A/N: According to my previous updates this was due on wednesday or possibly thursday. But I waited till friday so that I could give you a chapter on my birthday. A bit of joy for me and a bit for you.

x..:..x

"What do you think happened to Arra?"

"Exhaustion."

Arra could hear voices and works but her mind wouldn't put the voices to names. She felt too tired. Where's my maid? Who are these people? Who gave them the right to call me Arra? She could only barely feel her own confusion. Blearily she formed words. "Don't call me Arra"

"Arra! You're up! Here, eat something." Someone placed food in front of her. But her brains still didn't function properly.

"Why am I being treated like some commoner!" Just as the words left her mouth she felt for the first time her eyes really opened. She gasped. I am a commoner to them. What was I thinking? . . . Is is just me or am I always waking up in strange beds? No wait, this is my bed.

"Have an interesting dream?" She looked up and found Raoul. Immediately she looked back down.

Blushing she answered. "No. . ." Her pride wanting power over embarrrassment for just a moment. "I meant yes! Dream. Very odd dream . . ."

The made her eat something and she noticed who exactly stood in the room. Sir Raoul, Buriram, Onua, Alanna . . . why are they in here? She took a bite of the food and put down the utensil. Arra stared at the food long after she was done chewing and swallowing. They noticed this.

"Go on. Eat more." Onua urged.

Arra shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry."

"How much did you eat yesterday?" Alanna asked.

"C-close to nothing." Arra answered.

"Exactly, so eat." Alanna pushed the food closer to her.

Arra looked at the food distastefully. She knew she probably should be hungry but . . . she wasn't. "I'm sorry. But I can't. I just can't. I don't expect you to understand, I don't even know why I won't eat, I just – no."

Alanna grew a bit aggravated. This was for her own good! It was like refusing medicine! "You have to eat. Do you know why you fainted? You fainted of exhaustion. You had no food for you body to keep going and yet you did."

Arra looked nonplussed by her sudden anger.

Alanna contiued. "Why did you do all of that? To show yourself you could? To practice? Why would you do that in the middle of the night?"

The young Shang looked up. "You saw all of that? I -I was just releasing some stress . . ."

"You overworked yourself!" The red-head exlaimed.

"Listen to Alanna, she knows plenty on that subject." Raoul interjected smiling. Alanna sent him a glare.

"She gets like this. Though I've only seen it once before." A new voice said. One Arra recognized immediately.

"Damien?"

He stood smiling in the doorway. He was a middle aged man with light brown hair and even lighter brown eyes. But what was he doing here? He nodded in response to her questioning.

"What do you mean 'She gets like this'?" Alanna asked.

"There was a time when she was with me she just refused to eat. I later found out it was because she was worried about so many things. When she gets over stressed she just won't eat anything." He said. Arra said no words, she was still schocked about his abrupt apperance.

Arra didn't pay attention to the next few seconds. Not very closely anyway, moslty she understood eveyone had left the room to give her and Damien some time alone. He sat down in a chair near her. She looked at him blankly. Arra shook herself mentally and forced herself to form words. "What are—how did you?"

He smiled. "I'm surprised I still know what you mean. I followed the trail of rumors to you. And as for why I'm here. . . I've been worried about you. You left so soon. No one knew what happened to you." He paused. "Joel's been worried especiallly. He's been trying to find you, or at least last time I checked he was. I don't know where he is now though."

"Don't tell him where I am. Please."

Damien raised a brow. "Are you running away from him still?"

Arra rolled her eyes. "I'm not running away. I just need time to sort out my life at the moment. Away from him."

"Which basically means your running away."

She gave him a slanted look. "Just don't tell him okay?"

He held up his hands. "Fine. I won't. But he'll find you eventually, he wasn't named the Shang Hawk for nothing."

Arra looked up at him. Studying his features and noticing how little he'd changed in the past year. A smile spread across her face. The young Shang jumped off of the bed and brought the Pheonix into a hug. "I missed you Damien."

He squeezed her. "I missed you too, chickadee."

She looked up at him and scowled. "I hate that name."

"I know but I do it to see your face in that state."

Alanna told the king about Arra later that day. He said she should stay for a couple days and rest. After she was fine she would take the pages back. She didn't complain and instead showed her former teacher around the grounds in the time being, which the Duke Baird said was fine as long as she took it easy.

"This is odd. I was just talking about you the other day." Arra said. She looked up at his face, which was hard considering he stood head and shoulders over her.

"Really? What about?"

"Aren't I allowed to flaunt the fact that I was trained by THE Shang Pheonix?"

Damien laughed. "I'm sure you are but I never took you to be the type to do it."

She shrugged in response and her stomache grumbled.

"Hungry now my little chickadee?" He said putting a hand on her head. She slapped it off mumbling something that sounded close to, "I'll eat that chickadee. . ." Damien laughed and Arra showed him a place where they could eat.

Arra decided to only eat a bit despite Damien telling her to eat more. He still very much acts like my teacher.

"Listen to me, I know better, now eat!"

Arra laughed shortly. "I haven't had to listen to you in two or more years!" They took a seat but the conversation continued.

"By the gods, has it been that long?" Arra nodded. "I'd half forgotten. Your still the same size." She looked up from the small pile of food and glared. After that he only looked at her expectantly. What!

"What is it? Is there something you want to say?" Arra sounded a bit aggravated.

"Why didn't you ever tell us you had the Gift?" Damien's voice was suddenly serious. He's had this on his mind for a while. Is that why he tried to find me? Just to know the answer to this one question?

Arra shrugged evasivley and stood to leave but he followed. "Is it really a hard question to answer?"

"Why didn't you ask after the Council? When you told me to come here." Arra shot back.

"I know as well as anyone when is a proper time for asking a question. That was not a good time for you. You needed time, I gave it to you." He said it as if he deserved to know. Deseve to know? Ha! People don't always get what they 'deserve' . . . and sometimes they do.

She sighed. "I knew if I told you, or anyone I'd've been kicked out of Shang. Surely you can understand that. It's a simple enough answer, with a simple enough reason."

"Yes, yes I suppose. But, you, the Gift. It didn't seem to fit." He paused. "You really wanted to be a Shang didn't you?"

"When I was young—when anyone's young—how can they know? But later . . . yes. It became something I couldn't give, even if I wanted to."

"I'd noticed." Her Shang mentor gave her the same odd look as before, though only for a moment.

"You want to know something else." She said flatly.

"How did we not know you had the Gift? Before you are allowed to enter into Shang--"

"I know. I was there at some point too." She growled. "And I honestly don't know why they couldn't detect my Gift." What am I supposed to say, 'because it runs in my family?' That still doesn't explain why they couldn't find it. But it might get me found. Oh! No, maybe I should say it's because I'm one of a kind and Fate hates it. Her thoughts were irritable. If it not that he was once her teacher, and if she felt he deserved to know, Arra wouldn't be answering the questions.

"In all truth, I thought when you found out, you'd be angry. Most definitley not as accepting as you both were." Arra said softly.

Damien picked up on something and spoke just as softly as she. "Will you not even speak his name?"

"Not the point."

"Say it."

Arra whirled. "JOEL! Are you happy?"

He shrugged. Damien had raised her, he's used to her ways. "You had a problem with it not me."

He can be too infuriating for my own good, I'm sure.

The day passed quickly and Arra felt a pang when she saw it go. The were both sitting on the gate watching the near empty practice fields. Another day will only bring me more problems. They always seem to.

"Something on your mind, chickadee?" He's always been able to read me.

She glanced at him and suddenly a thought passed through that she'd never taken seriously before. Should I tell him everything? The truth I mean? For the first time, she considered it. He's already had a shock with me having the Gift. How would he take it? . . . And Joel, what would he think?

"Are you feeling well?" A slight worried look came over his face. "No comment for me calling you chickadee?"

"He'd be devastated. As long as your a commoner like him, he still has a chance."

I thought I told you to shut up!

"D-Damien, I'm not who you think I am." Her voice was so quiet she couldn't be sure he had heard or not. Her head pounded and her throat felt too tight.

"And now you're speaking nonsense. Perhaps we should bring you to a healer."

Arra stood and looked him straight in the eye. For a reason she couldn't name tears came to her eyes. "I'm fine!"

XxX

Damien wasn't sure what to make of this. She was acting too peculiar. Her crystaline blue eyes stared back into his with fiercness. Though they aren't the same eyes. No. This isn't her same face either. I remember her having more . . . prominent features.

But this is something different entirely. She continued to look at him defiantly. Something raw. This is who she is. The Pheonix realized. This is different then her hiding her eyes behind magic, if that is what she's doing. Even before then when she didn't use magic at all, when she trained with me. This is diferent from even then.

This is her .

Arra looked down. "Nevermind." And her eyes fell behind a wall once again.

XxX

Blood seemed to flow to her head again. What was I thinking?

"You want to tell him. And If I'm not mistaken, you wanted to reveal to everyone."

I wouldn't.

"I know. But you want to. You want to feel free of the burden."

By telling it I would only create another burden!

"Arra maybe you should lie down." Damien said.

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She looked up at him and smiled. "Besides, who would show you around?"

Despite her attempt to lighten the mood he held his stern face. "I think I've been shown around enough for one day." He swept her feet out from under her and held her with one hand on her back. "I'll take you back to your rooms."Arra stuggled but he held her there firmly.

Finally she gave in and let him carry her. He's the only one I know who'd dare do that to me. For all nearly everyone is taller than me. He settled her into bed. "I'll be back. As soon as I find you some food. . ."

Arra smiled. If I didn't know him I'd say he act nothing like a Pheonix. But if you see him fight. . .just when you think he's been taken down and he's done, he' strikes back with new strength. Just like a Pheonix . . .

Damien came back carrying a tray of food only to find Arra already asleep. He smiled and mumbled. "And after all of the trouble I went through just to find it."

XxX

Knock.

Arra turned over in her bed grumbling.

Knock. Knock.

Slowly she opened her eyes. The first time sleep is the most comfortable and someone wakes me up. Her legs swung over and hit the ground while she rubbed her eyes.

Knock.

"I'm coming." Arra stood lazily and opened the door. Her eyes weren't completely cleared of sleep and they were half closed when a yawn broke out.

"Oh, were you sleeping?"

She nodded not taking note who had asked the question. Why am I so tired? All I remember it thinking about Damien. Then the bed had been so warm and comfortable . . .

"Yeah, I was sleeping." Arra said turning her attention to the person at the door. His hazel eyes were focused on her. I should've known. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

Liam laughed. "Shouldn't you?"

She looked down at herself. "What does it seem like I've been doing?"

"Don't you own any sleepwear?"

"I wasn't planning on sleeping I just did." She looked into his eyes suddenly. "Where's Damien?"

"Who?"

"Uh . . . Shang Pheonix."

"Ah, he's out on the practice fields. I think he's been there for a while." Relief flooded her system. I would've thought he'd be long gone by now.

Arra ended the conversation and clambered into her quarters again. She changed, having the sudden urge to, and pulled a brush through her hair before pulling up her thick tresses into a semi-low bun. Walking out to the fields with Liam she soon spotted Damien. "I should've known." She muttered.

Damien was, at the moment, speaking to the foursome who she had woken up to. Buri, Raoul, Onua and Alanna. Damien looked at her as she aproached. "I see you've finally awoken. You slept through the rest of night."

Arra rubbed her forehead. "And I'm still tired too. I feel more like I've been running around than sleeping."

"I think we've all had those kind of days." Buri said.

"Yeah." Arra said a bit disconnected.

x..:.x

A/N: I bet when you guys first started reading this you thought maybe I didn't have a plot well . . . I do! Lol. Jk. But, what is the matter with Arra? Is her being tired really normal? Hmm, plenty to ponder, eh?

Now, I know a lot happened. Yup, but I wanted to stop at a certain area. So yeah.

OH! and before I forget. The only thing between Damien and Arra is a mentor/pupil relationship. Well, maybe more but nothing romantic. I just thought I'd let you guys know that.

Oh my wow. You will looooooove chapter 14, or maybe you won't depends on how you take it. I know, I know, it is really mean of me to say this. It's like dangling another treat in front of a dog when he can't exactly reach. But I'm just . . . excited. But by saying this alone, you guys (being so dang smart as you are, curse you!) will probably guess. Grr you and your brains!