First Sky High Fiction - Warren and Layla Centric but not romance really - just friendship...

Tell me whatcha think...

"A Smile creates happiness in the home…"

Warren Peace wasn't exactly the happiest boy in the world, ever since his father had been locked away with four life sentences his mother and home life hadn't been the same. She never had a smile on her face when she was bustling about or working. Never sang the songs that when Warren was younger he had loved to sit and listen to as she cooked or cleaned. Warren was under the impression it was probably his fault. He powered up soon after his father had been put away, he had been so proud that he could flame - a talent he couldn't thank his father or mother for - he was proud to have a different power. Ms Peace however had just stared at him, she hadn't smile in congratulations and had slowly dissolved into tears that had wiped Warrens' own grin off his face. While she was crying he had caught the words,

"Just like your father…"

Before she dissolved into more tears. He had assumed even at reasonably young age that she thought his anger, quick temper and his new found power would make him rash and stupid which would probably turn him into a super-villain locked up in solitary like his own father and her husband. All Warren wanted was for his mother to smile again, sing again and be happy again, he had made the decision when they had taken his father away to not hurt anyone when he received his powers - except for maybe the Commander and Jetstream, the ones who had caused the problem in the first place. All Warren Peace wanted was for his home to be a happy place again - not a place of sadness.

"Fosters goodwill in Business…"

Warren was always being told to smile while he was at work. Apparently - as he had gathered from his stunted Chinese - customers like someone with a smile on their face and won't be likely to return if the bus boy has a permanently sour look on his face. Finding it difficult in his stunted Chinese and not really being bothered to say that he really didn't have anything to smile about he carried on, in his own thoughts ignoring the frequent orders of "SMILE! SMILE!".

It wasn't until the night after he had attempted to roast Will Stronghold in the cafeteria that he gave a real smile at work- one that stayed on his face until after the end of his shift. When the red-haired sidekick he had named "Stronghold's friend" since her first day as a freshman walked in, he had smiled, he rarely saw anyone out of school, no-one particularly wanted to see him out of school. He kept an eye on her all night, watching as she seemed to get more and more depressed, as the flowers on her table drooped. Control of plants, he had thought, Weird but cool.

Approaching her after everyone had left the restaurant, he spoke to her as if he had no idea she had been there all night - even though he had felt sad for her when the plants drooped - she was obviously down in the dumps, he felt the need to cheer her up - he had no idea why. They talked, he had never really had a conversation with someone who wasn't his mother or a teacher - no-one ever really wanted to talk to him thinking he would roast them alive, he was kind of responsible for that reputation though. However Layla, or Hippie as he renamed her was talking to him like he was a normal person, not a troubled teenager who had tried to roast her friends and herself alive earlier that day. This kept him smiling that night until long after he had said "See You Later Hippie."

"It is a sign and countersign of friendship…"

Since that night at the Paper Lantern Layla and her friends had been around a lot more, they seemed to come as a package deal if you wanted to have Layla around the rest of them came with her. Although he acted permanently annoyed by their presence he was secretly happy for the company Layla brought to him, however annoying it could be. Layla was probably the only reason he really put up with them - if she wasn't around he would probably have roasted them all for even breathing the same air as him. Everyday since he had comforted her at the Paper Lantern she had greeted him with a sweet smile probably of gratitude, everyday he scowled at her from behind his hair - never returning the smile that made him feel a bit happier - instead of stopping she continued on giving his arm a squeeze or shoulder a pat as she walked by, still smiling, to repeat the same process the next day. She filled him with a warmth that didn't come with his power and made him feel wanted for the first time since his father had been put away and he had powered up to be the hothead he was.

Although he was taking her to homecoming to annoy Will Stronghold he couldn't help but be proud to actually have someone who on some level wanted to be seen in public with him and gave him a sweet smile everyday no matter what. Although she had told him it would be "as painless as possible" he didn't want to tell her it wouldn't be painful at all, instead he grudgingly agreed and stormed off. When she called him Cutie and held his hand he had torched her hand slightly before storming off yet again - however if anyone dared look past his long hair they would have seen a slight smile gracing his otherwise stony features. No-one had touched him in such a long time - again in fear of being roasted, he liked it, and - although he had flamed her hand, only lightly - Warren Peace wasn't meant to like people, have friends, he was meant to be a loner and the Hippie was breaking down his barriers. By the time homecoming had come around he was actually looking forward to it, slightly, Layla made him smile and he felt that that was something he should try to hang onto. He wore his fathers suit explaining to Layla "He has no use for it in solitary." It made her uncomfortable but her nervousness made him smile again as she offered him a cheese cube.

By the end of homecoming he had decided he should definitely attend school functions if they turned out this interesting every time, of course Layla had finally told Will how she felt about him and he felt rather jealous all her time would no longer be spent with him but rather with her boyfriend - who he now had to be civil with - it was his own fault considering he'd pushed both of them together, but as Layla and Will danced he noticed her gaze was not fixed upon Will but watching Warren sat in the corner alone. As she caught his eye she smiled and broke away from Will heading over in Warrens' direction.

"Dance with me?"

"That wasn't part of the agreement, Hippie."

"I know but I want to dance with my date."

She had said before pulling him up on the floor to dance a slow song. Warren looked down at her. She laughed and he pulled her closer, he was happy and if people looked again she was smiling into his fathers' old suit.

"It brings rest to the weary…"

Warren was tired, in fact he was almost dead on his feet as he walked the halls of Sky High that day. His temper was high and he had already tried to roast three people who had got in his way - it was only 9am - it could only get worse. He had worked three consecutive night shifts finishing at midnight then returning to school the next morning for 8.30am, lack of sleep was driving the pyrotechnics' temper into overdrive and he didn't think anyone would snap him out of. Laylas regular morning smile was greeted by a snarl rather than his own slight twitch of the lips, instead of looking horrified she smiled wider and touched his shoulder as she did every morning - he didn't roast her. Instead he decided in might not be such a bad day after all. Layla was not deterred by his bad mood, she ate lunch with him (and without her friends who would have tipped him over the edge) keeping up a constant monologue as he obviously didn't want to talk to her, smiling the entire time. Listening to Layla was rather calming and by the end of their lunch he smiled a small smile back at her to show his appreciation, in return she gave him another squeeze on the arm and a kiss on the cheek. Warren felt better already, who wouldn't after the hippie had worked her magic on him. When he returned home to his mother - who had bore the brunt of his tired, stroppy, childish behaviour for the past three days and was bracing herself for more tantrums - he gave a her a smile and without a word went into his room where he promptly fell asleep feeling better than he had in a long time. He thought as his eyelids were closing that he better find out how Layla could do this to him with just a smile.

"Cheer to the discouraged…"

Warren was worried, he was confused and a bit annoyed. For the first time since his fight with Will a few months before Layla hadn't been there in the morning to give him a smile and a squeeze to the shoulder. It was something that had set his day off to a good start, no matter how small a thing it was, he was angry that she wasn't there and at lunchtime had stormed over to Will and the sidekicks demanding to know where Layla was.

She's Ill." said Will, with half a sandwich still in his mouth.

"She can't be ill." Warren had replied his eyes narrowing a bit more.

"Hey, genius everyone gets ill." Magenta had muttered under her breath, shrinking slightly when he glared at her, "It's just the flu, she'll be back in a few days." she hastened to tell him. Warren shook his head, glared again and stalked off send a few flames at kids who got in his way and Will and the sidekicks watched confused and a bit scared.

On his way home Warren had dropped into the Paper Lantern and picked up some vegetable soup before heading over to see Layla, people said soup worked in making people better and if Layla didn't eat chicken she'd have to get better off vegetables and noodles, he was still angry at her for not informing him of her absence before hand - although the rational part of his mind was telling him there wasn't really anyway for her to tell him unless he had expected him to come and see her while she was ill in bed. Warren knocked once, then again… he was just about to slam his hand on the door for a third time when a dishevelled and ill looking Layla answered the door with a huge smile on her face - even if she was leaning against the frame for support. Upon seeing the smile he had missed that morning his anger suddenly disappeared and he felt the need to wrap her up, instead he grinned back, brushed his hair back and into the ponytail it only hung in for work and ushered her back into the house. Layla walked slowly into the living room where it was obvious she had set up camp to the day, she curled quickly back under her green blanket lifting her feet for Warren to sit on the sofa. Silently he heated up the soup and handed it to her, feeling better than he had that morning, she hadn't gone anywhere she was just ill. Feeling less lonely and realising Layla couldn't give him a smile everyday - that was to assume she would be there to smile at him everyday - he grabbed hold of her foot that had rested upon his knee and began to rub it. He watched her smile sleepily and as he smiled back at her in the comfortable silence that they always seemed to share.

Warren stayed with her as she slept, until past her mother had returned home, silently refusing any food offered and left the house after 11pm, hoping Layla would be better soon. The next morning as he hopped off the Sky High school bus he noticed a flash of red hair and saw Layla walking towards him with the smile he had missed the day before on her face.

"Thanks for the soup. Next time I'm Ill… You'll be the first to know." she had said before touching his arm and walking off to her first lesson.

"Sunshine to the sad…"

Layla smiled at Warren every morning the same, this time she wasn't surprised to see a stony expression on his face and a look of sadness in his eyes. She knew that it was around ten years ago his father had been imprisoned and she imagined this to be very difficult to get over for both Warren and his mother. Warren rarely told her anything more than she needed to know anymore. She knew however when she had been ill he had been in a terrible mood because she hadn't been there and her friends had again nominated her to cheer Warren up. With her smile this particular morning she added a kiss on his cheek before walking off. It was along time since her and Will had gotten over there weird and difficult romance but many people still considered her Wills' property and to see her kissing Warren Peace, who even if he and Will were friends the student body still considered them enemies (it made life more interesting). His expression didn't change to the outside world but inside he was happy, he knew Layla was there for him along with the rest of the friends he had gained within the sidekicks. Again she had sat with him at lunch, the sidekicks joined her this time but chatted amongst themselves at the other end of the table, again she kept up her own monologue as Warren pushed food round his plate - this time in sadness rather than anger and sleep deprived.

"Want to go for dinner with me tonight?" She whispered at the end of lunch.

"What?"

"Paper Lantern. It'll be good I promise."

"Do we have to?"

"Any better ideas?"

"I'll meet you outside at 7.30." He had muttered before leaving for his lesson.

When 7.30pm rolled around Layla was anxiously awaiting Warren's arrival breathing a sigh of relief when she saw him stalk out the shadows. Thought I wouldn't show, Hippie. He had smiled at her and she returned the smile at full force, before attempting to turn into her favourite restaurant. Warren however stopped her and pulled her off in the direction of his house - his hand slowly slipping into hers as they walked at a slow pace, Layla not wanting to speak in case she broke his mood. At his home he informed her his mother was out and there was something he wanted to show her, opening the door to his room she noticed a pile of photos on his bed recognising immediately his father in many different stages of his life both with and without Warren and his mother. Warren smiled slightly before starting his own monologue which mimicked the one Layla repeatedly gave him when he appeared upset at lunchtime. She didn't interrupt but smiled and watched as tears rolled down his face during some parts of the tale. When he finished his throat was sore, his face damp but it felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He thanked Layla as she left, kissing her on the forehead as she smiled again and walked out into the night. As he fell asleep the smile still on his face he thought Layla may be able to manipulate him as she does plants, her smile was like his sunshine - he couldn't survive without it now he had found it.

"Yet it cannot be bought, borrowed or stolen…"

Warren had noticed the change also immediately as he began to perk up both at home and with Layla and his friends at school, so did his mother. For every smile he gave to her he received one in return, one morning he had even heard her humming and singing to herself. He was thinking of many ways to pay Layla back for turning his life round with a simple smile when she had greeted him with another smile for that day. All of a sudden he realised exactly how to pay her back. Looking straight at her she went to touch his shoulder and walk off instead he grabbed her hand… gave her a huge grin and kissed her on the cheek. Layla blushed - she never expected Warren to return anything she gave to him but knew how much her smile meant to him. Touching him on the arm she continued with her day… with a huge smile on her face.

"For it is something that has no value to anyone,

Until it is given away."