Okay so...been a month or so since I updated but I just forgot about this one. It's really old but somehow still new to me...Don't ask..I don't understand myself either! Well it's a little longer than usual but I hope you all like it. Don't forget to review...It makes me happy! ;D

"I think she's still hiding something from us." Emma said opening the door that separated their rooms. She grabbed her towel from her bed and headed for her bathroom.

"What should we do?" Emily said from the doorway.

"There's nothing we can do. Remind me to call Erin when I get out of the shower. We're supposed to go shopping today." Emma said closing the bathroom door.

"Shopping? She can't be serious." Emily whispered to herself. She sat on her bed and stared at the pictures on her night stand. One of them was a random picture her sister had taken of Emma and Shalimar in the living room. It was one Emily's favorite pictures. Emma and Shalimar were wrapped in a comforter asleep on a recliner. Shalimar's head resting on Emma's shoulder. The other picture was of the four of them. Emily was 11 and Emma was 13, both sitting on their mother's laps and smiling away for the camera. Now ten years later Emily couldn't believe her parents were having problems. They never had problems. Now here they were beating the crap out of each other and nobody seemed to care. Even her sister brushed it off like nothing happened. Emily jumped as her cell phone rang. Coming out of her thoughts, she hopped off her bed and grabbed her phone off her dresser.

"Hello?" Emily answered.

"Um..Emily?" A voice answered back.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"It's Erin. Emma's friend."

"Oh hi Erin. I don't mean to sound rude or anything but...how did you get my cell phone number?" Emily asked sitting back on the bed.

"Emma gave it to me. She said to call you if she didn't answer her phone. I'm sorry, she said you wouldn't mind."

"Oh no it's alright. I was just making sure you weren't some psycho stalker. So what's up?"

"I was just making sure we were all going shopping today. Unless you guys have some other plans..."

"Nope. No new plans. We should be ready in about an hour so we'll pick you guys up in say...an hour?"

"Yeah that's fine. See you then." Erin said hanging up.

Emily closed her phone and ran over to her sister's bathroom. She banged on the door twice.

"What!" Emma shouted from inside.

"Hurry up! We're picking up Erin and Morgan in an hour!" Emily shouted back. She hurried back to her own room and grabbed a towel. Forty-five minutes later both girls were dressed and ready to go. They were already out the door when Emma stopped and turned around.

"I think we should check on mom." She said opening the door again and stepping back inside. Emily shrugged her shoulders and followed her sister.

They walked to their mothers room and peeked inside. Shalimar was still asleep and Emma lay next to her asleep as well. Both girls noticed Emma had changed into a turtle neck sweater. They closed the door and tiptoed down the hall.

"Did you notice the turtle neck?" Emily asked.

"Yeah." Emma said quietly.

Emily backed out of the driveway and drove off.

"So why do you think she held back?" Emma asked.

"What?" Emily asked not hearing Emma's question.

"Why do you think she held back?" She asked again.

"Who?" Emily asked still not following.

"Mom."

"Which one?"

"Emma! She could've prevented being choked, but she didn't. She just let Shal do it." Emma said angrily.

"How? Shal isn't too easy to knock down."

"Mom could've blasted her one...or make Shal feel happy or something!"

"Calm down! We both know neither of them would consciously use their powers against each other. Especially not Emma! And we know Shal would never...at least not consciously...Well we know they'd never hurt each other! Now let's try to have some fun. We'll deal with this when we get back home. But for now, we're gonna have to concentrate on picking out our spring wardrobes." Emily said pulling into Morgan's driveway. Emma pulled out her phone and called the girls. Two minutes later Erin and Morgan came out hand in hand and got in the car.

"Morgan! I have not seen you since our junior year in highschool!" said an overly excited Emily.

"I know! When Erin told me who she came with, I couldn't believe it."

"Same with me! When Erin told me she was dating you, I couldn't believe it either."

"Well now that Erin's word is in question...Morgan, what happened to you? After I started college you fell off the face of the earth." Emma said.

"Not to mention my having to go through all senior year without anybody understanding my jokes! You know those inner jokes we shared all the time? It took months before I was able to make a joke and share it innerly with someone." Emily said.

"Innerly? Is that even a word?" Erin asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean! But really Morgan, what happened?"

"Well you guys of course know about Genomex...Well they found out about me and this guy Adam contacts me and tells me I'm in danger and suddenly I'm in some Mutant underground."

"Oh...well...that's not cool." Emma said. "But we're glad to have found you again!"

"Yep! We've got all afternoon to catch up!" Emily said excited.

One hour later they were picking at clothes racks and trying on shoes. Erin ran around taking snapshots of everyone while they weren't looking. She got one of Morgan and Emma fighting over a shirt and one of Emily spitting out fountain water all over Emma. Thirty shopping bags later, they were at the food court. Emily and Erin shared six slices of pizza, two big gulps and a banana split while Morgan and Emma stuck to Caesar salads and diet cokes. A few more shopping bags, and bathroom stops later, they were heading home.

Emma felt the happiness radiating from the girls before they reached the driveway. She put the last ornament on the Christmas tree as Emma and Emily came bustling in the door with their arms full of bags. She laughed as the girls tripped over themselves getting inside. They had so many bags they both couldn't fit through the door at once.

"Feels like you two had fun." Emma said helping them with their load.

"Told you she'd feel it." Emily laughed.

"Mom we bought so much stuff. Erin and Morgan had to carry stuff in their laps because we couldn't get everything to fit in the trunk." Emma said.

"And wait till you see what we bought you and mom! Where is she?" Emily asked her excitement fading. A shadow of sadness covered Emma's face.

"Mom? She's still here right?" Emma asked taking off her coat.

"Um yeah, last I checked she was still asleep." Emma said.

"So...What's for dinner?" Emily asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh I made some chicken, steak, ribs, rice, potatoes and some vegetables." Emma said walking into the living room. "Look I finished putting up the Christmas tree too."

"Wow, all of mom's favorite foods. Are you trying to lure her down here with food?" Emma asked. They followed Emma to the kitchen and waited for an answer as she set the table. Her hand was shaking as she set down the forks.

"Maybe I could try and bring her down." Emily offered. Emma was about to object but Emily was already running up the stairs.

She knocked on her mothers door. No answer. "Mom, dinner's ready." She knocked again and put her ear to the door. Still no answer. She turned the knob and poked her head inside. The room was cold and empty. The window was open and the curtains fluttered. Emily trudged back down to the kitchen where both Emma's had already started eating.

"You knew she was gone." Emily said taking a seat. She tried reading her but it was futile. Emma's mental barriers were so strong it hurt just attempting to touch them. Trying again, Emily received a mental smack.

"Ow! Mom." Emily whined putting a hand to her forehead.

"There will be no mind reading under this roof." Emma said not looking up from her plate.

"You tried to read her mind? She's got like 40 years experience!" Emma laughed.

"Oh shut up." Emily said. She served herself some food and couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. Nobody spoke during dinner and Emma was the first to finish eating. She put away the left overs and loaded the dishwasher.

"I don't want to see any dishes in the sink tomorrow morning. You're both old enough to wash your own plates." She kissed them good night and went upstairs.

"So did you get anything?" Emma asked leaning in toward her sister.

"Any what?" Emily asked confused.

"Anything from mom."

"Just a big mental mind block and a smack. Although...I did get something when she smacked me away."

"About mom?" Emma asked.

"I don't think so. It was a number...I think an address."

"Think we should check it out?"

"I don't see why not." Emily said stuffing a piece of chicken in her mouth.

To be continued...