A/N: Well, I've finally got to update! Chapter 41 is here! So...heeeereee we go!

Choices

Chapter Forty-One

Rose continued to improve over the course of the next week. Soon she was up and around, and I relaxed some. For a few days when she was feeling better, we were very busy with making plans with the Dragon Council for Chang's next attack. Andam strongly recommended taking us to the Isle of Draco for more security. My mom, of course, was hard to convince, however. Although she knew it was for our own good, she greatly resented letting us go (for she had also become extremely fond of Rose). Finally, however, she consented with teary eyes. She said that we had to get our schoolwork to take with us (although I really didn't see the point, as we had already missed almost three weeks of school already.

It was the day before we were going to leave (we were planning on telling my dad I was going to stay a few nights at a friend's house, if only for the time being). I was watching Rose as she worked on her homework at the kitchen table. (I was supposed to be doing the same, but I was too caught up in staring at Rose.) As I watched her hand move swiftly across the paper, I noticed something that hadn't occurred to me before. I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed it.

"Rose!" I said, amazed, "Your Huntsclan mark is gone!"

She smiled, amused, and said, "You just now noticed?" She laughed slightly.

I felt my face redden in embarrassment. I felt extremely ignorant and dumb. "I mean, well, I guess I was just all caught up...in rescuing-I mean, helping you-" I stuttered, then continued. "I guess I didn't notice. Now I see that if it wasn't gone, the Council would have probably arrested you by now. I just hadn't thought about it...how-I mean, why is it gone?"

"I noticed it a day after I turned against my uncle. At first I wondered what it was that made it go away...but then I realized that since I am no longer a member of of the Clan, I don't have the mark anymore."

I smiled, and without thinking about what I was doing, I reached out and took her hand. She put her pen down and gripped my hand back, and we sat in silence, both thinking of what we had been through and contemplating the possibilities of the future.

"We'll be alright, won't we?"said Rose after a while, breaking the silence.

I looked into her eyes and smiled. "Yeah," I said. "We will." And we lapsed into silence again, this time not thinking about anything but what was happening right now.

But yet again, the silence was broken, this time by a loud knock on the door. I remained seated, hoping that someone else would answer or the person would go away. The knocking persisted, however, and I heard my mom yell from somewhere within the depths of the house, "Jake, get the door!"

I sighed and got up, grumbling under my breath about "disturbing the mood". I reached the door and flung it open, revealing someone so unexpected that I nearly yelled in surprise. "Yo, what the heck are you doing here, Mr.…er…Professor Rotwood?"

A/N: So…What is Rotwood up to? What will he do? Find out in chapter 42, coming soon near you! LOL. Seriously, please read and review, and I'll update asap. Oh and for those of you who are waiting for a Broomsticks update, it should be sometime between tomorrow and Tuesday. Sorry for the delay. I'll update ASAP!

~Emachinescat ^..^