Aiya felt white-hot pain lance through her body. It seemed to begin in her spine, following outward along her nerves to every inch of her body. She wanted to curl up in pain, but the force in which it screamed through her kept her body rigid, arms and legs flung wide.

She felt sweat trickle off her forehead into her hairline and tickle inside her ear. Even through the pain, Aiya realized this was an odd thing to notice right at that moment, but her whole body felt hypersensitive.

If even one hair on her arm was touched by moving air, she seemed to be able to tell. She could even single out which hair on her body had felt the change.

Suddenly the pain reached an unbearable crescendo, and her back flexed painfully as her eyes shot open and her mouth dropped in a silent scream.

Suddenly all Aiya knew was blackness. She embraced it and the relief from the pain brought with it.

As her thoughts drifted into nothing, she wondered if she would get to talk to the strange ball of pulsing lights again. She had a million questions.

***

Sometime later, Aiya woke again. Her skin felt blissfully cool under warm sheets and a fuzzy blanket. She didn't want to open her eyes. She was exhausted and contemplated just going back to sleep. Her pillow was cushioning her head perfectly.

Just as Aiya started to find sleep again, however, her stomach made it clear that continuing to rest was not an option.

With a loud growl, Aiya's stomach announced just how empty it was.

Aiya heard a soft chuckle to her right, which made her open her sleepy eyes. Sitting beside her was her brother. His face looked tired and worn out but happy.

What had happened?

Aiya suddenly realized she didn't know where she was. Rubbing her eyes to buy time, she desperately wracked her brain for her last memory.

Then it all rushed back as the last remnants of her sleep fog evaporated.

Shit! That was all Aiya could think.

"I take it your hungry?" Marvin asked, his voice sounding nervous.

She must have been out cold for hours, or maybe more. Her brother had probably been on the verge of hysteria. The last time she'd been sick, they had only been kids, and it had almost broken him. Thankfully he had had Derek to help him.

As if her thoughts had summoning powers, Derek stepped into her view, coming from a corner at the end of the bed to stand behind Marvin.

"Shit Aiya. You scared the fuck out of us." Derek's voice sounded husky with emotion. Dark circles were heavy under his eyes, and stubble was on his usually smooth face.

Turning back to her brother, she tried to give them both a reassuring smile. The effort made pain fire through her head, and all she could manage was a half twitch of one side of her mouth.

"Hi."Aiya's voice was weak and sounded like she hadn't had a drink in days. Had it been days?

Her throat felt as if she'd swallowed hot coals. It was swollen, raw and hurt something fierce with the effort of speaking.

White silky hair bobbed in front of her vision blocking the two worried young men from view.

"Here." Sardini smiled and held a straw in a tall cup of clear fluid to Aiya's lips. "Water. You were sweating A LOT! You have to feel like a raisin right now. So drink up. Slowly though, ok?"

Aiya sipped slowly. The cool water kissed her wounded throat, and she groaned in relief, feeling the muscles in her neck and back relax a bit.

She opened her eyes and caught the worried stares of her brother and Derek. There was a nervous apprehension there that made her stomach twist.

"What?" Aiya croaked. She looked at them expectantly, raising an eyebrow in demand and a question.

She watched her brothers adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed hard. Derek rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and studiously examined the floor at his feet.

"Marvin!" Aiya's voice held warning even in its weak and croaking condition.

"Aiya, do you remember passing out?" Sardini asked, bobbing back into view to block the cowardly men.

"I umm..." What did she remember? "I felt a pain in my head, then a strange flash of light. It felt like I was falling through space and time after that. Into nothing from nothing. It was..." Aiya's voice grew in strength as she spoke but remained quiet.

As she trailed off, her eyes grew distant. She wasn't ready to mention the glowing ball of pulsing lights. They would think she'd lost it.

Sardini seemed to sense Aiya's hesitation and spoke again but turned to face Marvin and Derek. Her voice, as angelic as ever, made her words sound like an innocent suggestion but somehow one that needed to be followed.

"I think Aiya should have a shower while we go get her food. She's been asleep now for almost twenty-eight hours." Turning back to Aiya, Sardini continued, "You have to be starving. Come with me, and I will get you a towel."

"Here, Aiya. I went and got your things while Marvin kept guard." Derek's eyes roamed her face searching for any sign she wasn't ok.

Aiya sat up and took her bag from Derek's outstretched hand. As their fingers touched, she was struck with a fierce wave of emotion. Fear, relief and anger raged inside Derek. He had been terrified she had been going to die. He was overwhelmed with relief that she was ok and finally awake and angry with himself that he hadn't been here for her when it happened.

Aiya froze, becoming as still a statue, so still, it was supernatural in nature. Her entire being, from the blood in her veins to the breath on her lips, just stopped in time as the rest of the world seemed to continue in slow motion around her.

She looked up from her hand, gently grazing Derek's to see his face form a crease in his brow while his eyes slowly travelled from her face to their hands. Everything was so slow and surreal to Aiya it was almost comedic to her.

Then she felt the tiny tingle of energy that seemed to be humming through her and into Derek and then back to her again.

What the hell was going on?

Then Sardini was there again. She bounced a little closer to Derek to grab his other hand and look up at him with the smile of a child genuinely happy to see you.

Like a pin popping a balloon, Aiya heard the air snap around her with a rush, and everything seemed to speed up in fast-forward like her body needed to catch up to the present until everything around her felt normal again.

When Sardini had grabbed Derek's hand, he had let go of Aiya's bag, and their hands had lost contact.

Aiya's eyes saw Derek for what felt like the first time. Browse furrowed; she stared at him. She saw the fine worry lines around his eyes, small frown lines at the corner of his mouth and the raw emotion in his eyes.

Why had she never seen it before? He was in love with her. And not in a sisterly way.

Fuck! Aiya cursed inwardly. This was not good. She wasn't sure what to do. He was like a second little brother to her.

However, as she kept examining his face, she also recognized his resignation. He knew. He knew she would never feel the same, but he couldn't stop loving her. How she felt didn't change a thing.

Aiya's chest grew tight, and she felt physical pain at the realization. Her eyes grew sad and soft, and he seemed to read the regret and grief in them. The last thing Aiya wanted to do was hurt the one person who'd always been there for her and Marvin. It broke her heart in a way she hadn't known was possible.

The feeling was intense, and the tightness in her chest seemed to constrict further, and breathing became hard.

"Aiya, what's wrong?" Marvin's voice held an edge of panic and was just a little too loud as his eyes darted between his best friend and his rock, his lifeline - his older sister.

Sardini's face finally changed from a warm smile to one of concern and contemplation. Caulking her head, she analyzed Aiya.

"Aiya is ok, I think. She will need time to adjust. She has gone through a lot of changes. More than we can see."

At these words, Aiya suddenly forgot about the pain in her chest and looked sharply at the ethereal child with silky white hair and porcelain skin.

"What do you mean?"

"Aiya, you went through an ordeal. I don't know how to explain it. We don't even know what happened. Errend called it the change. It was some kind of... " Marvin trailed off. He suddenly stood and went to kneel in front of the bed.

Taking Aiya's hand, her brother rubbed the skin of the back of her hand with his thumb. He smiled then. A soft smile full of love and admiration.

When he finally spoke again, he said, "Aiya, somehow you have changed. It's actually kind of incredible. I know it might upset you when you see it, but I think it makes you look super badass."

"Ok." What else could Aiya say? "Guess I should go shower then and check out the mirror."

Aiya smiled then too. Her chest still ached slightly, and she avoided looking at Derek again, but her brother's words brought comfort and then, like before, when her hand touched Derek's, she felt something as the world seemed to slow to a snail's pace around her for half a heartbeat.

"Woah! What is that?" Marvin's eyes went wide but with excitement, not fear. It seemed he wasn't worried about whatever was going on inside her.

Unable to stop a chuckle, partly with the relief and comfort given to her by the emotions she felt from her brother; love, anticipation, acceptance and most of all, an intense protectiveness; and knowing that no matter what happened, she would never have to face it alone.

Aiya squeezed her brother's hand and then let it go to lift her bag and prepare to rise.

"Ok, boys," she almost sounded like her old self, "get out of my way so I can go get clean and eat. I am going to get seriously pissy if I don't get a sandwich soon."

Both Derek and Marvin laughed with relief. She may look different and have abilities they didn't understand, but she was still Aiya.

Sardini smiled again. And she once again asked Aiya to follow her to get her a towel and show her to the bathroom. At first, Aiya followed hesitantly, legs feeling like jelly. However, using the walls as an aid, she slowly found her feet.

When Aiya reached the bathroom door just a step behind Sardini, she paused. What was she going to see when she looked into the mirror?

"Sardini?"

"Yes, Aiya."

"Can you tell me what to expect?"

The little girl turned around to look up at the young woman. Aiya couldn't read anything in the girl's face, which made her guts feel slightly sour.

Staring intently, Sardini replied, "I see a female warrior, strong, determined, intelligent, caring and best of all loyal beyond normal human comprehension. You are special, Aiya, and this world would not survive without you."

At first, the words had made Aiya smile, but when Sardini's grave voice finished speaking, goosebumps prickled Aiya's skin, and she had gone cold.

This world would not survive without you.

Sardini was just being kind Aiya knew. Yet the words felt ominous and more like a preconceived vision of the future than just simple words to make Aiya feel needed and loved.

"Ok." Aiya didn't know what to say.

Sardini suddenly smiled like the sun bursting through the clouds and cheerily added.

"You do look badass. I think you're going to love the new you."

Swallowing her trepidation, Aiya sized up the bathroom door like it was a monster she needed to battle. She could do this.

Placing one foot firmly in front of the other, Aiya marched into the bathroom, flicked on the light and turned to the full-length mirror.