Two days ago, when the stove practically exploded in Kai's face, flames licked at his clothes, hair and skin but he did not burn.

KAAAAAAIIIII!!!!!

Wu and Janice wasted no time rescuing them.

A bracelet was promptly snapped on Kai's wrist and he passed out. The flames assimilated through his skin.

When he woke up, he ran probably the highest fever ever known. He left scorch marks on the blankets and his underwear.

He was barely conscious but when he was, Wu was practically drowning him in healing teas.

Kai constantly mumbled though it was hard to tell exactly what he was trying to say.

How is Big Brother?

Is he going to a hospital?

Is Kai going to be okay?

Nya and Cole asked more often than not, staring at the brunette from the doorway as they were not permitted to enter. Nya was moved to Cole's room but every morning they woke, they would sit side by side at the doorway. The Shoji was always left open, a clear view of Kai sweating bullets, tossing every now and then and grumbling.


COLE'S POV.

The covers lifted as Nya crawled in next to me.

"It's all my fault, Cole," She sniffed, "I should've stayed in bed. I should've listened to Kai."

The first night she slept in my room, she had constant nightmares. She told me that before, when she had nightmares, Kai would let her stay in his bed.

I barely turned around when she wrapped her arm around me and started to sob.

"I-it's all *hic* my fault," I almost didn't catch that as her face was buried in the covers.

Turning to fully face her and wrap my arm around her in a sort of embrace, I spoke softly, "Kai's going to be okay, Nya. Wu and Janice are taking care of him and he'll be back to health before you know it."

She said nothing.

I moved to the side a bit to make more room for her before turning to lie on my other side.

Kai's going to get better, Nya.

I'll make sure of it.


The next day, early in the morning, I sought out to find Wu to see if there was anyway of helping out.

He usually spends his time in the library.

The library had walls of books and scrolls almost on all sides except the door to enter of course and a big rectangular window that overlooked the sky and clouds, opposite of the door.

The part of the library with the window was lower than where the entrance was, so about four stairs led to the lower part both on the left and right. There, we found Wu.

"Good morning, Wu." Nya and I greeted.

"Oh, good morning Cole, Nya. What brings you here?" He smiled gently. There were dark circles under his eyes and several books and scrolls covered the small table he sat at and others were piled or scattered around him in a mess.

"We wanna help Kai." I say firmly.

"What's he sick of?" Nya asks.

Wu sighed and turned his head back to what he was reading, mumbling something.

Without looking at us he said, "Kai is not sick." I barely heard what he said, and the way he said it, made my stomach drop.

Wu may have been thinking out loud, for he turned back to us with a forced smile, "Janice is in the kitchen; perhaps you could aid her?"

"Okay," Was Nya's answer as I firmly nodded my head.

In the kitchen, Janice was putting things together on a tray.

"Good morning, Janice," Nya and I greeted.

Janice whirled around wide eyed before calming down when her eyes landed on us.

"Cole, Nya, good morning."

Guess we surprised her.

"We wanna help Kai." Nya said.

Janice smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, Wu and I got this under control. Wait here and I'll be back to make you two breakfast."

Once she had left the room, Nya and I followed behind her.

Janice entered the room Kai was in as we watched from the doorway.

He hadn't changed from the last we saw him.

Kai slowly sat up and Janice held out the cup to him. I assume the drink wasn't hot as steam didn't rise, though the cup wasn't sweating either.

"Kai, sweetie, I need you to drink this."

His eyes opened a little to stare at the cup.

He then looked in our direction, making Nya shift a little where she stood. I could tell she wanted to run in there and wrap her arms around her brother; make the pain go away.

I have to do something.

Kai sat up straighter and took the cup from Janice, downing it.

"Thanks," He whispered hoarsely before clearing his throat.

Janice put a hand to his forehead but soon retracted it like she had touched burning metal.

She slightly bit her lip before asking, "Are you feeling any better, hun?"

Kai opened his mouth to speak but a small light formed in his mouth before any words could.

He set his jaw and put two hands over his mouth. This did not stop the light from glowing in his mouth and cause smoke to leave his ears and nose. He visibly swallowed hard and the light went down his throat and settled in his chest to dimly glow there.

Janice sighed, her eyes downcast as she left the room.

Without removing his hands, Kai lay down on his side and closed his eyes.

I look down to my left and didn't see Nya. Looking behind to my right, I see her disappear around the corner.

I move to follow her but pause to give Kai one last look before I run to catch up with Nya.


We stationed ourselves in one corner of the library, waiting for Wu to leave even for a bit before our plan can spring to life. As we wait, we pick a random kids book from the small section to read.

"Geez, when's he gonna leave? It's getting late," Nya impatiently whispered harshly in my ear.

I quickly glance at Wu, still bent over several scrolls, "We haven't been here that long. We just had breakfast."

"Exactly, we need a distraction." She mutters as she gets to her feet.

"What are you going to do?" I ask slowly.

Instead of explaining, she orders, "While he's distracted, grab as many scrolls and books as you can from the shelf."

She casually strolls up behind Wu and stands behind him for awhile. When he turns she reaches a hand across the desk to the small glass jar of ink.

"Oo, may I paint with this?" She asks, her hand knocking the small jar over, ink now on Wu's lap and across the desk.

"Ny- *sigh*"

"Sorry, let me help clean up," She grabs a scroll and tries to sop up the ink.

Realizing this was my chance, my eyes leave the scene and I dash as quietly as possible to the shelf on the right and begin to stuff scrolls and books in my pockets, pants and shirt. With a scroll under an armpit, a book in another and a scroll in my mouth, I dash out of the library as best as I can to my room.

Hopefully Janice didn't see me.

I kick the door closed and drop my load on the ground.

Actually, maybe I should stash this under my bed and go back to the library for Nya.

Upon returning to the library, the door is locked.

"Wu needs time to concentrate," I turn when Janice speaks, "And you need to finish your studies."

"Oh, coming," I say.


My face scrunched up when I got stuck on another word.

Nya claimed my bed to read the scrolls while I lay near on my tummy reading the books.

"Ugh, why are there so many big words?" I grumble as Nya leans over the side of my bed towards me to look at the word which I point at with my finger.

"Photosynthesis," She says with ease, "That's not a big word. It's just how plants make food, Janice taught us that."

"It's still a big word," I say flipping to another part of the book.

"Cole, you're gonna miss something important if you do that." The little girl lightly scolds.

I blow a few loose strands of black hair away from my eyes, "We're not interested in how plants make food Nya, we need to find a cure for Kai."

Her ocean blue eyes return to the scroll in her hands, no backtalk from her as she scoots away from the edge.

These books are so boring, they have no pictures.

I can't help but think staring as a yawn escapes my lips. From the corner of my eye, I see Nya yawn too, then rub at her eyes that become half lidded though she visibly fights back the sleep which begs to take over.

I reach an arm under my bed and pull out a few colors which had rolled under there a few days ago.

Wherever flowers were mentioned, I did my best to draw what they may look like in the corners and edges of the paper uncovered by text. After five pages of this, I came across a flower that piqued my interest.

I picked up the pink colored pencil and drew thick fleshy petals and outlined it lightly with the red colored pencil. A thick brown stem followed by a good number of leaves and mini joined leaves.

Curious of what this beautiful flower was, I read further.

«

Bishibcu commonly grows in mountainous areas, however is also ebhral tea#(_! Sjcnxka shfnxka sksdn good "' for curing#-#!@(. -_?@)@-$! being fever, $-#?@?# @(#($) :"?@(#; fire ;_?@)*;"!*?@?

»

I gasp loudly and tug at Nya, "Nya, Nya, Nya, lookie, I think I found a cure for Kai."

I take the scroll from her and shove my book in it's place.

"Right here," I point at my little doodle and her eyes read the following words.

A toothy grin stretches across her face and she wraps her arms around my neck.

"Cole, this is perfect. We should go and look for it," She exclaims, ending the hug and getting to her feet.

"Right," I nod firmly, "Let me go tell Janice and Wu-"

"Wait!"

I turn and Nya let's go of the back of my shirt.

She shifts slightly and I can tell she is thinking of the best way to phrase her thoughts.

"Nya, we can't keep secrets from Janice and Wu. We can tell them and then Kai can finally get better."

"If the plant grows around mountains, I'm sure it doesn't grow too far from here, right? We can quickly pop out, get it and be back." She tries to convince me.

I close my eyes to think it over.

It does sound quick and easy but we aren't allowed out of the gate doors by ourselves and after the flop of that surprise breakfast...

"No, Nya. We tell Wu and Janice." I say, trying to muster as much authority as I can into my voice.

I think it works because Nya sighs and nods, "You're right. Though we're gonna get in a lot of trouble for taking Wu's stuff."

"It's to help Kai, Wu will understand."

We pick up the scattered books on the floor and the scrolls on the bed then head for the library. Janice was standing next to Wu and as soon as we enter, their conversation comes to an end and I lock eyes with her warm brown eyes that then fill with slight annoyance.

"You two know very well-" She began scolding hands finding their way to her hips.

"And we're really sorry, Janice but we found a way to help Kai." Nya cut in, opening the book to the page we were on earlier. Janice gasped and Nya smiled broadly at me. We found it! Now we can-

"You drew in the book?!" She takes the book from Nya and I realize her gasp wasn't one of surprise, relief and happiness but one of surprise and horror. Wu sighs behind her and suddenly he seems a lot older than he looks, his weirdly golden eyes long lost their shine.

I step forward, "I drew in the book and I think the flower I drew can cure Kai." She barely glanced at it before shaking her head. As she speaks, her voice is as tired as Wu looks, "Kids, please. I understand you have the best intentions and really want to help. The best way you two can help, is by listening to us, okay?"

"But-"

"Nya," Wu says gently and the little girl locks eyes with him. She steps forward until she is right in front of him.

"I know very well what it is like. When I was young too, my older brother fell sick and I felt responsible for it. I wanted so desperately to help him and yet there was nothing for me to do. Do you know what I did?"

Throughout this, Nya had a pout on her face, one of genuine sadness. Maybe a tad bit of helplessness. She bit her lip and shook her head. Wu smiled gently at her, "I was only a child then, I knew little. My father, however, was experienced. Do trust us, children, we are doing everything we can to help Kai."

A question I had asked once came back to me, "Why don't we take Kai to a hospital?"

Dull golden eyes shifted to stare into mine, "Kai is not suffering from any diseases."

He seemed to want to say more but instead he switched topics, "It's about dinner time, isn't it?"

"Mm, come on, lets eat."


I was awoken by my covers being lifted, a smaller presence adding herself to my bed as she pressed her back to mine. I scooted over to give her more space which she shifted into, still pressing her back against mine. "Another nightmare, Nya?" Asked softly, still facing the wall. She shifted slightly and remained quiet. I took this as a yes.

Nya and I have that kind of thing. Did Janice call it a connection? She called it a naturally deep understanding. I guess I feel it, some kind of thing that just makes me feel close to Nya, like we easily get each other. I feel the need to protect her, to end her nightmares, to make sure she never fears again as she does now. Is this what Kai feels?

I turn to look at the little girl lying next to me. Her short raven black hair only visible thanks to the bright moonlight. Her shoulders were hunched and she seemed to be trying to curl up into a tight ball. I pulled her close to my chest and began to hum a song I remember..-I remember- she-hersang to me. It was a funny little song about a glowworm. Humming turned to mumbling and mumbling turned to the soft lyrics escaping my lips in a gentle tune, soft that only we could hear it.

"You have a pretty voice, Cole." Nya murmured and I suddenly lost my voice as my face felt warmer. I barely got out a thank you, feeling a little self conscience. I thought she was asleep..

I bit my lip and felt unable to continue. Luckily, Nya didn't press me to and instead drifted off to sleep a little more relaxed than she was before.

I didn't feel so sleepy anymore. I got out of bed as silently as I could and went to the window. I pulled back one of the curtains but made sure the light didn't reach Nya. I gaze out of the window at the vast darkness outside. The clouds drifting by the mountain made it feel like we were living in a castle in the sky. Considering we are on a mountain, I guess I wouldn't be so far from the truth. The stars twinkled bright and being this high up, for a second I thought I could reach out and hold a star in my hands. My gaze turns down to the small plants creeping up to the window. They reminded me of the one's in Wu's book. I wonder if he would let me read it again, I could learn what kind of plants they are. Maybe Janice will let me keep them in my room so that they didn't have to spend their nights in the cold.

Motion in the corner of my eye makes me turn my attention to Nya. It was weird at first, like I was a by the way to the brother and sister who were glued to each other. Maybe it was the difference in language but slowly we got closer, letting me into their little circle. Where I was, I didn't have a brother or a sister. I only had themand that was all I needed. Now I do and I know we aren't blood related but I feel we are even closer.

I turn back to the window and my fingers somehow slide the glass open. I look down and see just enough space to shuffle to the stairs that takes one to the bottom of the mountain. Without hesitation, I lift myself up and out of the window. My fingers grip tightly against the window sill as I firmly plant my feet on the rocks. There is barely any room for me to scuttle along. I bend my knees and blindly step down to plant my foot on any rocks below me. I step down hard on a particularly sturdy rock and when I'm confident it will hold me, I do the same for my other leg. I carefully lower myself and now the window is a little out of my reach.

My left hand stretches out to grab a rock and upon putting pressure on it, it comes loose and I watch it fall through the clouds to the below. The breeze makes me shiver and I force myself not to look down again. I try a few more rocks before I find the one that holds. My left foot finds it's place and very, very, very slowly, I make my way to the mountain stairs. Once I was right below it, I scramble to pull myself up. I lay flat on my stomach, panting as my heart races though the feeling isn't completely unwelcomed. It was oddly comforting, encouraging, familiar. I sit up and look at the huge red gates with golden swirly designs on it.

"I'll be back with that flower, Nya. I promise."

Filled with determination, I walk down the billions of stairs. It was fascinating, the world of the mountain at night. I could barely see anything else but the small mountains that tried to be as tall as the one we were on, the endless blue filled with twinklings and clouds lazily floating by.

"I should draw this one day."

When I look to my right, I see a set of stairs I don't remember seeing the first climb up. Perhaps it was because I was on the right of the stairs instead of the left. I pause in my journey and try to see where the mysterious stairs lead but the clouds block my view. These weren't like the main one's leading up; they were quite narrow with only enough space for one person. I decide to see where they lead and soon enough I can't see where the main stairs where. I climb up, towards the unknown, almost as if to the skies above, to the stars that constantly wink brightly down on me. Before I know it, I can see a patch of green in front of me.

Ahead was an absolutely beautiful small raised flat topped rock piece jutting out from the main build. A young tree with beautiful pink flowers is the first to catch my attention. I run up the rest of the stairs and throw myself onto the wet grass and the colorful flowers. I greedily breathe deep the cold damp night air and snuggle into the ground while digging my fingers into the just as wet soil. Looking up at the young tree to see a juicy fruit dangling from one of its branches. I stand and reach up to pluck it, gently wiping it on my sleeve before sinking my teeth into it.

"I forgot how hungry I was," I say between bites. Once I'm done with the fruit, I dig a hole and plant the seeds that remain, softly patting the soil.

"There, now you can grow big and strong too."

I walk over to the wall of mountain and that's when I saw it. It's pink petals shined with the moon and it looked similar to the one I drew in Wu's book.It was growing on the side of the mountain just a little higher than I was. I stand on the tips of my toes and my fingers brush its stalk. I bite my tongue and stretch my body, desperately brushinguntil I finally get a grip, grateful I didn't have to stand on my toes. My hand travels to the base and I try yanking the flower out.

"You're roots are really in there, huh? C'mon flower, I need your help. We have to help Kai. You understand, right?"

Apparently, not. I pulled and pulled but the stubborn thing wouldn't budge.

My face screws up and my other hand reaches up to grasp the stalk, "No more mister nice Cole."

"You."

Pull

"Are."

Pull

"Coming."

Pull

"With."

Pull

"Me!"

With the final tug, it finally comes free, however the force sends me backwards. I feel triumphant, the feeling lasting only a moment. A few rocks also came loose and an audible crack is heard as the remains slide and break over each other. I see a crack forming along the side of the mountain. I scramble to my feet and begin to make my way to the narrow stairs just in time for a huge chunk of rock to land where I was lying before.

Just as I turn around another rock hits me hard and I'm brought to my hands and knees. My vision blurs as more rocks pelt me. I attempt to stand again but a rock lands on my ankle. I hear a crack and I scream loudly. A sharp rock makes itself comfortable between my shoulder blades.

Fear grips me, "W-wu! Janice! Heeeeeelp-"

Another hard connection with my head.

The pain.

The pressure.

Increeeeeeeeeasingggg-...

Solid.

Comforting.

Unbreakable.

..Death?

No,...too pleasant.

We are one

The earth

me

A face

She is earth

I know you

Mom, why did

You

Leave

Me

Help

Please

My hand reaches

Earth

I am your

Master

Won't

Hurt me

She stretches her hands to me

To lend her strength

Light from her chest

Giving me

Handing over..

"COOOOOOOOOOLE!"


A/n:End of chapter...

Huzzah! She lives; free like the wolf to sing deep the songs of her fanfics!

I drew the Cole but the earth in the background ain't mine.

Congrats if ya guessed Cole was up next. Can you guess who's after?

Hope y'all enjoyed,

See ya next chappy!