Disclaimer: I do not own the Young Wizard Series.

Yay! Read on!

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I lay in bed, wishing to be asleep. The mornings are the worst. Caught between sleep and reality, when I don't have a firm grip on my mind, images can be dredged up from where I shut them deep inside. Then when I open my eyes, I realize fully that I must get up to another day. Another day that is missing what's most important.

Only when I'm asleep can I escape the pain. Well, most of the time. I still have that dream once in a while. Where she is lying on the floor in front of me, the light gone from her eyes, and my hands are covered in her blood. But I have learned to handle that. It's the little things during the day that spark the pain. Little things that remind me of her.

I hear the door creak slightly as it is opened, a key indicator that someone has just poked their head in. I keep my back towards them, breathing deeply.

"Kit?" Carmela, my sister, asks quietly. There's a change- she's doing something quietly for once. "Kit are you awake?" I don't reply, letting her think I'm deep in sleep. I hear the door close again and then her thumping down the stairs.

Maybe it's shameful, but I don't want to greet the day just yet. I just want to stay here and hide my face beneath the covers. But finally, I can't put it off anymore and I drag myself out of bed. The birds are chirping outside and I wonder sourly as I stretch why they have any reason to be so damn cheerful.

I slip into a pair of jeans and T-shirt, and run a comb through my hair. I've grown another few inches over the past year. My hair has grown out too. Mama says I look like a sheepdog but I won't let her get near me with the scissors. I run a finger over the dark smudges under my eyes. No matter how much I sleep, they are always there. Just another change that has happened over this year. With a sigh, I turn away from the mirror and step out of my room into the hallway.

As I near the top of the stairs, I hear voices coming from below.

"I can't believe he is still sleeping!"

"Popi, he was up late last night working on his latest spell."

"When he is going to realize that Nita is gone? She's not going to come back no matter how many spells he tries." I recognized Popi and Carmela's voices. Then Mamas voice chimed in.

"Just give him some time. She was his best friend." There is a pause then, "Do you think something else was going on between them. Like, --you know."

"I don't think so Mama," Carmella said. There was a sigh of what I could only image was relief. I waited to see if they would say anymore but they didn't. I was made sure to make some very pronounced noises as I came down the stairs as I wanted to give them enough of a warning so they could pretend they weren't talking about me.

I walked into the kitchen where they were all engaged innocently in morning things, and retrieved a bowl from the cupboard. I filled it with cornflakes, and splashed milk over them.

"Morning sleepy head!" Mama ruffled my hair and wiped up the milk splatters I made on the counter with the towel she was holding. "It's a wonder you don't make more of a mess, what with all that hair in front of your eyes."

I sat down at the table across from Popi. "I'm not going to cut it Mama," I told her for what seemed like the millionth time. Then I dug into my cereal.

"So Kit, what are you going to do today?" Popi asked me the same question he has asked me every morning for the last four months. I just shrugged like I had done every time he asked me. But Popi knew what this usually meant; another long day of exhausting wizardry. I looked down at my cereal as I saw the crease form on my Popi's forehead. I knew he was going to say next. "Kit, you have to realize that she's no—" Mama whapped Popi lightly in the back with her towel and gave him a warning look. Popi sighed and returned to his toast.

I saw how they tiptoed around me, afraid that something might set off my mood swings. They were extremely careful, treating me like I would break any second. And I let them. But I started feeling a little guilty for making them worry.

"Maybe I'll have someoneover today," I suggested nonchalantly. "There's a new exhibit at the space museum." I pretended not to notice how they all froze and looked at me. I could hear the suppressed shock and excitement in my Mamas voice as she replied.

"That's a great idea Kit! You haven't had anyone over since—well, in a while." She beamed at me and I felt even worse. I had no real intention of inviting anyone over. But it was just the fact I had brought it up that made them so happy.

I finished up my cereal and dumped the bowl in the sink. "I'm going to go outside for a few minutes," I told them as I slipped my sneakers on and shrugged into my windbreaker.

Outside, I sat under the beech tree that dominated the far corner of our backyard, right beside my favorite rock. I put my hand out on it and brushed away some leaves.

"Hello, Reigry," I said in the speech. "How's the underground?"

The rock, Reigry, spoke sluggishly in the speech. The power is building. Reigry said. Soon it will come into play. Its getting stronger.

I stared down at the rock in surprise. Usually its answers to my questions were one word answers, and were never something as peculiar as today's answer.

"Reigry, what do you mean?" I asked. It will come soon. The one that will make it whole. The one that glows with purity and light. Then it would say no more, no mater how many times I asked.

Finally, slightly frustrated, I stood up, brushed off my jeans left the backyard. I decided to walk around the block to the park. There was a slightly nipping breeze but the sun was shining so I wasn't cold. As I walked with my hands stuffed into the pockets of my jacket, I thought about what Reigry had said. Normally rocks didn't have anything particularly interesting to say (But don't ever tell them I said that or they might come try to club me to death while I sleep.) But I think what Reigry had told me today fell under the 'interesting and possible extremely important so don't blow this off' category. My head started hurting just thinking about it so I returned home and retreated upstairs.

Upstairs in my room, I took a seat at my desk and rested my chin on my arms. I had a whole afternoon ahead of me of trying to keep so busy, my mind wouldn't wander to unmentionable subjects. Just as I reached for my manual, I caught site of a small framed photograph.

It showed me and Nita sitting on a bench, holding cones of chocolate ice cream. I recognized it as the time we had gone for ice cream at the ice cream parlor on the corner of Rose Avenue. We both had grins on and Nita had her arm around my shoulders. Mine was wrapped around her waist.

I was surprised this picture didn't bring tears to my eyes as other reminders of Nita did. When I looked at this picture, instead I felt a bittersweet happiness. I wished with all my might that today could be like that day. Hot, sticky, lazy, and content. A day with no cares, and no worries.

I reached out to pull the photo closer, but my hand instead fell on the smooth purple stone beside it. I rolled it over in my hand, marveling on how the light seemed to bounce inside it, giving the whole thing a sparkly sheen. It was the stone of amethyst that I had gotten on the day that --- well on the last day I saw Nita. I hadn't actually ever seen the stone before but I was fairly certain it had belonged to Nita. And that made it special.

As I was thinking about this, thinking about her, something happened. The stone I had been holding clutched in my hand, suddenly in a flash grew hot. It was like holding a burning coal. I immediately dropped it with a yelp, right onto the carpet. I expected the carpet to suddenly burst into flames from the heat I had felt imitating from the rock. How as I going to explain that to my parents? But nothing happened.

I reached down hesitantly, and gingerly touched the stone. Then I picked it up. It wasn't even warm. On the contrary, it felt like it had been in the fridge. Huh. I guess I must have imagined it. It wouldn't have surprised me. The screws in my head were most likely in need of a severe and immediate tightening.

I suddenly felt extremely tired and wearily replaced the rock on my desk. I grabbed my wizard's manual and fell back onto my bed. I guess I could pass the time buried in complicated wizard statistics. That was guaranteed to keep me busy and block any unwanted memories or thoughts.

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So there you have it. This time, its going to be Kits POV as you can probably tell. Please review! -Ivy