Free Sebastian by Hazel Hunter

surprise.  
    Dotted through the crowd were people with a bright bronze glow around their heads. This halo affected just a handful of people and, when she gasped, she almost lost them. Then she focused again, and they snapped back into view. There was nothing tentative about this, she could find them as quickly as she could sort a white ball from a pile of black balls.  
    “Who are you looking at?” Sebastian whispered.
    She responded slowly. “That little boy carrying the enormous stuffed animal there. That girl with the purple hair. The woman behind the sugared almond stand. They all have this beautiful bronze halo around them.”  
    Sebastian chuckled.  
    “Well what do you know. I think you found everyone in the crowd who was feeling pretty damn good about themselves.”  
    She blinked hard to get rid of the afterimage of those bronze glows, and she looked at him.
    “That…that was easy,” she said hesitantly.
    “Let's try again. What emotion do you want to focus on right now?”  
    Nicolette was suddenly reminded of the woman she had spoken to the previous day, the one with that soft sadness that seemed settled around her.
    “I don't know how to describe it, but I think I want to focus on regret, sadness.”  
    Sebastian nodded.  
    “Try it. Think about something that made you sad.”  
    Impulsively, she took his hand and let her eyes drift closed. She had known grief in her life, and such pain, but instead she thought about that older woman. She thought of a life well-lived with someone who was so beloved. She thought of losing that person, and how after that first rush of grief, there was only a deep and abiding hollowness to the world. It wasn't a sharp pain, but it was one that sapped the strength from the bones.
    Her eyes drifted open, and at first, she thought she had failed. There were many auras that she could see now, and the auras that were reflected were every color of the rainbow. One of the people her skill had targeted was a handsome, young busker with long dreadlocks and dark, dark skin. He flirted with the crowd, he played a rollicking tune on his violin, and his aura was a deep indigo blue. However, when she looked closer, she could see that it had the same tarnish as the old woman's aura had had. His aura was beautiful, and it gave her a sense of lively creativity and life, but overlaying it all was a patina of what she realized was sadness.
    “What are you seeing?”  
    “I think I'm seeing sadness,” she said softly. “Some people carry it with them, overlaying everything else they are feeling. These people are many other things, but overlaying it all is their sadness and their regret.”
    Sebastian sighed, and she wondered if his hand squeezed hers for a moment.
    “Gods, you're fast,” he said. “That's two for two now.”
    “Am I doing well?” she asked, startled.
    “This isn't my area of expertise,” he admitted, “but from what my own teacher told me, yes, very.”
    Nicolette laughed a little self-consciously.  
    “Vacek always told me that I was depressingly slow.”
    “Vacek was wrong.” Sebastian shook his head as if to rid himself of the remaining anger he felt about her situation. “I'm teaching you, and I'm saying that you are doing very well.”
    “What do I get?” Nicolette asked, feeling greatly daring, and Sebastian's dark look faded to a smile.
    “Do it a few more times. This time, look for emotions that might signify a danger to you. Someone who is feeling angry, perhaps, or someone who is feeling reckless.”  
    She did as he said, and she started laughing.
    “What?”
    “Well, you said reckless. About the only person around who is feeling particularly reckless right this moment is that kid with the skateboard.”  
    Sebastian grinned.
    “That's a good sign. Keep on working, but don't let yourself get overtired. Part of doing good work is being able to pace yourself and knowing when you might need to quit. You’ll never do yourself or anyone