The three R's! Read, Review, and Rejoice! Okay, maybe just the first two! Oh well, just have fun!

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Torah lay on her bed. Mel sat beside her, humming slightly while she read a book. Lila sat on another chair. She too was reading. Torah was trying to finish some homework that she had from yesterday. There was a knock on her door. "Come in!" She yelled, still absorbed in her homework. Rikash and Gavi entered. Rikash handed Torah a letter. Torah ignored it, still trying to finish her homework.

"It was outside of your door. Here's another one." Gavi said, setting another folded letter on her bed. Torah sighed and looked up from her homework. She opened the first letter. She gasped. Her friends all looked at her in worry, but she was too busy looking at the letter.

Dear Torah,

I know that you're probably surprised that I'm writing. I need your help though. I am sorry that I haven't talked to you in a while. Could you please meet me at the palace soon? I am really sorry. I was just mad. I didn't mean all those things that I said.

Thomath

Torah stared at the letter in surprise. Her twelve year old brother hadn't been talking to anyone in his family for three years now. The last time Torah had seen him, he had been begging for her help, but she had refused. Why would he be writing now?

Torah looked up at Mel's face. Mel looked worried. Torah scowled back down at the letter and threw it to Mel. "That little bastard!" She yelled. She kicked her bed and stalked out of the room. Mel read the letter out loud. She gasped when she saw who had been writing the letter. Rikash took it from her.

"Who's Thomath?" He asked.

Mel looked at him. She looked worried. "Thomath is her twelve year old brother. They haven't been talking for three years. It must be serious if he's writing. We need to convince Torah to help him."

Rikash looked at Gavi who was still contemplating the idea of going after Torah. She looked up and sighed. "Why aren't they talking?" She said.

Mel looked down at her lap. For a second, Rikash thought that she wasn't going to tell them, but she sighed and looked at Lila. "Her brother wanted to go across the Emerald Sea with his friend. His parents wouldn't let him. He called Aunt Kali a whore and Uncle Liam a-a, well, a bad name that caused Torah to nearly go insane. She wasn't happy at all. She and Thomath nearly burnt the house down. They were having a fist fight that turned into a magic fight. It wasn't good at all. Finally, Torah managed to get him out of the house. She vowed never to talk to him again."

Rikash looked down at the letter in his hand. "Mel, you should go and convince her that Thomath needs her."

Mel shook her head. "Not me."

Gavi smiled. "Nor I."

Lila looked at Rikash. "You should go. She's known you longer than us."

"She's known Mel for way longer than me!"

Mel groaned. "She won't listen to anyone who's family. Everyone in her family except for Kali hates him. I know that my dad would blast him if he came here. The only reason I'm sticking up for him, is because we used to be best friends. I'm supposed to hate him as well. Go, Rikash."

Rikash left the room. He knew where she was. Torah would be up on the roof with Toma. Rikash took a left down the hallway and walked to the roof. Sure enough, Torah was sitting on the roof, arms wrapped around her legs, staring into the distance. Her long hair blew around her face. Rikash sat beside her.

"What do you want?" Torah asked. She turned to face him. A faint red blush appeared on her cheeks. It was the first time Rikash had seen her blush. "Oh, I thought you were Mel coming to tell me that I need to see what my stupid ex-brother wants."

"Ex-brother?" Rikash asked.

"I assume Mel told you what happened." He nodded. Torah stared back out into the distance. "If you actually thought that I still call him my brother…" She shook her head. "Well, I don't. I don't care what he wants. I'd like to see him get hurt."

Rikash stared at Torah. Sure, her brother had been bad, but that was just cruel. He was about to leave, until he saw her tears. He hesitantly put an arm around Torah's shoulders. She turned to him and shook her head. "I loved him!" She threw herself into Rikash's arms and sobbed into his shirt. Rikash couldn't help but be happy. It felt so right for him to be holding her. He stroked her long hair.

After a few minutes, Torah sat up. "I need to help him, don't I?"

Rikash nodded. "Maybe you'll be able to start talking again. He wouldn't have written to you if he didn't love you and need your help. Come on." She didn't move. "Torah?"

Rikash held out his hand. Torah sighed and took it. He pulled her to her feet. She didn't let go off his hand. She smiled at him. "Thank you, Rikash. You're always there for me when I need you." She let go off his hand and walked past him. "I need to tell Numair that I'm going to help my brother. Would you like to come? It would mean a lot to me."

"Of course I'm coming." Rikash said. He followed Torah into the building.

Numair let them leave. Torah, Rikash, Mel, Gavi, and Lila left right away. Torah commanded the winds to pick her up. She grabbed onto Rikash and Lila's hands. Soon the five of them were flying.

They arrived at the palace in five minutes. Torah rushed up to where her brother's rooms where. She threw herself onto the door. It opened. She looked around the room for some clue to where her brother might be. There was a note on her desk.

Torah,

Tired am I! Hope your okay, I am! By a man, has your heart been captured? Don't be mad at that, please! With math, I need help! Don't make that face at me!

Your brother Thomath

Torah raised an eyebrow at the note. She passed it to Rikash who read it out loud. "This doesn't make sense." Gavi complained. Torah didn't answer. Her brother had always liked spying and secret codes. Torah looked back at the note that Lila now held.

"Give me the letter." Torah said. Lila gave it to her. Torah searched it for secret clues. She searched the writing, the back of it, and it finally hit her. She gave it back to Rikash. "Read the last word in every sentence out loud.

"I…am…captured! Please…help…me! It's a secret code!" He looked up at Torah's nodding face. She took the letter back and burned it with her Gift. "Where are wee going to start looking?" Rikash asked.

Torah sighed wearily. "We're giving up. I don't know where to start. Let's go back to the university." She glared at Mel. Mel followed her gaze and nodded. She took Rikash and Lila's arms. Torah grabbed Gavi and pulled her out of the room. Torah looked around and sighed her relief.

"We can't just give up! He's your brother!" Rikash yelled.

"Stop it! We are giving up! We don't know where to look! I don't even know why I came here! He isn't my brother! I gave up on him long ago!"

Rikash tried to pull away from Mel, but both cousins grabbed him. "No, Rikash. We are leaving." Both cousins managed to pull him away from the door. Once they were back in the hall, Torah let go of him. Mel did too. The cousins gestured for the others to follow them. They reluctantly did.

Torah made her way to Liano's rooms. She knocked. Liano opened the door. "Everyone get inside. I'm going to go and get my friends. We need all the help we can get. Mel, don't say a word yet."

After Torah entered the room with Ani, Jakkin, Prince Jassikam, and Lani, she took a seat. She nodded to Mel wearily. Mel sat down. Torah started to talk to her old friends. "My brother sent me a letter today."

Jakkin interrupted right away. "Your two year old brother Mylon sent you a letter. That's very sweet, but may I go to sleep now?"

Torah sent him a glare. "Not him. Thomath did." Jakkin, Ani, and Jassikam all gasped. Torah nodded wearily. "It was simple. He begged me to come to the palace. I did and searched his rooms. He wasn't here, but he left a code note, saying how he had been captured and needed my help."

Lila scowled. "And she refused, saying that she didn't know where to start!"

Mel gave a halfhearted laugh. "Don't be stupid, guys. Do you honestly think that our Torah would give up without a fight?"

Torah rolled her eyes at Mel. "There were listening spells on the room. We needed to make it sound like we weren't coming. Anyways, will you guys help me?"

"Father and Mother will be mad, but I'm in!" Jassikam stood up and grinned. Liano looked surprised as she also stood.

"For once, Jasson has said the right thing!" She said as she put an arm around her brother.

Ani and Jakkin stood at the same time. "We're in." They said in unison.

Lani nodded. "As am I."

"Let's go. I think that we could use a focus to get to him." Torah nodded to herself.

"But we can't go into his room!" Lila said.

Torah smiled sadly. She put her left leg on the table. She waved her hands and a little pouch appeared. She reached into it and pulled a little painting of a little boy around eight out of it. "We could use this."

"Still, I'm a red robe, and we haven't learned how to use a focus yet! Master Numair says that it's really advanced magic! It completely drains you!" Gavi said.

Torah frowned for a moment. "I'm going to try it, nut it would do no good if we got there completely drained. I think I know what to do though. If we put the power of the spell into the winds, and they take us there, then we wouldn't be drained!"

Mel squealed. "You're a genius!"

Torah smiled. "Let's go."

They walked outside to where a storm was waiting to strike. Torah called to it. The winds picked only her up. She gave the picture of her brother to the winds. It blew it around for a little while.

"We have seen this boy, Lightning Queen. Please follow us, Queen of Lightning." The wind's voice said. Torah bowed, an odd feat for someone flying, and turned to her friends. Ani and Lani were gone.

"They went to get blankets and clothing." Jakkin explained. Torah raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Are we going to follow the wind then?" Jakkin asked.

Torah nodded. "Yes, we are."

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Hope you liked it! Remember to review! Yay! I still want to know who you want Torah to end up with. Right now the 'score' is Jakkin – 0, Jassikam – 0, Zamar – 1, and Rikash – 3. There is still time to vote. I know that I got a little of track, but this is my way of showing how powerful Torah is. Isn't Thomath a little ?