King's Quarters

The boy's look was so convincing that Luna's mom didn't argue when he said he'd be taking us without her. We were going to "walk," though I knew the second the boy said it, there was more to his plans than just walking. We only walked a block, turned the corner, and then the boy closed his eyes and we were suddenly standing inside a magnificent hall that instantly gave me the impression of a royal home. The boy quickly pulled us into a room on our left and bowed to a woman who sat behind the desk in front of us. Luna and I both bowed as well.

"Will you inform Master Timblewood I have brought Miss Emma and Miss Luna and will be giving them a quick tour now?" He said respectfully to the woman.

"Of course, Alejandro. Did you have any troubles attaining them?" Attaining? What were we, some prize? Already, I didn't like her.

"No ma'am." He bowed again.

"It's no wonder Master Timblewood sent you. You are rather convincing." The woman smiled and winked at him. Then she looked straight at Luna and smiled an extremely fake smile. "You look so much like your mother, dearie." Luna smiled. "No doubt just as zany as well." I felt a bit of rage boil up inside me. Leave her alone, you hag, I wanted to say. "Why don't you take these lovely girls to their rooms, Alejandro?"

"Yes, ma'am." He bowed again and silently led us out of the room while I let my anger dissipate. Alejandro led us up 3 huge, ornate staricases and then down a long hall. He opened the door at the very end and motioned for us to step in. Luna's jaw dropped. It looked like it had to be a king's bedroom, judging by how expensive everything inside had to be.

"You shall have to share a room. I hope that is okay with both of you, Miss Emma, Miss Luna." Alejandro said sheepishly. Okay with us? We had been sharing a room for nearly a year now and both rooms had been WAY smaller. Plus we shared rooms half the time before that too.

"It's fine with me!" Emma said. Luna smiled suddenly.

"Just dandy!" She giggled.

"I imagine you would like some time to settle in, correct? I shall return in a little while to show the two of you around, but first, make yourselves at home." Alejandro blushed and bowed and we nodded. Once he left, I smirked at Luna.

"I guess I'm never getting away from you, am I?" I laughed, "You realize you are the absolute most clingy person in the world when you sleep, right?" Luna turned bright red and quickly turned around to face the bookshelf behind her.

"Gee, look. Books!" I rolled my eyes.

"Nice subject change, Loony." She grabbed a book off the shelf.

"Oh, look. It's the Idiot's Guide to RAWR!" Then she jumped around, probably in an attempt to scare me, and tripped. I burst out laughing and fell over too. Luna was even redder than before and then started laughing as well. We kept laughing until our sides were about to burst.

"You should write the Idiot's Guide to murdering your best friend's side by laughing way too much," I said, clutching my side from the pain.

"And you can write the Idiot's Guide to making your best friend fall over laughing at your face!" Luna laughed back. I snickered. You fell for me, hahahaha, I almost said. Luna rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what I would have said. In your dreams, she practically said.

"Miss Emma? Miss Luna?" Alejandro knocked softly on the door. I got up quickly, got Luna to her feet, and opened the door. He smiled at me and bowed then did the same to Luna. "Would you like to see the rest of the mansion?"

"That would be great!" I said excitedly. I felt Luna tense up for some reason next to me. The Alejandro gestured for us to step out and then placed a hand on each of our backs as we begwn our tour.

Headaches

I screamed as the electricity hit my stomach, sending shocks throughout my whole body. "You need to be faster," Franklin growled impatiently.

"I'm trying," I groaned back angrily, clutching my stomach as I tried to heal the pain.

"Fly. Make a wall of ice. Freeze me. Do something." He had been telling me the same thing all day. I was just too tired. My head hurt way too much. I just plain couldn't focus any more. "You're a healer!" he cried suddenly, throwing his arms out, "Just heal your stupid headache!"

"I'm tired. Work with Luna." Ugh. The look he gave me made me feel even worse about how terrible my focus had been the past few days. My head hadn't stopped throbbing for days. He resigned and let Luna take my place in fighting him. Instantly, he let off a jolt of electricity at her. The jolt veered away and then Franklin stumbled back a few feet, tripping over a box that had quickly shoved itself under his feet. Luna smirked triumphantly. Ha! I could almost hear her shout.

"Good thinking, Luna," Franklin chuckled, standing up. "Can't lift me though still." That put the smirk off Luna's face. Instead she put out her hand and screwed up her face, clearly trying to lift him off the ground. He chuckled again. "I'm nowhere near as light at Emma." He shot me a look that clearly said my weight was somehow a weakness. "You're going to have to get a lot more mental strength before you can lift me."

"Franklin! Emma! Luna!" Luna's mom called out from the front room. Her voice made my headache suddenly intesify and I doubled over, clutching my skull. The room began to spin, my stomach lurched, and I fell over.

"Emma!" Luna's voice seemed to echo throughout the entire room as I blacked out.


The first thing I noticed was that I was crying. I had no idea why though. Emma! Emma! I kept thinking. I had some weird sense that someone died, but it didn't make sense. No one had died. Weird memories I didn't recognize seemed to be flashing through my mind. Why was I thinking my own name over and over? I opened my eyes. Luna was shaking my shoulders, whispering my name over and over while tears streamed down her face.

"What's wrong?" I blurted out stupidly, nearly knocking her over as I sat up suddenly. She furrowed her brow at me, but at least stopped crying. Then I remembered the feeling that someone had died. "Wait, who died?" I asked, horrified that it was someone important.

"Emma, no one died," my mom's voice said softly. I felt a little bit better and rel-- My mom? What? I shook my head. Luna's mom. True, she was much more of a mother to me than my own had ever been, but that didn't make her my mother. What was with me? "Did she hit her head?" Luna's mom asked Luna who looked more than just slightly terrified. Luna shook her head and looked at me like I might suddenly explode. "Emma, how are you feeling?"

"Fine," I said impulsively. I shook my head. It hurt.

"How does your head feel?"

"Fine." Impulsive again. "Er, no. It's buzzing. Hurts a lot. Fuzzy." I giggled at the word. My friend had had a bear named Fuzzy when we were little. Er, no, I had had a bear named Fuzzy. "Astral!" I said suddenly, jumping up. I regretted it a moment later as I became suddenly more dizzy and stumbled. I lunged forward to catch Emma. Er, no, Luna and her mom grabbed my arms and kept me from falling. Whatever. Astral projection or something.

"What?" Luna's voice echoed somewhere far off. My vision blurred, the world spun, voices echoed around me, and I fainted.


For some reason, I was making pancakes. "Emma!" Franklin shouted, causing me to jump and nearly trip myself. "You're burning pancakes worse than me. Why don't you sit down?" I looked at the pancakes again. They were literally on fire.

"Oops," I said stupidly. Franklin moved me out of the way and put out the flaming pancakes.

"Jeeze, Franklin, you literally burnt those pancakes," Luna yawned as she walked into the kitchen. "I think I'll just have cereal, thanks. G'morning, by the way." I suddenly remembered my head hurt. And then I realized I didn't remember anything since blacking out, which must have been days ago, judging by the lack of "Are you okay?"s I was experiencing. Did I have old-timer's? Or however you spell the real word.

I was so busy trying to figure out what was going on inside my head that I didn't hear the doorbell ring or notice Luna dragging me out to the entry room until I found myself sitting in one of the chairs in the entry room, in conversation with Luna, her mother, Franklin, and a teenage boy who I was sure I had never met before. He must've been 16 or 17.

"Master Timblewood has specifically requested to have Miss Emma and Miss Luna come with me back to his home for special training," he was saying. "I am very sure you are aware of Master Timblewood's expertise and knowledge in people like us, Miss--"

"Yes, yes, I'm fully aware of his . . . expertise. However, the decision is for Emma and Luna to make themselves, so I suggest you impress upon them, not me, how . . . knowledgable Timblewood is." Luna's mom had a very sour look on her face. I got the feeling whoever this Timblewood guy was and her had some sort of history that she was trying to put behind her. The boy looked disappointed that she was acting less than completely admiring of Timblewood. He smiled again as he looked right at me.
"Well, Miss Emma," he turned to Luna, "Miss Luna, I suppose I should explain more about Timblewood to you." You should explain more about how amazing your voice is. What? His voice? Where did that come from? A sharp pain shot through my skull suddenly, as if someone was ripping it apart and exposing my brain. For some reason, I suddenly had no care for his words, just the fact that he was speaking seemed to be making me feel all weird and airy. Ugh, I'm going boy-crazy, aren't I? My headache worsened exponentially and I didn't catch much else that he said except that he wanted Luna and I to go with him to some prestigious, upper-class, "special people" school. I wished I could have heard what he was saying better, but my head seemed to be echoing loudly and the pain just kept intensifying. "Miss Emma?" Shoot, he had asked me a question.

"Er, well . . ." I said, trying to remember what he had just said. I looked to Luna's mom, hoping she could save me from embarrassment.

"I think it may be a good thing to get the two of you out of this house," she said. "Lord knows you've both been stuck inside far too long. And I trust the principal to care for you."

"Please, ma'am, Mister Timblewood is not a prinicipal," the boy said, "He's a--"

"It's up to Emma and Luna. They have my permission to go."

"Misses Emma and Luna?" The beautiful boy said, awaiting our repsonses. Luna looked like she had left her brain elsewhere. More pain shot through my head and I grabbed the sides of my head and tried to heal it. He said some other stuff, probably along the lines of, "Zomg! She's dieing! -insert spazz attack here-" Then Luna's mom said something and Luna ran out of the room. The room lurched suddenly and I fell over. I expected to black out again, but instead, the pain in my skull dulled slightly and I started to hear what was being said again.

"I haven't quite figured out what's going on, but I think Emma's getting headaches from Luna," Luna's mom was saying, probably thinking I had actually blacked out. "I've tried reading her mind, but I can't make sense of anything in her mind. Luna's mind seems alright though. I think, for Emma's sake, only one of them can go. Timblewood might be able to help Emma, so I think Emma should be the one to go."

"Have you considered the possibility that Miss Emma may be developing some sort of mind ability? Perhaps you should not halt the proccess." Ugh, no, not another ability I couldn't control. No way. I did not want to deal with that.

"It's different than any developing mind ability I have seen. And I have . . . other reasons for wanting to separate them. Their relationship with each other is . . . unhealthy." I lifted my head to see the boy make a strange face at Luna's mom. He didn't seem to like anything she was saying.

"Master Timblewood has requested I bring both back to the mansion with me," he said firmly, suddenly looking much older and more powerful. Luna's mom glared at him and it was very clear that her mind would not be changed. I groaned, no longer wanting to be thought unconscious and forced myself to think I really had blacked out.

"Emma? Are you alright?" She knelt down beside me and I stood up slowly.

"I'm fine. I want to go." She looked at me carefully and nodded slowly.

"Why don't you go get your things together?" She looked at the boy. "Why don't you go help her? I need to speak with Luna." The boy nodded, glaring at her. I hurried to my room, wanting to get away as fast as possible.

"Miss Emma?" the boy said softly as I threw all my things together and then started throwing all of Luna's things together as well. He touched my shoulder lightly, his way of asking me what was wrong.

"She can't stop Luna,"I growled. "Luna wants to go. I know she does. She lost her mind last time I left without her. I'm not doing that again." He smiled slightly.

"The two of you are very good friends, are you not?" I nodded. "Her mother does not like that." I felt my jaw clench. My head definitely still hurt. The boy took Luna's and my things out of my hands and set them by the door. Then he led me to Luna's mom's room where Luna's mom was shouting at Luna.

"--can't spend forever with her!" Luna's mom looked as if she was about to explode in anger.

"What in the world are you two screaming about?" I groaned. My head was throbbing, but I was trying to ignore it.

"Why don't you go finish getting your things, Emma," Luna's mom said in the fakest voice imaginable.

"Ma'am, Miss Emma has already gotten her things. She is prepared for departure," the boy said quickly.

"Let me just finish saying goodbye to my daughter." More like finish screaming at her.

"I'm going," Luna said, very clearly standing up to her mother.

"Very well then. We can all go together," the boy said. Luna's mom scowled, but he gave her a look I didn't understand and she didn't argue. Emma and Luna: One. Luna's mom: Zero.

Starlight.

I decided I didn't want to tell Luna. I wanted to show her. So I cheerfully went through the day, mentally planning how I was going to show her. Everything would be perfect. I knew I'd be able to fly without dreaming. It was going to literally be a dream come true.

"Luna," I whispered into her ear, a cocky grin across my face, barely visible in the dim glow of the night light in our room. She had assumed I was asleep and had forced her way into my arms, mumbling something about warmth. She jumped at the sound of my voice, but exhaled slowly a moment later. "How'd you sleep?" I laughed, my grin not fading at all.

"I didn't," she growled back, though clearly not actually angry. "I thought you were asleep though."

"No way. You think I could sleep when I'm busy plotting sneaking you out of this place?" She gaped at me. Neither of us had been outside very much. We were trying to avoid being seen by the wrong person. But it was night. Pitch black. And I wasn't concerned with being seen anyway. "Get up," I ordered softly, whispering into her ear again. She shuddered, but she wasn't cold. Luna stood up, eyeing me suspiciously. I laughed, grabbed her hand, and quietly led her to the kitchen. I opened the window I had chosen earlier and crawled out, motioning for her to follow as well. She did, though hesitantly. Her caution only made me laugh more.

I walked us to a spot in the tiny yard where the moon shone directly above us. The moonlight made her blonde hair glow an unearthly colour. This time, I was the one who shuddered, and I wasn't cold.

"What's this all about, Emma?" Luna hissed. My grin returned.

"What if I told you I could make you float like you do to me?" Her jaw hung open.

"What are you talking about?" she breathed, confused.

"I'll show you. Don't let go." Her face showed only more confusion as I locked her arms around my neck and mine around her waist. "Smile," I whispered. And she did, slightly. It was good enough, though. I didn't have to close my eyes. My feet left the ground and I smiled at Luna. She looked down at the ground and quickly tightened her grip on my neck. 

"Oh my God," she whispered back, as we floated above the trees now, the moonlight still hitting her hair in such a way that it was hard to believe she was human. I let my left hand carefully move to her hair, just to be sure it was real, as we flew over the city. Luna put her head on my shoulder and I realized she was crying. 

"Luna?" I said softly, noticing that staying in the air had suddenly become harder. She shook her head and looked up at me. She was smiling.

"I was so . . . worried about you. I thought I was doing it on accident at first. And then when I realized it wasn't me . . . " she shuddered slightly. I sighed, relieved. She was happy, not sad. "I was scared, Emma. I didn't know what to do. You looked so scared . . . "

"I'm not scared anymore. I can fly!" I shouted, suddenly squeezing Luna tightly in a giant bear-hug. A bird flew out of a nearby tree at the sound of my voice and shot past the bright moon. For a moment, I just stared at the moon and the eerie glow it cast upon the night, Luna's hair especially. "Luna?" I said quietly after a long silence.

"Yeah, Em?"

"Can I ask you something?" She looked at me curiously and nodded. "You've always said I'm warm all the time," I paused, trying to figure out how to word my question right. Luna made a weird sound in the back of her throat and in the moonlight, I could see her face redden. I suddenly started laughing and smirked at her. "So what's it like having your own personal heater?" We both laughed, and soon, the night began to fade back into day and we snuck silently back into the house and to our room.

Dreams

It was a dream. Luna had been levitating me too much during my waking life that it crossed into my sleep. We had both been practicing using our powers all day, everyday, for weeks and Luna had gotten good enough to lift me off the ground while doing other things. She rarely stopped levitating me and I had gotten used to not having ground beneath my feet.

Her mom got annoyed with having me floating around everywhere, so Luna levitated Franklin instead. He immediately asked her mom to let Luna go back to levitating me and she only gave in when Luna started making her hair fly in random directions.

Back to my dream though. I was floating. I could feel cool air around me. I went higher and higher into the air. Then something hit my head with a thud and I fell to the ground, waking up the moment I hit the mattress. Luna jumped and nonsense began spilling out of her mouth.

It took me a few minutes to adjust back to reality. I looked around the small room Luna and I had been sharing. It seemed strange to me. I had been high above everything just a minute before. And one thought had been very strong in my mind as I drifted through the sky. One emotion. I had felt like that feeling was what lifted me off the ground.

Luna was still blubbering when I had truly awoken. I looked at her carefully. Had I really been floating or was it just a dream? If I really had been, had Luna done it? She would have been giggling if she had done it. She was far from giggling.

"Luna?" I whispered. She shook her head and crawled into the corner and curled up into a ball. I had no idea what to make of her strange behavior. Drowsiness overcame me before I could think much about it. Dreams of flying, not floating, but actually flying, through the sky consumed my mind.


"Luna! Not while she sleeps!" Luna's mom was saying.

"I'm not doing that, Mom!" Luna snapped back, "Go ahead, read my stupid mind! I'm not doing it!" I didn't want to wake up. I had been having a good dream. Luna and I had flown out of the atmosphere and gravity no longer applied. I smiled. Then I fell and hit the mattress, as I had been doing every morning for over a week now.

"Every night?" Luna's mom said quietly to her daughter. Luna nodded and then looked at me concerned. The room was spinning slightly. Luna's mom gaze pierced me and I got a headache. I knew she had to be reading my mind. My brain turned on suddenly.

"Hey! My head! Stay out!" I blurted and scrambled backward, my face turning bright red. Luna's mom smirked.

"I'm not going to say anything. It's not like it's news to me or anything," she laughed. Luna looked puzzled; I looked more than just annoyed. The mattress became extremely cold and Luna's started shivering.

"Emma!" Luna said. I could see her breath. I exhaled and saw my own. Luna's mom laughed again, giving me a look that made me turn even redder, if that were possible. I forced myself to calm down and the room grew warmer.

"You do realize you're completely mental, right, Emma?" Luna's mom laughed. I would have sworn my face was literally on fire. "C'mon, Franklin's burning pancakes again." She walked out, still smirking. Luna looked at me, clearly wondering what her mom had found in my mind, then turned and followed her mom out. I didn't get up at first. Stupid telepath. Of course, she had been reading my mind for years without me even knowing. And, the thought suddenly occurred to me, she had been reading Luna's mind for years too. An idea hit me and I jumped up and followed the smell of burnt pancakes to the kitchen.

"Good morning!" I said happily as I walked in.

"Jeeze, Em. You were sulking a minute ago and now you're a little ray of sunshine. What are you, bipolar?" Luna laughed. I rolled my eyes at her and took the plate Franklin was handing me. Luna's mom was still smirking and whispered something to Franklin. He looked between Luna and I and then smirked too.

"And you're not?" I laughed. My pancakes suddenly flew off my plate and landed on Luna's. I rolled my eyes.

"What? I'm hungry."

"You want cold pancakes?"

"Don't be stupid. Your pancakes are always the warmest. You're always warm." A weird feeling appeared in my stomach and spread through my body momentarily. I couldn't help but smile and I felt my feet leave the ground.

"Hey! Put me down!" I laughed, the weird feeling not leaving.

"I'm not doing that," Luna said quietly. I fell back down suddenly and stumbled as I hit the ground. The feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. Luna looked scared.

"Uh, Franklin, why don't you go take Luna to help her work some more?" Luna's mom said quickly. Her smirk was gone. Franklin grabbed Luna's arm and took her out of the kitchen. "Emma," she said slowly. She reached out her hand and placed it on my head and instead of the headache I expected, I just felt numbness. I felt drowsy and my legs gave way suddenly. She caught me and then I began to dream.


It was a cold, misty night. Luna and I were standing in a forest clearing, laughing. Luna used her powers to lift me up into the air. Moonlight shone on her soft blonde hair and she smiled.

"I wish I could be up there with you," Luna said in a voice that sounded more like music than speech. I reached out my hand toward her.

"You can." I grabbed her tiny hand carefully and lifted her into the air. She wrapped her arms around my neck and we floated higher and higher into the air until the forest became just a tiny speck below us.

"Emma," another voice said softly. My eyes fluttered open. I was back in the kitchen. I floated in the air for a moment but then gravity discovered me and pulled me straight down to the earth. Luckily, Luna's mom caught me and set me down on solid ground carefully.

"Was I--?" I said quickly.

"Defying gravity?" she finished. "Yes."

"But . . . I mean, how?"

"Don't ask me things I don't know the answer to, Emma."

"You made me do it though. You knew. You know how I've done everything I've done."

"No, Emma, I don't. You freeze things when you get scared. You heal things when you're concerned and feeling sympathetic. You float when you dream. All I did was help you dream. I don't know what really does it though."

"You saw what I dreamt last night, didn't you?" I felt my cheeks flush slightly.

"Only what you could still remember. Look, I'm not going to get involved in whatever you may dream about. Relax. You may want to learn how to lock me out though because you make it very clear who you care about and if anyone else got a hold of that information, things could get dangerous for all of us."

"I'm a danger to all of you, aren't I?" I knew I was, but I also knew she wouldn't admit to it lest I get up and leave like I had considered doing. I didn't want to put their lives in danger any more than I already was just by knowing them. Luna's mom treated me as if I was her own daughter and I knew she wouldn't let me run off on my own. She had only sent me to Franklin because she knew she would be coming after me shortly.

"We're each a danger to each other, but we're all in more danger alone. Emma, you've saved my daughter's life twice, and Franklin's and mine once now. You can't just run away because you're scared you might hurt someone. Without you, all three of us would be dead by now. Luna needs you to stay here." I sighed and looked at my hands carefully. I closed my eyes and tried to remember my dream. Gravity slowly lost its hold and the ground and my feet parted.

Fire and Flames

Luna was chained to the wall, unconscious. She looked nearly dead. Her mom ran over to her quickly and tried to break the chains. No use. They wouldn't break.

"Emma," Luna's mom said, "freeze the chains, we might be able to break them if you do." I nodded and got up and tried to freeze the chains.

"I shouldn't have left . . ." I whispered. The chains grew colder, but not enough to break them. I swore under my breath. Luna's mom pulled me back suddenly.

"She's faking it!" she gasped. Next thing I knew, I was flung backwards and crashed into the wall. I jumped back up quickly, leaving the water tank on the floor, and saw Luna's mom lying on the ground, not moving. I ran over to her side. She wasn't dead, only knocked out.

"Come to pretend to be a hero again, Emma?" Luna's voice snarled in my ear. I spun around. She had gotten out of her chains and was staring menacingly at me. "Just like when you attacked me in the alley and made it look like someone else did it?"

"What?!?" I blurted out.

"Oh, don't play dumb, Emma. I know it was you. Trying to look like a hero, but you're not. Ever since second grade, you've always been trying to act like your a better person than everyone else, but you're not!" I felt an invisible force suddenly force me backward and I tripped. "Oh, poor Emma fell? Guess what? I don't care! I HATE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Then she leapt at me. A thick sheet of ice formed in between us at the last possible moment, and there was a loud thud as she smashed into it. It cracked and I scrambled to my feet.

"Luna--" I said, but she cut me off.

"What? You have to use ice to protect you? Ha! Won't work." Then she put out her hand towards the ice and sent it flying straight at me. I put up my arms to shield myself, and flames shot out of my hands, melting the ice and burning Luna's shoulder.

"Sorry! You okay?" Luna looked at me as darkly as possible then looked around the room quickly. Her eyes found a knife on the floor and it shot straight toward my head. I ducked and it pierced the wall. "Have you lost your /mind/?!?" If she didn't want to be saved, then fine; I wouldn't save her.

"No, but you're about to have no need for one. Once I KILL YOU!" She lunged at me again and I pulled her to the ground with me.

"Luna!" I yelled back, struggling with her and finally pinning her beneath me. "Why the hell are you trying to /kill/ me?!? I'm your best friend!"

"No, you're not!" she screamed and I suddenly realised she was crying. She started slapping my shoulders hysterically and more guilt than I had ever known welled up within me and a sick feeling started eating at my insides. "You're not! You're not! You're not!"

"Luna--"

"SHUT UP! I HATE YOU!"

"I'm sorry!" I yelled right back.

"No, you're not! You're just a stupid liar!"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"Ha! Yeah, right. From what?"

"From me! And from someone taking you to get to me." I paused, she seemed to calm down a bit. An idea hit me. A song. One we both knew. One that meant a lot to both of us. "'Let me feel you, carry you--'" I whispered.

"'--Higher. Watch our words spread hope like--'" she said quietly, no longer hitting me or struggling to get away. Tears were sliently falling down her face.

"--Fire.'" Flames lit up in my hands for a brief moment. "I shouldn't have left like that, Luna. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" She nodded and I stood up. I put out my hand and she took it and stood up.

"As long as you can forgive me for trying to kill you." I laughed and nodded. I walked over to her mom and knelt beside her. I placed my hand on her head and focused on healing her. My hand started to tingle and then she sat up suddenly. She looked between Luna and I quickly.

"It's okay now," I said.

"Sorry, Mom," Luna muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Luna," her mom said. "Let's get Franklin and get out of here." I nodded and she stood up. I put my hand on Luna's burnt shoulder, healing it as the three of us walked out.

Franklin was limping into the warehouse as we walked out. "Oh, you already got Luna?" he said.

"Emma got her," Luna's mom said. "Let's get out of here before your brother and his friend defrost." And with that, the four of us left and headed back to Franklin's home.

Frozen.

We were in front of an old warehouse. How cliché. "Remember the plan," Franklin whispered, slowly pushing open the door. I grabbed the hose attached to my tank of water and followed. A moment later, there was a bright flash of light and Luna's mom yanked my arm, barely getting me out of the way of the electricity.

"Aw, how cute. My little brother thinks he can come rescue the little telekinetic girl from his evil big brother. Isn't that right, Frankie?" A glow of light lit up a scarred face that may have once looked like Franklin's. A snarl twisted itself upon the face and a growl escaped its lips. Then he looked straight at me. "Oh, you brought me a present, did you, Frankie?" He stepped forward and Franklin shot a warning blast of electricity at him.

"Don't you dare touch her," Franklin growled.

"Give me my daughter back, Freddie," Luna's mom said menacingly. Her eyes seemed to be on fire. Freddie cackled sickly.

"How lovely to see you again, Zaney. How's the family doing?"

"About as good as this will feel." Luna's mom closed her eyes and the twisted smile on Freddie's face disappeared suddenly. He groaned and grabbed his head in pain. Franklin sprayed him with water suddenly and, thinking quickly, I focused on the times I had frozen my surroundings, my palms facing Freddie. He froze quickly along with the stream of water. I couldn't help but feel proud. A smile forced its way onto my face for a split second, but it vanished a moment later as I was flung suddenly backwards.

"Emma!" Franklin yelled. A man grabbed my hair and leapt into the air and out of the house, rising up into the air fast. The man suddenly screamed and let go of me, at least 15 feet off the ground.

"Catch her, Franklin!" Luna's mom screamed. He did, luckily, but fell over in doing so and didn't get up right away. "Emma! Go find Luna! I'll hold him off!" The man who could fly was thrashing around in the air, screaming, punching the air, clutching his head, falling suddenly, taking back off, etc.

I ran back into the warehouse, then changed my mind a moment later. I grabbed the hose attached to my water tank and aimed at the man who could fly. I shot a stream of water out of it and put out my other hand and concentrated hard. At first, nothing happened. Only water shot out. Then it started to freeze and ice missiles shot through the air and nailed the man who could fly. He dropped to the ground and didn't move. Luna's mom looked at me in shock.

"C'mon! Let's get Luna!" I said, and grabbed her arm and pulled her in the warehouse.

"Wait, I'll find her," she said, closing her eyes. She reopened them a moment later and ran down the hall and turned right. I followed her and wished I hadn't a moment later. My throat went completely dry and the room started to freeze. I sank to my knees, shaking. My heart froze.

"Luna . . ." I whispered.

Abducted.

Franklin was already making breakfast when I got up. "You like pancakes, right?" he asked as I walked into the kitchen. I nodded. "I'm going to go to the store tonight after I go to the library to get you some books. Make me a list of what you want, okay? I'm a terrible cook though."

"I can cook," I said. He put the pancakes on two plates and handed one to me. "You teach me and I'll cook." He smiled.

"Just tell me what you need me to buy." I nodded and there was a loud, hurried knock on the door. Franklin set his plate down and hurried to the door. I watched from the kitchen. Luna's mom toppled in the house and quickly shut the door behind her. I knew something had to be terribly wrong. I had never seen her look so scared. Her clothes were filthy, she was clutching her side and she seemed to be partially burnt.

"Help me, Franklin," she gasped. I hurried over to the doorway.

"What happened?" I asked. She suddenly calmed down and smiled.

"Hi, Emma. How are you?"

"What's wrong?" I ignored her question completely.

"Nothing. Everything's fine. Don't you worry." She smiled again and I felt my head seem to slow and relax. Franklin looked between us, almost angry. Luna's mom turned towards him, her smile disappearing instantly. "Franklin, you know why."

"Stay out of my head," he growled at her.

"I already got one child taken from me! I'm not about to let her risk her life too!" I understood suddenly.

"What happened to Luna?!?" I blurted out.

"Nothing happened to her," Luna's mom smiled fakely. "Just relax. If I wanted to be cold, I'd move to Antarctica." I looked at the ground which had frozen all around me.

"Oops."

"You see that?" Franklin said to Luna's mom, resuming their conversation. "She's not weak."

"She doesn't have control!" Luna's mom said hysterically.

"You're not her mother!" She stopped suddenly and seemed to give up.

"What happened to Luna?" I asked softly. Luna's mom looked at me for a few minutes before responding.

"She wasn't exactly happy you left." She paused. "It looks like a tornado came through our house and half the town."

"What? A tornado?"

"Luna's telekinetic. She destroyed everything in her path, including one of my ribs. Actually, if you could fix that, Emma, that'd be helpful."

"Er . . . " I put my hand on the side she had been clutching when she came in and tried to focus on fixing it. Nothing seemed to happen. I shut my eyes and forced myself to relive the night Luna and I had been attacked. The tingling feeling I had felt came to my hand weakly at first. Then, suddenly, I could feel the sensation shoot through my entire arm and then spread all throughout me. A minute later, I sank to my knees and the feeling disappeared. Luna's mom swore under her breath and knelt beside me. "Better?" I asked weakly.

"Yes, but you went too far. You have a limit, Emma. Stop trying to go past it."

"So what happened to Luna? You just said she kind of lost it." I looked up at her, my strength already returning. I hadn't gone too far, like she thought. I just wasn't expecting the tingling to spread all through me.

"She was seen. Someone took her. I couldn't stop them." My throat went dry. And I knew there was no way I would let Luna's mom stop me from going along with them to help.

"Was Freddie a part of it?" Franklin asked. Luna's mom nodded. "With the flyer?" She nodded again. "Hold on." He ran off to another room then to the kitchen and then returned with three tanks of water with hoses attached to them and three harnasses. He strapped one tank to his back, tossed one to Luna's mom, and spun me around and strapped one to my back. I nearly fell over from the weight, but sucked it up and stood up straight. "Douse them in water, especially Freddie. Emma, don't hesitate to freeze them once they're drenched. Ready to go?" Luna's mom nodded and I did the same.

"Be careful, Emma," Luna's mom said. Then we walked out the door. Franklin took a cell phone out of his pocket and quickly dialed a number.

"Mom? It's Franklin . . . I know, Mom. Where's Freddie? . . . Mom, he kidnapped an innocent girl! . . . I don't care if he's family! Where is he? A child's life is on the line here. What would you do if someone took your child? . . . Thanks, Mom." He closed the phone. "Follow me." He started running down the street and Luna's mom and I followed just behind him. He turned left. We followed. Right. Right. Left. Down an alley. Up a hill. Left. Abrupt stop. We were there. Sickness filled my stomach. I tried to push away my fear, but it was no good. Luna's life was on the line.