A?N: I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAIT! it's been like forever since i updated. well, i apologize for the limited vocabulary I've used. i'd like you to know that my brain isn't that small :D . plus, dont hate me because i dont know how to spell Ferrerro Roche!!!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HIL!" exclaimed Tyson loudly, prodding Hilary to wake her up. She fell out of bed with a yelp, completely disoriented. She had no idea what was going on.

"Oh…my…gosh…" she said, scrambling to her feet. "You SCARED me, Tyson!" She whacked him upside the head.

"Hey," he said, rubbing his head. "Is that how you thank me for getting you this?"

'This' was a medium-sized rectangular box wrapped with pink paper. Taking it from Tyson, Hilary sat on the edge of the bed and carefully unwrapped it. There was a box of her favourite kind of chocolates inside: Ferrero Roche. Under the box of chocolates, there was a small silver and black frame with a picture of Kenny, Tyson, Kai, Max, Ray and herself. It was before the second world championships. Everyone looked happy and carefree (with the exception of Kai). With a smile, Hilary took it out. To her surprise, there was yet another frame underneath. It was identical in design to the other one, only it was golden and orange. In this one, Tyson was shielding himself with his arms from Hilary, who had his baseball cap in her hand and was swatting at him with it. Max was in the process of bumping into Ray, who had a surprised look on his face. Kenny was waving his arms about in the air, looking completely freaked out. Kai was looking at all of them contemptuously. Hilary laughed and placed the frame on the bed beside her. Finally, there was a card in which Tyson had written with his untidy scrawl, "Hope you like the gift. The pictures are from back when you were the 'wicked witch' of the 8th grade. Have a great birthday, o witch!"

She looked at Tyson, who was standing in front of her with an anxious look on his face. "Do you like it?" he said.

Getting up, she hugged him. "I love it, Tyson," she said to the surprised boy. "It's the best gift I ever got."

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When Hilary entered the living room where everyone usually gathered, it was completely dark. Switching the light on, she was, for the second time that day, almost deafened with the roar of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HILARY!" Everyone was there. Admittedly, they hadn't all shouted but most of them hadn't and those who hadn't (Kai and the Blitzkrieg boys) couldn't be expected to.

In the middle of the room, they had set up a table with a cake on it. There were seventeen candles crowning it. Miguel had a video camera in his hand.

"Come on, blow out the candles!" exclaimed Raul and Julia in unison, each taking one arm and pulling her towards the table. With a grin, Hilary cut the cake. Before she knew what was happening, Tyson had smeared it all over her face and was now laughing his head off at her. Miguel was closing up on her face, recording her horrified expression.

The day ended in fun and games. There had been a huge food fight initiated by Tyson but apart from that, there hadn't been too much of a mess made.

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At about 11 at night, a steward rapped at Raul's cabin door. He shared a cabin with Claude, Miguel and Aaron. He was for some reason still awake, lying on his upper bunk staring at the ceiling, when he heard the knock. Jumping off his bed he opened the door. Stepping out, he closed it behind him so that the others wouldn't be woken up, and then turned to the steward.

"What's wrong?" he said, looking concerned.

"There's a telegraph for Raul and Julia," said the steward. "I take it you're Raul?"

"Yeah," said Raul curiously. "I'll go and get Julia. Where do I go to get the telegraph?"

"The radio room," said the Steward gravely. Raul nodded and went to Julia, Hilary, Mariah and Matilda's cabin. He knocked on it lightly; sure that Julia would be awake too. Sure enough, his twin opened the door in a few seconds. She was wearing a shawl around her shoulders to protect her from the cold.

"We have a telegram," he said. "I wonder who could have sent it?"

"Let's go find out," said Julia cheerfully. They made their way to the small radio room on deck and asked the man about the telegraph.

"Right," said the man. "It says, 'Mother Inka got into accident. Is now in a coma. Greg.'"

The twins stood rooted to the spot. Mother Inka! The kindly old woman who had taken them into the circus after they were orphaned and who had been a like a mother to them ever since, in a coma!

Her real name wasn't Inka. It was Ingrid but Raul and Julia had been toddlers when they were taken in by her so they had begun to call her mother Inka and everybody had adopted the nickname. Greg was Mother Inka's nephew.

Tears gathered in Julia's eyes. Raul squeezed her hand, too shocked to speak. The man looked at them sympathetically.

"Relative?" he said. Julia nodded numbly. Raul said in a dry, raspy voice, "Yes… our mother."

"Bad luck," said the man.

Julia turned around and left the room. Raul followed a few steps behind but turned off in another direction altogether soon. He needed to be alone, and so did his sister.

Julia saw the familiar figure of Tala standing at the railing. Keeping her face down, she pushed past him. He recognized her at once and said, "What's going on?" in a sharp voice.

Ignoring him, she would have walked on but he caught her hand. Curiosity had got the better of him as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Not trusting herself to speak, Julia shook her head, looking at the ground. She gave her hand a little tug but he didn't let go. "Look at me," he commanded, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her to comply. He was shocked to see her face. It was deathly white and her green eyes shone with tears.

"What's wrong?" he softly repeated himself, letting go of her hand.

"M-mother Inka…" she said in a thick voice, inwardly cursing the lump in her throat. Gulping, she said "It's nothing." She began to walk away. Tala watched her leave.

"What was that all about?" asked Kai, coming up from behind Tala. His eyes were also on Julia as she got further and further away.

"I'm not sure," Tala said. "I guess I was just really curious."

Kai looked at Tala with cold, unemotional eyes. "And did you find out what you wanted to know?"

"She looked like she was going to cry," said Tala impassively. "So I let her go."

A/N: Pleaseplease review. i had NO idea where mother Inka came from btw . lol