After they'd eaten, Andie and Hannah cleaned the dishes and went back to their rooms, where Andie spent a couple of hours working on some of Balon's exercises. She almost missed his controlling attitude. Probably because wherever Balon was, Bane was. After she'd finished, she got to her feet. Her eyes fell on a group picture from her birthday. They were all laughing and just looked... happy. Normal. Andie sighed, wondering if they'd ever feel so carefree again... That reminded her of a conversation she'd had with Bane once, some time ago, while waiting for the girls to join them in the park to train.

"So, what do you do when you aren't training?" Andie asked. "And drawing, of course."

"The same things you guys do," he said. "Read, watch television, go to the movies... even jog, sometimes, though that's more because Balon wants me to."

Andie chuckled.

"But don't you ever feel... nervous? I mean... those demons can attack at any given moment, right?"

"Yes, that's true," Bane agreed. "But I have too many things to live to make that stop me. I mean, you can't live constantly worrying about what might be. You have to live in the present, you know? Just go with things as they come. If you want to eat that extra brownie, do it! If you feel like staying up all night wanting to watch old movies, why shouldn't you?"

"... Because it's not reasonable..."

"What's the fun in always being reasonable?" Bane had smiled. "You have to loosen up, Andie, live a little!"

Andie had to admit she'd never thought of just having fun. She'd been so often told she had to be responsible because she needed to look out for her sister. So she'd had what her mother always called "fun with reason". She'd never let herself do things impulsively... She decided it was time to change that, at least once. She got to her feet, turned on her radio. As the music started, she found herself tapping her foot to the beat. And then, before she knew it, she was dancing around in her room, shoving everything aside and just concentrating on the music. She didn't care what her dancing looked like. She'd not taken many lessons, so probably not much, but no one saw her, so who cared? When the song was finished, she fell back on her bed, panting, but feeling better. It had been nice to just let go, even for a few minutes. She was just getting her breath back, when a scream made her jump.

"Hannah..." Andie gasped.

Had Zarias found a way inside after all?

"HANNAH!" Andie yelled, pelting out of her room and down the stairs.

She found her sister in the kitchen, staring wide eyed at the sink. Looking too, Andie saw why. It was on fire!

"Hannah, get back!" she ordered.

Hannah stepped aside at once as Andie darted to the sink and opened the faucet over the flames, which died down in a matter of seconds. She then saw it was the remainders of a tissue from the box on the counter. Andie turned to her sister.

"What happened, what did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear!" Hannah replied, her eyes still wide. "I just touched it and... I don't know what happened, it just caught fire!"

Andie froze a few seconds. Then, she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Are you hurt?" Andie asked.

"No..." Hannah replied, shaking her head.

"Are you sure, let me see your hands..."

Once she was satisfied her sister was indeed unharmed, she sighed with relief.

"... I promise I didn't touch anything..." Hannah said, sounding a little scared.

"I know... it's okay. Look... You can't tell Mom and Dad." Andie said. "Okay?"

"Why not?"

... Because they wouldn't understand... Andie thought.

But to Hannah, she answered:

"Because they'll say I can't watch you and I'll be grounded until graduation. Please?"

"... Okay."

Andie was just relieved her sister was okay.

"What were you thinking about when you picked up that tissue?" she asked Hannah.

"... Uh... I was thinking about Bonfire night..."

Andie's father had English relatives, and every year, he liked to celebrate guy Fawkes night with a small bonfire in the back garden (with the written approval of the Town Hall of course). They also went to the big one in town for Independence Day. Andie bit her lip. She couldn't leave her like this...

"... Give me your hands," she finally said.

Hannah blinked.

"But..."

"Just trust me."

Hannah looked uncertainly up at her but held them out. Andie wasn't sure she could do what she was thinking, but she couldn't stand her sister feeling so scared. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, a flow of energy slid from Hannah's hands into Andie's. It was hot and painful, to Andie, at least, but she kept going, not showing any of it on her face. Eventually, Andie dropped her hands and looked up at Hannah.

"Better?"

"... I don't know..."

Andie pulled a tissue from the box behind her and gave to Hannah.

"Now think about Bonfire night."

Hannah hesitated, then looked at the tissue. Nothing happened.

"It didn't catch fire!" she exclaimed.

"No. But just be careful when you think of fire, for now, okay? Especially at school."

"... Okay..."

She went back to room. Andie watched her walk out, then looked down at her sore, blistered hands.

After running her hands under some ice cold water and thinking Isabelle's healing power would be useful right now, Andie went back to her room running.

"Ardente, get over here!" she called.

"What's the matter?" Ardente asked, appearing before her.

"This!" Andie retorted, raising her blistered hand. "My sister just set fire to a paper tissue! How is that possible?"

Ardente look thoroughly shocked.

"What?!"

"Yeah, that's pretty much how I reacted." Andie said. "How is that possible? I'm the one who can create flames, right?"

"Yes, you are..."

"Well, then how did my ten year old sister do what I never did?"

"... I don't know... I'm sorry, I never knew this could happen..."

Andie took a few deep breaths.

"... I know... I'm sorry. It's not your fault..."

"You want to protect your sister... it's only natural," Ardente said gently, placing an ethereal hand on Andie's shoulder.

"Yeah, and so far, I'm not doing such a great job about it..." Andie sighed bitterly.

"In my opinion, you're doing admirably," Ardente assured. "Hannah is fine. You just injured yourself to protect her..."

Andie sighed. As if her life hadn't gotten complicated enough... Just then, something occurred to her.

"Hey... Ardente... didn't you once say the wings are the part of the Caduceus that give it its power?"

"... Yes..."

"D'you think it's possible it gave Hannah a small portion of its power?"

"... I suppose it could be... but that would mean..."

"That it's in her room..."

Andie pelted out of her room and down the stairs to her sister's room.

"Hannah? Can I come in?"

"Sure."

She peered in, careful not to expose her damaged hands.

"What is it?"

Andie then saw a porcelain doll with wings on her dresser.

"... Uh... I just wanted to look at this doll of yours..." she said, pointing to the angel doll on her dresser. "I remember wanting to play with it as a child... Mom would never let me because she said I might break it and hurt myself."

She picked it up off the shelf and looked at it. It was a pretty blond doll with a white satin dress and fake feather wings. Andie reached to touch them, and they felt warm.

"Yeah, Mom said the same to me." Hannah said.

"... Hannah, did you touch the doll recently?"

"I brushed her hair, this morning, why?" Hannah replied innocently.

"Uh... no reason, I just wondered. I thought her hair looked different. I'll leave you alone." she said.

She closed the door behind her, then quietly hurried up to her room and yanked her cellphone from her nightstand.

"Isabelle? Call Emily and meet me here as soon as you can. I found the last piece of the Caduceus."

"Your sister did what?!" Jessica gasped.

"Is she okay?" Isabelle asked in concern, "Was she hurt?"

"No, thank goodness," Andie answered.

"But how can that be?" Emily asked. "You're the incarnation of fire, right?"

"... I think I have a theory," Andie said slowly. "We know the wings are the most important part of the Caduceus because they're what give it its power. And Hannah told me she touched it. So I think she inadvertently received a tiny portion of its power and accidentally triggered it when she thought about fire whilst holding an inflammable object..."

The four of them looked to Ardente and River, who were the only ones there, because Terra and Aera were in charge of watching Bane.

"D'you think that's possible?" Emily asked.

"Honestly, I don't know, we've never encountered anything like this..." River answered. "You see, we spent the first half of our lives learning to fight, and then we spent the rest fighting against Zorak..."

"But even if it is, what are the odds of the wings landing here?"

"I don't think that's a coincidence. I think the Caduceus wanted to keep itself safe from harm, and hid a part of itself here because it sensed Andie's powers and thought it would be safe."

"Well, then what are we waiting for, let's go grab them!" Jessica said.

"No, we need to think this through," Andie said. "My sister's already far more involved than I ever wanted her to be."

"Andie's right, we're already in enough trouble as it is, we can't bring a ten year old into this too..." Emily agreed.

"I'm just amazed Zarias hasn't tried to attack yet," Jessica said.

"Homes have a special protection, even more powerful than a light circle," Andie answered absently, pressing a hand to her temple.

"Are you okay?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah... this whole thing's got me in a mess, is all..." Andie sighed.

"Andie, what on earth happened to your hands?!" Isabelle suddenly gasped.

"Oh, that's nothing... when Hannah set fire to the tissue, I pulled out the energy in her and... it left a bit of a mark."

Isabelle was already gone and back with her hands wet. She caught Andie's hands and closed her eyes. In moments, they were back to normal.

"... Thanks," Andie said.

They looked at each other.

"So now, what?"

After a while, it was decided that they would start by making a copy of the necklace. So Andie produced a few old jewels she didn't wear anymore and set them on the floor. The girls looked at them.

"Okay." Andie said. "Let's do this."

They formed a circle like the first time. And moments later, they were sitting around a perfect copy of the necklace.

"She won't know the difference," Isabelle said.

Andie still didn't like these tactics, but what other choice did they have?

"But what about the wings?"

"We can just make a copy of that," Jessica suggested.

"No, that doll is a part of my childhood," Andie said. "I don't want to replace it with a cheap copy."

"You're doing it with that snake pendant!" Jessica pointed out.

"Yes, but she won't know that, but I'll know the doll's a copy. And I already said I didn't like it." Andie said. "Hold on, I'll go get the doll..."

She left the room and came back seconds later with the doll. Hannah had gone to play with a friend next door, and wouldn't be back for a while.

"So now, what?"

As if the doll had heard her, the wings glowed. The necklace and staff glowed too. A bright ball of light floated out of the wings and combined with the rest, before turning into the Caduceus Andie had fought Zarias over in the museum.

"That's it... it's the Caduceus."

They all stared at it. It was even more beautiful than the first time Andie had seen it.

"Whoa..." was all Jessica could say.

That about summed it up, Andie thought. She reached out tentatively, terrified it would split into three parts again. She then placed her fingers around the staff and gripped it gently. It seemed content in her hand. But Andie couldn't help thinking that it would be a little difficult to bring a big object like that into the hospital without drawing attention and having people ask questions. As if it had heard her, it glowed again and shrunk to the size of a key-chain. Andie smiled and put it in her pocket. She was feeling happier than she had in a while. With the Caduceus, they would be able to bring Bane back. And they would be stronger than before. They all looked wordlessly at each other.

"So what do we do, now?" Emily asked.

"We go to the hospital of course." Andie said.

"Yes," Isabelle agreed. "But we'll have to be on our guard, though. Zarias seemed interested in the Caduceus, so he might well try and use the fact that we're out in the open to steal it. And we all know how well we did last time..."

"This time will be different." Andie said. "We were always beaten by Zarias because we feared him."

"Oh, you mean because he's so much more powerful than us? Yeah, I'd be a little afraid too," Jessica said.

"What I mean is," Andie said, "we won't ever hold our own against him if we keep focusing on the fact that he's stronger. We've been learning to fight, we defeated all those demons... yes, he's stronger but he won't kill us. He needs us alive if he wants our power. And like I said, we can't keep fearing him or we'll always be like toddlers against him."

"Well, in any case, we won't get anywhere by just sitting around here." Jessica said.

"No, that's true," Andie agreed. "You guys can sta-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Emily warned. "You know it's no use."

"I guess..." she sighed with a smile. "Come on then, let's go."

And so, they set out to the hospital. The weather was cold and clear, though busy because a lot of the people were heading to the mall, the movies or just living their lives.

"So what are we going to do when we wake him up?"

"Well, show him how happy we are that he's back to start with," Isabelle said.

Andie had to admit she hadn't thought about it. What would she say? What did you say in that kind of situation? Especially after their last conversation... her feelings hadn't changed, but... how did you just... start again after three weeks of absence...? It had been unintentional, of course, but the result was the same. And a part of her was scared of what she would find when he woke up. What if his feelings had changed? Or worse... what if he'd forgotten her entirely...? He had hit his head and that was known to sometimes affect the memory...

"It'll be okay," Isabelle said as if she'd guessed her thoughts.

Andie gave her a small smile. She certainly hoped she was right. Eventually, they reached the parking lot. The girls climbed out and looked at the building a second.

"Well... here we are..." Emily said.

She took Andie's arm and they walked towards the entrance. The hospital was as quiet and busy as usual. Soon, they were in front of Bane's door. Andie took a deep breath and opened the door. Ardente and Terra were watching Bane. He was as still as he was before, the regular beeping sound indicating his heart was still beating. Andie took in his face, which was as smooth as ever. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and pulled out the caduceus from her pocket, which instantly regained its natural size. Andie gripped it firmly, and pointed it towards Bane. The wings glowed gently, and Andie's heart rate tripled. This was it. Bane would finally wake up... They waited, all biting their lip expectantly... but after several long minutes, nothing happened. They glanced at each other uncertainly.

"... What's... what's going on?" Emily asked.

"Maybe it just needs a little time..." Jessica said.

"No, it doesn't..." Andie said in a strangled voice. "It didn't work. Bane's not going to wake up."

And she clapped her hand to her mouth and hurried out.

******************************

No. No, no, no! It can't be true! After all the girls went through, it can't have been for nothing!

What do you think this means? What happened? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

Why didn't Bane wake up? Will he? Let's find out in the next chapter!