I was sitting at my desk right now. I had just told Eni a bit of the story of Alice in Wonderland. It was the first story that came to mind, and I wanted to get my baby brother to sleep as soon as possible. I didn't get very far into it, but it didn't bother me. He needed rest if his fever was ever going to break.

T went to Eni's room to call Noelle. We didn't want to bother her when she was so far away, but she would want and needed to know about this. Noelle might be able to give us suggestions on how to help Eni recover, too.

There was something I could do, but I felt iffy about it. I could take some heat or some of his fire. That would hopefully help his fever even if it wasn't much of a change.

I kissed the top of his head and ran my finger across his cheek. It went against my instincts to not jerk my hand away. I took an ember from him. It felt nothing like my own embers. I'd never come across embers like it in campfires or other people. I'd only felt them in... in the kitchen...

T came into our room and got a hair tie out of our bathroom. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail. "Annie should be here soon."

I nodded.

"She wants to look at him. We shouldn't do anything else until she gets here. We'll have a better plan of attack then."

Too late for that... Oh, well... It was just an ember. What the girls didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Why don't you go out for a bit?" T smiled. It couldn't get more fake if she tried... "Weren't you saying at breakfast that you wanted to go buy a new book?"

"Kaze..." I drew a long breath. "I can't even think about doing that until we know for sure what's wrong with Eni."

She put her hand over mine. "We'll know as soon as Noelle gets here. I really think you should go once we know."

My eyes must've been huge. "Right now, that is near the bottom of my list of priorities."

"Ali." Hands on my shoulders, Kaze made me look her in the eyes. "You need to take care of yourself. I know you've been focusing all your attention on us since we got back from that battle. You need to do something for yourself."

How could I do that when Eni needed me? T may as well have been asking me to move the ocean...

"Let me take care of you. It's only fair when you did the same for me."

The door to our room creaked open. Noelle evidently decided to do that to avoid spooking us.

"Tia, Alain, how's he been holding up?"

There was something about seeing Noelle again. I just wanted to cry. I wanted to be the little boy who could cry into his mama's shirt again.

"This is all we've done for him," T said. "Ali got him to sleep while I was on the phone with you."

Noelle brushed her hand against his cheek. "He's really hot. This would be unbelievably dangerous if he was just any kid."

Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious...

"It feels like he was about to get sick. You guys just battled a Lock, didn't you?"

I felt T's heart skip a beat. "Hannah told you?"

Noelle shrugged. "I would've given her a piece of my mind if she hadn't."

She meant Ame, but T didn't need to know. I hadn't told her about that.

"Phoenix made blue flames during that battle."

Noelle's eyes looked like golf balls. 'Did your sister just say blue flames?'

'Yes. Yes, my big sister just said blue flames.'

'C-can you do that?' Her telepathic words were barely audible. I had no idea this was possible.

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. 'No. Why?'

"I'll be back in a minute."

Noelle then left our room.

Kayleigh... What came over Noelle? I had never seen her act like that before.

I was tempted to follow her, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. I didn't want to accidentally eavesdrop on her. She deserved privacy even if I was curious about her strange behavior.

In the end, I did come out of my room for a few minutes. Mama was in the den. She was at the piano, playing her favorite song from when I was a little boy. It was only for a few minutes, but I felt better while she was singing.

Noelle was in my room again when I got back.

"I imagine you're both wondering what I meant when I said that he was already getting sick." Noelle ran her fingers through her braided hair. "I sense he was getting sick when you went into the Land of the Lost. No symptoms yet, but it was coming.

"That little power display was the straw that broke the camel's back." She sat on the edge of the bed. "Since it was a new and sudden change, it was probably a shock to his little body. If that hadn't happened, this would probably be just like the colds your friends get."

T furrowed her eyebrows. "If this was an after effect of the battle, why is it only happening now?" The color drained from my big sister's face. "Oh, Kayleigh..."

"He was probably waiting for you to recover, Tia. He knew you were okay, so he felt safe enough to let it come."

T had tears in her eyes. Her lip was quivering.

Noelle stroked Kaze's hair and shushed her. "Don't blame yourself. It wasn't a conscious choice on his part. We'll get through this like we always do."

That didn't mean this was going to be an easy next few days...

I laid down in my bed and cuddled up next to my little brother. He was going to need all the strength I could give him.

***

A few hours later, Recah brought T a bowl of soup. She practically shoved me out of my own room, though. She would've taken the chair I was in if she had to.

I waited until the girls were out of sight.

"Kayleigh, Recah! What did you do that for?"

She dragged me toward the kitchen. "Honey, you need to get some air. Come on."

"I do not!"

"Come on."

Recah dragged me farther into the garden than I would've liked. She only let go of my wrist when we were in front of the fire. "Make me a fire."

I rolled my eyes. "It's only November, dear. Engrada gets colder this."

"Make me a fire. I can feel your heat."

"How could you possibly do that from another room?"

She put her hand over my heart. "I'm your Soulmate. We're connected."

I ultimately gave in because I couldn't resist the puppy-dog eyes... My heart felt lighter afterward.

Noelle intercepted me in the hallway. "We need to talk."

I brought her into the den and Noelle shut the door behind her.

"You've been taking your brother's heat, haven't you?"

I put my hands behind my head. "Yeah, I have. What about it, Noelle?"

"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?" she shouted.

"Of course, I do. I've been doing it with Mama since I was young."

"Your mother doesn't have the ability to make fire!" Noelle seemed to be trembling. "Do I have to tell you that blue fire is hotter than orange fire?"

I turned my head. "Of course not."

"You don't have the ability to make blue fire. There's no telling if you can actually tolerate it." She met my gaze and wouldn't break it. "Your body may wind up compensating in some way. If you're not careful, you could go into an evolution. That's just not something we need right now."

Of course, I knew those things. Still, I'd do anything for Eni. I adored my baby brother. Eni was still my little Firebird.

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!