AN- I'm baaacckkk… Really late, but I'm back. I'm working on updating more frequently, I promise. I actually have a plan for the rest of this story, I'm just not sure when I'll be able to write it all down. I have, quite possibly, the worst work ethic in the universe when it comes to finishing stories. I haven't given up on any of them, I promise. I just never seem to be able to end anything. But anyway, here's chapter 4! Please drop a review so I know you guys haven't given up on me or this story!

Emily's POV

I woke up to see the sun about to set. My entire body was tingling. I could feel that the transformation was about to begin and I quickly hopped out of bed and to the window. I was in the process of climbing out when I heard the door open. I knew someone was walking in but I couldn't let them see me as a swan. I couldn't let them know what had become of me.

I heard a female voice- must be Mia- call out my name, but I was already halfway to the woods by the time her face appeared in our window. I risked a single look back but never broke my stride. Kevin and Antonio had appeared in the window as well, and they seemed to be yelling out to me.

I had made it just beyond the first line of trees when the transformation happened. I only hoped it was far enough to avoid my teammates' gazes.

It looked like waiting it out was the only option; I couldn't leave my position for fear of being caught. I decided to bunker down behind a tree and stick my now feathery head underneath one wing to hide it. Maybe I'll actually be able to get some sleep at night instead of during the day.

Drifting off was hard in this new body, especially while I was trying to hide. I managed it for a brief time, but was woken up by a voice calling my name.

Antonio appeared between two trees just a few feet from me, and I was spotted immediately.

"Well would you look at that," Antonio smiled. "What are you doing in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night?" He knelt next to me and patted down a couple of ruffled feathers on my back. "Hmm," He hummed. "I think I'll take you back to the dojo. Maybe I'll be able to keep you as a pet!"

That was a scary thought, but I allowed him to pick me up and bring me home. It would make the transformation back easier, assuming I was alone when it happened.

The dojo was empty when we got there. I wondered why, until it occurred to me that everyone else was probably out looking for me. I felt a pang of guilt. I hated making my friends worry. I knew it was unavoidable in this situation, but they needed sleep as much as I did, and I hated that they would be spending all night searching for me instead of in bed where they belonged.

Antonio brought me to the infirmary room, where he gathered a pile of blankets and made a nest on a bed that he set me down in. He took out a washcloth next and cleaned the dirt from my feathers, then got a bowl of water and a hunk of bread. He put the water next to the nest and tore the bread into small chunks that he then fed me. I appreciated it. It had been a while since I had eaten, and the bread tasted better than it did to my human body.

It was around 9:00 when I heard the front doors open and close. The house was suddenly full of voices, and I knew the others must have returned. Antonio left the room to go a meet them and left the door open, so I heard everything.

"Did you find her?" Antonio asked anxiously.

"Not a trace," Mia sounded frustrated. "I watched her run away, I know she must be in the forest somewhere, I just don't know where!"

"Why would she run away?" Kevin asked in a confused voice. "What would've made her want to?"

"If we knew, we wouldn't be in this mess," That was Jayden's voice, and I could her the frown on his face, even without seeing him. "Why did you come back so much earlier than us?"

"I found a swan in the forest!" Antonio's excitement was evident. "It's gorgeous, all white and graceful. I was worried about why it was in the forest, so I brought it home."

"You did WHAT?" Kevin yelled. "Antonio, what were you thinking? What if it was planted by a nighlock?"

"It wasn't," He was trying to sound confident, but I could hear the tremble in his voice that said he hadn't thought about that and that he wasn't so sure. "Just come look and you'll see."

The team appeared in the doorway, and I looked up at them as innocently as possible. Antonio came to sit on the bed next to me and placed a possessive hand on my back. Ji approached slowly and circled the bed, eyeing me at every angle, Jayden and Kevin joining moments later. Mia and Mike stayed in the door, watching me warily.

Eventually, Ji announced he couldn't find anything weird about me, and Jayden and Kevin conceded. "What are you going to do with it?" Ji challenged.

"I thought maybe we could keep it as a pet!" Antonio sounded ridiculously hopeful. "It could be like our mascot or something!"

"I'll think about it," Ji told him in a voice that suggested he had made up his mind already and the answer was no. "For now, why don't we leave the poor bird alone and let it sleep."

And he herded everyone out the door.

I slept fitfully, feeling weird in my fowl state (pun intended). I was woken when the tingling started once more, just before the sun rose.

Once I was human again, I snuck out of the infirmary and into my room, taking the couple of hours I had before the rest of the house woke to get in some normal, human sleep.

When I woke up, it was to see Mike glaring at me from the doorway.

"Oh, hey Mike," I greeted, avoiding the gaze. "Good morning."

"Good morning?" He

scoffed as he made his further into the room. "That's all you have to say?"

"Well, it is morning."

"Yeah it is, but it's not like you were here for the night!"

I could feel my heartrate pick up in anxiousness, even though I knew I would be facing an inquiry when I woke up. I decided to feign confusion, to see if maybe I could throw them off a little bit.

"What do you mean? I was here all night!"

Well, I wasn't lying really, was I?

"Really? Were you? Because Mia watched you climb out your window last night around sundown. We were out looking for you until 9:00 last night! And before we went to bed, we checked your room, to see if you'd returned, and you still weren't there!"

He was yelling, and it seemed the noise had called the rest of the team, because seconds later, they were running into the room, everyone except Antonio.

"Emily!" Jayden exclaimed. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"

"There was something I had to take care of," I told them, trying to ignore the impulse telling me to blurt out the truth.

"What could you possibly need to take care of that would require you to sneak out the window?" Kevin questioned.

At a loss for words, I found my filter failing me and my mouth moving of its own accord.

"Honestly, I-" As soon as the words started spilling out of my mouth, they stopped, caught in my throat like it was a bear trap. "I…"

"Well?" Mia prodded, and I shook my head.

"I'm sorry." Oh sure, those words would allow themselves to be said.

"I'm sorry," I repeated in a hoarse whisper, finding myself close to tears. "I can't tell you where I went."

There were exasperated sighs and dark chuckles from the other inhabitants of the room.

"Of course not," Mike muttered. There was a fire in his gaze when he looked at me. "Emily, we aren't asking you because of courtesy, and we're not asking to get no answer. We are asking because we care, because we are your friends and we are worried about you."

"I know," I glared back, frustrated tears welling in my eyes. "I would tell you if I could, but for right now I can't, so you're just going to have to trust me and trust that I know what I'm doing."

"Emily," Jayden started. "We do trust you, you know that. But can you really blame us for being a little suspicious after you ran off and disappeared last night?"

I was saved from answering when Antonio ran into the room.

"GUYS! SHE'S GONE!" He yelled.

Everyone gave him confused looks. "Who's gone, dude?" Mike asked.

"The swan, the one I found last night! She's gone!"

Kevin chuckled. "Antonio, it's a swan. They're hardly domestic birds. She probably just flew out the window."

"She couldn't've. The window was closed. Which means someone had to have let her out."

"Well, Antonio, it wasn't any of us. Maybe you should just calm down and stop worrying. We'll figure it out."

Antonio's shoulders dropped and he sat heavily on the end of my bed. "I was just about to go bring her food. I thought of a name- Odette."

"Odette?" Mia interjected. "As in the swan from Swan Lake? Can you get any more typical?"

"How are you so sure that the swan is a girl?" Mike asked.

"It's a swan," Antonio answered, as if that explained everything.

Not wanting to argue, no one said anything. Before Antonio could continue on about the "missing" swan, Mike turned back to look at me.

"Anyway… Em, you need to tell us what's going on."

I shook my head and looked down, trying to avoid his gaze. "I can't," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I promise I would if I could, but that's not an option right now."

He frowned angrily. "You know what? Fine. Don't tell us. But don't involve us when this tower of secrets come crumbling down at your feet either. At least, don't involve me. I'm miles past done dealing with this."

"Mike…" I could feel my heart breaking as he turned to walk out of the room.

The door slammed behind him, the crash reverberating through the room, leaving behind a ringing in my ears.

With an apologetic glance, Mia stood to open the door and follow him out. "Don't take it too hard, Em," she told me before leaving. "He's just frustrated; we all are. I'm sure he didn't mean to be so hurtful. I just wish you'd be honest with us." With that, she left the room.

Kevin followed her immediately. "What she said," were his parting words.

Jayden got up to follow as well, but paused at the door and turned back to look at me. "We're just worried about you, Emily. We care about what happens to you; we want you to be okay." And he left as well.

Only Antonio was left, who had thus far had nothing to say on the subject.

He finally broke his silence. "He's right you know. We do care about what happens to you, and it's a bit hurtful that you won't tell us what's up."

I opened my mouth to apologize, but he continued before I could. "No, Em. Let me finish. It's hurtful, but it's okay. You are entitled to your secrets. But we just want to help you, and it doesn't make sense that you don't want us to.

"But that doesn't make what Mike said okay," he went on. "He went too far, and I know he was mad and his actions understandable, but that doesn't make them excusable. Besides, he was wrong. We are your friends, Emily; at this point we are probably closer to a family. That means that we will be here for you through thick and thin. When you decide to let us know what's going on, we will be here to listen and to help. That's what we do. That's what you would do for us. You are unfailingly forgiving of us. The least we could do is return the favor."

He offered a smile, one that I returned. "Who knew you could be so…" the word I was looking for escaped me, but it seemed it didn't need it.

"Yeah, well, I guess you just bring out the…" he gestured vaguely in place of a word in a mocking way, "in me. Besides, 'Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.'"

I laughed. "Did you just quote Lilo and Stitch at me?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. "It's a great movie."

And with that he got up and left the room as well, leaving me alone to think about the situation I was in.

So, not only was I not allowed to tell my friends the scenario, but the curse would prevent me from doing it if I tried. Not only that, but I was still no closer to figuring out who my true love was, and with the way things were going now, it didn't seem like I'd be getting a kiss from him anytime soon, even if I did figure out who I was going for.

Basically, I was in trouble.

A/N- Okay, so I started writing this like two weeks ago, but only just finished it, so, sorry about that. Hopefully I'll be updating more frequently, but you guys know me better by now than to believe me when I say that, so no promises.

Please please please drop me a review if you are still reading, I'd really love to hear from you guys.

Ta ta for now!