Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Tamora Pierce's books, and the song, Chemicals React, belongs to Aly and AJ.

A/N: I know the ending is very AU, but it sorta fit for me. Please don't flame.

You make me feel out of my element
Like I'm walkin' on broken glass
Like my world's spinning in slow motion
And you're movin' too fast

Alanna watched Thom as he spoke with the Mithran Master, Si-cham. This wasn't her thing, sorcery, it was Thom's. This was way out of her element, out of her knowledge and expertise. This made her realize something – She and Thom were different people, they were no longer as close as they had been.

Were you right, was I wrong
Were you weak, was I strong
Yea – both of us broken
Caught in a moment
We lived and we loved
And we hurt and we jumped yea
But the planets all aligned
When you looked into my eyes
And just like that
The chemicals react
The chemicals react

Alanna ran to her brother's rooms in the Palace, there was something wrong. She knew it She opened the door and saw him instantly. He was pale and his skin was cold, even after weeks of being so hot. She reached out to call on her Gift, to use it to save him. Thom's eyes flew open, they had a haunted look to them, he was dying.

You make me feel out of my element
Like I'm drifting out to the sea
Like the tide's pullin' me deeper
Makin' it harder to breathe

Alanna knew what was wrong instantly. Roger. Roger was killing her brother, and draining his magic. For a second she could barely breathe, this was like her confrontation with the ContJ Duke all over again. Thom was dying and nothing could be done. A tear slipped down Alanna's cheek, she felt so helpless and she hated it.

We cannot deny how we feel inside
We cannot deny
Were you right, was I wrong
Were you weak, was I strong
Yea – both of us broken
Caught in a moment
We lived and we loved
And we hurt and we jumped yea
But the planets all aligned
When you looked into my eyes
And just like that
The chemicals react
The chemicals react

Alanna looked into her brother's eyes, knowing that this was the end. Thom had grown cold, cold as death. She could almost feel him fading, she wiped the tears from her cheeks as she listened to him use the last of his strength speaking to her. Another tear slipped down her cheek when he said "Love you. Always have. Always will."

Kaleidoscope of colors turnin'
Hopes on fire, sun is burnin'
Shining down on both of us
Don't let us lose it
Don't let us lose it

Just like that. Thom was gone. Alanna couldn't believe it. They had grown apart, but she had always thought that Thom would be there…

Were you right, was I wrong
Were you weak, was I strong
Yea – both of us broken
Caught in a moment
We lived and we loved yea
Yea, yea, yea
We lived, we loved, we hurt, we jumped
We're right, we're wrong, we're weak, we're strong
We lived to love

Thom and Liam had died on the same day. Her grief was horrible, but she bore herself through it. Alanna herself lit the funeral pyres with the violet fire of her Gift. She watched the flames rise higher and higher, until the engulfed the bodies of her brother and the Shang Dragon. The flames rose higher, and a dragon of blue-green flames surged from them, roaring with all its might. The dragon dissipated, leaving Alanna in tears of grief for her friend. Before she could calm herself, a lion made of purple fire rose in its place, roaring just as loud. The lion stepped forward and dropped something on the grass in front of Alanna. The lion's violet eyes gleamed like Thom's had when they were little. Alanna smiled slightly, "Good-bye, Thom." The lion nodded and disappeared back into the flames. Alanna picked up what the lion had dropped. It was a goldwashed bracelet with alternating stones of blue-green and purple, the colors of Thom's and Liam's eyes. Alanna held it up so that the sunlight hit it; two images appeared on the ground. They were still images of Thom and Liam. Alanna smiled, they wouldn't be forgotten.