Nita was lying on her bed, staring at the featureless ceiling. She was fighting a raging internal battle between her scaredy-cat self and her brave self. Her brave self was what had made her a wizard in the first place, but it was her scaredy-cat self that had saved her life on many occasions. This time, though, it wasn't a life or death situation, although it felt like one. This time it was about Kit.
Kit was her best friend and her partner in wizardry. He had seen her through way too many dangerous situations to count, most of the time managing to save her life in some capacity. She had returned the favor countless times as well. She couldn't imagine being as close to anyone as she was to Kit. She loved him, no question. But did she love him that way?
On some level, Nita realized, she felt guilty. It was irrational, but there it was. Could she have avoided that monstrous attraction she had felt for Ronan that summer? Could she have somehow prevented what had happened between them? And more importantly, was that was she should have done?
Maybe, she thought.
Why, though, if she really did love Kit, had she wanted to be with Ronan so badly? Was it because Kit had never seemed to feel the same way, and she was afraid to talk to him about, and tired of waiting for something that was never going to happen? Yes, that was it, Nita decided. In fact, she still felt that way. But what should she do about it?
Forget it, the scaredy-cat inside her said, it's never going to happen, he doesn't love you, so just stop being so damn romantic!
No, argued brave Nita, he does love you, he's just afraid to show it, you should talk to him about it! At the very least it will get this weight off your chest.
There was one thing that Nita knew for sure, and that was that she couldn't stand to rot in her room any longer. It took a huge effort to get out of bed. She started to head downstairs, then stopped. She couldn't go to Kit's looking like this! She was in her pajamas, for the Power's sake! What was wrong with her?
After much deliberation, Nita changed into a pair of jeans and a red shirt that bore the legend Coca-Cola! in Japanese. She pulled a jacket on over that, brushed her hair and teeth, yelled to her dad that she would be at Kit's, and left.
Dairine stood in front of Tom and Carl's house. She was apprehensive, a condition in which she rarely found herself. She had to talk to Tom and Carl, though. She knew her dad wouldn't want her to leave home again so soon-she and Nita had only been home for a week. But she had to go, and she knew that only Tom or Carl could make her dad understand that.
Dairine, took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and knocked. Loud barking ensued, and she heard Tom's voice saying, in the Speech, "No, Annie, no! I told you already, regular dogs don't answer doors-go lay on the couch. Annie-" At this point there was a loud scuffling noise, followed by "ANNIE! COUCH, NOW! Before I call the dog catcher!"
A distinctly disheveled Tom answered the door. He grinned when he saw her standing there. "Dairine! How nice to see you! Come in, come in-sorry about the delay, Annie's been getting ideas lately, probably Ponch's fault-but anyway, how can I help you?"
"Well," Darine
began, accepting a soda and sitting down on the couch beside Annie,
"It's about Roshaun."
Tom's expression grew more serious.
"I thought it might be something like that."
"Yes, well," Dairine was having trouble talking, something that also didn't happen to her often, "I looked for him. In Timeheart. He's not there."
"I see," Tom said, watching her carefully.
"And, well, I was wondering if I could…I mean, if you would talk to my dad…"
Tom held up a hand to stop her. "Lemme get this straight. You want to go off on some interdimensional jaunt to find someone who could be absolutely anywhere in the relative haystack of the universe, and you want me to explain to your dad exactly why you went looking for a needle that until you came to me was presumed dead?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Dairine said weakly.
Tom offered her another grin. "I'm not gonna try and stop you, Dairine, but I'm not gonna talk to your dad about it either. It's about time you learned to fight the battles at home yourself."
Dairine's mouth dropped open. Tom patted her on the shoulder.
"Feel free to stay, finish your soda. Annie loves company."
Dairine got up to leave. As she left the house, she turned back to look at Annie, and she could have sworn the dog winked at her.
