Alain had gone into Taradita with a couple of Phoenix's friends yesterday. Recah had offered to go with him, but he wanted her to stay with the rest of us to help out with Marsh and Tiana. The rest of us wanted to stay back with them anyway. That was why Noelle asked for their help. While he was there, some people he'd met before gave him a new place to look for his friend.

I was worried, though. The air around him had a cool edge to it. I couldn't figure out why, though. It seemed like my powers hadn't shown me this feeling before.

Recah ran after him when he got back. She seemed to think he needed her more than Marsh did. Before she could be with him, though, one of Phoenix's friends wanted to talk to her. I didn't know why.

Anyway, I went back to Marsh's room. His wrist was getting better, but it still hadn't healed quite yet. That made me want to stay with him.

Since I didn't remember going to my room, I probably fell asleep in his bed.

***

I found myself in a white room. I had no idea why I could see the white. There was no sunlight and I couldn't find any candles or other types of light. That by itself was creepy.

My powers weren't helping, either. No one familiar like Marsh or Duke was nearby. That made this place even more unnerving.

A lady with hair like mine popped into the room. The only difference was that hers was red and mine was black. She wasn't cold. She wasn't hot. There was nothing.

There was nothing. There... was... nothing...

I had never known that feeling. I'd had my powers for long as I could remember. No one had ever felt like this lady. Even if it was faint, I always felt something.

Then just as quickly as she appeared, the lady was gone...

I didn't have time to catch my breath, though. A big man took her place.

His clothes were a mixture of browns and yellows. He looked like someone who loved climbing mountains. He was more unnerving than the curly-haired lady. Most if not all the mountain men I met warm or hot. Not this one, though...

Then he left just as quickly as the lady did.

Another lady took his place. She looked like she could be my grandma. Heck, she could've even been mom's grandma.

There was something about her. She reminded me of the lady who took care of Tiana in the palace but less scrambled. There was a difference, though. That lady was really warm. This one wasn't.

The white space disappeared with the last lady.

That was when I felt a familiar warmth on my back. I couldn't place it, though.

"Lie... I need you to wake up, kiddo." This was a guy. His voice was soft. "It's alright. Wake up."

Marsh's face was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. They were soft but shaky. Worry.

"Bad dream, kiddo?"

"Sorry..."

Marsh used his good hand to ruffle my hair. "You don't have to say sorry. It was a bad dream. Everybody has them."

"I woke you up..."

"It's okay. That happens sometimes."

I just looked at him. I didn't know what to say next.

"Let's go back to sleep." Marsh laid my head against him. "It's still super early."

I wanted to cry. The thing that bugged me more was because I didn't know why. I didn't like that.

***

I did manage to fall asleep after that. I had no idea how.

Ai was in Marsh's room with us now. Later, I learned he convinced her to sleep another room and Duke to sleep in our room. I was left alone since I had fallen asleep and Marsh didn't want them to wake me.

Anyway, Noelle had just come in. Tiana was awake now, but Noelle hadn't left yet. She seemed to want to spend as much time with Tiana as she could before she went back. She had come in pretty much every day to heal his wrist.

"Why are you bringing out the big guns now?" Marsh asked.

Noelle put her glowing hands on Marsh's wrist. "Tia doesn't need psychic energy anymore. This is more powerful than the charm. I would've done this from the start if Tia didn't need the big guns."

"Then you can use psychic powers to heal people?" Ai raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Kayleigh told me that I wasn't using psychic energy when I heal people, but I can't use my healing powers when I use too much psychic energy. I just know that because I've lived for so long..."

That sounded weird... Marsh and Ai's faces told me they agreed.

"Anyway..." Noelle turned to leave. "Take it easy." She shut the door behind her on her way out.

"Well, that was weird..." they said.

Marsh took a breath. "Whatever. It doesn't really matter." He ruffled my hair like he did last night. "Feel better now, kiddo?"

I nodded.

"Did something happen?" Ai asked.

I looked at Marsh. I didn't wanna tell her about my dream. I didn't want her to fuss over me.

Ai sighed and put her hands on her hips. "You're not by yourselves anymore. You have friends and family now. You can't just keep everything to yourselves anymore."

"Bad dream."

Ai didn't seem to hear me.

"Lie just had a bad dream," Marsh said. "It really wasn't that big a deal."

"You could've woken me up, sweetie."

"We got it taken care of."

Ai studied his face for a minute before she smiled at me. "What was it about?"

As much as I loved Ai, I couldn't tell her. My mouth felt like it glued shut. It was too stuck to listen to me.

"Why don't you go see what the siblings are up to?" Marsh looked into her eyes. "They might need a hand with something."

"Marshall."

They locked eyes. When they stopped, Ai left and shut the door behind her like Noelle did when she left.

"Can you talk yet?"

I shook my head.

"Wanna play 20 questions or is this too hard for that to work well?"

I nodded.

"Was it about Zane?"

It wasn't.

"What about your parents?" he asked.

I tilted my head. When was the last time that even happened?

"One of us?"

I groaned.

"Were you by yourself?"

I shook my head.

"Were there animals or people in this dream?"

I wanted to reach for his hand but I didn't want to accidentally hurt him so I just put my right hand out.

"Were they people you met before?"

"No."

"What did they look like?" he asked.

I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Did one of them have hair like yours?"

"Yeah... Pretty lady..."

He smiled. "What about anyone else you saw?"

"A mountain man and a grandma," I said.

"Where were you?"

I couldn't say this, so I grabbed a white piece of paper.

"White?" Marsh furrowed his eyebrows. "You gotta give me more than that, kiddo."

I went and tapped the walls and floors.

"A room?" Marsh paused. "A white room?"

I clapped my hands.

"That sounds like a weird dream... Is that why it scared you this morning?"

I shook my head. "My powers wouldn't talk about them."

"That sounds scary."

There was a knock on the door. Duke came in after. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. Maybe it'd help to talk to Noelle about it? She's probably had similar dreams the way the others talk about her."

I put my face in Marsh's shirt.

"I don't think it's necessary right now. If Lie wants to talk about it then she'll do it when she's ready."

I cuddled up to Marsh. I didn't wanna talk to anyone else. I was okay with just Marsh. 

***

Thoughts on Lie's dream? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!