A/N: Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! :) Hearing what you have to say makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

Chapter 25: Back Again

...Serena's PoV...

I opened the door and saw, to my surprise, Chantal and her grandmother, Rita. I smiled and said, "Well this is an unexpected-but pleasant visit. Please, come in." I held the door wider for the two to pass. Rita shook her head and said, "Oh, I'm sorry dear but we can't stay. I just wanted to tell you something."

I looked at her expectantly, then glanced at Chantal, who had a knowing look on her face.

"Congratulations, sweetie." Rita said with a warm smile as she stepped forward to give me a hug.

I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her and asked, "Umm..what are you talking about?"

"About you powers, dear! It's obvious they're back! And you've met your spirits, oh this is wonderful." The elderly woman beamed at me and sighed as she stepped back.

"How is it obvious?"

"Your eyes, they're different." Chantal handed me a compact mirror. I looked at my irises (A/N: I don't know the proper term..), and saw that my eyes were once again a mix of gold and yellow. I grinned as I handed the compact to Chantal and turned towards Rita.

"But how do you know I've met my spirits?"

"Everyone knows, dear." She said with a wink. "Well, any shape-shifter like you would know."

I nodded slowly, and then asked, "Should I tell my friends about them?"

"No. You can't tell anyone about the spirits you communicate with. Otherwise things can go terribly wrong."

"Like what things..?" I asked suspiciously.

Rita sighed, "Don't worry about it. Only tell your friends that you got your powers back. Now, we must be going. We have reservations at a very up-scale restaurant, it only took 4 months to get them!" she finished with a laugh. I chuckled and waved bye to her and Chantal as they walked to their car. Closing the door and going back to the living room, I sighed and tried to forget about what I had been told until a later time.

...Warren's PoV...

Knowing Serena was out of the hospital and ok made me happy, but knowing I wouldn't be able to see her until tomorrow was torture. I tried to busy myself with wiping down tables and picking up plates, but it was a slow night, so not many people were here. After finishing what had to be done in the front area, I went to the kitchen to start doing the dishes.

...The next day...

I woke and did the usual morning routine of showering and getting ready for school. But I did it with a small smile the whole time, because I'd be seeing Serena today. Mom wouldn't stop teasing me while I ate breakfast, she kept pestering me with questions and wore a knowing smirk on her face. When it was finally time to walk to the bust stop, she told me to tell Serena she said hi as I walked out the door.

Scanning the hallways as soon as I got inside the school, I spotted Serena standing with Layla where most of the freshman lockers were. Something about her looked different, but I couldn't tell what it was. Despite my excitement, I was surprisingly calm as I walked over to where they were standing. A few kids scrambled to get out of my way, and then I was hugging Serena like there was no tomorrow. She laughed lightly and asked, "Have a nice weekend?"

I said, "It was terrible."

Serena pulled back to look at me, her smile slowly fading. I just stared back, not saying anything. After a few moments, Serena nodded in understanding and hugged me again.

Classes were boring as usual, they can't be fun on Mondays. A kid in History was doing an extra credit presentation so we didn't do anything that period except listen to him, but in Mad Science we had a pop quiz, and another one in Undercover Strategies. Everyone sighed in relief when the bell rang for lunch, and we all zoomed out class to get food. Will and I sat at our usual table and waited until everyone else got their meals. We were all talking about our weekends and how glad we were that finals were over, when Madison came over to our table. She smiled in greeting to everyone, then asked Serena if they could talk. I watched with narrow eyes as the two girls walked away.

Magenta saw me watching them speak in hushed tones, and snapped her fingers in front of my face, causing me to blink in surprise. "Hello, Warren! Snap out of it. Don't be so paranoid about her."

I glanced at the purple-clad girl and turned away to my food.

...Serena's PoV...

Madison looked at me with confusion and said, "I'm glad to see you're ok, but I have something to ask."

I nodded for her to continue, so she asked, "I can..hear a presence in your mind. Are you alright?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I feigned ignorance.

"Well..it's just, I heard-at least I think I heard a separate voice in your head. One that's not yours.."

I shook my head and said, "I'm pretty sure I would know if there was a..voice in my head."

Madison nodded and replied, "Of course, I just wanted to let you know." She walked away after that.

'Does she know about you two? I mean, if she can hear you..'

'Nah, we've got ourselves covered. You don't have to worry about anything.'

'You sure, Ashoka?'

'Yes I'm sure. Don't be so worried about it. No one knows about us except you, that old lady, and the blonde.'

I heard Gabriel make a noise that sounded like a sigh. 'They have names, you know. Must you be so rude towards others all the time?'

'No, but it's fun.'

I had to stop myself from laughing too loud as I finished making my way to our table. I sat next back down next to Layla and finished my food with a small smile of amusement. Soon I was making plans with Magenta and Layla to go shopping sometime. We were trying to see what day would work best, when the bell rang and they had to leave for class. Warren and I walked into the school library as usual during the winter months, and while he did homework I pretended to doze off, when I was really talking to Gabriel and Ashoka.

'Hey..so how long have you two been with me? And why didn't you talk to me before now?'

'It's sort of..complicated. We've been with you since you were born, silently watching you grow and develop. You actually would've gotten the ability to morph later in life if Ashoka hadn't lost his temper.'

'Oi, I had good reason. That girl was a complete-'

'Yes, we were all there, we know. Anyways, Serena, we didn't speak with you until now because we didn't think you needed us.'

'That makes sense. So, what exactly was going on whenever I morphed into you guys?'

'I can explain that. When you first morphed and were learning how to control and get used to the forms, we let you take over our shapes. It's sort of like, we were putting your mind into our bodies.'

'Oook, I get it now. What about if I morph now? I haven't tried to yet.'

'Now, it will be like our combined minds are in whichever body you shape-shift into. We'll be able to guide you, and tell you how to use the form to its fullest extent.'

'Sweet. This should be interesting! I'm excited to see how this turns out.'

I could sense that Gabriel was about to reply, but the bell rang for us to go to our last class. I pretended to wake up and looked at Warren, who had apparently finished his homework and had been reading. He smiled and poked me, "Have a nice nap?" I rubbed my eyes and nodded.

A/N: I'm sorry this is short, but I've had a lot going on. Hope you all enjoyed it at least! Reviews would be amazing. :)