Bryce nodded his head as he tried to look at all the displays that had lit up once he sat down.
"Good, now the object of this is to see how many times you can crash into things before you blow up." Harry said with a straight face standing next to the budding young pilot.
Derrick who had walked over to the other side of the simulator to see what the Lord Commander was up to, hesitated before asking. "Um.Lord Commander you do know that we try our best to NOT to crash into things.Right?"
Slowly extending his head around in front of Bryce's, he could see Bryce's face as he answered, Harry slowly replied. "But where's the fun in that?"
About to ask if Harry was feeling alright or if he needed for him to send for a healer, Derrick noticed the grin on Bryce's face and realized that he was having him on.
"Lord Commander, seeing as Chief Ryan likes his ships in one piece, do you mind if I take Bryce through the steps on how to fly one of these things? Safely that is." Derrick asked casually.
"Sure take all the fun out of this." Harry said aloud as he stood back and winked at the pilot.
"I'll just go over there and take a nap then shall I." Harry responded with a grin.
While Derrick started to give out the finer points of flying to Bryce, Harry walked over to the desk and leaned back in the chair and watched the two interact, smiling as Bryce was grinning ear to ear as he flew the simulator, only crashing a couple of times.
Talking to Aloria through the bond to get an update on how things were going elsewhere while he was playing hooky, and finding out that nothing of any importance had come up. Harry decided that their next stop would be the park he used every morning to work out, for a little magical workout, maybe with a little one on one attention Bryce would make the final connection he needed to instinctively merge with his core.
Finished playing with the simulator Bryce jumped out of the cockpit and ran over to Harry grinning like crazy and grabbed him tightly in a hug. "Thank you." He whispered.
"Your welcome." Harry whispered to him back, as he escorted him towards the doorway, waving a goodbye to Derrick over his shoulder.
Walking side by side down the corridor with his arm across Bryce's shoulder Harry steered them to the TS they used before, and this time Harry chose the park as their destination.
Walking down the hallway with an arm full of very happy teenager, Harry steered them into the park and over to the section set aside for the practice of the magical form of Tai Chi.
Finding an area not occupied Harry sat down on the ground and pulled Bryce down in front of him so their knees where touching.
"Now I know you have been having some trouble merging with your core, and I know that you have been frustrated as Cadfael does not seem to be having problems. And you feel as you being the older one that you should be able to do this more easily than he does." Harry started with a smile.
"So I am going to help you master this skill and anything else you want to learn." Harry told him.
"The first thing you need to realize is that the reason you are having more problems than your brother is you are not as ready to take that leap of faith and believing that you can do it.
Cadfael has yet to learn that all is not what it seems and that his imagination has boundaries." Harry said simply.
"You need to believe in here," Placing his hand on Bryce's chest Harry said. "Deep down inside that you can do this."
Watching Bryce's face go from excited and happy to frowning to holding hope, Harry told him. "Close your eyes and think back to the things we did this morning to find the one that relaxed you the most."
"Keeping your eyes closed I want you to nod your head gently when you have captured that feeling again." Harry softly told him.
Seeing several people wander over and sit down behind Bryce and close their eyes as they too tried to master touching their core, following what Harry was saying.
Seeing Bryce nod his head as he sat there with a relaxed smile on his face, Harry softly led him to finding his core. "Every one has a different way that they look for their magical core, what works for one person might not work for another.
A watchmaker would see his body as made up of the parts of a watch, a farmer as the freshly tilled field as the first sprouts of the life started to break through the soil.
You want to be a healer someday and have been studying everything you can get your hands on, on how the body works.
So imagine you are floating in your body, being carried along by your blood.
Back and forth past your cells as you rush past your lungs into your heart and out again and to the rest of your body."
Seeing him start to sway slightly as he visualized traveling, Harry continued softly. "As you rush around your body notice how certain things seems brighter than others, feel how certain areas seem to have more energy then others."
"You can feel the energy flowing around you as you travel, past your lungs.through your heart.around your kidneys.feel how the energy flows with you." Harry whispered as Bryce really started to sway now.
"As you travel you notice the energy seems to be concentrated in one spot more than others. As you pass it look at it.
As you travel past you can feel the energy seems to flow from that spot stronger than any other spot you pass by.
Now on your next pass by, reach out and grab the energy you feel coming from that spot and flow with it." Harry crooned to the teen as he started to glow ever so slightly.
"Immerse yourself in the feeling of the energy current as it flows through and around you. Let it carry you around as it goes around and through every part of your body.
Back and forth, in and out, feel the energy flow. Feel the energy, feel where the energy is coming from. Feel where the energy is going.
When you can feel the energy entering the flow, reach out.reach out and touch it." Harry whispered as Bryce really started to blaze as the glow engulfed him fully.
"Remember this feeling, hold onto this feeling and stand up." Harry told him, as he stood up with about two thirds of those sitting behind Bryce, who had now successfully touched their core.
"Start to move with the Tai Chi forms your body has done so often, it's just like every time you practice." Harry said as he started to glow and move into the modified Tai Chi exercise also.
"Step.raise.stand.bend, feel the energy roll around as you move." Harry said willing a mirror to appear behind him.
"You feel the energy move.You feel the energy move with and follow your every move." Harry said a little louder as the moves started to speed up.
"Open your eyes." Harry told him. "Move through the forms your body knows as their own. Feel the energy move with you."
Bryce opened his eyes to see a mirror behind a brightly glowing Harry and was shocked to see he too was glowing brightly, he had done it."
Finishing the move Bryce jumped up and down and screamed. "I did it.I did it."
Smiling Harry said. "Yes you did, and now that you know what it feels like you can do it any time you want. All you have to do is remember what it felt like and you will drop into your core. Every time you do it, it will come to you faster and easier than before."
Not quite believing it, Bryce never the less stood up straight and closed his eyes again.
Not feeling any thing at first he almost got frustrated when he remembered how Harry had him relax at first and the words he had heard him tell him, to feel the flow.
Opening his eyes he grinned as he was once again glowing and started to move from one starting form to the next.
Harry smiled at Bryce's success and started to gather the energy around him as he went through his forms, and his moves made it so it looked like it his body was rolling around the energy.
Finishing his forms for the second Time Bryce dropped to the ground covered in sweat but grinning from ear to ear.
Tired but happy Bryce watched in awe as Harry really started to move quickly through the forms, as if he was dancing and the magic was his partner trying to grab and hold him.
Wondering how long it would be before he too could do that he felt a little dizzy and thirsty as he leaned back on his arms slightly out of breath.
A glass of orange liquid came into his field of vision as Harry finished up his routing.
"Here this will help." A voice behind him said.
Thanking the voice Bryce took a sip and realized it was the same drink Harry had been drinking every couple of hours right after he and his brother came to live with Harry and Jack.
"Thank you." Harry told the man as he motioned towards Bryce. "Drink up it will help replace the energy and calories you just expended."
Feeling a lot better now Bryce jumped up and hugged Harry tightly. Thank you.Thank you so much."
"Anytime." Harry leant down to tell him.
"I think I need a shower, how about you?" Harry said, as he waved at the group as they turned to leave.
Bryce nodded his head not wanting this day to end, and afraid to talk in case it did.
"Ok, lets go back home and clean up. By the time we get finished, we might be able to get to the embarkation deck before your brother makes it back from Draynor. How about we eat in the dining hall tonight?" Harry asked as they walked towards the doors to the park.
XXXX
Getting out of the shower Bryce quickly dressed and crossed the hall to Harry's bedroom and knocked on the door.
Getting no answer, he opened the door and walked in only to hear the water still running in the bathroom.
Going over to the bed to wait Bryce sat down and waited for Harry to get out of the shower.
Finished Harry took a towel off of the rack and drying himself, Harry thought the day had gone rather well and he hoped Bryce was more comfortable and felt like a part of the family now.
Drying his hair Harry walked out of the bathroom towards his closet on the other side of the room and caught a pair of legs hanging over the bed as he walked by towel on his head.
Peeking around the corner of the towel Harry almost laughed out loud to see the shocked expression on Bryce's very red face as Harry walked by him naked.
Really turning red now Bryce stammered. "I knocked.Really I did."
Laughing softly Harry replied as he threw the towel at Bryce. "It's ok, we are both guys, we have the same bits so to speak."
Putting on a clean uniform Harry noticed that as embarrassed as Bryce was he had not been able to take his eyes off him as he got dressed.
Figuring that he was probably the first adult he had ever seen naked, and like all other boys his age was doing mental comparisons between himself and Harry trying to see where he fit in with what he saw, he told Aloria to program Bryce's computer with the appropriate information on puberty and what to expect his body to start doing as it grew a mind of its own.
"You will find a new section open to you on your computer, tonight after catching up on any work you missed you might take a glance through it." Harry said finished getting dressed, casually dropping the information, trying hard not to make a big deal out of it.
"It will explain why all of a sudden your body seems to have a mind of its own, and give you an idea of what changes you are going through now and what to look forward to in the future." Harry told him as he motioned for him to follow him out of the room.
Entering the living room and crossing to the TS Harry added once the doors had closed behind them. "Feel free to come to me with anything you do not understand or are unsure of, I will be more than happy to explain it to you."
Eyes large as saucers Bryce nodded his head as he followed Harry out of the TS and down the hall.
Walking across the embarkation deck to his work platform Harry noticed that no disasters had occurred while he played hooky.
Good thing to as Bryce really needed this time to have Harry all to himself.
Sitting down in his chair Harry activated the displays so he could get a quick update just as he heard David's Voice call out that the Draynor matter stream had been accepted.
Shutting down the displays Harry turned towards the gates to see a steady stream of children and adults walk out of the third gate.
Placing his hand on Bryce's shoulder Harry told him. "Lets go see if Jack was able to keep up with your brother shall we. Bet they didn't have half the fun we did fishing."
Laughing Bryce stood up and followed his Harry towards the gate. His Harry he thought that sounded really good, Bryce thought.
Waiting for Jack to walk through Harry noticed how happy and relaxed Bryce looked. Then seeing a tired looking Jack being dragged through the gate by an energetic ten year old it was all Harry could do to not taunt him about how he had gotten the better deal.
Seeing Harry and Bryce standing there grinning Jack mustered up the last reserves of energy he had and smiled back at them as Cadfael started to give a rapid fire report on the days events including the brush with the Grapt Horn out in the forest, and how it had chased them into the river.
Running out of things to tell them Cadfael asked his brother. "Bryce what did you do today?"
Bending over slightly so he was closer yet could still see Jacks face out of the corner of his eye he answered. "Harry took me all over and showed me many new fun things to do. Like fishing."
Strutting in place a little Jack said. "Like fishing did you." Spacing his hands apart. "I know of this place that has fish this big."
"Really." Bryce said standing back up. "Harry and I caught so many fish we had trouble dragging the buckets away from the water they were so heavy." Bryce told him.
Grabbing a hold of his brother he started to move towards the hall so they could go eat, he was hungry and couldn't wait to eat.
Jack watched the three walk towards the door as he tried to think where in the world they had been able to find a stream around here that had fish in it, and enough fish to fill buckets full.
Scott lent me his most excellent editing skills for this chapter.